maggiano's little italy

epicrestaurantfail.. i've been to several maggiano's locations throughout the midwest. their food is, no-doubt, delicious. therestaurantatmosphere is elegant and sophisticated. it has all the bells and whistles that make it a classy joint with a great menu.

i was a fan.

my husband and i were treated to dinner at maggiano's on 86th st. by another couple that joined us. our server was clearly 'in the weeds' - he seemed a bit frantic and rushed. long after placing our order, we finally received our house salads. as i begin to eat my salad and share conversation, i can't seem to spear my salad. i scooped my fork down into the bowl, and out came an entire rubber glove that took up about 40% of the salad.

i swear to god, i thought i was on candid camera. we showed the waiter what was in my salad, and he gasped with complete disbelief, as he should have.

a manager came over, and instead of comping our entire bill and profusely apologizing, he offered us ... free dessert. that was an epic management fail on so many levels. to think that anyone would want to eat another bite of food after finding a filthy rubber glove in their food, is beyond me.

i only wish i had taken a photo of the glove. at least people would believe me.

lapse in judgement. i was in a "try something new & different" state of mind. forgetting this is just another italian chain. which is what i should have remembered. i ordered the arugula & pepperoni flat bread for an appetizer and the chicken tortellacci for my dinner. the picture of the flatbread had lots of arugula on it, mine barely had any. the "crust" was flavorless & very manufactured looking, plus the sauce was kinda of sweet, garlicky alfredo jarred tasting. i'd say my entree was portioned for just enough for one person. which is fine but the flavor was so commercial tasting. not that i thought an italian grandma was back there stuffing tortellini w/chicken for me but they should try ordering it from a different manufactuer. i should have remembered when arestaurantoffers so many choices that means they're not going to be homemade or even close. very processed tasting. i also ordered the famous "vera's lemon cookies" being a lemonhead myself. very disappointing. they're very soft & also tasted as if they came out of a bag from the store. to me this is just an upscale olive garden but w/o the salad & priced a little higher. the service & the bread were the only tasteful things about this place. highly disappointed. ********update aug '11-received a gift card from here so used it to order the linguine di mare and a salad. again, the dish did have plenty of seafood-most of it over cooked & the lobster was mushy. but the red sauce had chunks of garlic throughout the dish. so much it became a texture issue and i still needed to salt the dish for added flavor plus there was'nt enough sauce for the portion of pasta provided. i'm amazed people flock to this restaurant. i'm done.

maggiano's is one of my favoriterestaurantchains. i make sure to visit if i am in a city that has one. i must say my experience due to the great customer service there is always amazing. their wait staff is exceptional no matter the city and you can never go wrong with their classic pasta menu where you eat one and take one home. it is a fine dining experience at an affordable price. while their food is great their happy hour and specialty drinks are some of my favorite concoctions. particularly their bellini swirl. unfortunately my experience at the dallas location was not as great with this particular drink but they offered their summer sangria in lieu of the bellini and let's just say i didn't stop with one!

great location in santana row. very largerestaurantwith a very relaxed vibe. great for dining with friends or family. the food is usually well prepared. plenty of choices even for vegetarians. portions are large and they are very accommodating of special requests. service is courteous and reasonably quick.

we made a reservation for a large party (30) two weeks in advance. management screwed up and made it for 3! it took them a solid hour to correct their error. while they gave us a few free appetizers by way of apology, we were left standing outside for an extended period. for those on a tighter budget, this place is quite pricey. the online menu for their website does not include prices, so when you arrive, there is some real "sticker shock". there is a small section that is somewhat more reasonable, but the fare there is more standard pizzeria entrees:  spaghetti with meatballs, lasagna, eggplant parmigiana, ravioli. these items are rather ordinary in taste and very ordinary in presentation. the quality is no better than one would expect from the neighborhood pizzeria at a much lower price.  the place is very noisy, the service adequate.  frankly, it is not arestaurantto which i would return.

i have been visiting thisrestaurantfor about six years now. the service has always remained static. everyone is so friendly and knowledgable. the food is pretty good, i always end up rolling out of therestaurantbecause of the large portions that are served.

we love maggiano's. my wife and i went to maggiano's for the very first time over a year ago to decide whether or not we wanted to have our wedding luncheon there. as we prepared to leave, having been impressed with the food we had ordered, one of the chefs, hugo, approached our table and insisted we try the fried zucchini appetizer. even though we had stuffed ourselves. they brought out a sample free of charge. while it was such a simple gesture, it showed that those who worked there were passionate about making their guests happy. we decided to have our wedding luncheon there a couple of months later, and we were very impressed with the quality of the food and the service with such a large scale event. we returned tonight for our one year anniversary and the executive chef, alejandro, came out to great us personally and made us feel warm and welcome. our server, juan, was polite, jovial, and was a diligent worker that made sure we were comfortable and served properly. the food is great, the service is wonderful, and its arestauranti'll be taking my family to for years to come.

great mix of price and value.. we went for lunch. they had 4 to 5 star expensive meals at fair prices. they also had pasta related meals for $16, but you get a second entrée to take home. it was two dollars more for the lasagna and one other meal i don't recall. the meals then were a solid notch better than olive garden, and at that price actually cheaper when you account for the second entrée. i got the lasagna to eat and eggplant parmesan to take home. atmosphere war very good as was service. couldn't be happier with the total package. they strongly overachieve for the caliber ofrestaurantthey are.

best service in scottsdale - massive portions of food. i headed to maggiano's with my wife and daughter for dinner and we were blown away at how amazing thisrestaurantis. as soon as we walked through the doors of the massive restaurant, we were greeted with smiling faces from all the staff. we were promptly seated and given the 'run down' of the menu. our server, courtney (amazing server), pre-warned us that the portions are 'generous' (and he wasn't kidding), so we skipped appetizers and went strait to our mains;
i ordered the county pasta ($14.95), my wife had the chicken parmesan ($16.75) and our daughter had the kid chicken breast ($5.95). every bite was mouth watering and no matter how much we ate, our plate just wouldn't get empty. we packaged our leftovers to go (there were a lot of leftovers) and decided to order a small dessert to end off the evening. we quickly realized that there is no such thing as 'small' at maggiano's. we all shared the 5 piece dessert sampler ($12.95) and each 'sample' was half the size of a normal portion of dessert. again, every bite was truly fantastic.

if you come to eat here, come with an empty stomach, you won't be disappointed.

good food, great value. happened upon this place while on vaca after a 65 minute hike at the winchester mystery house. it was about 4pm and we got right in, had a choice of booth or table. the place filled up soon after we were seated. apparently this is a chainrestaurantbut since no one dares to expand their franchise to the great state of oregon it was new to us.
servers were lovely and attentive, frank took good care of us and refilled our beverages and bread.
i thought they were very reasonably priced for san jose, not inconsistent with what we see in salem/portland area. many of the pasta entrees were downright cheap. my fett alfredo was $12.95 + the "take home" dish which was eggplant parmesan. salads are $5 ala carte but huge and really enough for two people (me and skinny teen boy anyway). orders got a bit messed up and we were compensated with additional take home meals- 4 total, we dined on the eggplant parm the next day and it was tasty!
would love to see one these pop up in salem or portland, it would give the ubiquitous olive garden a run for its money.

go-to place for family groups. maggiano's has become a go-to place for family gatherings for several reasons.

first, the food and service have been excellent every time we have gone whether for a couple, a large group, or a very larger private event in a reserved room.

second, we have a number of dietary concerns (vegetarian, celiac, diabetes) that can make dining as a group a challenge, but maggiano's easily handles the needs. the staff and chefs went the extra mile to be sure that everyone in our group had special needs met, and they checked afterward to be sure everything was satisfactory--as it was.

the atmosphere is especially elegant, yet still inviting, to everyone from the kids to elderly family members.

i've had veal and salmon dishes--all of them delicious. everyone in our group enjoyed their meals from spaghetti to eggplant parmesan to the flatbreads.

the prices are on the higher end for pasta dishes, but you can find bargains. in our group, the college student and the grandparents ordered the buy-one-take-one home options--a good deal for those on a budget.

my only concern is reviewing the nutrition information and finding that every entree exceeds the sodium most anyone should have in a day or two. given their excellent responsiveness in modifying food, next time i intend to ask for a lower sodium preparation.

for arestaurantchain, maggiano's provides an excellent option, especially when dining with large groups and special dietary needs.

the first thing you notice when you enter maggiano’s is how dark and dimly lit therestaurantis, kind of like hollister and abercrombie. while this trick that the latter stores use so customers cannot truly see any of their terrible clothes until they’ve already paid for them is definitely annoying in clothing stores, i couldn’t decide how i felt about the dim lights at maggiano’s. on the one hand, the darkness creates an illusion of intimacy in thisrestaurantwhich is one huge dining area with tons of booths and tables piled one on top of each other (figuratively). on the other hand, maybe it’s all a ploy to hide something lurking in the food….. which is probably not the case because the food was delicious!

pasta gold?. i never understood why the end product of a bit of water, flour, and egg came to be so expensive in restaurants. is there some secret ingredient inrestaurantpasta like saffron at $100 an ounce that drives up the cost of a lb. of spaghetti selling for $2.00 at h.e.b? i think not!

having an mba, i understand profit margin and the effects of overhead costs, indirect expenses, advertising, etc.. what i don't understand are the prices restaurants are getting away with for a simple dish of pasta! even if the pasta dish is made by reknown chef uberstrasse of the culinary institute of tasmania who has won the james moustache award 30 years in a row, i don't get it.

o.k. finished with my rant about price gouging - a favorite topic if you couldn't tell.

eating at maggiano's reminds one of attending dinner at a black tie affair; rather sophisticated decor, nicely set table, very good service, and prices that remind one of why it is called black tie - black is to mourn the loss of a sizable chunk of your cash (don't get me started again).

the meals i have had here have been very well prepared and served with verve for which i must compliment the kitchen. i like to poke fun at the culinary professionals but have and abiding respect for what they do (as i had aspirations of attending the cia at one time).

usually restaurants offering a 2-for-1, disguised or not, are having trouble filling the dining room otherwise - could it be those high prices i alluded to? (that was my last criticism about gouging, promise). the current buy one, take one home is a good deal. considering this current offer along with taste of the food and level of service, i will give the place 4 stars out of 5. once the program ends, i would probably throttle that back to 3 because of overpricing (i lied).

pretty fair! arestaurantthat give me a complimentary meal for my birthday and 2 complimentary dishes to take home, is always a goodrestaurantin my urbanspoon space! food is decent ad staff is helpful and friendly!

hot water. we had the worst experience. we both work in therestaurantbusiness, and so try to be understanding, especially at peak times. but this was almost laughably awful. i was sad to have wasted our very rare friday night off on poor service and bland food.