Mama Theresa's — Restaurant in Town of North Hempstead

They have truly gotten too big for their customers' own good.

Prior to today, I would drop in for dinner or lunch at Mama T's (for just me or for the family as well) AT LEAST three times a week. However, today was the last time - for at least a very long time.

I ordered two regular slices and a Sicilian slice. Server disappeared to prepare other orders and completely forgot about me. Tried several times to get his attention without luck. So, got someone else to help me recover my burned slices from the oven. He re-took my order and wanted me to pay first. No way - just waited 20 minutes for burned food and to reorder. He asked me again to pay first - I refused again. And good thing I did.

He put a new slice of Sicilian in the oven and began looking for replacement regular slices - which had all disappeared while I was waiting. He told me that a new pie would be out soon. So, I began waiting again. When the regular pie finally came out of the oven, my Sicilian slice had disappeared. Some other server had apparently taken it and given it to someone else - not really sure how that happens, but it apparently did. On top of that, there were now no Sicilian slices left, and I was told I would have to wait again!! And this time it would be a while because there were no Sicilian pies even close to being ready.

There was never any apology, never any offer to make it up to me, nothing I would remotely call customer service.

I told him just forget it and left for what will be a long, long time. But, at least I didn't have to wait even longer to get my money back!

This was certainly not the first time I've gotten bad service at Mama T's (it is just getting worse and worse).

We need to show these businesses that they need to better appreciate their regular customers even when they get bigger and bigger. That Sunday night crowd may be there again next Sunday, but me and my family will not be there any of the three or four days during the week we used to be.

Burn enough of us, and if enough of us respond, perhaps they too will respond. All I can say is I'm done suffering bad customer service because they cannot handle their growth - the slices and serving sizes were already getting smaller and smaller, while getting more and more expensive - way too quickly.

UPDATE: Added a star to my review because the owner obviously still cares about his business (or at least his bad reviews) - he contacted me directly. Although, I probably would have added more stars for the effort except he called me on my unlisted cell - which I found a bit troubling, and not until 3 months after I posted my review (probably because me review reached more than 1000 views). And, while he asked me what my issue was, he made little effort to explain how they were addressing the problems, instead blaming the problems on the fact that the place was probably busy at the time. Which was the very point - they cannot handle things when things get busy and I'm tired of getting less and less, and paying more and more.

Also, while he said I could ask for one of his managers if I came back and they would "take care of me" - whatever that means - a promise to address the problems and the steps they would be taking would have been preferred. Hopefully he is taking steps to better things. Maybe I will try them again in the future to see if things...

Update July 6/25 I think Im done with this restaurant. Firstly the pesto dish was smaller than my fiorentina. It was mostly clumps of pureed basil, drier than the sahara desert. You could add olive oil and make 20 more servings. Just awful. And the mozz stix have gone way down. You get the same amount but theyre not as good. Also the dipping sauce has gone "hot ketchup"..how hard is it to add garlic. The fiorentina was lack luster to say the least. The portion size wssnt bad just the food. Sorry Mama you're done. So unless Gordon Ramsey rescues you... Via con dios.

Update Feb 2-25 Ordered on door dash. Grandma pie plain. Sicilian with pep sausage n black olives. The grandma was very salty..garlic salt is my guess. There's no need for it on a grandma pie. And there's definitely no need for salt PERIOD. The loaded Sicilian was ok.. the toppings were good BUT the dough between the crust and the sauce was raw. I was flattening it and stretching it..if it were possible to remove it, I could spin it in the air and make another pie. Management: check your product before it goes out. Dont you watch Gordon Ramsey? Either way you lose a star. From 4 to 3.

Ordered on door dash. Veal parm platter. Rigatoni fiorentina. Mozz sticks. Firstly this is a restaurant so your not paying pizzeria prices but these days there almost the same anyways. Portions were decent sizes. I always believe its a dice roll as far as veal is concerned either its tough a shoe leather or ok. But the veal parm was acceptable one cutlet was good the other a little on the chewy side. The marinara sauce was good. The fiorentina was also good. The mozz sticks also decent. The dipping sauce was real sauce not just hot ketchup. Overall I was happy...

For a long time I have been a fan of the Mama Theresa's but I have always visited the restaurant in Westbury. Today I was around Garden City Park so I decided to stop by. First I called ahead to place my order while on the phone the lady was rude! Her customer services skills and attitude were both poor. After I payed over the phone and finally arrived at the restaurant. The service was even worse, after waiting on a long line and finally getting the opportunity to be serviced. The employee taking my order was joking with his friend (Who was not an employee but a regular person hanging out by the cash register) After trying to speak with the employee and constantly getting inturupted by his friend who was hanging out by the counter, jumping into the conversation and giggling it became clear, I was not valued as a customer and management was not doing their job. In addition since the employee was laughing a giggling behind the counter and not paying attention. He tried to bill me in the store, when I payed over the phone. When I finally left and sat down with my hot meal, it was a disappointment. There was no true flavor, simply oily. I WOULD NEVER visit this Mama Theresa's again. If you are reading this review and want good Italian Please go to the Mama Theresa's in Westbury because their staff is nicer and the employees are well trained it is just a better experience. Also they use two different recipes so the food is way better in Westbury. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE YOU WILL BE...