Massimo Italian Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Gig Harbor

Going downhill, never again! Ordered the grilled salmon, with salad side and my partner requested it be gluten free - this restaurant claims to have gluten free options . Instead of pasta that came with the entree my partner asked for addition vegetables in lieu. We reminded the waitress twice about gluten free to which she replied she heard the request, yet she brought salad with croutons (which obviously were not gluten free). My partner requested another salad without croutons to which the waitress replied it was the kitchens fault, not taking any responsibility herself for the mixup or the fact that she had just served something with gluten to my partner. Then she brought another salad which my partner carefully examined noticing what appeared to be some breadcrumbs - we asked the waitress if they had just removed the croutons and served the same salad but the waitress assured that it was a different salad, them saying the waitress said there were "lots of crumbs in the kitchen". This response was not reassuring about their ability to be gluten free. We both noticed some of the lettuce was wilted and not fresh. The major disaster was what followed - after some waiting time - (and there was hardly anyone there at 3:45pm) came our entrees - halibit, which I refused as was not what was ordered. At this point I got up and found Mr Mossimo, who I told what was happening, that basically this waitress was not listening. He said he would go straighten it out. When I finally received the salmon entree, the vegetable portion was extremely small compared to what they brought with the halibut, and burned and over cooked. The salmon tasted "fishy". When got the check was charged for the halibut, an additional cost, plus extra for gluten free pasta which we had not ordered or received, and extra for the extra vegetables which was understood at time of ordering to be trade off for the pasta that my partner did not want with the meal, The waitress had never mentioned any addition charges at time of ordering. Brought that to Mr. Mossimos attention which he had the check reduced accordingly to what we had ordered. Would not trust them to be gluten free based upon this experience, and the waitress never apologized for her lousy service in mishandling the order and a rude and condescending attitude that followed when confronted. She did not even offer another coffee refill etc, instead seemed to want to rush us out of the place as fast as possible. The whole experience was far from enjoyable. Mr. Mossimo seemed tired and while he did apologize and had gone back to the kitchen, the grilled salmon I finally received tasted fishy and had a meager vegetable portion that was overcooked. Not an experience I...

Update, third time eating here. I don't understand why they have difficulty cooking the alcohol out of the wine sauce. I ordered the grilled salmon. It came with one piece of broccoli and it was on top of a miniscule portion of gluten free penne pasta. They had the pasta and broccoli laying in a wine sauce that was wrecked by they strong presence of alcohol. Literally all you could taste was the alcohol. I didn't send it back because everyone else seemed to be enjoying their meal. Looking around the restaurant while waiting for the food, you can still see the cobwebs. I'm adding some pictures of the cobwebs and the bathroom. I stand by my other two reviews down below. For the price, Massimo's doesn't deliver. In my opinion, the only reason they stay in business is because there isn't anything else in the area. Second time eating there. If tonight was the first time, we would have never gone back. We went the first time last Saturday night and talked about it all week. Couldn't wait to go back. We are so bummed out. Thought we finally found a great restaurant on the Peninsula. I ordered the Marsala Chicken both times. Tonight's dish was completely different. The chicken was tough, the pasta was a pile of mush, and the sauce had so much cream in it I thought it was a different dish until I tasted the alcohol of the Marsala wine. You shouldn't be able to taste that. Even the balsamic vinegar on the salad tasted different. The specials were priced at $49.99. The condition of the restaurant doesn't support that sort of price. It's time they reinvested some money into the building. The bathroom is gross. The locks on the stalls don't close properly. There are holes for toilet seat covers but no dispenser. Both times last week and this week, the toilet seat was soaking wet. So gross. The wine bottles have cobwebs you can see from the main door. The servers stack the plates when cleaning, it's a horrible bussing practice. Our server never came back to clear the appetizers. When she arrive with the main course we had to scramble to stack the dishes so she could put the food on the table. The problem with that is we called her over to the table to see what was taking so long with the mains and she left the table full of dirty dishes. The servers need to be trained on how to perform the tasks of their job better. I've waited tables, managed restaurants, and owned two of my own in Atlanta. This place could be so good, instead it's in dire need of help...

Update: We were coming to this place 1-4 times a month and told everyone it was the best place to eat in the area. We took many people there.

Sometime summer of 2023 the place changed. Like most places prices increased, which I would have accepted, but the quality decreased significantly. The next time we went the quality was even worse. The food had the same name, but it was completely different and not for the good.

Because of those two experiences, we held off going back for a couple of months.

When we returned, the prices has been increased again. The material on the plates was inedible. My normal dish had pasta overcooked mixed with pasta undercooked. The sauce tasted like burnt generic cream of mushroom with random spices, the Italian sausage was closer to hotdog. My wife's prawns were overcooked, the breading was very thick, nearly raw inside and overcooked on the outside.

I asked for my check, the waitress didn't notice or didn't care that both of our plates were full. I paid, leaving with memories of great food in the past.

I was planning on trying again for mothers day. I checked the reviews hoping to see that the owner saw the bad reviews and fixed the food. I was disappointed. I'm not about to try again when people are still complaining about the bad food.

I hate leaving reviews like this, but if the owner doesn't see them they won't think anything needs fixed.

Original review:

Friendly staff, awesome food and a wonderful view. Come on in, you won't be disappointed!

My new favorite dish is the Penne Massimo. It's Italian sausage in a wonderful, flavorful white sauce with Mushrooms over penne noodles.

Then there is the Calamari Fritti fried to perfection. This is a dish that my wife and I have been looking for cooked correctly for over a decade, since we went to a nice restaurant in old town Alexandria Virginia. Thank you Massimo for doing this dish right!

Whenever we ask my mom and step-dad out to dinner, you hear them both yell over the phone "Purdy", meaning Massimo's in Purdy!

Really this place...