First time. Really liked it. Â We sat in the room closer to the bar. Â Nice atmosphere. Â Ht either side was brighter and quieter. Â Depends on what you like. We were early so many of the clientele were older as you would expect at early on a Saturday. Â I had the veal satenbucca (sorry for the spelling). Â Came with a salad also. Â Hot, fresh....very good. Â They also served some complimentary bruschetta and lemon sorbet between courses. Â Nice touch. Â Bread service came with some excellent garlic herb oil. Had the tiramisu for desert. Â Love desert. Â Partner had a strawberry napaletano. Â Â Service was good. Â Â Nice pace. Â Waiter didn't have ,uh of a personality but did a fine job. Â Overall.....yes pricy for the neighborhood but a good value. Â I will go back for dinner and would like to have a drink at the bar
Review Source:Great experience!
We were referred to Mario's while searching for a venue to host a gathering and we are so glad that we went with them. We had a private room for a group of about 30 ppl and went with the buffet style menu. Â The room itself was lovely and they were very attentive with set up and our requests. Food was delicious, stand outs were penne vodka and chicken marsala. Desert was also great, I can't stop thinking about those mini cannolis :) We had both red and white sangria in our package and they were both very tasty. Michael and Luis were so great about checking in with us and making sure everything was going smoothly, something we greatly appreciated. Overall, I would highly recommend Mario's for private events or just a nice dinner out!
Food: 1.5*
Nectar: 1*
Ambiance: 2**
I'm local and like any wise New Jerseyean, will firmly deny that the mafia exists. Â But this place has some colorful characters: a few posers but a couple who are the real deal. Â It actually adds a little charm, which is good, because its more interesting than the food. Â I hope the 'side' business is doing better than the front.
There are three environments to this restaurant. Â The outside has a few tables that make for a good place to sip a drink on the sidewalk. Â For some reason, they mounted a television to the exterior wall to gawk at sports - so much for people watching. Â If you are wondering why no one has stolen a 57"-inch flatscreen TV that is sitting outside, please see the above paragraph.
Moving inside, there is a dark bar which draws a few crooners to the piano. Â Here, they have snacks of intermediate quality...pseudo-Kobe beef sliders, squishy dead squid and possibly a slice. Â With only two beers on tap, you give up and try the house wine. Â Please don't give up. Â The chianti and cabernet taste like they have been sitting in a huge recycling vat of leftover bottles. Â The tinny, oxidized taste foreshadows the flashing-light migraine you'll get if you have a second glass.
Peering into the main dining room from the bar, you decide to stay put. Â Geriatrics hobble on walkers between tables and share plates of pasta between puffs on their inhalers. Â One family wheeled grandma to a large table. Â The poor thing was slumped over, passed out face-first into her ziti, air hose from her oxygen tank snaked up under the red sauce so she could breathe. Â I envied her.
The Hotzie-totsie shrimp are pretty good, but occasionally have the same consistency of the limp calamari from the bar. Â Likely they use the same days-old fry grease for both. Â The pizza is flat, predictable and good with a beer. Â Veal and pork chops are filling, solid but nothing special. Â I then walked around the back and spied packages of BARILLA PASTA through the kitchen window. Â If I'm paying $25 for pasta, it better goddam well be fresh! Â Their sauce is good, but don't get suckered into a pasta dish. Â The servers are even laughing when you order it - they know you are a rube.
For all of this, the menu is somewhat pricey. Â With a bit more outlay, there are other very good restaurants in the Union and Kenilworth area which will give you a better experience. Â Hit the bar for karaoke night, a pre-dinner beer, and then move on for supper elsewhere. Â You'll have lots to talk about over your meal!
Food is always very solid. Â Always an interesting crowd. Â Try the veal meatball. Â It's the size of a volleyball, but tastes significantly better than one. Â The vartender is a bit of a character, but makes it entertaining. Â The only knock on the place is it's pretty void of warmth but a great, old style italian place.
Review Source:I liked this place the first time I went enough to go a second time. But after my last visit, I will never go back. Seafood is not fresh at all. I ordered the tuna for my dinner and after taking one bite, I spit it out. Awful. When I asked to speak to the manager the server was kind of rude. And they seemed surprised that I didn't want to order anything else.. my date had a seafood grilled combo, which was just as bad. Calamari was meh. Wine was good though.. atmosphere is romantic. But the food is blah!
Review Source:Came here once a few years ago been meaningto go back. Fantastic! I had the chicken francese and my boyfriend had veal. In between our meals they gave us tiny lemon sorbet cones to cleanse the palate! Love this idea more places should do it! Not too crowded but I'd definitely call before you go.
Review Source:Too damn snooty is what I would call this place. We had just landed at Newark from a trans-continental flight. My friend asked if I knew a good Italian place in the area. We went to Mario's. Upon entering we were asked if we wanted to check our coats. I said no thanks. The hostess said "well you can't put them over your chairs in here." I looked at the very empty dining room and then looked at my friend and said "we're out of here." I haven't and never will go back.
They can keep their pretensiousness. I mean get real! This is just a neighborhood place in Union.
I went to this place a few days ago. I had passed by it so many times and had never thought of actually eating there. Anyway, decided to give it a shot.
There are 2 sides of the restaurant, Â a classy romantic type room well decorated and there is this other room, with more of a pub feeling, close to a bar. That is where they sat us.
The athmosphere is pretty decent, the bar has some doors to keep things separate but towards the end of the evening they kinda open them up, to kinda let the ambiance flow a little into the general room.
As some have said here, it is pricey considering the location. Average dinner entree is mid 20's to mid 30's. However the quality of the food is excellent. Service is awesome and well spaced, but fast.
I had broiled salmon with garlic butter sauce, fingerling potatoes and veggies. My company has pasta with clams. Portions were generous the flavour was great. They also served some sorbet right before the main entree to clear your palate, which i thought was very nice and rarely seen.
They provided a nice dish of olives and some bruschetta, for which they did not charge extra. We did not have dessert, so we cannot comment on that. Â At the end i walked away with the impression that considering all you get, the price is right, and i will definetely go back.
Being a Union native, and someone who lives around the block from Mario's (now called Tutto Bene Trattorria), I have been to Mario's a good amount, and for different occasions. Regardless of the occassion, the food, service, and overall feeling has been very good.
It has a romantic feel for those who want to go on a date or two there, but it also has a laid back feel by the small bar area. I'm someone who usually gets the same thing (obviously based on which restaraunt I'm going to), so I can't comment on the wealth of dishes...however, I CAN comment on the pastas, salads, and anti-pastos there -- delicious.
I also like the fact that they continue an old tradition of giving their customers mini cones filled with sorbet between the appetizer and the main course to cleanse the pallet -- something you will really appreciate.
Definitely would recommend Mario's to anyone.
Pretty good place, if a little spendy for a neighborhood joint.
The food was all very tasty. Our party all liked their entrees which included the chicken savoy, stuffed chicken breast, angel hair pasta and chicken florentine.
They didn't have any allergy-friendly options for us but they were willing to boil pasta and steam some veggies. I give them points for that since not every restaurant is willing to do so.
Their beer selection was pretty minimal (for snotty Portland beer drinkers anyway). Lots of nasty American beers (Coors, Michelob, etc.), with the best (and darkest) option being a Sam Adams lager.
I'm not sure if I'd go back but overall it was a good experience. Pretty family friendly, though it also seems to cater to the "romantic" set as well. I'm not sure how happy those couples were to have 2 rambunctious (and jetlagged) kids sharing their dinner experiences though.
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