Mamma Lucrezia's Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Bellefonte

Although this review covers our experience before the Restaurant Impossible makeover, the rating will be on our latest visit:

BEFORE: My husband and in-laws attended the “before” dinner service that was filmed for Restaurant Impossible episode “Drama at Mamma’s” airing September 24th, 2014. The restaurant was clean, but the décor uninspired. It was just a tired old restaurant that had lots of wear and tear and truly had seen better days. The quality of our meals at the table varied. The calamari appetizer was greasy and not something that I would order again. The salads would have been good if they were fresher and had better dressing. The homemade Italian dressing was basically just oil. The garlic bread seemed stale and drenched in oil. For entrees, I had the seafood vodka pasta dish and loved it. It was truly a great homemade meal. However, my fellow diners were very unimpressed with their dishes. I did taste the chicken marsala and the sauce was very watery and didn’t “stick” to the pasta at all. There was very little flavor and it just wasn’t appetizing. However, I did talk with guests at another table and viewed their marsala. The sauce was thicker and just looked more like chicken marsala should. We had the fried dough balls for dessert. Others at the table seemed to like it, but for me… not so much.

I have to say that the service was excellent throughout the entire meal. When the waitress noticed that two members of our party were not eating the chicken marsala, she took the meals back to the kitchen and offered an alternate meal. At first we said “no”, but then she convinced out table to try a pizza. It was delicious! I really admired her professionalism and ability to stay calm under pressure with a restaurant full of people, Robert Irvine watching closely and cameras rolling. Brava!

AFTER: Fast forward to two weeks later after the Restaurant Impossible “makeover”. To our delight, we had the same waitress and confirmed that her exceptional service was not an “act” for the show. The new décor was lovely and it felt like a proper nice restaurant. It was like night and day. We brought our own wine (love BYOB!!) and our server promptly brought glasses and water. She was very patient when we were having a hard time making a decision and answered all of our questions. We decided on fried calamari and stuffed risotto balls that were served with a marinara sauce. The calamari was so much better this time. Light, crispy and full of flavor. I believe the risotto was stuffed with prosciutto. Also, a great appetizer. At our table we ordered (not sure of the names, but I’ll describe them) the sausage pasta in a white wine sauce, chicken marsala and a parmesan dish. I can’t remember if my father-in-law ordered chicken or eggplant. My mother-in-law and I split the chicken marsala and sausage pastas. The chicken marsala was MUCH better and served with a side of pasta. For me, the portions were perfect, but I think that for my husband they were a bit on the light side. Meals were served with garlic bread that was fresh and not “soggy” like last time. The prices were higher, but the quality was much better. In my opinion, for the new prices and portions (slightly smaller), I would include a salad with the entrée. For me an Italian meal is incomplete without a salad, but the extra money to add a salad was prohibitive on my budget.

We did ask a lot of questions and we did get the impression that many of the restaurant regulars were unhappy with some of the changes and wanted many old items back. I, for one, would still like to have seen the seafood vodka pasta on the menu. I thought that dish rivaled the sausage pasta in white wine sauce. They did have a vodka seafood pizza, but we didn’t order that. I will next time for sure (maybe as an appetizer to share).

Overall, this was a great dining experience and I will definitely return. Great food, great service & BYOB (makes up for higher prices...

We went to this restaurant in Bellefonte, PA, because we watch Restaurant Impossible on the Food Channel on TV, hosted by Robert Irvine. When we saw it was highlighting a restaurant near where we live, which is Mifflin County, PA, we knew we had to try it. So the following Saturday, 9/27/14, we set our GPS and easily found Mamma Lucrezia's. A parking spot near the restaurant was not to be but, after driving around, we found the municipal parking lot one block down a hill. It was a little struggle for us 70's folks, but we made it about 5 p.m. and were met immediately by a gracious waitress who seated us immediately, making the restaurant full to capacity. Our order was taken within minutes of being seated. We both ordered the chicken marsala. While we waited for our meal, we noted the whirling dervish activity of all of the employees. When the waitress left with our order, we timed 25 minutes until our order arrived. The food was five-star but we gave four stars because of our wait time. Probably because of the number of customers. As we left the restaurant, customers were in line at the door and up the street waiting to go in. As we walked by the crowd, we asked if all of these people saw the TV show. The response was overwhelmingly Yes. All in all, we highly recommend Mamma Lucrezia's...

I have had their pizza a few times and loved it, so decided to try their other food on September 15th, after the Penn State home game. Food was delicious, my companions got the calzone (vegetarian) and stromboli (meat). The worst note of the meal were some questionable tomatoes in the house salads we all ordered to start, which were otherwise inventive without going overboard (nice ratio of greens to dressing and to specialty toppings like articoke). I shared the calzone due to its great size and propensity to be not as good for leftovers. I got Chicken Marsala with an alfredo side instead of the pomodoro. The Alfredo was the best I've ever had, and I do not say that lightly. I enjoy a good Alfredo and other cream sauces, but this elevated the dish to a new level. Although the Marsala was good, when I come back it will be to order more Alfredo. Service was also very good and I hope the room wasn't bursting with customers (although quiet is certainly nice) because we ate an early dinner and not due to a shortage...