I know this review is very long, but I have a strong opposition to this restaurant and feel it should not be open with the horrible service they have employed. This restaurant needs a complete overhaul to be presentable, and I have voiced my dismay at this establishment throughout South Florida...\r
\r
We have visited Mamma Mia's twice, both times with a different server, and both times the server was extremely pushy - telling us what to order, how to order, when to order and what we weren't ALLOWED to order per her standards. The first time we visited, we wrote it off as a bad server and the food was excellent. The second time, we wrote it off as a bad restaurant, and the food followed suit - completely night and day, flavourless and no presentation when the first time was so lovely.\r
\r
We ordered an antipasto appetizer (which BOTH servers almost begged us not to order - telling us our meals come with salad so why do we want an appetizer??), lobster bisque (which I will come to in a moment on quality, however BOTH servers also tried to get us to share the soup when we clearly ordered two bowls??), and two entrees. \r
\r
FIRST EXPERIENCE:\r
\r
The antipasto was wonderful, arrived as expected and all items were fresh. The lobster bisques arrived in delicious italian bread bowls, and was hands down the BEST lobster bisque we had in our lives - including against the real thing in Boston. I ordered a stuffed sole entree with angel hair pasta - to die for. My husband ordered a veal parmesan with linguine - was a bit dry and somewhat flavourless, but since the other food was so amazing, we didn't seem to notice his meal wasn't too good. \r
\r
In this first experience, the server fought with us every step of the way when ordering. She tried to persuade us not to order the appetizer, not to order the lobster bisque, we wanted to order two of the stuffed sole - but she wouldn't let us, telling us we had to have two different entrees and how could we order the same thing?? We didn't budge on the appetizer or the lobster bisque, but we did give in on the entrees ( A HORRIBLE IDEA, my husband would have enjoyed the meal much better had we both ordered the fish ). Overall, we let the lobster bisque and my meal (which we ended up sharing and throwing away the veal parmesan) shine as they rightly should have, and were excited to return. \r
\r
SECOND EXPERIENCE:\r
\r
We arrived, horrified to see the same waitress in the restaurant. We breathed a sigh of relief when another woman came and introduced herself as our waitress. However the relief was gone once she asked us for our drink order, as we requested to order the antipasto and two lobster bisques to start. She asked right away if we would be ordering entrees, when we said yes, she then started to try and talk us out of the soups and appetizer!!! I should have walked out immediately, but I was so looking forward to the food that I tried to not let the ridiculous service both me. We were extremely firm with this waitress, but she still told us that she wasn't going to come back to take our entree orders until we had finished the appetizer and soups??? I just said okay to get her away from the table. \r
\r
Our antipasto arrived first, with the presentation and taste exactly the same as expected. The night was off to a good start. But then the lobster bisques arrived. The first horror was that they were suddenly served in metal bowls instead of the wonderful bread bowl. We asked what happened, but the runner didn't seem to know what we were talking about. Upon opening the small bowls (they were cast-iron with lids), I was astonished to see a runny, thin mess. Nothing like the deliciously rich bisque we had tried just weeks prior. I tasted it, hoping it would taste the same, but it tasted just as bad as it looked. No flavour what-so-ever. Dismayed at what just happened, we decided to forget about the $10 a bowl soup and order our entrees. \r
\r
We had to literally call the waitress to order our entrees, and again fight to order. It seems that the stuffed sole was only a special, therefore I settled with the stuffed shrimp and my husband ordered lasagna. Both entrees arrived a little while later, and while the stuffed shrimp was again very good (the stuffing was the same as with the sole) the lasagna was flavourless and less than mediocre. \r
\r
Overall, the management in this restaurant should take a hard look at the staff they are employing - both in the kitchen and in the dining area. I am amazed that this restaurant has survived this long, and would not be surprised to hear that it does not survive this economy.
more