Romano’s Macaroni Grill

My husband and I were there to celebrate our Anniversary. The service was great the food was very good. The reason that I rated this visit 5 stars is for the beautiful serenade that was done for us. I think the performers name was Harold. It almost brought tears to my eyes. They also gave us complementary chocolate cake. I would highly recommend this restaurant.

When in doubt — go Italian.
Their fresh baked bread is seasoned with salt and herbs and ripping it in pieces and dipping it in their olive oil is a perfect pre starter.
I really like that their calamaris comes with two different sauces, the white one is my favorite!
Our young server was so very cute and helpful I wanted to give him a mama bear hug! We ordered a Zinfandel but they were out and he apologized three times, we said it was all good and found something else.
I took him quite some time to get the bottle open, and he did it with his back to us, I found it a little strange but I got my explanation.
He forgot to let us try the wine, pored it into our glasses and finished with a huge smile.
«I made it! Opening wine bottles makes me SO nervous! «
Ha ha, how darling is not that!
He was very attentive and helpful during our stay. Happy that he recommended the Chicken Parmesan Buffalo style because that was a winning concept for sure.

I really like the food here. In fact, its one of my favorite Italian restaurants. The service this past Saturday night though left much to be desired. Our young waiter was much more interested in chatting with his friends that came into the restaurant. My table was unfortunately secondary to his socialization.

I think this low rating is crap. My server, China, was one of the most personable servers I have ever experienced. It was a slow night when I visited, and she took time to make a personal connection. Good food (lamb chops), good wine and great service. I will visit again in the future!

i was just here today with 3 coworkers. our server Erin was great! So funny and nice! One of my co workers asked for a recommendation of food and Erin and a few favorites she talked about and made them sound so delightful! Most of us got the 3 course $ 10 lunch and it was great! I have the Ravioli alla Vodka. it was very tasty and of course the bread with oil was awesome!

I don’t know why this place has a low rating. The food was great. They had a great staff as well. The bread is so delicious and we shared the lemon passion dessert. It was really good. I’d definitely go back.

We are regulars! Our waiter Ruben was great, he had all the tables and was still in point and equally attentive to all his guest. bravo Ruben! he did a fantastic job! They sing in Italian to you on your birthday !

For openers my wife and I were there at 11:15am and chose the Express Lunch route. $ 7 meals served in 7 minutes or less. Simple, right? We had our toddler with us so his meal was $ 6…basically we were looking at a quick $ 20 meal.
Except they charge for the bread… and we did get an appetizer and one drink. Boom, $ 41.00 plus tip. Now that’s a crime but what was worse… far, far worse, was the food. The bread was literally covered in a layer of salt that rendered it inedible. Ditto for the appetizer (stuffed mushrooms, apparently sautéed in brine) and the meal tastes like salt, covered in a salt sauce with a generous dash of salt added for flavor. Honestly it was horrible.
I wouldn’t consider going back especially with the restaurant choices nearby.

Most disgusting place to eat it’s so sad… Fazolis is better and way cheaper than this expensive gross place. Pasta sauce shouldn’t be watered down I’m sorry. They don’t even have macaroni and its literally called macaroni grill?

I want to start out by saying I am a huge macaroni grill fan. I was traveling from Illinois to Georgia and had stopped for the night in Murfreesboro. Since I couldn’t be with my loved ones on NYE, I decided a dinner at one of my favorite restaurants would be the perfect end to a long night of driving. I was horribly wrong. After being sat, I waited over 10 minutes before a server finally acknowledged me. A couple seated behind me arrived 5 minutes after me, yet had their drinks and bread long before I did. When the server finally came over, she explained immediately that she was new, almost as if to warn me that my experience was going to be sub par. I ordered the create your own pasta bowl, and selected the option for the Bibb n bleu salad; my entrée arrived 45 minutes later, and I never received my salad. Finally, the food itself was not up to the standards I normally expect from a macaroni grill. The roasted garlic in my pasta was less roasted, more burned to a crisp so that it disintegrated in your mouth when you bit into it. The Italian sausage was undercooked, and the Alfredo sauce was watery and sad. After a long day of driving, I was hoping for a special dinner. Sadly I was treated to anything but.

This is the worst Macaroni Grill I have ever eaten are, and I’ve tried a few. I nearly passed out when the bartender told me he’d been tending bar for 3 years. Don’t order a martini if you want it shaken. His version of shaken is to pour ingredients directly into an ice filled shaker one at a time while reading each ingredient out of a recipe book then swirling it around when it is already watered down. I ended up with red wine. Calamari was rubbery. Cesar salad was wilted and over dressed. Just not good at all.

Super WACK. I came in and sat at the bar. The female bartender ignored me for a few minutes until finally the hostess brought me a menu. I sat waiting about ten min to give my order. Another couple who got here after me got bread then I was told they were out. I have never ordered spaghetti and meatballs from a restaurant but it sounded like good comfort food-​IT WAS NOT! The sauce that was supposed to be bolognaise was too watery to recognize, it wouldn’t even hold the pasta together! The bread that I finally did receive was super salty and all of the food was barely room temperature. Luckily I am only in town to visit so I won’t be coming back anyway :-)

The worst restaurant in Murfreesboro.
Service is awful. Better to just buy a macaroni grill frozen dinner at Publix and heat it up at home.

We visited the evening of ⁸⁄₃ for a family birthday dinner. The little brunette hostess acted like someone had upset her apple cart since she was lacking in her social graces. She actually froze in place with arms in mid swing like a freakin’ performance artist asking stupid questions, «are y’all here for a party?» and «why are you here?»
Really? Why are we here?
Anyway we were seated and the visit seemed to improve. The waitress took our orders and our food arrived in a timely manner. No kids menu? Really?
The food was good. We all enjoyed our meals.
When it came to dessert time the waitress failed to tell our 9 year old that the chocolate cake he ordered was blazing hot out of the oven and he burned his hand on the crock it arrived in.
So if you are wanting an evening with a pretentious, stuck up host and a waitress that doesn’t know how to serve children then this is the place for you.
UPDATE: I just confirmed they do have a children’s menu. So the hostess lied to us. Nice!
Another update: The manager finally called me back to offer a free meal if we would come back. Lol! I don’t think so. I’ve paid a lot less at nicer restaurants and treated better!

I’ve been to this location numerous times and it’s never really impressed me. From mediocre food to a ridiculous wait on one visit, it was a spot I usually avoided if possible. This review is for my most recent visit while attending a baby shower for a coworker.
The restaurant was pretty slow for a Sunday night but service was attentive. Our server was great at suggesting items since many of us hadn’t seen the recent menu changes. He kept us supplied on bread before the meal, as well as water canisters. The food arrived in a decent amount of time and everything was well received. I had the Penne Rustica and I really enjoyed it, although I’m not usually a seafood fan. The sauce was really good and got me to enjoy shrimp. Ha. Overall the dinner went well. I may come again to see what else has changed on the menu and to check out the wine specials they have.

After reading the reviews on this Romano’s location, I’m kind of surprised. I guess there is new management or something, which actually could be the case because the manager told me that they changed the GM recently when I chatted with him on the way out.
Any ways, my wife, mother and I went there two weeks ago. We had never eaten at a Romano’s Macaroni Grill, because with my wife and I being foodies and always cooking and learning more about food, we just figured it would be another franchise Italian experience like Olive Garden which though usually a nice ambiance, doesn’t really carry any really traditional Italian.
From the time we stepped in the front door, we felt welcome and enjoyed the very calm and inviting environment. We were seated immediately and our waiter was already at our table before we could get seated completed to take our drink orders. The menu though obviously a little doctored to appeal to more of an Americanized Italian palette, was still very good and had some really great traditional dishes. The waiter helped us pick what he believed to be the best on the menu and he made suggestions against things he knew weren’t the best items and it mattered not that those items were the more expensive ones. He seemed to want us to have a genuinely good experience.
The food came out fast and was awesome. My wife had Shrimp Portofino and that is the first time I’ve ever seen her clean her pasta bowl. My mom had the Chicken Cacciatore and she said it was amazing and I can attest to it because I finished what was left over of it in our doggy bag two days later at home. I had the Classic Italian Bake which included homemade meatballs, italian sausage, rustic tomato sauce, rigatoni, roasted tomatoes, creamy ricotta, basil. It was amazing. I left most of the stuff to eat at home because we filled myself up on the Bruschetta which was great and their complimentary bread which was unlike any kind of complimentary bread I’ve had at a franchise restaurant. It was a unique and very tasty recipe and we asked to take two home and they were very obliging. My Italian bake tasted great a day later at home and should be the case as decent Italian food always taste better the next day. We even ordered a Chicken/​Arugala Pizza to take home and they make it on a flat bread with the sliced mozzarella the way you would get at a deli in Rome. It might have been tweaked for American tastes, but it was totally unique to any other pizza I’ve had in a franchise restaurant. It was pretty good and I would pizza from there again and they were all around $ 12.50 and that is a deal compared to a pizza from Jets or Dominos.
The manager came by while we were eating to check up on us and he was very pleasant and offered us a free appetizer on our next visit.
All-​in-​all, it was a great experience. The only reason I didn’t give it five stars is because we’ve had some amazing experiences at other restaurants and as great as this experience was, it just didn’t fire on every single cylinder like some of our other experiences. I still HIGHLY recommend this restaurant and I can only hope that you have the same experience our family had and not an undesirable experience like some of the other reviewers. I can only talk of what we experienced and for us, it was amazing.

I have been to several Macaroni Grilles in various states and have always loved it. This location however if awful. Several years ago we stopped coming due to lower quality food and high prices. Recently we decided to come back, maybe a year ago. Ok experience, nothing memorable good or bad. Went back tonight for the last time!
Arrived around 6pm, on a Friday. Understandably a busy time. We had a party of 5, two adults, 2 kids, and a senior citizen. The hostess seemed yo have a really hard time understanding the number 5. My husband even had to prompt her to write our party down. Eventually we were handed a pager and waited. A couple was seated… we waited. A party of 3 was seated… we waited. I went to use the restroom and the hostess verified two more times how many were in our party. (5)! After three more groups of less than 5 were seated ahead of us, I went to the hostess station. She said they didn’t have a table for 5. I asked why they couldn’t put 2 tables together, a few words were exchanged and she offered to get the manager. About 5 – 10 more mins went by and I again asked how long it would be. The hostess said they were pushing 2 tables together now, I still hadn’t talked to a manager. Another few mins go by and we are greeted by a seater guy who grunts out, «how many kids minus?» When I reply 2 he grabs the menus and just walks toward the table. No ‘follow me’, ‘this way’, etc. He looks annoyed when I had to go get the rest of my family in the sitting area. When we get to the table, he still doesn’t say anything to us and I told him I was still waiting to speak to a manager, he just snorts. Our waitress comes over and she is wonderful. Kalyn, was the highlight of our evening and Macaroni Grilles saving grace. Finally the manager comes over, she looks young and inexperienced and although I was polite, I was stern about my concerns. I honestly felt bad for her because she obviously had NO conflict resolution skills, and I even asked if she was really the manager and she said she was the shift manager. All she responded with was «WoW, that’s really a lot… not sure what to say… I’m gonna get someone above me to help with this.» Really?! I hadn’t made any demands, no threats (other than this Unilocal post) and she had no clue how to respond appropriately. Dinner took very long to come out and although it tasted great, the temperature was not hot, not really even warm, maybe just above room temp. The manager came back over to see how things were, I was honest and said the flavor was excellent but it was kind of cool and although she offered to warm it we were all too hungry to wait. (Everyone’s food was cool, not just mine) Later the manager came back again and offered to give us dessert on the house. The rest of the evening was uneventful except Kalyn was amazing and I will be enjoying some tiramisu later. But I would’ve been happy with an acknowledgement and apology and a true sense of leadership & professionalism in a nice restaurant. They charge an average of $ 15 per plate but I’ve received better service at a $ 5 plate restaurant. Save your money & time and go to Demo’s or Gondolier for your pasta fix!

I got off work and Tony and I was going to go down to Murfreesboro from Nashville to take a walk in the Stone River National Battlefield but it was already closed. We were both hungry so we thought about going to one of our favorites in Murfreesboro, «Old Chicago».but we saw «Romano’s Macaroni Grill».
We had never eaten there before and I always like to try new places.
So we pulled in, not sure what to expect or what to order…
The restaurant was lovely. Dark clean wood, white table clothes and a roaring fireplace and beautiful lighting. It was a gorgeous setting and immediately I was in love with the décor. The colors were so inviting and warm.
They greeted us immediately. We were seated against the back wall. Our host was very friendly and we told him it was our first visit. He was quick to assure us we would be very pleased with any item on the menu but he recommended the «Penne Rustica» Pasta. The plate had a great description in the menu. Our waitress, KASEY came up almost immediately. Wrote her name on the white paper (wax) covering the top of the white linen table cloth with bright red crayon… cute!!!
We ordered our drinks. me the usual. Unsweetened tea with Lime/​Lemon and Tony got his usual… Budweiser. I was tempted to get a glass of wine. but I was driving.
We studied the menu. and made our selection. Tony opted to choose the Flatbread Pepperoni Pizza (8 slices) larger than a normal dinner plate. I would say about 14″ easy. and I ordered «Mama Trio» dinner plate with Chicken/​Mushroom Canneloni, a helping of the beef/​sausage Lasagna and Chicken Parmesan with spaghetti noodles and a great basilly sweet marinara sauce.
They brought us some delicious Herbed Hot bread with some Extra Virgin Olive oil and herbs for dipping of the GREAT bread…
Our meal came out quickly. I am so glad I didn’t order any salads or appetizers. The plate serving was huge. Check out our pictures. Tony and I split everything. We tasted everything and we feel in love with the fresh made pastas and the sauce and Neither of us are a real flatbread pizza lover but it was really good.
I would highly recommend to everyone and we can’t wait to go again… I have to take my daughter and son when they come to visit again!!!
I am going to eat here again!!! SOON!!!

Use to really enjoy Macaroni Grill. It’s changed for the worst. This was our second trip back since our last disappointing meal. It wasn’t any better.
First off was the service. The restaurant was nearly empty which should have been a clue. Plus, I overhead a waiter who ended up waiting on us complaining about his lack of tips. I could see why. He never came back and checked on us.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the bread. Still tastes great. But, we only got one loaf because our waiter never came back.
My son’s Fettuccine Alfredo was nothing more than noodles with butter maybe. No taste whatsoever. Yuch.
I had the lasagna which was just ok. Not much flavor.
My son tried the Penne Rustica. That had been my favorite dish. But after our last trip I decided the recipe has been changed and the portion size decreased. My son said the same. Very disappointing.
We won’t be back.

Happy Birthday to Me!
My good friends took me out to lunch for my special day, and it was fairly crowded this day. We were invited to wait in the small bar area until our table was ready.
The service was friendly, the food hearty and good! It was my birthday, so I received a brownie cooked in a ramekin and the waiter that brought it sang the Italian version of Happy Birthday, in Italian! He had an awesome voice and sounded like an opera singer.
Would return here with a group.