Nonna's Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Shelby Charter Township

I was really looking forward to this place for some authentic Italian food, I wish that was what we got. First let me start of by saying the service was amazing, everyone that works there is extremely nice and this is in no way towards them, they are great people. But the food, has to be some of the worse food i’ve gotten served. We got the Nona’s combination pizza, the Carbonara, and one of their special pasta dishes. The pizza was basically inedible, the sausage and peppers were so rubbery that you can hear it squeak when it moves past your teeth like you would hear your sneakers sneak on a gym floor (no exaggeration) the cheese on it was so stretchy and does not break apart that it felt like it was plastic, you would choke if you didn’t chew for 3 minutes. The carbonara smelled good, but was terrible. With your fork you could pick up the whole dish of pasta in one go because of how dry it was, im assuming it was made earlier in the day and heated in the microwave because there is no way it was that bad, not to mention it was sitting in a pool of oil at the bottom. Their special pasta which i forgot its name came with sausage etc, equally as bad and inedible. We are the least pickiest eaters and we hate to judge food, but this was just...

Definitely worth the dinner out. A friend recommended Nonna's Italian Kitchen for dinner, by calling the restaurant out as serving, "The best lasagna I've had!" What he didn't know was that lasagna is my personal litmus test for any Italian restaurant. Which meant he was throwing down an irresistible gauntlet for me to take the Mrs. out to dinner.

We went out on the occasion of my birthday and it was well worth the 50 minute drive. I had a glass (or 2) of house red wine along with a delicious calamari appetizer and dinner. The waiter was very friendly and helpful and the service was timely. The lasagna was great, due to the remarkably fresh tomato sauce (the herbs in the sauce were distinctive and the tomato base tasted like it was just made. In tandem with the al dente pasta and interspersed cheese, it made for a truly enjoyable bite. The Mrs had a Gluten-free spaghetti option and found it delicious as well. Heck, the dinner salad was crisp and satisfying also.

This lasagna was definitely in my top 3, so I felt the birthday evening meal...

Pros- all of the food we ordered was awesome. We had excellent wood fired pizza, calamari, sausage and peppers, minestrone, Frutti Di Mar pasta (served hot with a ton of seafood) and Carbonara.

Cons- Some of the seating faces the west and I literally could have used some sunblock and sunglasses. Most windows have sun filtering blinds (not filtered enough). Still a bit too much for someone sitting facing the sun. I happened to be sitting facing an exit door that had no blinds whatsoever. Sun in my eyes until it set towards the end of our meal. Seems like something small but should definitely be addressed considering guest seating. Perhaps consider tinting the windows as well and adding blinds to the door. Server was nice but service was not great. Very slow, had to flag down the bussers for anything extra we needed (they were helpful). Took forever to get drinks, no water refills just overall not great. If they can nail down service, this Italian restaurant would be on par with Da’s...