Food Feature: Garlic orgy

I’m a sucker for a friendly restaurant. Charm, conviviality and a conscientious wait staff can overcome many a flaw in what comes from the kitchen. Herein lies Dominick’s popularity, and the suburban crowd has been beating a path to this Old Norcross spot since it opened in 1994.

On a recent spring night we joined the crowd: dozens of family groups, couples and the ubiquitous springtime coveys of prom-bound teenagers. After a 40-minute wait, we sat at a table near the cavernous restaurant’s front door, in prime position for prom fashion viewing.

Having rattled off the specials, our affable waiter managed to suggest the ideal wine despite our vague mumblings. Dominick’s wine list is simple, serviceable and heavily Californian, posted for the convenience of all on two walls (as is the menu). A full bar and a decent selection of beers is also available for oenophobes.

We started with a full portion (most dinner items are available as full or half servings, the full size easily feeding two to four) of the gorgonzola salad (half $6, full $9), chopped romaine lettuce tossed in a vinaigrette with red onion rings and gorgonzola cheese, a savory, crunchy and wholly satisfying beginning to the meal. Alongside, we tried Dominick’s signature garlic bread (half $3, full $6), an Italian loaf slathered in oil, topped with thin garlic slices and heated. Order this bread if you want a serious garlic orgy, complete with warm olive oil in which to dip your bread.

Of the appetizers here, the calamari (half $6.95, full $11.95) is usually reliable, well-breaded with a nice texture, not too chewy or soggy. However, we were not thrilled with the day’s special appetizer, shrimp cakes served with a strange, alleged balsamic-vinegar reduction with the taste and texture of applesauce. This, combined with the shrimp cakes themselves, which were overly salty, fishy and dry, kept me from eating more than a bite.

Among Dominick’s entrees, we’ve had more luck with simple items like the penne with sausage, white beans and spinach (half $8.95, full $14.95). The chunks of pork sausage mixed with the varying textures of the greens, pasta and beans in a chicken stock, along with fresh garlic slivers, make for a pleasing, mildly spicy combination — quintessential Italian comfort food. The linguini with calamari, clams and mussels in red sauce (half $12.95, full $20.95) could use a bit of livening, perhaps with the addition of some red pepper, but it works well enough, with fresh-tasting and plentiful seafood heaped atop the huge plate.

We were disappointed with a special ($16.95), two chicken breast halves stuffed with mozzarella cheese, baby shrimp and spinach, then breaded, fried and served atop garlic mashed potatoes with a wine sauce. The chicken — oozy, cheesy stuffing and all — was completely and inexplicably dominated by the distinct flavor of Old Bay seasoning with its celery salt wallop. Although it was a huge quantity of food, it was still hard to pay nearly $17 for something that hit all the wrong notes.

Despite some disappointments with the kitchen, we’re always impressed with Dominick’s staff. On our last visit, when the kitchen got one of our party’s order out of sequence, our waiter insisted on buying her choice of dessert — chocolate mousse ($3.95) in this case, chocolaty and rich but not a whole lot better than something you could buy ready-made at the grocery store. Water glasses get refilled quickly, and seemingly everyone who works there stops by to check up on things.??