Martinelli's Little Italy — Restaurant in Salina

Cruising through Salina on Wednesday on our way to New Mexico hoping for some delicious Italian food. But instead, unpalatable and tasteless was what we got at Martinelli’s. We picked up our food at 8:53 and everything was ready and we were out the door in three minutes. I noticed there were not many patrons but I summed that up to it being an hour before they close. My boyfriend tried the St. Louis style Pizza. I tried it as well, because I have to try all dishes to see what I’m missing. I was disappointed in this pizza because, to be blunt, it tasted like a very cheap frozen pizza. Very bland and unappetizing. We ordered the Parmesan garlic bread and I was beyond disappointed in this. It was a piece of very bland bread with no garlic and as you can see, some strange and tasteless cheese. One bite and that went to the trash. I ordered the bruschetta and it was neither hearty or dare I say, fresh. The same Parmesan cheese was used, there was no balsamic vinegar, and bruschetta should include some type of garlic on the bread and it should be toasted. Now, I give them a small pass since it was takeout and bread will become soggy after some time in those containers however, the order was picked up two minutes after it was set to be ready and we opened the container directly after we got to the car. Not to mention I’ve ordered to go bruschetta many times and have never had a more disappointing experience. The tomato olive mixture was dull and if I didn’t know better I would assume canned tomatoes might have been used in this dish. Sadly, this went to the trash as well after one bite. Luckily, famished me, had two more dishes to try before I became heartbroken. The garlic roasted potatoes were limp and tasted nuked in the microwave. Another trash worthy item. The antipasto salad was fine. It was packed with salami, pepperoni, artichokes and olives and I appreciated the size. The Italian vinaigrette was overpowering and not very pleasant. All in all I was beyond disappointed in this Restaurant. I feel like the ingredients were VERY cheaply sourced, the to go containers could use an upgrade to keep items from becoming soggy in a short amount of time or if anything, the bread is wrapped in foil to keep it from becoming soggy. I want to add that the price reflects cheaply sourced ingredients. With all these dishes, my total was only $50.00. If you’re passing through town, I would avoid this restaurant and just pack some sandwiches. But if price is your main goal, by all means, go to the Italian place. Don’t say I...

I can't speak on the food or the much on the service since we decided to leave before we actually ate here. I will start by saying that I had really high hopes for this place because I have been told by a couple of family members how awesome the food is at this place. Had the staff seemed to take my issue more seriously, I wouldn't even write this review, but it felt dismissed. We drove an hour and a half to eat here, arrived at 11 am when they opened. I went to use the women's restroom, and the only available stall was DISGUSTING. After cleaning/covering the majority of the seat to make it even usable, I hear someone exit the other stall commenting to her friends about how gross her stall was. I went to wash my hands, and the sink was gross, and the water didn't work AT ALL. There was a sign next to it for employees to wash hands, but a little hard to do when no water is available. I found a staff member on my way back to my seat, and her reply was, "It doesn't work?" And continued on with her business. I went back to my table and we decided to leave. I let another staff member know, and again, they didn't seem at all concerned with a non working sink in the bathroom of a restaurant. They may have a sink in the kitchen, but still for peace of mind of diners there should be working sinks in your restrooms, or at least for staff to feign some concern for a restaurant that had been opened 5 minutes to have a bathroom that didn't look like it had been...

Quantity over quality. I was in Salina, Kansas for a nephew's graduation on May 13, 2022, and the family chose to have dinner at Martinelli's. A really popular place. Crowded. Glad we had a reservation.

They serve full, half and quarter plates. I ordered a quarter plate of spaghetti with one meatball. Others in the dinner party ordered the seafood pasta with vodka sauce, pasta with chicken and pesto sauce, and pasta with shrimp. I ordered two plates of fried calamari for appetizer for everybody. The calamari was heavily breaded and deep fried. You almost couldn't taste the calamari inside the thick batter. I almost regretted ordering two plates; one would have been sufficient.

The marinara sauce of my spaghetti with meatball was average, not too sour, not too salty, but not tasty either. I could tell they didn't first sautee onions and garlic, then add tomato sauce to the pan. Nothing like I would make at home. The sauce was flat. The meatball was huge, 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Was glad I ordered only one. It was neither bad nor good, just average. It could have been better, it could have been worse. I ate half of the spaghetti and half of the meat ball and took the rest home in a box. Everybody took home what they couldn't finish. Quantity over quality. Nothing worth...