Mazzi Cucina - Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in North Miami Beach

It was our first time visiting and the expectations were set high. Unfortunately it didn’t start out too well. We were told to wait by both the server and the owner when we walked through the door, instead of hearing a nice warm “welcome,” only to find out that our reservations were lost. Luckily there was a table available. The owner, I presume, talked us through the menu which was quite helpful considering it was our first time and we were unsure what to order. The atmosphere is what makes this place, cozy and intimate; although I’d love to listen to Italian music as opposed to Spanish. After all it is an Italian restaurant. We started with the calamari, it was very tasty- soft, not chewy although I’d prefer a bit more crunch. Then we had the chicken parmigiana with rigatoni and four cheese gnocchi. The pomodoro sauce was the best part of the whole meal. Chicken was well prepared and had basil in between the cheese and sauce which was a great touch. The rigatoni was al dente, just how I like but some noddles were a bit too hard which tells me it wasn’t turned inside the pot and the noodles on top didn’t cook enough. Lastly, the four cheese gnocchi. I wish I would have read the reviews about it before ordering. It was like eating mashed potatoes- they are way too soft. I hardly ate any of it. The worst part is that nothing was done about it. We were told that the chef is well known for cooking Italian food and that’s it’s the recipe they use to make gnocchi. It wasn’t taken off out bill, we weren’t asked if we wanted something else, no free dessert and no apology. Sadly, I can’t see...

Mazzi has the best Italian food in the area…hands down! I have been dining here for years, but my dining companions and I recently noticed a few things. The waitstaff has not been particularly friendly and they never seem to want to bring bread or more bread after bringing only two pieces. Mazzi serves the most delicious gremolata and also a mozzarella appetizer with an out of this world sauce. The last 3 times I’ve dined at Mazzi, I’ve politely asked for bread or more bread only to be met with a strange reluctance from the waitstaff. Mind you, we order appetizers, entrees, and desserts, so it’s not like we are there having free bread, gremolata, and water, then taking off. If it’s too costly or exhausting to serve bread, charge for it. I’d be happy to pay for it. There’s nothing better than to enjoy it with my appetizers and meals. The last time we ate there last week, as the waitress cleared our entree plates, she told us she needed the table for the next party. I’d made my reservation a minimum of one week in advance. I used to have a much different experience at Mazzi…one that this Italian American found to be delicious, inviting, authentic, and unmatched.

I love the food at Mazzi and the memorable meals I’ve had there with people I care about. This is why I am giving 5 stars. I’m hoping that my other comments will serve as an...

Just came back from dinner at Mazzi cucina , i myself am Italian born and raised in Venezia and also chef who's graduated from Le Cordon Bleu in 1970 in Paris I also owned 2 restaurants in Washington DC so my complaint is when I arrived I was a little taken back on how small the place is to the point you are sitting right next to the table next to you and can hear their conversation then most of the staff are Hispanic and don't speak English " thank God I speak Spanish " the music is all Spanish which you would expect Italian music in an Italian restaurant, the the owner and chef Stefano was behind the little bar and I saluted him and spoke in Italian and he never came at our table to converse or see how things were since he was in the dinning room the whole time we were there , the food was good but for the price of the menu items you should expect a little more , like I finally had to ask for bread After my main entree arrived . All in all I might give it another try reluctantly but we'll see . I also forgot to mention when I made a reservation I mentioned that it was our anniversary and not that I was expecting anything but they never acknowledged and wish us a...