Romano’s Macaroni Grill

I love Italian food. I try to go to local mom and pops for it but if I don’t, I like to go to Macaroni Grill. I think their food is pretty decent. The service we got was great. They ran out of the portabella fries, so we ordered calamari instead and they gave us extra which was cool.
We ordered the mushroom ravioli and margaritas. Both were good. It was nice and quiet on a Monday night not like the busy times we have been before.

Yes, the rating system is accurate for this restaurant, sadly to say.
It was pretty empty for a Saturday evening dinner. Though it is a clean, nice, comfortable restaurant, the quality of service is something to be deeply desired.
The male host started of bad as if he didn’t want to be there. Didn’t really greet us.
Once we were seated, it carried on with our server, Sarah. She didn’t want to be there either. She interacted on the least possible basis for a server. Never came over to see if everything was ok or if we needed anything else.
Getting our drinks and bread took a long time for being empty.
The an upside, food was good and the presentation, but not a wide selection to choose from off the menu. Menus were dirty also.
So if you’re interested in good food and don’t wanted to be bothered or acknowledged as a customer, then you’re at the right place.
I think I’ll continue to go to the one on Beach Blvd in H.B., their customers come first and they make sure you enjoy your time and meal there.

We took our granddaughter for her birthday dinner. Our waiter Shawn was the best! He went above and beyond to make her feel special on her 8^th birthday. She said she wants to go back and get the same waiter, that says a lot for a child that age. The food was wonderful and came out fast. We will go back for sure! I don’t know why they would ever get a bad review.

Was going to write a long review, but looking at these reviews, they are putting the nails in their own coffin. Hostess and assistant manager were the only professionals. Manager and senior waitress need to be demoted. This place needs to learn that word of mouth is important in this community.

This used to be the best place for Italian food when it first opened. Lately, it has gone downhill. Ordered the ‘build your own pasta’ with meat sauce and added meatballs and sausage. No authentic Italian flavor at all. You would do better opening a jar of spaghetti sauce at home. The sausage was very spicy with no flavor and the meatballs had a strong flavor resembling packaged cold cuts. We also ordered the lasagna. Pasta noodles were crunchy and, again, no flavor to the sauce. The only high point was their amazing rosemary bread.

Our tradition for the past 15 years we go on Christmas Eve for dinner. Started out after my Dad passed away, myself, Mom and my son would go. Then my Mom passed away now it’s just my son and I. Each year it seems to get worse. The prices go up the menu gets smaller and the portions are smaller and cold. We usually order the same things every year. This year, my food was luke warm upon arrival. My sons food was burnt. Our waitress was hardly seen, drinks were empty not worth sending the food back. Tiramisu used to come in its own dish. Now it’s a slice and you cannot taste the rum. I think the will be our last year of our tradition coming to Macaroni grill. Sad, it’s a memory.

Very cute place, I went on a Tuesday and there wasn’t a wait what so ever, our server Shannon was a blast who made us feel welcomed and more of a friend rather then just a customer. Everything came out delicious, simply went with what Shannon recommend and I was not disappointed at all. Would defiantly recommend it if you want to have a smile and good food!

Had a great lunch then an employee and his girlfriend yelled at me for no reason. Asked me what I was looking at. Then the girlfriend of the employee threatened me for looking at them and told me she was going to smack the look on my face. Not to mention they were blasting tupac full blast with all there windows down. Did not expect this to happen and I will never come back. I will start looking at the ground for now on… Happy Holidays

AVOID THIS LOCATION! I read the bad reviews prior to coming here. We decided to come here anyway after reading about the very bad customer service. We were told it would take 5 minutes to seat us… There were only 3 of us. 5 minutes turned to over 10 minuets and we decided to leave and go elsewhere.

A tiny step up from Olive garden, mainly because their flatbread was pretty good, the rest fell a bit flat.
Noodle dishes grossly overcooked, chicken parmegiana poor quality, but the flatbread i did enjoy.
Service was nice, the location clean and well kept but you get the chain restaurant vibe.
Prices are too high for the quality, but they do have happy hour deals and sometimes coupon offers.
Not worth rushing back to, but fine.

My friend and I came in here on a Wednesday evening. There wasn’t a wait which was good because we were hungry. I got the Blood Orange Iced Tea and it wasn’t good at all so the waitress graciously changed it to Peach for me.
We started with two appetizers. We did the Macaroni and Cheese bites and the Bruschetta. The bites were pretty good and the Bruschetta was OK. The spread that you put on the bread was kinda of bland.
My friend ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo and I got the Pasta Milano. Both dishes were good but they were super salty. I’m not sure if it was the pasta or the sauce itself. We took most of our dinners to go and we both added things to the sauce to cut down on the saltiness the next day .
We’d go back again and hope that the saltiness was a one time situation.

Dirty bathrooms (see photo). Dinner salad in a bowl that wasn’t even close to being filled with lettuce, but the chef was kind enough to throw in a core (see photo). I doubt he/​she would eat a nasty lettuce core, so why serve it to a customer? That is a big pet peeve of mine. At least my ravioli & Tiramisu was pretty good. Still slightly disappointing. I am not hurry to eat here anytime soon.

Poor customer service= Poor image of the restaurant= Accurate low rating on Unilocal
I went here on Wednesday regardless of the low rating.
The host was friendly and helpful but gave me a dirty menu…
Food was ok, it was edible. Appetizers were a waste of money. I can surprisingly say Olive Garden is a better choice when it comes to portion, variety, and flavor of foods. It was definitely overpriced for the quality of the food.
Our waitress, Lauren, looked like she was not happy to be at work let alone serving us.
At first she came to our table, said «hello» to us, wrote her name on the table, then walked away. She continued to present poor customer service throughout the night, by her lack of interaction and hospitality. She did ask if we were ok and filled our drinks once before taking her break, so she wasn’t a horrible waitress. It’s just the way she carried herself made our dinner less enjoyable than we had to begin with. Halfway through our dinner, she informs us that she is going on a break and that another guy will take care of us. The host ended up serving us the rest of the night, which was a relief and the only reason I left a tip.

Went during «lunch time» today and it was pretty empty…
Our booth seats were dirty (sticky) and our menu’s were disgusting (food spilled on it). Not off to a great start.
Took about 10 – 15 minutes to be greeted by our waiter after being seated. Not much interaction throughout the visit. Salad was never brought out that had been ordered (it was taken off the bill at the end) and the second time the bread was dropped off, it was literally drop and go.
I feel like I am writing the same issues as the reviewer before me, so things haven’t changed. I’d steer clear for awhile until this place figures out it’s staffing issues. This place has the potential to be good as it is nice looking inside and the food is pretty good, but the staff issues need to be resolved ASAP. Plenty of Italian alternatives around.
*EDIT* It looks like this place has had staff issues for quite some time, so shame on me for even giving them my business (I think others may have got the idea though because like I stated previously, the place was pretty empty). Others be forewarned and read the Unilocal reviews!
2 stars because the food was good but the staffing issue kills it.

Headed on over to MG to meet a co-​worker. Macaroni Grill is another chain that USED to be a great place to go, it was a step up from a normal chain restaurant.
However now it’s starting to fall into the category of restaurants that haven’t really evolved. There was maybe one other table eating dinner when we showed up, it was embarrassingly empty.
The service was great, the manager stopped by, no complaints there. We had the Chicken Marsala which was just OK, kinda salty and average. Wife had some flat-​bread that was not that good to me.
My thing with this place is the food selection. Everything on the menu seemed to be 2000 – 3000 calories per entrée. 3000 calories for an average tasting italian dish is not good at all!
I think they can come up with a few options with lighter calories, and salad doesn’t count. I would come back for an appetizer maybe, but that is all.

On a muggy hot day, we opted not to cook, and grab some Italian at Macaroni Grill. Our visit couldn’t of been any worse. We arrived with our two children (3 and 1 yrs old) and were told it was a 10 – 15 wait by the singing host (he literally belts out tunes). Well by the time we got to sit down, we probably heard a whole album’s worth. 10 – 15 minutes ended up being 40 minutes, and with two small children, that was very irritating. After my son’s 45^th birthday, we FINALLY got to sit down and eat the worst Italian food I have EVER had. I ordered the artisan Farmhouse pizza. The whole bottom was completely burnt. In addition, the top of the pizza slid right off the crust. By far the worst part about the pizza was that it was brought out without a pizza cutter… Had to eat it with a fork and butter knife. My wife ordered the chicken Parmesan and had to have them take back the plate. It was if they dumped a whole box of salt in her meal. Nobody checked up on us, we were misinformed, and just plain felt like Romano’s didn’t care about my family at all. I will NEVER eat there again. Romano’s, you lost a regular.

We ate dinner at Macaroni Grill for the first time in at least 7 years. The focaccia bread was just as good as I remembered, but that was about all. The food was about as tasty as what you’ll find in a hospital cafeteria. My husband’s chicken parmesan was okay. My chicken scallopine was just awful. The chicken was a hair’s breadth away from being as dry as shoe leather. The sauce was greasy and tasteless, and the capellini pasta was rubbery.
The 2 stars are for the service, which contrary to many reviews of the Seal Beach location, was very good. Our server was friendly, professional and attentive. The hostess was polite and efficient. We sat at the bar for a bit, and both bartenders were very friendly.
Due to the poor quality of the food, though, I don’t foresee us eating here again. I’m surprised they’re still in business if the food we received is typical these days.

I came here 3.5 years ago on my first date with my now wife. We had a date night and she really enjoyed the food and bread the first time we came.
I made a reservation when they opened yesterday for last night. We showed up 10min early and were quickly seated. Our server Jason was training a new guy. They were friendly and efficient. My wife ordered Mamas meatballs and spaghetti and I had the lobster ravioli. After ordering it took about 30min for the food to arrive. It was hot and very good. The chef even came out and checked on people’s food. We had plans so we didn’t stick around for dessert.
Overall, great service… good food… clean location.

Awful bartender she had no personality she wouldnt look us in the eye for our orders didnt wait til we were both done ordering before she walked away and took forever to give us our check even after we asked. BUT she did treat the single man at the bar like a KING

Hadn’t been in awhile and we were missing out, the customer service was excellent and the food was very tasty, we will be coming back again soon:)