Mancino’s Pizza & Grinders

Stopped here with two other people on a Friday evening. The restaurant had their Monday Friday buffet with pizza, spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread. It runs $ 6.99, including a drink, which isn’t bad. CiCi’s Pizza would run their buffet for $ 5.99 and didn’t include a drink.
After we got our drinks, we headed to the buffet. We had a choice of cheese pizza or dessert pizza with apples, until the very end when they brought out ground beef and pepperoni pizza. They had a pan of spaghetti with a typical red sauce, plus another pan with Alfredo sauce. There were also pans of salad, one with shredded lettuce and the other with rather large pieces. Thankfully, they had real stainless steel forks and knives.
The pizza was a bit greasy but otherwise okay for cheese only. The Alfredo sauce was one step from being glue on the spaghetti, but the garlic bread saved it from being too much. They had Pepsi products on the drink machine, so that came in handy, as I needed a bit to wash it down.
I’d recommend the place, if you don’t worry about selection, although I was told that they usually have more variety. The buffet is only available on Mondays and Fridays, though. They need to work on their Alfredo sauce recipe so it’s a bit less glue-​like. It wasn’t bad but that’s not exactly praise.

This particular Mancino’s has changed hands multiple times in the 8 years of living here and the newest owners I think have done the best job. They totally overhauled the inside with decorations of local sports memorabilia and it looks absolutely great! My only complaint is that they changed the pizza from when I first started going. I think before it was better overall. You can never go wrong with a grinder though! Personal favs are the steak and italian, and the new chicken bacon ranch. Also, the baked spaghetti and chicken alfredo is great! service here is usually consistent even though it’s usually high school kids working, and the food is brought out fast and hot. Also they put in a big flat screen so you can catch the game!

Look, you walk into a restaurant on a Saturday night and there’s three teenage boys working, you’re likely not going to be expecting outstanding service. The most you can hope for is a few grunts and the food being brought out in a semi-​timely manner somewhat how you ordered it. However, the staff at Mancino’s on the night we went went completely above and beyond the usual expectations.
For one thing, the restaurant (including the kitchen and prep areas, which are fully visible from the counter) was immaculate… tables cleaned, floors swept, napkins and silverware stocked, etc. I ordered my sandwich with light mayonnaise and hosanna! I got light mayonnaise. We placed a to-​go order and the guy working at the counter was nice enough to make it later and place it on the warmer for us… and to let us know he was doing that. The most impressive part to me, however, was when I went up to ask for a side of banana peppers for my sandwich (something I had forgotten to ask for originally) and the guy I asked immediately went over to the sink and washed his hands before getting the peppers for me. Sounds pretty basic, but having worked in restaurants on and off for 16 years, I know that those little details are often overlooked, especially in a small chain atmosphere like Mancino’s. Color me impressed!
Oh, and the food is pretty consistently good here. Get a half grinder unless you’re planning on saving it for another meal or two… they’re huge.