Mama Santa Restaurant Pizzeria

Although known for their relatively inexpensive prices, Mama Santa's is not the place to go if you are use to decent customer service. I have gone to Mama Santa's on several different occasions, and the sevice is consistently poor. First of all, Little Italy doesn't quite accomodate those who drive, thus parking is always a hassle. Second, expect to wait a long time to be seated, which is especially true on Friday or Saturday nights. When you finally get seated, it might take a while for the server to come to your table to take your order, and when he/she comes to your table, be ready to place your order immediately, or else you may not see your server for quite a while. The food itself, which also is slow to arrive, is o.k., but is no where near stellar and certainly not worth the aggravation, for there are many other better Italian eateries in the area, especially for pizza, which for some strange reason (other than price) they are known for. The atmosphere of the restaurant itself is small and very dimly lit (on purpose?), similar to an old house's cellar. Finally, in order to leave and pay for the meal, you have to be very aggressive in flagging down the server to get his/her attention to get the bill. Overall, given the quality of both the food and service, I would strongly not recommend Mama Santa's, unless you enjoy waiting a long time in a dungeon-like place for average/sub-par food. Pros: Cheap prices Cons: Bad customer service and lack of parking more

Like the title suggests, people seem to love one or the other of these rival pizza shops in the Little Italy neighborhood. For me, Mama Santa is the winner...hands down!!! I have tried Valentino's a few times and found it to be drastically overpriced considering it tastes like frozen pizza. If you like the bland, flat, stone oven type of pizza, you may be happy. I'll eat anything and I LOVE pizza, but Mama Santa's sauce makes this a no contest. Plus, Valentino's is more than double the price for a large pie. While the service is typically unfriendly at Mama Santa, especially the girls behind the counter...you'll be happier with the food. more

Mama Santa's is a prefect example of why you can't believe everything you read! It was the worst Italian food we have ever tasted! We LOVE good Italian food & we're not some picky yuppie couple that only eats in 5 star restaurants. We've eaten some great food at places many would consider a dive. And we take these reviews seriously. When the food & service is good we say so & do same when its bad. Pros: Quick seating Cons: Nasty food more

It's hard to find good Italian food out and Mama Santas is some of the best in Little Italy. more

It's hard to find good Italian food out and Mama Santas is some of the best in Little Italy. more

Thank you to the fans of Mama Santa's...This visitor was craving good pizza...Got on the internet, found reviews of this place...Found the place after taking a couple of wrong turns, got lucky and got a parking space in back...Walked in and proceded to ""eat silly""...I do love pizza, I was so tempted to order an Extra Large Pizza, and then take 3 more back to hotel...The crust, sauce and the service was phenomenal...If business takes me back to Cleveland, I will be back to Mama Santa's, first I will starve for a week; so I have more room in my belly... Pros: Pizza, Salad, Friendly Service Cons: Parking more

Mama Santa's is, by far, my favorite restaurant. When I read the negative reviews I just don't understand. It's true italian food and it's a great value too. I don't get down to Little Italy very often, but when I do you can bet you'll find me at Mama Santa's! Pros: great pizza, great value Cons: small seating area more

Been going here for years,whether its to take the family out or just pick up and take home.Cant beat the prices and the food is awesome! Pros: great food great prices Cons: very busy in summer and on weekends,line out the door waiting more

Went to Mama's for our daugthers fourth birthday lunch on a Saturday. We were seated right away and had wonderful service and great food. Ordered pizza (awesome), spaghetti (great sauce) and chicken cacciatore (touch dry on the white meat, but great flavor overall). GREAT place for kids. Would recommend to anyone with kids. Now I know why they are rated best pizza in town. Try for yourself! Pros: Thumbs up more

I live in Little Italy and you could not pay me to eat at Mama Santa's! The service is beyond lousy. Once I ordered a salad, and for a little flavor, they threw in an ant. Yum! Of course the miserable people that they are, they did not even offer to take it off the bill. The pizza is so loaded with grease, I always get diarehha after I eat it. Finally, I tried the pasta there. I threw up after I got home. The sauce was burned and I think the sausage was undercooked. When I walk by Mama Santa's, I always chuckle at the fools waiting in line to get into the place. There are a few other places in the neighborhood to get pizza that won't give you the trots and the staff will actually be nice to you! Keep walking get out of line, so not worth the wait! Oh and the staff need to stop stuffing ballot boxes when it is time to vote for best pizza in Cleveland. more

10 years ago when I was in college in this area we would walk miles to get this pizza. Now, I'd drive miles to get this pizza. The ambiance of Little Italy is always a treat, and this pizza is really the best this area has to offer. The prices are not outrageous, and the service is nice. more

The first time I went to Mama Santa's, I had heard all of the hype, and after I ate the pizza, frankly, I was less than impressed. In fact, I wasn't sure I liked it at all. Pros: Great taste, atmosphere, price. Cons: Service a little lacking sometimes. more

After hearing about the award-winning pizza, I expected something great, but I was sorely disappointed. The service was unattentive and it took nearly an hour for our burnt pizza to arrive. more

I've had Mama Santa's pizza on more than one occasion and I can not understand why it wins Best Pizza year after year. They must pay their employees to get on the computer and vote for it. I've tried cheese, pepperoni, sausage, deluxe. No flavor. The price is reasonable, but there's no taste. The sausage...blech. Maybe an onion and mushroom would be ok, but I don't even like the crust. Well anyway, you can keep voting for this pizza every year and embarrass Cleveland pizza parlors everywhere. I'm still in search of the perfect pizza. more

WELL FOLKS Pros: GREAT PIZZA AND PASTAS Cons: SOME TIMES YOU HAVE TO WAIT. more

I have been all around the country and when I moved to Cleveland I heard how great their pizza is, and when went, I thought it was terrible. I've worked in the food industry for many years, so I did give it a second and even a third chance. I would rather eat a frozen pizza at home. I have eaten at most of the pizza places on the top 10 and would reccommend any of them over Mama Santa's. more

Mama Santa's is a staple in Cleveland and for good reason. The pizza is sicilian-style and amazing, probably because of the care these people put into making a delicious pizza. Does that mean you'll wait 20plus minutes for the pizza to bake? You bet- but it's well worth it. While you wait, order an appetizer or one of the tasty seasoned salads. Combined with the bread you'll receive, it'll tide you over. I've been going here for several years- since I began college in the area. Great for discerning college students on tight budgets, but delicious for all! Pros: Quality of food, Value, Italian ambience Cons: Longer wait than norm more

My one and only experience with Mama Santa's was pretty lousy! I expected a long wait, but while my food came in a fairly reasonable amount of time, my friend's pizza never did! When we asked about the pizza, the waitress was surly and rude, then she failed to come around at all. We waited a full 35 minutes after MY dinner arrived (which,by the way was mediocre at best) before calling the whole thing a wash, paying for the food we actually got, and leaving. Will probably not go back. Pros: inexpensive Cons: terrible service more

The one knack people have on this place is the service, well deal with it. The last time I was in the joint I waited only 20-25 minutes for my food, and a little longer for the pizza, and thats because it was a Friday night. The majority of bad reviews I read are normally from people from the Westside, and I mean the far Westside like Westlake. What do the majority of these yuppies know about real Italian food, not a darn thing. For someone to say that the atmosphere is lacking, well then you obviously have never been to a real Italian Ristorante in Italy. They are not these lavish stuffy, snobbish type places you are all used to. The food at Mama Santas is eccellente. Pros: Price, Food, atmosphere Cons: service, romantic atmosphere more

I grew up in Little Italy and some of my fondest memories are of eating Mama Santa's pizza and pasta. I now live in Parma, but still make the trek to the Hill for the awesome food. Pros: Inexpensive, Delicious Pizza, Great Pasta Cons: To far away! more