I have a PSA for you, as in Pasta Serving announcement. I have not been out on the town much over the last twelve months but when I do get out, I keep finding new things at familiar places. It is not uncommon, with a familiar place, to order by habit or instinct instead of taking time to look at the menu. Such was the case at Iaconos, I have only ordered pizzas to go or dined in for the lunch buffet. A few days ago, while leading my Pitchers and Pizza tour, I had a moment to look at the menu and noticed something old that was new to me. Every Monday, Iaconos has an all you can eat Spaghetti Night. For $8.99 you are offered unlimited bowls of spaghetti (the first comes with a meatball), unlimited trips to the well stocked salad bar, rolls (on request) and a fountain drink with free refills. It is a really good value. What makes this exceptional is the quality behind the offer. The pasta is made in-house and in the spaghetti is a pile of long, thick and weighty egg noodles that taste fresh out of the kitchen. The sauce is made in-house. The meatball is made in-house. The rolls are not (or I think they are not) but they are piping hot, fresh, doughy and taste of butter without any added. And the spaghetti is served in a bowl – I can’t recall the last time I was served pasta in a bowl. The salad bar (as previously reported when I wrote about the pizza buffet) is no slouch with plenty of fresh choices and some comfort food classic like pasta salad (my favorite), chocolate pudding, cottage cheese and house made Italian dressing.
I hate to break the news to you, but the places in town that still offer you this much food that was truly made in the kitchen are few and far between and usually charge a lot more. For less than $10, this is an exceptional value. You can find this meal deal at the Iaconos on Kenny Road, I’m not sure if the other locations offer this on Mondays. For the record, I had one bowl of spaghetti which is not atypical, a fair number have two bowls and only a few make it to three.
CMH Gourmand - Eating in Columbus & Ohio 