MO'NELISA Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

Mar 23, 2025 I had dinner at Mo’Nelisa last night and it was a wonderful experience again!!! Excellent food, great service, all led by Chef John. I’m a pasta fan but ordered salad with the Chicken Francese entree. OMG! The salad was huge and really delicious. It comes with homemade dressing, and I’d give anything for the recipe. Instead of an appetizer, I ordered a side of sautéed broccoli and it was outstanding. And of course the Chicken Francese was terrific. I really love this place and am going back next month! —————————————— OMG!!! What a wonderful, delicious and memorable place to eat

My two friends and I ate at Mo'Nelisa this past Saturday night. It's pre-season for Point Lookout, but you wouldn't have known it from the high quality food and wonderful service we received.

We split an entree of Penne Bolognese. It arrived in a gigantic bowl, enough for us to eat heartily. But the really memorable part wasn't the quantity... it was the amazing taste of the bolognese sauce. Without question, it was the finest we've ever had. We raved about the sauce to Jackie, who's a great waitress, betting whether it contained cream or milk. Chef John came out to end the debate and we wound up quizzing him about his career since we were so impressed with his talent. He's a modest, unassuming guy with extensive credentials, lots of talent and a great personality.

Two of us ordered grilled salmon with vegetables as entrees. I'm not exaggerating when I say the salmon was extremely fresh and delicious! Whatever the source, it tasted like it had been delivered by the Bronx-based Fulton Fish Market that day. I've never had better salmon! So of course Chef John came out again to accept our praises and we got to ask more questions.

Mo'Nelisa is such a gem that I made my friends promise to join me for dinner there again very, very soon. I don't know if I'll try other dishes, because I still dream about the bolognese sauce and salmon. Maybe I'll buy some food to take home so I don't have to...

So disappointed as this was our go to place for pizza since it’s conveniently close to the loop. But after today, never again. My husband and I went in to order while my mom and our baby sat at a table outside waiting. While ordering a man was screaming so ridiculously loud and banging on the bar. He was so loud and obnoxious but they were having a family party and it was Kentucky derby day so ok fine, I get it. As we were eating kids were screaming next to our table. My mom had been scared by the guy screaming in the beginning and now with the kids she had had it. But I said “ mom, they’re kids we’re outside, they’re having a party it’s fine.” A nice man came over and told the kids to go inside and apologized. Ok, all good. The problem came as we were leaving…we asked the woman behind the counter for a refill and she directed us to the soda fountain. To my surprise the man who was yelling at the tv earlier approached us and rudely said “can I help you?” So we replied “no just getting a refill.” He said that it was against the law for us to use the soda fountain. We replied that someone told us to and he asked us who told us that. He looked at us as if we were the scum of the earth and said “oh it’s no problem, it is against the law but she must not have known.” The health department would not approve of us touching the ice scoop and getting ice but against the law? Come on. Don’t insult our intelligence. It’s a health violation it’s not against the law. So I guess the owner was having a family party and customers who just spent $65 on lunch don’t matter. If you want to act like that towards customers why not just close the restaurant for your party? Clearly we were not wanted there and it was made crystal clear. Unfortunately we will not be returning if this is how ownership treats their...

we went for lunch on 7/9/21, and sadly everything went wrong, including the overwhelming smell of the ink on the paper menus. we were told there was no waitress service when we walked in. we were also told that the credit card machine was not working. we sat outside and i asked for utensils but none arrived. the food came and we had no utensils so i asked again and we waited while the food sat in front of us. utensils came and i asked for bread, which was the only incredible thing about the meal. my pasta was missing the shaved parmagiana cheese as was written on the menu. my girlfriends lettuce was soggy. i went inside at the end of the meal to ask for two containers to take home leftovers. one had grease all over the bottom ICK!. i got another one and asked for a check. i was told the bill was $60 and change. I WANTED TO SEE A CHECK. so one was printed out. i was appalled that they charged $4 for bread. when i questioned this, they asked if i had more than one and i said yes, and said the first one should have been at no charge, so they reduced the bill by $2.00. from the start i found this place lacking in any sort of direction. upon first arriving three of the staff were playing on their phones and not being attentive to what was going on at the counter or at the tables - inside or outside. there were enough people working there to cover waiter/waitress service. i have learned in any business, never ever start with the word NO to a customer, as it is usually downhill from there. we could have gone to the clam bar but decided on mo's. as for next time, there will NEVER BE...