Marvino's Italian Steakhouse — Restaurant in Cypress

Review on Mothers Day May 11, 2025

So we went back because this place is undeniable nice, classy and the chef knows their stuff. The food was tasty as usual, the customer service is iffy, questionable. Our server wasn’t very friendly, to begin with, she didn’t have to smile, we would be able to see it. She never brought us bread, we had to ask someone else, someone else passed by and asked if I wanted a refill for my drink. Since the food was brought to us, she never showed her face until my husband and I were about done however, my son was waiting for her or anyone to request sauce and parmesan cheese for his pasta, the only time I saw a smile on her facr was when we finished and my husband had just paid, so obviously he tipped her, so thats the server. Power went out, lights off, tv off everything off, fortunately there was some dimmed lights left on maybe they run off solar, thats how we managed to finish our meals. No one as in manager came out and spoke to customers about whats going on, and apologize although it wasn’t their fault. That right there is some shitty customer service. Some people left before they received their meals bcz it was dark.

Review from 2021 DO NOT MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR THIS RESTAURANT VIA OPENTABLE.

Few weeks ago my mother in law was in town from England, we boost about how nice this restaurant is, its closeby, nice meals and we agree to go here for dinner. I reserve a table for 5 via OpenTable, get a confirmation and everything.

We get to the restaurant that evening I’m like reservations for a table for 5, the girl upfront ask for a name I tell her, then she drags us to a booth, I’m looking at her like wth is this. But I ask her nicely, I reserved a table for 5, she says this is all we have right now. I ask her where is our 5th party supposed to sit, thats our 8 yr old son. She brings a chair and say here, now the booth area has step which makes even the chair super low and way far from the table itself. We let her go and ask a waiter passing by for a manager.

Manager (gentleman on the big side, with a belly and black wet hair look) comes and we tell him the same story. He goes “this is all we have folks there’s nothing we can do” I ask if reservations mean anything in their restaurant, he asks if I called the restaurant for reservations, I tell him I used OpenTable, he says “big mistake” OpenTable doesn’t always know when we’re fully booked etc. At this point I’m in awe 🫢. He does move us to a table thats not a booth where placing a 5th chair won’t be an issue.

My problem is, if the restaurant doesn’t honor OpenTable reservations shouldn’t be listed on OpenTable, its as simple as that. We don’t like obnoxious, chaotic situations that will draw attention to us, so we avoid those situations by making things simple. Wishing these places would do the same.

BOTTOM LINE: DO NOT MAKE RESERVATIONS FOR THIS RESTAURANT...

I have probably never been more disappointed eating at an establishment than I was at Marvino's. I have always wanted to try Marvino's and was very excited about finally getting to do so, but sadly will never go back. We had dinner there for a small celebration and right after being seated, the waiter immediately seemed to have a poor attitude. I have lots of experience working in the service industry and I was very surprised by the level of service we received for the prices they have on the menu. My husband rushed there and did not know what the attire should have been, so he and my son were a bit underdressed. I am now inclined to think, after reading some other reviews, that may have been the reason for the level of service we received; which is both pathetic and sad.

Aside from the terrible attitude from the waiter, there was confusion with who ordered what and my husband, who very clearly stated he wanted to order the Thursday steak special, was served and charged the non-special because the "waiter didn't hear him say special". Again, as a server, if there is a popular special being served on a given night, one would think to ask for clarity, even if the waiter truly had not heard. Although music was tolerable but at times, a little loud, 3 separate times we had to almost yell so the waiter could hear us say, we were still working on a plate and not to take it, yet he took it anyway. So either this waiter can't hear well or just doesn't listen well. I've not ever worked or visited an establishment and asked if a plate can be taken that doesn't appear to be even halfway consumed. Especially if I'm paying those kind of prices to eat it. Personally, I would have asked if we wanted it to-go.

The ladies' restroom was very unkept and evidently had not been cleaned. And finally, our waiter refused to split the check at the conclusion of the evening. I understand that this is not completely uncommon in the restaurant industry, but perhaps going forward, Marvino's should consider letting guests know that ahead of time. And if that is not their policy, well then, the waiter clearly had an unwarranted issue with us.

In short, I am surprised and grossly disgusted at how the evening turned out.

Save yourself the energy and extra money and go next door to Saltgrass.

0 stars would be given if possible. And if a member of management were to ever read this review, please feel free to reach out to me. I can teach that waiter how to do...

I would like to start off by saying that this is a review I really did not want to make. I've dined at Marvino's several times but after I took my dad here for Father's Day I am questioning if I want to return. We got there and the hosts just asked how many and quietly walked us to our table, no greeting or anything like we've got in the past. When we get to our table she goes "You can scan this", pointing at the qr code for the menu, and immediately walked off. After about 2 minutes or so, one person came to get our drinks and another person brought the bread out, but instead of having a nice quality bread with the olive oil like before, it was just simple slices and butter. A few minutes later and someone comes to take our orders, presumably our waiter but he didnt even give us a name or anything and the way he was talking to us leaned a little towards the unprofessional side. So far into our visit the service was lackluster at best, with the only saving grace for our visit being the food, barely. I had ordered the lobster ravioli and my dad ordered the braised lamb chops, and we both got caesar salad. The salads came out and my dad noticed that the lettuce was a lot leafier than what we've had before, no big deal though since it's just a salad. When we got our entrees, though, my dad thought his lamb was only decent at best, which is a little disappointing since he's always been impressed with the food here, and he's been in the food industry for 30+ years. On a positive note, my ravioli was delicious. Sadly, despite the food still being fairly good, we just cant overlook the poor quality of service that we recieved and the obvious lowered standards of the restaurant overall. We understand that with businesses having to make accommodations to meet regulations due to the coronavirus that some things wont be the same as before, but I'm being completely honest when I say that we were much more satisfied with our most recent visit to Olive Garden than we were here, as we had an actual wait staff with good service and food with no obvious compromises. Hopefully this review helps fix some of the issues that we had because it's hard to want to go back if this...