I dined at Macaroni Grill for lunch with friends last Saturday. I ordered the Chicken Under Brick with broccolini and herb roasted potatoes. The chicken was well prepared and the potatoes were buttery, herby goodness. The service was alright, nothing extraordinary, but no real complaints. Overall, a better than average experience.
(3)
John L. H.
The Macaroni Grill is one of the better chain restaurants in the Mandeville area. They focus on Italian food and do it well. Their pasta rustica is very good, as are their steaks and pizzas. They also have a very good kids menu. The problem with the Macaroni Grill has to do with the calories in the food. If you do your research you will find that some of their entrees contain more than your daily recommended intake.
(3)
Eddie M.
Got shrimp alfredo. Dish was actually delicious. 4 shrimp in the dish. Absolutely ridiculous. Just based on that, i would never walk through their doors again. When the person fixed the dish they should have recognized the imbalance between pasta and shrimp. At least the server should have seen the unfairness of it all.
(1)
Stanley W.
We ordered three appetizers. The shrimp with avocado on bread, sausage and potatoes, and the fried calamari. The shrimp didn't come with avocado and the sausage didn't come with potatoes. When we asked our waitress about it she replied that they ran out of both and that she was sorry. That would be fine except she just gave it to us without even say anything as if we wouldn't notice. She took both items off our bill. Then we got the calamari and it was burnt. Not only that but it was mostly batter. We didn't really bother complaining, but suffice to say our mostly burnt batter calamari was not good. A few moments after the appetizers she came up to tell me that they were out of lasagna and that I needed to order something else. No potatoes avocado or lasagna?! I must have came at the worst day ever or something. It took forever to get our entrees and they were ok, but I don't think I'll be coming back ever again though.
(2)
Ana B.
I thought it would beat Olive Garden. NOPE. It doesn't even beat Pizza Hut, honestly. I can cook better pasta than this sad place and that's saying a lot (I am a terrible cook.) YEAH. The only part I enjoyed was the bread and olive oil. So yummy. I think I literally ate a whole loaf by myself. I was going to give this restaurant a 3 star rating...but after seeing Tim T's review, I wish there was a NO STAR option. That is seriously disgusting. My stomach is twisting in knots just thinking about roaches in my food. (Vomit) lets just say I am staying away from any Romano's. No more.
(1)
Tim T.
Plain and simple if I could give less then a star I would my wife and I ate here quite a few times a year but now will never return!! The pics I am attaching are pretty self explanatory sad really sad
(1)
Christian B.
Got a late start Saturday night, and everything was closed or closing, so we figured we would give this place a shot. Happy hour was great! $5 premium cocktails in the bar section after 9pm and food specials. Was pleasantly suprised!
(4)
Billy A.
Ordered to go food on a slow sunday. They quoted 45 min which was weird. When arriving to get the food they said they were out of the entree we ordered. They also lied and said they tried to contact us when the missed calls weren't there. And the manager didn't even bother to make an appearance. There are many great local Italian restaraunt that are extremely authentic. I would recommend trying them out to avoid the dissapointment.
(1)
John C.
Lunch, it seemed at first we were a bother to our waitress. She seemed to warm up towards the end right before the bill came, go figure. On the food side I really can't say it was anything like I remember from pre K, and shortly after. Personally I don't think it's worth $$.
(2)
Ashley H.
I recently learned that my boyfriend has a soft spot for Macaroni Grill. Then a co-worker who lives on the North Short told me they had a Macaroni Grill in Mandeville. I've eaten at other Macaroni Grill's and didn't really have much of an opinion one way or the other. So, when we didn't have anything to do one day and were out and about, we headed over to try it out. I figured "how bad could it be?" I was about to find out. (I obviously did not read any of the reviews prior to going. Lesson learned there for sure.) They weren't incredibly busy, but the hostess seemed very flustered when we got there. She said she had to clean off a table for us and it would be five or ten minutes. And, it did in fact take her that long, if not a little longer, to clean off one table so we could have a place to sit. That's weird, isn't it? I'm still not sure what she was doing that took that long. But, anyway. At least four employees stopped to make sure we had been helped while we were waiting, which seemed promising. We are finally seated and wait for our server. And wait a little more. And, then, wait some more. Probably 15 minutes pass before our waitress appears and she was visibly frazzled. She was saying something about having a 10-top and that they weren't supposed to seat anyone else for her and she didn't know we were there. It was a very welcoming spiel. Not. At the end of it all, she did apologize that we had to wait so long and said that now that she knew about us, we were about to have the best service ever. She literally said those exact words. So, my expectation was that we were going to get some great service. Drinks come out, bread is put on the table, olive oil is poured. Things are looking good. We place our order-- an appetizer plus two entrees-- and she disappears. That was the last we saw of her until our check was produced at the end of the meal. Now, bad service is one thing, but straight up saying you're going to give me the best service ever and then pulling a disappearing act like that takes things to a whole new level. So, did you know that they have a guy at Macaroni Grill who walks around and sings? Yeah, neither did I. I think I mentioned that I've been to others before, right? You would've thought I would have noticed something like before. Well, that's the guy who finally brought out our food. Too bad he didn't bring over that block of parmesan and the pepper grinder. We had to hunt someone down for that. The food was lukewarm at best. Some of it was downright cold. I had shrimp that were so rubbery and hard that the entire Gulf Coast wept over the horror of it all. (Not that the shrimp I had came from anywhere near the Gulf Coast.) My boyfriend (who, remembers, knows all things there are to know about Macaroni Grill) specified he wanted jumbo shrimp. His shrimp were infinitely better than mine. And, he now knows that he is obligated to share tips like that with me prior to ordering in the future. Our drinks sat there empty. No refills ever came. And, you know what else never came? Our appetizer. When our waitress finally reappeared to give us the check, we asked her about it. Never fear, she forgot we ordered it, so it's not on the check. Gee, what a relief. She then goes back in to how terrible her 10-top was and then they, like, totally stiffed her on the tip. Really? You don't say. If I had paid the bill, I probably would've at least been tempted to stiff her, too. The sad thing is that this whole ordeal did nothing to cure my boyfriend of his obsession with all things Macaroni Grill, so we'll probably be back sooner than later. Oh joy.
(2)
David T.
We have not been to Romano's Macaroni Grill since it closed in Baton Rouge. Didn't realize how much we missed it. They no longer have the Nachos or Pizzas that my wife and I enjoyed so much but, we made due. She had the Lasagna and I had a Chicken and Arugala Flatbread. With having the bread that they brought out before the entrees, we took about 3/4 of the flatbread home but still awesome eats.
(4)
Jillian M.
Dining here is like taking a $50 out of your wallet, lighting it on fire, and then collecting its ashes onto a pasta dish and spooning them into your mouth. Those $50 bill ashes would probably be more palatable than the meal I recently had here, and they would cost the same. The crayons were fun though. Sorry I drew a toilet on the table. That wasn't very mature behavior. Oops.
(1)
Lauren D.
The whole idea of curbside to go is so you can grab it quickly and continue home...not to wait 20 minutes in the car, then go in and get a blank stare when you ask why your now cold food wasn't brought TO THE CURBSIDE. It's even worse when you get all the way home to eat your cold food and your "truffle" Mac and cheese bites with the "truffle" dipping sauce doesn't have a lick of truffle in it... A BIG pet peeve is when restaurants claim to put truffles or truffle oil in a dish and its nonexistent thinking you won't notice. I won't be returning to be disappointed and scammed again.
(1)
Allison D.
I don't understand why this place has such a low rating and bad reviews. I really like this place. In my opinion, it totally beats Olive Garden, Semolina, etc. Yes, it is a chain, but the quality of food that is served here, in my opinion, is really high on the general scale of expectations. Apparently their service is significantly bad according to other fellow yelpers. Both times that I've been here, the service has been great, amazing even. The first time I was here, I got the Classic Italian Bake. It was a really large portion and super tasty. My boyfriend got the Shrimp Portofino, his usual. He loved his as well. For appetizers, we got the fried Mac and cheese bites. It was okay, not terrible, just okay. The second time we came here, we had the Spicy Ricotta Meatballs and Pepperoni Bread (part of the 3-course meal). Both were really good. Definitely better than the Mac and cheese bites. For our entrees, we got the Chicken Marsala and Farfalle Chicken Pasta. Both were really good. I especially loved loved loved the Chicken Marsala. I had to force myself to stop eating it since I was already full from everything else. All in all, I definitely recommend this place for everyone to at least try. I've loved both of my experiences here and look forward to eating here again!
(4)
Dmitry B.
It was our the first and the last visit: mediocre food with too much salt and oil in it and a poor service - I had to move the dirty dishes to another table myself. On the positive side - they provided crayola pens for kids and they had paper table sheets which was ok to use for painting.
(2)
Jean-Paul V.
Easily the worst meal I've had in a long time. Our waitress Kim was the only good thing about the evening, but apart from that - - - Rule #1: a NOW HIRING banner outside usually indicates the likelihood of unpleasantness ahead. Rule #2: beer should be served cold, and under regional beers (note the plural and addition of the 's') you should offer more than ONE: Abita Amber. Oh, and for reiteration's sake it shouldn't be served warm. Kim offered another, but I figure where there's one warm beer there're likely others in queue. Pass. She took it off the bill. Rule #3: You're the Macaroni Grill. Macaroni. GRILL. 2 of my kids ordered it and it tasted like watered down Kraft Mac n' Cheese. My 9 year old was not impressed. I mean, wouldn't you want your namesake dish to at least make a 9 year old happy? Other observations include: the tables are about 2 inches too short because the chair height is just fine. I'm average height but my knees kept knocking the underside of the table. Also, the chairs while of expected height deflate your butt; there's no cushion. If you go, shoot for a cushioned booth. Pass, pass and pass. Avoid the Macaroni Grill even if it means eating Twinkies at a gas station.
(2)
Rachel T.
Loooooved it! Best family restaurant ever - great deal - great warm bread!!
(5)
Patrick B.
Let's make this short. We have gone to this Mandeville location twice and our experiences were similar. Pretentious set-up. Good choices on the menu, however every dish was underseasoned, cold and had crusted pieces from keeping it under the salamander too long. I am all for second chances, but they blew it both times. Not impressed and will not visit this location anymore.
(2)
Kelly H.
It's not awful. It is very generic. Prices are reasonable. Service tends to be mediocre. One big plus - if you order a house wine (generic Chianti and such) they leave the bottle on the table and you can pour your own as you like. Just remember you are on the honor system and Jesus is watching. The pastas are decent. The grilled Salmon wasn't great and seemed a bit overpriced. Bottom line: it's a chain.
(2)
Andy M.
Ordered Carbonara "to go" one night and when I got it home I just could not eat it - it was that bad. I guess the mistake I made was not dining in. The dish was just over the top bland - almost like they forgot two or three ingredients. If I was dining in the restaurant this dish would have gone back but instead it went into the trash. Will never order takeout here again.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Lunch, Dinner Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Dejeunee D.
I dined at Macaroni Grill for lunch with friends last Saturday. I ordered the Chicken Under Brick with broccolini and herb roasted potatoes. The chicken was well prepared and the potatoes were buttery, herby goodness. The service was alright, nothing extraordinary, but no real complaints. Overall, a better than average experience.
(3)John L. H.
The Macaroni Grill is one of the better chain restaurants in the Mandeville area. They focus on Italian food and do it well. Their pasta rustica is very good, as are their steaks and pizzas. They also have a very good kids menu. The problem with the Macaroni Grill has to do with the calories in the food. If you do your research you will find that some of their entrees contain more than your daily recommended intake.
(3)Eddie M.
Got shrimp alfredo. Dish was actually delicious. 4 shrimp in the dish. Absolutely ridiculous. Just based on that, i would never walk through their doors again. When the person fixed the dish they should have recognized the imbalance between pasta and shrimp. At least the server should have seen the unfairness of it all.
(1)Stanley W.
We ordered three appetizers. The shrimp with avocado on bread, sausage and potatoes, and the fried calamari. The shrimp didn't come with avocado and the sausage didn't come with potatoes. When we asked our waitress about it she replied that they ran out of both and that she was sorry. That would be fine except she just gave it to us without even say anything as if we wouldn't notice. She took both items off our bill. Then we got the calamari and it was burnt. Not only that but it was mostly batter. We didn't really bother complaining, but suffice to say our mostly burnt batter calamari was not good. A few moments after the appetizers she came up to tell me that they were out of lasagna and that I needed to order something else. No potatoes avocado or lasagna?! I must have came at the worst day ever or something. It took forever to get our entrees and they were ok, but I don't think I'll be coming back ever again though.
(2)Ana B.
I thought it would beat Olive Garden. NOPE. It doesn't even beat Pizza Hut, honestly. I can cook better pasta than this sad place and that's saying a lot (I am a terrible cook.) YEAH. The only part I enjoyed was the bread and olive oil. So yummy. I think I literally ate a whole loaf by myself. I was going to give this restaurant a 3 star rating...but after seeing Tim T's review, I wish there was a NO STAR option. That is seriously disgusting. My stomach is twisting in knots just thinking about roaches in my food. (Vomit) lets just say I am staying away from any Romano's. No more.
(1)Tim T.
Plain and simple if I could give less then a star I would my wife and I ate here quite a few times a year but now will never return!! The pics I am attaching are pretty self explanatory sad really sad
(1)Christian B.
Got a late start Saturday night, and everything was closed or closing, so we figured we would give this place a shot. Happy hour was great! $5 premium cocktails in the bar section after 9pm and food specials. Was pleasantly suprised!
(4)Billy A.
Ordered to go food on a slow sunday. They quoted 45 min which was weird. When arriving to get the food they said they were out of the entree we ordered. They also lied and said they tried to contact us when the missed calls weren't there. And the manager didn't even bother to make an appearance. There are many great local Italian restaraunt that are extremely authentic. I would recommend trying them out to avoid the dissapointment.
(1)John C.
Lunch, it seemed at first we were a bother to our waitress. She seemed to warm up towards the end right before the bill came, go figure. On the food side I really can't say it was anything like I remember from pre K, and shortly after. Personally I don't think it's worth $$.
(2)Ashley H.
I recently learned that my boyfriend has a soft spot for Macaroni Grill. Then a co-worker who lives on the North Short told me they had a Macaroni Grill in Mandeville. I've eaten at other Macaroni Grill's and didn't really have much of an opinion one way or the other. So, when we didn't have anything to do one day and were out and about, we headed over to try it out. I figured "how bad could it be?" I was about to find out. (I obviously did not read any of the reviews prior to going. Lesson learned there for sure.) They weren't incredibly busy, but the hostess seemed very flustered when we got there. She said she had to clean off a table for us and it would be five or ten minutes. And, it did in fact take her that long, if not a little longer, to clean off one table so we could have a place to sit. That's weird, isn't it? I'm still not sure what she was doing that took that long. But, anyway. At least four employees stopped to make sure we had been helped while we were waiting, which seemed promising. We are finally seated and wait for our server. And wait a little more. And, then, wait some more. Probably 15 minutes pass before our waitress appears and she was visibly frazzled. She was saying something about having a 10-top and that they weren't supposed to seat anyone else for her and she didn't know we were there. It was a very welcoming spiel. Not. At the end of it all, she did apologize that we had to wait so long and said that now that she knew about us, we were about to have the best service ever. She literally said those exact words. So, my expectation was that we were going to get some great service. Drinks come out, bread is put on the table, olive oil is poured. Things are looking good. We place our order-- an appetizer plus two entrees-- and she disappears. That was the last we saw of her until our check was produced at the end of the meal. Now, bad service is one thing, but straight up saying you're going to give me the best service ever and then pulling a disappearing act like that takes things to a whole new level. So, did you know that they have a guy at Macaroni Grill who walks around and sings? Yeah, neither did I. I think I mentioned that I've been to others before, right? You would've thought I would have noticed something like before. Well, that's the guy who finally brought out our food. Too bad he didn't bring over that block of parmesan and the pepper grinder. We had to hunt someone down for that. The food was lukewarm at best. Some of it was downright cold. I had shrimp that were so rubbery and hard that the entire Gulf Coast wept over the horror of it all. (Not that the shrimp I had came from anywhere near the Gulf Coast.) My boyfriend (who, remembers, knows all things there are to know about Macaroni Grill) specified he wanted jumbo shrimp. His shrimp were infinitely better than mine. And, he now knows that he is obligated to share tips like that with me prior to ordering in the future. Our drinks sat there empty. No refills ever came. And, you know what else never came? Our appetizer. When our waitress finally reappeared to give us the check, we asked her about it. Never fear, she forgot we ordered it, so it's not on the check. Gee, what a relief. She then goes back in to how terrible her 10-top was and then they, like, totally stiffed her on the tip. Really? You don't say. If I had paid the bill, I probably would've at least been tempted to stiff her, too. The sad thing is that this whole ordeal did nothing to cure my boyfriend of his obsession with all things Macaroni Grill, so we'll probably be back sooner than later. Oh joy.
(2)David T.
We have not been to Romano's Macaroni Grill since it closed in Baton Rouge. Didn't realize how much we missed it. They no longer have the Nachos or Pizzas that my wife and I enjoyed so much but, we made due. She had the Lasagna and I had a Chicken and Arugala Flatbread. With having the bread that they brought out before the entrees, we took about 3/4 of the flatbread home but still awesome eats.
(4)Jillian M.
Dining here is like taking a $50 out of your wallet, lighting it on fire, and then collecting its ashes onto a pasta dish and spooning them into your mouth. Those $50 bill ashes would probably be more palatable than the meal I recently had here, and they would cost the same. The crayons were fun though. Sorry I drew a toilet on the table. That wasn't very mature behavior. Oops.
(1)Lauren D.
The whole idea of curbside to go is so you can grab it quickly and continue home...not to wait 20 minutes in the car, then go in and get a blank stare when you ask why your now cold food wasn't brought TO THE CURBSIDE. It's even worse when you get all the way home to eat your cold food and your "truffle" Mac and cheese bites with the "truffle" dipping sauce doesn't have a lick of truffle in it... A BIG pet peeve is when restaurants claim to put truffles or truffle oil in a dish and its nonexistent thinking you won't notice. I won't be returning to be disappointed and scammed again.
(1)Allison D.
I don't understand why this place has such a low rating and bad reviews. I really like this place. In my opinion, it totally beats Olive Garden, Semolina, etc. Yes, it is a chain, but the quality of food that is served here, in my opinion, is really high on the general scale of expectations. Apparently their service is significantly bad according to other fellow yelpers. Both times that I've been here, the service has been great, amazing even. The first time I was here, I got the Classic Italian Bake. It was a really large portion and super tasty. My boyfriend got the Shrimp Portofino, his usual. He loved his as well. For appetizers, we got the fried Mac and cheese bites. It was okay, not terrible, just okay. The second time we came here, we had the Spicy Ricotta Meatballs and Pepperoni Bread (part of the 3-course meal). Both were really good. Definitely better than the Mac and cheese bites. For our entrees, we got the Chicken Marsala and Farfalle Chicken Pasta. Both were really good. I especially loved loved loved the Chicken Marsala. I had to force myself to stop eating it since I was already full from everything else. All in all, I definitely recommend this place for everyone to at least try. I've loved both of my experiences here and look forward to eating here again!
(4)Dmitry B.
It was our the first and the last visit: mediocre food with too much salt and oil in it and a poor service - I had to move the dirty dishes to another table myself. On the positive side - they provided crayola pens for kids and they had paper table sheets which was ok to use for painting.
(2)Jean-Paul V.
Easily the worst meal I've had in a long time. Our waitress Kim was the only good thing about the evening, but apart from that - - - Rule #1: a NOW HIRING banner outside usually indicates the likelihood of unpleasantness ahead. Rule #2: beer should be served cold, and under regional beers (note the plural and addition of the 's') you should offer more than ONE: Abita Amber. Oh, and for reiteration's sake it shouldn't be served warm. Kim offered another, but I figure where there's one warm beer there're likely others in queue. Pass. She took it off the bill. Rule #3: You're the Macaroni Grill. Macaroni. GRILL. 2 of my kids ordered it and it tasted like watered down Kraft Mac n' Cheese. My 9 year old was not impressed. I mean, wouldn't you want your namesake dish to at least make a 9 year old happy? Other observations include: the tables are about 2 inches too short because the chair height is just fine. I'm average height but my knees kept knocking the underside of the table. Also, the chairs while of expected height deflate your butt; there's no cushion. If you go, shoot for a cushioned booth. Pass, pass and pass. Avoid the Macaroni Grill even if it means eating Twinkies at a gas station.
(2)Rachel T.
Loooooved it! Best family restaurant ever - great deal - great warm bread!!
(5)Patrick B.
Let's make this short. We have gone to this Mandeville location twice and our experiences were similar. Pretentious set-up. Good choices on the menu, however every dish was underseasoned, cold and had crusted pieces from keeping it under the salamander too long. I am all for second chances, but they blew it both times. Not impressed and will not visit this location anymore.
(2)Kelly H.
It's not awful. It is very generic. Prices are reasonable. Service tends to be mediocre. One big plus - if you order a house wine (generic Chianti and such) they leave the bottle on the table and you can pour your own as you like. Just remember you are on the honor system and Jesus is watching. The pastas are decent. The grilled Salmon wasn't great and seemed a bit overpriced. Bottom line: it's a chain.
(2)Andy M.
Ordered Carbonara "to go" one night and when I got it home I just could not eat it - it was that bad. I guess the mistake I made was not dining in. The dish was just over the top bland - almost like they forgot two or three ingredients. If I was dining in the restaurant this dish would have gone back but instead it went into the trash. Will never order takeout here again.
(2)