{"id":24800,"date":"2022-04-12T16:40:45","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T16:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=24800"},"modified":"2022-04-12T16:40:45","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T16:40:45","slug":"divas-discover-santinos-steak-and-pasta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=24800","title":{"rendered":"Divas Discover Santino’s Steak and Pasta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dining Divas Discover an Amazing
\nItalian Restaurant at Alton Square<\/h1>\n
\"\"
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lisa Kampeter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was hesitant with my choice for our latest Dining Divas. I could hear the complaints.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s too far of a drive.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s too much like a chain restaurant.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not the quality of Italian I\u2019m used to.\u201d
\nAs a matter of fact, I picked the restaurant as a joke, or actually, as a \u201cfake\u201d restaurant for our last Divas outing. Throwing off the Pregnant Diva, I picked a \u201cfake\u201d restaurant last month on a \u201cfake\u201d date but actually surprised her with a shower at a totally different location on a totally different day.
\nSo when I asked the group where we should go for our next real Dining Divas, they said \u201cwhy not the \u2018fake\u2019 restaurant?\u201d And we did. To my surprise, there were no complaints.
\nWe headed to the Alton Square Mall, and adjacent to Red Lobster sits Santino\u2019s Steak and Pasta. First of all, Mariah, our waitress, was amazing. She was pleasant, patient and very friendly, and the staff made us sincerely feel welcome and grateful that we were there.
\nSecondly, the food itself exceeded even the Italian Diva\u2019s expectations. And more importantly, the evening was relaxing and drama free.
\nWe tried the Meatballs Tom Tom (pork meatballs with cheese and marinara) and Lasagna Fritta (fried lasagna as we called it), and they were very tasty. After the appetizers, salads and bread, we probably could have stopped there, but we didn\u2019t.
\nChoosing our entr\u00e9es wasn\u2019t easy as there were so many great choices. Not being able to make up her mind, the Indecisive Diva ordered dinner for later in the week as well as her meal that night. If only I\u2019d done the same!
\nThe Santino\u2019s Chicken with lemon, butter, and capers was delicious as were the Broiled Scallops. The Picky Diva was pleased with her vermicelli and basic marinara sauce. Those who had trouble deciding went with the Italian Feast (cheese lasagna, meat lasagna, vermicelli and meatballs). Most of the entr\u00e9es and pastas were all served with soup or salad, and many of the meals also had a potato with them. And the prices were so reasonable.
\nThe eggplant parmesan stirred up a debate. A couple Finicky Divas strongly disapproved of being pressured into trying it, even though everyone said it was excellent. The name alone was why one of them refused to eat it. Egg. Plant. Not a good combination, in her eyes. However, one Diva said it was the best she\u2019d ever had.
\nAnd of course, we had to try dessert, and the chocolate cake did not disappoint.
\nSantino\u2019s is far from a chain restaurant, and it has a family-feel appeal. The traditional Italian dishes were excellent, and I\u2019ve said several times since going, \u201cwe need to go back there.\u201d For the North County Divas, restaurants in Alton are a good option being just across the river, and Santino\u2019s is definitely one to try out. And it\u2019s not faking it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dining Divas Discover an Amazing Italian Restaurant at Alton Square I was hesitant with my choice for our latest Dining Divas. I could hear the complaints. \u201cIt\u2019s too far of a drive.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s too much like a chain restaurant.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s not the quality of Italian I\u2019m used to.\u201d As a matter of fact, I picked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,9,11,13,15,40],"tags":[1387,556,1386],"class_list":["post-24800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alton","category-columnists","category-dining-out","category-entertainment-travel","category-features","category-il","tag-alton-square","tag-lisa-kampeter","tag-santinos-steak-and-pasta","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nDivas Discover Santino's Steak and Pasta - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=24800\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Divas Discover Santino's Steak and Pasta - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dining Divas Discover an Amazing Italian Restaurant at Alton Square I was hesitant with my choice for our latest Dining Divas. 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