Maggiano's Little Italy

My husband and I tried this restaurant last night for the first time and loved it. We were going to see a movie across the street, and had our choice of restaurants, all of which looked good. We settled on Maggiano's because of their extensive menu and very reasonable prices. We were very pleasantly surprised. The server was quick, friendly and attentive the entire time. The food was perfectly flavored; I had whole wheat pasta w/marinara sauce and a gorgonzola salad. My husband had their fantastic tomato soup and salad - we were impressed! Pros: Fun and Relaxing Atmosphere, Tasty Food, Great Service Cons: Make a Reservation; they get busy more

I visited Maggiano's once and that was one time too many. The service was atrocious and had boundary issues. Our server kept complaining to us about having to work on a nice day and how he wished he was still on vacation while the manager told us about how our server was in trouble for doing sometime out back that he wasn't supposed to. The food came in huge portions and was nothing special. The dining room was crowded and loud, I was dining with 5 friends and we had difficulty hearing each other the entire time. Please, don't waste your time and money. Pros: Enormous portions Cons: Bad service, bad atmosphere, mediocre food more

A friend referred us to Maggiano?s. We called and made reservations for 6:00 (Friday 4/11/08) but then we read all of your mean reviews here on CitySearch and almost cancelled our reservation. We decided to try it because of the convenient location, and we are so glad we did. The restaurant is very nice, the people were great (and friendly), and the food was great! The portions are ridiculously large, and the prices very reasonable. You'd spend more at the OG and not have nearly the quality/taste/ambiance Maggiano?s has. The atmosphere is nice, yet not too proper that we wouldn?t bring our kids sometime. They were ready for our reservation, and validate parking from across the street. Pros: Convenient Location, Good Food/Service/Portions/Price more

The food smelled great, however the service was abysmal. I say smelled great, because after waiting for ten minutes in the lobby while there were plenty of available tables, and then another ten minutes sitting at a table in the restaurant where we didn't even get a busboy to come over and fill our water glasses, we walked out. This is the first time I've ever walked out of a restaurant. Seriously, how hard would it be to just stop by and say, ""I'm sorry, but we're understaffed, someone will be right with you."" Pros: Free parking Cons: Bad service more

This was my first visit to Maggiano's. I've always passed by it and it looked pretty cool so I thought I'd try it out. Was pretty crowded Saturday night, luckily I had reservations. Atmosphere is pretty cool, but felt very ""chain-like"" which it is. Service is very good and efficient, but everyone seems to be in a hurry. Tried out the ""Family Style"" with 3 other people, didn't realize how big of portions we were going to get. Food overall was maybe 6/10, nothing special but maybe we just chose bland foods. I haven't had much experience in Italian food so I cannot compare it to others, but I believe Maggiano's isn't anything special. It's fun to go to but the food is average and a bit heavy. Pros: Huge portions, service, atmosphere Cons: Crowded, food a bit bland and average more

Pros = Service friendly, restaurant clean more

We went her as a group of 4. I had reservations for 8pm. We showed up at 7:55 and was told to wait until it was closer to our reservation time. I went back up at 8pm and she said that she'll let us know when it would be time to be seated. There was ALOT of people waiting and I noticed on the screen that they were still seating 7:30 reservations. I asked the hostess and was told they were running 25 minutes behind but that they were just getting caught up. We had to catch a movie afterwards. I told her if it was only 25 minutes we would wait. 8:30, our buzzer stil had not gone off, I went up and asked again, she said they were behind 25 minutes obviously having forgotten I was an 8pm reservation. I told her that it had been well past 25 minutes for our reservation time, she said it would be a little bit longer, but not much. At five minutes till 9pm we were seated. We were not comped anything - no drinks, not a single entree or dessert. The campagne ordered during the meal was flat. And the food was bad, comparable to the Olive Garden. I will never come here again. You HAVE reservations for a reason. How do restaurants get almost a full hour behind? GREEDINESS. Sure, you can't always anticipate how long people'll be eating, but you shouldn't overbook. And obviously this is a trend as I had stopped in another time to try this place and it was also overpacked then. Don't go here. There's alot of options in Bellevue and even in the same complex. You will be disappointed. more

My first time to Maggiano's was with a group of friends. The pace is well decorated on the line of over the top. This place seemed to be trying so hard not to be the chain it is. We ordered a five course family style meal. Pros: Refill Water Like Maniacs, Blazing Service Cons: Mediocore Food, Unauthentic, Impersonal and Rushed more

When it first opened up, I thought it was a great new addition to the Bellevue area. But the more I've gone, the more average it's become. It's a nice dining experience, but the food is only a little above average. You get very large portions like every other Italian restaurant. But few of the items on the menu really stand out. more

It's understandable that Maggiano's would be a popular place. It's certainly got the decor to evoke Little Italy. But the food? Well, if you're looking for Italian American comfort food, stick to Buca di Beppo. The marinara sauce looked and tasted like it came out of a can. The garlic parmesan bread got soggy and smooshed thanks to the way it was stacked on the plate, and the baked ziti was not the best I've ever had. On the flip side, the tiramisu was pretty good, and their caesar salad wasn't too bad. Pros: They serve Italian food, apparently. Cons: It's loud, crowded, and the food is about average. more

Went with my family of 8 for our Mother's BD. Seated immediately but tables were so close we touched seats with the people behind us. Lighting so dim it gives you a headache. Food stunk. I had Shrimp Oreganata that was basically shrimp with a pile of soggy Progresso bread crumbs on it. Never saw any white wine chicken sauce or gratin batter. My sister had lobster ravioli that was gummy pasta filled with a gummy unidentifiable mush that had a few small flecks of lobster. This was also sprinkled with Progresso Italian bread crumbs. The pastas and the rest of the food was unremarkable. Prices were way too inflated for what I consider to be bad Italian diner food, more

Great family Italian dining! Wonderful portions, great ambience, impeccable service, and a very low price... more

Great family Italian dining! Wonderful portions, great ambience, impeccable service, and a very low price... more

I came here a couple times only. I think pricing is above average for lunch, but portions are very large. I... more

I came here a couple times only. I think pricing is above average for lunch, but portions are very large. I like their cheesecake more than cheesec... more

Average is how I would describe just about everything at this place. Average food, average service, average prices, average ambience... It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. With so many choices on the Eastside now, why would anyone choose to eat somewhere that is just average?? It is convenient if you are going to a movie at the new Lincoln Cinemas. My pasta entree was boring. It wasn't awful, but I can't even remember what I ordered now. There was just nothing memorable. Pros: spacious Cons: parking is a pain more

I've been there 4 times. 1st time I ordered 2 appetizers. Was asked by the waiter if I'd like the salad when others had their appetizer and the other when they had their entree. I agreed. Then he brought it the other way around. When I asked that it be corrected he said I had ordered it that way. I really don't like the waiter trying to make me wrong on his mistake. Very unprofessional. 2nd time I went was with friends who are having their wedding party their. It was a 'sample' tasting. The food was free, pre-ordered based on what they are having at their event. We were left for 10 min. before the waiter came over. He didn't know how to handle the tasting. Left us without water, finally we got water from a buser. Waited, had to ask for bread. It came but no plates or oil and vinegar. Had to ask twice to get those. Salads came, had to ask for plates. They gave us little appetizer plates to try to full size salads. Had to ask for bigger plates. They brought the entres before we were finished the appetizers and told us to pick up our other plates and hold them so they could put the new plates down. Etc. Etc. Finally talked to the manager who offered us a free dinner. We went back 3rd time - great food, great waiter. 4th time. Same waiter as 2nd time - go figure. Brought entres without busing the table so we are again left holding our unfinished appetizers while they put the entres down. Someone down the table was given my sandwich, she said she hadn't ordered it so they sent it back to the kitchen. Didn't even look to see who might have ordered it. When clearing some plates off the waiter spilled the aoli on my linen shirt and pants. Brought a clean napkin and told me he hadn't spilt anything on my clothes only on the napkin. I showed him where it had landed on the shirt and he took the napkin and started to rub it in. Pros: a manager eventually comes over to apologize Cons: everthing else more

We went to Maggiano's on Wed night for my sister-in-laws birthday. Our reservation was for 11 people for 7:30 pm. We were seated promptly, and had a very nice waitress. However, our table was very clearly a table for 8 around which they CRAMMED 11 chairs. The tables on either side of us were so close, when we had to get up to use the restroom, we had to tap the people behind us and ask them to get up too so we could move our chairs out. We were told that due to the size of our party we COULD NOT order off the regualr menu, but had to decide as a group what to order-2 appetizers, 2 salads, 2 pastas, 2 main dishes, 2 desserts. The salads were fine, the stuffed mushrooms were good, the brushetta was soggy, the chicken parm was SUPER dry and tasteless, the eggplant parm was undercooked in some parts and overcooked-soggy-in others, the fettucini alfredo noodles were actually stuck together in a huge clump in the bowl and the chicken we ordered on the side-some of us are vegi's-arrived AFTER we had finished it. The cheesecake was mushy and tasteless and the creme brule was ok at best. Overall our total bill for my husband and myself was $125.00 with 3 drinks between the two of us, and we really would have been better off going to The Olive Garden to get this type of food, and spent a lot less money. Overall I would definetely say to go to PF Changs, Joeys, or any other place near the mall when you are looking for a good meal. Pros: Good Service Cons: Bad Food, overpriced, cramped loud atmosphere more

My friends and I decided to go to Maggiano's on a Saturday night, on the spur of the moment. We were a party of 8 and just a group of teenagers. Usually, we're pretty harshly turned away or just ignored by waitstaff or the hostess; however, that night we were all seated in about 15 minutes without a reservation. The waitstaff was very kind and when we were all shocked by the price and not sure what to do, the waiter offered to let us order per-plate versus family style. We always had plenty of water on the table and bread. I was a little confused about the beverages because there wasn't anything about them on the menu and the waiter didn't say anything. Besides that, it was wonderful food. I loved having food left-over for the next day-- it re-heats amazingly well. We had a nice private dining room with about two other parties of about 8 people and the ambiance was very quiet and relaxed. The extra-dim lighting for ""mood"" was a bit annoying, but you can't really ask the waitstaff to turn up the lights, can you? Pros: delicious food, polite waitstaff, prompt, good for large groups, Cons: weird lighting, not for children, parking more

This is the best Italian restaurant. The staff and food are great. There was a part in someone's review that said they sing Happy Birthday 25 times a night. WRONG! They don't sing! This place is a upscale restaurant! (Must be there competition). It was fantastic! Pros: music, lighting, great staff Cons: busy more