Mama Cucina in Niagara-on-the-Lake
10 Queen St, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0, Canada
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Food was mediocre, not fresh pasta and regular can sauce. The chicken was very small. For the price, should have received double the amount of chicken, however the chicken was good! The service was pretty bad, the waitress we had was rude, and short “What do you want?” Is how she interacted. The staff was counting what I assume to be tips in front of the bar and splitting it amongst themselves. They seemed to be more worried about chatting amongst themselves and eating Dairy Queen more than serving the customers. The beer is extremely overpriced, you get a kids cup of beer for $10 Overall this place has potential if anyone cared to put effort into it. The decor was nice.
Wonderful atmosphere. Typical Italian fan Fair cuisine. Given that the menu was far more limited than we had expected. However, the food we did have was good. Given the tourist nature of the area would explain a more limited menu. So many other restaurant options around. Hard to choose where to go. Staff were wonderful and the outdoor seating was good as well.
Amazing lunch in the heart of Niagara on the Lake. Our server Mya was so fun and friendly. Food was good and nice portions (chicken parm sandwich, seafood linguine, spaghetti and meatballs with calamari to start). Meatballs tasted like homemade Nona’s! Calamari were tender and crispy. Sauce on the side was so good. The red sangria was so delicious, highly recommend.
Mixed bag here. And so much opportunity not taken. Ordered a hard cider, white wine sangria and bruschetta. Sangria was good to taste. I do like a bit more fruit which wasn’t the case here but still good. Cider was crisp. And now to the bruschetta. As you can see from the picture the toppings were amazing feta was flavorful onions tomatoes and the spices outstanding. But the bread was tepid and soft from apparently staying in the warmer not being served when it should have been. We pointed this out to the server who was apologetic and the manager also showed concern. They did comp the bruschetta by 50% but the memory was lost for us.
The best thing about this place was our waitress. The food was obviously frozen. We ordered an appetizer, a salad and a main to split. All of the food came out at once which is disappointing, but apparently not unusual. The table next to us got their main dishes before their soup. We did wait a pretty long time for the food. The manicotti was like warm. It was obviously mass produced frozen with a meh pink sauce and what was supposed to be melted cheese on top but because it sat so long the cheese congealed. The calamari- where to begin. It is served with a huge portion of undressed greens sitting on the side. I’m not sure there was any actual squid in the calamari. They plopped the dipping sauce on the bottom of the plate and threw the calamari rings right on top. So the rings on the bottom were soggy and fairly tasteless. The waitress was sweet. She obviously could see that we were yet another unsatisfied customer. I don’t predict this place will be open for very long. It’s essentially frozen fast food at high prices. Also note that I had two glasses of wine. Two different ones - both were not good.
Came to this place around 2pm and it wasn't too busy. We ordered a manicotti and it came pretty quickly. It wasn't overly salty or oily so I enjoyed that. Servers were nice here and overall it was a good experience!
My friends and me we didn’t have the best experience. Pasta carbonara was flavorless and dry. Chicken Parmesana had not flavor in the pasta but the chiken was good. I was expecting more do to the high prices.
I was there for the long weekend with my friends and decided to have lunch at this lovely place. Food was good and most importantly the service was amazing. Hannah helped us with food and beverage choices, she also helped us with places to go nearby as we were looking for new places to discover. Should definitely visit them!
I can t describe how bad their food was. Unreal.
Service here is excellent, waitresses are very friendly. Especially Paige. Which is propping the overall rating up to a 2. Bruschetta is clearly frozen bread from a grocery store and the meatballs tasted off. Noodles were cooked fine. Salad was ok.
I ordered fried calamari as an appetizer and seafood linguine. After an hour, I felt very sick, I suspect the seafood as the cause. Be careful when ordering seafood.
Good food and nice place
Calamari was great. But Chicken Alfredo was disgusting! So fake, so gross.
Everything so bad!
Asked for table for 6, was told due to fire reg we had to sit 2 and 4 - which was understandable. Asked to be seated outdoors, but as the evening got later, we were sitting in darkness as the patio lights did not work. Meals were mediocre. Service had a lot to be desired (attitude). When bill received, we were charged mandatory 18% gratuity for party of 6! 1. When did tipping become mandatory? 2. We were not a party of 6 as they wld not seat us together. When we questioned it, we got attitude. Very disappointed with whole experience. Wld certainly not recommend eating here.
Found a fly cooked in the meatball sauce. It was disgusting. The waitress was rude as well.
This place doesnt know how to cook Italian food. All the pasta was overcooked, the ravioli tasted like paper.. the tomato sauce was the same in all 3 dishes ordered which made them taste the same. The soup was inedible, there was overcooked pasta, which made it look like glue. The carbonara also tasted bad. The meat balls were clearly defrosted and unevenly heated... out of the 5 dishes ordered, I didn t like any of them. The service was ok, the waiters were friendly. There is a summer playground.
Not the best you will ever have. It is just ok.
Decided to try the newer Mama Cucina in NOTL today before our appointment. We thought it was still the Greek restaurant that was last there but, decided to try it out anyway. We sat out on the street patio only to discover the seats were wet because of the rips in the seats. We switched the chairs out. When the waitress came we ordered our drinks and food. My husband had a draft beer which was good he said and I a pinot Grigio it was good but, not cold enough. We ordered our mains, my husband ordered the chicken Parmesan $28.00 and I a salad with Grilled Chicken $26.00 The food was subpar at best. The chicken on the chicken parm was hard ( overly deep fried) the linguine was over cooked quite soft. The salads itself wasn t too bad but the chicken was not fresh and not grilled. It was like it was boiled very white ( no grill marks) and had been refrigerated for a while, it had that taste. It was very over price for the quality of the food it was. They might get away with it with tourists but, not locals. I don t think they ll be there long.
Very dissapointing experience, lots of huffy puffy customer service.
Great experience! Came here on a Saturday for dinner. The food was great, they offered vegan options. I got the ravioli and it was delicious. We got our food timely and in the correct order. The atmosphere was cute outside with horses driving by and fresh air. Vegetarian options: Several yummy veggie options
Had a great lunch today. Rice balls were delicious. Our server Mya was attentive and so friendly.
The service was among the very best I have had anywhere, including some 5 star Michelin restaurants. The decor was good Italian style. It looked and felt like you were in an Italian restaurant, that is until the background music was from Sweden, not Italy. Then I felt a little confused. My meat lasagna was well made but unfortunately over cooked. That is why I gave the food only 3 stars. Overall I would go back but order something different.
The salad Caprese was made with tasteless tomatoes at the height of tomato season and contained only one or two basil leaves. The servers were friendly and efficient.
Dont bother coming here..food Court food is eat better than this place..and its so dreaming expensive .not worth it
We were looking for an Italian place to eat and found this online. The menu online said they had Eggplant parm, my favorite. When we arrived we found the menu was completely different. No apologies from the waitstaff, she didnt seem to care that we were disappointed. We spent the evening batting away flying insects. The music that was played in the background was awful. Flo Rida in an Italian restaurant? We ordered an appetizer and salad and asked that to come separate from our entrees, but everything came at once. There was no bread provided which typically comes with an Italian meal. The salad that was served looked like they had thrown leftover clippings from the kitchen together on a plate. Worst place ever. Never going back!
Great meal here! No complaints. Food came out very quick. Good service!
Food was good standard american style Italian. Big portions and fair prices for Niagara. Mya was my server and did a great job.
Great service, very informal but cozy atmosphere. Food was great along with the service.
Disappointed.
Very delicious food, great atmosphere, excellent service.
Its the worst. The pasta is so tasteless. And the table is also dirty. Parking: I parked my car
Amazing food
Great food great prices
As locals of Old Town, NOTL, we were excited to try the new Italian restaurant that recently opened. We ordered two main dishes and an order of calamari to-go, with the total coming to just under $100. Unfortunately, our experience was far from what we had hoped for. Upon arriving home, we were surprised by the incredibly small portion of lasagna, which had an unpleasant aftertaste. Additionally, there were no common sides like bread, which are typically expected in an Italian restaurant. The calamari was overwhelmingly salty the saltiest dish I have ever encountered. Our seafood pasta was bland, and the mussels were both chewy and stringy, an unusual and disappointing combination for seafood. I never write negative reviews, however, our experience was so disappointing it was hard to stay silent. Overall, our dinner was extremely unsatisfactory, especially considering the many excellent dining options available nearby at this price point. Sadly, we wont be returning and hope that the restaurant can address these issues in its early stages.
Decent looking place and atmosphere. Service wasn t awful but the food was terrible. Especially for the price. I ordered stuffed shells. Got 4 shells lol. The garlic bread I think was from the frozen food section of the grocery and just toasted.
The food is amazing and the servers are super nice. Highly recommend.
Our server was very impersonal, slow and did not check in whatsoever, food was mediocre at best past tasted as if it was out of a can, bruschetta was soggy and tasted as if was bought from Walmart, id advice staying away! Only good part is we had a nice patio table. Thanks for nothing Food
The server (Alice) was great! And we had a good time having a late lunch/early dinner here.
I just walked by this relatively new restaurant with two friends at lunch time, and we decided to try the patio on a cool but sunny day. The patio is nicely separated from the sidewalk. The service (Hannah was the server) was friendly and helpful, and the food absolutely delicious. Highly recommend the Arancini balls and meatballs, which we had to accompany Caprese Salads. A very pleasant and serendipitous find.
We have been waiting for this to finally be listed on google so we could share our experience and $80 of disappointment in the form of mislabeled, poorly made Italian food. I had the carbonara and my wife had the pesto cream, the carbonara is labeled as coming in a cream sauce which I hoped was just a descriptor for people who dont know carbonara has no cream, but no, it was a watery, grainy, unseasoned Alfredo sauce with a handful of undercooked noodles swimming in them and some of the toughest bites of meat Ive ever endeavored to chew. My wifes Pestso cream came without any protein for more than $20 and without any cream. When we brought this to the attention of our server she checked with the chef who was still working out the menu and came back to us with his offer to pour some cream on it. Even more uncomfortable at this point we declined that offer and eventually after checking with her manager our server was able to offer us a small discount on her item saving us all of about $2. We only had one night in Niagara On The Lake and I regret that we spent any of it here. We left still hungry and purchased a Gyro from a nearby shop for a fraction of the price that was twice as filling as our meal.
Lovely restaurant, we went with a group of 18 ladies. We all thoroughly enjoyed our luncheon. Food was delicious, hot, especially serving such a large group! Atmosphere was wonderful. Our server was very organized, and efficient. I m sorry I didn t get her name, she was so sweet. I will definitely go back. Thank you for such a wonderful lunch. Vegetarian options: I had the gluten free eggplant Parmesan. Delicious.
Randomly tried thus place and should have left when they made a big deal to seat another table of 11. Made a big production about it. They ended up helping them out but is business that could you could refuse an 11 top? Checking the menu, I googled the reviews and should have left at the carbonara comment. I went with veal parm, friend had the carbonara. As we waited, noticed another table left their pasta on their main. Now, I am really worried. Food finally came and wait staff even apologized for the long wait. (They didnt come around to check on us or refills drinks) The carbonara was lacking the flavourful meat (bacon or anything) and since the portion was so small, some added ingredients like mushroom and peas. My dish, spaghetti was bland, needed to use tons of salt, pepper and the crushed peppers on the table. Finally, when I got to the veal parm, it was chicken. Expressed concerns to wait staff, she acknowledged that the carbonara was dry and apologized about the veal. It would take a long time for the replacement so I said dont worry. Then the odd thing was, she came back, said the mgr would talk to the kitchen (not us?!) and offered us the bill right away. She even went to remove the plates with all our food on it. Told her we would finish it. Finally, the bill came, and they charged us for the more expensive veal parm and no offer for our troubles. First time ever leaving a $0 tip and I felt bad. Maybe new place and growing pains since she did say the place is new and so are the kitchen staff. For a great location, lets hope they get their act together. At the very least, have the manager pop over when folks are upset.
I ordered linguini carbonara. It was so dry and tastless. My friend ordered veal parmigiana which is beef and he got chicken parmigiana instead. We were so dissappointed of food and price. Service level was poor. Never recommend this restaurant to my friends. This was our first time and last time there. The server didnt even offer anything after all wrong order and mistake.
Great food and service!