Mangia - Eat on Main — Restaurant in Salinas

There are times when you walk into a place and just know you're going to have a great night. That's the vibe at Mangia. We were greeted with smiles from the staff, seated quickly and then just like the message on the back of the t-shirts worn by most of the staff " Food is Memories," our memorable evening began. My wife, son and I shared several dishes beginning with the Calamari Fritti. Perfectly deep fried, very fresh and tender with some grilled lemon and deep fried stemmed capers on a bed of arugula. Our server suggested the bruschetta with basil pesto, a large dollop of incredible house made ricotta and a honey drizzle that had a tiny bit of crushed pepper lending it some heat. We followed that with a special salad of the evening that featured grilled peaches wrapped in prosciutto with a fresh mozzarella topping on a bed of lightly dressed arugula. It was wonderful. Are you getting hungry yet? Next were two entrees. A spaghetti carbonara that was as good as I've ever had and a special pasta that was made with braised beef that was both tender and full of flavor in a tomato sauce sort of like a ragu but not shredded. It was an exceptional meal and we had no room for dessert. Our son moved to the Marina area two years ago and we visit from Palo Alto every few weeks. He found reviews of Mangia and we decided to give it a try. This will be a return often place for us ....

January 2022- Really delicious, high quality Italian food. Order anything and you're bound to enjoy it. Having just opened recently it seems like they are still perfecting their service and table management. I wasn't sure who our server was because several people helped us throughout the night. No one seemed to know the wine menu but they did manage to get me a tasty glass of prosecco. I think with experience and time this restaurant will become the best in Monterey County.

Update March 2022- the food is still really tasty and good quality. I do not like the service. The staff will impose and completely stop your conversation so they can ask about water or go over the dessert menu. It's really rude and I'm feeling flustered. Keep in mind: at great restaurants the staff is invisible until you need them, that is the gold standard. This aggressive service honestly feels like it comes from a place of self importance. I'm very disappointed and I don't think I'll return...

I was so excited to finally eat at this place after hearing the great reviews. Me, my husband and our two kids walked in so excited. There was no seating, we said we would wait. The only place that had available seating was the bar area(which was completely EMPTY) We asked the host if we could sit there while we wait and she said that we could. She proceeded to give the kids some crayons and paper. I'm assuming it was the manager, but the rude, and loud woman came up to us and yelled "you cannot sit there, the kids cannot be up there" then proceeded with "it's not our law, it's the law" I was so embarrassed. We don't drink so we didn't even think of it being an issue because we were just waiting and if this is a law then your staff could have told us we weren't able to sit there. I will never return to this place. If there was an issue she could have told us respectfully and quietly. But she yelled and everyone heard. So embarrassing. Shame...