The Verbatim staff chose to visit Malara’s Italian Restaurant for our final restaurant review of the 2021-2022 school year. This restaurant was chosen last minute. Our first choice was to go to a vegan restaurant, but we all decided that we were craving Italian food. Since we had not yet been to an Italian restaurant, we wanted to find one that would befit the theme and also was locally owned. After searching on Yelp, we discovered Malara’s, which none of us had heard of before, and that fact enhanced our excitement.

During lunch period, the Verbatim staff drove downtown to Malara’s. Because it was located downtown, parking was relatively difficult and required a bit of a walk in the rain. However, the drive was short and easy. Once inside, we got seated right away as Malara’s had just opened. There was one hostess who was also the only server. Despite this, she moved quickly and diligently. We never waited long when ordering or receiving our food. They offered a half plate and a full dinner of each meal for all and offered a variety of Italian food options. The meals were large, and most of us needed to get a to-go box to take them home. The scenery complimented the restaurant nicely as there were green vines and statues surrounding the walls. The restaurant may not be as well known as some other Italian places in town, but we promise that you won’t be disappointed if you visit this local establishment tucked into one of Omaha’s oldest and most picturesque neighborhoods

Calvin: Before getting our main course, we were greeted with complimentary bread for all of us. I thought that the bread was very soft and delicious. I chose to try the cheese pizza because I wanted to go with a classic Italian dish. I was pretty surprised that it was a full pizza, not just a slice, but the pizza was not that large. There were four small slices of pizza. When I first tasted it, there was a lot of sauce under the cheese, which I thought was a little off-balanced.

Kidman: I got the carbonara. I ordered the half dish and thought the meal was filling. The crispy bacon complemented the noodles well. I liked the butter sauce, but I thought there was too much butter where the sauce was overwhelming. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the carbonara but wished I had ordered the chicken alfredo.

Kate: I got spaghetti with meat sauce and mozzarella cheese sticks as an appetizer. The cheese sticks had great cheese and filled me quickly, which caused me to need to take half of my regular meal home. The main meal was very filling, and I got a lot of food for the price. The meat sauce was delicious and covered all the spaghetti.

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