Maggiano's Little Italy

This place is ridiculously nice...great italian food and amazing atmosphere...its definately crowded so its not that secluded quiet type atmosphere. I had the mushroom ravioli and it was amazing...creamy sauce. I want to definately go back and try some different dishes. Only downside to this restaurant is that its expensive as hell. But, hey its okay...its fun to splurge once in awhile. =) Pros: food Cons: price more

Our party of thirty guests recently visited this highly rated restaurant on a Friday evening for a company Christmas party and were thoroughly disappointed only had two waiters and only one of them spoke English.Drink orders were incorrect (no Macallan scotch and Canadian Club was passed-off as Crown Royal).The service was slow and the food was unimaginative, bland and cold.No one in our party expressed any desire to return and I could never recommend this restaurant to anyone regardless of portions or cost. Pros: dessert Cons: slow service, frozen dinner quality food more

My experience as a first time guest was the best ever! It was a group of 6 for my sister's 29th birthday. We went on a Saturday night at 7 p.m. with reservaions made in advance. Our wonderful waiter, Leo, took marvelous care of us! He suggested that with our large party of 6 to get the ""family style"" option. You get 2 salads, 2 appetizers, 2 pastas, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. Not only that, but you get UNLIMITED QUANTITIES!!! All for $25.95 or so per person! The appetizer of fried cheese is amazing, though it's called something more fancy. I was in love with the chicken parmesan entree! The beef medallions were so tender and juicy. For dessert, we couldn't decide on just two, so Leo brought us out 3 desserts. The Tiramisu was to die for! The Creme Brulee was amazing! The chocolate cake - oh so great! My family didn't feel rushed at all. Our meal was about 2 1/2 hours long and there were good spaces in between courses to let the meal digest. When we were finished, my husband and I agreed - this is our NEW favorite restaurant in Houston! The Capital Grille held that honor previously, but Maggiano's now holds the crown as our favorite. The entertainment was great - a piano playing trumpet player who is very personable. If you go, you'll be glad!!! Pros: Food, Service, Entertainment, Portion Size Cons: Maybe we need larger tables! more

What a dissappointment. For all the talk about this place the food was very mediocre. We had the lasagna and spagetti with meatballs. Both tasted like mush or bread. The spagetti was undercooked. How can a high profile Italian restaurant screw up these two dishes. We won't be back. Pros: Nice atmosphere Cons: The food, simply mediocre more

The service was extremely poor. After we were seated for more than 20 minutes, no server come to our table to greet or taking order. I have to address the problem with the manager. Everything else went well after that. The foods were good. \r Should we wasting our time and spending our money at the restaurant that don't care much about their customers???\r \r Dare to come back!!!\r Pros: The foods and portions Cons: Service, service, service...really need improvement. more

I went for the first time with a large group for a birthday celebration. This place is great for large groups, however, the food wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I expected prices to be high since the restaurant seemed very upscale but they were reasonable. There was a live pianist! Great atmosphere. I will definitely be coming back and I'll be trying another dish in hopes that it'll be better than my last! Pros: Great atmosphere, great prices Cons: Very noisy more

My family and I love Maggiano's! The food is always good, the portions are more than enough, and our experiences with the service have always been great. It's a busy place with reasonable prices--lunch is a lot less crowded, and the prices are lower, of course, but dinner is still manageable.\r \r Maggiano's is good for families with older children, couples, and mixed groups, and the bar area can be very entertaining. \r The one issue I do wish they would address is parking, as I recall the Valet not having any spaces available the last time I visited. \r \r One tip: Ordering family style is an economical way to sample several menu items and courses, but if you choose this option, prepare to be stuffed and have lots of leftovers! Pros: atmosphere Cons: parking more

What a cute place to bring a date or a large group. Their calamari was good, but my pasta was a little less satisfying. I don't recall finishing my dish since it was such a large portion, but I didn't ask for it to be packed up either. Prices are a little high for the kind of food they offer. I would not recommend this to be a place to dine at often. Pros: good area Cons: food is not too satisfying more

Great Value! Good service and very large portions. Good for large groups and even catering. Nice seating outside. more

They offer good food, service, and nice ambience. This place is good for groups or just service for two. If you want romantic, you got it! Pros: Ambience more

Our dining experience here was sub par. The hostess forgot to tell our waitress we were seated. After 10 minutes of waiting we received our drinks (wine and vodka martini), which were stiff and good. The blue cheese olives in the martini were nice. We ordered the crab cannelloni and gnocci. The order got mixed up and we got linguine. Once everything was straightened out we received our food and it was tasty. Portions are very large. We made 1/2 orders and still took home food. All in all the food was good but service was bad - I guess that makes this a better take out type place. Pros: Food is decent. Cons: Service was aweful. more

We were early in the evening and our server Bill was awesome, attentative but left us alone. We had the 1/2 stuffed mushrooms, delicious. My wife had the shrimp linguini and I had the Rigitoni ""D"". Both were very good. Portions were large for the price. We brought alot home and they have reheating instructions on the box. Great place, will visit again. Pros: wonderful portions more

The meals are outstanding here. Maybe not the kind of fare a 'foodie' is looking for, but for what you pay, and the amount of food, and the atmosphere, it's the best deal in Houston. I would go back in an instant, though I'd be certain to order the 1/2 size dishes. Pros: Big portions Cons: Tables are a little crowded together more

So, I don't really have the time to spend my valued Sunday evening reading the silly reviews that a few other Houstonians felt necessary to post about Maggiano's--BUT now that I have... I must say that it is unfortunate that because someone wasn't swept off of their feet at the exact moment they came EARLY for their SATURDAY EVENING reservations or that a SPRINKLE OF HERBS weren't added to their olive oil dip (did you think to just politely request some be brought to you?) that they would waste their time ranting about the restaurant. It would be nice if people remembered that we're all human and to treat people as the most special and polite people that we all can be. Have a good one! Maggiano's IS amazing! Pros: Authentic Italian in the heart of the city. Cons: No cons... it's a treat! more

It was our 10 year anniversary. We had a reservation at 8:00 pm. Got there earlier. Still made us wait like 20 minutes. When we asked on the front desk the guy said few more minutes, no apologies just a sorry smile. Asked again after few minutes. Made us feel that they did not care if we were upset or not. Asked for the manager. He asked us to step outside to talk because ""he did not wanted scenes in his restaurant"". That was a first!!! NOw I got upset! We left to Grotto's. Never an apology. Another couple standing next to us saw everything and decided to leave as well. I guess they have too many customers and do not care about few less customers. Never going back. Cons: Bad attention more

The service was extremely poor and the food was only average. There are much better itialian resturants in the area. Maggianos has even stopped putting herbs in the olive oil for the bread. No taste just oily. Spoke with onsite management and everything was passed off as corporate decisions. There are numerous resturants in the immediate area that are more worthy of customers. Cons: terrible service, lukewarm food more

My wife and I just ate there last night on Valentine's Day and we absolutely loved it, and won't hesitate to go back again. We started out with the broccoli and artichoke dip, and it was the best I've ever had. The wife had veal stuffed ravioli and I had the chicken parmesan, and both of our entree's were fabulous. I don't know why some people had bad experiences, but I can tell you, that on Valentine's Day 2006, the service was excellent. more

I had reservations and still waited 30 minutes for a table. When I asked about it I was informed that 'at nice restaurants they dont seat you right away so you'll go to the bar for a while.' I had reservations at Pappas Brothers Steakhouse the week before and was seated right away. I'd heard on the radio that Maggianos west the best italian in town, but I was very disapointed with the quality of service and food. If you want good italian food, GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. Cons: eveything more

I urge my fellow Houstonians and out of towners not to waste your hard earned money on this place. You will be disappointed. For 6 years I've been hearing rave reviews of Maggiano's. I ordered the fried zucchini, garlic toast, chicken fettuchini alfredo, and pumpkin cheesecake. What an order! They do not believe in thoroughly cooking their noodles, and you are left with a complete and utter disgusting entree. The sauce has broccoli and chicken in it, which was good. But I wouldnt recommend it to anyone else. I had to send back the entree because of it not being thoroughly cooked, they brought me another one which wasn't all the way cooked either.. They did take it off of our ticket which was a plus. The zucchini was delicious, and I'm not a squash fan. The garlic toast wasn't too good and the cheesecake was sour. Pros: Zucchini Cons: The food was bad more

Nice host, short 20min wait, but after sitting at a cocktail table for 10min the waitress never seemed to care that we were sitting there. So I went and got drinks from the bartender, who was very nice. Ambience was ok, however the person I was with said the crowd was not what it used to be, I soon knew why. Our server could barley use English words, which was a common trait apparentlly, because the food expiditer was also dephishent. Our server never took the menus off the table and could not describe two of the dishes I asked about. If your looking for a elegant Italian res. this is not it, had to make myself to walk out. Too many good restaurants in Houston to waste a night on this one. Other reviews I have read on this site must be from differant a era Cons: Server, Cocktail waitress, Boring more