Mambo Italia — Restaurant in Sewickley

Summary: I was born and raised at the Jersey Shore and moved here about 4 years ago, and still travel back and forth quite a bit to there and my sister's place in Little Italy NYC. I grew up going to all sorts of different Italian places, and I love Italian food (could you tell?). By my experience today, I'd say Mambo Italia is very solid. I'd gladly take my Italian-American family here for what it's worth. :) The new ownership seems to be taking this in a great direction.

Service: Overall very good- special mention that they worked to accommodate my table of 1, even on a busy peak night, which they absolutely did not have to do. The owner, Joe, was also really excited about the good work they were doing in the back, and was glad to talk about it.

Food: Of course, the food was excellent. I got the meatballs, margherita pizza, and cannoli. I've also tried the spaghetti and chicken parm, the fritters, and the lemon mascarpone.

The meatballs were hearty- nice mix of good meat, and a notable kick of black pepper that helped distinguish them from the flavor of the sauce. The house red sauce was very good- definitely made from good imported tomatoes, I'd imagine this same sauce is also great in their Italian-American dishes.

The pizza (Mambo does European-style) was also very good- the pizza oven definitely could reach the necessary high temperatures, and the dough was very fresh. Their mozzarella was clearly homemade, and it helped make the pizza. Ingredients were prepared such that the dough didn't get soggy or fall apart as is very common with using "wet" ingredients on thin dough- impressive!

Finally, I got the cannolis for dessert- fantastic! Nice amount of ricotta, but incredibly mild in flavor, enough body to support the other garnishings they added (pistachios, chocolate, etc).

Edit: I also can comfortably say their spaghetti and chicken parm are pretty good. The spaghetti is made in-house like most of their pasta, and while their sauce is of course good, they didn't smother it in sauce because the flavor of the pasta spoke for itself. The chicken parm itself, as you'd expect now, was nice and tender with a nice amount of the mozzarella on top. Finally, the lemon mascarpone was pretty nice with a little scoop of strawberry Gelato. :)

Other: Good atmosphere, location is great as it's nice to be so close to goings-on in Sewickley. Prices were solid- the quality is very good, and the portions were good, so I got...

TLDR: My Mambo Italia experience tasted like I was the only person they cooked for. Every detail of my food was intentional, authentic, and surprisingly tasty. If you’re looking for homemade food created with high quality imported ingredients, please make a reservation ASAP.

I love Italian food. I have vivid childhood memories being woken up by the smell of my grandmother’s spaghetti sauce. When I go out to Italian restaurants, I’m always looking for that same aspect–Homemade. Pittsburgh has some great gems when it comes to Italian food, but I can tell a story about my night at Mambo that sums up why I feel this restaurant is best in class.

I loath olives. The smell and texture of literally any olive always finds a way to become very noticeable when I’m eating. My optimistic attitude always gives olives another chance, but when I went to Mambo, I wanted to stay in my comfort zone. I ordered the most fundamental dish: Pasta alla Pomodoro. My friends ordered a few appetizers, but I had no interest. I was dead set focused on what I ordered. Just by chance one of the appetizers was set right in front of me on the table. It was the Pane Tritato. I love bread, but this dish has kalamata olives in it, so I used every excuse not to eat it. After it was passed around, one of the owners passed by the table and explained the story behind the Pane Tritato. It turns out this is a secret family recipe going back 70+ years. This was enough for me to face the fact that olives were in this dish. Within minutes, I had eaten 4 pieces of the bread. The blend of flavors were all at perfect ratios. The oil for dipping was perfect as well. When my Pasta alla Pomodoro arrived I was already in a heightened mood because of how surprised I was about liking the bread. Once again, the detail in the food became apparent. It was just enough tomato, just enough garlic, and just enough basil. The shape of the spaghetti pasta had dimension–meaning, you could tell it had been made by hand. It wasn’t perfectly smooth and round, and with that added dimension, I feel that the noodle held more of the ingredients and made the experience of such a simple dish even better. This restaurant has enticed me, and now it stands as for sure destinations for: --Anniversary Dinners. --Early dinners when friends visit from out of town. --Celebrations with immediate family for birthdays, graduations, and other...

I came here with co-workers last summer while working in the area around lunchtime and learned they’re only open for dinner service. So, many months later, even though I live in VA, but travel to the PGH area often for work, I was finally able to brave the crazy traffic to get across the bridge from Coraopolis into Sewickley and try them for dinner. Arriving solo and without a reservation, I felt kind of bad asking for a table for one, as they were really busy, but the manager moved a table and made it work for me and for that I’m grateful, because I was able to enjoy one of the BEST Italian meals in the area!

I started with a cup of Stracciatella - Delicious! The broth was very flavorful and you could tell it’s housemade and fresh. The egg that’s dropped in lumps up nicely and takes on the flavor of the soup. Definitely warm and enjoyable, especially on a cool evening!

Next up was their Pane Tritato, which is sort of a thicker focaccia with olives and cheese on top. This was outrageously good and I had to be careful to leave room for dinner or I would have eaten the entire thing, and there’s quite a bit in a serving! The olive oil “dip” that comes with it is perfectly seasoned with herbs, parsley and green onions, but the olive oil by itself would have been just as great, as it’s incredible and imported from Italy. It reminds me of the incredible olive oil they have at Bar Pitti in NYC.

For my entrée, I stuck with the olive oil theme and ordered their Spaghetti allo Scarpariello, which was excellent! The cherry tomatoes add a very nice sweetness to the olive oil and wine sauce. The pasta, freshly made in-house really does an excellent job absorbing much of the flavor and it’s texture is spot on, al dente. The garlic in this dish was perfectly portioned, as to not be over-powering, but be present and flavorful!

After all this food, I was stuffed and couldn’t indulge in their beautiful dessert menu… I’m hoping on my next trip to save room for dessert.

I highly suggest making reservations and visiting them, they’re doing wonderful things here and clearly the town knows it, as they were packed and do many turns for...