Mario's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Lexington

There are few places that I can say I've been going for decades - Mario's is one of them, 30+ years and counting! Being back in Boston for the holidays it was top of my list to return here for great no frills Italian food, the type I had been desperately seeking when living in Seattle and Portland. A cozy little hole in the wall, Marios has all of the italian staples that can feed a family on the cheap. I really want to stress and emphasize that part - where every other restaurant in greater Boston has jacked up their prices with no change (or declining) quality I was pleasantly surprised to see Mario's was exactly as I left it 15 years ago - ~14 for a delicious chicken parm and pasta side, enough food to be perfectly full without being stuffed. A cozy atmosphere that always feels full and lively, likely because of the narrow layout of the dining space, and friendly waitstaff. Bring your friends from out of town here to show them the suburban italian family style dining which makes our area great.

Parking available on the street but part of the experience for me is parking in the lot out back and coming in the back door, past the kitchen, and into the waiting area.

I've been making the rounds to some of my favorite places from growing up outside Boston and many of them have let me down - was it nostalgia all along or did the quality and service really decline that much in 15 years? I am glad to say Mario's hit the nail on the head and retains a special place in my heart after all these years. Literally the only thing that's changed is the tablecloths. From the "bench" you wait on to be seated to the paintings of Italy on the wall it is exactly as I remember.

Let's get this place on the national historic register already! Much of Lexington center has changed but I am eternally grateful for a wonderful meal with mom at my favorite local eatery...

Mario's has been our favorite restaurant in Lexington since we moved here. It quickly became our go-to restaurant whenever we don't know what to eat for dinner. I loved this place so much, but today I changed my mind by their disappointing service.

I arrived at 6:02pm, completed my order for takeout at 6:05pm. The cashier told me it will be about 15 mins. One more thing to note, the reason I ordered in the restaurant was I tried to call to order as I always did, but couldn't reach them after called several times.

I went to CVS and other stores while waiting for my order. Came back at 6:15pm. 6:25pm, I was told my order was not ready. I saw a lot of people ordered via phone came to pick up, and they got their food pretty quickly and left. 6:35pm, 30 mins passed since I ordered. I was told would be another 6 - 7 mins. 6:45pm, I got my food, finally. I asked the cashier who told me the wait time was 15 mins. "I have been waiting for 40 mins, just wondering if there was anything wrong with my order? You told me it is 15 mins...". "I said about 15 mins, we are very busy now, and I said about 15 mins, not 15 mins". The young lady replied impatiently, emphasizing on ABOUT.

I turned around, said nothing. My kids were waiting for the pizza at home. I didn't want to waste a min to talk to a person like that. My math is not the best, but 40 mins is nothing like 15 mins. If you told me 30 mins, and I got it at 40 mins, I could totally accept it. If I knew this would take 40 mins, I might plan something else, instead of standing in the restaurant waiting for my food to be done.

BTW, she didn't mention she is sorry about it at all.

Anyway, we all enjoyed the dinner. I was comforted by the pizza and forgot how unpleasant the experience I had at...

8 years living in this town, worst experience ever.

Went to dinner tonight and saw people got seated later have their order ready but no one even came to our table to ask. When we requested can someone pls take our order, they claimed that because no one led us to the table and we must have taken the table by ourselves that’s why no one came to us. Excuse me? You called my name and I stood up said hello to you, and you led me to this table like 10 mins ago. Now you gave me that look telling me not only it’s not your fault forgot about us also it’s our problem that we seat here by ourselves? The look on that waitress is not just rude. It’s more like what you can do with me this is my place and I make the rules.

So 2 things I regret about tonight. First, I forgot to ask that waitress name otherwise I will definitely name her out here. But she seems to be the only elder waitress in that place, looks like 45-50 yrs old, shoulder length hair, about 5’5 tall. Good luck if your waitress is her. Second, we are too angry at that moment to stay in that place so we just left after a brief argue, but we should have call the manager out so they can at least know what their staff just did. But who knows, maybe that’s their vibe and their attitude is supported at this place.

Anyways. No way going back to this place ever again. Shame on you lady to ruin such a cozy...