PRIMO >>>
Chef Charlie McManus and Jacqueline Plattner raised the bar for Tacoma restaurants when they opened the critically acclaimed Mediterranean-ish Primo Grill in October 1999. And after more than 10 years of dining at Primo - each visit including three or four nightly specials that plants a Bill Cosby Jell-O pudding look of ecstasy on my face - nine times out of 10 I'll order their famous Bolognese pasta dish instead.
Just writing this plants that look on my face.
Their classic Tuscan ragu is sweetened with carrots and onions, packed with ground beef and then ladled over the perfect amount of al dente spaghetti. It's not always easy to get a lot of flavor out of a sauce as complex as the ragu; Primo certainly nails it, especially adding chunkier garlic pieces. Not drowning the pasta and sprinkling Parmesan instead of coating the dish pays off, too.
The perfect ratio of ingredients is the key to this dish's success: It's a well-balanced stunner that would grace any Tuscan's table.
4-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday
4-11 p.m. Friday, 5-11 p.m. Staurday, 4:40-9 p.m. Sunday
601 S. Pine, Tacoma
253.383.7000