Maria’s Restaurant

Used to be one of my favorites. Moved away 18 years ago and returned to visit friends. I was excited to return to one of my all time favs… Major disappointment! The food was almost inedible and the service, although friendly, was very slow.

We have not been here in years. But, we will be back soon. This is like a small jewel tucked away yet right under your nose. The service was very attentive. My husband and daughter had no problem getting timely refills of their numerous requests for iced tea. Which is not typical. The food was very good and arrived nice and hot. That is how I know it is prepared fresh, to order, and not made in a commissary and just reheated. It was well worth the wait. This is not the type of restaurant you go to if you are in a hurry. Out of 17 people, not one person had any issues with the food. Actually this is pretty unusual for this bunch. Also, there was enough food so everyone was full. The chicken francese was outstanding. I loved that it was not just a piece of chicken swimming in lemon sauce. When I order this at the big chains, that is what I have come to expect

Maria’s hosted my mothers 80^th birthday party for 17 people. The food was amazing! The service outstanding. I highly recommend the spedini ala Maria. It is mouth watering delicious. Thank you Maria’s for making our occasion so special.

We haven’t been here in 20 years. Never even hear about people going here. Now we know why.
20 years ago, my boyfriend (now husband), took me here on a date. I don’t remember anything about the food. Just how poorly and rudely we were treated because of our age. We were probably under 21.
Last night, we went with friends who live close by, but haven’t been in 20 years either! I heard they closed and reopened, but that is a mystery.
This place has such potential to be the perfect little neighborhood spot. Small and quaint, but old and outdated. The menu is super old school traditional Italian. The service this time was good — I mean the waiter was kind and attentive, but super slow. It was 7pm on a Wed night when we arrived. We left at 10 — no dessert, that’s just how slow our food came out. The speidini, which is supposed to be excellent, was not. I swear I didn’t taste one bite of cheese in it, just bread! The calamari wasn’t great either. Soups and salads were meh. I had the chicken Marsala, which arrived on a dish, a piece of lonely chicken. He then brought me 10 green beans on a separate plate. I had already eaten my pasta course, which was delivered half an hour before. Would have been nice to have it with my dinner. My husband said his linguine with clam sauce tasted like it was sitting in lemon water — the worst he’s ever had. Good thing this place is do hidden. Maybe no one else will find it.

We waited 2 and a half hours and we never got served the main course in that time so I left hungry and disgusted. No one came over to apologize or explain until we were leaving. it was the worst dining experience I can remember.

My first encounter was during a phone call to make reservations. Whomever answered the phone was rude, telling me (in an exasperated tone) that they could accommodate a 5 pm reservation but that we had to leave by 7. We sat for at least 5 min without anyone coming to take our drink order (there were 5 tables seated and 4 servers). Our waiter was less than attentive, leaving dirty dishes on the table for quite a long time and had to be asked twice to bring pepper to the table. The salads and bread were okay but our entrées were horrendous. Our food tasted as though it was prepared ahead of time and then reheated. My chicken was tough and chewy like rubber and the pasta tasted like plastic. We will not be back.

I would probably give no stars if I could. It makes me sad. My family has been in Bloomfield Hills since the late ‘80s and has been going to Maria’s. Two years ago, my husband and I moved back from DC and we decided to make Maria’s our anniversary place — make a new tradition in our neighborhood. Last year was okay. We went at five and didn’t make a reservation and so the staff was a little irritated that we stayed late, understandable, it was a friday night, but we ordered quite a bit, so it was worth it for the restaurant. They didn’t have the wine we ordered, the spiedini di Maria was gorgeous but cold, the chicken marsala, was horrid, but the lasagna was delicious. The service was so delightful, that all in all we had a great night.
This Saturday, anniversary number two — this time we made a reservation for five o’clock so that we could take our time and not feel rushed. They didn’t have our prosecco, but that’s okay and they did substitute for a more expensive bottle of champagne. We ordered escargot and calamari to start. Before we even got our appetizer, the waiter was trying to get us to order our main course. My husband and I were chatting and laughing, sipping our champagne, and being all giggly and in love. Our appetizers came — the escargot was cooked perfectly even though the sauce was a little bland, and the calamari was lovely, the sauce was really tasty, but should have been on the side as the service was a little slow and it was a little soggy — but still tasty. While we were eating our appetizers, the waiter urged us to get our orders in before other tables, we assured him that we wouldn’t mind waiting and we hadn’t even thought about our main courses yet. We were at a tiny table with two appetizers to share and a big champagne bucket, so they let us sit with these big menus on our laps. But we didn’t care, we’re in love and giggly.
So, we started to feel a bit rushed. Then the waiter comes up and says to me, not my husband of course, but me, and says, «I once drank my anniversary away too. it was fun at the time…» WHAT? whatever, we’re in love and giggly. After being pushed by the waiter and now the hostess to order, we go for the chateaubriand. We’re told that «it’s a lovely piece.» We order a bottle of red and the chateaubriand, but everyone is really annoyed at us by this time. I told my husband that it’s really weird, when you want to spend lots of money, you want to make a place your favorite place and a tradition not just for anniversaries but «your place to go to relax and spend some money, where everyone knows your name, etc…», it’s your anniversary and you are spending money on booze and food, that everyone is mad and wants you to leave before you can spend the money. So different than from DC. Anyway, we ordered our meat very, very rare. The waiter said it should be medium rare and we said that we didn’t care and wanted it very, very rare. the chef cut it over by the kitchen, a lovely big bit of meat, and the waiter brought it over and left quickly. the meat was medium. I almost just ate it because it was super quality, but my husband said that it’s too expensive to not get what we want. So the chef then brought out a much smaller piece and cut it by our table and was furious. but he said at the waiter and not us because the waiter told him medium rare.
I don’t even know if I will post this because I want Maria’s to do well. it’s a great location even if the restaurant inside is dated and the menu is so dated it’s almost cool again, and my parents and their friends like the lasagna and it’s close, we can walk. that’s why we could order two bottles of wine. I just hope that maybe the management reads this and perhaps tries to change. We spent over 230 dollars before tip and it was really hard to do so, we might have ordered salads, dessert and coffee if we didn’t feel like they were trying to kick us out. I think that there definitely exists a restaurant that would like to see us regularly, that would like to discuss their menu items with us, that would like us to drink lots of wine and sample all sorts of dishes, just not Marias. they were happy to see the backs of us.

The place has a few quirks but the food is really good! First off it is super small, like 10 – 12 tables and it has a tiny little bar. It really feels like your eating at some ones house. That kind of adds to the ambience I think. Super small wine list but it works. It is an older clientele but again nothing takes away from the place.
Ok now on to the food. We had dinner there a few night ago. Calimari was great as was the caprese salad. I had the linguini with clams on the waitresses suggestion and it was outstanding. My wife had the manicotti and it was amazing. My son had spaghetti and meatballs which he loved.
Go in open minded and enjoy great home made italian food in a tiny, quaint atmosphere and you will have a great evening.

small quaint place with charming ambiance, good service, excellent fare and reasonable prices. Great place to take your mom, which we did, on Mother’s Day.

This used to be a childhood favorite until they closed, I didn’t know they had reopened until I moved back into the area. As our first experience in years, I have to admit it was as amazing as I remember! The spiedini was crispy, the fresh mozzarella was plentiful and stringy, and the lemon olive sauce was un-​freaking-​believable. So good in fact that it prompted my hubby and I to order tha vitello di mare, which was a breaded veal scallopine drenched in that same sauce also with sautéed shrimp. For my two year old I ordered him the chicken Parmesan pizza, which was fantastic and he ate half of it by himself! The service was phenomenal and very kid friendly as well, and the food service was fast, an staff was so nice to all of us. The décor I still remember from at least a decade ago but the atmosphere was pretty authentic with the music and Venetian style windows. I loved it and can’t wait to go back for the zip sauce that I remember being so great! And also to try the bread crumb scallops.
Ps all the entrees came with a salad and small pasta side!

Maria’s is a very small Resturant. The food is very good. Love there Caesar salad !

Food is outstanding. Maria’s is quaint and personal, a welcome change from the chain Italian eateries.
The owner, Joseph Morda has done an excellent job in offering a choice menu with wonderfully delicious dishes. The cannoli with a wonderful sweet cream filling are simply delicious!

Always fantastic. Started with the spiedini de Maria (which we added some shrimp to) and it was fantastic. House salad is fresh and crisp. Had the special of the evening, sea scallops in something similar to a piccata sauce, phenomenal. Only downfall was that I was too full to finish! Happyily taking my doggie bag!

To be direct, the food and service was great.
The waiter was very nice and attentive, he was also very helpful when asked if the calamari could be left off of my mother’s seafood pasta dish by saying that it was no problem.
I had the spaghetti with marinara sauce which came with a cup of the pasta e fagioli soup (although I had another soup choice or I could have had a salad). The soup was quite nice, the broth was flavorful and the beans and pasta were tender. The pasta was very good, cooked to perfection with a bright marinara sauce that tasted homemade and fresh.
My mother had the Zuppe di Pesce con Linguini and loved it. She ordered it without the calamari and they gave her extra scallops on it without even being asked. She loved all the different seafood in it, which was cooked perfectly, and said the broth-​like sauce it came in was very flavorful.
My father had the Linguini Bianco con Vongole which he said was very good. He said the clams were perfectly done and the sauce they were served in was very good (which is a big compliment from him because he is very picky about seafood).
All in all it was a very good experiance and we will most likely be going back for more.

We live right around the corner but had not been to Maria’s as we were never sure if it was still in business. It had been closed for a while but apparently re-​opened a year or two ago (who knew!). We though it would be a great place to possibly hang out, have a few drinks and be able to walk home.
I went to the web site to see if it was indeed open and it said to call for reservations. I contacted them and was told the only open seats were for a 9pm dinner that evening. I thought, «wow, this place must be hoppin’». I asked if they had a bar we could sit at before dinner and was told it was only a 4-​seater but if seats were open, we could wait there.
We walk over at about 8:30, expecting to see a large crowd with no seats at the bar. To my surprise, the place was virtually empty (only about 3 tables occupied) and the bar was empty. We opted to sit at the bar anyway since we were more in the mood to drink and eat, as opposed to eat and drink.
Bartender was nice so we had some wine and the hostess kept trying to have us take a table even though we weren’t really ready. We then asked if we could eat at the bar and she said we could, but a waiter would have to take our order as the bartender didn’t know any of the food or how to place a meal order — not a big deal, but a little strange.
We were strongly encouraged to try the veal chop as it would be the «most incredible thing you’ve ever had». At $ 45+ bucks, I would expect so. I took the bait and ordered the chop, my wife ordered a filet. We also had some pasta as part of our meal (after all, it is an Italian restaurant) which came out first. As we were eating this bit (tasted like simple pasta w/​marinara from chef Ragu’ of the bottled sauce region of Italy…), the sou chef came out and sat next to us eating her dinner (it was a slow night after all). I started talking to her and asked if they made their own pasts (after all, it is an Italian restaurant…). Surprisingly (although not after tasting it), she said that no, it is not made by them, but just bought in bulk from a supplier.
When the moment of truth arrived (aka my $ 45+ veal chop), I thought it was a joke. This thing was very thin with a dried crust right out of the Shake ‘n Bake region of Southern Italy. Seriously, if I had paid $ 8 for this at Olive Garden at lunch, I would at least have had a ton of bread sticks and salad to cushion the blow. It wasn’t a matter of sending it back, it was a matter of wondering how on earth someone would have the fortitude to seriously cook this and sell it to the public.
My wife’s filet was fine, but so long as you have a decent cut of beef, its hard to screw up.
Although we drank a few bottles of wine and enjoyed our chat w/​the bartender, there is no way I would ever make the long trek of 100 yards to this place again. I don’t mind paying a lot for food. If it was even tolerable, I’d enjoy having a fun place nearby.
I’m not sure what will happen next, Maria’s will go out of business, or the crew from Restaurant Impossible will show up to try to save the day — they desperately need it.

Good food! Awesome service. looked like a house run business.
The Eggplant rollotini was awesome unlike big chains of Olive Garden etc.
Tried Clam shells for the first time, they were steamed as we placed order and were awesome! You wont regret putting a hole in the pocket for this one ;)

Had dinner here last week with friends. It was really top notch. Our meals were excellent and our waiter was appropriately attentive, helpful and funny. It’s a small place, so be sure to have a reservation.
We’re wondering if this Maria’s is related to a place that used to be on Woodward in the Royal Oak area… several of the dishes are the same. Such as the very delicious eggplant rollatini appetizer. It’s a must-​have. On special that night were scallops as either an entrée or appetizer. We had the appetizer portion. They were really delicious, and I am not even a huge fan of scallops. The minestrone is wonderful… I think that was a little pancetta in there? Gave it a nice somethin’ somethin’ extra. The meat sauce on my pasta side was also very tasty. Then my entrée arrived… excellent chicken marsala. Too bad I was too full to eat it! But it made a wonderful lunch the next day. Hubby had the lamb chops and he raved about them. Our friends had the veal chop special, which they both loved. They pour a nice drink too.
Apparently they do a really nice private party too. That’s how my husband ‘found’ it… when he was invited to a private reception.
It’s a long drive to Maria’s from home, but really well worth the trip.

This review might be changed if they actually pick up their phone. First, we had takeout on Sunday night and it was great. As far as the food that we ordered, everything was great. The chicken parmesan was a little too fried for my liking though. We noticed that one of the soups that we ordered was not in the bag. I called the next day to let them know about the mistake and never got a phone call or message back. We have been patrons of the restaurant for 15 years.
We decided to give them another chance and bring 10 people in for dinner tonight. We have been trying to call since the morning to make reservations and have been placed on hold by an automated system telling us that the next representative will be with us shortly… Well shortly has been a few hours. They are a great intimate restaurant, why have a stock answering service like that?
UPDATE: I changed to one star because we NEVER received a call back and it is almost a week later after each of my phone calls. My advice, get a better phone system or be smart and have the calls forwarded to a live person. This is West Bloomfield, not New York City.

Had dinner here last night.
Overheard the hostess telling another couple that they were closed for 2 years and just reopened in the past year. So ignore any of the reviews from pre-​2011.
Restaurant is very small — three tiny rooms, one is the bar and the other two basically make a L shape. Would guess it is about 12 tables altogether. Which means you should probably call ahead if you don’t have reservations. We went for a late dinner so they were able to seat us within a half hour or so of when we called.
It is so small that when one table sang happy birthday to one of their co-​diners, the entire restaurant went quiet and paid attention. Bar seats four people.
Waitstaff was very personable and the right amount of attentive.
On to the food! If you like garlic, you’ll like this place. If you don’t, you probably won’t.
They bring you a small loaf of Italian bread, warmed to the point of being crusty and a plate of olive oil/​herbs/​garlic when you are seated. Wish bread would have been warm and soft, but not a big deal. Water glasses are big goblets with thin slice of lemon in them.
Entrees come with salad or soup. Went with the house salad — it was field greens including radicchio, sliced roma tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrot. Comes pre-​dressed with creamy garlic; just the right amount of dressing. Good.
Next comes a small plate of spaghetti with either marinara or meat sauce. Went with marinara — it had a little kick. Good.
Companion had the chicken parmigiana $ 18.95 which is two huge, breaded chicken breasts topped with fresh mozzarella. Unlike other restaurants, the chicken isn’t drowning in cheese i.e. completely covered; rather you can see more chicken than you can mozzarella. Smart. On a bed of the marinara sauce. She thought the dish was excellent and took a large portion of it home. No side veggie though.
I had the Swordfish Arreganata $ 27.95. Swordfish was a special of the day and you can have it prepared a multitude of ways; sounds like they can prepare all their fish (whitefish, salmon) a number of ways. The Arreganata meant it was coated with breadcrumbs and they added a delicious lemon butter garlic sauce to the plate. Good sized portion accompanied by green beans. Perfectly cooked.
From what I recall, menu has 5 – 10 pasta dishes, 5 – 10 seafood (shellfish) dishes, 5 or so veal dishes and 5 or so chicken dishes.
Some other specials were NY Strip Steak $ 24.95 and four lamb chops for $ 38.95.
Recommend if you’re looking for a nice place for dinner off the beaten path.

Ok first off I would probably give it 3.5 starts if I could.
This place has about 10 or so table so somewhat intimate. We were placed right next to the kitchen area where the food comes out so a notch down for that.
The bread comes with a plate of olive oil, garlic, parsley and Parmesan cheese which was enjoyable enough to have four pieces of bread. We had a great bottle of a SuperTuscan wine that was the highlight of the night. Which is probably not what you want in a restaurant.
My partner had the Cesar salad that was very good but got charged $ 1.95 for a anchovy and a half. My veal Marsala was very good though with a sauce that had prosciutto in it. My companion had the special bouillabaisse with clams, mussels, shrimp, lobster, scallop and salmon and unfortunately most of the seafood was overdone, and there really is nothing good to say about overcooked shellfish and fish.
On the plus side, besides the wine, our server was great making sure to refer to us by name and she was shorthanded that night and made the best to take care of us and apologized several times.
I would go back to this place if it was a bit closer to home but there are a few other area Italian places for me to try and I would not pass Café Cortina to go here instead.