Tony Mandola’s

Father’s Day brunch: I will say that most of our food was good, but the service was absolutely awful, and I am a server apologist. The worst was discovering that my husband was using steak sauce that had been expired for 18 months and the server didn’t particularly care or even offer to get a new steak for him. We started wondering what else was expired. I spent the morning apologizing to my husband for his «special» lunch…

When did they get rid of the Sunday brunch buffet? We went there today for Father’s Day expecting to have the buffet. I was amazed to hear that it’s gone … evidently. The waitress had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it. This was our Sunday-​go-​to-​place for brunch for special occasions.

We met friends for a late lunch today. We had the crab cake eggs benedict with sides and steamed asparagus. We shared the fruit cobbler with ice cream and the key lime pie. We had a complimentary serving of the bread pudding with bourbon sauce. Everything was excellent. We’ll return soon.

Amazing food and best service, Sergio our waiter was amazing, best time for a night out with friends, very accommodating to our friends with a 1 year old on a Friday night, baby got free cream and berries for being so adorable

I thought the food was good overall. Everyone else food was fine except mine, the snapper Martha which I ate of course wasn’t that great. I kept eating and the scales were in my food. So I kept spitting it out, I think if I’m paying for a 34 dollar fish it shouldn’t be spitting scales out. Disappointed.

Very upscale casual dining. Service was good and food was decent. We choose from the lunch menu.
Started with the boudain as an appetizer and the seafood quesadilla for me which was really good and hubby had the fish taco. The fish was a bit soggy, so not great! We had the bread pudding for dessert and it was ok… All and all it was a nice afternoon lunch in good company!

First time here after the tacky paint job… pretty sure the same people don’t operate this place anymore. Completely gross tourist food. Rancid grease tasting fried shrimp and muddy flavorless sauce. Terrible service unless you are tacky and gross too. Sorry they moved from West Gray.

Went here for a dinner date a few weeks back. I was recommended coming here by my boss and I was absolutely overjoyed by our experience.
We were seated almost immediately in one of the private back rooms, not too many tables crowding us in like other restaurants and we couldn’t hear the other table’s conversations. Music was a little loud, but nothing I couldn’t ignore.
I was told that I absolutely HAD to try their banana pepper fried calamari and I won’t lie, that was my favorite fried calamari to date. It was a wonderful blend of spicy and sweet that worked so amazingly well with the calamari.
We both enjoyed our dinner and left with a wonderful experience and we look forward to returning at a future date.

Once again the windows have tables by them for Sunday brunch. Upcheck.
Music is back but pretty much might as well not be. Downcheck.
The musician was playing when I arrived, slightly before noon. After playing a while, he took a break. I timed it — that break was over 45 minutes at the time I left. I wish I could get a job where I’m supposed to work for three hours (11AM — 2PM, according to the announced brunch hours) and could take a 45 minute break in that time — 25% of the time. I realize musicians need breaks, but leaving people (me) musicless for 45 minutes in a row? In the time I was there, there wasn’t music more time than there was music. And the musician was either not particularly good or was phoning it in. Phoning it in I could kinda sorta understand, as there were very few people in the restaurant, and even fewer seated where they could see the musician and he could see them — really odd placement.
The service was A-​number-​one outstanding, which is why I’m three stars instead of two.
The food was OK. It was my mistake ordering a lobster omelet — how much lobster could there be for $ 18? Yeah, that much. The eggs were nice and fluffy, but there was no seasoning or sauce at all — just eggs, mozzarella, and some lobster. Live and learn. I think hollandaise or anything buttery would have helped a lot. The potatoes were meh. The shrimp cocktail Vincente was yummy, and the small size is a deal for the amount you get, if you ask me.
The drinks were excellent. Check mark for one of the few places here that can make a correct Martini.
I’ll be back before plays at Stages, there being little else within walking distance, but I’ll probably try to keep it cheaper on my end, since the main point is currently the food and the service, not the music. I wish the main point, or at least *a* main point was the music — I’d have stayed longer and spent more.

Great ambiance. Fast Service. Great waiters, I believe his name was Jerry… something with a J, he was fabulous! But two wierd things happened. Another waiter other than mine stopped by our table to ask if we had any questions about the menu. At the same time the Manager walked past & said to us, «I you have trouble with any of those BIG words on the menu, he can help». WHAT??? My friend and I were so taken back by his statement. Do we appear to be uneducated? I don’t think so! I didn’t see him say this to any other table. Could it be because we were the only people of COLOR in the restaurant? Another bizarre thing, when I first arrived and asked to be seated the young lady grabbed some menus and said I can seat you in the back. I looked around the restaurant at the dozens of open tables and booths by the bar which were available in the front and politely told her, no, we’d like this table here in the front. There was not 1 patron in the back room seating. These two events have me a bit skeptical about patronizing again. Again the food was great and so was our personal waiter but the others involved in the two off beat things that happened I’m not sure.

Blake is the champion of service and hearts. I love this place and have for the last 20 years. David @ the bar is extraordinary. He knows your choices like the perfect lemonade stand. You walk in/​Blake and David hand you the crystal slipper.
The service and food are incredible. The staff remembers your order and name.
They are your family. This spot has been and will continue to be memorable.
I ordered vanilla ice cream and it magically became a pecan ball.
I hope they serve it again in my name as a hashtag.
Bravo Tony! You are a legend.

Been here quite a few times for networking events and had a few of the appetizers and decided to actually come out and have lunch here. Customer service is great, food is fresh and ambience is nice. Great place for lunch or a date night if you are in the Montrose/​River Oaks area.

I had the pleasure of dining here last weekend with a large group of friends for BRUNCH (Brunch review… heyyy)
We were able to get a large table outside for about 12 people, which on a Sunday, is nearly impossible. It wasnt overly crowded, which sort of surprised me!
Our server was really wonderful. He had NO problems keeping the mimosas coming and keeping everyone’s glasses filled. I went to reach for a carafe, and he actually came and got it from me to pour. Totally surprised me, but major bonus points!
Many of us ordered different items from the brunch menu. I did not hear ONE complaint from anyone! From what I gathered the stand outs were: Crab Cake Benedict, Carnitas omelette, the gumbo, and the french toast. I really thought the pricing was pretty fair considering the high quality of all the food.
The server was able to split everyone’s checks, which was pretty awesome. I dont really like to do that, but he offered and we accepted.
We will definitely be back! Great experience!

Had the red fish with the broccolini. Went down very well. The atmosphere was a mixture of Italian with Nola. The food and the menu definitely represent that same feel.
The server was great and checked on us a hand full of times.
You can dress casual but it’s not a bad place to have a formal event or bday party it seems.
They have valet parking as well as open spots but they are limited. This is common for the area.
I would go again it was worth the price.

We received a groupon gift for 4-​course meals for two for here. We made a reservation and let them know that we have the groupon. When we sat down at our table, we were given a groupon special menu. There we about 3 – 4 selections that we could make from the set menu.
For appetizer, we got fried calarmari and ceviche. For soup/​salad, we got gumbo and lobster bisque. For the main course, we both ordered the sea bass. For dessert, we ordered chocolate cake and banana key lime pie.
We both thought the main course was the best part of the meal. Everything else was alright. The sea bass itself was very juicy and flavorful. I especially enjoyed the toppings of the sea bass! There were crab meats, jumbo shrimps, and oysters. There also roasted broccoli and cauliflower on the bottom of the plate. Overall, it was a great medley!
Not sure if I would come back here though. I didn’t love the other dishes that we tried.

I remain a fan, but with complaints. The day before my last visit I read an article about the «new & changed» Mandola’s, which had dropped the white table clothes, & changed the menu, pricing & Happy Hour. Really? First thing we noticed when walking in, was the white table clothes being spead out on the tables exactly as before. However, we did note the other changes, which are not necessarily for the better. No pizzas, even though they served a fairly good pizza, that seemed to be popular. Some wine changes, even though the former wine selections are still listed on the menu. Menu seems far more limited, & prices definitely increased. Is this the same changes I just read about, that was supposed to make Mandola’s more approachable? Definitely missed that mark, but I remain a fan overall.

First I love that that temperature was just right walking into the place. I dislike when it is cold and my food gets cold fast.
Our waitress Haley was GREAT! Cool friendly girl. I ordered the stuffed shrimp pasta. It was delicious! The flavors where just right, worked together well. Because we checked in on Unilocal we got to choose any dessert. The seasonal cheesecake is a must try. I’m not a big fan of lemon, but it wasn’t too bad.

We were lured by Tony Mandola’s Happy Hour menu with $ 1 oysters.
Parking is complimentary valet only. You’ll be hard-​pressed to find any street parking, so just go ahead and do the valet like everyone else. I hate «complimentary» valet because *you know* you also have to tip them, making it *not* complimentary. Ugh.
Anyways, HAPPY HOUR. Available everyday until 6:30 at the BAR ONLY. I stalked the website in advance and found out this crucial piece of info. We got to the bar around 5:30 on a Saturday night and basically had the whole place to ourselves to spread out, enjoy quiet conversation, and order leisurely. We ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell, peel & eat shrimp, Ahi tuna tower, crab & shrimp dip & crostinis, crab balls, and the due meatball. Shared everything and it was delicious! My personal favorite was the shrimp dip and crostinis.
Even though we were the only ones at the bar, service was a little eh. I had to ask for a water refill after it sat empty for 10 minutes. Water needs to be flowing at all times!
Overall, I loved the food and the classier atmosphere. Eh on the service and «complimentary» valet parking.

Lunch menu was superb and healthy. Atmosphere relaxing. We split a couple desserts and both were delicious. A definite must add for business luncheons with very professional wait staff. No complaints at all!

Loved this place! We actually had planned to go somewhere else for lunch but we ended up here! First time and the experience was great. I had the lobster bisque and it was very good.

Went here for the Valentine’s menu. Excellent atmosphere and fantastic food. I has the snapper Alexander and loved it. My wife had the chateaubriand and says it was great as well.

Every year during Christmas time, we do an annual couples dinner with gift exchange! We always have such a great time! The food was great! I especially loved my dirty vodka martinis with stuffed cheese olives! A+ on everything and a nice laid back fun atmosphere

Not sure if it’s Italian, Gulf Coast or a Taco Cabana
I am a big fan of restaurant design and in Houston we probably have more innovators than in most other cities. When Mandola’s first built the place I thought this place would have the «wow factor» — unfortunately, it doesn’t. The recent garish paint scheme reminds me of a Taco Cabana and the blue railing in the patio does also not help. This, however, is not the only place where Mandola’s suffers from an identity crisis, the interior is New Orleans, yet the menu is Italian as are the Cinzano umbrellas in the patio. It seems that everything is just half baked and without much thought given to the final product.
On to the food.
We ordered a Sicilian Salad and a Gumbo. I had vision of bright red tomatoes and a fresh bed of greens for the salad — what we got was a luncheon salad. One of those sorry looking salads that you get at a hotel luncheon that you didn’t want to go to in the first place. Cheap iceberg lettuce and 1 olive.
The gumbo on the other hand was very good and I even found three shrimp in it!
The bread was really good but the whipped butter was probably not butter, some sort of margarine/​butter combo if I had to guess. Also, the bread came wrapped in a paper napkin, yes I know that’s picky — but if you are pretending to be upscale put the bread in cloth napkin and serve real butter — don’t cut corners on small stuff!
For entrees I had the Grilled Chicken while my GF had the Trout Almondine. The chicken had a nice flavor as did the linguini marinara. The Trout was good but a bit on the dry side but the big disappointment was that the Bok Choy was sandy. In other words while they may have done a rudimentary wash they did not rinse it long enough to get the sand out.
For dessert we had a chocolate cake and the Key Lime pie — the cake was dryish and even the frosting did not aid much in making it moist. The key lime pie was better but nothing unusual, certainly not worthy of the accolades other reviewers gave.
Overall this place was «eh» — the gumbo was good but other than that, nothing stood out or was unusual.

Great service, great food, AMAZING oysters. I got the salmon, and it was grilled perfectly. The bread pudding was delicious and it made out of their fresh baked bread, raisins, and apples with cream and caramel sauces. The ambiance is great and every person on the staff is attentive. I highly recommend this place!

This place is lucky that the food was so good because the service was absolute horseshit!

This place never disappoints! Thanks tony for a great meal again! If you love great seafood and a great experience you have to come here

If you are craving a taste of Louisiana, this is a great place. The atmosphere is beautiful without being overbearing. We started with the ceviche, which I thought was a little bland and it had carrots in it — thought it was a little weird, but it was good. We also had the oysters and they were delicious. For dinner I had the Catfish Etoufee, which was perfect. The etoufee was seasoned well and it spooned on top of a blackened catfish filet with a side of wilted spinach. It was fantastic. My husband had the fried catfish filet (3 on the order) and he loved them. The drinks were great and they even had a jazz band, which was great. Overall we had a great time and the staff handled everything wonderfully.

Thank you Tony Mandola’s for giving me another incredible night of perfection. I have been a fan for more years than I can count. I grew up with your staff and still have them as FB friends.
The service/​thank you Andrew/​the food/​the incredible Chef from New York was astronding.
If you truly want experience top to bottm perfection please RUN!

Food was just that, Okay. lol, I don’t believe it’s worth the money you pay. My food came out warm, had to send back to heat up… even then, the only thing that was smoking was my plate. I won’t go back… well, maybe i will during lunch or breakfast.

This is the best seafood restaurant in Houston!
The food is ALWAYS fresh and prepared exactly as requested. The portions are always enough for a doggie bag, if you are able to stop eating. Their service is extremely professional as well. I would bet you can not find a better place for fresh fish then Mandola’s Restaurant. Excellent experience :)

Where to start? What an amazing experience. Jeremy, the Manager, greeted us when we arrived (he had no idea who we were), he introduced himself and then checked in on us later. Brandy was our server and she was excellent. The salmon and snapper were both phenomenal and the hospitality was impeccable. Two girls from Idaho were blown away by the service and welcome gesture from a nice restaurant in Houston. Keep up the amazing work!

The valet parking is a great added touch and the inside of the restaurant is clean. This is a somewhat high end restaurant and is centered around tons of big businesses. Most people come here for business meetings/​lunch/​dinner.
We went for dinner with our coworkers. It was their treat. We requested a table outside as we went on the one day in the year that Houston has good weather. 80 degree evening with low humidity (very rare from what I have been told).
Our waiter was OK. He did not have the specials memorized and had to read them off a list.
We started with crab cakes which were well flavored. We also ordered some oysters (I did not partake but my wife claims they were good).
For the main course, I ordered the rack of lamb, cooked medium (4 pieces) with mashed potatoes. The lamb was good. Great flavor and good seared crust. The mashed potatoes were decent. Could use some more flavor (salt goes a long way… or more butter).
My wife ordered the steak, cooked medium well with onion rings. Steak was cooked as requested and with a little A1, it was great. But the onion rings!!! Great batter with a great crunch. Eat them when they come out because they get soggy if yout take them home.
As for desert, I ordered the peach cobbler. The peaches were there but there was too much juice and not enough cobbler. The savory flavor was there but it could use more bread.
My wife ordered the chocolate cake which tadted store bought. She said she didn’t mind, but I expect the cake to be made from scratch.
Definitely recommend the restaurant on a beautiful night.

This restaurant is just OK.
Gumbo: 3 stars The Gumbo was good but wasn’t anything Famous about like claim.
Ceasar Salad: 3 stars Average
Chicken Picatta: 3 star This dish remind me something you get from Olive Garden.
Trout Almondine: 5 star This was the only dish that stood out.
Key Lime Pie: 5 star Caught me by surprise, the key lime was actually impress me.
Choc Cake: 3 star Although the cake was moist, it wasn’t anything much special to it.
Overall, this is a 3 star restaurant. Would we go out our way to eat here again? Probably not, but it was worth the try.

I really liked this restaurant! Good service, food, and atmosphere was perfect. We went for my moms birthday and unfortunately we had an aggie as our server. My mom graduated LSU, her boyfriend and I are Baylor alums, and my sister is a Texas Tech fan. He made a remark before he knew we were Baylor alums that they were «overrated» and tech would beat them. I’m unsure if that affected his tip from my moms boyfriend or not lol. It wasn’t a smooth move on his part but he was very apologetic. I’m sure he feels dumb after Baylor crushed Tech.
End of that rant. Back to more important matters. The Pinot Grigio wine from Italy was great. They had many specials to choose from including the crab cakes appetizer we started with. I always like to have crab cakes when first trying seafood restaurants to kinda gage my overall opinion of how well they are at seafood. They were delicious so it was off to a great start. Since it is oyster season I had to try their oysters and they offered the perfect plate to try an assortment of their different kinds they offer. Of course my favorite was their oyster bienville but they all were good. All of my family really liked this restaurant and we will definitely be back!

For starters, Tony Mandola’s is not the same as another restaurant in Houston that has the same first name. Oops.
Excited that I found the Groupon for Tony (Mandola’s), I decided to eat here with my family for my birthday. I have to say, the deal was actually pretty great — a 3 course meal at a heavy discount? I’m all about that.
Cut to the food — for my meal, I ordered ceviche, linguini frutti di mare, and banana key lime pie.
* Ceviche: really quite good. Nice acidity, prepared well.
* Linguini: WAY too salty. I think the 5 types of seafood and a hearty pomodoro just threw everything off balance.
* Key lime pie: I try to avoid cloyingly sweet desserts, but the key lime pie is just on the verge of being too sour. Perfect way to end a meal, though.
Service is excellent here — when bagging up our food, one of the servers dropped a plate with leftovers on the floor, and they cooked up a fresh entrée for us to take home, free of charge. That was incredibly nice of them, and they didn’t even ask us if we wanted a new dish.
Overall, this is a nice place to eat, but with the other multitude of restaurants in Houston, I’m not in a particular rush to come back here.

Having gone to school in New Orleans, I had high hopes for this Mandola restaurant. While the food was good, the service was extremely lacking.
I purchased a groupon which allowed me to sample a lot of different items, and since I was at a NOLA inspired restaurant, felt obligated to try the oysters.
We had the oyster trio, however, I was very underwhelmed and would rate them @ ²⁄₅. The bucaneer was probably my favorite of the 3, however, none were great.
We were able to substitute a dessert for an extra appetizer and thus, I was able to try 3 different appetizers. The ceviche was average, but not worth ordering when there is so much good ceviche around town. The calamari was above average and probably a ⁴⁄₅. The sauce it was in was excellent and it was not overly breaded. The stuffed jalapenos were also quite good and ⁴⁄₅.
The gumbo was decent, but again, nothing to write home about.
My date had the snapper, however, it was clearly overcooked and quite dry. It’s a bad sign when someone says the fish would taste better with ketchup. I’d give this dish a ²⁄₅.
I had the frutti di mare which was better than expected. There was crab, scallops, mussels, crawfish and shrimp. The scallops were probably U10 and were excellently prepared. The pomodoro, while good, could’ve been a little spicier. This dish was probably the star of the night for me on this occasion.
For dessert, we had the banana key lime pie and were given a complimentary bread pudding, given the disaster service we had. Both of these were average. My only complaint about the key lime pie was that the banana clearly overpowered the key lime which was difficult to taste at all.
Overall, i’d give the food here 4 stars.
The service, on the other hand, was less than standard. We had 8 PM reservations and were not seated til 815. For some reason, they also do not let you transfer your bar tab to your table, however, this is only a minor annoyance. From the start, I could tell our waiter would be bad as he didn’t know the specials, could not name the different types of oysters, and took nearly 30 minutes to get our order. Given the limited menu options, one would assume he could at least get the entrees entered in right, however, mine came out wrong and I had to wait 15 minutes to get my substitute. By this time, my date had already finished.
I guess had the service been better, I’d be more inclined to give this place 4 stars, however, on this night, 3 is more than fair.

On a recommendation my mom and I hit up this place for happy hour before going to a play at a local theater.
We were very satisfied with the entire experience. We sat at the bar and our bartender was very accommodating and friendly. (Nick, I think)
They had many options of wine, beer and top shelf spirits on their happy hour menu. The food options were also very reasonable, delicious and a good portion. We got the shrimp cocktail, calamari and Parmesan Rosemary French fries. Everything was delicious and we will soon be back!

I went for dinner last week expecting a nice meal. Tony Mandola’s has a reputation of being one of the better restaurants in Houston. Parking is valet only unless you want to park on Waugh. Upon entering and being seated I noticed that I liked the layout of the restaurant. It has a classy and somewhat upscale feel to it. The interior was about ²⁄₃ full and there were some people dining on the patio. The hostess provided menus and while the water glasses arrived shortly after being seated it took about 10 minutes for the waiter to show up. That surprised me a little. I was in the mood for seafood and pasta so I ordered Mama’s shrimp and crab pasta that comes with a salad. I also ordered Mama’s gumbo for an appetizer.
A few minutes later the gumbo ($ 6) arrived and it was very good (4). The roux was dark and rich and tasty. The entrée arrived later. It was in a marinara sauce and a good bowl of pasta. It was good however someone had not properly de-​shelled the shrimp and I had to remove several shell pieces from my mouth. I am not particularly fond of eating shrimp shells. I gave the entrée a 3. I am going to assume the shell pieces were not normal for this restaurant. The salad was good (3.5).
Finally when I checked in on Unilocal I took advantage of the free dessert offered. I chose the cheesecake and I will tell you it was excellent (5).
One other note, I thought my service was only a 3. I had hoped for better but did not receive it. 3 is good but I thought it was going to be more like a 4 but it wasn’t.
Perhaps I will return and then perhaps I won’t due to so many other nice restaurants like this in the City. My overall score for this experience is a 3.

Well, it wasn’t perfect. But it was a pleasant experience because of the immaculate customer service. Reservations are recommended, as it does get pretty busy on weekends. The patio is lovely, and I can see myself spending an evening sipping on iced tea there in cooler temps. On this night though, air conditioning was necessary.
On my way to the ladies’ room, I had to stop and stare at the gigantic dessert platter. Those things are SO EFFECTIVE. When I got back, I began to gush about the desserts to my bestie, which was overhead by the manager, Jeremy. I guess my voice really carries. Jeremy informed us that ALL of the desserts are insanely delicious, which doesn’t help my decision at all, but I believed he was telling the truth.
The food is more than acceptable, but falls short of excellence. The crawfish étouffée was tasty, generous on crawfish, and not overly salty, a common blunder at other restaurants. My main dish, four jumbo shrimp stuffed with crab meat, was pretty good. However, my bestie ordered a medium steak and what he got was way overdone. Second try, it was bloody rare. Third time’s a charm though– medium. This isn’t a steakhouse, so it happens sometimes. Any kitchen could be slammed or having an off day. What matters is how the wait staff handles the situation. They were sincerely apologetic and worked very swiftly to fix the issue.
The best part? Jeremy brought us not one, not two, but THREE complimentary desserts to make amends (Take note, guys. I’ll forgive practically any mistake if you give me dessert). Bread pudding, molten chocolate cake, and lemon cheesecake with HOMEMADE biscotti crust, served with vanilla bean ice cream. On these alone, I would give them 5 stars, and not only because they were free. They were foodgasm-​inducing, eyes-​roll-​to-​back-​of-​your-​head, worth every calorie, publicly moan with reckless abandon, mouthwateringly delectable. Think Meg Ryan’s famous diner scene in When Harry Met Sally. Am I painting clear enough of a picture? Do not skip dessert.
With that steak fiasco, I didn’t realize until I was in the car that my entrée was missing angel hair pasta advertised on the menu. Normally, I would be upset, but in this case, how could I be? I was in sugary heaven. We had the best time and were cared for like valued patrons. I appreciate that greatly.

What an interesting place! We ventured into Tony Mandola’s for a date night after a particularly rough week of unforeseen family and work issues. Judging the book by its cover, erm… I mean judging the restaurant by its exterior, I assumed it would an old fashioned place filled with elderly couples. My husband and I were ready to stick out as a «young» couple. To our pleasant surprise, the restaurant was filled with (yes) elderly couples, families, young couples, and groups celebrating birthdays! It was definitely larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.
So, we were seated with smiles on our faces and ordered Gulf Oysters. They were tasty, even without the condiments! I liked their consistency and ease of scooping them out of their half shell. Easy and Delicious — — - just the way I like them.
For our entrees, we opted for the Salmon Sophia topped with lime butter with a side of potatoes and asparagus as well as Shrimp Scampi with a decadent topping and a side of mixed vegetables. It was all so good and filling! The portion size was ideal — not «Texas-​size» and not «too-​pretentious-​to-​eat» size either! I was pleased.
We ended the night with Banana Key Lime Pie… and as full as I was, I forced it down my gullet because no one should waste good dessert!
I’ll have to keep this place in mind for future dates, girls’ night out, or even family in town type of dinners.

I wasn’t such a huge fan of this place. For a restaurant that’s supposed to be all about seafood, none of the seafood here really stood out. Most of the food was kind of just bland and didn’t seem fresh, which was really unfortunate because it seemed like such a nice restaurant (with high prices to match). The service was pretty good when we went. Monday night so it was pretty much empty.
However, if you must come here, order the gumbo and the key lime pie dessert. Both were great!

The current Groupon deal is excellent for lunch! Make reservations ahead of time (even for lunch) if you’re the type that must sit at a table. If you end up sitting at the bar though, there’s plenty of elbow room and excellent service. My coworker and I were seated at the bar, in front of a tub filled with ice and fresh oysters – never a bad thing (in my book).
The Groupon deal offers a 3 course, prix fix menu (soup or salad; entrée and dessert). I started with Mama’s Gumbo – a rich broth with fried okra and tasty, medium-​sized shrimp. If you choose a salad option, the Sicilian Salad is tossed with a nice and light Italian vinaigrette.
Hands down – HANDS DOWN – Tony Mandola’s Chicken Piccata is the best Chicken Piccata I’ve tried yet. The chicken breast was super tender, fresh and lemony – topped with onions, capers and a silky white wine butter sauce. This is actually what my coworker ordered and I tried a few bites. I didn’t order this myself because I figured I eat chicken all the time, I’d go for fish. And while what I ordered, the Rainbow Trout Almondine, was also very good (topped with toasted almond slices, brown butter and crabmeat) – the Chicken Piccata exceeds.
For dessert, Philly Mandola’s Banana Key Lime Pie might be my new favorite. The banana gives the custard filling a really creamy texture, while the lime adds the tang I crave.
All in all, a great experience (and excuse to treat yourself after a hard deadline at the office).