Maggiano's Little Italy — Restaurant in Austin

Loved it! Ambiance is nice, staff is so kind. The food was incredible and had large portions. Can’t wait to come back.

EDIT 5/12/24: Excited to come back, my partner and I decided it would be nice to bring some friends visiting from out of town here sense we enjoyed it so much last time we visited, which ended up being a poor decision. It was mothers day and we knew it would be busy but we didn't expect such poor service.

We made 7:45 reservations and showed up at 7:00 to check in and have a drink at the bar. Reservation time comes and we visit the host desk to see the status of our table. We were informed it shouldn't be long but we'll get a text when its ready.

While waiting for a text, we overhear that its a fixed menu. Surprised, we checked the website and sure enough there's a fixed menu. The options looked good and was family style, so we decide it would likely be fine. Something we missed is that there were no prices listed online.

8:15 comes around, and I go back to ask how much longer and I'm informed that people have been slower to leave then expected but they had five tables being cleaned and it shouldn't be much longer. We debated on leaving but with it getting so late we were unsure we would be able to find anywhere else so short notice.

8:30 comes and I decide to wait near the host table, trying to stay out of the way and not sound like a broken record but close enough that we'd know as soon as it was our turn.

At 8:45 its finally our turn and we get seated. We pick up the menu to be shocked by a $50 per person pricing on a fixed amount of food. While for some parties this may be a good deal, our party of 4 was extremely uncomfortable. This was a far cry of value from the 2 for 50 dinner we loved on our last visit.

We ended up leaving extremely disappointed and extremely hungry. I had talked this place up big time to the friends we brought which made me feel even worse. Had the pricing been online, we would have canceled the reservation. Had we been told the wait would have been hour past our reservation despite checking in 45 minuets early, we would have canceled. Had we had any info of this, we would not have been upset really. But now I question if I would be willing to come back, which sucks because the food last time was so good and the chef...

With the impending arrival of our 4th child and with family visiting, we decided to eat at Maggiano's for a family night out dinner. We are familiar with the chain restaurant but have not dined at the Austin location. I called earlier in the day to ask if we can just walk in because online, the only times available were 5:15 or 7:45 pm. We wanted to come in around 5:30- 6 pm so we can eat and our kids can go to bed at a decent time. When I called, the waitress said the restaurant was fully booked until past 8 pm. I told her online it had given me other available times to which she replied, Oh, then you can go ahead and choose a time on there." That didn't make sense to me because if anything, the restaurant should directly be able to book a table for me. Either way, I went back to the website since the hostess at the front apparently doesn't know how to book a table for a customer on her own. We went in at 5:15 pm for our meal. The restaurant was empty. There were maybe 3 other parties there. During our entire meal, the place never got full. There were a lot of banquet rooms occupied with different events so maybe that's what the hostess was talking about. Who knows. The dining room had a few tables with customers but what felt like 75 workers. Waiters were rushing around and it just felt very chaotic. My husband took our son to the restroom one time and one of the waitresses bumped into our son because as I said, they had a ton of employees just rushing around the place. She actually had the audacity to turn and glare down at my son, acting like he did something wrong.

When we visited the Maggiano's in other states, they were much better facilitated. Their employees were professional and a manager almost always came out and asked us how our meal was. We never felt the place was chaotic. It was a nice, calm meal. This is not the case for this location.

The food was decent. Everyone enjoyed their dish except for one of us (it came out later than all of ours and just wasn't up to par with their standards). Our waitress, Brooklyn, was very nice. That's the only reason why I'd give this place 3 stars. For the amount of money we'd have to pay for a large family to eat somewhere that's supposed to be relatively nice, we will definitely take our...

We came here for the Mother’s Day lunch and that was our first here, what a disappointment! 2 days before they informed us through an email that it was meant to be a set menu. We weren’t super happy but decided to give it a try since maggianos had been highly recommended. To start with, we arrive to a table with a dirty tablecloth. The waiter brought 3 different tablecloths and they all were stained, which for this level of restaurant we were expecting better… we remained with the stained one after the 3rd time. Waiter was all over the place, table was not set, he never brought water to table or asked what we wanted to drink. We had to ask for plates, water…7 people and only 2 plates of the opening act dishes and 2 breads, we were the ones having to ask for more cause that wasn’t enough for all of us… I had to get up twice to get water because my non iced water never came… It wasn’t the waiter’s fault, he was trying his best but I guess management was not prepared for a busy day such as Mother’s Day as they should have…

Food wise, when the appetizers, the mains and the dessert came, it was all very abundant. There was enough food for all indeed, however taste wise, we were not impressed…the food looked beautiful and it was nicely presented, but it lacked flavor. The meatballs were actually really good, but the fried zucchini was basically all bread and zero zucchini inside! The pasta, the chicken and the meat were just ok, nothing worth coming back and paying for again. Dessert was a disappointment as well… cheesecake was just ok, tiramisu tasteless and the lemon biscuit were good but not to be served as a dessert, in Italy they’d be served in the end with coffee. I also have to comment on the fact that my 5yo had to eat bread with butter because their kids menu was a joke… parents with children will know the drama… at least they could have offered cheese pizza or French fries… nah, they were not making it for the occasion and the stuff on the kids menu was more for older children than for the little ones We’d not recommend it and we’d not come back to pay for it again. What a...