Mama’s Pizzeria

I was invited here for dinner by some fellow Unilocalers and I’m so glad I checked this place out! I was under the impression that Mama’s and Mama Mia’s are the same, however I was CLEARLY mistaken by my recent visit here at Mama’s.
The atmosphere here, by itself, is great. We chose to sit outside on the patio and it was an excellent choice! The tables were spacious, they had awesome live music playing, plus the music wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t talk over it. I also like that this place has a more modern vibe than Mama Mia’s. It just felt more comfortable to me.
Now the important part, the food! We ordered fried pickles and spinach artichoke dip to share, which were both fantastic. For our entrees, I ordered the spaghetti parmigiana with vegan sauce and my guy ordered the pepperoni pasta dish. Both were HUGE portions and came with garlic bread. I couldn’t eat all of mine and neither could he (not that we didn’t try). Plus, we were able to bring our own wine with us, which was definitely a plus! It’s very rare you see a BYOB option outside of a major city.
Overall, I was very impressed with my experience at Mama’s. The food, ambiance, and service were all great. Can’t wait to try this place again!

TL;DR: long wait, poor service, mediocre food.
Parking is terrible. Didn’t get our orders placed until about 45 minutes in. Staff not very friendly or organized. Food is okay, but not worth the price or the wait.

I came here with my mother. It’s more modern looking than Mama Mia’s Pizzeria, and perhaps a bit bigger, since it also has an outdoor patio with additional seating.
I was craving Pasta Arrabiata, having tried it once in Manhattan’s Little Italy, so I decided to come over and order their Penne Alla Arrabiata. The bread was soft and buttery. My sauce wasn’t spicy, even though I expected it to be, but it was perfectly fine since they have crushed red pepper on the table, so you can add the spice according to your preference. We also shared cheese sticks. They were crunchy and cheesy, like they’re supposed to be. The marinara sauce that came with them was meaty and delicious.

In the last few months this has become one of our favorite places in town. Ignore the reviewers who say this isn’t like pasta in other cities, but who freaking cares– We are in the valley and this is an awesome place. The pasta and pizza are great, they make awesome pasta sauce. I recommend the spaghetti Parmesan. The ambience is great, there is an excellent vibe. The servers have a really good attitude and take good care of you. Shauna is the best! Also our favorite thing is that they have BYOB! Almost no one in the valley does this, but they should. There is a $ 5 corkage fee, but that’s a small price to be able to bring your own bottle of wine.
The menu is similar to mama mias, and the recipes are almost identical– but I get sick every time I go to mama mias so now we only come here.

Mama’s is a delightful restaurant perfect for lunch and dinner. Their red sauce is perfectly seasoned! One of the best red sauces I’ve ever had. They put it on their pasta and pair it as a side with their fried ravioli. The fried ravioli is something I highly recommend as an appetizer. It’s their fresh, homemade ravioli lightly breaded. A little spicy but so yummy! Their pasta is also delicious. I’ve tasted the baked ziti, creamy pesto, and spaghetti with meatballs — all dishes have been great. I really like to try something different every time I go because I know I’ll get something good.
The atmosphere is very home-​y because the restaurant is pretty much in a converted house. During the evening, the ambience is really lovely for a family dinner or date night. On days with wonderful weather, the patio is perfect and there are twinkle lights at night. It’s really a cool location and very unlike anything else in the city.
I’ve hosted several parties in the back room for birthdays and graduations. The Mama’s staff is really helpful and willing to accommodate your needs. The owner is a delight and will come by to check how things are going whenever he’s in the restaurant! Overall, fantastic place!

It has a large menu with a big selection. The Stromboli and bruschetta were awesome! the portions were big so we had leftovers too.

Pretty awful. McAllen is not known for its amazing Italian fare; even so, how hard is it to make a decent margherita? Mine was about as good as something you’d get on sale in the frozen food section of your local HEB. Crust tasted like cardboard, mozzarella was definitely not fresh, sauce from a can and shredded, limp basil. All this for $ 12? Skip this place and pick up a Totino’s at the Family Dollar — you’ll be more satisfied.

The website notes delivery, just so everyone knows, they will tell you they do not deliver when you call to place a delivery order.

This is probably one of the best Italian restaurants in McAllen. The fettuccine Alfredo is divine and to die for. It has the perfect ratio of pasta and sauce. The eggplant parmegiano is excellent as well but the pasta could be better. A lot of the dishes are really well made and the marina sauce tastes very homemade and authentic. This place serves that Classic Italian taste beautifully.
However, the service was the biggest thing that bothered me. Service is one of my biggest issues when I go to a restaurant especially since I love giving a good tip to those who deserve it. I’ve been to many restaurants around the McAllen-​Edinburg area and I have to say that this place has the worst service. Granted, the only times I’ve ever eaten here were for birthday dinners but this last particular time our server was excessively rude! He didn’t introduce his name, he was very sassy to us as we ordered, and he just had this aura that he just didn’t want to be there (Ray). Also, as we were taking our picture another server just comes up and says «have any of y’all taken a photograph class? Cuz you’re suppose to face the light when you take a picture!» There were a million better ways to tell us to face the light but being sassy like that was inappropriate. He also assumed that some of us could run out and not pay for our food. How rude!
Overall, I gave this restaurant 3 stars because even though the service was absolutely horrible, I thought the food was delicious and the aura of the restaurant is very relaxed and chill. I would come back to this place but just ask for another server.

Always great! I usually stick to the combo sandwich or chipotle chicken pasta. The cheesecake and lemonade are a definite!

Delicious food!!! Gotta try the vinó-​rita!!! This is has been our go to place for family celebrations for the past 16 yrs. Great food, friendly service… Like coming home to family.
Our family favorites are the pepperoni pizza, lasagna, and chicken Parmesan sandwich, but honestly, can’t go wrong with anything in their menu.
Have tried other Italian restaurants in other cities, Mamas ranks among the best. If you want to stay away from the chain restaurants and want some good local Italian… Mama’s is the way to go!!!

Okay before I go into detail, this review is really for out of towners who are visiting or moved here from big cities.
I know the locals are fans of mamas, but I have to be honest, this place is not that great at all. It’s just not authentic or even trying to be.
My fiancé and I were invited here for dinner and from our last experience ordering pizza for take out, we were not that enthused about it. For apps we ordered garlic bread and fried mushrooms. The fried mushrooms were actually pretty decent and satisfying enough.
The «garlic» bread was nothing of the sort. All it was was thick buttered toast and nothing more. I don’t even think the bread itself was fresh. There was absolutely positively no garlic on this bread what-​so-​ever. I mean really, none at all. Not even a minuscule molecule of it. HEB has better quality garlic bread in the frozen food section.
My fiancé got stuffed shells that he said were nothing special. I got the pizza puff with pepperoni and basil. It was subpar, maybe even less than that. It was filled with way too much mozzarella cheese and I LOVE cheese, but this was just too much. There was barely any marinara sauce. The basil was practically non existent. It was suppose to be baked inside the puff as described on the menu, but all they did was sprinkle a little chopped basil on top after it baked. The crust on the outside was not very good either. It was hard. It seemed like old crust. The dough must have been poor quality.
The pizzas our friends ordered did not look appetizing at all.
I’m sorry to be harsh, but I have eaten at some amazing italian joints in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Miami. After having real italian food, mamas just doesn’t cut it. Maybe I’m being snobby, but I’m being honest. If you’re a local who has never really traveled or lived in a bigger city and you love mamas, that’s fine, no judgements on my part, but sadly, mamas will not satisfy in the slightest bit for me. As of now, the best place to get italian food in this area is my kitchen.

I love this place for lunch time. Try the gyro with feta: it’s surprisingly not that greasy!

So my wife and I just got home from the worst experience ever at this place. Keep in mind that we are regulars… well at least I like to think so because majority of wait staff knows our drink and food selection. Okay so I’m going to paint you a picture of what happened. p. s. we’ve been coming here for the past 4 years or so…
We walk in around 3:30 and its pretty dead. My wife and I look behind the counter and it’s a server we’re not to fond of. We’ve had a couple of bad experiences with him before that I’ll also explain briefly later. My wife and I make it to our favorite table and my wife says, can you ask for someone else to serve us or we’ll just leave and I’m thinking the exact same thing, but I tell my wife «let’s just give him another chance». He comes over and takes our drink/​food order.
We ordered bottle caps and decided to share chicken chipotle pasta. We always tend to switch out the regular chicken for the breaded one and before there was always an issue about an extra 2 dollar charge for just a substitution. (We’ve payed the $ 2 before but never understood how they can charge an extra $ 2 just for swapping. it’s not like we are adding another piece, then we can understand. anyways (the other wait staff has corrected the issue in past visits). I explained to our waiter about the same issue and told him that we have not been charged the fee for quite some time now and he rolled his eyes and agreed to it. I for sure thought we were going to get terrible service, but it was total opposite.
Our server (Martin) came out with our appetizer and refilled my water just about when I was done with it. Our food comes out and here he comes with double plates…(like we’ve had in the past many times when we decide to share our food with no issues or extras). I thought he was definitely going to bring one plate which has also happened in the past. no worries when it does happen. So my wife and I finish and go up to pay the ticket. I always ask for itemized tickets… a habit of mine. I sign ticket and leave 15% tip before getting my itemized ticket. So… heres the kicker. I get my itemized ticket and low and behold there is a SPLIT PLATE CHARGE OF $ 2.00 DOLLARS… First thought that comes to my head is just walk out because I did get a little upset… He didn’t charge the chicken fee but we get charged SPLIT PLATE… WOW! I get into vehicle and my wife says go back and ask why they would do that. So, I get down make my way over to Martin and ask him what the deal is with the SPLIT PLATE charge. He replied there has always been a charge for that… I reply «really, I’ve been coming here for years and have never received a SPLIT PLATE CHARGE»… Then he replies while his head turns to the left and eyes rotate to upper left side.(NO EYE CONTACT). well its A NEW POLICY WE JUST MADE… C’mon are you serious I’m thinking… I ask how long has this policy been effective… Martin again rotates and looks away. for about 2 – 3 weeks now… Seriously which one is it…2 or 3 make up your mind. I then ask him so even though WE DIDN’T request split plates you all still charge… and with a grin on his face he replied YES! I just said okay thank you and walk away furious.
Just want to make a quick reference about other 2 encounters with Martin the server. We walked out one time arriving there due to Martins attitude and by telling us there was no available space for us to sit. the other time I was charged $ 1 for extra crackers when I ordered the pasta fagioli. and yes it was Martin and he did not advise us of the extra charge until I saw it on the itemized receipt…
Yes, these are not outrageous charges but I’m referring to the principle of the matter here. Now-​a-​days it’s hard to find loyal customers that keep going back to restaurants. This is going to be our last time going back to one of our favorites. not only us but we are now going to share this experience with not only Unilocal viewers, but with our friends and family that we would always invite and take over to Mama’s.
I don’t want to make it seem like service is bad all the time. because other servers are great to us… but due to Martins behaviors today. it was our LAST MEAL HERE.

Just LOVE our dinners at Mama’s!!! Jess and everyone are friendly and attentive… and, of course, the food is always yumm-​a-​licious! :)
My fave is the bianco pasta, or is it the portobello salad? Jon loves the pizza… best in town! :)

Family has been there twice. My husband loves this place, I on the other hand, think the food is bland. The first time there, we had a large pizza with extra cheese. It tasted ok (I’ve had better pizza in Austin). The second time there, my husband had a pizza and I had lasagna. Again, I did not find anything special about their food. I can say that the service was great and prices not too bad. Given a choice between Mama Mia’s Pizzaria and Mama’s Pizza, hands down goes to Mama Mia’s.

Came here on my little spring break vacation to McAllen with some friends for dinner. It was good but I expected better. We sat outside in there patio area. The service was ok. The waitress took a good 10 min just to come ask us what we wanted to drink. She seemed nice enough and was eager to help us. As for the food, I had the rigatoni with meatballs. The pasta was nice and tender, the meatballs were good but the sauce was a little runny. It came with some garlic bread which was really nice and just the right amount of toasty. I also had a slice of pizza and it was good, but the cheese to pizza sauce ratio was kind of off balance. Too much cheese not enough sauce. They also had «live music» (one dude with a guitar that obviously doesn’t know how to tune it). Overall it was okay. Nothing special really, its just ordinary food, still a good place to go to dinner with family of friends.

Ate in a couple of weeks ago and had baked ziti. I was so grossed out by the bland sauce they serve. I’m sure it came straight out of the Ragu bottle.
Also, picked up a carry out pizza tonight and was helped by a girl who took my card, threw the receipts on the counter, and walked away without a thank you or anything like that. I was half tempted to take the receipts with me and then dispute the charge with my CC company.
When I got into the car I checked my pizza and there was ABSOLUTELY NO sign of heat in it at all. Despite having picked it up no more than 5 minutes after I was told it’d be ready.
Go to some of the other pizza places in McAllen. Mamma Mias is the same exact style pizza and I’ve been there plenty of times and never have been let down. Russo’s is also very good and closer to the authentic NY pizza style.

Loved the atmosphere, service and DELISH Italian Dishes! I’ll be back (with a date) ;)

Stopped by today for lunch on my way home to SA. Several places nearby were closed for the Memorial day holiday, so we ended up settling on pizza. Decided to try the Mia pizza, an 8 inch deep dish pizza with three toppings– we got pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom. We also got the «hot! hot!» wings as an appetizer.
The restaurant itself was decently busy for the day, but service wasn’t too slow. We were seated and checked up on by one guy, but our order and check were taken by a girl. Both were polite and friendly.
The so-​called «hot! hot!» wings were a sweet barbecue, and not spicy at all, which was surprising but not a deal breaker, as I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to spice. I’d kind of been looking forward to the kick, though.
The pizza itself took a while, due to it being a deep dish pizza, but looked great. Quantity-​wise it was just enough for two people, with an appetizer, for lunch. As most deep dish pizzas go, it was a little messy. I was a little disappointed that the crust wasn’t flavored better– there was some kind of seasoning visible, sprigs of oregano or parsley or something, but no real flavor to it. The pepperoni and sausage weren’t as plentiful as I would have liked, but they did not skimp. The mushrooms confused me though– they seemed a little watery, or slimy. I suspect they were canned.
The restaurant itself was very cute, decorated with a bunch of homey, kitschy décor and odds and ends, and the bathroom was quite nice, too. Very clean place.