Mamma's Kitchen — Restaurant in Hybla Valley

The restaurant is located in a small strip mall with a tight parking lot. If you want to drop by during peak hours, you will probably have to park somewhere else around the restaurant.

I arrived just before 1pm. I was sat immediately. The restaurant is clean and cozy. The restroom is also very clean. I very much appreciate both of those things.

I sat for about 5 mins before the waitress approached my table and took my drink and food order. I waited for my drink for another 5-7 mins. When she approached my table with my drink, she also dropped off a salt and pepper shaker. I thought to myself, the food will probably be here shortly. No sir. That's not what happened. The table across from me finished their meal and I heard one of the women put in two orders to go. I thought to myself again, surely my food should be at my table shortly. The woman had her to go order within 10 mins. At this point, I'm rounding out at almost 40 mins in the restaurant. I had not been approached by the wait staff once since my drink was dropped.

I got ready to leave when the waitress rounded the corner with my food. I asked her to please wrap it up to go, as I needed to carry on with my day. I found out from one of the diners around me that allegedly there was a large lunch party on the other side of the restaurant (which you can't see from the main dining area).

The reason I am writing this review is because this experience could have been 10000% better had the waitress informed me that there was a large lunch party and service was currently slow. I could have made a decision on the spot, if I wanted to stay or go. Lunch is not typically a meal where people sit around leisurely. It is also, generally, not the most extravagant/complicated meal. You want to be in and out in a reasonable amount of time. I didn't even have a chance to ask the waitress what the hold-up was because she never checked in with me once while I sat and waited for my food to arrive. There were only 10 other people in the main dining area, 6 of which were already sat and eating when I arrived.

I ordered a salad. The Mediterranean salad. A very simple salad of spinach, a few pieces of chicken maybe 4 oz, and a sprinkling of tomatoes, bell peppers, feta, red onion and a pita cut in 4s. The salad was supposed to have a lemon vinaigrette dressing. The salad was a tiny bit larger than a side salad. It was overdressed, just covered in oil and not even a hint of lemon flavor. The lunch price is $15 when it should be closer to $12 or less based on what you actually get.

I could have chosen one of the many chain restaurants in the area but I prefer to chose local establishments. This may have been the worst day/time for me to pop in. This may have been an unusual occurrence. All I ask, for anyone dining there in the future, please, for the love of all things good and holy, PLEASE, communicate with your clientele. I would have appreciated a heads up when I was sat. I would have appreciated check-ins by the waitress and updates on my lunch. I just didn't get any of that when I stopped by for lunch which left a bad taste...

Food: I got the lamb burger and Greek fries. The hamburger meat was bland, but the halloumi cheese was quite a bit too salty. It felt unbalanced and not something that I would order again. The fries were relatively cold (and I always eat my fries first.) My order came out last in the group, so I would have expected that they were waiting for something to cook in order for mine to come out, but from eating it, that didn't seem to be the case. However, I've only tried Greek food in the last year, and only a handful of times. So, perhaps it is just my inexperienced pallet. Either way, it isn't something that I would purchase again.

Service: To give the restaurant credit, I came with a larger group, and our group did not call ahead to let them know we were coming, which is on us. However, it took at least 45 minutes for someone to come to our table to even take our orders, and then another hour for the food to come out. Yes, it was lunchtime, but there were only perhaps 10-15 individuals in the restaurant when we arrived, and half of those were already eating. The server checked in with us only one time once we got the food and asked if everything was OK. One member of the group expressed disappointment that their dish with chicken was extremely overcooked and dry, and the server responded with "ok" and walked away. There was no attempt at an apology or an attempt to be understanding. I know that not all restaurants would replace the food, but it would have been a more pleasant experience if the response had been more empathetic. I understand having to wait as a large group, but the excessive wait and the lack of serviceable mindset it what earned them a 2 star review here for my visit.

Atmosphere: The building seems to be very aptly decorated. There are beautiful vines and a lovely balcony for outdoor dining. The art and the layout gave me a very distinct Greek feel.

Overall: I would be willing to try again and see if the service was better without a large group, and perhaps a different food item would be more enjoyable for me. However, it's going to be a while before I even want...

Even though everything was good.

I was very disappointed in some things: The Caesar Salad was fine. The bread was good. The Hummus and Tzatziki dips were very delicious. Unfortunately the 3rd dip was off. Plus the Pita wedges weren't cut all the way. The house Salad that I ordered wasn't correctly made! I wrote down all of the things that I wanted for my house salad to have: Lettuce, Sliced Tomatoes, Matchstick Carrots, Broccoli Florets and Bell Peppers w Ranch and 1000 Island Dressings. As you can see by the 4th photo, it doesn't have those things! Instead I got a Steamed Broccoli Head photo 5. The amount of Fettuccine Alfredo doesn't match the price provided in the menu of $12.49! Photo 6. Our server was very unprofessional and needs major retraining in customer service! The woman's bathroom was very dirty and not cleaned! A young man who is a member of your staff stood around and did absolutely nothing for the amount of time that I was there. One of the staff members made themselves a big bowl of pasta and Meatballs to eat! To me, thats way too much!

I asked: Morgan our server "why wasn't my ordered the way that was written down?"

Morgan's reply: "We can't make your salad the way you wanted it because we don't have the proper things to make it for you."

My reply: "Why didn't you come back to my table and tell me this?"

Morgan's reply: "I just assumed that you knew that we didn't have those things to make your salad with, that's why I gave you the Steamed Broccoli Head instead."

My reply: "Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda" and left.

Unfortunately I shall not return to this place...