Nonna Lisa's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Mackinaw Township

My girlfriend and I went here while on vacation, she had been here before a few years back and recommended we go there, even she was extremely disappointed. There was no taste to our pasta, for a place that “specializes” in italian, it tasted very similar to something i would get from say, applebees. But for a PREMIUM price of $20-$30 per plate of food, that you barely get any portions of. We sat there with 7-10 tables filled, there were 6 waiters. We waited 50 minutes just to get our food, we were at a table the ENTIRE time of that 50 minutes. By that time we both had our drinks completely gone. Which were NEVER refilled the entire time even after we got our food, our waiter initially stated that we could order a side and even gave us a price for it, then came out and stated he couldn’t do it anymore. But initially continued to charge that price for it until i stated it was on there and he removed it. My girlfriend ordered sweet red wine, and it smelled like someone poured rubbing alcohol straight out of a bottle, even after mixing it within the glass, she couldn’t bare the taste of it because it tasted exactly like it smelled. And to clarify, she isn’t a huge wine drinker, but she has had wine before and she stated it has never tasted like that before. Our waiter only came to our table a total of 4 times. To bring us our drinks, to give us appetizers, to give us food, and then bill. Never checked up or anything, as i stated prior, not even to refill glasses. We also had to wait another 25-30 minutes just to get the bill after we were done eating, which was very frustrating. I try not to be that person and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but it was just too many issues to enjoy. Now that being said, the environment is very scenic and beautiful to be in and look at, but the food for a specialized food is premium price as it should be, IF it was actually specialized and tasted as such. I also had a hotel key that was supposed to take 10% off a meal, which the waiter would not do for us. Now your experience might vary, but i personally will never come back here to eat.

The manager did get involved and took money off the bill, and apologized alot, but still very frustrating as we were there for just under 2 hours and only had our food for probably a half hour to eat and be done.

Again, your experience may vary, but i will not be going back.

The food is a 2/5 due to it not being terrible food, at all, it just is 100% not worth the premium price as it tastes like something i could get from Applebee's for half that cost.

The service was 2/5 due to the experience we had and maybe it was a 1 off situation, but it seemed to not be that busy, and i witnessed our waiter standing around (which i try to give the benefit of the doubt for) but at one point he was at what looked to be playing on a cellphone.

The atmosphere is a 5/5 due to it being beautiful in the building and while you...

I’m not one to leave reviews but after the experience that I had a couldn’t not leave one. This place is absolutely terrible, this is coming from a food service worker that understands difficulties in restaurants and typically is not one to bash establishments. My mother, daughter, and I came here for lunch and will absolutely never go back. My mother and I both got sick from the little bit of food that we did eat (my daughter is only one so she didn't touch much of the food). The breadsticks were deep fried and left you with a mouthful of old oil. We got the appetizer Arancini it wasn’t inedible but I definitely would never order it again. I ordered the Tuscan shrimp pasta, my mom ordered the Tuscan chicken. They are the same sauce, yet our plates were not even close to similar. My food was inanely bland and my moms was so salty it made me pucker. We did not want to cause a scene with our server (as it was not her fault) we tipped and left with our food basically untouched as it was inedible. We both got extremely sick from the food so my mom decided to call and ask if we could be refunded for the meal. We asked that the server was still able to keep her tip since again it was not her fault but we did want the money back for the meals we barely touched. The manager was extremely rude, he refused to give us his name refused to give the owners name and refused to give us our money back. He told us that if the food made us sick we should just go to the hospital and that it was no his problem. The manager of this restaurant was so extremely rude on the phone and after reading some reviews on this restaurant I’m not the first to have an issue with him. He told us that this is his first season running the restaurant (let’s hope it’s his last). After spending $100+ on 2 meals and 1 appetizer, to say we were disappointed would be an understatement. Very sad to see a restaurant that was once very good go downhill so badly. Just like all the other reviews of this restaurant say,...

TLDR: avoid at all costs. If it’s the only late night option when you’re here, pay the $4 toll and go to McDonald’s in St. Ignace.

Looking beyond the… unique aesthetic choices and dingy, dirty, and dark atmosphere, the food was absolutely atrocious. I wouldn’t pay 1/4 the price to eat what we were given.

We had an order of breadsticks to start with and were sorely disappointed when we were given what was essentially unflavored doughy logs of bread. I had the Porcini s Salsicca pizza, which had absolutely zero sauce or anything wet and was extremely dry. It had mushrooms on it that tasted extremely dirty and the chewiest rubbery sausage and mozzarella I have ever had on a pizza.

My husband had the steak Gorgonzola pasta. He described the sauce as tasting as though it was from a can, and that it didn’t pair well at all with the beef. The pasta itself tasted like it was “from a fazolis”, which we would’ve taken any day over this.

During the entirety of the experience the waiter also would come up to the table, drop something off, and then stand there for an uncomfortable amount of time for no reason not saying anything. It made the experience even more awkward than it already was trying to choke down unwashed mushrooms while sitting under a the ever watchful eyes of a dozen or so taxidermied creatures. We also overheard other servers correcting patrons on their pronunciations of the meals. When we originally entered, the greeting was nonexistent and unprofessional-just two girls sitting at the front not even dressed as if they worked there, and not acting approachable whatsoever.

It nearly cost us $70 for two people. Even for a tourist trap… the price vs quality is more than unacceptable. I have come to Mackinaw city once or twice every year for the last 20 years, so I am used to the increased prices and such that come with the touristy area.

I can firmly say that I will never...