Date Night at Cariera’s Cucina Italiana | Dearborn Restaurant Review – Michigan

I’m a big fan of pasta! One of the things that I love doing with my boyfriend is trying new restaurants, especially when they’re italian. In 2019, we had found this amazing restaurant in Royal Oak, MI on Woodward called Pasquale’s Family Restaurant. When I tell you guys I fell in love with them and was saddened to find out the same day that we went there for the first time.. that they were closing their restaurant for good. I was so disappointed because that was some of the most tastiest italian food. Ever since then, we haven’t really been to an italian restaurant until recently.

But a month ago I told my boyfriend that I was in the mood for Italian food and he figured we’d visit the restaurant, Cariera’s Cucina Italiana in Dearborn, Michigan.

So today, I figured I would share with you guys our return to Italian food and our experience at Cariera’s Cucina Italiana in Dearborn.

Date Night at Cariera’s Cucina Italiana | Dearborn Restaurant Review – Michigan

The Ambience

This was our first time in awhile visiting a restaurant for a date night with everything going on with la rona. The atmosphere of the restaurant definitely gave me classy, but family restaurant vibes. There were photos of different famous Italian people on the wall where we sat and the way the restaurant was designed reminded me of movies I’ve seen before where there were subtle cracks in the brick wall, but it definitely seemed like it was placed there by design to give the restaurant more of an authentic vibe. I also loved hearing the Italian music play in the background.

The Service

So I have to mention this.. we were the only black people in the restaurant when we went, but everyone was very friendly and kind.

Our waiter was amazing. He gave us recommendations of foods to try and he was helpful when it came to us having any questions that we’d need answered about the menu. There were also other people who worked there that kept our glasses filled and were very polite to us when they interacted with us.

The Food

We of course ordered an appetizer. I ended up choosing bruschetta. Bruschetta is Italian bread toasted with olive oil and it came with diced tomatoes and fresh basil that was meant for putting on top of the bruschetta. We also had the choice of adding mozzarella to it which of course I did because I love cheese.

When I tell you guys, it was one of the best things that I’ve ever tasted in my life. The bread tasted like pure love with the melted mozzarella on top and the diced tomatoes with the basil… I don’t know what they did to it, but it tasted so delicious! I could honestly eat bruschetta every freaking day!

They gave us both salads and I don’t know how… but the lettuce and tomatoes tasted so fresh for some reason. I really liked the dressing I chose which was I want to say the house dressing. The salad also had chickpeas in it which normally I’m not fond of, but it tasted decent in the salad. I’ve never had chickpeas in salad before so it was an interesting experience.

As for the actual dinner meals, my boyfriend had the Lobster fettucine & I decided to be adventurous by ordering the Pollo Salsiccia.

The Lobster Fettucine came with spinach fettucine sauteed in lobster cream sauce with roasted red peppers, topped with toasted bread crumbs.

My boyfriend said that he liked it, but that he’d definitely try something else the next time we visited there.

The pollo salsiccia came with chicken strips, Italian sausage, and scallions, tossed with linguine pasta. I had the choice to choose between the olive oil and garlic sauce or the parmesan and cream sauce. I chose the parmesan and cream sauce.

I really liked the pasta with the chicken strips and scallions. It tasted scrumptious, but I definitely could have did without the Italian sausage. It was something about it that I didn’t personally like. Honestly I think it could be the fact that I’m so used to processed meats. The sausage didn’t taste salty enough for me and there was something about the texture that I didn’t care for. However, I pushed the sausage to the side and ate the rest of the pollo salsiccia which was pretty good.

As for the dessert, I was kind of disappointed because on their menu online it shows that they have chocolate cake on their dessert menu… but when I ordered it, they said they didn’t have chocolate cake. I suppose they just need to update the menu online.

Do I recommend eating at Cariera’s Cucina Italiana in Dearborn, Michigan?

I definitely would! The experience was delightful. I know the next time we go there, I plan on just trying out some plain chicken alfredo. I also have my eyes on the pizza and the steaks they serve as well so I’ll definitely be trying those in the near future. If you guys are interested in checking out Cariera’s Cucina Italiana, here are their menus. It is one of the best Italian restaurants in Dearborn, Michigan. Give them a try today!