07/15/02

yummy italian

by dianaguerrero

East side mario's has the best italian food. Everything is flavorful and the pasta is cooked to perfection. As for my favorites, the alfredo sauce is rich and creamy, and they have a bread pudding to die for.

• Pros: great food, great atmosphere, great service
• Cons: crowded, full parking lot

05/19/09

The greatest

by CSMobileUser2

I have been going there for 5 years and it is still me favorite resturant the service is great the food is great and the setting is great as well never had a bad experience with the food or anything I love it.

06/01/08

OUTSTANDING!!!

by CyclingFoodie

Eastside Mario's is a great place to relax and eat. The value is great, huge portions and reasonable prices, you also get bread with all meals and endless salad with entrees. Beverages stay full. The service is also great. Ordering is quick, even when it is busy, and everyone is polite. I recommend the "Artichoke Chicken Penne." This dish is full of artichike hearts, mushrooms and a whole chiken breast (get it grilled) served with an alfredo sauce. Great after a 5 or 10K or long bike ride. This establisment can sometimes be busy and may have a wait (nobody hates a wait more than I do) be patient, you will be glad you waited.

• Pros: Food quality, quantity, value and overall service.
• Cons: The rare event when there is a wait. Usually not bad though.

12/28/07

Fun friendly feast

by jwhung

Mario's has a very NYC-college feel to the restaurant. The service is friendly and welcoming. We've gone there late a few times too, and we didn't get any attitude from the servers, unlike some places where they try and hide their annoyance for those "last-minute" customers! The food YUMMY. The portions are huge! I can never finish and always doggy bag for lunch the next day. Some of the dishes can be very oily and the tomato sauce really tangy though - but that's just when I"m not in the mood for either. I love their eggplant dish, but this is also oily too. Maybe that's why it tastes so good!

• Pros: Service, large portions
• Cons: nothing - unless you count the large portions that I can never finish!

07/24/06

What happened?

by lilxluckystar

I did a review a few years ago in 2006 and it is now 2008 (even though it doesn't change the date on the review) and had to change it from 5 stars to 2 stars. I've been going to East Side Marios since it opened in 1998. It was my favorite restaurant for many years. But in the last couple of years, it began declining and I chalked it up to just "one of those days". My husband and I realized that the last few times we went, the food got worse and worse- and I always order the same dishes so I noticed the slip in quality. The shrimp scampi dish is ridiculously oily now, as is the chicken tettrazini. Don't even think about taking that stuff home and reheating it because its just gross how oily it is. The service has always been a bit slow due to its popularity but even when its not crowded, the service is still rather slow. I loved their huge brownie sunday that they would give you on your bday- it was a warm soft browny with ice cream and lots of whipped cream and all the hot fudge you wanted (you told them when to stop pouring), and now they give you this brownie that was frozen with a scoop of ice cream- sorry but when you are used to getting the other, the latter is a let down. The whole thing was just more and more disappointing- I think even there garlic bread was a let down! We decided not to go to East Side Marios for a very long time and hopefully when ever we do go back, its more like it was in the old days.

• Pros: Large portions, fun decorations
• Cons: The food isn't spectacular anymore, very crowded, slow service.

07/25/05

Just Wonderful!

by thedreamerlives

East Side Mario's is an all around great Italian restaurant. You pretty much can't go wrong with any item you choose to eat. Everything is very good. The service is excellent and our server made us feel very welcome.

• Pros: Service, Great Food, Inexpensive
• Cons: Parking