Mamma Martino’s Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

I have been to Mama Martino's restaurant once before and would have given it a good review. My memory of the experience is that we waited in a large line that moved at a reasonable pace, ordered food which all came out extremely quickly (perhaps too quickly), and overall it was a good experience.

Fast forward to last night. Arrived around 6pm and the line was big but not huge and initially moved well. It came to a big slow down, where many parties were leaving the restaurant, but a similar amount were not being seated in response. As we got inside and could see what was going on, there were tons of empty tables, and a hostess who was seating people whenever she could get around to it in between also being a manager, server, etc.

We (party of 2) got seated finally and had about 45 minutes until we had to leave for a movie but figured it would be fine if we just ordered immediately based on past experience. After waiting several minutes with no acknowledgement or water, I got up to find a server to ask if we could put in an order. That's when it was clear this wasn't going to be a good night. The hostess pointed to our server who looked at me rudely and said she hadn't gotten to all her tables yet and was very annoyed I dared try to speak to her. When she finally approached us she was immediately rude, and I just said politely, "we really would love to be able to eat here and just want to order quickly". Figured ordering a salad, spaghetti and pizza would come out in abut 10 -15 minutes. The salad and bread came quickly, however after about 25 more minutes of waiting (and continued avoidance from our server), my boyfriend was finally able to ask her if we could either cancel our food order and pay for what we had, or take the food go to and pay. She was incredibly rude and awkward about it but went to prepare our bill.

A minute after she walked away the pizza we ordered came, so we just asked for a box, no problem. When the server returned she looked at us with such anger as if we had gone to the kitchen ourselves and picked up the pizza. Meanwhile it had obviously been ready for a bit. So then she goes to change the bill and comes back with a bill that includes a spaghetti dish we never received. My boyfriend simply says "what are we going to do about the pasta?" and again she was so rude, and made us uncomfortable, explaining "well do you want it?". At that point we just wanted to leave so she changed the bill and we paid, to which she says "it's really been a treat". I have never had a ruder server, despite the fact that we had exactly two interactions with her. If we had been seated in any other section I know this wouldn't have been a problem.

It's sad because we really do like the restaurant, but it's clear they are only nice to the customers...

Shockingly abrasive experience with Jane, one of the front end managers on duty tonight. Having spent the afternoon at High Park with our 2 young sons, upon leaving the park it became evident that our kids were incredibly hungry and tired. We called ahead to say we’d be arriving shortly and could we place our order ahead of time, to minimize the wait for our boys. We were told that they don’t do this; so we opted to order take out and were told it would take 30 mins. We arrived 15 mins later. My husband went in while I parked and he was offered a table for 4 right away. There was no line up at that time. When he explained that we’d already placed an order for take out but would love to be able to dine in (quickly) with our toddlers, Jane immediately became angry and refused him the table. She said our order was packed and ready to go (15 mins ahead of schedule??), suggesting that we needed to take our food and leave. When I arrived moments later with our 2 year old and tried to inquire about their policy, she accused me of being sneaky.

In what world is this an acceptable way of speaking to a customer?!? Our intent was to not be deceitful in any way; in fact we were utterly transparent about just wanting to feed our profoundly hungry and tired kids. I imagine other people may occasionally try to circumvent the line up when it gets busy, but please don’t assume and accuse me of the same, particularly when we’ve been honest about our motivation to meet the needs of our children. How about instead explaining your policy with a modicum of politeness and compassion? Or better yet, saying “we don’t usually do this, but we can see that your boys are very hungry and will make an exception”. I can’t remember when I’ve experienced such rudeness and unprofessionalism. Even my 3 year old picked up on Jane’s tone and remarked “that lady is not very nice”.

I called back later and spoke with another manager, who defended the restaurant’s rules at length and then offered a begrudging apology towards the end of the call, at the “unfortunate” use of the term “sneaky”.

The food may be great, but we’ll never know. We’ll be sharing this experience with friends and family; and thankfully there’s no shortage of other great places to eat in...

I have mixed feelings about this place. The restaurant is quite large, and there are plenty of parking spots—not just at the restaurant but also on the nearby streets.

When we arrived, the line was pretty long, with about 20 people ahead of us. However, it moved quickly, and within 20 minutes, we were seated. That’s when the trouble began.

The server took our order fairly quickly. We ordered bruschetta as an appetizer, a pizza, and a plate of pasta as our main dishes. Nothing too complicated. Unfortunately, we waited almost 40 minutes for the appetizer to arrive (just five baguette slices with diced tomatoes on top). To make matters worse, we noticed that other tables that had ordered after us were already being served their main dishes—pizza and pasta as well.

At this point, I started checking my watch and visibly expressing my frustration. Eventually, the waitress came over and asked if we hadn’t received our food yet. Obviously, we hadn’t. She went to the kitchen and returned, saying they were “super busy,” which is why our order was delayed. That excuse might have worked if I hadn’t seen her bringing the exact same dishes to other tables that had arrived after us. It was clear she wasn’t being truthful, and that’s what really tested my patience. Don’t lie to your customers. If the kitchen forgot about our order, just admit it and let us know you’re prioritizing it. Honesty goes a long way.

When the food finally arrived, it didn’t make up for the experience. The pizza dough and sauce were good, but the pepperoni completely ruined the Italian flavor (though I’ll admit that might have been my mistake in ordering). As for the pasta, my wife thought it was good, but I found it pretty ordinary—pink sauce with a generous amount of ham on top.

To sum up, you get what you pay for. The place is inexpensive—we paid around $50 CAD for an appetizer, two main dishes, a dessert, and two pops.

I’m torn about recommending this place or returning in the future. If I were on a tight budget and needed to celebrate something, I might consider it. However, the poor service and overall experience left a bad taste in my mouth—especially since my wife and I were celebrating...