Marino Ristopenbar — Restaurant in Palermo

Great waiter, sad food. We were 2 for dinner. My partner ordered chicken wings barbecue with fries and the classic Penne al Carbonara, which i asked about in order to be sure they used the classic recipe. They did they said. My partner ordered fresh pressed orange juice too. I ordered italian style filet with baked potato and water. The bread which everyone gets was nice and tasty. The barbeque wings were absolutely acceptable. The fries were ok too witout impressing. Then My partner got the Carbonara which was a disaster. The guanciale was clearly undercooked on the pan with big chuncs of soft fat clinging to the meat. The pasta was no better, best described as "on dente" and not "al dente" as the pasta seemed to glue to the teeth while still being undercooked inside. We were recently in Rome and got the classic carbonara which was absolutely amazing. Here..the sauce were thin lying in the bottom of the plate and the it tasted like they used a Grand Padano and not the Pecorino type. They took the plate out and promised to redo it but the next plate was no better. Big disappointment that a classic like this, simple to make, ended up like this. The second plate joined the first with a return ticket to the kitchen. My partner ordered specifically fresh pressed orange juice but no.... at best it was a mix of an orange and factory made juice. My partner left the place still hungry. My steak should have medium cooked but came rare. The outside was crusty but raw inside. The taste was strange in a way that let me to believe tha it came from a freezer and was not fresh. The baked potato was potato pieces fried on a pan but could have been baked in an earlier stage of its life. But the waiter was very attentive and deserve a much better chef. The bread in the beginning and the still water was excellent. It is difficult to advise other guests as they probably make other dishes better, but for now its...

We visited Marino Ristopenbar in mid November. It’s was 5pm and it was literally the only place open. We were starving and grateful to grab a bite at Mondello beach considering it’s my wife’s maiden name. It’s started off well, the server took our drink order and dropped off bread. The drinks came quick and then we placed our order, Spaghetti Mondello and spaghetti vongole (clams) before the server left to I asked for olive oil for the bread and he said no problem I’ll bring that right over… after that we didn’t see him for 45 minutes and he never brought the oil. People all around us were getting their food that showed up after us. I asked the sever if our food was ever coming out and he gave me this line about the internet being down. We were starving when we got there and now it’s almost an hour later before our pasta comes out. The food was hot, but in the way like you would microwave leftovers. The texture of the pasta was soft and over cooked and it had no flavor. We’ve been in Italy 12 days at this point and were blown away by every meal. Go figure on our last meal in Mondello beach we would have the worst meal of the trip. The food was barely edible and I remember thinking, “well I’m paying for this so I better eat it” I asked the server for grated Parmesan to make the spaghetti edible. He replied again sure no problem and then walked by serval times not bringing ng the cheese until I asked a second time he finally brought it. My wife was unhappy with her meal too and could not finish it. I didn’t want to say anything, but her meal looked like someone vomited spaghetti into her plate…. Which is exactly what she did later that night. Our last meal at my wife’s beach made her sick. It’s was a real shame and we do not recommend...

Honestly…. I couldn’t be happier!!!!!! My first day in Mondello; we went to the beach and came to this restaurant in search for ricci di mare (sea urchins)… and found them.. but also one of the BEST PASTAS I’VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!! It was called the Mondello pasta; spaghetti with crudo di gamberi rossi e granella di pistacchi which means raw red shrimp from here and pistacchio pesto… OMG can I tell u I’ve ever had ANYTHING LIKE IT?! CRAZY GOOD!!

Filippo is the sweetest and kindest person in the world… and so is the owner, Rafaelle.. we were offered some caponata with a culture lesson.. he said caponata a long time ago was made with fish… so its actually served more traditional here with fish instead of just melanzane (eggplant)… the servers Alessio and Micaela were ON POINT.. TOP!!

Great view, great food, and also great house wine… Catarratto .. I seriously want to come back. If you don’t come here you are doing yourself a disservice. So come and you will be SO happy with great food, a great ambiance and overall great service. Just amazing and I can’t wait to come back!!!!! You won’t be disappointed! Grazie mille per tutto Filippo...