East Boca Raton, Italian. Re-rated down from to
Menu
Over twelve years ago I had first visited Maggiano’s Little Italy in Denver, Colorado. It was good then, and even better now. Especially the Maggiano’s in Boca Raton. Always easy to give a restaurant a 5-star rating when the food is great, price is right and atomosphere (live piano player) and service is unparalleled. Robert was our waiter. Tables are adorned with white tablecloth and the seating is comfortable. Robert introduced us to their pasta special. Buy one, take one home. For $12.95, you choose from one of their homemade meals: Mom’s Lasagna, Baked Ziti, Four Cheese Ravioli, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Baked Rigatoni Pomodoro, Spaghetti & Meatball, Fettuccine Alfredo, Eggplant Parmesan or Bowtie Aglio. Choose one for dinner, and choose one to take home … they could be the same or different! Basically you get two dinners for $12.95! And for a few dollars more you get a house salad. And complimentary … some of the best bread you have ever tasted.
I chose “Mom’s Lasagna”, and my dinner companion had their “Eggplant Parmesan.” Both pasta dishes were, simply put, fantastic! Great flavor, great taste. And portions … you better be hungry … they are huge portions. Desserts looked good, but I was too stuffed to consider it. Instead we had coffee. My companion had Cappuccino, and not only was it served with a cookie, but it also came with a glass of Sambucca (Anisette) licorice liquor with coffee beans. What a nice extra!
Then just before your check arrives, Robert asked what we wanted to take home. I thought he was kidding. I ordered the eggplant and she ordered the Bowtie Aglio. Robert then brought over two prepackaged dishes neatly packed into a to go bag. So we have dinner for the night, and one more for tomorrow night.
And the tastes/flavors are excellent! I’ll be back soon again … think I will get the Baked Ziti on my next visit … everything looks so good.
Based on such a superb performance, I revisited Maggiano’s Little Italy in Boca Raton this evening (10/6/2012). Saturday evening, not overly busy, several empty tables. I think we were just very lucky during my first visit in September. We sat at the same table, however this evening our waitress was Rachel (RACHELT238). Rachel was awful. Seemed like she had no experience, however when we asked we learned that she has been with Maggiano’s for some time. Very disorganized. Food was good, however we received dinner before salad. When we asked that dinner be reheated, we got a bit of an attitude. Dessert was a fiasco. We received the dessert item almost immediately, however coffee and tea took nearly 40 minutes to arrive, and that’s after reminding the waitress several times. Finally one of her helpers delivered beverages. Next we had to wait another 15 minutes for cream and honey. Also ordered a shot of Sambucca, and it came about 10 minutes later. Next we needed a spoon to stir coffee and tea. No matter how often we asked, it never came. Finally I got up, went to the kitchen and got it myself. We also needed water refill, and after about 25 minutes wait, Rachel came by to fill my cup, but completely ignored any other empty cup on the table. If this was my first visit and based on Rachel’s poor service, Maggiano’s would have received 3 stars for food quality, not service quality. However during our first visit the service was outstanding, so restaurant rating was down graded from 5 stars to 4 stars. By the way, Rachel was never very busy … preferred to visit with patrons on two of her 5 tables. She is just not good. She looks good which is probably why management completely avoided our complaints. Perhaps this review will bring service issues to the attention of management, and, perhaps a 5-star rating is possible again in the future.
Located at 21090 Saint Andrews Boulevard, Boca Raton, FL 33433
(561) 361-8244
Reviewed, September 2012.
