*** Update March 2024 *** This place has so many ups and downs. I find that after a year, we’re still hacking a load of bread with a very small steak knife. Come on guys, all restaurants have better utensils than this place. The tomato sauce, this time, was plentiful. But it tastes like jar sauce, nothing special at all. Even Olive Garden has a better tomato sauce. The salad is also subpar - any Italian restaurant has a better salad, even Olive Garden. The music is also very depressing - 40’s and 50’s.

*** Update October 2023 *** We recently had a party of four and there were a few problems that we noticed: (1) Be sure to ask for a sharp bread knife, otherwise you will have to hack it to death with the unsharp serrated knife they provide. (2) If you order a salad w/o dressing you may likely get a salad that still has dressing of some sort. (3) if you order Eggplant Parmesan, there will only be a little drizzle of tomato sauce underneath the eggplant. Come on guys. There should be ample sauce on top of the Eggplant Parmesan. I subtracted 1 star.

*** End Update ***

*** Update: August 2023 *** It’s been 3 years now since my 1st disappointing visit. However, I am delighted to raise my review to 5 stars. My friend and I were comfortable in a booth and our food was quite good. Be prepared for an crowd when you dine at Maplewood. Much of the music they play is from the 30s & 40s. *** End of update ***

This was the 1st time I and my friends elected to eat lunch at Maplewood. The square tables for 4 people are too small. I had to sit the salad bowl on the spare chair. We started with a house salad for the table along with bread. The salad was soaked with dressing, the bread was stale and served with small diner-style single-use containers of butter. Any real Italian restaurant would have served olive oil & herbs for dipping. My grilled chicken entree was a bit tough. One of my friends thought his Shrimp Scampi was very watery. Two of us ended our meal with a cannoli. I’m sorry I asked for one. The cannoli shell was not very crisp (as of excess moisture had accumulated) and the ricotta cream was not very flavorful. Any good restaurant (especially those with pricey entrees) would store the cream filling and shells separately and only fill the shell once an order had been placed. Since I do not think this Maplewood location is a good restaurant, I suspect that the cannoli shells were filled hours before one was served to myself and one of my friends.

So instead of 1 star I give this restaurant 2 stars since one of my friends didn’t have any complaints other than the bread we were served. I hate to be harsh, but there is only one ‘first impression’ possible. I value my time and money and will gladly go elsewhere.

*** It is almost 5:30 PM (our lunch was at noon) and this will be my 3rd and final edit for this review. As I think over our lunch experience, I keep forgetting some of my omissions.