Dinner review of Mama Melrose

[Uncleromulus]

Should begin by saying MM wouldn't have been our first choice of restaurants that Tuesday night. But we wanted to see the Osborne Lights with as little hassle as possible (and we wanted to beat the mob comig from Fantasmic). Dinner at 5:00 at Mama's seemed to be the best way to go.
We arrived at 4:45 and were seated almost immediately. The restaurant was pretty crowded even then, and there were lots of kids. MM reminds me a lot of Macaroni Grill--at least with the look, feel, and wood-burning oven smell. Sadly, it's not as good and has nowhere near the menu offerings as Macaroni Grill.
Since Mama's has a "no free bread" policy, we decided to order the Artisan Breads and Spreads. This sounded pretty good, especially the four spreads that came with it. Unfortunately, conception exceeded execution . The bread was pretty much hard and dry, and the spreads couldn't rescue it from mediocrity. A waste of $6.99. But at least we had our wine, Long Island Ice tea and (for me) Moretti draft to sustain us until the appetizers arrived.
We had mixed results with these--the Mozzarella and Tomatoes were excellent. Just the right amount of vinegar and olive oil, 5 nice tomato slices and four large slices of mozzarella. The bruschetta was pretty disappointing-a flavorless mix of chopped marinated tomatoes over some hard, cold bread. The two caesar salads were pretty ordinary.
The entrees were pretty ordinary also. Three of our party ordered the flatbreads. These are listed as entrees, but frankly, they aren't much bigger than the appetizer flatbreads that you find at California Grill or Jiko. One was a four-cheese flat bread and the other a grilled chicken flatbread with tomato pesto and asiago cheese. Pretty tasty, but for a meal?? Not for Uncleromulus!!! I got the Chicken Parm over spaghetti. A modestly sized piece of chicken with the usual sauce and cheese on top. I can only compare it with the Chicken parm at Macaroni Grill and say it was a smaller portion and less tasteful.
Dessert followed--we all got Spumoni and/or vanilla gelato and some coffee.
Should add that service was good throughout the meal-not special, but good.
Overall, I'd give Mama Melrose a solid C-. Perhaps the highlight of our meal was walking out the door at 6:10 and being almost at the start of the Osborne Lights.

 

[OrlandoMike]

No free bread?

Reminds me of when I took a buddy to Pastamore at Citywalk when they first opened, no free bread back then, and my buddy was 100% Italian!

The manager sure got an education that night on feeding an Italian family!

"You bring the bread before you even take drink orders!"

 

[engle]

Sounds like my family's first trip Mama Melrose. Were 100% italian too.
No bread?!?!? My sister picked up her cell and called my dad to tell him of her horror....right there in the restaurant!! And then my whole family insulted the food as each course came out...mind you there were 12 of us there so you can imagine the number of entrees and insults!! They were good natured about it and we all had several good laughs at Mama's expense...and the service matched the food which didn't help.

This last trip, my niece remarked during planning..."Wherever we eat, please don't take me to that horrible mama place!"

 

[Uncleromulus]

I seem to recall a thread sometime ago about Mama disposing of the free bread. Didn't think much about it--then.

 

[OrlandoMike]

When I first moved to the Boston area I knew something was up with the Italians love affair with bread with their meals....

They serve bread in Chinese restaurants!

 

[LilGMom]

Funny how two people can have such opposite experiences at the same place.

My familiy ate at Mama Melrose in October and we loved it. While I really wish they provided complimentary bread (honestly how much could that cost?!?!) we found the Artisan Breads and Spreads very tasty and I almost had to arm wrestly my MIL for some of it. All of us practically licked our entree and dessert plates clean and we've added this to our "must do again" list.

On the other hand when DH & I tried the Macaroni Grill in our hometown we absolutely hated it and vowed to never return. We both thought Olive Garden was better than MG and we aren't OG fans.

 

[engle]

While I agree this can be about the food (some people LOVE Olive Garden, other of us think it is a step up from McDonald's when it comes to restaurants) there isn't really an argument about bad service or the fact that they DON'T offer FREE BREAD!!! Who does this?!?!?!? What could there rationale possibly be???? Especially being an Italian place! Does anyone know if Tutto Italia offers free bread?

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for another great review. I was surprised to see you posting a review of Mama Melrose.

 

[Robert P]

Good review.
Bad news abut the bread.

No Bread For You !! Next!!

 

[erikthewise]

It's been three years since we ate at Mama Melrose's. Our boys wanted to eat at Pizza Planet (which in retrospect would have worked better). They were hungry, and I assured them we would be given bread, because after all, this was an ITALIAN restaurant. As it turned out, we had to ask for it, and even then our server acted as if we were uncouth peasants who had mistakenly wandered in. But he did bring us bread. Apparently he is now running the restaurant!

An upscale Italian restaurant brings you olive oil with your bread instead of margarine, but they still bring bread! Mama Melrose's is hereby excommunicated --- they are no longer to be considered Italian. (now where did that Pope smiley go?)

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your review ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[fredw]

We ate at Tutto Italia last week and they do indeed bring you bread and olive oil before you even order. It was great. Service was fantastic as was the meal itself.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Your reviews are always spot on and great to read. I haven't been there in awhile. I was underwhelmed.

I thought the "no free bread thing" was odd but we weren't there for a meal. I needed to sit and have a glass of wine and a snack. The restaurant was empty at the time and I didn't know there is a bar over in Studio catering.

Your right about the atmosphere.

Only if the Brown Derby wasn't an option would I go there again.

 

[angela3676]

We were going to do MM on our next trip to WDW because we are doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package. I changed to H & V and now I'm glad I did. I guess I'll check out some reviews for H & V.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the review. We also ate early at MGM so we could beat the rush to see the Osborne lights. The only difference was we had dinner at the Brown Derby which we really enjoyed. The Osborne lights sure are something to see. I love how they dance to the music.

 

[BrookeMQ]

I was not impressed with the Artisan Bread appetizer either. I don't think I would want it even if it was free!

 

[BCV23]

Really too bad about the bread. Perhaps it was stale since no one wants to pay extra for bread!!!! I've noticed several places where bread is no longer automatically served at WDW but it is either unavailable now or served upon request. To have to pay extra is nuts!

Mama used to serve really good sour dough bread. I guess it is now out of fashion but I miss it.

We enjoy Mama's almost every trip for lunch. Actually can't remember the last time we missed it. But it does sound as if it can be a bit hectic during the Fantasmic rush.

Oh, I agree about the flatbreads size. They are perhaps a teeny bit larger than CG but not much. I seem to recall that they used to be listed as a separate category on the menu and one could order them as an appetizer or entree.

We do enjoy the service there though. Especially when we are lucky enough to have Kevin or Dori.