Romano’s Macaroni Grill

Upon entering this restaurant, I had high hopes that this place would meet my expectations. The atmosphere was lovely, the waitress was a doll & the smell of the food was enticing. Unfortunately, the food tasted like freezer burn & water. I ordered the eggplant parmigiana and my boyfriend had the shrimp portifino (sp). Both dishes were as bland as air! My pasta tasted like oil & my eggplant tasted like it was left open in the freezer. It was as if the cooks were told not to season anything, to serve nothing but unflavored precooked food. I’ve had microwaveable dinners that tasted more authentic than this place. Stay away, unless you see a «under new management sign.»

I just went to macaroni grill and the service was terrible and our server took so long to get us everything we needed. Also the food was horrible and none of the people with me liked it.

Okay… I uusually do not do chains… BUT we had a fenominal dinner here. We were up for our «daughter’s» birthday. She is our son’s girlfriend. Anyway… We had lobster ravioli, chicken with pasta, two different kinds of spaghetti and meatballs and something new they are offering… buffalo chicken parmesan. Lobster ravioli with a chardany cream sauce… loved every morsal. It’s a part of the fresh pasta and stuffed with Maine lobster. Chicken breast was cooked perfectly. We ask for how they seasoned it was that tasty. Meatballs were unreal and totally the bomb… as my daughter put it. Chicken parmesan buffalo style was very good; make sure you like hot sauce and the pasta is madde with a blue cheese sauce… yummy.
All together…$ 100 for five. Very affordable. Our waiter was Dustin… loved the service from him. Not overbearing but not left out to dry either. Great sense of humor. And with our group… you need it

Food was okay. Appetizers were marginal.
What I noticed about this restaurant was how dirty the floor and the glass doors were. The floor was sticky and door looked to be covered with several months worth of grime.
I thought I had seen the worst of it until I went to the bathroom. The bathroom had an overwhelming stench and was FILTHY beyond words. The napkin container was «full» and the walls and floor were awful. Has anyone EVER been in to clean?
We were big fans of MG but they need to get out the bleach and Windex before I ever go back.

I frequent this restaurant often and just wanted to share something… they now have a promotion called «kitchen counter.» This has been going on for many months and is worth calling attention to… especially with tourist season kicking into gear.
They have $ 7 lunches and $ 9 dinner options that are both a great value and very tasty. Please go to their website at
and click on menus, kitchen counter.
Salads, sandwiches, small calzones, and pasta on the lunch menu, all for $ 7. The dinner menu for «kitchen counter» is a little larger and the portions are larger, $ 9 will get pasta or signature plates. The chicken milanese panzanella with a parmesan crusted chicken breast and a fresh tomato and arugula balsamic salad on top with parmesan roasted potatoes is a favorite… also very good is the brisket rigatoni with a marsala cream sauce… totally yummy and satisfying.
This section of the restaurant is a little different. You order and pay at a counter, you take a table number to your table and it is brought to you. 7 mins for lunch (or it’s free!) or 9 minutes during dinner (or it’s free!) It does happen, I have enjoyed several free lunches and dinners there… if they claim it as a selling point… they better be able to deliver on that promise in my book.
Keep in mind, the slip at the register is not where you tip your server who delivers your food or brings/​refills your drink… leave a tip on a credit/​debit card and it goes to the cashier who makes a decent wage… save the tip for your server at the table!
A nice, lower cost option for lunch or dinner with some decent choices… you give up having the bread on the table unless you buy it and you will need to pay separately for dessert at regular menu prices… this is a great option if you are short on time and want more than fast food.

Yes I gave a chain restaurant a 5!!! Why, because we have been coming here for several years now and to date, we have never had a bad experience, service or meal. Tonight I tried a new dish and it was awesome! I’m sorry, I don’t remember the name, but it had butternut squash, prosciutto, asiago cheese, raviolis with a couple of sauces and it was salty and sweet at the same time. I really liked it. Unfortunately, I was full and didn’t get a chance to have dessert, but maybe next time !!!

Nice waiter but way too long to get dinner. The waiter acknowledged the wait but nothing was comp’d. It wasn’t even busy for a Friday. Maybe people didn’t want to wait 2.5 hours for dinner. All the food was fabulous had appetizers and main dish. Only complaint was too much dressing on salad.

Great new items. One of my favorites is the Buffalo Chicken Parmasean, comes with pasta. Great new addition, hoping it stays!

One of our favorite restaurants. We like to combine our visit to Cabelas with Macaroni Grille, for the full afternoon experience. I love the ambiance, the singers on the weekends, the open grille, but especially the food.
I have to admit, I have only eaten one entrée here. I simply cannot stray from it. Well, once I got the Caesar salad, which was excellent. This seems to be a habit of mine, actually. My husband is a trained chef, I’m a picky eater and we have been bringing our son from when he was a difficult eater at 5 years old, to an all-​you-​can-​eat kind of 15 year old. This place pleases ALL of us, ALL of the time.
The service is usually very good. We love to write on the paper table covers. We love the water pitcher at the table, are crazy about the rosemary bread and dipping oil and I will tell you that the chicken scallopini is amazing (especially now that I know to request slightly less butter in the meal). The portions have gotten a lot smaller over the years, while the prices have increased, but these guys seem to keep that inevitable march to a minimum.
We have never tried dessert, as we never have any room. The servers have always graciously given us more bread when asked and are quick to bring freshly cracked black pepper or shaved parmesan to our table with our meals.
I wouldn’t mind some parmesan cheese at the table so that we could add it to our dipping sauce for the bread, but we can usually grab someone and ask for it.

This was our second attempt going here with the family and the last time I gave them a 1 star rating so this time it was a bit better than before but nothing to write home about.
The service was was great with our waiter who was interactive and was able to answer any questions that we had about the menu.
I had the seafood pasta dish that was littered with large sized scallops and jumbo shrimp but for the pricepoint of 18 dollars I was not sure if I felt it was worth the price (two scallops and three shrimp) and the red sauce was very bland. My wife had a salad that stated that it was supposed to come with candied walnuts and seemed much better on the menu than in reality where it didnt even come with the walnuts that were promised. Lastly my son’s spaghetti and meatballs seemed like they came out frozen but was off the kids menu so I cannot expect much.
The saving grace was the desserts that we ordered … the waiter told us that they just made the tiramisu and recommended it and it was nothing short of amazing and my son got the peach gelato and he loved every minute of it.
So, we decided that if we want a dessert on the fly, we can stop here but this is second time that we were not all that happy with the food and you would think with the prices of some of the dishes, they would invest in the food to deliver in competition of some of the amazing eateries around Portland area.
Oh well two times to try a place and not all that happy about it so we will not be coming back I think that we can spend our hard earned money elsewhere more effectively.

We enjoyed our lunch here today. Good food for a chain. Service is prompt and friendly, appetizers were really good, the calamari and stuffed mushrooms. I had the parmesan encrusted sole, really like it. My wife did not like her chicken, was tough, but liked the pasta, and my daughter enjoyed her chicken parm, a good family place to go, not too pricey

Tasty little lunch, service was prompt, they have a decent selection of lighter fare on their lunch menu. Very satisfactory. We came in at 11:30, so all of this satisfaction occurred before they got busy… take this with a grain of salt.

Excellent again never had a bad experience now all my kids choose to come here. So hard to choose but will get them all eventually. Camellas chicken is my favorite.

I went to Macaroni Grill for the first time the other day and was not disappointed.
Our server, Jim, was cool, smart, funny, conscientious and helpful. He talked us through the food menu and made some great recommendations. And man, can that guy sing. He should be on stage or something. A rare talent.
The food was very good too. I chose the Butternut Asiago Tortellaci which was extremely palatable. My wife went for the create your own pasta option which I thought was a really good idea. You are able to basically select your own ingredients, pasta and sauce. Additionally, the wait time for preparation was virtually non existent and our food was delivered very quickly.
So, despite this restaurant being part of a corporate chain, it was welcoming and exuded a pleasant atmosphere. We left feeling very looked after and, primarily down to the service, will definitely return here in the future.

If you could give negative stars, this would be it. The most disgusting, gross, vile, spoiled food I have ever been served. Salad had more dressing than lettuce and seafood came from a dog food can. Holy crap… how can this place stay in business? Stay away or sit on the toilet all night.

Quick service. Good food. Decent selection of beer on tap. I love the Wild Mushroom & Goat Cheese Flatbread (with caramelized onions, truffle oil, herbs). I ask to substitute the mushrooms for Pepperoni and it is Delicious. I haven’t had anything off the menu that I haven’t liked.

I’m so over all the hubbub of oh, I don’t eat in chain restaurants… Chain restaurants suck. Let’s be real, there wouldn’t be so many huge thriving chains if as many people didn’t eat at them as they say. So I am going to proudly state that I thoroughly enjoy macaroni grill. Yup. I said it. No need to make excuses. Carmela’s chicken is amazing in all of its marsala cream and perfectly caramelized onion goodness. I could eat my leftovers for days but they won’t make it 24 hours. The create your own pasta menu is another unique feature to tout. They are quite flexible with add ons that aren’t listed if you ask nicely! The service was superior on this night as well, which is of the utmost importance when dining with a little one.

I admit it. I am a food snob. So you can imagine my consternation when business found us in South Portland, surrounded by a sea of corporate eateries at dinner time. After weighing the pros and cons of the gamut of mall area restaurants, the husband and I chose Macaroni Grill, as it was in the closest proximity to us.
We entered with trepidation, but my dismay was eased by the inoffensive ambience and the pleasant young woman who showed us to our table. As is the case with most chains, I was slightly shocked by the high prices listed on the menu, but I realized, by the size of the meals on the other diners’ tables, that I was not only paying for dinner but for lunch the next day as well.
I decided on Carmela’s chicken which was a nice, semi-​light roasted chicken dish with caramelized onions, mushrooms, Marsala cream and rigatoni. The husband got the Mama’s Trio which had a small portion of each of the chicken parmesan, lasagna Bolognese, and the chicken and mushroom cannelloni. All were quite tasty.
The one complaint I had about the meal was the bread, which was a pity because it was «fresh out of the oven.» And boy do I love my fresh baked bread! Though nice and warm, it was regrettably dry and stale– A HUGE bummer.
All in all, the meal was not bad and the service was attentive without being intrusive.
I had purposely waited to check the Unilocal rating until after we had eaten and was surprised to find only 2.5 stars. Admittedly, I hold chains to a different standard from the privately owned establishments in our little foodie city. Is this fair? Maybe not. But then again, I rarely dine in chains and when I do, I walk in knowing what to expect. Macaroni Grill surpassed my expectations as far as a chain restaurant goes. Plus, I get the added bonus of enjoying it for lunch again today.

Asked some friends if they wanted to meet for lunch. We normally hit up Panera on a work day, but one suggested we come here because she likes the food. I’ve never been before, so I agreed.
First of all, my ginger ale was horrible. I hate when you have to send soda back because the machine hasn’t been serviced. Next, there wasn’t a lunch menu, we weren’t given any specials to choose from, etc.
I ordered the lasagna, something I haven’t had in a while and don’t make often. It arrived way too fast, eerily fast. It wasn’t bad, per se, but all I could taste was cheese, cheese, and more cheese. I didn’t finish it because by the middle, I felt like I couldn’t get a bite without being overwhelmed by it (and mind you, I do like cheese, but this was too much).
Overall, I had fun meeting my friends again, but wouldn’t ever come back. Glad I had a Chili’s gift card to pay for this meal. Go to Olive Garden instead.

For a chain restaurant this is 5 stars. All 4 of us enjoyed our meals. The create your own pasta menu it’s a cool concept. The restaurant was very clean and the Italian lessons in the bathroom was neat. The waitress was fantastic and we enjoyed her story about moving here from Portland, Oregon by putting the wrong address into her GPS. The huge bottle of wine for $ 15 was an amazing deal. We will definitely be back next we drive through!