Mandina's Restaurant — Restaurant in Mandeville

Hello two of us senior citizens in wheel chairs went to Mandinas after Mass at Mary Queen of Peace. We are on a limited budget. But enjoy getting a bite to eat after mass. Today that was our plan. We arrived a little after 5pm straight from church. People were friendly as we approached and held the door for us. We were seated promptly and curiously. However we were assigned a waitress who seemed to be less than pleased to wait on us. She never made eye contact and looked angry and acted as if she were being put out. Never smiled. I most times I order a child's meal because of my limited funds. My friend however ordered a regular meal. Our waitress took our order and grabbed the menus again without a smile or eye contact or verbal response. I used to go to Mandinas quite often until Covid. Many times I when my budget allows it I have ordered the Sat specials on the board. I talk my friends into going with me and we have always enjoyed our experience. This is the first time we have been treated this way almost to the point of your waitress behaving rude. Specifically my friend ordered a refill of her tea and I asked for more garlic bread. (She had put the first order on the table with just a few pieces of toast maybe about 4 or 5.) She turned on her heal without responding in any other way. When she returned with my friend's iced tea I again mentioned the toast. She snapped that she heard me the first time. Since she had not responded I didn't know if she had even heard me. After she brought us the toast order she didn't come back. We had to ask a young man to ask her for a box and our bill. When she brought our individual checks I noticed she had charged me for the drink which was included on the menu with my order. When she returned I questioned the charge. She said it was because it was an adult ordering the child's plate. I have never been charged separately before and I mentioned it to her she said well she had asked and they told her to charge me. That's fine, I know things change but it should have been told me there was an extra before bringing it to me. Don't you think? What was supposed to be a pleasant dinner was darkened by the waitress who acted unbecoming for a waitress. Normally I tip 20% + up but only left her a 1.00. Sorry her behavior didn't deserve the 20% + up I would ordinary tip because I know most work hard and need the tips. BTW. When younger I trained many waitresses at the hotel restaurants where I worked with my husband who was a hotel trouble shooter and sent all over the country.. I do know how servers should behave and how they can make better tips. I like Mandinas and it is convenient to where we live. I'm sure I'll be back but not till this exoerience fades from my memory. BTW when we first arrived there were hardly any customers so she wasn't rushed or busy. I would have...

Mandina's opened their Mandeville location after Katrina in a space that was formerly a bar. I have been to this location several times, but my most recent experience was for dinner.

We arrived around 6 and were promptly seated. A male waiter kind of blew us off saying he would be right with us, but didn't seem sincere. Before he could "get to us", Lori arrived. She was super friendly and personable. She turned out to be a great server and I was glad the other guy was too busy to help us.

I started with some turtle soup. Their turtle soup is similar to Commanders Palace's version and was very good. They gave me the bottle of sherry so I could add exactly the amount I wanted. Normally the server adds till you say stop, which can mean you get too much or too little. The soup was very good.

For entrees we ordered the Veal Parmesan, Shrimp Bollinaise, kids spaghetti and kids grilled cheese.

The adult entrees came with a side salad which was pretty standard. What wasn't standard was the dressing. I got their remolade which was incredible. Spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, it was very good.

The kids meals were great and the spaghetti was more than enough for two kids.

The shrimp bollanaise reminded me of a shrimp alfredo. There was a massive amount of shrimp, pasta and sauce. The shrimp were perfectly cooked. The sauce was creamy and flavorful. This was a good dish.

The veal parmesan was very good. The veal was tender and incredible. The entire dish was covered in red sauce that tasted great. The red sauce was traditional New Orleans style and had great depth of flavor. The plate was loaded with pasta as well. This dish could feed two normal humans.

We really enjoyed this meal. Lori was great, the food was great and the atmosphere is great.

I highly recommend this Mandina's location. Now if only more New Orleans restaurants would open locations over here, I would be...

I was very disappointed in this video. It was our second visit and over four years and neither memorable. This last visit did happen to fall on the Friday entering lent season. We were told it was a a 20-minute wait but actually waited about an hour or more. There is like you know waiting area at all just the interest way beside the door with no seating. You're offered to sit at the bar to wait but when you have children that's not an option. They have an outside area but also not an option in winter. Seniors and after us and we were all crowded in this entryway area back to back standing for a long. Waiting to be seated or sitting on the garden which was very uncomfortable and directly in the way of the entrance Door. Also there's no ambience in the restaurant just tables over concrete floors. I tried the fried green tomatoes which were tasty but not like Fried Green Tomatoes on the East Coast or anything else I was accustomed to it was more like mozzarella and tomatoes from a Greek restaurant. Again tasty but not what I expected. My son ordered the fried onion rings which were huge but not very crispy at all. The fish and shrimp we're also okay but the batter was not seasoned well to make you go yum. Very generic consider how long we waited and the bill. Speaking of the bill the prices in the menu are much higher than the online prices from the menu which we checked in the parking lot before entering. We were not...