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Amore Mangola's Italian Restaurant (CLOSED)

MY REVIEW: First time visit since they reopened after the fire. We were looking forward to this visit, since we had fond memories from a previous visit. Perhaps it was an omen that there were only two tables in use when we arrived at 6:30 on a Saturday. It’s not unusual for popular restaurants to have a 30+ minute wait at 6:30 on a weekend. Not surprisingly the service was fine with so few in attendance.

Nothing has changed since my 10/31/05 review. The garlic toast was excellent; the shrimp pasta dinner was very good with plenty of shrimp. The house salad was so bad we could not eat it! Unlike a previous reviewer, our house salad came with a tasteless vinaigrette; no tomato, olives, carrots - only lettuce, a little onion, and a tasteless vinaigrette; never had a worse salad. We let them take it away. We also tried their Baked Italian Sampler (Lasagna, Meatballs, Ravioli, and Manicotti). Unfortunately the dish it was served in was too small for all four so it contained only a single bite of lasagna. The dish was good, but too expensive for the serving size; no meat except the meatballs, especially w/o the lasagna.

Bottom Line: VERY poor house salad, with good (above average?) entrees. I doubt we return since the competition is too stiff and we like salads. I 2005 I wrote, "Our only real complaint was the side salad; they can do better than shredded lettuce garnished with tomato and grated carrot." Well on 2013 that is still our complaint - the salad is even worse!?

NAME: msu79gt82
SUBMITTED: 1/14/2013   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/13
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: This restaurant gets an F! We went here for a birthday celebration. Everyone ordered the mahi mahi. It was served over noodles with lump crab over the fish, First there were only two table occupied when we went in and it took the waiter 25 minutes to come back to ask us if we wanted appertizers. After taking that order it took 25 minutes to get that. We had to tell him that we were ready to order our meal. The food took another 50 minutes. The food was bland.Especially the noodles. There was no lump crab meat on the fish! Especially the noodles. The fish was dry. It was the worst food I have ever tasted in a restaurant in Houston. The cook (chef) needs to fired.

NAME: Dusty
SUBMITTED: 6/24/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: June/2012
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: My husband and I celebrated our anniversary at Mangolas, Wednesday, February 29th...we had called a few days before for reservations. We were warmly greeted by Roberto and another staff member - we were then seated at a table back in a secluded, cozy corner. The evening couldn't have been better!

We started with the seafood bisque which I had read reviews about on this blog. It was DELICIOUS!!!! House salad with Mangola's cream Italian next - another thumbs up! I had the Mahi Mahi Pontchartrain - huge, delicious slab of Mahi Mahi topped with shrimp and crab meat! My husband had the Pescotare! Both entrees were fabulous!

Although we were both stuffed to the gills, we had to get the tiramisu to bring home...we haven't had that yet but know it will be wonderful!

Just wanted to rave about the food and especially the wonderful service we received from Roberto...Roberto was personable, attentive, and so accommodating! He made our anniversary one to remember for sure!!!

NAME: Deb
SUBMITTED: 3/1/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/2012
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Food is great. They will customize to your liking. One of the best things about the restaurant is the staff. They take care of without being over attentive. They care and show it.

NAME: ss
SUBMITTED: 2/2/2012   LAST VISIT WAS: 1/24/2j012
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: This was out first time at Mangola's, but it certainly won't be our last! The atmosphere is inviting and the waitstaff is friendly and attentive without hovering. We chose two appetizers; spinach cakes and the calamari. Both winners. They were cooked just right and very flavorful.

My wife had the linguine feta, with fresh tomatoes, in a garlic butter sauce. It was delicately seasoned, so as to taste everything equally.

I had the ossu buco. It was on the "Specials" menu, and for good reason. It was as good as anything I've ever had. Fork tender and truly delicious. The sauce/gravy could stand alone as a meal, in my opinion. It blended very well with the mashed potatoes. The asparagus was cooked perfectly, retaining some of its crispness.

The dessert of Italian cream cake followed suit for quality. Moist and rich, as it should be.

If you're looking for a new Italian restaurant, I suggest giving Mangola's a try. You won't be disappointed.

NAME: PJT 310
SUBMITTED: 7/31/2011   LAST VISIT WAS: July/ 2011
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: The best place to have lunch. Every time that I need to relax and have a good time I think in Mangolas. Its a nice place, the people there are so friendly and the food, OMG I really loved! I like to take my time and enjoy my meal. Some times I stop before to go home and I take some drinks waiting that the trafic is gone. I have to say that is my favorite place ever.

NAME: food lover
SUBMITTED: 8/13/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2010
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: This is the very worst meal we had on a Sunday evening. There are 8 of us. Three of us ordered pasta in soup with seafood. My husband had this dish before and recommended it. There is pasta, 2 shrimps and scallops which were tasteless and cooked frozen. Soup is water. There was a big piece of fish when he had it before. We also ordered mussels as appetizer. There were only about 12 smallest mussels and again tastelss. Other guests ordered pasta. From the look of it, there was only pasta. The best though is hot garlic bread. This family neighborhood restaurant used to offer good food. Something is very wrong. It is doubtful we'll go back.

NAME: nhgy
SUBMITTED: 6/11/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: May/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Terriby disappointing. Food was from mediocre to terrible. Also extremely expensive for what they (don't)give you. I ordered the salmon and scallops with dill sauce. The scallops were tiny and hard to find and if the whole piece of salmon weighed 3 ozs. I would be amazed. Served with pasta and four asparagus. Fish was dry and tasteless. My wife had the stuffed flounder which was a better choice and our guest had the seafood pescatore, horribly disappointing and lacking in seafood. Keep in mind these are $19 and $20 dishes served with no salad, which was extra. There are far better values and quality to be had in Houston.

NAME: Houston Fred
SUBMITTED: 4/24/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: April/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: The menu is extensive, but some items are average at best and overpriced. Still, my wife and I have found a few meals that are quite good and perhaps even EXCELLENT!! The eggplant parmesan is the absolute best we have found in Houston, while their pasta Bolognaise is different and quite good in a non-typical type way. Salads are above average for this type of restaurant and you can do much worse here in Houston with bread!

Atmosphere and service are a little rough around the edges, but I like to think it gives the place character….something missing from most of our cookie cutter restaurants.

Location is close to our home in Sugar Land and the two for one coupon in all the local papers make this a winner! (We are going back to try the eggplant again….let’s hope consistency is also a strong point.)

NAME: Food Junkie
SUBMITTED: 10/29/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Try the seafood soup - it is the best, full of different types of seafood in a light tomato based broth.

The retro feel of the new decor and the Marilyn Monroe fetish add visual quality. We had excellent service.

NAME: wendymar007
SUBMITTED: 10/7/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: October 7, 2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: I was extremely disappointed in the newly re-opened Mangola's. We went for dinner tonight and met up with some friends to celebrate our birthdays. At first, things were going well. We ordered the crab cakes as an appetizer. Pretty good, but too salty. Next came the salads. They were given to the wrong people, one had no dressing and the "house dressing" was oil with no flavor. My friend's ranch dressing was a watery pool of liquid which did nothing for the salad. The wait staff didn't bother to clear away the salad plates or the appetizer plate.

When we got out entrees, two of us got the wrong thing. Finally, they brought the right ones, but my fish was not as fresh as it should have been and it was covered with chopped almonds with very little sauce. The side of spaghetti was completely flavorless. We couldn't find the waiter to bring us cheese (we had to "borrow" it from the other table), and they didn't even refill drinks. When we asked for another drink, they used the same glass and straw. Just refilled it.

With all the complaints we had and made them known, they did nothing. The prices on the menu are so high for mediocre food and poor presentation. I guess they are trying to re-coop some of the loss they suffered when they were closed down. I for one, will never return to this establishment. The owner was there and never bothered to come to our table. I suppose he doesn't really need the business. After all, there were probably 5 or 6 other tables filled on this Friday night!

NAME: suebeehoney
SUBMITTED: 9/19/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 9/18/09
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: What a disappointment. Where to start? First impression was that the decor was terrible. My husband and I were expecting so much more since this place had re-opened. They had a lounge singer who added nothing to the experience. We were (over)charged for a few slices of garlic bread and olive oil for an appetizer. My husband had the pizza which was decent, but certainly not good enough for a return visit. My chicken dish was not good at all. I can't evenr emember the name of it. I guess a highlight would be the service which was very attentive, but we will not be back.

NAME: Pepster
SUBMITTED: 9/5/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: FINALLY! I was so pleased they got it going again, I immediately had my birthday dinner there without even a trial run. The menu is as extensive as ever. The bread is even more awesome than it was before. If there was anything close to a bad point, it was maybe the saltimbocca was a tad too salty, but that merely lowered it to "excellent". The cannoli was outstanding. Service was a bit awkward at times but I attribute it to reteething pains --never inattentive after the start.

They now have live music, which was not too loud and overall quite pleasant. Only thing was, they put his staging area right in front of the restroom entrance, which I thought was odd; hopefully they'll reposition him and everyone will be happy.

Go. Go now. Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

NAME: mojo
SUBMITTED: 8/20/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2009
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: I can’t wait for Mangola’s to reopen. Before the fire they had the best waitstaff in SW Houston, good food and fair prices. It was an excellent place for family gatherings and special events.

NAME: Food Curmudgeon
SUBMITTED: 11/2/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 2006
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...