Mario's — Restaurant in Boston

I’ve been a loyal customer of this restaurant as of recent due to my food blogging and reviews, always raving about the food and recommending it to others. Unfortunately, after today’s experience, I can no longer say the same.

I placed an order on DoorDash for delivery, and when the pizza arrived, it was in complete disarray. I called the restaurant to reorder directly from Mario's, intending to pay again but this time bypassing DoorDash. As I spoke with the person who answered the phone, I could hear the owner, Mario, yelling in the background that I would “have to pay again.” I had no issue with paying again, but I was frustrated that this miscommunication had occurred.

I went to the restaurant to pick up the pizza myself. As a loyal customer who has enjoyed the food before, I was determined to resolve the issue. I brought the destroyed pizza with me to show the owner and asked for a replacement, explaining that I was happy to pay for it again. Instead of being met with understanding, Mario began yelling at me once more and told me to leave his restaurant. I calmly explained that I had driven all the way there, and I intended to get my pizza. However, I was treated rudely and disrespectfully, having to wait for another pizza and enduring harsh treatment.

As a lifelong resident of Jamaica Plain, I was shocked and appalled by how I was treated. No paying customer should ever be treated this way, especially over a third party mistake. To be publicly berated by Mario in front of his staff and other customers was completely unacceptable. I waited over 15 minutes for a replacement, and the whole experience was entirely unpleasant.

Added a photo to show I called at 9:18pm to reorder my pizza and pay again. He had his staff call me back at 9:23pm where Mario was again yelling in the background. This is what I heard as the customer. I walked in at 9:25pm. Did not get the food until well after 9:38pm. When I called at 9:18pm I was told the pizza will be done in 10min as he was informing the chef. The owner Mario made me wait there after berating me in front of other customers and staff members. As a food reviewer who had reviewed over 50 establishments I’ll say Great food terrible customer service. Order online to not have to deal staff and owner during...

Their pizza is excellent - probably the best New York style pizza in Boston. 5/5 on the food. The issue is they are terrible at estimating order times and so you should expect serious delays beyond what you are told. 1/5 on that standpoint.

When we placed our order, ETA was 40-50 minutes. We showed up at 50 minutes and were told they were running a bit behind and it would be another 15-20 minutes. It actually ended up being over an additional hour from that point.

I don't really care if the process is slow, but it is very frustrating when the staff cannot give an accurate estimate. This leads to numerous orders backing up and customers not being able to plan their evening or being stuck waiting in the store for 30+ minutes. I suspect they would be less overwhelmed with orders if customers knew it would actually be a 2 hour wait and not 40 minutes. Being able to give an accurate wait time is essential, and they are not skilled at it. Their dysfunction in this area will dissuade me from ordering here as much as I would otherwise.

In short, the staff needs to do a better job at understanding how long it will actually be to fulfill an order, and then giving customers an accurate and truthful estimate...

YUM - AAAYY - ZING!!

Words are insufficient to describe my excitement for Mario’s!!!

I’ll start with THIN CRUST - Classic Neapolitan pizza, ITALIAN style. Then FRESH FRESH FRESH ingredients make all the difference. I look forward to it, whenever I can make it, usually for lunch on Friday, the only week day they’re open at 12:00 noon. Awesome vibe that’s 100% local local local. Small place, mostly take out, but you can seat 3-4 people at the window counter, which I love. Old school marble counter, with comfy padded bar stools. You have to know it’s here as the location is a tad off the beaten path of prime visibility. Which ‘proves’ one of my philosophies ‘ great location, often mehh food, not so great location - the food must be amazing. So many amazing points …. One of which is the ACTUAL MARIO! Punctuating the super local CHEF OWNED cafe. He’s here all the time, super nice guy, a joy to chat with … and he truly loves making...