Casual restaurant features funky decor & serves a traditional menu of Italian favorites.
Brian Stakem
In town for a marathon and thought to try this place out. If you love authentic Italian food as if you were in NYC or a quaint place in Italy you have to stop by. Food made with love just has a flavor to it. Met the owner’s son as he sat in his new “Coach’s” chair and he just added more authenticity. Our waitress was so pleasant I would come back every time I hit SoCa. The food….everything we tried was perfect from a meatball for an appetizer to the complimentary bread we added marinara sauce to. Perfect
… moreRyan Kirkham
Honestly, one of the more deserving 5-star ratings I’ve ever given out. From the moment we arrived u til the chocolate chip cookies and final bill, the service was excellent and what you’d expect from a much more expensive restaurant. Everything we had was great, the price paid was fair. Overall, great restaurant experience and we will 100% be back. I highly recommend Mama D’s.
… moreRosabell M.
Homemade Italian food! I’m totally in! My household is part Italian and we know what homemade Italian food tastes like, and this place is definitely it!! Service was excellent! Everyone, I mean every single employee was super nice and attentive! I absolutely love that!! The food was phenomenal, from the lasagna to the gnocchi! I would highly recommend this restaurant! I’ll be back soon!!
… moreMatt Parks
Hoping to help others with expectation-setting before visiting this place. I’d heard people highly recommend Mama D’s, and regularly seen a crowd outside the front door. Needless to say, I was really excited when the day came where my partner and I could swing by for dinner.
The staff was kind – no qualms there.
But the food… particularly, the pizza, was probably my least preferred pizza in all of Orange County. Now… I’ll eat any pizza so I still made a dent, but when paying for pizza my takeaway was nearly any other pizza spot would be better. My partner took a slice and said it tastes like a frozen pizza, which I agree.
All to say – they may have some great dishes but I’d like to make sure people have clear expectations… if you love good pizza, this is not your place. I’d recommend you go with a pasta dish.
… moreJ Lucas
First off it was amazingly delicious, like it makes Olive Garden seem like canned food. The service here is the best service I’ve ever seen at any business in my life. I wish I picked up our waiters name, he was a cool surfer dude with a modern mullet and mustache. One of our group dropped a fork with sauce on her white pants and less than 30 seconds later our waiter came with a fresh fork and bleach pen. The garlic bread was phenomenal , and the penne was amazing. If it wasn’t out of my state I would eat here every week.
… moreBrandon Tate
Visiting on vacation and heard about this place. I had the Chicken Parmesan but went with their special pink sauce and it was fire! Highly recommend!! We hit it up two nights later for some pizza and bread to go. Super friendly staff and great atmosphere.
… moreCade Clement
I am so upset I ordered a Chicken Caesar salad, It ended up costing me $21 And this is what I got. That’s the same price as Some of their pastas, but for this portion? I’m blown away. I literally got robbed. The portion is so small and there’s barely even any lettuce in it. I wanted to get it so bad because online It great and waaayyyy bigger than what I got. This next photo is right after I mixed the dressing. Noticed the gaping hole in the center. I do love this place so it’s sad it happened.
… moreRobin Seaton
Mama D’s was recommended to us by the hotel staff where we were staying, for great food, warm ambiance, and not too far from the beach. Everything he said was true. We fell in love with Mama D’s warmth, welcome, food, and staff. Josh and the host were amazing! The restaurant is family owned and seems to be a local favorite. The decor is like sitting in mom’s dining room, shelves with sentimental trinkets and paintings that elicit ideas of homey Italian homes, with crayon artwork from satisfied children spaced on the walls. Homey and warm.
We had the special – tortellini with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and gogonzola cream sauce. The special called for shrimp but we substituted Italian sausage. It was delicious! We also ordered an Italian salad. The meal came with homemade bread with olive oil and garlic dipping sauce. Again, something mama might do. The food came in a very timely manner.
We were too full for dessert but received two hot, mini chocolate chip cookies each with the check. Like mama would do.
The place was very clean, the staff welcoming and attentive but not intrusive. We’d definitely go there again and have already recommended it.
… moreJonathan Cho
My favorite local Italian restaurant.
-Ambiance: 4/5-it’s a small casual place and it’s very family owned look & feel
-Service: 4/5-servers are very friendly and prompt
-Food: 5/5-home made flavors-Spinach Ravioli, lasagna, eggplant parmigiana & sausage & chicken capri are excellent
… moreS Tam
We were greeted and sat quickly. Our server Noah was there to greet us, bring water, and hot bread. I love the menu for pastas where you pick your pasta, your sauce, and your protein. Makes it awesome to have exactly what you want. The house specialty pink sauce is outstanding! Noah brought a sample for us to try with the bread. We lived it. We had gnocchi with pink sauce and penne putanesca with pink sauce. Both were plentiful and perfectly cooked. We finished the meal with the house cookies and Tiramisu. Both were very tasty. Overall, service was fantastic, meals were delucious and atmosphere was bustling. We’ll be back
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