Maria Restaurant — Restaurant in City of New Rochelle

What an amazing dining experience! I would give more stars if I could!

Giovanni is a true culinary genius!!! Chili chips made from chili’s imported from Calabria?!!! Delicious! The Wild Mushroom Ravioli had me speechless!!!! Cauliflower fritters paired with a delicious curry that melts in your mouth, Creamy Burrata on a bed of beets with aged balsamic, sprinkled with granola?!!! Wow!!! Who would ever think of that! Delicious !!!!

Everything is amazingly delicious and super creative The piece de resistance Filet Mignon was like butter!!!! Everything was prepared with TLC and plated beautifully! We really enjoyed every morsel of our meal!

As for the cocktails…Dascha is a top flight mixologist!!! Her Queen Margarita is fit for a king with the perfect balance of elderflower( my favorite) and passionfruit, and it’s packing quite a punch as well! Excellent!!!

But it was her Espresso Martini that really blew my mind!!! OMG it was so decadent and smooth and balanced just right! A perfect accompaniment to the delicious mini donuts filled with cannoli cream. We Absolutely LOVED IT!!!!!

As the finale she served Giovannis home made Sambuca which is an absolute mic drop!!!!Amazing! Home made Sambuca! Unbelievable!

The service was excellent . The music was great!The ambiance is warm and inviting and the decor is lovely to say the least. So if you are looking for an outstanding meal please stop by Maria’s! You will not be disappointed and you won’t want to leave!!

Thank you Gio and Dascha!!! You two are truly a dynamic duo!!! We will definitely be...

I don't have a complaint, but I do have a suggestion. Maria is on the cusp of what could be excellent dining without any pretense. The bar is well-stocked and the bartender knowledgeable, and both trendy and local spirits are offered. The food borders on high end Italian, but I noticed some quality lacking. The menu lists Parmesan as an ingredient in their famous oxtail ragu gnocchi, and given the Michelin mention, I figured it would be freshly grated "real" paremesan. However, it looked like the kind that you put on a slice of 99 cent pizza and had no flavor. Also, the dish was too hot. Temperature seems to be a bit of an issue, suffering between two extremes. I would revisit temperature and also upgrade the ingredients. Also, and this could be applied to food (why not feature Hudson Valley farms more?), the take out containers look cheap and are not sustainable. Why is a trying-to-be a high end business not on the cutting edge of sustainability? I know COVID has been tough, but the plastics used cannot be recycled. It's definitely time to upgrade to paper and compostable materials, if not something even more inventive. All of that said, I want to end on a high note. The restaurant had extremely friendly and welcoming staff. The chef and bartender were very generous, and are genuinely interested in getting to know their clientele. This has already created customer loyalty, so I think continuing to improve where there are growth opportunities can only improve...

My daughter was getting married in New Rochelle, and we were traveling from California... with relatives coming into town from Florida and other far flung places. I wasn't familiar with New Rochelle so I took to online reviews, & was able to narrow my list of suitable pre-wedding family dinner places for a large 20 something group. Maria Restaurant was one of the places on my "short list", which readily became my "list of one". In addition to lots of terrific online reviews, Maria's chef/owner, Giovanni, was very accessible by email, answered questions promptly, and made things very easy for an out of towner to understand what his restaurant had to offer.

Dinner was absolutely fantastic. In all respects. I used the menu for large groups, and the food was so delicious. The menu was varied, imaginative, and every dish was super tasty. The service was impeccable. Even when the restaurant got crowded, we always had top notch service by the friendly, knowledgeable, always present wait staff. The atmosphere at the restaurant was also terrific... a lively, beautiful space but completely suitable for intimate conversations between family members who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Everyone in our group loved Maria. People are still talking about it, and it will be one of our favorite memories from one of the best weeks in our lives. A+, Five Stars, I really can't recommend this place...