Maisano's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Novi

There is nothing more satisfying than unexpectedly finding a diamond in the rough.

I had family visiting and decided to meet up with friends in Novi for dinner on a Thursday night. We had planned to meet at an American-Italian chain restaurant just up the road. See my other review on this date for THAT miserable experience. After being rudely treated by that restaurant, we stood outside their front door and searched for other Italian restaurants in the area. We spotted Maisano's with nearly 5 stars and over 600 reviews. Good sign. We reviewed their menu online and it looked very good, even somewhat authentic. Better sign. We called and at the time we called, about 7:15ish p.m., there was NO wait. Cue Angels Singing. We quickly drove the 1/2 mile and walked in.

Immediately we were greeted with wall paintings reminiscent of ancient frescos depicting a gluttonous Rome - a good sign IMHO for an Italian restaurant! lol. Jennifer, the owner's wife, greeted us and informed us that we now had a 10-15 minute wait, possibly shorter, but (unlike the other chain restaurant we were at), we were welcome to wait at the bar. Everyone enjoyed a glass of wine while we waited. My friend had a glass of 13 Celsius Sauvignon Blanc that she absolutely loved. I had a glass of their house cabernet, and another member of the party had a white moscato - both also very good. The cost was about $3ish per glass and I estimate each glass contained about 5-6 ounces of wine. Very reasonable.

Once seated, Brittney greeted us quickly and did an outstanding job with service and explanation of specials. We were provided bread and seasoned olive oil while we perused the menu. I don't recall everything everyone had but here were a few outstanding highlights:

We started off with 3 apps - the artichoke dip, the mussels and toasted ravioli. The ravioli were a big hit with the kids and disappeared immediately. The dip was also favorably received, especially the toasted garlic loaf which I used to soak up the mussels broth! The mussels were PERFECTLY cooked and delicious in a nicely seasoned broth.

I had the Cheese Tortellini Rustica. It was delicious. My only slight issue is that it was heavy on the pesto and could not make out the Prosciutto di Parma. I'm also a bit of a salt-a-holic and could have used a bit more salt in the sauce. Overall, however, I was quite pleased and finished my dish, which came with a wedge salad (no upcharge).

My daughter loves palomino sauce which is not always available. Maisano's had it. She ordered the meat ravioli with Palomino and loved it! She had the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

My son had spaghetti and meatballs which he loved. He would have preferred pizza but there was none on the menu. The spaghetti was perfectly cooked, and the 2 meatballs a healthy size (I'd say 2-3" in diameter) and well seasoned.

Another member of our party also had the raviol but it was cheese ravioli tossed in garlic n oil. This came off of the make your own pasta section, which we also liked. This dish also received a thumbs up!

And yet another member had the Chicken Picante and absolutely loved the balance of flavors, noting that the strong flavor elements of lemon and capers did not overpower the chicken and artichoke hearts. Nicely done, Maisano's!

We finished the meals with dessert and coffee. I shared a cannoli. The shell was hard when it was served, which is GOOD because it indicates it had not been pre-filled and waiting to be served often resulting in a soggy shell. The cream could have used a bit more flavor for me, but it was not detracting enough not to finish it! lol. Another had the almond cake and this...this was a remarkable dessert and the one that everyone agreed was the best on the list. Get the almond cake!

Throughout our meal, Jennifer checked in, and Brittney was always available. We ended up closing the place down, watching what we assume were family members coming in to dine together with the owners. And that only added to the family atmosphere of this truly family-owned...

The Maisano’s Mystique

There has always been a mystique to this restaurant for my family. My cousins Frank and Jackie Maisano started it a long time ago. The pictures on the wall include pictures of my family – my parents are in them. The food tastes just like what we had at our table at home. My family is from out of state and no trip to Michigan was complete without dining at Maisano’s. The restaurant was subsequently sold, but we continued to go there. The food was as good, the atmosphere the same, and it always inspired memories of fun times gone by.

Our family recently suffered a death and the larger family was coming together for support, with a number of people from out of state. It was almost automatic that the suggestion was offered that we have a meal at Maisano’s. My cousin contacted the restaurant and was a bit surprised that they were reluctant to accommodate our party of 15 – 20 people. I would have thought a restaurant would welcome the assurance of business. After some back and forth, they finally agreed that we could all sit together if we were there by 5:30.

My daughter’s family includes children 3 and 6 years old. They had to fly in on two different airlines and would not arrive at Detroit Metro until after 5:30. Nonetheless, they made plans to have a rental car waiting, catch up with each other and drive directly to the restaurant. They would be late, but in time to join us.

When they arrived, there was seating adjacent to our tables where they could order their food and be part of the gathering. As they entered the restaurant, I could see the joy on my daughter’s face at the prospect of being with family at this special time. They saw us immediately and pointed to the empty table next to our tables and said they were part of our party. The hostess said they couldn’t do that as they couldn’t add more tables. We explained we didn’t need more tables, just let them sit in the available seats as any other party would have been seated. No, couldn’t do that. When pressed as to why not, she said she could do that but we would have to pay a $2,000 room fee. We were perplexed. So far our family had run up a tab in the neighborhood of $1,000, there was the prospect of adding to that, seating was available right next to us, and any other family would have been seated without issue.

We asked again, and the hostess restated the cost would be a $2,000 room fee and then, rather condescendingly, said that maybe she could get a waiver from somebody. By the time she returned and said yes they could be seated, it was too late. My daughter’s husband had already taken the kids back to the car and buckled them up. They would find a place that welcomed customers.

The joy of being family together supporting one another and enjoying each other’s presence was lost. Maisano’s was no longer the place to meet, greet and eat but was rather, like any other restaurant that puts its own convenience above that of it’s customers. Sadly, there is no longer any mystique to Maisano’s. It is just another restaurant that has let its success warp its business practice so that the convenience of the owners dwarf’s any consideration of the customers that provided that success. I am from out of state, and the loss of my business will never be noticed. However, I’ll never set foot in that...

Tonight was the first time me and my wife got up and left a restaurant because of the way we were treated. Upon entering the establishment we were met by a hostess that seemed put out we came in for dinner, she was cold and failed to even welcome us in. This was followed up with a prolonged study of the night seating arrangements before she could decide where to put us in an empty restaurant. Upon seating us, not a word from her not even "your server will be right with you" or anything of that nature. I noticed an older gentleman glancing at us twice from behind the bar when we were first waiting to be seated. After sitting down in the side dining area this same guy was now standing in that rooms bar area, again two more glances. At this point we are there 5 minutes with no server to be seen yet and this guy has noticed us sitting there twice. Meanwhile a couple comes in sits right behind us in this still mostly empty restaurant, and a waiter immediately comes up with waters and takes their drink order. Still no acknowledgement of our presence. Mind you the whole time this fella at the bar is glancing at us, I thought he might have the sense to send a server over but nope no server. After another minute or two we both got up and simply left, and again no one even noticed. I have lived in Novi for 15 years and just heard about this place, sad I could not try them out. Also by looking at their website I am pretty confident the host who greeted us and the fella that kept glancing at us were the husband and wife owners. Please note I am not in the habit of leaving negative reviews. I felt like I was on a hidden camera prank show. BTW Steve and Rocky's were glad to have us tonight and take our $125.00 we spent on...