Mamma Tanino's Ristorante — Restaurant in Sonoma

It's been a while since I've come from a restaurant with such a bad experience I've talked about it for days after.

TLDR if you like eating salt with a side of pasta and you like being nickel-and-dimed for everything you may like this place.

My wife and I were visiting Sonoma, and we decided to get Mamma's for our Friday night dinner.

The restaurant's interior looks like it hasn't been change since the 60s. We were seated with a reservation with only one other party in the restaurant. Our server was pleasant for this kind of restaurant, the reason why the service gets 2 stars.

My wife and I both ordered the carbonara. Bread and olive oil was served to us (later found out it was an extra $2 for this), and the bread was alright. It was warm and soft on the inside but too crunchy on the outside, as if it was reheated quickly and was slightly rebaked.

The carbonara was served, and we were asked if we wanted pepper. They had a small bowl of pre-grated parmesan style cheese, which I sprinkled on my pasta. The sauce looked thick at first, but ended up being fairly runny. The flavor was that of just eating salt and some very al-dente pasta. There was not much flavor other than that. My wife and I took a few bites but couldn't eat any more.

The served came to ask how things were, and both my wife and I said the pasta was far too salty (we rarely send things back at restaurants). The server however just took one of our pastas to be remade. There was some loud complaining in the kitchen by the chef, but 5 minutes later a new carbona came out - to just me. There was a noticeable less amount of the sauce on it, and the server told me not to put cheese or pepper on it until I tried it first (I can only assume to not waste a sprinkling of pepper or cheese). The pasta was still too salty but I chose not to complain, and both my wife and I left hungry.

Perhaps it was a bad one-off experience, and I don't typically rate restaurants until I've been there a few times, but we...

tldr; Overall a bit of a bummer. Ask to sit in the back or the kitchen/dishes will invade your dinner. ~$70 per person with modest wine and appetizers.

We made reservations in advance, and were sat at the table 2nd closest to the door. This alone was not an issue, however the comings and goings of other patrons were not ideal. I have 2 main things that were irksome, and I would really caution potential diners against.

First - I had a direct line of sight to the kitchen. Often, this can actually be quite nice, but not this time. I was startled 2-3 times over the course of our dinner by the chef dropping his pans onto the baking sheet that was set on the floor under his workstation. In theory the pans were ready to be washed, so the cleanliness is not my main concern (maybe still not ideal), but the noise was incredibly shocking.

Second - about midway through our meal, the dishwashing station was fired up. The only thing separating our table from the dishwasher was ~8ft of distance and a hanging sheet. The noise wasn't ideal, but ultimately excusable (we're in a restaurant after all) but the SMELL was unbelievable. Sulfurous and pervasive, it was enough to put me on the precipice of walking out. Genuinely, it was terrible.

Portions were generous, and our waiter was fine, but the atmosphere will likely mean I do not come back. If the owner manages to see this - adding a door (not just a sheet) between the dishwashing station and the dining room, as well as next to the serving station, would do wonders for your...

Have been to Mama's a few times and in the past the service was a bit slow. This most recent visit - our server was attentive and bustling. Myself and my dinning companion ordered the VERY well dressed Pear Salad and shared it. She dined on the Pappardelle Bolongnese Ragu which had a nice bit is sweetness to the meat sauce. We also shared the Pasta Carbonara - yes simply prepared (pancetta, garlic, eggs, salt, pepper, and some parsley) and it was lovely and perfectdly cooked al dente. I enjoyed one of their specialities; their Veal Scallopini in a creamed mushroom sauce. Super Tasty and the potatoes and vegetables which accmpanied it were steamed wonderfully.

Decor is simple but accomodating. In the spring summer months there have outside dinning as well.

The experienced Chef has cooking chops and it shows in their food, its flavor profiles and taste. Nice quaint place OFF the Sonoma Plaza (which is more $$ and touristry) Mangia con Gusto! (eat...