Mama Louisa's Italian Restaurant & Catering — Restaurant in Tucson

So I've never eaten at this Tucson staple. I've driven by 1000x but never ate here. My girl and her family have been going for yrs so on Friday night when we were thinking about dinner I told her I wanted some pasta and she instantly said let's eat at Mama Louisa's. We did take out. I ordered the spaghetti and meat sauce she got the combo plate of egg plant parm, lasagna, and tortellini. She asked for it Joe style which is a spicy tomato sauce. We also ordered the caprese salad for an app. It took 25 mins so we stopped and got a bottle of wine b4. When we got there the place was empty. The decor is from an 80s mob movie. So I paid for the food which was $51. Not exactly affordable. They brought it out to us and I immediately asked where the bread was. She said it comes with bread but when she checked the bag there wasn't any so she went in the back and grabbed some. I noticed when she brought them out they were store bought bread sticks that barely looked cooked. I was starving and just wanted to go home and eat. When we got home we plates our food and the 1st thing I noticed was the 2/3 cup of pasta water floating at the bottom of the container of spaghetti. I know this because I dumped in a measuring cup. The pasta was cold and the flavor was bland. It wasn't seasoned at all. My girls food was also cold and it wasn't done Joe style like she asked. The only thing on her plate that she liked was the tortellini. Now to the absolutely horrid caprese salad. This thing not only looked disgusting it tasted disgusting. The mozzarella was spongey, the tomatoes were so roasted it was basically charred skin and watery seeds. It's supposed to come with basil leaves but they put some micro greens with a basil puree. And the balsamic reduction was barely there. This thing tasted like grass. It was dreadful. I was more than disappointed with this place. Like alot of Restaurants that have been around for awhile they've lost interest in making good food. They just go thru the motions and don't care about the quality. I will never eat here again and would never recommend this place to anyone. If you want real authentic delicious Italian got to Gavi. Honestly giving them 1...

Since our meal for 2 cost just shy of $100 (with only one alcoholic drink at $12 - the best part of the meal), I feel obligated to rate Mama Louisa's. We absolutely will not return. The bruschetta had way too much balsamic vinegar, and it was made with peppers. I've never had bruschetta with green peppers before, nor have I seen a recipe that included it before. No detectable herbs either.

My favorite part of Italian is the basil. You can imagine my excitement when I saw the tree-sized basil specimen in the entryway of Mama Louisa's. But I couldn't see or taste a bit of basil in the entire meal. Bummer! Apparently, it was just for display.

The main courses: I ordered the chicken marsala with alfredo pasta, and my partner ordered the lasagna. The chicken marsala was breaded, tasted freezer-burned burned and the sauce was too heavy, which the generous mushrooms couldn't improve. Alfredo sauce on the past was too heavy next to the marsala sauce. Generally, the past in this dish comes naked or with a light butter sauce. Sadly, this past was also very overcooked.

The meat lasagna was ok. Not great, just ok, though my partner thought the sauce was too sweet.

The waitress had to be asked numerous times to serve water and to return with carry-out containers (we ate only a few bites of each item before we gave up. I'm not sure why I took anything home; I ended up throwing it out. This was absolutely a waste of money.

To be fair, on the way out, I asked another couple leaving at the same time how their meal was. They said they came there all the time and they loved the food. They said their meal was great and that they thought it was well worth the money. I can't help but wonder if there were two different cooks, though there were only a few couples in the dining room. Or maybe those people were related to the chef. Or didn't pay full price?

I know we paid at least 4x more than the...

Believe me when I say this will be the ONLY REVIEW you will need to read about this Tucson classic "mom and pop". I never write reviews, which is absurd since I use them to make my decisions. It is possible that I do not write reviews out of pure laziness and hope others will take care of it or it is that I am on to my next adventure. Who knows? But I could not be lazy, hope for others to do the work, or move on until I wrote one. That should tell you something right there.

Honest review: I asked the server what she recommended. She responded with Eggplant Parmesan. Eggplant? My experience had been that eggplant is rubbery, mealy, and thick. Ok...I thought. I guess. Then she added that I should get it "Joe’s Style". You may be asking what that is. Do not worry, so did I. Joe's Style is chili oil (don’t let the word chili scare you, it’s flavorful not spicy), garlic, and cheese. This Joe must know me personally. That combo right there was the deciding factor to move forward. If anything, at least there would be those three.

So, I pulled the trigger, with a smile but with worry lurking just behind it. Let me add I was dining with a stranger. So, I was on my best behavior. Ok, I have set the scene. Let us get to the meat of the review.

When I say the dish was amazing, I mean AMAZING! The pasta was homemade, the red sauce had the perfect robust tangy flavor, the Joe's Style...let this sink in... I would drink it as a cocktail if no one were looking...and finally the eggplant. If I were a vegetable, I would marry that eggplant. Who knew? It was so delectable! The end. Get the Eggplant Parm Joe’s Style, you will thank me later even though it is highly likely we...