Manalú Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Maryland

While visiting friends in Frederick, my fiancé and I caught up with them over dinner at Manalù Italian Restaurant. Everything about this place was amazing, from the atmosphere to its staff to the service to the food and drinks. Our server Alexa was friendly, efficient, and knowledgeable about the menu. Prior to ordering, she provided the daily specials of the day, which included a Corn Chowder, Lobster and Shrimp Ravioli, and Rockfish/Salmon.

For drinks, the other couple each got glasses of California Merlot, my fiancé enjoyed the Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA, and I enjoyed the Giallo Rosso cocktail. The Giallo Rosso cocktail consisted of Three Olives Citrus Vodka, Cream Limoncello, and Cointreau shaken with ice and poured into a jumbo martini glass and topped with a splash of Lemonade and wine float. It was fruity, refresh, and strong. Because I'm a lightweight, I needed help finishing it.

After our drinks arrived, we were given a basket of warm house bread with rosemary and peppercorn olive oil dipping sauce. The bread resembled a Schiacciata.

For appetizers, we shared an order of Bruschetta Di Casa, Calamari Fritti, and Romana Pizza. The Bruschetta Di Casa consisted of crispy seasoned Italian bread slices loaded with a blend of plum tomatoes and onions tossed in extra virgin olive oil and finished with chopped fresh basil and Freshly grated parmesan. The only thing that was missing was a balsamic drizzle. The Calamari Fritti consisted of tender calamari rings and legs lightly breaded, lightly fried, and served with a lemon wrapped in a muslin and chunky marinara sauce. I liked how crispy and fresh the calamari were. The Romana Pizza consisted of tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, anchovies, olives, capers, and oregano topped with fresh basil. This neopolitan pizza was absolutely delicious and the best pizza I've had in a while. I loved how the crust was light, airy, and chewy.

Victor had Pasta Alla Vodka. For his pasta, he picked homemade pappardelle. The Pappardelle Alla Vodka consisted of pappardelle cooked with a rich and creamy tomato sauce sautéed with diced bacon and shallots.

His wife had Spaghetti Di Mare, which was based on the Crostini Di Mare appetizer and a cup of Corn Chowder. Spaghetti Di Mare consisted of spaghetti cooked a rosé (light cream tomato) sauce with fresh sea scallops, baby shrimp, and jumbo lump crab meat.

My fiancé Chicken Abruzzi with a side house salad.  The Chicken Abruzzi consisted of chicken sautéed in a shallots brandy cream sauce with mushrooms and sun-dried tomato, topped with asparagus spears and mozzarella cheese and served over capellini pasta. The House Salad consisted of romaine lettuce, cucumber, cherry tomato, kalamata olives, banana pepper, red onion, croutons, and a tangy, creamy Italian vinaigrette on the side.

I enjoyed the Chicken Francese, which consisted of egg battered chicken breasts cooked with shallots and mushrooms in a white wine lemon sauce and served over spaghetti. The Caesar Salad consisted of romaine lettuce, shaved parmesan reggiano, and croutons lightly tossed in a Caesar vinaigrette.

I liked how each entree had a hibiscus flower garnish. We may have over ordered, but everything was delicious, and now we have leftovers for another meal.

For desserts, the four of us divided and conquered the Tiramisu. Our stomachs were happy.

I noticed that many birthdays were being celebrated. The accordionist played, and staff sang HBD. My birthday is next month and I'm considering...

After reading positive reviews and hearing from friends who had a good experience, I made a reservation for our family to celebrate my wife’s 72nd birthday. Our reservation was for 4:45 p.m., and the restaurant was already packed. We were seated against the back wall next to the pizza oven.

Service started off a little slow, but not terrible. After placing our orders, bread was brought to the table—but it wasn’t plain Italian bread with butter. I politely asked someone (who wasn’t our waiter) for some. A couple of minutes later, a different staff member came by to ask what I needed. Again, I requested plain Italian bread and butter.

Another minute passed, and yet another server—presumably a waiter, but still not ours—asked me the same question. For the third time, I requested plain Italian bread and butter and even pointed to the loaves sitting above the pizza oven. He mumbled something I couldn’t quite hear over the noise—something about the bread being “used for something else,” whatever that meant. I repeated, for the fourth time, that I simply wanted plain Italian bread and butter.

Eventually, our waiter appeared with a small basket containing five slices of plain Italian bread—without butter—for our party of nine. By the time the butter arrived a few minutes later, the bread was gone. I couldn’t believe how difficult it was to get something as basic as Italian bread and butter at a restaurant that supposedly bakes its own.

Unfortunately, the meal didn’t improve from there. My wife’s pizza was made incorrectly—she ordered green peppers and got pepperoni. She chose to pick it off rather than wait any longer. Two other pizzas were undercooked, had very little cheese, and were tough to chew.

Dessert brought more of the same. One order came out wrong, and we had to wait for the correct one. When we asked for two cannolis to go, they never arrived until we reminded the staff a second time after we already paid.

What was supposed to be a special birthday dinner turned into a frustrating and disappointing experience. A truly great restaurant is consistent—delivering excellent food and attentive service every time, no matter the server or day of the week. Sadly, this visit was neither.

We will not be returning, and will gladly take our business to other Italian restaurants where quality food and good service...

Visited for the first time this past weekend. Happy to see they had gluten-free options; menu is pretty extensive however. Went with a party of 5 and tried a few appetizers. The mozzarella caprese was good but could have used a little more basil. Others had calamari and Crostini Di Mare and they loved it. I did try a bite of the gluten-free pizza - I believe the Bella Italia - and it was REALLY good. I had the Chicken Romano, but they messed it up so I had to send it back. Everyone else was eating while I was waiting, but they were nice enough to bring me some soup on the house so I wasn't sitting there with nothing while my party dined. When it finally arrived I felt like the gluten-free pasta was a little underdone. I realize they were probably rushing to get the food out since the first one was a mistake, but I would rather it take a little longer and be correct instead of fast and wrong. Someone at my table did ask a few questions about the menu, and the waiter replied back with some comments that we felt weren't very professional. We understand he was "joking" but when the table next to us made comments about it, that was a clue that maybe you should be a little more mindful about how you communicate with the guests. I'm not a fan of how they charge you a fee to pay with a credit card. That cost should be built into the price of the food. Some people see it as a "cash discount", but that personally isn't my viewpoint as I feel all operating costs should be inclusive of the menu price. The owner did stop by our table which was nice. I complimented him on the taste of the gluten-free pizza and he sort of dismissed it as "not real pizza"! I know Italians are picky about their pizza, but at least he offers options to the diners even if he doesn't care for them. I was a little surprised at that comment! Overall, I would go back and try other menu items as I feel this place does have a lot to offer outside of the mistakes that were made - hence the 4...