Mario’s Italian Cafe

Me, the boyfriend and his dad stopped by here to have lunch on the way to Arizona for our move. I was looking forward to having some Italian food. Especially having some kind of seafood pasta.
I walked in and the place felt like I was in Italy which is of course what is supposed to be like and the paintings on the walls were pretty neat. There were few people in the restaurant eating so it wasn’t too full. Our waitress came up right away and ordered our drinks and got our order promptly and fast. So excellent service that day for sure.
I ordered the Shrimp Scampi which came out in a bowl with a nice size proportion. I was a little disappointed that the shrimp was tiny and that there wasn’t very many. There was like 5 so I couldn’t like actually cut them up in smaller pieces and have them in every bite with my noodles. I did feel that the pasta was bland and didn’t have much seasoning as much as I would hoped it had.
My boyfriend ordered the regular ravioli sand he seemed to enjoy them. I had a taste of the red sauce and it was alright. And his dad had which I believe was like some spaghetti dish or possibly balongese? They also served garlic bread which wasn’t too great either.
I was disappointed with the food but I did like the service and the waitress was very friendly and nice. I do not think I will be coming back anytime soon.

I am so sad to give this review as Mario’s has been a favorite destination for years. The pros are they have a friendly and attentive staff, big glasses of wine and yummy bread. Hubby and I ordered the Shrimp Pesto Linguini with pine nuts. My mother ordered the Chicken Alfredo. The sauce for the Alfredo was delicious but the chicken was literally like chewing on rubber. The shrimp plates were tasteless. My hubby kept suggesting digging down under the noodles for sauce but there was none.
I am really an easy going person and usually just let it slide, but the food was really terrible. I talked to our waiter about it and he was very nice and offered to replace my mom’s Alfredo which she declined and he brought us a big bowl of sauce. The sauce helped, but really I have had much better. I hope that not all the Mario’s in town are going down hill; I am not going back to this one till they get their act together.

Really awful! Pasta was so soft and mushy, and my whole plate was an oily mess. I ordered the Chicken Parm, $ 9.95 dinner special and that famous $ 5 glass of wine… my wine was actually $ 5.95 and my dinner plate was $ 14.95 not $ 9.95…never had a chicken parm that tasted like fried shrimp… so gross, had a few bites and obviously didn’t’t enjoy it… they took my full plate no questions asked… oh well… don’t come here for al dente pasta or at least garlic bread — -there’s was mushy and tastes of burnt toast :-($ 60 dinner for about $ 5 worth of edible food…

have watched a slide down on this previously reviewed restaurant. went for a lunch order today and was accosted by skateboarders in front of restaurant. when senior on a walker had to swerve and went sideways and asked to speak to the manager, who was dismissive and stated he was not responsible for entrance to restaurant or sidewalk in front. called sheriff who stated that business was responsuble for entrance.
ordered the pastrami sandwich for my husband who received a dried-​out meat that was a long way down from the quality we were accustomed to. someone in management needs to enlighten front-​line staff of requirements to the public. very indifferent and not customer-​oriented.

Just the right portions served promptly. Really good, friendly service. Very reasonable and we loved the Tiramisu.

Always the best. No matter what you get its gooooood! Even the catering is yummy and feeds a ton of people. So né prepared for left overs.

This is NOT a romantic, gourmet, chichi Italian place. But it has solid good food, good wine, a casual atmosphere and good service. It is a fantastic bargain. Worth a visit especially if you have been driving all day and just need to eat before you fall asleep and drive all day tomorrow.

The $ 9.99 dinner special, available every night, is alright. $ 5 house wine is decent and it’s a big glass. Tonight opted for the margherita pizza, split with my mom. 10″ pizza was something like $ 16 and left us both fairly hungry, although it tasted okay. Service is fine though it can get a bit crowded and noisy. I’d suggest sticking with the dinner specials, or some other regular menu entrée.
If pizza and value is what you’re after, steer clear! There’s a Domino’s right across the street, basically.

Took two of the dinner specials for 9.95 each and it was great. Just had some for lunch next day still delish!

Great food! Loved the chicken parmigiano and pizza. My boyfriend enjoyed the cioppino. Suggest it all!

This is the best Italian food we’ve ever had. That’s a pretty big superlative, but the food is well-​cooled, tastes great, and the atmosphere is perfect for a small restaurant. They have several locations in the valley and I’ve never had a bad experience at any of them. Try the tiramisu; it’s excellent. They also offer light portions so you don’t have to stuff yourself with too much food.

So, we were on hour six of a drive home and needed to stretch and eat. We pulled off and just decided blindly on this spot. We went in and it was clean and the staff was friendly and prompt with drinks. I ordered my toddler something right away to prevent any issues. Her penne with butter was just that. Lol mushy penne with loads of butter and greasy garlic bread. I ordered pesto angel hair with grilled chicken. I received angel hair drowned in oil and about a teaspoon of pesto (maybe) but it had tons of pine nuts. Then the server brought me a cup of extra sauce. It was ¾ oil the rest pesto. Yikes. Hubby ordered the best though! Sausage parmigiano. Yes… sausage parmigiano folks. A processed, oddly textured sausage patty atop mushy spaghetti and tomato sauce covered in chewy mozzarella. So glad it was only 5.95 because I would have been upset. Maybe we ordered the wrong stuff but you’d think Saturday afternoon lunch time would be a time to be on top of your food game.

Mario’s Italian Café’s throughout the Coachella Valley can be hit or miss, depending on the location you visit. I have visited this specific location a few times over the last 2 months and have decided it’s going to have to be removed from the «lunch break rotation».
I’ve ordered takeout on two separate occasions and both times my order was incorrect. My first visit I ordered the Antipasto Salad and when I got to work I had a Caesar Salad in my bag. The second time I ordered the same thing, but when I got to work there was no dressing in my bag. I went back to the restaurant to get the dressing and the man behind the counter handed it to me with no apology.
I went again today on a business lunch, thinking the service within the restaurant would be better than the takeout window and I was pleased to find that my assumption was correct. I wish I would’ve got my servers name, because he was very attentive and professional.
My recommendation would be to dine-​in… I don’t think their take-​out staff has mastered their duties just yet.

We loved this place! Came across it while driving and couldn’t have been happier with it! The food, price and service was great!

First time at this chain. The restaurant is clean and the service was very good. I had a meatball parm sandwich for lunch. It was nothing special as far as taste. The meatballs were huge but had no special flavor and the roll was soft and tasteless.

The food is pretty bad. My husband had lasagna and it was cold in the middle. I had pasta with marinara sauce. It was just okay. Big glass of wine is their best offering.

I have been to this place a few times and it is not to bad. It is nothing special, the food is ok. I ordered pizza last time I was there as I have never tried their pizza and the waiter forgot to add the extra item I asked for on the pizza which was a little disappointing. The food seemed to take longer then it should have to come out. If in the area again and I was desperate, I would go here again, but I would not go out of my way. I believe there are better places not to far that have way better service and food.

I’m surprised that I came here seeing all the bad reviews… anyways. I didn’t have any problems with this place and I actually wish there are more Italian like this one in the LA area. It’s sad that I have to move to the desert to get decent Italian food. I’m very harsh critic with Italian food bc I grew up with homemade Italian food. Every time I go to a place they give me crap, literally. Tasteless crap. I always order a eggplant Parmesan and judge their food off of that. If they get that dish wrong then I don’t bother coming back. You’ll be amazed how many places will make it too greasy, too saucy, no bread crumb and even no sauce. This place got it right. OMG! It was really good. Not the best but, the best in so cal that I experience. I tried my bf’s plate which was the chicken primiervera and that was delicious too. I look forward to coming back again.

Our group of 5 visited Mario’s this evening and all of us enjoyed our dinner. We had various pasta dishes as well as veal and eggplant. The food was very good and the portions were very generous. The ataff was attentive and friendly.

Came in with clients BC they wanted to dine here. It was lunch time and they weren’t really busy.
The 3 of us shared a large anti pasta salad — Salami, Ham, Mortadella, Pepperoni, Olives, Mushrooms, Bell Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes, Pepperocini, Cheeses and Italian Garlic Dressing. For my entrée I went with the Tuesday special a half Torpedo Combo –Dry Salami, Mortadella, Ham, Coto Salami, Mozzarella, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onion, Pepperocini and Italian Dressing. The bread tasted fresh and was toasted and I could only eat half of my sandwich — it was tasty.
Overall a decent lunch and was reasonable for 3 — less then $ 15.00 a person.