I think this is the oldest post in my draft folder   Oops!  Weeks ago when I was in the DC area, I got together with my mom, brother, and sister-in-law.  I really wanted italian and the Tysons Corner area is a great place to meet up so they met me at Brio for dinner.  At Tysons, there are a number of restaurants accessible only from inside the mall.  Relatively speaking, I think the restaurants did a great job of designing their restaurants to look like they’re not in a mall!

Of course there was the complimentary bread basket.  I love having real butter with my bread!

Growing up, my sister and brother loved calamari.  It’s ordered at least 50% of the time it’s on the menu.  This night was no different!  It came with a spicy sauce (if I remember correctly).  Unfortunately, there appeared to be a lot of filler on the platter, but the calamari pieces we found were enjoyable.

I had the Penne Mediteranean – penne pasta with mushrooms, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, carmalized onions, Feta, pine nuts, and olive oil.  I LOVE it It’s turned into one of my go-to items on the Brio menu.

At the time, Brio was offering a special on weeknights I believe – 3 courses for maybe $30? $20? Whatever it was, it was quite reasonable and offered a salad, an entree, and a dessert (in a shot glass – quite cute).  The rest of the family did that and were all very happy with their choices.  Brio also has great salads when you’re looking for something lighter!