Mamma Maria's — Restaurant in Salem

This was the worst dining experience ever!! The buffet was horrible…..tasteless garlic knots, soggy pizza, pasta swimming in cold, greasy oil and the staff was CRAZY rude. Before you dine here, PLEASE look at the health department inspections on this rat hole!! They are less than exemplary!! The hostess Nicole had a nasty attitude toward customers and was very unprofessional. We walked in for the buffet and Nicole told us to sit anywhere so we chose a booth. Upon being seated, we were immediately told to move by a rude waiter who informed us that someone was sitting at this booth. There was no reserved sign on the table & this was a noon buffet. Another waitress came to the table but walked off puzzled when we told her what happened. I wish we would have left like the other gentleman did on a prior Google review but we stayed and selected a table against the wall instead. Staying to dine proved to be a big mistake! It was a loud atmosphere, dirty restaurant and I never even received a refill on my water. My husband briefly spoke to the owner about the dysfunctionality because everything was handled in such a backward manner and no one seemed to care. My husband then returned to the table to finish his meal and nothing else was said by us. Thirty minutes into our meal the “reserved” booth was still empty and 45 minutes into our meal “Nicole” made an appearance at our table in her jogging attire to “tell us off.” She obviously thought she was “someone” but immediately made herself look stupid when she began to speak to us in a condescending manner. It was apparent that she had been sulking over my husband speaking to the owner. She wanted us to move AGAIN to a booth (no joke). When we told her we had almost finished our meal, she said to us in these EXACT words “I am trying to make this right. I cannot believe all of this non-sense over a booth….really??” Then she said “It was a one time mistake……do you know what a mistake is?? I am sure you make them all of the time don’t you?? Sure you do!!” Other patrons observed her wacky behavior toward us and commented to my husband. For the record, we were never disrespectful to the staff. From reading prior reviews, this has happened before to other individuals at this establishment. It was obvious that she was more upset about being called out than we were about the entire situation!! I think Nicole needs coloring books and a safe place to go to in order to deal with her punk like anger issues…..and some business college would not hurt her either so she can learn to speak to customers in an educated manner. No one will ever talk to us like that and expect our business!! It is not about a booth but how you treat customers who pay your salary. Intelligent business proprietors should know this. Now I see why their location on Franklin Road closed. Maybe this Salem location will close too. In the end, the owner gave us our meals for free (which we did not ask for or expect). But we will never return to this establishment due to Nicole’s improper “in your face” behavior and the nasty food. She is killing this restaurant’s business . Also, I inquired about reservations and asked exactly when they were accepted but could get no direct answers. It was comical. I can tell you that I will not be scheduling this place for my company dinner for work!! Save your money and go to Olive Garden, Luigi’s or Carrabbas. That is where I will be spending my money from now on!! Those establishments are more upscale, professional and have authentic, fresh food. You will thank me!! I would give this place zero...

I have to start by saying we looked up reviews for this place before deciding to go. The graphic detail of a couple of them actually intrigued us. We had to go see for ourselves. As we were parking, we were expecting to walk into a "slop pit". I will tell you that the lighting was kind of dim (for ambiance of course) so I struggled to make my eyes pick up all of the flaws the previous reviewer listed. I couldn't. I didn't see any obvious problems with the condition of the place. If there are little imperfections, they aren't enough to detract from the experience. To us, it had a warm and cozy feel. Times are tough. Businesses that are still standing deserve an applause. Maybe some of the family-owned, smaller restaurants don't have expendable income to lavishly remodel and make all butts feel like theirs are the first to bless the booth. We felt comfortable, welcomed, and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

We were warmly greeted at the door and asked if we preferred booth or table. Once we were seated, our server, Jessica, promptly came to get our drink orders. She came back quickly with our fountain drinks and some warm rosemary bread with a plate of oil, balsamic vinegar, and other spice/seasoning. It was aesthetically pleasing and tasted great!! We ordered our food and enjoyed our bread while we waited. As an afterthought, we had wanted to add mozzarella sticks to our order. For those of you that have had this happen, you know that oftentimes, you don't see your server again until the food comes out. Our drinks were not empty but Jessica came to top them off anyway. It was almost like she knew we needed/wanted something else. We were able to order the mozzarella sticks in time to have them delivered appropriately during appetizer time (also tasted great).

Then came salad. Lettuce, cherry tomato, little mini mushrooms, cucumber, and dressing. The salad was simple, as it should be when you are going to eat Italian. It was enough but not too much. As we were finishing our salads, our food came, along with more bread. I had the chicken marsala with linguini while my dinner companion had the chicken parmesan with fettuccine. The servings were large, nicely presented, and tasted (you guessed it) GREAT!

The service continued throughout our experience. There is a fine line between being on top of your job and being on top of your customers. Jessica provided us with all we needed, before or as soon as we needed, without seeming like she was dining with us. That is a skill that many don't master.

Oh, and Gelato...enough said. We had mint chocolate chip. Yum!

Point? Go try it out and see for yourself. We were pleased with...

My boyfriend and I decided to try this restaurant out. We wanted a nice date out. The place seemed nice. I ordered a Stromboli and he ordered pasta and an appetizer of calamari. His soup and the calamari came out and as we started to eat the calamari he realizes that there is a piece of plastic semi cooked under a piece of the cooked squid. We address the waiter, not upset but concerned. The waiter acting confused said he will bring us back some more calamari. Instead of bring back a new batch; he brings back the exact same tray. I could tell this by the sauce tray. It was the exact same with the sauce at the tip where my boyfriend had poured some out with no new calamari. We over look this and tried to enjoy the appetizer but then realized that there is still plastic in there. The manager comes over and says she is sorry and she will go look at this. We said thank you but we would like our check. She does not come back but instead goes to the register to ring up another customer. Our waiter then brings out the food that we ordered like nothing was wrong and we request to speak to the manager again. She speaks loudly when talking to the waiter accusing us for lying and not seeming concerned or willing to fix the problem. She finally comes over, and she is insinuating that we should still pay for the food that we requested not to be brought out and for our check. She finally tells us that she is sorry and for us to have a goodnight and did not make us pay. I am very disappointing in this place just because my boyfriend and I were willing to overlook the plastic in the calamari and still were not upset after the same plate came back out with the same issue, but it was that the manager did not at all try to fix the problem and accused us of lying. This business will never get my money. If service and quality are important to you and what you expect at a restaurant then you will want to...