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Name Of Establishment	Me-N-Eds Pizza Pastaria
Address:	2160 Pacheco Blvd suite A
Phone Number:	209-826-9049
Website:	Corporate Website
Prices:	Moderate +
Date Of Review:	June 17, 2006
Check out the Official Merced County Health Inspection of this Restaurant - If that link isn't working try this link (note: these links are slow to load)
Our Overall Numeric Rating
Summation Opinion: A good place for a nice meal, pleasant but unpretentious atmosphere.

We didn't expect Me-n-Ed's Pizza Pastaria to be anything but just another pizza place, but we were wrong! Me-n-Ed's Pizza Pastaria turned out to be a pleasant dining experience with a touch of flair and good food that is NOT just pizza.

On June 17th, 2006 we went to Me-n-Ed's on Pacheco Blvd (Highway 152) in Los Banos. This is NOT the Me-n-Ed's that is towards the West side of town with Wal-Mart, but rather is on the same road but on the East end of town near Food 4 Less and The Grapevine. In fact the Grapevine and this Me-N-Eds Pastaria are in the same shopping center.

The interior was nice and cool giving us a welcome break from the June heat outside, The decor is decidedly more upscale than the Me-N-Eds that's is a couple miles down the road. There is fake stone facing that goes up a wall and adorns a fireplace that I imagine will be lit in the winter. A number of flat screen TV's hang from the top part of the wall in easy view and each one has different programming playing on it. Thankfully for diners the sound is turned off but they do have the subtitle text turned on so you can follow the game or news or whatever is on the screen. We also noted a number of colorful and entertaining murals adorned the walls.

When you enter the restaurant it's almost immediately apparent that pizza isn't the only thing on the menu as there is a message board posted explaining this fact.

It is a "nice" place; not too informal, but not so formal that you'd not want to bring your kids. We actually thought it was very pleasant and an all around comfortable atmosphere. It has a slightly "trendy" feel but probably not so much to put off those who are ... how to phrase this... yuppie averse.

We were seated at a table near the back (there are also booths) and proceeded to look over the menu. There are plenty of good Italian food choices with a variety of chicken, meat, and pasta dishes - and yes, you CAN order pizza!

I decided on the chicken fettuccine alfredo and my husband ordered a personal pizza and a trip to the salad bar. I asked for mushrooms to be added to my order and my request was taken without any hesitation. We were very pleased to note that there was not a 'nickel and dime' mentality here. The mushrooms came without an extra charge.

As we waited for our food we were served some warm herbed French bread with a little bowl of soft butter. Our server was more than happy to bring us extra of both which was good because we plowed through the warm and tasty basket of bread rather quickly. My husband was given a good-sized salad bowl and went over to the salad bar. He came back with a great looking salad. The salad bar is well stocked and is maintained properly so that it is clean and appetizing. It is well worth the extra $2.50, if you are in the mood for some greens.. Our sodas were perfect and refilled promptly when they got low without our having to flag our waitress down.

So far we were not disappointed and when our food came, we continued to be pleased. My husband's pizza was great (of course I sampled it); they didn't skimp on the toppings. My chicken alfredo was delicious, with plenty of large chunks of tender chicken and just the right amount of garlic to add a subtle tang. It was served in a fairly large bowl by itself. The staff forgot my extra mushrooms, but I didn't want to bother and we decided to not mention it. It would have been nice to get something extra with my meal like a salad or vegetable, but that was not offered (unless you want to pay extra, as my husband did for his salad). Still, at 6.99 for what I ended up with, I'm not complaining - much.

The service was excellent, except for a lag towards the end. That was a little bothersome, but our waitress has been so friendly and terrific the rest of the time, it was easier for me to "overlook".

Me-N-Eds has several desserts to choose from like Tiramisu and cheesecake in addition to the chocolate cake that tempted us. Sadly however both of us were so stuffed from bread and salad that there were leftovers from the main course to take home. We decided to get some of their chocolate cake to take home too, but were told they were out.

Me-n-Ed's Pizza Pastaria was an enjoyable evening out. It had its mild 'misses' with the missing of the mushroom addition and the subtle decline in the service at the end but all in all it was a real nice experience. We have been back and enjoyed their reasonably priced lunch special which was also very good. It's nice to have a middle-end Italian dining option in town with great food and reasonable prices (our total bill for two was 23.00). We left totally satisfied and will definitely be back again.

Specific Opinions By Reviewer One
Overall Rating :
Food:
Service:	Tapered off at the end
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:		Not Observed
Romance Factor:
Family Friendliness:

Specific Opinions By Reviewer Two
Overall Rating :
Food:
Service:	Excellent until the end
Decor:	Fun and colorful
Price/Value:	Excellent Lunch Specials
Bathroom Cleanliness:		Not Observed
Romance Factor:
Family Friendliness:

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More About Our Los Banos Restaurant Reviews

In this section, the staff of Our Los Banos .com shares our personal opinions on the restaurants that we patronize in the City of Los Banos. We would like to stress that we are not professional reviewers, that we have had little or no training in the food arts, and that we are simply expressing our own personal views and opinions on particular visits that we made to the establishments under consideration.

Subjectivity. We make no pretense of the fact that we are not objective. As with art, food is a subjective experience subject to personal opinion and even whim. Some people love a particular artist's work while others can not stand what is put on canvas. Picasso comes to mind. Similarly people's appreciation for a particular chef's abilities are uniquely their own. While our tastes are very eclectic and we enjoy a tremendous variety of different types of food, we do not expect our readers will agree with all of our opinions and views. We DO encourage our readers to try each of the places that we have reviewed and then you can discuss (politely and in a positive fashion) your experiences and opinion of our review in the Los Banos Forum section.

Merced County Health Food Facility Inspections Site

Finally, we strongly encourage our readers to make use of a truly wonderful online resource we discovered last year. Merced County has put together a very cool Food Facility Inspection website which discloses the results of the County Health Department's last few inspections of each restaurant. The results are sometimes quite fascinating and are always interesting. Beware however you may not want to eat at certain places once you read some of the more dramatic entries. We at Our Los Banos .com very much appreciate and support the county of Merced putting these Department of Health food facility inspections online for the public to see.

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