Mama Melrose: Loved it!

[PrincessKitty1]

DH and I ate at Mama Melrose for the first time last month. It gets such negative reviews on the DISboards that we were a bit nervous about trying it, and we're SO glad we did. We enjoyed the food, the service was excellent, and the restaurant design itself was classic (only a tiny bit kitschy) Italian.

I'm vegetarian, and our server (Euness) knew exactly which menu items were vegetarian. Although the roasted red pepper polenta is not on the menu as a separate side dish, Euness mentioned that I could also have it as a side.

I ended up ordering a side of the polenta and Vine-Ripened Tomato Flatbread with sweet basil pesto and caprino cheese. DH ordered Charred Butcher Tender Steak with gorgonzola butter on roasted red pepper polenta, grilled asparagus and red wine reduction.

The polenta could have used salt or a bit of sauce of some kind, but it was very tasty. I really liked my flatbread. I'd never heard of caprino cheese and was afraid I wouldn't like but, but it had a good, sharp flavor to it. The flatbread could have been hotter.

DH, who is VERY particular about his steaks, pronounced his steak as "pretty good."

We each had wine (two glasses of Merlot for DH, one glass of chardonnay for me) and for dessert, DH had cheesecake ("really good") and a coffee/amaretto/Starbucks liquer drink, while I had hot chocolate with whipped cream.

The whole experience of the restaurant, the service, and the company :lovestruc probably outweighed the quality of the meals, but I would still recommend Mama Melrose. We wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Our total bill, including drinks, dessert, and tip, came to right around $80.00. Here is the Mama Melrose menu for anybody interested:
http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_mmd.htm

Edited to add: I forgot to mention that we used DDE to get our outstanding price of $80.00 including drinks, dessert, and tip.

[ciera321]

Glad to hear a positive review. We have always enjoyed MM and thought the food and atmosphere was good. :goodvibes

[danalee]

I second that! We always go and love it~ Its my DH favorite place:goodvibes

[barbeml]

We've had great meals and excellent service at Mama Melrose. It's our favorite for the Fantasmic Dinner Package. Taking a group of six there in April.

Glad you enjoyed!

[Luv2Roam]

Thanks for sharing your experience! :flower3:

[xoprincessmomxo]

Thank you for your review! :goodvibes We've got adr's in August for the Fantasmic package. I'm excited to try it! :thumbsup2

[KatMark]

Thanks for sharing your review. Glad you enjoyed Mama Melrose. We do it every year we are at Disney--we have always had a great meal and great service when we are there.

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for posting.

[ppiew]

I second that review! We ate there on Tuesday nite this week and it far exceeded my expectations! Last time was 2 or 3 yrs ago and it was so so. This time it was super! We had Asparagus/Crab cream soup (out of this world) and I had the Penne alla vodka sauce and it was wonderfully spiced and served hot! Childs choices were good and certainly adequately portioned. Our table had the spaghetti with meat sauce and it was very good with a pronounced tomato taste but very meaty. Dessert of the ricotta cheesecake was out of this world! Our server 'Sam' was attentive and not overbearing at all. It added up to a really enjoyable evening and we will certainly go back again. (wine list was pretty good too!!))

[seetheworld]

I have been considering eating there again. You convinced me! Thank you!

[BKMETV]

Thanks for the review...I've been wavering back & forth between Mama's and Hollywood & Vine for my fantasmic pkg. I'm glad to see the positive reviews as I usually prefer sit down to buffet meals.

[ppiew]

BKMETV - you will definitely enjoy the 'sit down' at Mama Melrose's better than the buffet at H&V.. I have done them both and there is really no comparison in the food offerings.

[DebRMN]

I'm sure there is no comparison on food offerings, BUT would the buffet be a better choice with 3 kids (5.5y/o twins & a almost 3 year old)...or does it not really matter?

[BKMETV]

Thanks ppiew :)

[got2luvtink]

I've heard mix reports as well. Thanks for the good review.

[karajeboo]

Glad to see we're not the only fans of Mama's! We're going back in May and eating here with DH's whole family - everyone agreed based on our recommendation! I was starting to wonder after all the bad reviews we have read (we haven't eaten there since 2006) but I feel better now! Thanx for the review!

[VAN]

We are trying MM during the free dining plan in September. Like everyone else, I am hearing mixed reviews ... but will be adventurous and will try it.

Can you tell me more about the "Fantasmic Package" ... I know you get a special place to sit, but if I'm on the Dining Plan, can I get the seating at no charge.

Any info on this would be appreciated.

[drumsRdaBEST]

thanks!

[penjen]

My DH loves it there too. We are going again in August. DH loves the look of Mama Melrose he had a good dinner there too. I didn't love my dinner but I'm willing to try it again for DH :goodvibes

[ExtinctDino]

We are trying MM during the free dining plan in September. Like everyone else, I am hearing mixed reviews ... but will be adventurous and will try it.

Can you tell me more about the "Fantasmic Package" ... I know you get a special place to sit, but if I'm on the Dining Plan, can I get the seating at no charge.

Any info on this would be appreciated.
Yes, the Fantasmic package for Mama Melrose is a 1 TS credit on the DDP (Brown Derby would be 2 credits). There's no extra charge. More info here...

http://www.allearsnet.com/din/fantdin1.htm

[dizneychik]

Thanks for sharing! We will be visiting this summer and were wondering about the food and hoping to hear some positives.

[iluvpluto27]

Good to hear a positive review. I was actually nervous when I picked this restaurant last year because of all the bad reviews but it was much better than I expected.

[disneylaurie]

DH and I discussed going there in early December on our 10-day trip...sounds like a good meal, so I think we'll give it a try! :)

[dzneelvr]

We fell in love :lovestruc with Mamas on our first trip years ago when they made DS a chicken parmesan dish that wasn't on the meals particular menu...we add new experiences every trip, but always find Mamas to be the leader in service, staff friendliness, relaxed and unhurried atmosphere, and willingness to change up a few ingredients in a dish to satisfy the customer. Through the years it has never left our "must do's" list and we have 2 meal reservations with them when we go end of June! This Disney family can't say enough about Mama's!:worship:

[ADP]

It's kind of funny but this restaurant has made a noticable improvement over the past 2 years. We dined there last year and thought it was a terrific experience all the way around. Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke we dined there again and it was fabulous.

This is definately our new favorite TS restaurant at the Studios! :cool1:

[2crazy4disney]

We went in August 2006 and are going again this August. My family really liked it, appetizers were included at that time so we all got one with our meals.

This time we are going to order only a couple appetizers since they will be OP but the kids loved having those Italian foods. My kids loved the Chicken Parmesean. My oldest DS loves Tiramasu too.

It was nice to have a break from the character buffet style meals too.

DW, DH, DS 17, DD 13, DS 8

Driving from NY in August:)

[Silver Queen]

Add us to the list of very satisfied Mama Melrose diners. We were there in April and had the Fantasmic Package along with our DDP. The nice thing about that was that they included an appetizer for us since it was part of the Fantasmic Package. The sevice was terrific. We loved our waitress Emily and we really enjoyed our meals (this coming from an Italian). No question...we will return!