Mafalda’s

Arrived on Wednesday, Dec 23 at 11:30AM. Both Unilocal and sign on doors said it was open at 11AM but it was stone cold. No sign in the window explaining emergency or other. If you can’t get your operating hours right, how good can the service be?

My name is Cecil Lloyd bey. My sister got married on Sunday Nov first and mafaldas catered the event. Donna and her team did a fabulous job providing the service. The food was excellent. I can still taste the eggplant appetizers. They were so helpful and polite that I would recommend them to all of my friends.

Best Italian food around guaranteed. Make sure to try the calamari and chicken parm. You won’t be disappointed!

Such a nice evening– Delicious food and great service. The owner Anthony was such a nice young man and even served our table himself. I look forward to coming again soon

Met owner Anthony. Had a great waiter! Sausage and rigatoni w cannellini beans and broc rabe. Omg to die for. Arugala salad sooooo good! BYOB. Nice find in Hamilton Square!

Well I am pleased to have found a great old time Italian place that has been sorely missed, since the demise of Tatoni’s, El Dorado, Roman Hall and Trionfetti’s etc. But the fact also is that they offer enough edgy to keep fussy foodies interested. Was there for Barbara Trent who is still a star, 2 hours not a break what stamina. The staff are as friendly, concerned and helpful as any place in the area. The food is terrific, clams casino nice size not like the frozen small necks, tripe as good as it can be, hours of cooking and fresh as it must be, mussels fra Diablo clean spicy and as all their dishes large enough to share, chicken catch as well excited as the Trenton best, for the adventuresome the new fish on the block, butter fish and lump crab over pasta 5 star. All this at a very reasonable price.

We went here after hearing some good things from local residents and having tried a pork sandwich from them at the Mercer County Italian American Festival. The last restaurant in this location was lackluster so we were hoping Mafalda’s would be an improvement.
We were greeted by an older gentleman who may have been the owner. The restaurant was pretty crowded with a singer performing that night and a few larger groups of mostly older clientele dining and having a good time. However, we were able to be seated within a few minutes at a small table for two. The young male waiter handed us the regular and handwritten specials menu. There was a special with scallops and a carbonara sauce, however the waiter informed us he was out of that for the evening along with the stuffed artichokes (it was only a little after 7 so it was surprising they were out of things so early). We ended up ordering linguini with white clam sauce and a rigatoni and sausage dish along with a pelligrino water.
They brought out the water right away along with a full basket of garlic bread. The bread itself was warm and a good quality for a Mercer County Italian restaurant, but it was a little buttery/​greasy and may have had too many dried herbs for some tastes.
We are accustomed to Italian restaurants in this area giving you a small salad or possibly soup with your entrée, however they don’t do that here. At $ 18 an entrée for pasta based dishes, it made the meal seem a little overpriced for just getting your main course and bread. Without a salad course, we had a bit of a wait for our entrees. They did come out of the kitchen hot and fresh. The rigatoni was sausage had some spice to it along with broccoli rabe and canellini beans to compliment the precisely cooked pasta and sausage crumbles. The linguini with white clam sauce also featured pasta that was properly cooked and some fresh clams along with chopped clams and sliced garlic. The clam sauce was briny and salty.
We were both hungry so we finished both of our dishes. The waiter promptly asked us about dessert and coffee. Since they had homemade ricotta cheesecake, I had to try it. The cheesecake was mediocre at best. I did not get any cinnamon or citrus flavor which I expect to enjoy having the best ricotta cheesecake of unknown origin at my aunt’s house in Long Island.
The bill was delivered promptly. We were charged less than the menu price for the pelligrino, though it was a smaller bottle than we expected to get. The ricotta cheesecake was $ 6 so that was not out of control.
I would return if invited by someone else, but would probably not seek to go here on my own again due to the entrees being overpriced and the main course not getting out of the kitchen as quickly as I would have liked.

The best! All homemade Italian food and plenty of it, so tasty, great owners and staff, everyone is so friendly and efficient… catering food is just as good as the restaurant! Would recommend Mafalda’s for a great dinner at the restaurant or for a catered event.

I was really hoping for more from this restaurant. My rating is based on the fact that I think this place will satisfy certain diners. The term «authentic Italian» is cited in a few previous reviews. I am not Italian, nor was my mother, but we both have made sauces that are better than theirs. I do not doubt that this a subjective statement, and depending on your specific family may or may not seem authentic.(or for that matter, tasty)
Our evening started out by the hostess informing us that a local songstress would be performing tonight. Bonus. And we were already familiar with popular Barbara Trent. So far so good. I heard that the pork and fig appetizer was good, it was and was the highlight of the meal. Basically roast pork cooked just barely past the ideal range. But it remained tender, and had a kind of traditional brown gravy with a pop of sweetness from figs and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. We enjoyed the bread that comes with your meal too, a thinly sliced toasted Italian bread with oil and oregano. We used it to sop up the gravy.
My aunt chose lump crab with pappardelle. They were generous with the crab and it was indeed lump. Sadly they were too generous with garlic which totally overpowered the sweet crab. Garlic lovers might appreciate this dish more than I did.
My entrée was titled «Sunday gravy» and advertised sausage, meatball and braciola atop penne pasta in a red sauce. Seemed a no brainer to me. The meatball was a bit tough, sausage salty and no much flavor, and the braciola which is a go to of mine when I see it somewhere, was not great. It was as if they took roast beef and rolled it up to cook it. It was tender but salty and did not seemed to be filled with anything. All these missteps might have been forgiven if the red sauce was good, but it was way too acidic and lacked any veggies which may have lent sweetness and flavor to the tomatoes (ie garlic, onions, peppers or mushrooms)
Desserts are offered on the old school dessert platter, but nothing looked very interesting to us. My aunt did enjoy her cappuccino, but this was due in part to the lovely voice of the singer I feel. As for service, it was passable. There were a few areas for improvement in it, but not really a factor in this rating.
I disagree with some of the reviewers who say this spot is the best Italian option in the area. My aunt and I discussed several that we would prefer to frequent. I guess it is possible that this was an off night, or that there would have been better options to pick. But from my experience here I would go elsewhere. This rating is at the lowest possible range of 3 stars, and due in large part to the entertainment and the fact that not all Italian grand moms cook at the same level.

This is by far one of the best authentic Italian restaurant that I have experienced. The butter fish was amazing with a sauce that was incredible. If they didn’t tell you it was fish you wouldn’t believe it. The Pork and figs were to die for. I never had tasted figs until that day. The Mafalda salad was fresh and crisp with there own dressing. This place is incredible and a must go to for great food.

Trashy and dirty. Had an event here and Catering Manager booked another party and asked us to end early! Additionally, she asked for gratuity multiple times, ate food we brought for dessert with her fingers in front of guests during the party, and made us clean up from the night before and move tables. In addition, she ordered white table cloths when we agreed to black.
The kitchen was dirty from the night before when we went back to prep food we brought and the floors in the entire restaurant were so sticky even the guests were complaining. Even large balls of dust fell from the curtains when we tried to tie up a banner.
After our party, they let our 40 balloons go out their door and into the air. They clearly don’t follow the law as this is littering and can cause harm to animals when the balloons finally fall to the ground.
I would stay away from this place.

Just excellent. We are from miles away, in town for a funeral, and walked in with no reservation. They were packed but the owner set up a table for us. Wonderful service, one of the top five service experiences ever. The food was delicious and a real taste of Italy! Thanks for giving us the perfect experience after a very rough day. You get the highest recommendation from this southerner! Bravo!

Food is great authentic Italian, good portions at a fair price. I don’t know what else beats it in the area.

The food wasn’t the worst but certainly didn’t impress me in the slightest considering the great reviews a lot of people give it. The first disappointment was hearing the waiter explain the specials to another table after we had already placed our orders and were never informed of any specials. My husband, 2 year old daughter and I just ordered entrees. It took about a half hour for our food to come out. My husbands veal parm was ok. He said it was extremely thin and over cooked but tasted ok. My daughter’s kids raviolis were great. My chicken cacciatore was barely edible. It tasted like straight vinegar. Under different circumstances I would have sent it back, but with a toddler, I wouldn’t have had the time to wait for another entrée. Not only that, but the waiter never even came by to ask how our food was so I didn’t even have an opportunity to send it back. The only perk was that they took the chicken cacciatore off of the bill. I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant and will not be going back.

Three stars might be a bit much. Went here on a Sunday night with five others. Meals were ok to so, so. This was not like my first visit which was very good. The night I was there they were putting in a raw bar. Hope they do a good job with that. End of the meal they were out of several desserts… a sin for our group. Here is hoping they get their act fully together.

This restaurant was okay. Décor was nice. The bread was good. But my meal was just average – and so was my husband’s. I really wanted to like this place. It just didn’t do anything for me unfortunately. The layout was kind of awkward too. There is nothing to separate the kitchen from the dining room except for a thin curtain. Needs a renovation. May or may not be back – not really sure. Very disappointed!

Great service, quality meats and vegetables, authentic family atmosphere.
I had the shrimp diablo and the shrimp were great. It wasn’t very spicy but they offered cracked black pepper, mixed pepper seeds and fresh grated cheese as compliments to meal, allowing me to adjust it to my preference. The caprese was nice, with ripe mozzarella. My daughter had the kids meal with chicken fingers, and I was shocked at how good it was. Crispy breadcrumbs on the outside, moist chicken breast in the middle. I don’t expect such quality from a kids meal!
One criticism would be the bread, which while warm was rather ordinary, and lacking in the garlic department. Switching to fresh garlic herb bread-​sticks would make a difference.
All in all I recommend it for a relaxing family meal. Bring along a bottle of your good wine (it is BYOB) and take your time to enjoy it.

Had a wonderful dinner with friends, Michael Lettera our server was very attentive, food was outstanding. Great place to have great homemade italian food… BYOB.
Try this restaurant you will be very happy you did.
Congrats to Mafalda’s
Keep up the good work!

Great family Resturant, attentive service, the food is tasty, large portions and reasonable prices. Really like the family style cooking, customers are like seeing old and young friends from the past. Wish them the best of luck, I would recommend anyone visiting the area to stop by to get a taste of great family style Italian cooking that didn’t come from a chain style restaurant.

I wish I could give them a higher rating because I can tell the owners are working hard to make this place work. They are new, so maybe they are still working out the kinks. Here are a few: they definitely overbook and have no hostess or pos system to keep track of who comes in when. Inside, the place is nothing more than a pizzeria with white table cloths and clientele was kinda weird. Service was all discombobulated. We waited and waited for bread and water and had to ask at least three different people. The meat and cheese board was low quality cheese and meats. No fresh mozzarella or roasted red peppers or olives. We had eggplant lasagna and Sunday gravy for entrees. The eggplant was really eggplant parm layered with ricotta and a side of penne. It was quite good. The Sunday gravy had a nice sauce and the penne was cooked right. It came with a meatball a small piece of braciole and two sausage links. The braciole was inedible and consisted of more low quality meat. They had no espresso and ran out of tiramisu. I ended up having bread pudding which was surprisingly good. Two stars for the eggplant and bread pudding but definitely not worth a trip back!