La Magnolia Trattoria Italiana

This is our families favorite Italian Restaurant! Everything we have had has been great! The house wine is superb! My favorite dish is the Chicken Rollatini. The service is great, the staff are friendly! We have brought extended family and they love it too! We love coming in and seeing baby Noah! The owners are such a sweet family!

We have eaten here several times and love to tell all our friends and family about the quality of food and friendly service. The owner is very family oriented and gives back to the community. They work very hard bringing in new ideas and healthy options for my diet. Our favorite place to eat.

I absolutely love the atmosphere of this place! I did see a post from Stephanie C. upset about the baby at the restaurant… I as a woman it warmed my heart to see the baby at the restaurant I think it adds to the atmosphere of a family environment. Ok to the food part… Absolutely amazing!!! The times I have been there the owner and staff have always made me feel welcome and cater to my special diet. My favorite is the Chicken Rollatini Stuffed chicken breast fried with spinach, crabmeat, and mozzarella topped with a creamy mushroom and red pepper sauce, with a side of spaghetti in Rollatini sauce. There soups are amazing and My daughter loves there Gluten Free Pizzas. On the appetizers the Mozzarella & Tomato Caprese Fresh mozzarella cheese and sliced tomatoes with Basil, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and garnished with black and green olives. I cant wait to come back and try more!

Just noticed on Facebook that the owner, Jose, went on their page and gave the restaurant a 5 star review saying «Great atmosphere, great staff, 5 stars». I understand marketing but this is just low. Hey Jose, if you want to give a review of your restaurant, you might not want to use your name where people can click on your profile and see where you list that you are the owner of the restaurant. Makes you wonder if all of the other recent positive reviews are from friends and family.

Not sure what’s going on with this place. The owner’s seem to be losing their desire to run a successful restaurant. The servers are very friendly and try their best to provide great service but it seems like they aren’t being trained fully, which isn’t their fault. That’s all on the owners. We went there on New Years Eve and ate in their back bar area. The owner’s had a play area set up for their baby; bumbo seat on the bar, toys, etc. I’m sure they have an office there that they could have used. We went there again yesterday and when we waited to be seated, as the sign says, the owner walked in behind us and mumbled «Sit anywhere». He wandered around the whole time we were there with the baby strapped to his chest. He seemed very uninterested in the customers, couldn’t even say hello to anyone like most owner’s do. We have several new places opening up in the area so they might want to step it up.

Took my Mom there for Sunday lunch. First time we went there it was good. Veal parm was good and my Mom liked her eggplant parm. The rolls were great, they brought out 4 for the 2 of us and then brought out two more. The service was good, the food was good, the price was a little high for what it is and where it is but it was alright.
Went there one week later and it was absolutely horrible! Only 3 tables of customers, one slow waitress and terrible food. My Mom ordered eggplant parm, was told the waitress had to go see if they had any eggplant… in an Italian restaurant? I ordered veal parm again, waitress came back and said fryer was broken and I had to order something else. Did it just break, of course not, so why not tell me in the first place? I ordered some combo plate, was asked if I wanted the meat in it I said yes, then found out when I got the check it was $ 3 extra for a couple little slices of a sausage in it! It was a small shallow bowl of grease, sauce, cheese and a few slices of sausage like in beans & franks.size. $ 13 for very little and no good. My Mom’s eggplant was like shoe leather, she couldn’t even cut it with the knife! How did they fry it if fryer was broken? It obv was old and was rubbery and tough. She couldn’t eat it. They didn’t charge her for it since she didn’t/couldn’t eat it. We got two rolls, a LONG time after our tiny salads, when the meals came out. In one weeks time the place seemed to be operating on a bankruptcy level… small portions, old food, less rolls, fryer broke, 1 waitress instead of 2 the week before. Maybe we just hit it on a bad day, but we won’t be back. Small overpriced portions of nothing worth eating.

I have eaten at La Magnolia 2 times now. The atmosphere is lovely and the staff is friendly, however the food is a bit bland. There are not many options for Italian in Magnolia so this is a convenient location. The depth of flavor in the sauces just isn’t there. The marsala needs more wine to give it the right flavor.

My favorite place to eat when I’m working inMagnolia for lunch. 6.99 lunch specials that include bread and salad. It’s perfect and delicious. Service is ok. They attend to you and get your order in. The bread is great. And I’ve had several of their pasta entries and haven’t disliked any of them. Their Italian dressing is definitely refreshing. A twist to the typical Italian dressing and I must say extraordinary.

I love it it’s so good and kinda fancy for magnolia get the chicken parmigiana is super good and they have good service

I wish I could give a positive review about this very nice restaurant with above average quality Italian Food, but unfortunately the staff and Owner/​Manager have a total disregard for servicing a long time customer. Last evening I went in and placed an order to go for a serving of eggplant parmesan and an order of fried mushrooms. I presented my card to the server, who immediately swiped my card and then stated that my total for the bill would be over $ 24.00. I immediately told her that that was incorrect, as the total should have been @ $ 19.00. She said she cancelled the order, but the charge slips printed out, and she immediately ripped them off the charge machine, wadded them up and threw the slips in the trash. She then proceeded to recharge my card for the correct amount. When I asked her if I had been charged twice, she said she had canceled the first charge, and it would not appear on as a charge. Just to be sure, I texted my bank statement which updates in real time, and it indicated that I had been charged twice for the same item. When the server appeared again, I asked her to please check her on the problem, and showed her the text from the bank indicating I had been charged twice. She took the correct charge ticket to Jose, who indicated he was the Owner/​Manager, after several minutes of Jose and the server working with their software, Jose came over to me and said they needed my Credit card to credit the over charge, and I gave it to them. Next, Jose comes back with the card and says that he needs to keep the card to re-​enter the correct charge because he deleted it, rather than the over charge. I told him at that time I would not allow that unless the incorrect charge was deleted first. He said he couldn’t delete it because he didn’t have the ticket, and it was the policy not to throw charge tickets away. I then asked him to check the garbage can to retrieve the original ticket, they then picked up the garbage cans and there were multiple tickets which had been wadded and thrown in the trash, making it difficult retrieve my over charged ticket. The Owner/​Manager then agressively confronted my and demanded that I give him my card to pay for the correct charge that he had deleted, and if my over charge still appeared on my statement AFTER he closed out for the night, he would credit me next week. Well, at this point I felt that as a Customer, this was a far from reasonable request, and that I would just cancel the order, leave, and contest the charge with my bank. This is when, Jose, angrily told me to «Leave the His restaurant, never come back, and not to let the door hit my Ars as I left». So, I did leave his restaurant with no food, and being overcharged, with no credit to my account as of today. So, on Monday, I will have to drive down to my bank and dispute a charge that could have simply been taken care of, instead of making the customer the problem.
OMO, but if you choose to eat here, check your charges, and avoid dealing with Jose.

Excellent food and excellent service! It’s a very intimate place with a lovely ambiance. The waiter we had and the manager were both extremely friendly and courteous. I would definitely recommend, their lasagna is fantastic! Prices are reasonable too.

We found this place 6mobths ago and we go every couple of weeks. What ever we order, its delicious!
Oct 2015. Update. My 100 yr old grandfather has made it his favorite restaurant. He loves the lobster ravioli, the sauce really is delicious. We’ve had all his fish dishes and have been great, very fresh. Have only good things to say about La Magnolia.

Its Friday night 9:30, ok the family is in the mood for some good old Italian food, so we look online at the local Establishments. We see La Magnolia online’s menu, it looks inviting and sounds good. So off we go the whole family 7 of us. I get to the store at 9:40 ish, I walk in and stand by the sign that says «Please wait to be seated» I stood there for about 2 minutes before I asked the staff «Are you still seating», she replied, «sure, just one», I said No i have a party of 7, she replied «7 Oh My gosh», well that should have been my first clue, I went back outside, I said to my wife «I don’t think we should go in». But the kids wanted to go in. So in we go, we get in the front door and i again waited, but no one greeted us this time at all. I had noticed two tables pushed together with 7 place setting, so I guess that’s where the wanted us to sit. We sit down and order drinks, a minute later another server comes over to take our order. We were not ever looking at the menu. Any way we order appetizers, the Calamari was good there Red sauce was refreshing not the normal Texas spiced up marinara. The caprese salad was soaking in Balsamic vinegar, EHH i guess it would have been ok if we had ever received the bread we ordered. The Mozzarella Fritti was the same cheese sticks you get a burger king, a bit insulting for a 1^st generation Italian american, but I guess to anyone else that’s what Italian food is supposed to be. They did know what Tortellini was they kept bringing out different pasta dishes until they get it correct. My wife ordered chicken marsala, it was very watery the chicken tasted like it was microwaved, This all would be fine for most people that are not used to eating at Italian owned and raised authentic food. But not me. The kids got alfredo pasta, that was nothing to write home about. Now when it came to my order Rigatoni alla Veneta, they brought penne with bacon in a alfredo cream sauce, sounds great right, well sure if that what was on the menu. It said «Rigatoni Alla Veneta –Rigatoni sautéed with pancetta in a creamy vodka sauce». When it showed up at my setting I said «that’s not rigatoni» the server said sorry i will be back. She came back and told me that the chef said this is rigatoni. I that said «is the chef Italian?» she said «no he is hispanic, would you like to talk to him?» I replied no thank you, i don’t want the dish please take it back. They asked me if i wanted another dish I said no thank you I will be fine. I was not upset just disappointed that this is what i am to told to accept. The other server who said that she was Italian BTW, cam over to me a said they don’t normally get people here whom are italian, most people don’t know what the food is supposed to be. HOLY CRAP I said in my head. For the prices they are charging you better. BTW there prices are way too high! Hasta la pasta was much more reasonable. My original server showed up and continued to appoligize about the issue, then asked me if I wanted to talk to the owner, I chuckled to my self and said No thats alright. I should not have to ask to speak with the manager or the owner, a good restaurant should have come to me and taken care of us some way, but no not them. I gues they dont know how to fix mistakes and make customers happy. I didnt want to ruin the night so i let the kids order dessert and then we left I made sure i let the server 18% on the bill she was very nice and the food problems were not her fault. I probably will not go back there, but that is just me.

This is a rare Italian gem! The food is always fresh and delicious, the choices are amazing. My only complaint would be service; some of the younger staff struggles but there are veterans who more than make up for this small distraction.

Mediocre. Bland. Mediocre.
If you think Jack in the Box rocks, you’ll like this place.

The food is very good and the bread is fantastic! The servers are always really sweet but could use some better training. The owner seems really nice and passionate about his place but I think he should be out on the floor more — just my humble opinion. It’s still a great place so he’s doing a lot right!

There is really no big restaurants on the older side of magnolia so having a small Italian restaurant with the best pizza ever is awesome!

Were from out of town, ist time here i dont know what all the hype is about or if we came on the wrong nite. i ordered baked ziti which was dry and overcooked. i mentioned it to the staff and got no comment… i wouldnt recommend the place… waitress service was acceptable, but food here leaves alot to be desired.

Foods okay. It just has a bad smell. There’s a nail salon next door and that’s all you smell in the place !

The reviews on Unilocal do not lie ordered a to go Pizza it tasted amazing definitely better than the Pizza chain’s around town you must stop by and try if you don’t have time just order it to go it’s worth it

Greatly enjoyed the Murphy Chicken over Angel Hair Pasta. Love hearing Italian being spoke from the kitchen.

In town for the Texas Renaissance Festival, and the kiddo asked for pizza. Looked up this place and was really surprised by the beautiful décor and friendly service. The price was great and the quality and taste were superb.
I will recommend to all the RenFest buddies! Can’t go wrong with their calzones, pizza and other dishes!

This is a hidden treasure. When I lived in Magnolia I stumbled across it and fell in love. My initial visit I had a great welcoming by the actual owner who came down here from NYC and opened this place. He explained how he actually came up with every recipe and made his own pasta, not ordered it like most italian restaurants. He was originally from Italy and you could definitely tell by how inspired the food was. Hands down the most delicious italian food. Another time we came in was after the big fire in Magnolia and even though the owners own house had burned down, he comped our meal since he knew we too were involved in the catastrophe. I wish I still lived there bc I would eat there weekly. PLus, its beyond affordable!

My loving family and I celebrated my great new job and homecoming with full bellies and smiles on our faces.
I love Italian cuisines and this amazing restaurant is the answer to why I do.
The dishes we all ordered were amazing and more than enough for one. We enjoyed every bite and then had desert too!:)
I will be bragging about this fabulous restaurant to all my friends and family!
Simply, delicious.

Delicious! Magnolia’s best kept secret FOR SURE. Prices are very reasonable. We used to drive all the way to Humble to eat at Italiano’s. No more need for that! We had bread (I think it was garlic focaccia) manicotti, lasagna, vino & a chocolate covered cannoli. All were perfection. A******* That was last night — Going back tonight for PIZZA. :-D
**update — have been back twice to pick up pizzas (GREAT!) and took my in-​laws there — whom are Italian — and they loved it. My father-​in-​law ALWAYS judges Italian spots by the Veal Parmesan — it passed! With flying Italian colors. The waitstaff is super-​attentive & good. I love this place. LOVE this place.