Mama Mia’s Hand Made Italian Cuisine — Restaurant in Nehalem

I brought my folks for a weekend trip to the coast in rockaway beach. First night, we don’t want to cook since we traveled a couple of hours already and I finished a day of work. Looking around, I spot this little Italian restaurant with good reviews. I’m looking for comfort food because it’s the beginning of March and it’s pouring rain and it’s 6:30pm and pure darkness. We get to this little Restaurant 15 minutes away in Bay City, and the ambiance is incredible. It is a small, homey little restaurant. The lighting is inviting, and the atmosphere is warm, and it smells of bright oregano and tangy pomodoro. There are a few other guests chatting around their tables, everyone is in a peasant mood. The hostess and server greets us very warmly (she is probably one of the kindest and warmest souls I ever did meet). She tells us to sit wherever we prefer. We peruse the menu, and I appreciate that it was not 20 pages long. It covered one page, so you might think that there is a lack of selection, but really what it means is that these dishes being prepared by the chef and owner of this lovely small business are crafted with care and love. Our hostess brings us drinks, chats us up real friendly, the kind of person you could sit and talk with for a good long while. We place our order, my dad gets the tagliatelle bolognese, and I ordered the seafood pasta off of the specials menu. The food arrives in short order, general portions. You can see my seafood pasta special listed. The flavors were decadent, every bite of this food was filled with the care of the chef and owner in the kitchen. We achieved the comfort food and it exceeded our expectations. The chef herself comes out to greet us, asking if we liked what we had, and I had to give her praise on the spot. Another kind and warm and welcoming soul! This is the kind of place you want to go and eat at to fill your belly with wonderfully satisfying food and leave with a good feeling in your soul. If you are looking for Italian cuisine, consider stopping over at Bay City and trying out Mama Mia’s. If your experience is anything like mine, you will be amazed and leave a...

I was staying in a nearby town. On 8/16 (Saturday), I drove to Mama Mia's for takeout, based on reviews of the food. I ordered a green salad and the dish which was described as lasagna noodles rolled around spinach etc. (I had asked the staff person whether I should get that or pizza - she highly recommended this dish.) When I drove back to my hotel some distance away, I realized that I had been given the wrong dish. There was NO spinach anywhere. It looked like lasgana but in rolls. It was delicious but not what I ordered. I called the restaurannt. The staff (same person who took my order; very kind) was unable to help me , said they'd call me back in a little while, and that they'd leave a note for the owner whom they expected later in the evening. She agreed with my idea of a partial refund on my credit card, but was powerless to actually do that for me, she said. I not get a call back. I left a message on Monday (I think - it was difficult to tell if the message recorded); no call back. So, two things about service: I paid $40 for this meal of salad and pasta. Crazy expensive. They automatically add 20% gratituity to all take out orders- really?! How greedy is that?! Yes, it's printed in very tiny print on the the take out menu, where you'd never see it unless you read very closely - I was looking for it because I'd seen that on a review. That is a sneaky and absurd thing to do for food priced so expensively to start. Greedy. I did not get what I ordered and no one was able/willing to help me get some sort of compensation - like a credit for part of the meal on my credit card. The food is without a doubt a 5/5. This service, though, is greedy and unacceptable. This is the first google review I have written that is anything but positive. But, I felt I gave the restaurant a chance and they ignored it. I'm sorry...

This is a hard one to review. If this was in Portland, I would probably give it 3 stars. But the fact is that while this might not be the best Italian restaurant, it is the best one south of seaside. And it's better than most of the other restaurants from manzanita to Wheeler.

The exception is their pizza. It is very basic and nowhere near as good as marzanos. If you're looking for pizza, go get it in manzanita. If you're eating here anyway, get something else.

The service and the atmosphere is other reason it got a 4th star. The view overlooking the river is really quite beautiful. And the service is very friendly and attentive.

I live Italian food and really wished the quality was better. I would make an effort to come down for a good meal. But this is very average Italian-american fare. If you're in the area and need to get something to eat, this is one of your better options in the area. You'll get an edible meal with a great view and a really cute and attentive waitress.

But temper your expectations. The food quality is not going to be up to big...