Mama Lucia's Restaurant — Restaurant in Newnan

Our party of 7 rolled in at about 7:30. A Monday evening, the restaurant had open tables. The first host scanned the place and started collecting menus and silverware to seat us. The second host came over to him and hissed "Make them wait. They have to wait 25 minutes." He put the menus down and sheepishly told us, without explanation, that we'd have to wait. We went out to the patio, where they weren't serving, to do so, and discussed how probably the kitchen was backed up but wasn't it interesting that we'd been given no reason for the wait. A half hour passed and we were seated. Our drink order was taken promptly. It then took 20 minutes for those drinks to arrive. Bread - another 20. Taking our order? Another 20. As this time elapsed the restaurant emptied of all the other customers, yet somehow service never picked up and, again, no explanations or apologies were given. By the time our food arrived - nothing complicated, and no apps ordered because we could now see the vortex we were trapped within - it was after 9:30, and they were closed. We were the only table in the restaurant, and had been for quite some time. The food was fine, its arrival met with the dual emotions of most of us being extremely hungry and extremely frustrated by the experience. Despite being the only remaining customers in the place, we eventually had to get up and go to the bar to pay, as our server had disappeared entirely (perhaps it was past his bedtime - it was certainly past the bedtime of the 8 year old in our party). Miraculously no one left working at Mama's seemed at all phased by the group of customers who had been in their restaurant for nearly 3 hours having to hunt down someone to pay so they could leave. As had become par for the course, there were no apologies, no explanations, no nothing. The tab arrived, not only at full price, but with items on it we had attempted to order and had been told were unavailable. After ANOTHER 10-15 minutes spent straightening that out we finally left - the only non-employee car in the dark lot, the time creeping toward 10:30.

Times are tough in 2023. People don't want work, many of the people willing to come clock-in included. I get that. But that wasn't the problem. Everyone we interacted with at Mama's that night was a teenager, and I honestly believe they were trying their best - but they were faced with scenarios they hadn't been given any guidance to negotiate, so they fumbled their way through them as best they could (which is to say, poorly). We tipped because it was clear the problem wasn't with the staff but management, or the complete lack thereof. There were a few proper adults working there, skulking about. We saw them as they passed our table countless times during the evening, pointedly both noticing us and also avoiding contact. It's one of those people who should have stepped up and offered explanations and/or apologies and by the end of it all, if I ran the place, some kind of discount for the inconvenience of it all. I wish Mama's good luck - Newnan needs a decent non-chain Italian restaurant. I doubt anyone in our party last night will be back anytime soon, as no one has the patience for a trip into the twilight zone for a $20 plate of spaghetti...

I was so excited to dine here after this restaurant moved locations, but didn’t have a great experience.

I went in with a party of around 20 so I was expecting delayed service, but I didn’t know it was going to take an hour for them to even come over and take our orders. Super unorganized handing out food, and the food came out about 2 hours after we were seated.

Again I get that there were a lot of us, but I had a small child with me really would have liked her food to come out first or at least get a heads up on time.

After sitting for about an hour we decided to order bread appetizers as we didn’t know that the table would be served bread right after 🙃

We also requested silverware because we were missing a set. I understood that they had to roll silverware because there weren’t any left, but they brought the silverware to us after we already found some on our own and just about finished eating…

I was offered a refill once in the beginning of our service, but after we were about halfway through our food we all had empty drinks and no one around to refill. Typically that would be fine, but being that service took so long, our dining experience was three hours long so some more drinks would have been nice.

Unfortunately after getting my bill fixed twice, it was still incorrect. We decided to just cut our losses and pay it anyway as the waitstaff didn’t seem to understand the issue.

As far as food goes, my chicken piccata was pretty good. Chicken was tender and moist. Sides of soup or salad are an extra $3-4 so I opted not to get one.

I ordered the butter penne with Parmesan for my baby. Unfortunately there was a thicker stringier cheese on top which is a choking hazard for most young kids so I had to only give her certain pieces.

The seafood pasta was excellent other than a few pieces of undercooked pasta.

The staff were very nice, but the service just wasn’t great. The facility itself was clean and beautiful, but the experience left much to be desired.

We will have to consider whether or not to revisit in the future for a...

I have been eating at Mama Lucias for many, many years, beginning with their first location at Thomas Crossroads in Newnan, GA. I lived very close by so it was very convenient for me to go there several times a week. When Mama's moved to Ashley Park, also in Newnan, GA, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't have a fantastic meal at my favorite local restaurant, at my convenience. I loved the food so much, I decided I couldn't let driving a few extra miles get in the way of pleasing my pallet. I have tasted everything on the menu over the years and I can honestly say this restaurant provides delicious, creative dishes. Breakfast is awesome, from eggs and bacon to pancakes to omelets to french toast and more. I highly recommend the blueberry pancakes!! Calamari is lightly breaded and is very flavorful, not chewy at all, as many restaurants serve it that way. Another app, Mozzarella Friti, is incredible. They serve the best ribeye steak south of Atlanta! Vegetables are always delicious, especially when grilled. The many Italian dishes are very good! Try the chicken parm. or the manicotti or the veal piccota...all amazing flavors blended to perfection. The desserts are to die for. Creme brule, or chocolate cake, or cannollis sure satisfy my sweet tooth!! The wine list is extensive and provides a great variety of amazing choices. There is also a kids menu for families who choose to bring their children to this beautiful restaurant. I don't know why some of the reviews are so negative, but in my experience, any and all restaurants have their good days and bad days, dealing with employee issues, kitchen back-ups and many other circumstances that arise on a daily basis. Having been a restaurant owner myself, I understand the many challenges that come along with trying to provide an excellent cuisine, great customer service and a pleasant atmosphere. All meals are prepared from scratch so be patient...