Mama Mia Livonia — Restaurant in Livonia

I want to start this off by saying that I completely understand the history and the attachment that the local community has to this place, it definitely hasn't gone unnoticed.

Now in my personal opinion, if you set the history and a the deep rooted connection to the community aside, you have a bit of an overrated pasta joint with okay food, and better than average service. This might even be an unpopular opinion, but let me back up a bit to explain.

If you're unfamiliar with the name, this place has been around in some form for a very, very long time (the late 50s to be exact), so they're pretty good at what they do. I'm willing to bet, if you live in the area, you've driven by this place hundreds if not thousands of times like I have, and for whatever reason, it's taken me this long to finally stop in to see what the place is all about.

When you pull in you're going to notice a couple of things, one being just how tight and cramped the parking lot is. I decided to park behind the custard place next door in order to try and avoid such congestion. There are now two ways to put it, it's just very cramped feeling. The second thing you may notice is the size of this place, from the outside, it looks pretty large, but you'll soon realize that 50% of what you're seeing from outside is the Banquet event space that they rent out next door that you'll never even see the inside of if you're just stopping in for a meal.

When you walk in, to me it kind of reminds me of what an old VFW hall or something similar looks like but with different decorations. Beyond that odd aspect you'll be greeted by one of the friendly and professional hosts, and straight ahead is a very old and vintage looking bar. The area then opens up to quite a few different seating areas, and while we're on the subject of seating, the booth that we sat in was very, very small. There were four of us, and a baby in a high chair at the end and it just felt very, very, cramped. I'm not sure if all the seating here is like that, or we just happened to get an unlucky spot. Either way, trying to eat in such close quarters with other people wasn't all that great.

On the other hand, something that was great, was our service. Our waitress was friendly, professional, efficient and on top of everything, all while appearing to be training another employee. I couldn't say enough good things about our service experience here, and honestly its something that would bring me back. There is nothing worse than a bad service experience while dining somewhere, and you certainly don't have to worry about that here.

One thing that left me wanting more here was the food. It's simply just okay, and what I would consider to be pretty highly priced for something that is just okay. I didn't leave here hungry by any means (we all took food home from our meals), but I also didn't leave here wanting more either. It's just okay, nothing more, nothing less. I've most certainly had better Italian fare, and absolutely have had worse Italian fare. Worth the money? I don't personally think so That being said, would I meet a friend here for a beer and a bowl of spaghetti? Absolutely. But would I choose to come dine here if I had the option to go anywhere? Probably not.

When all is said and done, this appears to me as a place that caters mostly to its regular customer base, and honestly that is perfectly fine. If you're looking for a decent (though pricey) pasta meal, with excellent service, and an overall okay dining environment, then this is your place, and I think you would have a fine time here...

Pizza was very yummy- good cheese pull😄🩷 Man, they were busy! So busy that by 5 o’clock they have ran out of rigatoni🥴 they had two huge parties back to back and they were working hard to keep up with the demand- The house salad was served oddly- it looked like it had been sitting out for a bit and they had taken it from one bowl and poured it into another bowl because all of the carrots and toppings were on the bottom and the lettuce was on top. The table next to us had three house salads delivered to them and their house salads had the lettuce but all the toppings on top of it.🤔 my husband only ate a couple bites because it didn’t look fresh. And nothing worse than serving chunks cores of lettuce.

I had the Gavi chicken… Tasted very similar to chicken carbonara-it was delicious and flavorful. The smoky bacon and garlic flavor came through- there was plenty of sauce, so it wasn’t dry -I would have liked a bit more chicken In it -The peas were a little crunchy $18 -

people complaining about the prices, But the portion was enough for four meals If you have a smaller appetite and two meals, if you have a bigger appetite-and it was delicious-

My husband had the special which was a chicken pesto pappardelle (sp?)-again, huge portion $17- he thought the flavor was flat- But the next day, it was much better-

The bread was phenomenal. It was better than the breadsticks they usually serve. Hot, soft, doughy, and perfect.

My husband usually gets the minestrone soup and this time I had the mama’s anti-pasta salad-I prefer the Caesar salad over it-

A recent visit- The lasagna was perfect. The sauce wasn’t too sweet. Large portion- Delicious Caesar salad -My husband wasn’t a fan of the lemon chicken as it didn’t taste lemony or have a lot of lemon sauce. It was kind of dry. The veggies and mashed potatoes were delicious-

My husband has been coming to mama Mia’s since he was a kid and he’s now 72😁 we’ve been coming here for the past...

So apparently per blonde haired manager "its common to tell carry out customer 20 min during dinner rush" even though full awareness that it will take almost 50 minutes... so extremely disappointed in the whole situation actually.. In reality with all the staff whispering right next to me the ball was dropped by order taker on phone & while sitting by Register 3 separate wait staff told me ( they approached me mind u) they were gunna check on my order & not one returned or communicated whatsoever about order or time left to wait ?? Very uncomfortable actually because they were scrambling around whispering un able to locate my ticket or it never got sent to kitchen I don't know but while paying I was giving no apology or explanation ? I brought up my 35 min discrepancy & was told " its expected at dinner rush".. patron to Redford location & this is my 1st & last experience @ livonia... shame actually because livonia is closer but it will be worth the gas!! Hope they figure out dinner rush timing mis representation so other moms don't get their whole evenings thrown off schedule ... only get 3 hours with kids on school nights & this night was cut short because of the BIG SECRET of what really happened to my phone...