Amato’s Mama Mia’s Pizza & Restaurant

I can’t believe it!!! I found pizza I like in Salem!!! It reminds me of NYC Pizza… No Italians around but that’s ok, I make awesome pizza and I’m not Italian… still, It’s good to know it’s there… I loved it!

I’ve been putting off writing this review because it’s been a while since we’ve been in, but today I learned that Mama Mia’s had CLOSED for a week of vacation starting July 4^th. I wish we could rate food separately from the rest of the experience, because I’d give the food four solid stars, but the way they treat customers is very disappointing.
Our experience: The dining room is quite lovely and pleasant, the food is good, and our first couple of visits were satisfactory, though each time it took the hostess a while to notice we were there and get us seated. We’re clean, nicely dressed, quiet, respectful, and good tippers, so I don’t think they were hoping we’d leave if they ignored us, but it was starting to feel that way.
Our first notably bad experience was simple iced tea! It tasted funky, as though the brewer needed cleaning. We drink tea everywhere, so this occasionally happens at other restaurants, is not that big a deal to us, and other places seem very grateful that we said something before they served bad tea to any more customers. They bring new tea right away, will usually comp it and sometimes even insist we accept a free dessert. Not here! All we really wanted was good tea, so we mentioned it to the waitress, who took the tea away, took her sweet time bringing replacements (we were well over halfway done with our meal when they arrived) and then that tea was from the same batch! We mentioned it, again, received no replacements or offer of something else, and she didn’t even take it off of our bill. Strike 1.
Another day, my husband had taken my mother to an appointment while I was at work, then she wanted to go to Mama Mia’s for lunch, as it’s been one of her favorite places for years. Imagine their shock (Mom’s, especially) when lunch was served on paper plates! This is not a custard stand, it’s a full-​priced, more upscale (for Salem) eating establishment, and unless their dishwasher was broken, there’s no reason nor excuse for using paper plates. (It was not their dishwasher; we heard months later that they were still doing this. Tacky!) Strike 2.
We went into the take-​out side one evening for a pizza. They were busy (always a good sign) and we didn’t mind waiting our turn in line. We get up to the counter and begin to order when the phone rings. The clerk answers the phone, does not ask that caller to hold while she helps her current customer, takes that order while we’re standing there, hands the order to the pizza chef, and then returns to us. A few seconds later, the phone rings again, and she does the same thing, making it clear that phone customers are more important than those who take the time to drive there, place the order in person and wait. In effect, two customers were allowed by the restaurant to cut in front of us, with no apology or acknowledgement that anything unusual had happened, leading me to believe that this is business-​as-​usual at Mama Mia’s. I wanted to cancel our partially-​placed order and leave, at that point, (it’s not as though good pizza is that hard to find, around here) and hubby was ready to call the order in on his cell phone while standing at the counter, if it happened, again. Lucky us, we actually got to complete our order, that time. That was Strike 3 and we haven’t returned since then.
Obviously, Mama Mia’s has many fans, so maybe regulars get the five-​star treatment, but there’s not such a huge pool of potential new customers in this area that any business can afford to treat anyone so carelessly. Based on our first couple of trips in here, we could also have become regulars, but we feel that our patronage and our money are more appreciated elsewhere.

Being from NY I can say good pizza is not always easy to find. These guys do a great job at creating a taste of home!

My cousins brought me here, they love it, so do I.
Pricier than local diners (which I also like), but you can tell the food here is of high quality. The bread (rolls) is excellent!
I always have Chicken Parm and Spaghetti ($ 16) it’s about as good as I’ve ever had!
Sauce is great!
Friendly staff. Located in a small strip mall on the outside (east) of Salem.

Have been coming here for years! Always good food and smiling faces

There’s Not a Lot of Choice in Salem City as Far As Italian Restaurants, However, after a year of hearing Locals talk about how good Mama Mia’s is, I had to stop in for a Pie. They Do a large Take out Business, as well as a nice Dining area. I chose to dine in. Service Was FRIENDLY and Swift, (Unusual For the Area!), The Pie was Very Good, Best in the City. I will be doing an update on their dinners. So Far, I’m a Fan. This is a BYOB.

Their pizza used to be my family’s favorite but the last 2 pies have been a little lackluster. They have a pretty good chicken soup and my mom really likes the blackened chicken caesar.

Always a family favorite. Excellent staff, great food and reasonably priced.

Good chicken cheese steak hoagies, also had a white pizza w/​tomato and broccoli — nice crust, tasty pie. Want to try the sit-​down estaurant — it’s always busy when I stop in for take out. Service at the counter is always friendly and efficient.