Mario’s Ristorante

We visited Mario’s on 6÷18÷16, Wednesday evening. My husband had the eggplant parmesan & I spagetti & meat sauce. Both were very good. They serve a small salad & bread with the meal. Everything is made fresh. Small neighborhood family run restaurant. Lightning was a little dark. But it is very clean. Music was nice. We would recommend and return.

Just pulling out of the parking lot of this unassuming restaurant front and we are beyond satisfied with the atmosphere, service, price, and most importantly the authentic dishes! We’ll be back!

Cute little place with great Italian food! I got spaghetti with clams, my husband got spaghetti and meatballs. It was delicious, we would definitely recommend this place!

Strictly Italian, which was great. Very quaint and felt like home. I’m sure if you discover this place you“ll never regret it and come back.

Outstanding Italian food! Cooked by real italians! Get there early to get, a seat, there’s only around 10 tables, very quaint. Don’t miss this one!

I’m giving four stars for the fact that people who run this are very nice and the place is charming. I thought sauce was a acidic, but that could be me. Should have a better bread for an Italian restaurant. Pasta was perfect and salad was very good.

Chicken Piccatta was excellent. My husband liked the Calamari Tuscan. We were seated in a reasonable time as we were there on a Friday at 5:15 but the waits got longer as the evening went along. They do not take reservations so I wouldn’t suggest it for more than a couple of people on a Friday night unless u don’t mind a wait. Would have been a 5 star if the service had been a little faster. We will be returning to try out more items from their menu.

The tomato basil soup is fabulous. I also ordered the eggplant Parmesan which wasn’t my favorite. The eggplant was not breaded which means that it was a bit mushy due to the naturally soft texture of eggplant. The portion was also small for the $ 16 price. Service was excellent

OMG! I don’t care if you are a tourist or a local… you have got to check out Mario’s Ristorante on Gulf Blvd in Madeira Beach.
First the house Chianti was good — not great but pretty darn good. The salad had an interesting mix of vegetables and cheese — the balsamic vinaigrette was divine. BUT… the chicken picatta was to die for! It’s my favorite but here — it is so much more. The sauce was fantastic (I had it without the mushrooms). The portion size was perfect and the spaghetini was excellent = cooked to perfection. My companion had the chicken parmigiana and raved about the tenderness of the chicken and the sauce. I sneaked a taste of the red sauce — excellent!
We ended the meal with decaf coffee (smells divine) and lemoncello cake. The perfect end to the perfect meal.

Oh man, at the end of a good long winter vacation in Florida, this place was one of my personal highlights of the vacation.
The atmosphere is warm and friendly; a great location for date night. We went around 5:45 on a Thursday night and were seated promptly and allowed to pick our own table. There were only a few other people when we came in, and it filled up a bit after a little while but was not crowded or loud. Our server was attentive but not overly so, and he was polite; about average. The owner flitted around and was even more attentive; her ability to keep an eye on all her patrons was impressive!
If you have an appreciation for the little things about Italian food that make it SO good, or are an aficionado like myself, raised on the homemade Italian classics, this place is tops! To start, my salad was one of the best I’ve ever had (and this is coming from a girl who usually doesn’t like salad much). It was topped with plenty of shredded mozzarella (yum) and a delicious balsamic vinagrette, made with fantastic fresh olive oil.
For an entrée, I ordered the spaghettini with marinara and Italian sausage. The sauce was «holy moley!» good. Nothing store bought or fake about this stuff; it’s clearly homemade by someone who knows what she’s doing! It and the slightly spicy sausage were absolutely delicious, just like the Italian food I grew up with and it was topped with just a touch of fresh basil.
Overall, this place is a delicious little hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant with food to be proud of! I only wish I had more room to enjoy; I was so full when we left, I even brought leftovers. Hopefully I can eat them before we head home. :) if you’re in the area, this little place is an excellent stop for good homemade food. I know we’ll be back for more!

Real good italian cuisine… this place will not disappoint… small place but big big flavor… Fabiola is a genuine southern italian cook who is available to her customers.. We will definitely be back.-.DiMarcos

In town from Cleveland, looking for some tasty fresh Italian and this was the place!!! Fast friendly service, & large portions of delicious Italian food! The mushroom pasta was garlicky & fabulous, big meatballs for the spaghetti, and the penne ariabiatta was fantastically spicy! This place is a must!

We eat here every time we are in the area. They serve world class Italian food. Staff is very friendly. Don’t miss it.

An excellent little place you don’t want to miss. It’s located in a strip mall off Gulf Hiway but don’t let that stop you. It was well worth our stop for dinner.
I had pasta with sausage and garlic/​olive oil. It was the best sausage ever, especially with the garlic and olive oil.
My wife had the Baked Ziti. A little spicy for her but very tasty.
Huge portions for both entries. The bread was good, too.
Worth another stop next time we are in town.

Excellent. I’m Italian, and was not disappointed. So good from start to finish! Highly recommend!

Why five stars, because they mailed it across the board, as soon as we walked in we were greeted promptly, then we were asked if we wanted a drink or would like time to look at the menu, when we ordered a bottle of wine the server did exactly what he was supposed to do when serving wine.
The food came out perfectly timed him with us finishing our salads, it was hot and delicious, that’s the main thing.
We had spinach ravioli with a side of meatballs, and veal scallopini, all was excellent, for dessert we had the lemon cake which was awesome.
The young man who was our server was excellent we would highly recommend the place, we did drive 18 miles to get there but it was worth it.

Unbelievable! Authentic Italian, great little place and additional bar seating. who Cares that its in a Shopping center! Great secret restaurant.
Service was great and accomodating.
Bread was right out of the oven, fresh and tasted great.
Antipasto appetizer had awesome Italian meats (photo says it all)
Veal Saltimbocca had to of been in a top 5 for me and going to some of the best Italian restaurants in the U.S. (Il Mulino in NYC) I’d say this dish was right up there.
He had the Zuppa del Pesce which was also excellent and freshest catch with FL grouper. Red sauce was very homemade and good.
Desert was limoncello Marscapone. .just delicate and perfectly sweet.
Great wine list with the red selection of Banfi region. Get the Super Tuscan or Brunello.
Espresso was great.
Overall, glad they were open as it was our last night on the beach and vacation for that matter, so, indulge! !! Or, like he said, «Manga» **eat, eat!

Ate there after reading reviews. The pasta for the baked ziti was hard. The spaghetti didn’t have a good flavor and the lasagne was only so so. The smell when you walked into the restaurant was strong burnt wood I have nothing nice to say about this restaurant. Even the garlic cheese bread is better in the grocery store

This is like a hidden secret! This was a very cute restaurant along the beach that I would have never known was there if it wasn’t for Unilocal.Although very small the service and food were amazing!
They have spinach ravioli on special which was to die for, I chose marinara sauce to put on top but it wasn’t just stuffed with spinach the ravioli noodles themselves were spinach too! Brandon has chicken parmigiana and he was very impressed too.
As an appetizer we had garlic cheese bread that was very tasty, there was tons we tried not to get full on it before our meals came.
This place is literally right down the road from us, I cannot believe we’ve never been here before but we will be back for sure.

This is our go-​to place in Florida. We are in from Michigan a few times a year and we head here every time for our first dinner in Florida. We are never disappointed. Who would expect such flavor and freshness hidden in this strip mall. The owner/​chef is a delight. She makes the tomato basil soup from her homegrown ingredients, and it shows. I always get the spaghetti and meatballs (I usually have a little left for lunch the next day) and my husband orders the veal saltimbocca — and it’s the best I have ever had. I just can’t say enough about this place. Try it and you will be back.