Growing up in an Italian household you quickly learn there are certain things that are sacred; and, in the food realm the most sacred things are your mother’s gravy (although most people know it as sauce) and meatballs. That’s why Alicia and I were excited to try a new restaurant in town focused on these two Italian favorites.
Mima’s Meatballs & More at 18 Mill Plain Road is family owned and operated by Rob Atkinson and his mom Patty.
Right off the bat, we loved the décor of this fast casual spot. It’s black and white with a clean modern style. You can do take-out but there are plenty of tables to eat in. After you order at the counter with mom, Rob gets to work in the kitchen.
The menu has a lot of choices from traditional and mini meatballs to wedges, sliders and pizza fritte to salads, soup and side dishes. They offer an array of sauces for the mini-meatballs from straight up marinara to fun options like sweet and sour or buffalo. You can also get turkey meatballs and there are a few paleo-friendly options too.
We both ordered mini meatball meals – you get your choice of 3, 6 or 10 mini meatballs and pizza fritte plus a drink. Alicia went with the 3-mini meal and I went with the 6-mini. We chose classic marinara for both the meatballs and the pizza fritte, but Rob was kind enough to let us also sample buffalo and sweet and sour.
Before we get to how it all tasted, we loved the presentation. The mini meatballs were served in black mini take-away containers. I would never use the word “cute” but they were in fact cute.
So, what’s the taste verdict? Well, don’t tell my mom but these meatballs rival her own. They were meaty but not heavy with lots of garlic flavor. The marinara was on the thicker side so it clung well to the meatballs and had a nice tomato taste. I’m not a fan of sweet tomato gravy and this one was just the right balance.
The sweet and sour sauce was nice and tangy, but both Alicia and I really loved the buffalo sauce. It was spicy with a touch of blue cheese and the meatball is the perfect delivery system.
As for the pizza fritte, what’s not to like about fried dough. It was crisp and not too greasy. We saw they also offer a dessert version of pizza fritte with sauce options like nutella, powered sugar, chocolate or peanut butter. Now that just sounds like amazing sweet comfort.
When we asked Rob what was the inspiration for Mima’s he said it was all the comfort food of his childhood. His grandmother and mother would always whip up a pizza fritte for him as an after school snack. It just made sense to start there. So while he created his own modern takes on meatballs and sides, it all goes back to family. The gravy and traditional meatball recipes came all the way from Calabria with grandma.
All in all it was a great quick lunch. If you’re in the area I definitely recommend stopping in for a quick meatball fix. I know I’ll be back for more meatballs … just don’t tell my mom.
Mima’s Meatballs & More is located at 18 Mill Plain Road in Danbury. For more information call 203-300-5838 or visit www.mimasmeatballsandmore.com.
Photos by Renato Ghio
Labels: danbury, restaurants
