Little Mama’s Italian — Restaurant in Charlotte

The atmosphere? Extremely welcoming, comfortable environment. Music apropos to the food. Absolutely loved the pictures around the restaurant! I could’ve pulled some out of my grandparents photo albums and put them on that wall. It was like coming home and looking at family. Service? STELLAR! You can tell they work as a team and as dishes are ready, they are brought out often by someone other than your server but that’s OK. I was in a position to watch the bartender and will say the seats around the bar were packed. She was personable, engaging and interactive with her patrons.

I saw there was an upstairs section! I was seated downstairs, but I would like to see what’s upstairs. I imagine it could be a more intimate space.

The hostess amazing. Advice: when she talks to anybody other than guests you may want to tell her to keep her game face on. The reality is your guests see ‘everything’ and first impressions are everything. She was professional guests, but I was 2 people back, think she was frustrated with some of the staff - and it showed. 

Speed to table for appetizers? I was surprised it came out so quickly! The rolls are very good and light. The olive oil, wish they would put or offer to put, some grated cheese in it and maybe some parsley. If they dressed up the oil for the bread, inexpensive quick, bump. I am going to try as best I can to put my favorites in order because I ordered so much food - and it was just for me. Top of the list? That crabcake appetizer. Amazing! sauce on the side that you could dip the crab in? Wonderful! I squeezed lemon over my crab cake because I love lemon and it was just beautiful. I really expected a lot of breadcrumbs? Not the case and that was a great thing! It was fresh, it was light, it was creamy, but it was so flavorful. Definitely put lemon on and use the sauce. My next favorite? The goat cheese, mascarpone cheese with the big slices of bread?! Oh my goodness. Really beautiful!! Soooo flavorful!! I could eat it on pasta, bread, veggies and actually DID put it on the Beef Pork meatballs!!! Prime Beef Pork Meatballs I’m putting them next ONLY if you pair it with the above goat cheese mascarpone spread. The meatballs are fresh and good texture but a bit plain. They were going to move to the bottom of my list until I got the brilliant idea to put some of that goat cheese mascarpone over it?! I told my waitress that it would be a wonderful suggestion to pair the two. Stracchiatella Dip, artichoke salad side? Loved artichoke salad. Highly recommend it all on its own. Quite honestly? Not a fan of the cheese dip only from the perspective that they used an extra-virgin olive oil. I felt it overpowered and skewed the flavor of the cheese. I really didn’t taste any lemon zest, but loved the pistachios by the way. So I think in my personal opinion - for what it’s worth? Would have doctored that up a bit - do NOT go with the extra-virgin olive oil. It takes away and actually lessons the flavor. So THAT was probably my least favorite thing, but I ate it! It is a personal taste is all I’ll say. Now to the eggplant Parmesan! I opted for an extra side of the brussel sprouts with it. The brussels good!! In addition to pasta but eggplant Parm blew me out of the water! If you get nothing else but that dish as your meal? You will be full! It was so cheesy, loved how they breaded and fried the eggplant. But that roasted grilled cheese flavor - just SOOO totally came through. If you’re looking for something light? This is not it. But if you’re looking for something rich and flavorful and comforting?

You better believe I’ll be back! I brought home the Strachiatella pizza, but I have not tasted it yet. You can see the pictures in my review, but what I’ll do is add commentary after I eat it. 

Lastly, Brussels with almonds and raisins? was different, but REALLY enjoyed it! Sweet with a charred/grilled flavor that is inherent to roasted Brussels. From service to portions for price and quality? FYI….all that food $114 - absolutely a deal in my personal experience...

This restaurant is a nightmare for door dash drivers. Normally I decline any orders that I get for this establishment due to previous bad experiences but tonight I accepted one hoping they had improved. Upon my arrival I let the hostess know I was there to pick up an order. She let me know it would be a few minutes. I step back to wait. There are 3-4 girls standing at the podium talking about a woman outside the window having her picture taken. Clearly not busy working. About 7 minutes go by when someone brings out a to go order. Neither of the girls go to check if that is the order I was waiting for. So I asked one of them to check. It wasn’t my order. So then I asked if she could go to the back to see about how long it would be (5-10 minutes). Just an estimate would have been fine. Apparently the GM was standing with the girls (chit chatting about the lady outside) because as soon as I asked that she go check on my order she steps up and immediately catches a condescending attitude with me. She tried to inform me that to go orders have a 45 minute wait time. I was shocked and said I can’t wait that long and was preparing to unassign myself from the delivery. Then she said it’s 45 minutes from the time the customer placed the order. I tried to explain to her I have no way of knowing when they placed the order because the door dash app doesn’t tell me that information. Clearly she doesn’t know how DoorDash works and would not hear me out. She kept cutting me off. I decided to continue waiting. A few more minutes pasted when the GM randomly asked for my name. I asked why? She wanted to put my name on a list to not be allowed to do deliveries for them anymore. I again tried to explain to her that it’s not worth it for me to wait 15+ minutes on a single order and that’s why I asked if she could give me an estimate on how long it would take. If she had just told me from the start it would be over a 15 minute wait I would have unassigned the order. Simple, quick, and respectful. She would not hear me out and just kept giving me an attitude and being extremely disrespectful. She tried telling me that her staff has other things they’re working on…but the whole time I was waiting there were 3-4 girls (including the GM) just standing around talking. It doesn’t take that many people to look up reservations.

This will be my last time taking an order for this restaurant. Door dash drivers get treated like this by numerous establishments and it’s just uncalled for. I called door dash support and let them know of the situation. If a 45 minute wait for take out orders is normal for the restaurant then I don’t think they need to accept door dash orders. It seems to be more than they can handle and their customer service is awful!

I just read through several recent reviews. Christy must be who spoke to me tonight. Since other negative reviews mention how disrespectful and rude she and the other...

I’ve been to Little Mama’s multiple times as an Uber Eats driver, and twice to dine, and I’ve never been disrespected the way I was tonight by Christy, the manager at the hostess stand. When I called to ask about the status of a pickup order, she not only cut me off and said, “I’m actually really busy right now and can’t help you with that. I’m at the hostess stand not the kitchen.” She also refused to check, dismissed my request, and acted as if the restaurant was extremely busy. No apology, no offer to check, just rude and dismissive.

I told her I’ve picked up here many times and hosts have always given me a time estimate or checked on the order. She refused to help, then silently put me on hold and left me hanging. So I drove up myself two minutes later, and surprise… the order was already ready when I walked in. The restaurant was not busy at all. In fact, it seemed to be the end of the night for the restaurant. There were three people at the hostess stand, and Christy was literally just standing there. So the excuse of being too “busy” was just that…an excuse. She was also very rude when I brought up that I’d like to speak to the owner, or the GM, Adrian, and dismissed me completely in-front of other staff.

And being someone who was born and raised in this exact neighborhood, I find it especially disrespectful. The quality of service on this side of town has always held a higher standard. Whether a restaurant is busy or completely empty which this one was, no one in this area expects to be talked down to or dismissed like that. It’s just not how we treat people around here.

Let me be very clear, you do not treat people like that. Not over the phone, in person, or ever. It doesn’t matter if someone’s dining in or delivering food Christy. And btw, no, Uber Eats does NOT tell delivery drivers when the food is ready. It’s up to the driver to find out.

Respect is respect & you completely disrespected me tonight . I truly hope her tone and behavior weren’t racially motivated either.

I would like to speak directly to the GM, Adrian. And I’d also like to speak to whoever is above Christy, because this kind of attitude damages the reputation of the entire restaurant. If this is what management allows, I’d be embarrassed to be associated with...