Fabiano’s (Revisited), Newnan, Georgia, June 12, 2015

I’ve been meaning to write this entry up for a week. I haven’t been avoiding it as much as I’ve just been a slug and haven’t been motivated to just sit down and do it…until now. So here goes…

We spent the evening in downtown Newnan at the Wined-up Newnan wine tasting event. Once we made the complete circuit we realized we were hungry and decided to see if any of the restaurants around the Court Square were still open. Rednexican and the Redneck Gourmet had already closed their kitchens but Fabiano’s Pizza was still open. Our decision was made.

We walked in, grabbed a table and checked out the menu. As I mentioned in my previous entry, Fabiano’s is one of our favorite places in town so me, ConnieLou and Ashley already had a pretty good idea what we wanted. Ashley’s friend Austin was a first-timer so it took him a few more minutes to decide. The server took our orders and brought our drinks and we kicked back discussed the merits of the wines we had tasted earlier…deep and thoughtful conversation…or not.

This time around we stuck to the things that Fabiano’s does best. ConnieLou and I both had pizza, a couple of slices of groundbeef and pepperoni for me and a slice of Hawaiian for ConnieLou. Ashley and Austin chose the calzones, ground beef in Ashley’s and chicken and mushrooms in Austin’s.

Our orders arrived and the deep and thoughtful conversation died as we dug in. We may have been a little hungrier than we realized.

So how did Fabiano’s rank on the Thumbs Scale this time around? WE gave it a combined 7 ½ thumbs. Much better. For New York-style pizza, calzones, strombolis and hot sammichs Fabianos is by far the best in town.

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Starting Fresh – Fabiano’s Pizza, Newnan Georgia, March 28, 2014

I got this wild hair to start a new blog. In past years, usually while on vacation, I started posting informal restaurant reviews on my old PopperBlog. The PopperBlog is gone now and rather than posting restaurant reviews on my Get Out! Blog, I simply created another. Hey, basic WordPress is free, so why not?!

So how’s this blog going to work and what will make it different from others? First of all, this won’t be a high falutin’ food blog. Anyone that’s read my other blogs knows this already. It’s simply going to be my opinions, thoughts and impressions and those of my family and even a few friends. For ratings we’ll use a simple ‘thumbs-up/thumbs-down system’ . Each person contributing to the rating gets two thumbs to vote with. Say for instance I’m eating by myself, two thumbs up is really good, two thumbs down really sucks and anything is possible in between.

For anyone expecting a new post every week and Nat Geo-quality photos, and food descriptions that involve ‘hints of whatever’, and a lot of description of ambiance and decor…you’re gonna be disappointed. Also, don’t expect reviews of national chain restaurants. One Longhorn’s location tastes pretty much like the next . Independent restaurants and some local chains will get my attention (yes, I’ll get to The Varsity sooner or later). If you’re simply expecting honest opinions, maybe a little humor and an occasional photo or two, then I hope you enjoy your time here.

So let’s get this party started…

I sort of hate to write this entry. Fabiano’s in Newnan is a favorite pizza joint of ours and has been for a few years now. After a bit of a crazy day at work and a general lack of energy to cook anything, we decided to Eat Out! I suggested Fabiano’s and the idea was readily accepted by Jenna and ConnieLou.

As expected on a Friday night, the place was pretty well filled but we lucked up and got a table right away. We ordered drinks, passed on appetizers and after a bit, ordered our food. Normally we all just order a couple of slices of pizza but this time we changed things up a bit. This time around ConnieLou ordered a slice of pizza and a house side salad, Jenna chose lasagna and a spinach side salad and me, I went with wings and fries.

ConnieLou and Jenna opted to get their salads ahead of the rest of their orders. Both salads disappeared along with the cups of dressing so I got the impression that they were pretty good. Since it’s really pretty hard to screw up a salad, let’s move on.

Some time later, meaning a lot later, the rest of our food arrived, piping hot and looking good and after the wait, we were filled with anticipation.

ConnieLou said her pizza was good as usual. Too bad we can’t just stop there. According to Jenna her lasagna was dry and with the exception of the sauce poured over the top, didn’t have a lot of flavor. As for my wings and fries…well… The wings, like the lasagna, just didn’t have a lot of flavor unless you were just looking for the flavor of fried chicken wings without much addition from the hot sauce or whatever flavoring they’re using. I also got the impression that they weren’t drained quite long enough after coming out of the fryer. Not my idea of good hot wings. As for the fries…there was nothing wrong with the fries but nothing special about them either.

Tonight’s service surprised us as much as the food. The long wait between the time we placed our orders and the time our food (even the salads) arrived was highly unusual, even for a busy Friday night. I probably could have overlooked the wait had our server not been seemingly trying to rush us along. I think tonight was the first time I’ve ever been offered a to-go cup of my beverage before I’d actually finished my meal. Again, highly unusual…we’ve never had bad service there that I recall.

So what was Fabiano’s thumbs rating? How about 2 ½ out of a possible six. Again, this really hurts since Fabiano’s has long been one of our favorite places to go. What’s the moral to this story? While trying new things is good, sometimes it’s best to stick with what a restaurant does best…in this case, pizza. Hey, one usually doesn’t go to Waffle House to order steak and a baked potato, right?