Mauricio's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Cookeville

Would rate a 0 but it’s not an option! Horrid experience for my ANNIVERSARY celebration!

Walked in, was looked at then ignored, we were standing a foot away from them as they continued to be more concerned with what they were doing rather than at minimum smiling or saying hello. After 2-3 minutes of awkwardly standing there being ignored they rudely said “Name on the reservation?” Then, we were taken to the least romantic room and sat in the back corner, where our table was directly TOUCHING the barback side of the bar. No one came to greet us for the 7-8min we sat there. During this time the bartender came back to rinse out some glasses and had the water on much too high and the water was spraying right towards my husband and myself. It was gross. This table is literally adjacent to the bar. I am unsure there was a worse table in the entire establishment. I am 100% positive that this should not be a placed table in a fine dining restaurant. No one I know would enjoy sitting there, let alone for a celebration. Anyways, I called a WEEK in advanced to reserve a romantic table for a wedding anniversary. We discussed over the phone all of those details and I was assured they put those details down in their notes. I mean, I even asked to be sat in front of a lit fireplace if that was available during the summer. Anyways, as I was sitting and awaiting any kind of greeting for nearly 10 minutes, I decided to stand up and politely ask the bar tender if it would matter if we switched over to a different table in the room. She assured me that it should be totally fine and smiled politely. I kid you not, within less than 30 seconds (after prolonged neglect), there was who I assume a manager or possibly owner (who sat us) with the hostess standing in the doorway of our rooms entrance making a “small scene”, if that makes sense. They walked right in towards us and said “Um, excuse me, we didn’t seat you here...” so I replied with “We are aware, we were just very uncomfortable at that other table..”, before I could finish she said “Well how do you know this is okay?!” So I replied that “I actually asked for permission, which I really didn’t feel was completely necessary but I was assured this would be fine anyways.” This person then followed up very rudely with “Well, how do you know this specific table wasn’t requested?!” I again, in complete shock that NO CONSIDERATION for our comfort or satisfaction was being considered whatsoever, replied as calmly and politely as I could saying, “Well, we don’t. However we will be happy to go eat elsewhere.” She then quickly replied, “Well, it just happens to be this couples anniversary who is coming in and we want to...” and at this point I did interrupt and say “Oh, it’s our actual anniversary today!” She then said with a very rude tone, “You can go sit back over there or you can wait until 730 (an hour from the current time), for another table.” Instead of replying to this person again, since I called ahead twice to discuss this special occasion and I knew FULL WELL that reservations are not even required for this restaurant (I specifically asked that), I just decided to stop arguing and repeated that “We would be happy to just go eat elsewhere.”

I have NEVER in my life had a more disappointing dining experience. With that being said, I have experienced some pretty terrible dining experiences, however, never once from a place with which esteemed themselves to be a fine dining restaurant. I have a higher set of expectations from a highly rated, “fine dining” establishment, however, not only did they miss the par from the very beginning with the lack of greetings and service, they went beyond disappointing to absolute absurdity. The way this person spoke towards my husband and I and treated us was by far the worst I have ever experienced even when...

If I could rate it ZERO stars I would but there's no option. Horrible experience, probably would have had a better experience at the Olive Garden or the local pizzeria. What a shame, we had higher expectations since this place was featured on TN Crossroads as a fine dining establishment. What a big rip off. Big mistake for selecting this place for a birthday dinner. I made reservations in and discussed that I would like a private table closest to the fireplace. Unfortunately when we arrived, the hostess seated us opposite the table we requested and said that table was already reserved. We said that we called ahead of time and specifically asked for that but she stated that it was already reserved for someone else coming in later unless you want to sit by the bar. No we declined sitting by the bar and said that it's ok we'll just sit there. Forget about the ambiance, unfortunately the larger table was a family who kept discussing politics which was very distasteful. The tables are too adjacent to each other that you can hear their conversation. We ordered the calamari which was very tiny a handful on a plate, but the family next to us who ordered the exact same appetizer had a larger pile of calamari. They call this focaccia??? More like a flat bread. We had the large Seafood Mauricio what a shame came recommended as a best seller. We received tiny bowls with 3 pieces of shrimp, 2 scallops, some tiny mushroom spinach on top a creamy alfredo consistency pasta.There were no lobster pieces in the dish as advertised on the menu. We initially asked if they would be able to sub the linguini with angel hair, server said that they were running low on it and may have a little bit left. We said never mind then, it's fine let's just leave it with linguini and repeated it twice. They ended up still giving us the angel hair which clearly they didn't have enough of and which seemed child like portions. So much for touting large portion sizes in TN Crossroads. What a shame. The sangria was basically a glass of full of ice with watered down beverage. What a rip off and utter disappointment. Don't recommend this place for any type of celebration. Never returning...

Amazing dining experience. I have yet to leave a review for a restaurant as (at most) the restaurants we have been to merely meet our expectations. Mauricio’s exceeds them! The cozy atmosphere reminds me of Jimmy Kelly’s in downtown Nashville... but the food and the service (in my opinion) are both superior at Mauricio’s. We have been to plenty of “high end” restaurants on many occasions... more than tripling or quadrupling the cost of Mauricio’s but there’s something about this place! Generally speaking... it seems like service is hit or miss and specific to whatever server you’re lucky (or unlucky) enough to land with at other restaurants but at Mauricio’s??!.... I don’t know what’s involved in their server training but it works! They give you space... but are around when you need them. They’re polite and don’t ask halfway through your meal if you want more water... they just bring you more!!! Anyways... I won’t get into my pet peeves about servers but I WAS one for some time and let me tell you... the servers at Mauricio’s are top notch! The meal is an experience (exactly as it is in Italy) and not something to be rushed! While your courses and server aren’t forcing you to hurry... they’re allowing you to enjoy the food and that experience but not be waiting for the next step! Much like a dance... you take a step... they take a step and it’s been perfect every time! If you’re in a hurry... go to Fazoli’s! Smells and tastes of Italy... and not in an Olive Garden kind of way. It’s really authentic and let me tell you... it’s DELICIOUS!!!! There are many Italian restaurants nearer to us... but none that are anywhere near as enjoyable!! We drive around an hour and a half to eat here and are around 20 min from downtown Nashville! The food is always amazing, the service is impeccable, the atmosphere is charming and I honestly wish we could pick this place up and move it closer... but as it stands currently... we will continue to make the trip to eat here! Please, please, PLEASE, try it... even if you live in the Nashville area... you won’t...