Mario’s Italian Cafe

After hearing from friends this place was great I decided to try it. I was extremely disappointed! I had the chicken parmesan and fried zucchini appetizer. The chicken was non existent. I mean literally there was no chicken just bread. The sauce was a basic canned marinara with no flavor. The zucchini was flavorless. The garlic bread was just a buttered piece of bread. I found no flavor in anything. I won’t return. The only pro was the staff. They were very friendly.

The food was very bland. The Alfredo sauce in particular had virtually no taste. You get what you pay for though so I can’t say I’m too surprised.
I can say they do have the best ranch dressing in town.

The prices are low on the menu & so was the quality. Not only was the quality of food poor (with exception of the house salad) but also the quality of the service. You know when you are shocked by behavior that you just laugh? That’s how my family reacted by the service. The service by the man was just unbelievable! I hope that this message gets to the owner/​management so that some proper training can be implemented in order to expand the business.

I’ve been coming here for about 10 years but never got the chance to write a review. I love this place! Ever since I moved right next to ralphs this was my go to Italian restaurant! Love the shrimp diavlo! Very good! The service is lovely! I would never eat pasta at another restaurant.

This Mario’s location is our favorite with a cozy, authentic atmosphere and speedy, friendly service every time. I’ve never tried an entrée I didn’t like but always get the antipasto salad which is the best I’ve had anywhere. Throw in 2 or 3 generous glasses of their house wine and the night is perfect.

I’m thinking back to the original Red Tomato days. Well, that’s what comes to mind when I dine here. Friendly and attentive waitstaff, clean and cozy appearance.
The cannelloni is amazing! A full order is enough for two to split. The spaghetti with meat sauce is wonderfully prepared. Mario knows Al Dente! Pun intended! Baked Mostaccioli is as tasty as it gets!
Chianti by the glass. This is the best deal in the desert which always has me coming back! Served like your family!
I can’t think of a time I was ever disappointed here. Always satisfied. When I bring newbies, they rave. Still talking about it months later. Always exclaiming things like, «We need one of these where we live!»
Piccata this and scampi that, you’ve gotta try it all!
Mario, whatever you do, don’t change a thing.

Chicken pesto w/​pine nuts and linguini — bomb! Delicious salad, hot cheesy garlic bread wow! Home run!!!

Great food, excellent customer service. Ordered to go and arrived on time. Pizza’s were ready and piping hot. Wings were great as well. Highly recommend giving them a try.

Nice Palm Springs restaurant in the mall on Washington St. Quick service, very friendly staff and they hustle, food is delicious. My husband’s wine glass was filled to the brim for $ 6, that never happens. We will definitely be back.

wow. Just stopped there on my way home from work and ordered Veal Parmesan for take out. I get home and I have a takeout order of spaghetti with a single meatball. NOT WHAT I ORDERED. I called them and they said I could come back sometime and get what I actually ordered. Like that will actually happen. SO DISAPPOINTED. Can I give Negative Stars??? Because this is not even deserving of a single star.

The worst pizza I have ever had, cheese was hard as can be, crust was like pastry crust. zorry but it was bad

Always great service! I love ordering take out for this place. Food is always ready within 20 mins and is consistently delicious! Would highly recommend this place for a take out night!

So this review isn’t about the whole order. I actually liked my meatball sub but the full order of chicken Caesar salad came with two small side dressings I paid for an additional one. But the chicken was the bad part out of this. It came with like half a cup of chicken for this whole salad!!! I mean maybe enough chicken for a side salad. I excepted from Mario’s more of like a big sliced grilled chicken breast this was more like small remnants of chicken. Def won’t be ordering this again.

You know what? This is not the greatest Italian restaurant, but the portions are big and it’s always piping hot and tasty good. Staff works their tails off making customers happy. Fun atmosphere and family owned in desert. For gourmet Italian, it’s Mama Ginas, but I like this place for in dining and take out.

Alert Captain Stubing because someone stole food from his 1970’s Love Boat galley and is serving it at this restaurant. With seven locations in the Coachella Valley, I understand that it is a checkered table cloth neighborhood Italian restaurant — in seven neighborhoods. For those who want That ‘70s Food, it’s here — with pastas that are slathered in a dark red sauce and limp buttered garlic bread on every table.
Although not Italian, the best thing I had was a nicely anchovied Caesar salad. The food went downhill from there. The fried zucchini sticks were bitter. The tomato sauce used on the pasta had fresh basil that was cooked until black and tasted like tea. «Mario’s Special» pizza wasn’t special. Claiming to be New York style, it wasn’t because the dough was too thick. The traditional toppings were okay, but the pizza was almost sauceless and definitely undercooked.

First of all, Brian who answered the phone was so nice it made it smile. This family owned, friendly atmosphere place is awesome. Authentic Italian taste. The vinaigrette for the Caprice salad is just amazing. Their Caesar dressing is out of this world. Buon cibo! Te amo Café italiano di Mario!

Very disappointed, our most recent visit. We went with the $ 9.95 entrée specials. My girlfriend’s Veal Parmigiana was roughly 4oz and the sauce tasted very cookie-​cutter, like Ragu. My Chicken Fettucine was also 4oz and had more buttery cream sauce than pasta. What the hell happened? we used to like this place… but think this was our last visit. For $ 35 — we still walked-​away hungry.
Mario, Peter and Matt… your success does NOT mean you need to start cutting corners, just to feed us all. In all honesty — our meals tasted more like $ 4.95 to us. We won’t be returning, until you go back to your home-​style roots.

BIG glass of wine! I’d say it’s like 2 in 1. $ 6 for a great big cab. Im happy. Beer selection sucks. No draft beers, just bottle. And it’s the usual swill. I LOVE the calzone and pizza! I also love the shrimp linguine davalo (thinks that’s how you spell it) spicy! I’d say give it a shot! They have multiple locations! I like it enough there to return. Nice ambiance too.

Best Caesar salad ever. I’ve even had Caesar made at my table with real, raw ingredients. This one is the best.
Great Italian food for what I think is a pretty reasonable deal. My kid loves their gluten-​free «Grandma’s Pizza».
Whether eating in or taking to go, this is great, tasty food.
Highly, highly recommend!

This place has good pizzas, and it is a great option in an otherwise very quiet Bermuda Dunes. It isn’t the cheapest of places, but I’d rather pay a bit extra than eat KFC or Panda Express.
They are usually fast for phone orders.