Papa’s Gondola

This is our favorite place to eat Italian food. The sauce is perfect and the meals are delicious right down to the bread. Everyone knows us there and are friendly to us.

Love it here the price is right and the food is great. Just make sure you get there early it fills up fast.

I’ll cover the worst of it first just to get it out of the way: the atmosphere is bad. The décor doesn’t look like it’s ever been changed from the 70s and the restrooms are super icky. They only take cash, they have very limited hours, and when you go they will be super busy. In fact, you will probably have to stand and wait before you get a table. There, done!
My husband and I can’t wait to go back to this place when our schedule allows us to get there! And we’ve eaten in Cleveland’s Little Italy, Chicago, New York City, Toronto and Germany. After you’ve had it, there is no reason to ever order lasagna anywhere else in the world. It’s that good. The sauce you will have on any of their dishes is superb. The service can be a little slow, but the servers are pretty friendly and most of them have been there for years. Now the salad bar is nothing to write home about, but as long as you don’t go for the atmosphere or a dish of lettuce, you’ll be all right.

A great little spot with great people. We were the last ones seated for the evening and the staff went the extra mile to ensure our experience was phenomenal. The one lady made an exception to seat is when they weren’t taking any more tables.
I had the veal parm and thought it was very good. The sauce was fantastic and the pasta was fresh. Wine was good, as usual, and the homemade bread was a delight.
Definitely recommend! They are only open until 8 PM though so ignore Unilocal’s hours!

I can’t believe we have lived here 8 months and are just getting around to trying Papa Gondola’s. Went with friends who highly recommended the lasagna. My husband had lasagna and salad bar. I had manicotti.
Oh my stars. I am a food snob and hate eating food that isn’t fresh. The manicotti was so delish and the sauce was the perfect level of sweet and spicy. I tried the meat and mushroom sauce on our friend’s spaghetti. Can hardly wait to go back for that next time.
$ 5.50 for a glass of Chianti, $ 3.95 for a fresh salad bar with the meal. Entrée $ 8.99. And the service was super. Went at 5:30 and it didn’t take long til the place was full of people.
I will think of that sauce many times between now and our next visit! Yum!

Busy on the Friday dinner crowd. My uncle has been going for years and knew their staff by name. The food was hot and salad bar was loaded with fresh veggies and premade salads (I.e., potato, broccoli, and macaroni salads). Load up on the salad bar! Bread is homemade, presumably the breadsticks are, too. Most regulars were eating lasagna. Sizes are hearty, including the spaghetti! The Rigatoni with Mushroom Marinara was hot and hearty, not anything special, but great deal and leftovers if you desire. Homemade Bread was tasty and a nice treat. Spamoni ice cream if you are able! The hot food, friendly staff, sizeable portions, and ease to accommodate large families or groups would bring me back.

I have eaten at Papa’s Gondola several times over the past ten+ years, and most recently visited last week. The food took approximately 20 minutes to get to our table, and that is about the norm. I have no problem waiting a little extra time for good food. Prior to the our food arriving, the waitress brought us fresh baked bread — no preservatives — and advised us that if we take it home, it will stay good in the fridge for a few days — nice touch. So our food arrives, and the cheese pizza is OUTSTANDING. One of the best I’ve ever had. The sauce and crust are made fresh daily — yes, daily. With the exception of The Warrior, I do not know of any other place in the area that makes sauce and dough from scratch daily. The cheese is also of a high quality and is shredded fresh from the block. I can not speak of other toppings as I am just a cheese pizza guy. The pizza also heats up better than any other I have ever tasted. The Lasagna is very good, and is a ridiculous portion. If you are not a big eater, this could feed two — the price? $ 8.95 I believe after the recent small price increase. A half order is available for those with a normal appetite. Cheese Ravioli with Meat Sauce is amazing as well, and the Meat Sauce and Ravioli are made fresh daily. The salad bar is very small, but of very high quality. It’s obvious that much care is taken with the salad bar. People rave about the homemade croutons. Our waitress was fantastic by the way (read a review by someone else stating that their waitress was bad). The restaurant is open Tues. — Sat., 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 or 9:00 (can’t remember for certain). The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday. I believe they also close for a week in the summer, and at Christmas. A reviewer on another site made it sound like they just randomly close whenever they feel like it — that is not the case. If you get there after 5:00 p.m. you may have to wait for a few minutes as this is a very popular restaurant, and with good reason. Most of the clientele have been eating at Papa’s, every week, for many years… in my experience, there is a very good reason for this. Made from scratch, delicious, affordable food. I HIGHLY recommended it. ***No credit cards excepted by the way — cash only.

As always, Papa’s Gondola delivers. This isn’t just a restaurant it’s an institution! It’s like visiting family whenever I come back to my old hometown. The Lasussa family are amazing people and the food is (and has been since I was a child) incredible. The prices are low and portions are large. Always a MUST when I’m in town!!!

This place has been open since I was a kid and I loved going there for my birthday almost every year since. Papa’s is not a flashy new wave cuisine kind of place but if you want some stick to your ribs pasta, lasagna, pizza, or shells… you’ve come to the right place. Don’t let the crowd scare you off… put your name in… chat with nice folks around the entrance and enjoy a great hot meal without spending a fortune.

This is a very simple, inexpensive, funky pasta place. Not sure about the standards some reviewers are using to say «best Italian food». If you want a pile of spaghetti with a sweet sauce and 2 decent meatballs for $ 6, this is the place, and that is it!

The food is always fresh and hot with generous portions. Been going here for years and they are very consistent with the food and service. Reasonably priced. Two thumbs up.

Best lasagna we’ve had anywhere. Prices are GREAT for the amount you get in one serving. Good bread too. We love it! Food is 5 stars but the building could use some updates so I give it a 4 overall. Busy in the evenings but it’s worth the wait, YUM!

I’ve eaten at Papa’s since I was a teen. My hubby and I go at least once everyother month. We always say we should try something other than spaghetti, but we LOVE it so much, we never do! BEST spaghetti and sauce ever. We recently went to a well known Italian restaurant in Columbus and it wad no where close to the quality of Papa’s.
You cannot beat the price. We both get spaghetti, hubby w/​mushrooms, me w/​2 large meatballs, 1 ice water, 1 pop and 1 salad bar and or bill is always under $ 19. 00! You cannot beat that!
The only drawback is they only accept cash and we forget that too often!
I guess we will have to go back more often so we can try more of their menu! Papa’s here we come!

I’ve eaten Italian food all over, even Italy and still nothing compares to Papa’s. Best Italian food ever, homemade garlic butter. Every entrée is as big as your head and so delicious. My favroites are the stuffed mushrooms, fried cheese, lasagna and manicotti. It just doesn’t get better than Papa’s.

The food is delicious and well portioned for the price.
The reasons I can not give it a full 5 stars:
— The interior of the restaurant could use an upgrade/​refresh.
— They only accept cash, no credit cards.
— They have a «no guns» sign posted, that I noticed on my way out.
— They have limited hours and the place is small and fills up fast
If it was not for the delicious food and the portions, it would get 3 stars.

We are visiting family here in Mansfield. Family suggested we all go out to dinner together at this restaurant. This restaurant is far from fancy, but down to earth. Top notch service the old fashion way. Everyone’s food was very tasty and served hot. Was very nice to have food served hot rather than warm. Lasagna was some of the best I have ever had. Food was priced very resonable. All of us ate and drank for about $ 10 per person. Definetly would go back. Top notch with a touch «home town and good ‘olé days».

Same décor as 40 years ago. just comfy old place. Spaghetti w meat sauce and meat balls is crazy good. homemade sauce– you can taste hint of garlic. Lasagna has so much cheeseyou can chew and chew. crazy inexpensive. Get there little early so you can avoid lines, esp on weekend. no advertising, just word of mouth and frequent flyers. cant wait to go back

Awesome food. Great service. Excellent portions. Very affordable.

Good Italian food and a great value. I wish they had longer operating hours.

Went here for dinner with my parents last night. Interior seems to be left over from the 70s and the menu is ultra simple and ultra cheap which is the only plus. We got sat in a booth in the back of the place with a light over us that was burned out so we were in the dark our whole meal. I had the stuffed shells which were OK but their red sauce was horrible and the portion size was small. The sauce was either overly sweet or had ketchup in it as a filler, who knows. At the end they only accept cash — fail. Wouldn’t go back, not worth the money.