Maria's Italian Kitchen

10/06/08

One of my favorite affordable Italian restaurants!

by littlemiss84 at Citysearch

My boyfriend & I first came across this place in Woodland Hills when driving by one day about 4 years ago and have been coming here ever since! I'm a vegetarian and when I go to Italian restaurants I normally just get cheese ravioli. The cheese ravioli here is AMAZING!!! I dont know what they do, but I've never had anything like it! We come here for dinner dates all the time and we like it because it has good food, good service, the food comes out fast, and great if you want a great italian meal thats's affordable! Highly recommended! (I recommend the Maria's on Pico because its much more larger and more "romantic" then the one in Woodland Hills)

• Pros: food, service, prices, everthing
• Cons: nothing

02/18/08

great every time!!

by foodloversarah at Citysearch

When I moved to LA my mom and I drove past this place near my apartment and now we have decided to make it our italian place to go to down here. Their appetizer bread with rosemary is some of the best bread we have ever had!! Their portions are also HUGE so come hungry for this place or at least ready to take home leftovers!! They even have a picnic basket option you can have premade to take with you to a park somewhere complete with dessert and utensils. Our pasta dishes were perfectly seasoned and nothing was oily at all which you often find at italian places. A great chain in LA for easy comfort italian food

• Pros: great food, huge portions, AMAZING BREAD
• Cons: sometimes slow service

Friendly and boisterous Italian-American spot for convenient neighborhood dining.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
With its black, white and red color scheme, Maria's is a bright, welcoming place full of families, ritzy ladies out for dinner and couples grabbing a quick bite. A handy neighborhood hangout, the menu features Italian dishes and pizza. The fried zucchini appetizer is spotted with sesame seeds, while the capri salad or spinach salad--with Gorgonzola, pancetta, and glazed walnuts--make lighter starts. Porcini mushroom risotto comes with artichoke hearts and peas, and foccacia bread sandwiches the grilled chicken panini.

07/04/07

Worst Place ever-Better service @ Norm's- Don't waste your time.

by lovemakesall at Citysearch

I've attemped to like this place but I'm just about done! I've tried it on several occassions but they always seems to screw up one way or another. They make customers wait until they are done arguing over who is going to take the table (Being Lazy neither was interested in taking the table). Service was awful! There is better service @ Norm's. Waiters were too busy hanging out at the bar with one another than checking on their tables. One could never make eye contact with waiters because they never looked at you. Horrible experience and will never return. The food is decent but not worth the price. FYI I was there Sunday July 1st if the owners read this!

• Pros: The bread is good but not worth the disaster of being there.
• Cons: Everything

04/28/07

Food was good, service was nice, but the tiramisu was AMAZING.

by btmnrx at Citysearch

I have gone to Maria's 3 or 4 times, and the food has been fine every time. Not exceptional, but very tasty and reasonably priced. But the tiramisu was unbelievable. And I've never even liked tiramisu very much until now. It's the reason I keep going back! Now if you'll excuse me -- I'm drooling just over the thought of Maria's tiramisu......

• Pros: Obviously, the tiramisu! Also, the service
• Cons: Parking

11/24/06

Problems Result from Chain Status

by poppies77 at Citysearch

This place wears it's chain-status like a badge of honor. That means you'll find better-than-average food, higher-than-average prices, complacent staff, mass-produced wall decorations, and lots of seating. Chains become chains because they have something to offer, and this place has pros and cons just like any other chain. Nothing special, but worth a try at least once.

08/19/06

TRIED IT 3 TIMES AND WILL NOT BE GOING BACK.

by greeneterrie at Citysearch

Shrimp fettachini (sp.?) was good but the shrimp were small and rubbery. The swordfish was okay. It was cut in half so you got 2 small pieces which were fried. Not worth $18.00. The waitress brought my husband the wrong meal. We waited 20 minutes for baked lasagne and she brought a calazone. The waitress was nice but tacky. Looks like she should have been working at Norms. It seems as though locals from the area and families can't get enough of this place but I don't understand why. There are 1000's of better Italian restuarants out there. Save your money, it is expensive for what you get and not worth it. Parking is tough.

• Pros: NOTHING
• Cons: EVERYTHING

12/06/05

Great place for the whole family!!!

by spandrews at Citysearch

We went there because they had a banner posted that "Kids Eat Free" on Wednesday nights! We went and it was great! The staff attended to us quickly and the portions were generous. I even had enough left over for my kids lunches the next day! We were very happy with the food and the flavor. Staff was pleasant and price reasonable since the kids meals were free! We will be back!!!

• Pros: Service, Food, Kids Eat Free on Wed!
• Cons: Parking

06/08/05

Bland food & Poor Service

by keithaka at Citysearch

It took the waiter more than 15 minutes to take our orders even when the restaurant was slow. Ordered Caesar Salad, and Smoked Chicken Ravioli. They were so BLAND. Then ordered Hawaiian Pizza, it came out SUPER BLAND. I only had 2 bites from the whole thing. At the meantime, the waiter never came and checked on us because they all were busy talking to each others at the the bar. When he came to us, I told him that we didn't like the pizza at all. He asked me if I still want to take it home which I didn't, he even didn't do anything about it. I ended up pay for the whole pizza that I didn't like. I was very disappointed with the whole things, didn't even feel like talking to the manager but leaving as soon as I could.

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: Bland food, Poor service

09/20/04

I have become a repeat customer

by goodfoodisgoodfood at Citysearch

I eat with some very picky people and they all agreed they enjoyed their meal at Maria's. I have been here quite a few times with family and with friends. This place has won me over with its friendly service and inexpenseive quality food. I have had pizza, pastas, chicken and fish and never been dissapointed. Also, the garlic bread is particularly good to munch on before a meal.