Fazoli's — Restaurant in Mount Vernon

This location was struggling a bit on the day we were there! We ordered a family order of Fettuccine Alfredo. Several of the noodles were cooked poorly and were hard and clumped together. When they brought our food to the table, they forgot plates, no big deal, they went back and got some. But when i went to get silverware for our table (2 adults and 2 children), there were literally only 4 forks and 3 knives (2 of which were dirty!) So we all shared one knife. That wasn't really a problem, but we noticed that the whole time we were there, they NEVER refilled the silverware!! There were also only 8 napkins... 2 paper napkins per person at our table... did i mention one of them was only 5? Have you ever seen a 5 year old eat fettuccine Alfredo and only need 2 cheap, paper napkins? 🤣🤣 They also never came around to see if we needed anything else... including breadsticks... which we definitely needed more of. I could understand all of these situations if they were busy, but they were not. 2 tables were occupied when we arrived, and 2 more sets of customers came in while we were there. So the busiest they were the whole time we were there was a total of 5 tables occupied. Hopefully, it was just an "off"...

In Houston, I had heard amazing things about this place.

When I got to Mt. Vernon, IL, my girlfriend told me she thought Fazoli's was horrible. But that was 10 years ago.

Today I took her there. This place is an oasis in the desert of mediocrity that characterizes Mt. Vernon restaurants, as unfortunate as that is.

For the fast-food price, this place is a first-rate Italian restaurant.

I feel quite lucky that I live across the street.

There are only three restaurants in Mt. Vernon that I consider to be great restaurants.

Fazoli's is the best restaurant in this town for the money.

The price is right, the service is polite and fast, and the food is second to none.

Go there. You really owe it to yourself.

You'll stand a good chance of seeing me there.

I plan on several visits a month.

But don't believe me just because I said so.

You...

This was my first time at a Fazoli's. I always avoided them, the funny name and the idea of drive thru Italian made me think it would be low quality. I'm glad I finally decided to give it a shot. The staff was friendly, and dining room was clean. The spicy penne with chicken was actually pretty spicy, and the overall flavor was good. I wish they had bleu cheese dressing for the salads, and I would have preferred the spinach leaves be mixed into the pasta while it was being prepared rather than pressed against the bottom of the plate beneath the pasta. Breadsticks were a little too soft on one side in my opinion, but again, the flavor was good. Very minor cons. It's good to know I have another safe option for food when I'm...