Mambo Italiano

For an Italian Restaurant… well! How do you ruin spaghetti with meat sauce? Well ask Mambo! Their pasta was mush. The sauce not so good. The bread was good. Too loud to be a good place to eat and enjoy food not company. Chicken Marsala was ok.

Having been to Italy, I was excited to find a restaurant that was owned by Italians.
Dinner at Mambo Italiano was a complete accident. My friend and I were planning on going to Ted’s, but I wanted to try something new, so we ended up here, since prices also looked pretty affordable. Once we walked in, a disgruntled hostess 100% ignored us. Worse than ignoring us, she saw us walk in, and made it seem like we were bothering HER.
A much nicer server took us to our table. She was pretty attentive and took good care of us, overall. After some coaxing, she provided us with some of the more popularly ordered dishes. We ended up ordering the Penne Salsiccia and the Fra Diavolo pizza to split between the two of us. This is way too much sausage and I wouldn’t recommend getting both dishes together if you’re sharing.
The bread that first came out complimentary was tasty with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It definitely filled us up.
The penne Salsiccia wasn’t bad. It was wishful thinking that the pasta could be handmade, but of course it is Barilla pre-​made pasta (they don’t hide that fact from their menu, so at least they’re honest). There was SO much sausage in the penne, so at least they weren’t skimping on the meat.
The Fra Diavolo pizza was pretty tasty, as well. They definitely a little generous on the salt, though. Once again, they didn’t skimp on the toppings. I suspect they added unnecessary salt to something that has enough seasoning on its own, from the sauce and cheese to the meats.
At the end of the meal, we knew we had to try their in-​house tiramisu. Tasty but definitely not what I expected from a tiramisu. All the flavors and ingredients were there, although in weird proportion. It looks like it was made per serving rather than sold per slice.
It was a cheap meal, nonetheless. I’ve had much worse service in Italy, so this was nothing (as I see people are leaving reviews highly weighting service as an issue). We went during a slow lull, so we weren’t too worried about competing for attention from our server or the chef to prepare our food. I’m guessing peak times are not the way to go for Mambo Italiano. It probably wouldn’t be my go-​to for Italian, but it wasn’t bad.

its like late night diner food. kinda gross. tuna app smelled and tasted fishy. tastes like they use old oil to cook and fry food in. pizza is bad. pasta is overcooked and greasy.
Service went like this:
wait 15 mins for menu
another 10 to take drink order.
ran out of 3 different beer brands.
beer then arrives halfway thru meal.
wait 10 mins for fork and knife while food is getting cold
then the food sucks anyway.
and yet 18% gratuity is slapped on mandatory. imagine what they would charge if the service was good.

I don’t understand these positive reviews!!! This is crazy!
I went there for dinner tonight and the experience was pretty awful. I asked the hostess if I could be sat in a booth and she LITERALLY rolled her eyes! My waitress was pretty nice but a bit aloof.
The food was so awful!!! First off the waitress brought us salads before our entrees came out (which took forever btw) and CHARGED us for them!!! She didn’t even ask if we wanted salads she just brought them out!!! I thought they came with the meal so we ate them! I ordered the lasagna and my boyfriend ordered the eggplant parmigiana which were cold and the noodles were water logged and over boiled. I kept biting into what I thought was sand, almost like they used unwashed vegetables. I thought it was just me but when I mentioned it to my boyfriend he stated he was biting into sand as well! And we had two totally different dishes if you could call them that! I’ve had way better food at Olive Garden.
I’m doing the entire state of Georgia a huge favor by telling you all to save your money!
You’re welcome entire state of Georgia.

This was one of the worst experiences ever! Went with 3 other people and the only good things were the wine (cause they didn’t make it) and the tuna app. That’s it! My friend ordered a bottle of Pellegrino and was brought a glass with a lime and lemon. Ok. Nice touch. I was brought a glass with 3 either lemon or limes… Couldn’t tell cause they were brown. I asked the waitress what was on my glass and she tells me that they are limes but even though they are brown they are still good. Um​.ya​.no. My friend walked inside and said something and then we were blessed with a plate full of green limes. Anyways food was horrible and service was the worst. Don’t waist ur time.

Never had the opportunity to try the food because the glasses were smeared with lipstick and my fork had dried cheese on it. No one apologized nor did the staff seemed shocked. After thinking about it we left prior to our food coming out. We were encouraged to tell the manager by the hostess and she said «okay I’ll tell the cook to cancel your order». Horrible and disgusting.

The Lasagna was very good. My brother got the scampi it was disqusting and mom got the chicken pesto it was dry and that is the only one we complained about. The waiter told the manager. He never came over to the table and they still charged us for it. There was still a full plate. First and last time for us. $ 83???

The restaurant has a vintage theme, and it is really comfortable to eat here; on a nice day, the patio is really nice after a long day of shopping. My favorite dish is Linguine Alla Pescatore; it comes with a generous amount of yummy sea food. The service is quite slow sometimes. Their dessert cakes are horrible; they are expansive, dry, heavy, and too sweet.
Update: I wanted to order take out. The waiters walked around like they didn’t see me. Finally, one of the cooks at the counter pointed out I was there at the waiting area.

Having been here several times for work lunches, I finally have a solid grasp of what to expect form this place: Service terrible enough to shut the place down, but atmosphere and food good enough to keep it open.
Every time we decide to go here, it often goes like this, «Uggggggh– Okay, we’ll go to Mambo, but we may as well close up shop for the afternoon because we won’t be back until 3:30 anyway.»
The service here is downright negligent and SLOOOOOOOOOOOW. If/​when they get to you, they barely listen to what you want, and then, once the food is served, you’ll never see them again! Three times now (yes, three) we have had to get up from our table to hunt down a waitress (ANY waitress) to take care of our checks.
Note: You’ll often find them in a booth at the front of the restaurant on their phone.
And more than once, I’ve seen a waitress come out of the back chewing as she serves plates. You can’t eat off our plates and serve it to us! No.
For a place in such a busy shopping and business area, there is no excuse for this poor service.
That being said, the atmosphere here is very nice. Themed and ambient inside, with a lovely patio outside. And the food really is quite good. I recommend their pasta dishes above the less Italian menu options, but don’t skip the calamari and that bread is to die for!
A good spot if you are NOT in a hurry.

Glutenfree pasta choices including spaghetti as well as penne was a big plus for me. The Alfredo sauce was tasty though the grilled chicken on top was a little dried out. My husband had the veal Parmesan which he liked very much. Another in my party had a filet that she loved and the chef even came out to make sure it was cooked properly for her.
The prices were reasonable and the service was excellent.
Really enjoyed the live Frank Sinatra type crooner who was there performing which I believe is every Friday night.
We will be back.

The food is okay, but the service is absolutely awful. If the food was good, maybe the service would not be such a problem.

This is the WORST restaurant ever.
We got a undercooked dough in our food.
And called the server to see the situation
And then, the manager came and said literally «do you want gelato?» with angry face even without saying sorry. If she at least tried to explain or attempted to cook it again, I would understand and let it go although I felt bad. We were not trying to fight or bother the manager. But as soon as we felt that she tried to get away from the situation and treat us very rudely, we decide not to come back to this restaurant.

We love this place, great food, great service and atmosphere!!! The outside area is the best:-)!

What can i say. So much potential so little time. Great spot and patio on an awesome night. The service was spotty but not awful. The food is «ickle pickle» which is not bad but not great either. I would recommend it if you sit outside on a spring or fall night but outside of that there has to be better options.

Sorry Mambo. I will give you another chance, but you have dropped down on my scale. My husband’s «seafood» risotto was not cooked well at all and it was devoid of seafood. His lobster bisque was so lacking in lobster flavor that he was convinced that he was served tomato soup. The server verified that it was their bisque. My pasta dish was just ok. I think this place is good for a personal pizza. The place didn’t seem as kept up and clean on my last visit and my water glass had a big old fat lipstick mark on it. They have a fabulous location and lots of potential, but they need to pay more attention to details and strive towards quality.

I posted a long detailed review and it did not post, or it was removed. So I’ll try again. Dont waste your time or money, and dont left the Façade of the area or the outside of this restaurant fool you!
I will just say… I felt like I was in an episode of Kitchen nightmares! I saw with my own 2 eyes one of the line cooks drop a pair of tongs on the floor, and placed them right back on the stove handle, yes, from off the floor. I swear! They were loud talking and playing around, which caused that to happen!
The waitress was sweet, but needed more training. my husband sent his shrimp ravioli back because there were knife holes in the tops of all of them, and a finger hole, and we know why, because they were frozen, and yes, they were still cold in the middle.
I had fettuccini alfredo. I ate 25% of it, and I had a bad stomach ache, and I burped a spoiled milk taste (sorry) it’s true. never again in a million years will I eat here. My husband left hungry.
BTW…it was slow on a friday, and the menu & special menu had too many items. Warning signs were there, but I just knew this place was good… Wrong! Never talked to a manager, we were sent someone who appeared to be a dining room manager, and didnt seam to be concerned over the knife wholes in the tops of the ravioli… SMH

Ambiance is ok. Food is decent. I’m only giving 3 stars for the quality and service together. If I ever come back again it’ll be only for drinks. It has a nice outdoor patio.

I really enjoyed this place. I went with a few coworkers and we had a great experience. We went around noon during the week and were able to get a table right away. I was surprised that there weren’t more people at the restaurant because most places at the forum are packed at lunch time. Either way, I was happy not to wait.
We started with bruschetta and hummus for appetizers. The hummus was very good and the bruschetta was average. It wasn’t served on the type of bread that I am used to having with bruschetta– it was served like more of a flatbread. The flavors were very good though.
We all ordered something different for entrees and there were no complaints. I had the Vegeteriana salad. It was a yummy mixture of roasted veggies on romaine lettuce. It was huge and filling.
The service was good and fast and the atmosphere is darling. I highly recommend checking this place out. It will be added to my lunch rotation.

Yes as our Unilocalers warm us the service is SLOWWWWW, but we where not in a hurry and spend about two hours enjoying the patio area.
Bro in law had Bloody Mary and the rest good cold water. Order Appetizer Antipasto Misto. Wife had Vegetariano plus Tomato Soup, I had Italiano Hoagie with Caesar salad, Bro in law had Cobb Salad and Frutti Di Mare (by the way is a pizza) and order a Burger Med to go for his Mom. Like I said if you are in a hurry STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE.
The food is OKAY.

I love this restaurant and everything about it! This restaurant is located in the Forum shopping center and is the only Italian restaurant on site.
The food is fantastic and the servers are equally great. Marianna and her staff take great care of us customers there and I have introduced this restaurant to several of my friends in the past few months. One of the best features about this restaurant is their outdoor patio area. Love their cocktails and salads. My favorite salad their Mambo Cobb. Everything from the perfectly grilled chicken to the avocado and blue cheese crumbles make me order this salad at every visit.
On our last visit here we also tried their mussels with marinara sauce and their Insalata di Barba salad. The fried goat cheese ball makes this salad!
I truly enjoy each visit here and look forward to returning for their flat bread and balsamic vinegrette/​olive oil dip and their amazingly delicious menu.
Be sure to make room for dessert because they have the best cakes, homemade in house tiramisu and gelato! I was told that their gelato is home made from ingredients directly imported from Italy. Can’t get any more authentic than that!