Mingalone Italian Bar & Grill

We reserved a table for two on saturday for my wife's birthday,the guy who took our reservation was very friendly and professional. We were greated by very polite and friendly hostess and seated in a timely manner, our waiter, I remember he was from europe but I can't remember his name, was very knowlegeable about the food and wines. We ordered the gnochi and catchatore, two glasses of wine. the birthday dessert was offered. The whole experience was a success. This place will be on my list every time we visit downtwon. more

Mingalone is the hidden treasure of downtown Houston! Take it from me, I work a few blocks away and just rediscovered this hidden jewel. Amazing patio, pasta, and red wine!! Also, fab bar! Happy Hour Anyone?? more

We celebrated my sisters birthday before attending the ballet and we had such a great time. Our reservation was at 6:30 and it was packed when we arrived. We were promptly seated and had great service from our waiter Lee. He informed us of the specials, and if we were celebrating anything, he noticed the gifts. The food was excellent and to top the evening off the manager came over personally to thank us for celebrating there and offered a complimentary dessert to the birthday girl. We even went back after the show to have drinks in the bar and were warmly greeted when we returned. We will be coming back to Mingalone's! more

My husband and I had dinner at Mingalone last Friday before out show at the Verizon Wireless Theatre. We had read a couple not so great reveiws but decided to try it and were very pleased with our entire dining experience. The decor is beautiful and good for people watching. It was extremely busy, but we had a nice waitress who served us promptly. I had the Ravioli and my husband had the Seafood Special-Mahi Mahi. Everything was delicious. The staff timed our meal perfectly and we had time for coffee and dessert before we had to leave. Over all I felt compelled to right a good review for a restaurant that deserves it. more

This place is the worst. Do not go there!!! The owners are crazy, snobby, greedy and low class. The waitstaff is helpful, but the food is tasteless and underspiced. Trust me if you go there, everyone is salting their food. I would give this place no stars if I could. SOOOO overpriced for shitty food. more

The food was fantastic! What a beautiful place has elegant private room and a casual main dinning area with a funky bar plus a patio. Great sauces which I was told were made in-house, the Calamari sauce was excellent. We were running late for a show and they were able to take care of us. more

I've worked as a waiter at Mingalone's. The problem with that place is that Mr. Mingalone wants it all from the staff. He expects you to work ridiculously long hours, put up with all his b.s., and be on point at all times. Being on point is no problem for me, as I am a polished and experienced server. As such, the Mingalones like me and don't give me any problems. That having been said, they still work me like a Hebrew slave. It simply isn't worth it. This is why the service is lacking. The money being made doesn't justify having a talented server work there. I'm about to quit in a week or so, and this is after working there for seven months. During the theater season the money was decent... acceptable. Now, forget about it. That place needs help. But the stone cold truth is that all problems flow from the leadership downward. Pros: good food, beautiful place Cons: the owner is a nazi more

Reservations are useless when trying to make a show. Restaurant consistantly overbooks. Service is slow and food is mediocre at best. Staff is not helpful and does not seem to care. Will never go back! Pros: location Cons: very poor service and food quality more

Food is OK at best, but the real problem here is service: we had to wait almost an hour for our orders, despite telling the waitress that we had show tickets in a little over an hour and ordering off of their so-called ""thiry minutes or less"" menu (and her assuring us that we'd have our orders in plenty of time). An hour later we left on empty stomachs. You just can't trust this place, unless you have hours to kill and don't mind waiting for food that really isn't worth it. And even if it were, it doesn't matter how good the food might be, if you never get it in the first place, does it? Pros: Location Cons: Service more

This restaurant is highly overpriced and the food didn't even come close to being good. Got some sort of chicken with goat cheese. There was less than a one spoonful of cheese and the chicken breast was bland and tiny. I should have stayed home and made my own. I would NEVER return to this place nor would i recommend it. Pros: Close to Verizon Theatre (only pro i have) Cons: Too expensive for nothing food. more

Read review from waiter at this restaurant and had to respond. Claims you should come and visit durning a non peak time. We did. We were 1 or 5 or 6 tables in the whole restaurant. Calamari, rubbery and bland. Food came out and was cold and unimpressive. Do not waste your time or your money when there are significantly better restaurants a couple blocks away. The extra walk is more than worth it. Pros: Good Location Cons: Price, Food more

In response to the waiters remarks, I too used to work for Mr. Mingalone, back when his restaurant was called Montesano on Beverly Hill. Since his relocation to the theatre disctict, I have tried the restaurant once. Unfortunately, we did not stay through the entire meal. The restaurant was not busy at all. We were seated and then forgotten. There was no water service, no bread service and no waiter. We waited for several minutes, then stood up and left the restaurant. No one approached us on the way out to ask what happened. Mr. Mingalone was at the bar chatting with some women. The whole episode confirmed to me that the name may have changed from one location to the next, but everything else remained the same. I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. Pros: Location to the Theatre District Cons: Food, Service more

Last night I took a few of my business assosiates to dine after work and I must say the food is excellent. I was pleased with the waitstaff and thier promptness. I don't know about those losers and the low ratings but it just isn't so. If you want to split checks go to Luby's. Have a shot at this place and try the fettuccine montesano. I t has alot of flavor and if you would like to treat yourself the wine list is divine. I will be back many more times. Pros: Service and food Cons: no criminals here more

After the food we were served at Mingalone last night, we won't be back--and this is a restaurant that we have enjoyed on past visits. Pros: Memories of food that USED to be good... Cons: The food isn't so good now! more

What type of scam is citysearch running? How does a restaurant with more 1s then 5s have a 4.5 star rating when people view it. Crooks. Pros: Looks nice Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE more

Oh wow ... it was as if we were back in Italy!! The food was delicious, the service was divine, the atmosphere was great & the cappuccino reminded me of our evenings in Italy w/ our favorite server!! He made the BEST cappuccino ... well ONE of the best now!!! AND, you've GOT to try the Frangelica cake too ... with a shot of Frangelica in your cappuccino to go with it!! Pros: Beautiful atmosphere, nearby parking, lots to do in the area Cons: Just a little pricey more

On Thurs. Jan. 24, 2008 a group of 14 visited Mingalone's. They would not give us separate checks. In this day and age of computers this is a stupid policy. It would have been just as easy for the waiter to give each couple a check. Also the evening special of veal was verbally given. I asked about the price and the waiter said about $30 which is only $4 more than the menu veal. I said OK. When the bill came it was $37. That is quite a bit more the $26 which was on the menu. This kind of handling is not acceptable. There are way to many choices of restaurants. We'll never go back. more

I ordered the mussels and my husband ordered penne with sausage. He said he could have made just as good out of a can and my mussels were unbelievably salty. I had mussels in Chicago just last week and was hoping for the same yummy experience. No such luck. Why do they charge so much for such boring food? We will not be back. more

I am a waiter at Mingalone. I have read some bad reviews of my restaurant and I want to play Devil's Advocate. Mr Mingalone operates this restaurant personally. He genuinely cares about his business and the guest and is present every single day, all day. Mr Mingalone has been in the business for 30+ years and being from Italy and a 3rd generation restauranteur, knows Italian food. more

I normally do not write these things, but was just surprised that the exact same problem I had at Mingalone today, (that frustrated me to the point of looking up the reviews) has been talked about by other people here for years, but the restaurant has done nothing to improve it. So I went today, and the place was dead, completely. It's a real shame since the area is nice, and the place itself has so much potential, but I guess years of bad service and poor word of mouth have made it a failure. I have owned a restaurant in another city, and a place that has been open for so long generally has regulars, but this place is always dead. (Atleast the 4 times I have been there). Today, my waitress was terrible. She took the order after 3 minuted even though the place was dead, and we too did not have any cutlery. When I complained to the manager, he blew me off. I felt real small in front of my family who were visiting from out of town. He offered me a free drink, but I don;t drink alcohol, so he comped my soda. I'd rather him treat his customers with respect, for without them he would not be there. Thanks for the $2.00 soda, but I would have preferred some common courtesy. I'm not coming back, and neither will anyone from my law school if I can help it. Save them some time, money, and energy. Pros: Place is deceivingly inviting, but always empty. Cons: Manager and staff are very rude more