Maranello Cafe — Restaurant in Mississauga

A family-owned and independent restaurant. The best kind!

My husband and his brother met there today, Feb. 29th. I was there for a bit, too, then I left to meet an old friend. I came back to pick up my husband later. (He can't drive on his own right now for medical reasons).

I ordered my own take-out lunch when I came back.

This is a small place, but very clean. Clean bathrooms, too. Parking was easy out on the road.

The guys said their lunches were delightful. I ordered the meatball sandwich as my take-out.

I'm a very good home cook and have a strong sense of taste. Most often I find that I don't like the meals in most restaurants. I liked the food here! My sandwich had very tender and flavourful meatballs, a very nice "spice" sauce (light), melted mozz cheese, with cooked mushrooms, Bell peppers, and soft onions. A GENEROUS filling. Soft, fresh bun. I had only planned to eat half of it on the way home, but it was the bomb, and so, I ate it all. I shared 2 bites with the driver. He had eaten a lot before anyway! :)

Amina and Vanessa are lovely and enthusiastic, but they were not intrusive while the guys visited. One or both are there all the time. We felt very welcomed. Amina's Italian grandmother opened the place 51 years ago. We live in Burlington, but we do plan to visit again and again.

Thanks Amina and Vanessa!...

After reading their stellar reviews, I called the restaurant asking for their ultimate menu recommendations. They suggested either gnocchi or lasagna, both homemade, and so I went with the gnocchi with meat sauce. The sauce was flavourful and they certainly didn’t skimp on the meat. The gnocchi themselves were as plump as I am, which is saying something. You can definitely tell nonna’s loving hands made those pillowy bad boys. The dish came with a large piece of bread and I ordered a side of chili sauce. I’m absolutely stuffed, but without a doubt satisfied. Do yourself a favour and eat here, you will not regret it. 15/10 stars.

Edit- Oct 3- I ordered again bc how could I not from my last experience?! I got the lasagna via Uber eats and unfortunately it wasn’t as great as my first order. Yes, the lasagna was good. Was it phenomenal? No. My issue is that is came quite dry in the sense that there was barely any sauce in the container. They give you bread for a reason, no? However, instead of including large pieces of crusty bread like with my last order of gnocchi, they included one tiny slice of sandwich bread that seemed to be leftover from the day. I can’t say I’m not slightly disappointed. That said, I’m not changing my rating because I believe everything tastes better fresh...

I am looking for a good Italian restaurant to become my favorite so I thought I'd try Maranello Cafe and ordered food through Uber. The lasagna had NO cheese whatsoever. I asked for extra cheese and I was charged .75 for powder cheese to sprinkle on. Not only that but it was overcooked. The noodles where like mush. I'll attach a picutre. I also ordered Gnocci which is nothing to write home about. It was doughy and bland. I called, whoever answered said the owners would call me the next day and then she hung up on me. I never did receive a call from the owners. I am shocked that a restaurant thinks it can be successful serving food like this. My guess is it's already struggling and is trying to cut corners but sadly, that will only contribute to the restaurant failing. Great food = happy returning customers and that is not what is happening here. Maybe their other food is good? I don' t know and I'll never know because I am certainly not eating here again. My other guess is that most of the 'good' reviews here are computer generated. Needless to say, I will continue searching for my new fav...