East Side Mario's welcomes you to their establishment. Come experience their casual surrounding. They provide a take-out menu. You can get there by car.
This was the worst service and over cooked meal I have ever had. The appetizers came first the meal second and the salad last. I asked for a second glass of wine and the waitress took away my existing glass of wine and put her fingers in my glass so I lost half my first glass of wine.
I've been a common visitor to this ESM and have seen it goes through its ups and downs. 5 or 6 years ago, this place was packed. The food and service was consistent and good for the price, but as time went on things went downhill. From what I understand, there was a recent change in ownership, sometime within the past year. The new manager they had was doing a fantastic job. The standards went up, service was better, and overall it was a better experience. Although, the past 2 times we have visited, thing seem to have fallen back into their old ways. Their new menu was really good if the cooks actually can prepare it the way it was meant to be. Missing things like no goats cheese on a pasta that was meant to have it, cold soup, and even missing croutons on salad have really been just silly mistakes. Also, the past 2 times I have been were fairly late, around 9:30 PM. The waiters were literally yelling between tables to each other about "what happened when they were out drinking last night". It felt like highschool, and no manager in sight. For the sake of this place, I hope they can change their ways again. Maybe it is more consistent earlier?
The service was helpful, however, at times, slow.
The food was good, except my dish was a bit dry.
Portion size was just right. The atmosphere was nice, but very crowded, however, it was because I went on a weekend.
Recently visited for my grandfather's 60th birthday party. Couldn't have been better. They took care of all the minor details that would've been missed elsewhere. Thank you so much.
First & last time at this ESM. There was only one server on the patio serving about 10 tables. We waited 15 min to receive the menus. Salad was ok but not sure about the difference between the garden and the caesar salad. Food was served by someone other than the server and we were not offered any grated cheese or pepper on our pasta. Our meal was ok...nothing spectacular. We were served bread only after we had eaten our main dish (had to ask her about it) and we were not even offered more salad. This family run business better get its act together or they will end up cleaning tables at McDonald's.
I really do believ ESM has gone down hill since they first opened. I remeber the food being a lot better than it is now, it is in fact horribly disapointing. My boyfriend and I know good food when we eat it and this restaurant couldn't cook it's way into Hell's Kitchen if it tried. Needless to say chef Ramsy would be horribly disapointed. The only good thing is the bread... and seriously who can mess that up? the Pasta was flavourless and my Wrap tasted a day old, we couldn't even finish our meal it was just so blahh. This experience came from the Oakville ESM, and so we decided we would try our luck at the one in Petawawa. The results were the same, the chicken was just gross, it tasted like a cheap 99 cent frozen meal, none of us went home sastisfied. STAY AWAY FROM ANY ESM, i'm surprised they are still up and running with the sludge they call food.
Unfortunately this is the 2nd time I've been here...
Unfortunately this is the 2nd time I've been here and received luke warm to cold food. The pasta sauce was congealed. Last time this happened I think the asparagus & ricotta capelletti was still frozen so I sent it back and oredered a different baked pasta(cheese cappelletti) -- it came hot and fresh. This time my food was also cold, but I gave up on the gnocchi I ordered and didn't bother eating my entree. Nothing we ate seemed fresh or particularly exciting or tasty. The salads are incredibly boring with way too much dressing. I should have asked for dressing on the side. The free bread is ok. I think I've finally learned my lesson and I don't plan to go back. The idea is to go for affordable 'Italian' food, but I suppose that you get what you pay for. The cleanliness in this restuarant left a lot to be desired -- my wine glass was covered in crud and the cheese grater was disgustingly filthy. I think the restaurant has given up. The service was fine.
At this ESM they decided to change the prime restaurants specs. first of all they made a battered mess of over cooked calamari, they also used tomato sauce which made it soggy and gross instead of the regular olive oil based sauce that prime restaurants uses in their specs. The main meal came out before the appetizer. The food was saturated in grease and the server told us they did not receive their produce order that day.... mmm... freshness. they also were out of whole wheat linguine. A manager never visited the table and the wait staff looked atrocious. untucked shirts and metal piercings in their face. I would rather go hungry than ever eat from ESM again!
For a dinner size portion that costs $16 I expected the bowl to be bigger. It was good though, but their salads need lots of work. The Caesar barely had any dressing and there were red tinged pieces all over the bowl, it was :( I'm not sure when I'll be going there next, good thing AMC Plaza has lots of other restaurants to go to! :)
I never thought restaurant food could be so bad...
I never thought restaurant food could be so bad. I wasn't expecting much to start with because it is a chain with Italian "style" food. We went there because we wanted a child friendly environment. The shrimp on my pasta was defrosted, precooked salad shrimp, the children's pizza was on an extremely thick bread like crust with sauce and cheese hap-hazardly plopped on. Our toddler wouldn't even touch it and she LOVES pizza, even with I make it at home on a slice of bread! My husband's chicken was more than 50% breading. The only reason they even get a one is because the drinks were cold. I feel sorry for the server - he was nice enough but he has to serve this awful food.
When this place first opened we lived nearby and...
When this place first opened we lived nearby and loved it. It was fantastic. In our first return trip in 6 years, we looked forward to eating there again. However, the food was awful (and these were signature dishes) the wait staff was hard to find and the managers (owners?) were absolutley rude. It was as if the managers wanted us to shut up and leave so they could get someone else at our table, even after we had originally waited over an hour for cold, pasty pasta. What a horrible place this has become. Avoid at all costs!!
The waitress did not seem to care when I commented on the food. Although it was half empty, the waitress did not come back much at all, and even dessert took over 15 minutes to get to us!
I've tried this place three times now with my friends - three strikes and you're out!
Well the cesar salad was pretty plan nothing really on it. Asked for second bowl but was the same. Pasta was alright was not much sauce. served by 5 different waitresses???
