Mario's Mondo Café

3 of us went on a friday night. prices in this place are high. chicken 15-20
veal 25-30, seafood i didnt even bother looking because it was high too.
we ordered  lasagna which was good. then chicken vesuvio which was bland, barely marinated. veal for 27$ was horrible , not marinated and the mushrooms seemed like they were cooked for 2 minutes. in general food was bland, zero flavor. soup , some shrimp based concoction was watered down so they could get more out.
the place was full, its almost like people (the regulars) dont know any better.
the italian man who seemed like the owner was all about counting money. i bet if he tasted the food he would have a heart attack.. there are much better places than this..

Last night: Almond Cilantro Creme Cold Soup, Grilled Octopus, Gnocchi in tomato cream with peas, salads. ALL outstanding. We enjoyed sitting outside with an excellent bottle of Willamette Pinot Noir we brought from home . We have visited this place 5 times and with exception of one serving of "fishy" mussels, we love this place. Great staff and excellent Italian cooking with imaginative specials. This place is unpretentious and reasonable. We love the fact that it BYOB. Please give it a try.

This is a great BYOB place with a cork fee. Mario is the nice older Italian owner.

The place is tiny with a maximum of 14 tables. Make a reservation as close to opening time as early as possible on a Friday or Saturday. Tables do not free up and you can wait 2 hours+ to get seated. People take their time drinking their brought wine and beer. I've seen tables with multiple 6-packs and several bottles of wine here.

Groups with 10 people are common on weekends. If you can go on an off night and want to BYOB, come here. It's a nice party.

The food is bland. Spaghetti is pre-coded and reheated. Mine has never been drained well and when the sauce is added, it makes a watery spaghetti dish. The pesto is salty with no flavor. The Italien sausage plate is good...it's hard to screw that up.

The tea, coffee and Pelligrino waters are good here.

The service is bad especially if you are in a hurry. They leave you alone here. That part reminds me of most places I've eaten at in Italy. Weekends often have a musician playing and that's a nice touch.

I'd rate it higher but the prices are way too high for the quality of food. I go only for Mario and the music...and it's close to where I live.