Pomodoro’s Provides Delicious Value
By Becky Billingsley
Most Myrtle Beach visitors enjoy knowing about great neighborhood restaurants that are a little off the regularly traveled routes and provide fine meals at fair prices, and Pomodoro's is a delicious example.
Pomodoro's special Monday-Wednesdays happy hour with free food lures in many diners. On those three days, from 4-7 p.m., a small buffet table offers fresh hot foods. The choices change, but examples are Baked Ziti or Penne with roasted garlic and mushroom cream sauce.
That balanced and flavorful roasted garlic sauce is a good example of the saucier skills of the Pomodoro's chef, Nicholas Emmons. Through the years his tasteful repertoire of excellent sauces has grown, and that talent is evident throughout the Pomodoro's menu.
Chef Emmons' creative tastefulness is also apparent in discounted happy hour appetizers such as Bruschetta, where half the crunchy crostini are topped with cold diced marinated tomatoes, and the remaining pieces have cold marinated mushroom slices. The plate is drizzled with olive oil, and on a hot afternoon each savory mouthful is a refreshing walk through a dewy herb garden.
After a delightful start to your meal at the bar, you can move to the dining room for dinner. Pomodoro's has an exceptionally attractive decor with brick walls and arches, high ceilings with interesting architectural drop-downs and contrasting textures and colors, Italian countryside murals, gleaming hardwoods, wrought iron touches and terra cotta tiled roof overhangs. Dining areas are on different heights and have varying ambiance, and the staff is skilled at seating with deftness so families with small children can dine comfortably without worrying about disturbing other tables.
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Anyone with a mind for economical dining choices would appreciate Pomodoro's Family Value Menu. There are five entree selections for $10 each; five for $11; and five for $12, and they all come with bread and a house salad.
We tried Tilapia Piccata for $11, and Mussels Marinara for $12. In both cases we received generous portions and fantastic flavors. Once again Chef Emmons' sauces made us ecstatic; the lemon caper sauce on the piccata was tangy without being bitter, and it's obvious his savory marinara is crafted with much time and skill.
Other choices on the Family Value Menu include Chicken Alfredo, Eggplant Parmesan, Baked Lasagna, Orecchiette with Broccolini and Sausage, and Penne Diablo with sausage, bacon, tomatoes and garlic with a spicy tomato cream sauce.
The regular menu offers appetizers like Stuffed Mushrooms and Baked Marinated Artichokes; and the soup and salad section lists choice recipes such as Spinach Salad and Pasta e Fagioli.
Pasta lovers can customize an entree. They start by choosing a pasta shape: orecchiette, penne, fettuccine, linguine, angel hair or spaghetti. Next comes the sauce selection: marinara, Alfredo, garlic and oil, vodka or Bolognese; and then there are add-on possibilities including sausage, meatballs, chicken and jumbo shrimp.
Chicken and veal can be prepared in a variety of methods such as Marsala or Sicilian with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, mushroom and artichokes in a Chianti demi-glace. A few seafood recipes include the seafood stew called Cioppino, Linguine and Clams, and Shrimp Scampi.
Steaks and chops are grilled to order, and Pomodoro's signature dishes include Chicken and Spinach Cannelloni, Baked Ricotta and Fontina Manicotti, and Chicken Maria with pesto, fried eggplant, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and tomato demi-glace.
Pomodoro's is at 364 Robert M. Grissom Parkway in Myrtle Beach, and the number is 843-626-3161. It's open from 4-10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
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