Marco Italian Restaurant

I met a friend for dinner at Marcos in Vista. I know they’ve been there forever but this was absolutely the worst food I have had in many years :(I had the lasagna and my friend had the eggplant parmigiana. Both dishes were so bland and tasteless that I still can’t believe it. Just horrible. The closest thing I can think of is hospital or perhaps a grade school cafeteria. Maybe. The atmosphere is also very tacky, dark, dingy and not clean. Save your time, your money and go somewhere else.

Love this place. It is so romantic and the best mom n pop place for Italian food. #homemade

Food was excellent but because the waitress didn’t fully understand the menu we were charged $ 3 more just to have Angel hair pasta on the primavera. A shame because it was a nice hole in wall ITALIAN restaurant that we just happened upon during our travels.

I rated Marco Italian Restaurant as 5-star…I typically only Unilocal places I find incredibly amazing. I debated, however, whether or not to rate it a 4 because of the restaurant’s décor. However, I realized how flipping amazing their décor is after all. It’s so dated and looks like a dive, but that’s what gives it so much character and removes it from any other Italian restaurant around. Family owned and just so fantastic. Being that I am Italian and was raised in an Italian household by authentic Italian family members who lived their entire lives in Italy and New York… I know great Italian food and this place exceeds my/​my families expectations. The daughter was our server, very sweet and delivered great service. The father seated us and checked in on us fairly frequently throughout our dining experience. And the mother, of course, did the cooking. I ordered eggplant parm, a dish I am particularly picky about, and was so happy with it. I don’t recall what my brother, father, and stepmother ordered… but they licked their plates clean. We polished off two bottles of great wine, exchanged great conversation with the family owners and each other, spent about an hour and a half their happily, and felt blessed we had discovered such a great hole in the wall. My dad begged I didn’t Unilocal Marco Italian Restaurant because he wanted to make it our best kept secret, but I figure I would help bring them much deserved business in order to keep the restaurant standing forever :) that’s how much I love it. Please try this place! I hope you enjoy the divey décor as much as I do. photos coming soon.

We are new to the Vista area and we have been trying all the local flair. We tried Marco last night as we love Italian food but we were extremely disappointed from the start. Our service was so, so slow! The garlic bread was very good and a nice feature but they were not very forthcoming with it and we only each received 2 slices total. The salad and soup were so-​so, nothing fancy. My wife had eggplant parmigiana and I had cannelloni with white sauce. Neither was bad, it was just very generic considering it was nearly $ 20 a plate. If you’re interested in Italian, go down the street to Ciao Restaurant which is far better!

Not Authentic Italian AT ALL!
First off, my wife and I came in with an appetite. After getting excited about the Chicken Lemon and myself ordering my usual Lasagna we realized the food was going to be bad by the taste of the appetizing soup that was brought. Watered down Minestrone soup with frozen vegetables in it, and a table salad. The atmosphere was sort of nice with a dark ceiling and a below average lit room with Italian music in the background. Nice paintings on the wall. The real feel of what your in for comes when you use the restroom…
When the arrived I noticed huge amounts of oil on my wife’s plate and watered down sauce on my Lasagna. My wife loves lemon but when she tasted her dish she was bothered by the over use of lemon juice on her thawed out, microwaved, chicken. Thats right the chicken was frozen, and you could tell cause it wasnt even chewable. My Lasagna had more oil than tomatoe sauce…
The waitress was nice, the owner was nice, but the food was over priced and cheap quality. My bill totalled $ 55.67 for 2 dishes and 3 beers.
Just an FYI people.
I appreciate great Italian Food, but I honestly would have felt better going to ⁷⁄₁₁ instead of this place.

Interesting décor… very New Jersey. Service needs a bit of an adjustment. No need to take anything too seriously. Garlic bread was good, meal was a little bland… no biggie, a decent meal. Just OK.

My parents were coming here nearly 40 years ago when they were dating. This place is almost a family tradition and I always feel awesome when I’m greeted with, «Hello young lady» every time I see the owner. I hope he doesn’t retire, because I would love for him to cater my wedding should that day come. And a white wedding dress and spaghetti you say? It’s worth the risk-​yes it’s that good!!!

Been going to this wonderful authentic Italian restaurant for over 25 years! The chicken dishes from Lemom to Marsala are excellent!
I remember ordering Pizza here as a child and my mom wasn’t to happy about that! Lol… But brought my girlfriend recently and ordered the typical «Adult» meals, but ordered that delicious pizza to go! Ha
We reside about an hour away but won’t hesitate to come to Marco when craving great Italian!

1-​They were really stingy on the garlic bread, had to beg for more. They were definitely holding back on it big time. They gave one sandwich-​like slice per person. Bread was really good.
2-​The meal was ok but more of a sloppy-​joe type sauce than Italian. They use angel hair pasta for the spaghetti.
3-​Waitress-​Service was a «pass», but the greeter (owner) never said a single word to us even when he brought us the check, but was super friendly and chatty with Caucasian customers. I was hoping to engage in conversation with him but he seemed standoffish with us.
Because of these points that are important to me, I would not recommend this place to anyone and I’ll just move on to another friendlier hospitable place. Good thing there are many hospitable places out there that make you feel welcomed and know how to treat thier customers. Sorry Marco Italian Restaurant, you failed.

I have been here before and it was good.
Unfortunately last night was the last night I will ever step in this restaurant again
We were seated by the owner with a smile
Waited at least 10 min before we saw a server and when she showed up wanted our order
I told her we would like some water and a bottle of wine. She insisted that we order everything then as she explained that’s the way we do it here. Well that’s not the way I like to enjoy a dinner out! Maybe we could of enjoyed a bottle of wine and looked over the menu. Nope not with her
Needles to say we left and went elsewhere
Service is everything to me and trust me if your looking for it here turn around and run
Rude to say the least
What a shame F in my book

Great place. I feel like I’m in a different country when visiting Marco. Very intriguing décor. Great lasagne and wine. Perfect for a quiet relaxing dinner out after a long busy day. Ahhhh

It has been several years since I had dined at this restaurant. While the atmosphere and service were the same (nice and friendly), I didn’t remember the prices being so high.
We had the Eggplant Parmigiana and Lasagna and the portions were at least half the size that I am used to receiving when we order these same items at other restaurant. The lasagna was only about an inch high on the plate. Normally, I would have enough for leftovers the next day, but I did not in this case. The food tasted good, however, it just seemed like the prices were very steep for a small, casual restaurant in Vista.

First visit tonight, actually, I never finished writing this review and we went back for our second visit last night. We have a new favorite comfort place. The food is delicious and tastes of homemade. The waitress was attentive and very nice, and remembered details from our first visit, rare quality. I don’t know if my review is jaded, because the garlic bread was like my moms, the lasagna was like mine, and the chicken Parmesan was the best I’ve had. I see now how they survive only serving dinner and have been for over 30 years. The cannoli was awesome also. Can’t wait to go back!

Yuck. Got the Alfredo, salad and bread. Salad and bread were good but the Alfredo was awful. Tried this place one other time and also wasn’t impressed. Won’t be back

I have been coming to Marcos since 1998. We love the old school «boobie» statues as the kids call it and the private tables, awesome Italian ambience! But the food… Mama makes some epic pasta! My fav is the tortellini with Rose sauce. Marco will seat you and make you laugh and the servers are always so sweet. It’s a little pricy but worth it. Everything is fresh and authentic.

This place is fabulous! Super cute atmosphere. Very intimate. Dimly lit. Italian music playing. Paintings of Italy on the walls. Statues. The moscato was delicious! My bf & I got a bottle for $ 20. I got the eggplant parmigiana. Pretty good. Came with bread & a choice of soup or salad. The bread here is delicious! I got the minestrone soup. I think the 1 @ Olive Garden is better but it was still pretty good. My bf got the chicken Alfredo which was good also. He got the salad. Good too! The waitress was nice. The owner seated us which was kinda cool. Overall good night! If it’s your bday they give you a free ice cream which is also good. Looking forward to going back to try the veal which I hear is delicious!

This was a one star review as I was upset and sitting at the table… however they made it right. You could tell they were in way over their heads, the restaurant was packed and they had a staff of 3.
My food was wrong and by that point I had given up as everyone else was eating, I asked for my food to just simply be taken off the check as I didnt want to hold up the rest of my group further.
They did so, they also brought complimentary dessert to our table as well as my correct dish all packed up in to-​go fashion.
Did I have the best experience? No. But they care about their customers and wanted to make it right — Ill try them again.
Bravo for caring, and owning up to a service mishap.

I really liked this place! Don’t go into this place thinking you are going to some fancy shmancy american Italian restaurant, this is an authentic ma and pop straight from Italy type place. It reminds me of when I lived in Italy and would eat at family homes and have good home cooked meals.
I loved the fact that they made a lot of the noodles from scratch, that the garlic bread was simple and delicious and they didn’t skimp on it!
I wish I could have gone back on this trip! Hopefully I’ll be back down this way!

So… like I said in my check-​in for this place, we have been out here in SoCal since the later part of ’86 and we have never been here (and I’m pretty sure this place has been here since then). We’ve driven past it a million times and we always say «gee…we gotta try that place». Well… we finally did!!!
Didn’t really have any plans for the night, but didn’t feel like cooking either. Had a hankering for some Italian food too. Now, even though I’m very proud to be a good Irishman… I also got a little Italian in me too. And I am from Jersey… LOL. We’ve been looking for a good Italian place since we’ve been here, but to no avail. Someplace just like back home. And this place is it!!!
When we got there, there didn’t seem to be too many cars in the lot, but they had a good many of their tables filled when we walked in. We were seated right away, which was nice. The ambiance is sort-​of cheesy… LOL. The ceiling is painted black with silver sparklely things to give it the appearance that you’re sitting outside. Lots of brick faced (appearing) walls, lots of empty Italian wine and liquor bottles, and lots of statues (at least eight in our dining room… I felt like I was being watched… LOL).
Now onto the good stuff…
We weren’t too hungry, so we skipped on the appitizers. As an entrée I got the meat ravioli with marinara and cheese. June had the spinach stuffed manicotti. For both dishes, the pasta was cooked perfectly. And the marinara… sweet and creamy. Dare I say it… almost better than what mom used to make (she probably turned in her grave on that one).
No room for desert afterwards, so we got a couple cannoli’s to go. When I finally did get the room it was like heaven and earth coming together. So rich… so decadent, and so yummy! It was awesome! Definitely worth a return trip (or two)…