Maria Pia

10/06/2008 Posted by vmie

This was my second visit to this place and definitely the last one. Everything that could go wrong eventually did. My friend and I were seated in the “garden” area – basically an expansion room with no roof. It looked nice enough. We had a "waitress-in-training" who disappeared halfway through our dinner. She re-appeared by the end of the dinner saying she was needed at the bar. Funny thing, considering she was struggling with opening our bottle of wine. Our food turned out to be OK, except they brought strange things, for example: the pepper-crusted tuna did not have any pepper or crust and looked very much like lox. The salad was missing a few ingredients listed in the menu such as avocado. They only provided the root end of the asparagus (the spear head was missing). I guess the chef kept the tops to himself or considers them inedible. The main dish was OK. The fun started after we ordered desert. Apparently we were not the only clients waiting... There was a rodent sitting under a nearby table. Apparently, he was not very shy as we managed to snap a few photos. Informing the wait stuff of our neighbor only brought a few shrugs, I guess it is commonplace at this establishment. The second waiter tried to add a 20% tip to our bill, which incited another argument. It ended with the headwaiter chasing after us and offering us free limoncello for our “troubles”… I will never be a patron of this restaurant again; the poor service, unprofessional attitude, and shear uncleanliness of the establishment have completely disgusted me.

Pros: none

Cons: service, food, unsanitary conditions

03/16/2008 Posted by robjenchristori

We were give nabroadway. special deal as a gift it included hotel , broadway show, and dinner at a choice of ten resturants every resturant I googled had pretty bad reviews Maria pri stood out it had some pretty good reveiws . So we tryed it when we arrived I had previously had made reservations 6 days prior for 6 O'clock . "YOU MUST MAKE RESERVATIONS BECAUSE IT IS A SMALL RESTURANTS WITH ALOT OF WALK IN'S " When we walked in the staff was very polite and asked us if we had reservations and said it would be a few minutes it was only around a 15 minute wait which was'nt bad . we sat at the bar which was cozy it was a great little resturant very clean I felt like we were in Italy!!!!!!!!!!! The staff servers were great polite asked if we had our dinner vouchers and handed us a prefixed menu , which had alot to offer as far as selection we brought our to kids with us ages 7 and 12 and them being so picky eaters they managed to find foods that they really like also . The waiter polite and always checking to see if everything was O.K. "WITH THIS FOOD VOUCHER ALL THE TAXES AND GRATUTIES WERE INCLUDED' but since we had such great service we felt we should take care of the waiter. LET ME ALSO MENTION NOT ONCE DID THEY TRY TO PUSH SOMETHING OFF THE WAS ON THE REGULAR MENU OR ANY TYPE OF LIQUIR. Will definetly go back to dine at maria pria .

Pros: great ambience

11/20/2007 Posted by edcantona

Visited Maria Pia with my family last Friday. In a word...RUDE. Maybe because we didn't make reservations we weren't welcome, but we had to wait at the bar for a table, which is no problem, but we felt like we were in the way and weren't offered drinks while we waited. We were seated and the food was good but not great. The place seemed very touristy which is not really my thing. We had a table too close to the kitchen and bathroom traffic, but what do you expect in New York, small restaurant, we took what we could get. Manager never visited our table but seemed interested in other patrons and their enjoyment. Won't be back.

Pros: cute space

Cons: rudeness, service

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/17/2007 Posted by peskinma

The garden is pretty; the house red wine is very good. But ... the food is bad; really bad. The veal scallopini in lemon sauce was covered with some flavorless water and flour mixture, lumps included. The Italian cheesecake was the worst I've ever had. It was this lump (literally) of something, covered with a horrid neon orange sauce. The consistency was like a bread pudding that someone shaped into a meatball and then added a little flour and water to make the thing stick together. We were there on a Monday night when the Theater District is dark and perhaps the better chefs had the evening off. But there is no excuse for what I ate.

Pros: Pretty garden

Cons: The food

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/13/2007 Posted by lovenyfood

I was very sceptic to try Maria Pia after I read some bad reviews about, but I tried it. I think that from the moment that we sat to the momrnt that we left was never a dull moment. We sat by the window which gave us a better view of the street.The waiter came by told us the fiew specials and said that if we wanted something else to be free to ask (our chef makes everything) he said. We ordered as he recommended. We started with a apple salad and cured meat abbondanza, thaqt shared a pasta made with mushroom and than for main course we had the calf's liver,the steak and the rissoto.The evening went exellent and what made so good was the waiter that used to pull jokes which made it memorable. I think our waiter was albanian but his italian was perfect and in our table we had also other waiter that came and said hello. The staff is charming including the bold headed waiter that had a lot fine jokes.From food to service I rate this restaurant to be a STAR IN THE THEATER DISTRICT.Great food nedds great peaple to back it up and Maria Pia has it.You feel like you are in Sicily with the charm of everybody there including the manager that i think was albanian but gives the people the impresion of an italian matre'd.Great place guys every time i will come in Manhattan I will visit this jewel.

Pros: EVERYTHING

Cons: NOTHING

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

04/13/2007 Posted by sumptiousny

Currently on a fresh pasta binge I sought a Midtown restaurant and came across Pia Maria online. I met a friend there and found the place pleasant and average. The food was alright but nothing extraordinary, I had the lobster ravioli which contained chunky pieces of meat and a tomatoey sauce. My friend had the fish special with spinach - she said the fish was bland but enjoyed the veggies. If you need somewhere Midtown this place is okay, and, not particulary overpriced. Generous portions, good service, average food.

Pros: Location

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

03/17/2007 Posted by mywayornoway

I ate at this cozy and mouthwatering italian restaurant twice this week and it was exceptional on foo and service.if you need to eat something before or after theater don't hesitate to go to this great italian fare. It is good for anytime of the day with a pretty gorgious menu and great service.tyr ther mussels and clam stew or their antipasto mix (dry meat and cheeses) and don't forget the Polpo. For your main course try Rissoto Pescatore or the calfs liver with balsamic reduction. If you like italian you will love their pasta from the lobster ravioli to their pappardelle with mushroom and truffle oil. Dessert ; indulge in their chocolate torte or their panna cotta. When it comes to their wine list its small and stuff is missing but the waiter Tony promised me that the wine list will get bigger. If you need recomendation on wine don't hesitate to ask and the same thing goes for food, plus the can make anything you want. I had a wondrful experience. Thank you Tony for the wine recomendation and thank you Alban for the hospitality. I recomend that you go and try the experience on italian food and great service. You will thank me for the recomendation.

Pros: Great food Exceptional service

Cons: NONE

03/02/2007 Posted by jbsquared

Maria Pia is conveniently located practically next door to my favorite musical, Wicked. Naturally, I have eaten there twice...Good and inexpensive Italian cuisine. It's a no-brainer for NYC! It offers an extensive wine list (no Reisling for boyfriend, though). Yummy goat cheese ravioli, breads for the table, and tasty delights for after the meal.

Pros: cozy atmosphere

10/20/2006 Posted by robhargreaves

Bit delayed writing this review but we celebrated our wedding here back in the summer. It was a Monday so we were able to reserve a large table at the back of the restaurant and so not disturb the other diners. The staff were very relaxed and permitted guests to drink around the bar longer than they could have. When finally seated we enjoyed some good reasonably priced (for New York) wines and some great food. Of the 25 of us, almost all enjoyed all three courses and the the only slight dissatisfaction was due to a mix up which wasn't reported by one of the guests. The staff continued to be good humoured and attentive as the night progressed and (perhaps again because it was a Monday) we were seated for long after the desserts had been taken away. All in all a very enjoyable experience and thanks to Emir for the good humour and professionalism of his staff.

Pros: Food, Staff, Venue

Cons: Not applicable on our visit!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

08/25/2006 Posted by kpet

Nice Restaurant. Staff was pleasant. We made a reservation for 10 and they were very nice to add an 11th chair when we brought an extra person. Everyone enjoyed their food. A couple of picky teenagers with us and they were very happy. Portions are big - I recommend splitting which apparently they do. I wish we knew because a lot of food went to waste. I hate that! I had the lobster ravioli. It was just okay. Salad was very fresh and tasty. Overall a nice restaurant.

Pros: Large Portions

Cons: Large Portions