Romano's Macaroni Grill — Restaurant in Cerritos

Everybody loves Raymond. Rodney affectionately "likes" Romano's Macaroni Grill

BOGO $9 Express Dinner (served to-go daily, dine-in Mon-Thurs)

Our first visit to RMG, we were impressed with the restaurant environment. Very dim lighting in the ample main seating area, with the bar and a semi-private room on the west side. After being seated, we were told we'd have to order at the Kitchen Counter to redeem the coupon, hospital cafeteria-style.

After debating upon the most enticing selections, we placed our order. Unfortunately, bread is not complimentary with Kitchen Counter Express Lunch & Dinner. Just $1 extra, we went for it.

Order placed at 12:34 pm. $9 Express Dinner in 9 minutes or it's free. I'm counting down the minutes. Tick tock, tick tock

Chicken Milanese panzanella- Lightly breaded chicken breast, roma & yellow grape tomatoes, arugula, pickled onions, parmesan, Mediterranean vinaigrette & crispy parmesan potatoes, the chicken Milanese panzanella clocked in around 4 minutes. Reminding me of chicken katsu, the breast was large, flaky & good. The menagerie of veggies added contrast & brightness. Dipping in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) & balsamic vinegar enhancing the flavor quotient.

Pork belly & chicken carbonara- Pork belly, grilled chicken & creamy carbonara tossed with spaghetti. Clocked in at 7 minutes. Dag nabbit! I was hoping for free lunch sigh A very hearty, filling dish, the thick cuts of pork belly & chicken were succulent & tender. The spaghetti was slightly al dente, and the carbonara made that much more creamier with a liberal dousing of EVOO, balsamic vinegar & a few dollops of butter by your's truly, along with grated cheese by our attendant. I was quite happy with this dish.

Rosemary peasant bread- Can't go to an Italian restaurant w/o the prerequisite crusty bread. Arriving last, the rosemary peasant bread had a tough outer crust hard to cut into via the table knife, but the interior was airy & soft. I restrained myself by only going for a few buttered EVOO/balsamic vinegar soaked helpings, since I'm already carbing up on spaghetti. Refills are included.

During our meal, a few of the staff came to our table & told us don't worry about the bill, we got it. Perplexed, I asked why? They said our order wasn't completed within the 9 minute allotment. The bread! It was the bread! I assumed only the entrées were held to the time challenge. Yes! Free food! Someone just came up, baby!

Service was good. The cashiers took our order accurately, and the waitstaff were quick with the bread refills, red pepper, butter etc.

Ample seating inside, with a few tables al fresco by the main entrance. Outside, lounge/swing style music played on the speakers, including a rad cover of Oasis' "Wonderwall". Haven't heard that in years. Oddly, no music inside. You'd think there'd be some Rosemary Clooney, Dean-o or Frank in the background, but no. Parking is in a private lot shared by Trader Joes, Wood Ranch Grill, Pieology etc.

We had a wonderful lunch, made all the more better by being comp'ed. I found the Express Dinner menu to be a great value for those in a hurry, as well as for those who aren't. With an inviting ambiance & delicious food, Romano's Macaroni Grill has a new fan. I'll be back, probably to redeem my birthday month coupon ;p

Highly...

I am a regular at macaroni grill, my family and I come here 2-4 times a week to enjoy an entree or a cocktail from the bar. I have noticed a few things while coming here that sent up a red flags. I am a kitchen manager at another place that I prefer not to say and I noticed the manager with the bald head and the goatee has been very Sick the last few times my family and I have had dinner .. I understand when you need to work you need to work but I have noticed this manager handling food in the window , making salads or delivering food to tables without hand washing .. you can hear him coughing from all the way across the restaurant. I also noticed over the last couple weeks that a few of the servers are now sick, what’s worse is that cross contamination is one of the number one rule in the food service industry . Macaroni grill has not been that busy this and last week because of the World Series which the dodgers LOST... Our food had taken almost 50 minutes to come out, the appetizers came late , our water glasses had a residue on them, and the food was sent back because it was cold. I also was alarmed that servers were scraping gum out from underneath the tables and chairs with UTENSILS and then serving food to their guest right after.... how is this even sanitary ???? i understand being productive and keeping employees busy but I believe from my professional experience it should be done before opening , or where the guest can’t see you ...One positive thing I will say is that the servers were very attentive and did everything they could as it was not their fault. Maybe it’s bad timing or maybe it’s coincidence but during my frequent visits this manager has been sitting in the booths as if he has nothing to do with his leg propped up... what’s worse is that he never came and checked on our table , we just got an apology and a coupon added to our meal for the service . In my experience we were never aloud to be “kicking back” in the middle of service, is this the example set for the rest of the staff?? It’s clear as far as the food goes based on our bad dining experience. there’s tons of workers out there that would kill to be to be in management position. Macaroni grill is not the same as it was 10 years ago. I hope this review enables future guest dining experiences more pleasant. Maybe a visit next week to enjoy our favorite cocktails at happy hour ( which are decently priced) will be a lot better! Oh and by the way sandy the bartender makes a great...

The only downside is that one of the employee of this restaurant stole our gift money that we left on the table. When we came back 10 minutes after. The table is clean and no one surrendered the greetings card that my best friend gave to my son with a cash of $60.

It was Dec 25,2023 lunch time when we decided to have lunch with another family. My best friend gave greeting card both to my kids with cash amount $60. I left it on the table and went to parking space. But went back to ask if they have it. The receiving server immediately reported it to our server and her name was Viv. Viv was an awesome server. No complain and serve with gratefulness . But she said the guys cleaned the table. She ran to check the trash can and only found the a reaped enveloped, they ran towards the other trash can outside and found the greeting card and no money. I called the manager named Adam( old guy with eyeglasses). I reported the incident and he said “ how would we know that there is money on it”… instead of an apology, I was questioned about my integrity. I am working in a big company and our protocol is to surrender any item clients left especially if there is money. So my first question to your manager is “ what is your protocol”. It is really embarrassing for a big company like yours to have an employee who steels money. I can call cops if I wanted too. $60 is not a huge money but your company is hiring and training dishonest people, your training failed because they did not follow protocols. He retuned money to us “ Adam the manager” but the point is your employee DID not REPRESENT your company well. You should investigate and FIRED people who missed the opportunity to Represent your company. Your manager even failed to fix the issue and brush it off in my face that we paid you, you can go. It should be a sincere apology and find ways how to find a dishonest employee.

BAD REPUTATION for...