Twice we have gone to Maggiano's, and twice we have been 30 to 45 minutes late being seated. The first time actually approached an hour, and we finally got fed up and left (On the plus side, corporate was very apologetic and sent us $50 gift certificate). Our second visit was actually at the Bellevue Maggiano's (Prior was in Costa Mesa, CA). Skipping past the long wait to be seated, once we made it into the dining room, the atmosphere was pleasant, the server very nice, and the smells quite good. Using their family style option seems to be the way to go most of the time, but I highly recommend having a party of at least four, because that much food for two people is majorly overwhelming. Certain dishes, such as the mushroom sausage pizza and the rigatoni D were quite excellent. Others, like the pot roast, while acceptable, were nothing special. Dessert was very good, and their selection of wine was ok, but in this case we bought a bottle of our own and took advantage of the $12 corkage fee (May have been $15, it's been a while), and enjoyed our own bottle. Overall, I'd recommend them, though try and pick lower traffic nights (Monday or Tuesday), or expect to wait a while, even with reservations.
High Points: Good dining room service and enjoyable food.
Low Points: Feeling like making reservations served no purpose. They really need to fix this aspect of their booking.
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