Mamma Caruso’s Pizzeria & Italian Food

This was our go to spot after a night out in Brickell. It’s cheap, the slices are huge, and they’re open late. I can’t imagine actually ordering food here any other time or coming for dinner, but as a late night spot, I can’t complain.

Mamma Caruso’s has been rebranded as Mamma Lucia’s. At least, it still has the same telephone number.
Mamma Lucia’s has a different Unilocal listing:

I actually order from here all the time. The only reason is because it’s open so late. The food is not good at all. I’ve tried many different things and found the steak sandwhich and the stromboli is the best. The meatballs are rock hard, the chicken is chewy, the sandwhiches are just sloppy. I ordered an italian sandwhich once and threw the whole thing away. Apparently I wasn’t drunk enough.
If you’re looking for good food, look somewhere else. If you’re looking for food at 2−5am this place is the best.

Pizza was not very good. Cheese was chewy.

Under new management, this little place got the best pizzas and pastas, very very good lunch menu, a very affordable, highly recommended!

Mamma Caruso’s is just a solid hole in the wall pizza/​Italian place. Nothing fancy, but it is open late and that is what counts when you need a snack at 2am.
While they do not have a liquor license the employess are totally okay with BYOB. Last time I was there we picked up a sixpack from the liquor store next door which made for a nice way to wind down the evening.

Saturday night between 2 and 3:30am is easily my most inhibitionless window, and even than in my most compromising judgement I find difficulty allowing myself to swallow the rubbery pizza. I’m sorry mama C… but it’s over. You can’t even satisfy me in my most forgivable and forgetable moments. You’re the pizza that reminds me nothing good happens after 2… specially when I call on you.

After the NYE party @ Blue Martini, my friends and i looked for the nearest food stop open for a place to relax and sober up. after wobbling down the wrong street and a fun and painful ride in a Publix shopping cart, we arrived at a crowded Mama Caruso’s at three-​thirty in the morning. there is nothing spectacular about this place whatsoever except that it’s open late.
bottom line: the pizza’s edible and almost good if you’re loaded enough.

I would call this place nasty but i don’t want to give it a compliment. I really was not happy with the extremely over priced less than mundane pizza they serve.

Cecile S. said it best… «If you want a quick slice at 4am,» Mamma Caruso’s is the place for you. What I liked is that most places open so late (or is it early?) look like they’re running on skeleton crew. Not Mamma’s. Lights were shining, there were several staff members, outdoor seating was still available, and it was PACKED. There was a sandwich shop next door that was also open, and it was a ghost town. Three of us ordered and split a small pepperoni pizza. That along with 3 cans of soda– Sprite Zero, yummy– set us back about $ 15.

I’m going to have to say this place does the job if you are looking for a slice of cheese nothing fancy kind of pizza. You want a quick slice at 4am to kill your hangover they are open to serve you. Today we had the mozzarella sticks which were awesome and two slices of pizza. There is outside seating which means I can bring my pup. It’s convenient since you don’t have to pay for parking. There is also la sandwicherie and planet sushi next door if you can’t decide on sushi, French, or Italian have all 3!

I ordered delivery for 4 people from Mamma Caruso’s for lunch: Minestrone soup, fettuccine, Greek salad.
I eat a lot of Greek salads, and this was honestly the worst I’ve had – and WAY overpriced at $ 8.95. Some shredded iceburg, 3 barely ripe tomato slices, a handful of feta and some sad olives. VERY disappointed.
The fettuccine was watery and had a hair in it. Broccoli was brown from being overcooked. I’m giving them one star for the decent, but tiny portion of minestrone, and the smile from the delivery guy.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR GOOD ITALIAN – MAMMA CARUSO’S ISN’T IT.

We had the last 3 slices of their cheese pizza for the night! SCORE! After a long night of partying and dancing, we were totally starving for some good pizza in downtown Miami. It wasn’t the greatest pizza I’ve had, but it was pretty delicious at the time. The cheese with thick and stringy and it just melted all over the pizza. By the way, their slices are HUGE — the three slices fed 5 people (2 girls and 3 guys). Service was pretty quick and efficient, and they have outdoor seating too! Overall, it was a decent stop for a late night grab.

I have to ever so slightly disagree with one of the other reviews, as my soundtrack was more on the reggaeton side. However I guess it was appropriate for a Friday night. I swung by Mamma Caruso this past Friday after my first stop of the evening since few things are better than pizza — even when its not the best tasting — to absorb multiple rum and cokes.
We shared a pepperoni and cheese pizza, which was the dictionary definition of OK. Though I’m not normally a fan of cheese, it did it’s job in that I was ready to drive after 3 slices. They also will give you a container of extra pizza sauce by request. It tasted like Cisco brand (i.e. not organic or anything fancy) but did have a slight kick to it. Sodas are available either in bottle or can, with no free refills. There’s also a couple of bagged pastries for sale.
Service took about 20 minutes from when we paid for the order, which is on average for most made-​to-​order pizza places. All in all a decent «recovery» spot in Brickell!

Pizza: Even when it’s bad it’s still ok. And that’s Mamma Caruso’s it’s A-​OK!
But for me it’s not about finding a gourmet slice of cheese and bread. It’s about a place where I can go on my own for some personal time with my MacBook boo and just work. It’s central, there is free parking, there is an ATM so it’s perfect for pre-​event cash needs. The pizza is ok, the service is friendly and accommodating, the soundtrack is the Coast 97.3. And so what if I have an affinity for vintage George Michael and Whitney Houston and maybe even sing a long a little to Foreigner’s «I Want To Know What Love Is.»
See, much like the soundtrack, the place isn’t trying to be groundbreaking, just a simple proven formula. Besides, sometimes a little cheese is perfect for a solo afternoon.
And just ’cause I know it’s now stuck in your head:

boo!!! WE NEED GOOD PIZZA IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA (or that delivers to the Downtown area).
I ordered a cheese pizza from here last night, it tasted like school lunch pizza. Yuck! The price was fine and the delivery was speedy (hence the 2 stars) … other than that… this is literally frozen dough, canned pizza sauce and cheap cheese.

Not bad, but not stellar either. Got a cheese pizza for takeout and it was pretty decent. It was super greasy and cheesy, very reminiscent of Pizza Hut pizza although with thinner crust. One thing I didn’t like was a lack of chewy end crust — you know (where the cheese and sauces end). The cheese practically came to the end of the slice. Take out also took forever, but it was cheap and tasty so I’d probably order again.

I think I rated this place higher because the only times I’ve been were in the early morning hours (usually between 2 am to 5 am) and after some serious partying in Brickell. We walk from my friends apartment to bars/​lounges in the area, and we grab pizza on the way back to her place.
Let me tell you, their huge slices of pizza for just under 4 bucks a slice are HEAVEN at 3 am after drinking too much. Yum. Yum. Yum.
I tried the wings this weekend, and they were really meaty and pretty flavorful, but I waited forever for them. My friends finished their slices and I was still waiting on my wings.
Go after the bars for pizza… otherwise, don’t go.

Two words: IL GLADIATORE. One of the most splendid pizzas I’ve ever had: sauce, mozzarella, ricotta cheese, spinach, artichokes, garlic, sun dried tomatoes. pepperoncini, pepperoni and italian sausage. This thing was a behemoth. It was so big that they had to bring it in two boxes. Each slice weighed about 6 pounds. Definitely a meal to save for when you’re really hungry.
So we ordered our ferocious friend, the gladiator, to be delivered once I first moved down here. And for weeks I raved about Mama Caruso’s and told everyone to go there.
But then I went in for a slice one day, and wasn’t wholly impressed. I had a cheese slice and it was a decent pizzeria slice, but nothing to write home about. The place itself is also nothing special: just a pizza joint.
So call up and have them deliver you a Gladiator or another of their specialty pies. (Yes, this may involve inviting some friends over).

This place is probably more known for its pizza delivery service rather than being a pizzeria for people to sit in and order pizza.
Well, their menu are all over downtown/​Brickell condos and apartments, wedged in the doors. And this is how I found out about this pizzeria.
While my first impression is «Oh great, another pizza delivery joint,» I was actually relieved that I could order something from a pizza joint that isn’t one of the huge pizza empires (Pizza Hut, etc).
What further sets this pizza joint farther apart from the others (besides it being a local joint), is that their pizza seems to emphasizes on gourmet ingredients like proscuitto, sun-​dried tomatoes, ricotta cheese, pine nuts, basil. I couldn’t find Hawaiian pizza or anything of the such here, but they do have «create your own» in which you’ll be able to make your hawaiian pizza.
I ordered the Magherita (pizza sauce, mozzarella, sliced tomatoes, sun-​dried tomatoes, and basil leaves) and the La Bianca (ricotta, mozzarella, provolone, imported parmesan cheese and pine nuts), and both were good. I think I liked the Margherita a little bit more than the La Bianca even though I wouldn’t hesitate having both.
For the health aficionados, there’s whole wheat pizza and low carb pizzas.
They also have pastas, calzone, soup, sandwiches, salads and desserts that you could order for delivery.
If you’re wondering what kind of people owns this place, while driving by the area I discovered that this is owned by Italian-​Venezuelans.