Mama's Little Italy — Restaurant in Hot Springs

A group of four of us went for dinner on Thursday night. The food is always excellent as far as portions and flavor go, however we had a horrible experience with the manager. First, two in our group ordered shots of tequila and received shots of triple sec instead. Three of us are bartenders so we laughed it off rather than bringing it up and causing a problem bc we know how funny restaurant rules can be when it comes to alcohol. Not a big deal. Then the entrees come. One of our friends has a shellfish allergy and after two bites of her chicken Alfredo she starts turning red and becomes intensely itchy. We had some antihistamine in the car so I ran out to grab it. When I came back in the manager is standing at the table just rambling and rambling about how there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that cross contamination could have happened. We all just stared at her in silence bc, as mentioned before, we all work in food service. We know even in the most strict kitchens things happen. As she continues to ramble on, our server appears with a tube of Benadryl topical cream which we could not help but laugh at. Then the manager, who has never stopped talking, goes on to say she has multiple allergies and carries 5 different allergy medications on her at all times. Implying that it’s our friends fault that she had an allergic reaction and that she should consider toting the allergy medicine section at Walgreens around with her at all times. We were all just stunned by her tone and nonstop talking/justification. If she would have just apologized and kept it short I would not even be writing this. She just couldn’t help digging herself deeper. The cherry on top was offering our friend more food 🤣 no thanks! Very disappointing customer service and completely unprofessional handling of what could have been a deadly situation for some. Will stick to pickup only in the future if we decide to patronize again. No one likes to be talked at and berated when they’re spending a chunk of money in your establishment. The booths are also extremely cramped and...

Won't return, it is far cheaper to Via Roma, but it's clear as to why. It's one of those wonders of the kitchen that seems Ramsey would discover unhealthy. The choice of chicken was extremely distasteful, possibly because it's not fresh and not sure where it came from but yuk!

The tea was great. The croutons were stale, salad didn't offer much. The Chicken Alfredo sauce didn't taste powdered like that of Olive Garden which was nice, the pasta was good and cooked well.... it's the chicken.....was yuk.

My wife did not care for hers, and they didn't charge us for it, but I tipped very well to assure no loss.

Suggestion: Bring the salad up to include greater green and tomatoe, research to discover a phenomenal salad and let it become a star all on it's own.

Use fresh chicken breast marinaded over night to cook with some broth for flavor retention and lay the sauce over along with a small Italian garnishment. Research your competition, it's war out there! Your menu is busy almost too much to maintain in my opinion, for freshness, almost a dangerous longevity issue in the kitchen.

Let the love come from the kitchen from a chef that loves to show it in the food they bring forth. Sometimes a chef needs freedom to express it as well. (Might be the hang up here)

Fresh is very...

Me and my family (a group of six) went in to eat around 6:30. We were immediately sat down and given menus by the hostess up front. There were a total of about 6 other tables with 2-3 people at them. We sat for almost 20 minutes while no-one even took our drink orders or acknowledged we were there. I requested for two different waiters as they walked by with my hand raised and yelling sir, only to have them look away and keep walking. They actually walked right by our table several times to do small tasks like wrapping new silverware or wiping down a table. We eventually stood up and left. On they way out no-one acknowledged us or said anything. We went and ate elsewhere. Im not sure if it was a cultural bias (being a primarily mexican family) or just laziness. We messaged the owner and he looked at the cameras and noticed the wait time and blamed it on a miscommunication that the hostess didnt tell the wait staff that we were seated. I would understand that if we were not sitting in the middle of the room where we were walked by several times and verbally asking for help. It is a shame because I have eaten here several times and its my favorite Italian restaurant in hot springs. I hope the service is improved, I...