East Side Mario's

East Side Mario's, of course, is Canada's answer to the Olive Garden, so it's not as though I can realistically expect them to make brilliant food.  But a lunch pasta there is not much food, comes with a single small loaf of salty, slightly garlicky, over-buttered bread, and costs $15 with tax and tip, even with just water to drink. 

We go there with co-ops because it's affordable, if not cheap, and inoffensive.  They let us order in advance.  They cope just fine with having a dozen guests at once. 

But I still don't quite get why I pay as much as I do.  Last year, they had a cancer fundraiser where you could buy a box of pasta from them for $5 and they'd give the rest to a breast cancer charity, and it turns out they use De Cecco pasta.  Which is great (and is the kind I use at home), but, well, I still don't see why my little bowl of pasta with 4 mussels and a couple shrimp or scallops is worth $11.50+tax+tip.

I had: seafood linguine lunch special, water to drink.
I paid: $15 with tax and tip.
Verdict:
Speed: neither fast nor slow.  Pretty fast given that we order in advance
Quality: okay?  Kind of generic.  High on the salt.  Fish not bad, decent tomato flavour.  Mostly, just banal.
Value: Not really good.  Did I eat more than $2 worth of food?  Why is this a $15 lunch?
Would go back: I will, but not because I wanted to.