Maggiano's Little Italy

Very good country Italian. My dinner companions loved the food but it wasn't the type of Italian I prefer. My entree was more along the line of a Buca de Beppo with large portions and lots of red sauce and noodles. For southern or 'home-style' Italian, the food was very, very good. If you prefer Northern Italian with a wider selection and less pasta, you may want to look elsewhere. The food was very good and everyone had a great time so it deserves 4 stars, but it's just not a place I would visit very often. more

Maggiano's has become one of our favorites. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The food is always fresh and delicious. And the restaurant is charming and romantic. What's not to like about that? more

I love Maggiano's! Reading some of the comments that state ""waitress bad-mouthed us to another couple"" and how long others had to wait...why don't you complain to the manager and then leave? Instead, some of you choose to stay and be unhappy. I've never experienced a waitress or waiter with an attitude and the food has always been delicious. Maybe some of you have the bad attitude and just don't want to admit it. more

Because of the location I figured the food would be good, that wasn't the case. My Wife's pasta dish was over seasoned and mine was even worse. I went there a second time but still was very disappointed, especially after spending what I did. I recently have been going to a restaurant called Renato's in Westminster where the food is Excellent! All homemade even down to the pastas. Family Italian restaurants run by real Italian are always the best! more

I Love this place! great pasta, great service, and always so clean and nice, i would recommend this place to all of you guys!!!! more

My family and I go here pretty often, and it's consistently delicious. I especially love the beef medallions--some of the best steak you'll ever try! Spinach salad is also amazing, and the spinach and chicken manicotti is oh so good. more

Went to Maggiano's this last Friday night and it was terrible. Our reservation was at 6:30 and they just didn't honor it. We were on time, yet we had to stand in the front of the restaurant, being jostled around with dozens of other people who also had nowhere to stand since there IS NOWHERE to wait. We then watched as over a dozen parties of 3-4 who had come in after us were seated before us, and we kept being told we would ""be seated shortly"". So 45 minutes late, we finally got a table and then waited 10 minutes for a waitress, then 10 more minutes until she came back with drinks, then 25 minutes for appetizers, and 20 more for the entrees, and the food is mediocre at best. We won't be back; don?t waste your money or time. Cons: No reservations, service terrible, food mediocre more

The food was good but the service was terrible. After we complained to the manager that the busboy had cleaned our table (open seating, cocktail table) with the previous customer's dirty cloth napkin, she bad-mouthed us to the customers sitting next to us. It was a least 20 minutes before she took our drink order and then she was sickening sweet, obvious butt-kissing. She was quicker to take our food order and the food came in a timely manner. But she didn't offer drink refills until we were done with our meal. We are generally generous tippers (20% +) but seriously hate poor service. We tipped but she got what she deserved. The ladies sitting at the table before us had warned us of how slow and rude she was. We should have listened. Oh...and the table next to ours cleared while we were eating and again the busboy used a customer's dirty napkin to clean the table. Pros: food was good Cons: poor service; lack of appropriate cleaning; crowded more

There is just too much to say! I have not been big fan of chains when it comes to Italian restaurants but... more

There is just too much to say! I have not been big fan of chains when it comes to Italian restaurants but our dinner at Maggiano's changed my mind... more

The food is horrible knockoffs from other americanized restaurants, not one orignal dish. Can I atleast get a canoli thats not bite sized. The restaurant layout is even worse, there's is no defined entrance and no flow. It's like building a restaurant inside a maze. Pros: LEAVING THE PLACE Cons: BUTTER AND SALT IN A BOWL more

our server was awesome! his name was kyle. he even surprised us with free dessert! i will def go back just for him!! Pros: attentive servers, unexpected surprises! Cons: hmmm.... more

Maggiano's was a dissapointment. The atmosphere & locaton are nice. But...I ordered pinot grigio to start with, and was given a pinot nior. That's the server's bad, I suppose. Or the bar-back? I wanted the salad with prosciutto, and was given lettuce with bacon-bits. The pasta side-dish was forgettable, the filet mignon was okay. Okay? Filet mignon should always be outstanding. Maybe it was just the wine that set the tone for the evening, but Maggiano's is not a restaurant I would recommend. I was told by a friend to try Maggiano's: ""It's AMAZING. You need to call me or text as soon as you're done."" Coming from Erin, it had to be good. We're Taurus', we love food. Plus, it's in the same area as South Coast Plaza, so I figured Maggiano's food would be as good as South Coast Plaza's boutiques. Oh well. Pros: Ambience Cons: Everything else more

After reading some of the reviews here I was a bit hesitant to try this restaurant but I am happy to say that the wait staff, service and food were more than I expected. Yes, the price is a little on the high side but for this location (South Coast Center and Orange County Performing Arts Center) this prices are not bad at all. There were 4 in our party and 2 people took for home for leftovers. We had reservations and had to wait less than 5 minutes for our table to be set up and for us to be seated. Highly Recommended. Pros: Plenty of parking, excellent service, attentive wait staff more

My husband and I were visiting the area and had heard of how great this restaurant was supposed to be. We decided to give it a try and were extremely disappointed. Though the place was crowded, the food was the worst we have ever had. It was so bad we could not finish it-which is something we have never before done in our 40 years of dining out together. We were not expecting great Italian food, knowing this was a chain, but did expect it to be on the same level as perhaps an Olive Garden. The only good thing about it was the attentive busboy who said he was from Guatemala. Pros: busboy from Guatemala Cons: terrible food, crowded more

A great resturant with authentic Italian and great atmosphere. more

A great resturant with authentic Italian and great atmosphere. more

Hearty Italian dishes and great staffs. Love their fried calamari and baked ziti and sausage. Maggaino's in Costa Mesa is not as crowded as the one in The Grove which is nice. Seated on time w/ reservation on a busy weekend. Friendly staff except one of the hostess at front. No smiles from her but the smiles from the other hostess made up for that. Pros: Parking, price, food, friendly waitress Cons: crowded (not as crowded as the one in The grove tho) more

My husband and always get the same few things when we come to Maggiano's. Frankly, Maggiano's is a chain Italian restaurant, and its patrons should not be expecting the truly authentic Italian fare. For that, there is always Il Fornaio. But we still love the ambience, the maritnis, and the consistently great service for less fancy, but still hearty & comforting Italian fare. It is a family style restaurant, and it certainly makes us feel like we are a part of that family when we go with their large portions and good service. We always order the chicken rigatoni ""D"", the lasagna, or chicken parmigiana, with the occasional saltimbocca for my husband. For lunch, try their delicious, albeit a bit bland (ask for marinara sauce on the side) vegetable sandwich, to which you can also add chicken. The fried zuchini in this sandwich makes it light and crispy, and a side of minestrone soup makes this a fulfilling and energizing power lunch before heading back to the office. The salads are fresh and delicious, but sometimes the dressing can be a bit salty and overpowering, as I tend to steer clear of too much bleu cheese in my salads. But, my husband loves bleu cheese in his salads, so to each his own. All in all, a great restaurant for a consisently good meal of hearty Itlaian comfort food- although admittedly, our review of Maggiano's menu is quite limited to the few items listed above. All in all, my husband and I always have a special place in our hearts for a ""Maggiano's night."" We especially like the fact that they now accept reservations for small parties of two. Pros: Great comfort food Cons: Sometimes too noisy & cluttered more

Not sure if anyone that has reviewed this as ""great Italian food"" as ever had truly good Italian food. I'd rather go to Olive Garden than step foot in this place again. We had Chicken Alfredo, which was severely lacking in ANYTHING that resembled alfredo sauce, some mushroom ravioli that tasted more like gravy than sauce. Thinking perhaps we caught them on an odd night, we tried them again with the same results. The gnocchi was do-able...the tiramisu doesn't have a darn bit of liquor in it and tastes like it had been sitting in a freezer all night...garlic bread was stale and tasteless. The take-out guy was obviously in a hurry to get home (we walked in just as the takeout kiosk was closing), was cussing and very short with us. He then told us to go to the bar to pick up our food...then acted very suprised when we were sitting at the bar waiting for it...""You know you're food is sitting over there, right?"" Why, no...since you told us to go to the bar...NEVER returning. But be sure to make a stop in the Corner Bakery, that place is great!! Pros: It's next to the mall? I don't know of any, to tell you the truth Cons: Everything more