Mamma Onesta’s

We came here last minute because someone wanted Italian and suggested Olive Garden! I almost died, so luckily I found this place with good reviews and they certainly lived up to it. I was glad they were able to accommodate a party of nine within a half hour, but it was Sunday and Super Bowl…
First, I just want to say the customer service was great. Everyone was warm and welcoming. Never had to wait long for service or questions. Food was literally back to back from appetizers, salads/​soups, to entrees.
The portions are huge. You mostly fill up on that addictive garlic bread! Then we ordered calamari which wasn’t too greasy like most places and was light in texture which was good. By then I was already full and forgot about my salad! Salad was fresh along with everything else. Finally, my entrée was stuffed shells — I couldn’t even finish one shell I was so stuffed, but the sauce tasted good — had a nice flavor with chunky tomatoes.
The ambiance is nice sit down, very quaint feel in an old-​fashioned building. Kid-​friendly too with a kid menu. Prices were reasonable. I’m not too familiar with the area, but good restaurants are hard to come by when I’m visiting the Joliet area, glad to have found this place.

the lunch specials are crazy good. very cheap with a good amount of food I leave happy and full every single time. the chicken parm sandwich is my favorite

Excellent food, and great service! I would strongly recommend making a reservation though. The place is kinda small and tends to fill up fast.

Such a sweet atmosphere, feels like home. Food was so amazing! Staff was very kind & answered every question we had about the menu. Had the special braised pork ravioli with vodka sauce, to.die.for. Rolls are sooo good too – a must for garlic lovers! Dinner tonight-​go now!

I was excited to come here because everyone in town said how great it was. The service is great. The atmosphere was good. The bread and homemade bruschetta were good. Then the entrées were absolutely terrible. It was obvious that they weren’t made in house. I had a chicken lemon sauce dish. The lemon sauce was an awful gravy. Lemon sauce should be nothing like gravy. The chicken had the weirdest texture, it definitely was not grilled to order. I sent that back. I had the carbonara, thinking that it couldn’t possibly be messed up. I was wrong. My boyfriend had spaghetti and meatballs. There was water separating from the sauce! The meatballs were processed. It was so bad.

Had lunch here on Thursday and it was fantastic. Great tasting Italian cuisine, very clean, and waitstaff and management were all very nice and accommodating. Our lunch portions were huge and so delicious. We had penne with sausage and portabello mushrooms. Yum! Located in downtown Lockport. Pasta dishes ranged from $ 8.95 to $ 11.95. Wish I had known about this place 10 years ago because I have missed out on alot of great food. Will definitely go back.

We visited here for a baby shower… food was excellent and loved the atmosphere. We are going to try to go back here for dinner! Cheese manicotti was great. loved the homemade creamy dressing… staff was very pleasant and THANK U for having a change table in the bathroom for babies! My 6 MO old and I thank u for that lol!

When you are visiting the Lockport area. This is one of those places that you should not pass up.
It’s your local small own business, serving Italian cuisines. Which I’d have to say were exceptional.
Before you begin you meal the waiter or waitress will bring forth dinner rolls which are fresh, with garlic and olive oil. (you will not be able to resist by only having one.)
Our choice was to start the appetizer off with an spinach sauté. Which was amazingly good.
For the main course I chose the penne w/​sausage & red peppers, My wife, the Pasta Del Sol. Both dishes were cooked and prepared to perfection.
Each bite was very pleasant, Not to much salt. Nor one flavor overpowering thee other. Just delicious.
I’d have to say next time I decide to venture out into the Lockport area. I will be returning to try some more dishes.
Oh yeah and before I forget. The staff was exceptional. Very friendly & welcoming. as well for the owner. Catering to whatever it is that you would need.

Mm! I highly recommend Mamma Onesta’s. My boyfriend just moved to the area, and we’re so excited to have found such a gem close by!
The service was great all around, our waitress (I believe her name was Caroline) was SO friendly and attentive.
The food was amazing; I ordered the eggplant Parmesan, and he ordered their rigatoni special w/​sausage. The red sangria was also great. We will be back soon! :)

Average to bad. I arrived at 5:20 by myself and was immediately seated and given a menu; it took 15+ minutes for a server to approach me. The another 15 minutes to deliver the bottled water I ordered. Then about 12 additional minutes to take my order. Another 15 minutes to bring me a bowl of soup (minestrone /​exceedingly mediocre-​poor/​primarily composed of canned green beans probably from an industrial sized drum.). 60+ minutes after arriving I got my simple (chicken scallopini w/​olives and sun dried tomatoes — fine/​not great.).
Pretty girls and muscular boys in black tee shirts as servers. Plastic vines and grapes, a framed poster of the «David» and plastic plaques reading vino and salute! You get the picture.
The server was sweet but too busy and visibly relieved by the simplicity of my order and lack of questions. Tables seated after me were served before I was. Food okay; service lousy (not unkind, simply inadequate.)

Last night was my second visit to Mamma Onesta’s. I had not even known this restaurant existed, but was pleasantly surprised to find it. The décor is nice and the service is good. The menu selections are the usual for an Italian restaurant, but they seem to have some nice specials. I ate the Swai fish last night which was advertised as «spicy» and it was! The flavor was good. I would definitely order it again if it is offered. The other items salad, rolls and wine were good too. It’s nice to have a good Italian restaurant close by!

My husband and I just moved to Lockport from Chicago and were craving some Italian. He used to live in the area a few years ago — so knowing what was out here we were not feeling too optimistic. However found this gem on Unilocal tried it out and now after dinner had to compliment on how amazing it was!!! Thoroughly impressed and this will be a regular spot for us.
I ordered chicken Parmesan that was so good! The chicken was very juicy but still maintaining good balance of crisp to the breading and cheese on top. Sauce was very flavorful and fresh. Even the side of spaghetti was cooked perfectly. My husband got the special which was Asiago stuffed gnocchi. Whenever we get Italian he always orders gnocchi so this was a sign from the start! Very rich and flavorful. Both of us enjoyed sharing one another’s dishes!
Our waitress Ariana was so nice as well as the rest of the staff. I can’t even think of one complaint. Great price point. Great portions. Loved ambience. My husband and I literally high fived each other we were so glad to find a great place out in Lockport

The food was pretty good. Though the garlic knots were just drenched in garlic to the point where they were inedible. I ordered a seafood dish that while tasted good, was a bit over-​priced. The pasta itself seemed to just be the boxed variety and didn’t seem freshly made.

So I had no idea that Lockport had a quaint little downtown area. I was even more surprised to find that Mamma Onesta’s is there, and it rivals any Italian restaurant on the south side. This place is the bomb for authentic Italian served in a homey atmosphere.
We came in on a Saturday night sans reservations, and there was a 45 minute wait. We decided to saddle up to the bar and we ordered a couple of martini’s. Both drinks were well mixed, and both bartenders were friendly and efficient. After only 15 minutes our table opened up, so we were seated promptly by the hostess.
Server was nice as can be (can’t recall her name). The food was awesome. We started with the calamari (cooked perfectly, not too heavy). We also had spicy corn soup with habaneros… this was excellent. I had chicken parmigana, my GF had eggplant parmigana. Both dishes were enormous and delicious.
Total bill with drinks was less than $ 100, which I thought was quite fair. The service and food are awesome. We also met the owner who was telling us a bit about the history of the building and downtown Lockport. Overall an excellent place– I’m excited to come here again!

Can’t say enough good things. The food is as close to homade as I can tell. Deserts are great as well. I recently had the sausage, portobello and penne pasta in garlic and oil. Fantastic. Veal was very nice as well.

I have been eating here since they opened.
Always friendly great atmosphere, not
to mention the food is excellent.

Ate there last night for the first time. I had the veal marsala and minestrone soup. It was quite good. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. Prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is homey and friendly. It is a bit loud inside as it is not a big place. However, I enjoyed the décor and it is located in a vintage building in downtown Lockport. I would definitely come back here.

Made a reservation for a Saturday night. Arrived 5 minutes early and was seated immediately. Ordered a couple of drinks and was given a chance to look over the menu. Ordered an appetizer which came out a few minutes later. Garlic knots were brought out with the water glasses. The garlic tasted vinegary, like it was pickled garlic. Not what I expected. Appetizer was good, entrees were tasty, service was a little slow. We all had stopped eating for a good ten minutes before the waiter, who had walked past us twice, stopped to box up the leftovers and ask if we wanted dessert. Large dessert portions. All in all a nice experience but I don’t know if I’ll travel to Lockport again just to eat here.

I have been here twice. Once for lunch which was probably a four star meal. The garlic knots that day were soft and the side order of meatballs came in their own bowl with a slightly different sauce which I enjoyed. I also liked that the meatballs were dense like my Nonna used to make.
Last night, however, the stuffed shells I ordered were WAY over salted. My dining companions (who I had talked the place up to) also reported their food was over salted. My add-​on meatballs came on my entrée plate this visit and were dry and bland. Our garlic knots this visit were hard.
I think I’ll give the restaurant one more try since it is fairly close to where I live and we do not have many good dining options out here. Maybe last night was just an off night?

I’ve been here a few times, usually just when I am in the area because there’s not much in Lockport. This review is based on my experience last night.
I had a reservation for 7:45pm. We sat down and no one came to our table for a good 15 minutes. Finally, I asked an employee where our server was and he took our table kindly even though I don’t think we were his normal table. We started with their signature garlic rolls, which are good, but were practically hard as a rock. We were using forks and knives to cut through them.
I had the house salad with the creamy Italian dressing, which is one of the best dressings I have had. It came with my entrée, which was chicken parmasean with a side of spaghetti. I felt like there was too much sauce and not enough cheese on the chicken, but it was still good.
My favorite thing here is the beer cheese soup but it’s a daily special and they don’t have it on Monday’s apparently.