A Great Place!

 

A perk of taking part in the News-Herald's Lighten-up contest is the generosity of the good folks at Cabana's Restaurant on Mentor Ave.

They have graciously offered FREE (as in F-R-E-E) dinners every Tuesday in February to participants.

The catch: must order from the Lean Menu.

My Lovely Bride and I had never been to Cabana's before. We decided to take them up on the deal.

Afterall, if we were still hungry, we pass a plethora of fast food places on Mentor Avenue on the way home to placate our protesting stomachs.

We were pleasantly surprised by the bright, cheerful Tropical colors and feel. Especially so on a typcial non-tropical Northeast Ohio February evening.

We were greeted warmly by a friendly hostess, who led us to a spacious table near the large window.

We were shortly greeted by our server; a very pleasant, cheerful young lady. We mentioned our trip as part of Lighten-up. Turns out, we were not alone! There were several other contestants in attendence as well.

We were directed to the "Lean Menu"... Uh Oh... I thought. Here it comes... canned tuna on a bed of iceburg lettuce with a limp wedge of tomatoe.

Was I ever wrong! There before us danced a dozen tempting chicken, seafood, and beef (YES!! BEEF) dishes. We actually had to wrestle with the choices before ordering; everything looked so good.

My Lovely Bride opted for the Pesto/Parmesan Filet (OF BEEF!! YES!!) with broccoli, and roasted red-skin potatoes. I chose the Shrimp Italiano, over linguine, served with a green bean, carrot and yellow bean medley.

Still... this was "lean" and "light" cuisine. Mine was only 450 calories. How good can it be?

Also, Lean and Light automatically connotate "dry, bland, b-o-r-i-n-g". After a few minutes our server arrived with a tray laden with 4 meals for the group of ladies seated behind us. Glancing over, this stuff looked pretty good.....

Soon, it was our moment.

As someone who is really hip would tweet             OHHH EMMM GEEE....

The filet was thick, juicy, done perfectly. The pesto and Parmasan provided a full, rich flavor that needed no additional salt or pepper. The (itty-bitty, teeny-weeny) taste I had was superb! I had to take my Lovely Bride's word that the potatoes were excellent, as I didn't get a chance to try those.

My shrimp were outstanding. Very, very flavorful, sauteed perfectly. The blending of flavors, spices, and white wine was exquisite. The linguine was al dente (my favorite), the veggies were very tasty, not bland or boring.

Pleased?? That is an understatement. We have a new Favorite Place, regardless of the day of the week.

I would encourage readers to visit Cabana's. Mike and Kelly Good will make certain your visit is memorable.

Oh yeah... we didn't visit any of the joints on Mentor Ave. We were quite satisfied. :)