Avanti Bar & Grill
13509 Highland Park Blvd.
avantibarandgrill.com
254-5200

It’s an upscale stop just outside the chaos that is Quail Springs Mall. If carbs are on the menu for the evening, Avanti offers Milanese chicken with artichoke hearts and olives over linguine, marinara and herbed ricotta and Parmesan. A bit lighter is the lemoncello artichoke chicken, a penne pasta dish with sautéed veggies.


Mr. Pho
1133 NW 23rd St.
525-7692

Obviously, the pho is delicious, but don’t visit without taste-testing one of the Vietnamese vermicelli bowls. The bun tom nuong, a vermicelli bowl featuring charbroiled shrimp, is fresh and full of flavor. Start the meal with the shrimp roll, which comes complete with housemade peanut sauce for dipping.

Gaberino’s Homestyle Italian Restaurant
283 34th Ave. SW, Norman
310-2229

It’s small, and everything is made from scratch. Enjoy its new fall menu, which features butternut squash soup garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds to start. For the pasta, try its baked pumpkin rigatoni, complete with house-made pasta in a creamy pumpkin sauce, or its sweet potato and roasted chicken ravioli.

Phobulous Noodle & Grill
3409 S. Broadway, Edmond
phobulousedmond.com
475-5599

A
meal of comfort food is neck and neck between soup and a big bowl of
pho. In celebration of World Pasta Day, go for the noodles! Start with
spring rolls or Asian chicken skewers and head right into the main
event: the pho. It serves seafood, beef, pork, chicken and vegetarian
phos.

Chow’s Chinese Restaurant
3033 N. May Ave.
949-1663

Authenticity is the name of the food game here. Try its vermicelli, ho fun (a
flat rice noodle) or lo mein. Get the broccoli beef or snow peas and
chicken served with house-made crunchy noodles, too. For the
adventurous, Chow’s offers pork intestine with preserved vegetables and
pork stomach with sauté sauce.

Bellini’s Ristorante & Grill
6305 Waterford Blvd.
bellinis.net
848-1065

There’s
a section of the menu labeled “Pasta Shop,” so Bellini’s is an
excellent stop for all things spaghetti and tortellini. Choose a noodle —
a glutenfree penne is offered — sauce and protein ranging from veggies
to veal. Try its bay scallops and orzo, sautéed scallops with lemon and
tomato orzo.

Sala Thai
1614 NW 23rd St.
528-8424

Get
the Thai dumplings to start. The drunken noodle dish is made with basil
and garlic in a spicy sauce and then panfried. Sala Thai also offers a
broccoli noodle and curry noodle dish, along with traditional pad thai.
All dishes are prepared at varying levels of spice to your order and can
be made for vegetarians.

Photos by Shannon Cornman and Mark Hancock

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