East Side Mario's — Restaurant in Saint John

Hello there!

First off, I would like to state that this is hands down the best restaurant I have ever been to. From eating here for my birthday every year, and to still eating here often to this day!

I have been here over 300 times now, I wish I was exaggerating but I’ve been here so often that the whole staff knows me by heart haha. I have always had amazing service here and very tasty food! I have had almost everything on the menu excluding seafood items.

Service - 10/10 The service here is phenomenal. Every time I have been here I am always looked after quickly even if it’s busy. The staff frequently check on me every few minutes during my dine-in experience as well. I’m welcomed with friendly smiles from the staff and they are quick with my requests. If I could give them a 11/10 I would!

Food - 10/10 The food is amazing. I’ve sometimes eat here every day. My go to on the whole menu is the Double Bacon Carbonara with Italian Wedding Soup and Iced Tea. It comes with bottomless soft drinks and unlimited bread and soup/salad with the main course of pasta. (I recommend lots of Parmesan in the soup, it’s the best tasting soup I’ve ever had)

Over all, this is hands down my favourite place and I still come here way too much getting my 3 soups, 3 breads, and 3 iced teas and taking the soup home to make it two meals total. All of that for $28.00 before the tip.

I came here today and my server’s name was Safe. He was excellent and it’s the first time I’ve had him and he even brought me my drink of iced tea before I told him what I wanted.

The whole team is awesome, and if you ever get Chris as a server, he’s definitely one of the best. Always has a good short story, super friendly and makes sure to frequently visit you to make sure you’re satisfied and have everything you need at all times!

Thank you to the whole East Side Mario’s staff for always making the best of this place and giving me amazing service and for the cooks who make the food that tastes...

We recently visited East Side Mario's near McAllister's in Saint John, and while there were some fun aspects to the experience, there were also several areas that need improvement.

First off, the vibe of the place is great! The Mario robot that sings happy birthday and delivers food to tables is a delightful touch and definitely adds to the atmosphere. There are also plenty of decent menu options at fair prices, which is a plus.

However, our experience started off on the wrong foot. We waited quite a while before anyone acknowledged our presence at the door, with staff walking past us until a friendly young lady finally seated us. Unfortunately, the table wasn’t fully set, and we were missing utensils. To make matters worse, another table that arrived after us was attended to first by their server.

When our server, Chris, finally arrived, he was polite and seemed genuinely eager to help us, which we appreciated. But I noticed a lack of management presence, and the staff seemed more focused on chatting than cleaning up; there were dirty tables and napkins on the floor that several employees walked past without picking up. It was only after I pointed out the napkins that Chris took care of them, which shows that small details can make a big difference.

As for the food, it was quite disappointing. The dishes didn’t resemble the photos on the menu and lacked flavor. I was also surprised to learn that the “sampler” was not a selection of real meals but a separate dish altogether. The highlight of our meal was the hot, fresh-baked bread, which was delicious!

Overall, while there are some fun elements at East Side Mario's, our visit fell short when compared to other similar restaurants like Olive Garden, which we enjoy much more. I’m not sure if we’ll return, especially given the issues we encountered. There’s potential here, but attention to detail and service needs to be...

A genuinely magical place! Please read! The free samples were offered the moment we sat down, as not only did the menu's have lettuce in between the folds, but a few small nuggets of what I could only assume was breading from a chicken meal was under the menu on our table! After this, two loaves of bread were given to us without the hassle of plates of cutlery getting in the way (so thoughtful of them!). When the salad was brought to our tables, I truly believe they must have been reading my mind. We ALL know the struggles of eating salad leaf by leaf, right? So they gave my partner and I BOTH the bottom stock of the lettuce. So compact and convenient, no need to dig leaf by by leaf I was so overjoyed that I almost didn't even notice how flavorless the dressing was. But not only are the generous, they are also environmentally friendly :O I know this because when they brought us cutlery for our meals, they gave my partner and I ONE napkin between the two of us. Best of all though, the folks there must truly know the sense of community amongst St.John-ers, as they sat us so close to another table, just a slight turn of the head, and I was actually involved in a stranger's conversation! When we really look back at this memory we will cherish for ever, it doesn't even matter that we were dissatisfied with our food, of felt it was over priced, we were paying for the EXPERIENCE, and Noone can say that...