Foodie Friday: Genova Italian Restaurant - Newton, KS
I first heard about Genova from a Facebook friend of mine who had gone
and wrote in his post that it was some of the best Italian food he had
ever had. Of course this immediately caught my attention. Italian food is
pretty much all carbs and fun making it one of my favorite foods and I
am always on the hunt for new Italian restaurants to try. So I grabbed my
bros, Adam and Justin, and the three of us went to give this supposedly
amazing restaurant a go.
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Location: 1021 Washington Rd, Newton, KS 67114
Hours:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday-Saturday: 11am-8pm
Sunday: 11am-2pm
cash/card accepted
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Pulling up to Genova it was nothing like I was expecting. The restaurant is located
in a strip mall right next to an insurance agency and a nail salon.
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We walked in through the door and were immediately greeted by a guy who seemed extremely
happy to be seating us. He led us to our table which sat towards the back wall of
the open room. The tables were all quite close to one another so conversations were
definitely not a private event. In fact it almost reminded me a bit of a school cafeteria.
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A waitress appeared very quickly after we sat down and took our drink orders. It was after
this that I got a scolding from both Adam and Justin. The restaurant didn’t have any
type of alcohol listed on the menu which apparently meant it was the end of the world.
They ended up both getting unsweet tea (well sweet tea for Justin because our
waitress got it wrong) instead which they begrudgingly drank while saying the
next place I bring them to better have alcohol. lol
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Along with our drinks they also brought out a basket of bread and an oil bread dip.
This bread was abso-freakin-lutely AMAZING. I honestly would go so far
as to say that it was better than Olive Garden breadsticks. I would go
back and eat just the bread if I could. 11/10 hands down.
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Next we were greeted by a guy who was actually our waiter for the
evening…I think. Lol All the workers at this restaurant seemed to help one
another out quite a bit and by the end of the night we had about 3 or 4 different
people come by to check on us. Our waiter took our food orders where Justin
ordered an appetizer of fried calamari and Antipasto De Mare, Adam ordered
the Stromboli, and I ordered the Tortellini ala Panna.
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Fried Calamari (A.K.A. the only way I will eat calamari lol)
Our calamari came out fairly quickly and Justin and I could not get over
the size of it. This portion was huge! Adam had actually never had calamari
before so we made him try one and well…he wasn’t a fan. But hey at least
he tried it. Lol Overall I thought the calamari was pretty good and I would
order it again especially if I went with a bigger group of people.
(This amount was a bit too much for just two of us.)
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Next came our main dishes.
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Stromboli
This stromboli was straight MASSIVE. The picture seriously doesn’t do it justice.
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On this week's episode of Man VS Food…
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Food won. Lol
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Adam said that his stromboli was good, but had too many mushrooms for his
liking. He ended up rating this beast an 8/10.
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Anitpasta De Mare
Apparently Justin didn’t get his seafood fix with our appetizer and needed
to order more. Lol This dish came with a wide array of seafood including
shrimp, mussels, calamari, scallops, and clams. In the end food critic Justin
said his dish was good and gave it a 9/10 rating.
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Tortellini ala Panna
The last of our main dishes was the Tortellini ala Panna. (A dish my brother
scoffed at because “it has no meat in it.” lol) Right off the bat I was surprised
to see different colored tortellini in the dish. I had no idea there was such a
thing! Lol Overall, I thought the tortellini was delicious and the sauce had
an amazing flavor and a perfect consistency. 9/10.
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Finally y’all know I can’t complete a restaurant food review
without trying a dessert as well so for this one I went with their
chocolate cheesecake.
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Chocolate Cheesecake
They brought the dessert out on a plate with three forks expecting my bros
to help me eat it. Each of them took one bite and then said you are on your
own. Crazy kids that don’t have a sweet tooth. Lol This cheesecake was definitely
rich. Perhaps maybe a little too rich even for me, the chocolate lover, but I still
thought it was pretty good (definitely best shared lol).
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The Menu
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Before I give my final ratings for Genova I want to include Adam
and Justin’s overall review as was given to me because…well..it just makes me laugh.
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Adam and Justin's Review
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Strike 1: No alcohol on menu
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Strike 2: Justin was given sweet tea instead of unsweet tea.
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Strike 3: NO ALCOHOL ON THE MENU.
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Clearly the alcoholics were a little upset they didn’t get to drink and
had to sit through a dinner with me sober. Lol In the end
Adam gave the restaurant a 7/10 and Justin gave it an 8/10.
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Genova Italian Restaurant - Amy's Final Stats
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Service: 7/10
Food: 10/10
Atmosphere: 7/ 10
Price: $$$
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Total Score: 8/10
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I wasn’t a huge fan of how close together all the tables were and
I have to admit they were a little on the pricey side. However, the
food, in my opinion, definitely lived up to the hype (especially that bread…I am
still dreaming about it. lol).
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