Mario's Italian Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Hattiesburg

Fed 4 adults for $100 plus gratuity on a Sunday afternoon, which included 2 appetizers. It was a birthday dinner for my daughter. Everyone's food was delicious. The spaghetti sauce was a little sweet, which I'm not a fan of, but it wasn't so sweet as to drown out the delicious sweet tea. It was done very well, and I would have eaten it again if there had been left-overs. The portion sizes were more than adequate requiring my wife and daughter to request to-go boxes. The calamari was lightly breaded and cooked to perfection. It was not overly chewy or "rubbery" like is often found at chain restaurants. The stuffed mushroom appetizer stole the show! The stuffed mushrooms are smothered in their spinach-artichoke dip, and was a creamy, warm dish of pure heaven. One would savor this treat even if they disliked spinach, artichokes, or mushrooms! It's THAT good! The sauce made the perfect dip for the hot, soft pretzel-like bread that was complimentary - what little survived being devoured with the butter! My big disappointment was that no steak was available. I really wanted to try one of their ribeye marsala dishes, but was told it was out of stock due to shortage. I suppose it saved me $15 plus the tax by switching to the spaghetti and meat sauce, and I left quite full. The service was excellent. Our server had a great attitude and personality and was knowledgeable about the menu and the local history. Most servers are college students or college age, as Hattiesburg is a college town. That doesn't mean service is second rate. Parking was at a premium, and we suspected some of their parking may have been pirated by the nearby hotel overflow. The food and service was commensurate with fine dining fare minus the crystal, white tablecloths, and extra fancy silverware. We will be back as often as possible being visitors from...

We were seated in this restaurant around 6:50, and placed our order. We told the server that we were really hungry, and also ordered an appetizer. I guess after about 30 mins another party joined us and ordered an appetizer and food too. We waited about an hour on the appetizer and the food before we stopped the server. He then retrieved the appetizer and due to my concern he was super unconcerned. He said that it's nothing he can do about it, because he doesn't work in the kitchen. He then sent the manager to the table. We watched this manager pass the table checking on all the other guest at least 10 times. We also tried to flag him down and he ignored that too.

He then came to the table in argue mode. Because when he asked me what the issue was, before I could finish he began talking on top of me. Arguing about "the time that the server actually put the order in". He did this so long that my oldest daughter told him, that he was rude and not listening. Once I began again, he then started to argue again and talk with me. But his hands were in my face, and I had to ask him to back up out my face. He then walked off from the table. He did not apologize or show any customer concern at all.

We watched people order eat, enjoy drink and leave while we continued to be ignored.. We ended up watching a couple eat leave and the table be re-sat. The next couples food, then came out the same time as ours. Also, the party that joined us late, his food also came out with ours as well.

I couldn't help but see how we were the black family in this restaurant and this is how we were treated. Our food hit the table at about 8:50 and for them this should've been cool with us.....

First off I just want to say I used to be a BIG Mario’s fan. I’ve been supporting their business since the first day that they have opened in Hattiesburg. And honestly they were in their BAG at the old location never had any issues. However these past few times that I have ordered it’s been a complete disappointment. Disappointment may be an understatement. The last time I ordered to-go, got there to pay for it & the lady gave someone else my order, in which they paid for my food & took it. Instead of her just making a new receipt she goes “I got it mixed up because the both of yall had almost the same order” ummmm ???? Ok. But we didn’t it almost looked the same to me as well until I got home & realized that I was charged an extra $10 for something I didn’t even order. Pissed. Tonight I called at 6:17 pm for another to-go order (shrimp fettuccine Alfredo & seafood combo) I arrived at 6:55 to learn that my order was never placed. I should have left then but I waited an extra 15-20 mins because it’s what we had a taste for. Got home to eat and the shrimp in the fettuccine Alfredo are SO OVERCOOKED literally hard! The seafood combo has not even a full scoop of noodles just thin “Alfredo sauce”. The Alfredo sauce itself is so thin & tasteless it honestly tastes like cheese water. I’m for sure going back to speak with management. This is so unacceptable. If the staff wasn’t so busy playing around, my food would have been done in time & done properly. On top of that if you did forget to put my order in it shouldn’t be rushed. OH and the rolls which we always look forward to were scorched so bad they had such a bitter taste due to being burnt...