I've been to this specific Maggiano's multiple times and loved the food and service... This particular time was disappointing.... The entire meal, our waitress was trying to speed up our meal. We like to order drinks, enjoy them, order an appetizer, enjoy it, and then order our entree. She was pressing for the entree so often that we felt uncomfortable and just ordered... Then felt rushed through our meal like we were wasting her time by being a party of 2. I would have ordered more drinks and dessert if I wasn't so aggravated with the service. I'm not the type to write a negative review. This was just an unfortunate experience. We will go to other Italian restaurants in the area in the future.
(1)
brent k.
Normally heading here for a quick lunch is out of the question, but sometimes you just want pasta. In an effort to shorten the visit we sat at the bar where The bartender, Tommy, got us in and out fairly quickly. I like their food, and find their buy one, take one offerings to be good and of value. However, their dining area wait staff are horrendously slow. I couldn't really tell if it was a staffing issue or growing pains, but be warned that's there no quick meals at lunch, or even a lazy Saturday afternoon.
(3)
Lauren N.
So after the last debacle with overcharging and double charging my mother's and my credit cards they ended up taking care of it with gift cards to be used any way. Before Christmas I had my parents over and I ordered out. I figure this way I'm almost eliminating the worst part of the restaurant, which is the service. I ordered about $85 worth of food, and asked if they would be kind enough to include plenty of bread. Parking out front for pick up is nice and was certainly convenient as busy as the mall was just before the holiday. I picked up the items at the counter and didn't double check because honestly I wanted to see how well they had done without me having to check up on it. Stuffed mushrooms and mozzarella marinara were fantastic! Chicken Parmesan had hardly any sauce but other than that was good. Rigatoni d was as expected, it is my all time favorite and it didn't disappoint. The lasagna was also excellent. The chopped salad left a lot to be desired. First off it hardly had any of the toppings, and second it consisted almost entirely of huge chunks of not-the-best looking sections of iceberg lettuce. See the picture. I mean it was fine but not at all what I expected, I've had it in the restaurant and it was nothing like this. Also, the plenty of bread I asked for was 4 pieces, we could have used at least twice that. Oh well. In any case this was my first time ordering out from Maggiano's and it was overall good. Having eliminated most of the service helps a lot with a less stressful meal. I'll definitely order out here again.
(3)
Laura S.
Service is poor at this location compared to others I have visited. Food has not disappointed. I would rather visit a local spot for Italian since this location hasn't gotten it together yet.
Wonderful food ruined by horrible service. Inexperienced waiters and a lack of busboys with the expectation that the waiters will take orders, deliver the food and bus the tables left our table of ten waiting forever for food and then sitting through dinner with dirty serving bowls on the table. For large parties they assign 3 waiters to the table which results in no one waiter taking charge of the service. At one point I counted 44 people seated in the smaller dining room where they seat larger family parties and one waiter in sight! Lettuce needs to stop sacrificing service for larger profits. We recently had a similar experience at Wildfire waiting 45 minutes at lunch for our food with young children in a barely full room. Offering free cookies for a poorly served meal is insulting.
(2)
Susan A.
I have been to other locations and have always had great service and meals. This locations was terrible! They brought the salad out at the same time as our meal. I asked is they had any vegetables and the waitress said asparagus and tomatoes. I ordered tomatoes and the table next to us got a side of green beans. When I asked she said" oh yeah we have those!" I would not suggest going to this location. Too bad, I was hoping for it to be as great as the others.
This is the best family style Italian place you will ever eat at! It's a shame is has poor reviews!
(5)
Arnita F.
Just went to Maggianos in Vernon Hills sat 12/21/14 and had a great experience. Stopped in after shopping and didnt have reservations but was able to sit in a nice booth in the bar area. We loved the decor and nice music. Did not have to wait long for our server Gretchen to come and she was very nice and informative since this was our 1st time at this location. Ordered the dinner for two for $39.99 which was a great deal and the food was excellent with 2 dinners to take home. Will defintely be going back real soon.
(5)
Lisa M.
After eating at other Maggiano's locations many times, I was disappointed that the new location did not measure up. After ordering, it took almost 40 minutes for our dinner to arrive, and there were many empty tables so it's not like the kitchen was too busy. If you're craving Maggiano's, you'd do better to try Schaumburg or Skokie.
(2)
Sarah L.
I am a regular, I've been dinning here every other week since they have been open. It takes a lot for me to be upset. With that being said, it has been made pretty clear to me that management there has absolutely no idea what they are doing!! Service sucked when they first open and still sucks to this day! I probably had every server/bartender there and they are all inattentive, slow, have no knowledge of the menu, and THEY ARE ALWAYS ON THEIR PHONES. What is more important that's on your phone that you cant even do your job?? I highly suggest you make the drive out Skokie or Schaumberg if you want excellent service. This place is a joke of a restaurant and shouldn't be called Maggiano's, it is an insult to the other Maggianos. Don't get me wrong, the food is great and so is the portion size. But the service here blows and after reading all yelp reviews, this place will always suck unless they get it together. Doing carryout from now on, since my food comes out faster there!
(1)
Eric B.
Chicken piccata in the house! Not sure why all the reviews for this place are low, but my experience was 5 stars, and thats rare for my time in Chicago. We did have a reservation so that helped. We were asked if it was a special occasion. When I mentioned it was my first time there, they offered a free appetizer, thank you very much. The wine pairing was spot on as well for the chicken piccata, which was so phenomenal. Get it. It may appear buttery, but I found it very much to my liking. Great support for our son as well, at 2 years old.
(5)
Maria A.
Made a reservation through Open Table for my BFF's birthday. We were directed to a nice booth where they had a card that said "thank you for celebrating with us" which was signed by the staff. Nice touch! Andrea was our server and she was a delight. She could teach the server at Old Orchard a thing or to about customer service. We went a little crazy because it was my BFF's birthday. Started with the zucchini fritters then moved on to the Mushroom Raviolo Al Forno and the special chef inspired dish- hand cut egg noodle pasta with pesto sauce, chicken & riccotta meatballs, and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious and both came with a classic pasta to take home. Special birthday dessert was the lemon cookies which were presented with 3 candles- Maggiano's wants to celebrate your birthdays past, present, & future. I also had the special chocolate pudding dessert. This location seems smaller compared to other locations but they pack a big punch with their portions and their wait staff. Will definitely be coming back here again!
(4)
Camille B.
First time at this Maggiano's location. For a weeknight they seemed to be very busy! We checked in and were told the wait would be about 25 minutes. Pleasantly surprised when it was only 5 minutes. We were seated in a large booth in the back of the restaurant. It was only me & my husband so there was plenty of room to enjoy our meal. Server came to our table pretty quickly and asked have we dined with them before. When we said yes, he smiled and said "Then you know about our big portions!" We did. He brought out a basket of warm Italian bread, and olive oil with cheese on the table always makes it that much better! We decided to order the classic pasta dishes, since that is such a great deal. You order one and get to choose another to take home! How can you beat that?? My husband had the Taylor Street Baked Ziti and I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo (lighter take) with grilled chicken, asparagus and a light Asiago cream sauce. We decided to share our meal and both were delicious! The portions are pretty big, but we managed to finish both! Take home portions are frozen so you don't have to eat them right away. I recommend Maggiano's and will be coming back again!
It's my husband's first time here and they gave him complimentary bruschetta! Our server also recommended their chianti which I really like. The staff seem really nice and the wait for our food wasn't long at all! We like the experience so far! :)
(5)
Rachel L.
Meh. It's ok. The last time, we ordered carryout, and I was impressed that they carefully double-checked that we had everything in the bag. But the food itself is bland and non-nondescript. No one was terribly thrilled with their dish, but none were bad either. They do have gluten free pasta, which was decent, but not the best I've ever had.
(3)
Mark M.
My family celebrated my niece graduating from Marquette earlier tonight here. The food and service was excellent. We had a great time; both the adults and kids. To be fair my sister and brother in law payed for everyone; free food always tastes a little better. Although we did buy my niece a nice present so I guess it really isn't free. My sister ordered family style, and the food came out fast and was hot. There was no problem getting more servings if we wanted them. Calamari - keep it coming!! Chopped salad w avocado was very tasty. The mussels were excellent, many of us tried our bread dipped into the bowl, mmmmmm! The lemon chicken and parmesan tilapia were both juicy and full of flavor. The spaghetti was perfect, but the meatballs were too salty for my tastes. For dessert: cheescake - just ok, apple thing with ice cream - delicious! Many of the other reviews say that this location is not as good as the others. It seemed about the same to me.
(4)
Jacqueline H.
Don't go to this location. We had reservations last Saturday evening, we arrived at 8:30pm, it appeared they had a busy evening because all the tables around us were loaded with dirty dishes, and were never cleared. I'm a pretty laid backed diner, I honestly dislike sending things back, I'm there to relax and enjoy myself, not nit pick, you know? So, it takes a lot for me to complain, but we were served a dessert to share, with two spoons, one of the spoons, on our plate, was full of cheesecake, with teeth marks from whoever had eaten with it, on our dessert! Disgusting, and speaks to the level of care and cleanliness at this restaurant, how could this not be noticed by anyone? The next morning, I woke up ill, I spent the entire Sunday in bed, or the restroom. Inexcusable, and I wont be back. Head to the Schaumburg location if you are in a Maggiano's mood, avoid this one.
(1)
Katie M.
The food is delicious here, and the little girl I nanny for quite enjoyed herself here as the staff was super friendly and paid attention to her. The staff is VERY friendly, but that being said, the food service is VERY slow, even during the weekdays and not during lunch rush hour. What should have been an hour lunch was much closer to two hours (for one adult and one toddler). My meal was very appetizing (honey mustard salmon sandwich), but they did have to remake it after putting bacon on it the first time, after I specifically asked for no bacon. Kids portions are HUGE, so do note that one child's flatbread pizza can actually feed at least two.
(3)
Mark M.
Very nice place to go with family for birthday dinner or any celebration...
(4)
Kalinda L.
I met a friend for lunch there yesterday. we only ordered appetizers and shared. the 3 we chose....zucchini fritters, margherita pizza and caprese salad were very very good. I had a coupon sent to my email for $10 off a $30 purchase only at the new location in VH. the waitress ruffled her feathers and flat out said she couldn't honor it bc it was not printed. I replied that no where did it say that in the email. She said it was ON the coupon itself. When I asked her ot show me where it said that, she said "oh I can't read that, its too small" I suggested she send the manager over. She came back with a FORM I had to fill out so they could "honor" the coupon. wow. the experience was such that I wouldn't go back. I was at Old Orchards maggiano's and actually completed the online survey for the lovely waitress we had there back in June. as a thanks for giving my time and bc I gave my email, they were going to send me special offers and coupons. it costs next to nothing to compose an email and send it out in mass distribution for advertising...BUT IM SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE BURDEN AND COST OF PRINTING A COUPON SENT BY ELECTRONIC MEANS OR IT WON'T BE HONORED???? never never never have I been refused bc I showed an offer on my phone as opposed to having it printed. The two stars were for the food quality minus the bad experience at the end of the lunch. In a world where there are choices, especially for ITALIAN food, I wouldn't go back.
(2)
Sherry W.
Food is good and large portions. Service is slow but friendly. They calculated the tips on the bill based on tax included. The tips should be based on food/drinks and service.
(3)
Jeanne C.
I am being generous giving two stars. We had a large party (12) and ate family style. So we were limited to choose off of that menu. Had a great selections of food too bad they tasted like frozen pre made fair. The service wasn't that great either multiple times are food was placed at the table and we would have no plates and we had to flag down someone to help us. That happened at least twice. Best part of the meal was the dessert. Skip this chain - not worth the $$
(2)
Laurie D.
Aug. 5, Tuesday night-90 minutes for a table of 3, half the restaurant empty. I'd wait for a few months to go back and hopefully they will have it figured out. Once seated, service was great, food was less than spectacular, teenagers hosting may need a little better training from their maître D.
(2)
Robert D.
I was here with my family in November and had a HORRIBLE experience. My wife and I thought we would try this Maggiano's location again, hoping the first experience was a fluke. NOT!!! The service was still quite poor and the food was served cold. This just reconfirms that this location is managed poorly and does not live up to the quality or tradition of the restaurant located in Schaumburg. I will tell everyone I know, that if they enjoy Maggiano's, DO NOT VISIT THIS LOCATION!!!!! The Schaumburg location is 180 degrees different. I bet this location will close unless they put in proper management. Going to this location will only piss you off!! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!! This place sucks!!!
(1)
E B.
Excellent food, excellent location (Old Orchard location is so annoying to find parking). Manager accommodated us with a special that ended the day before we were there and honored it for us- we were very thankful and pleased! Our server was outstanding! She treated us like royalty! I'd definitely go back!! They have me my first great experience at this location! Thank you!!
(5)
Jen W.
My co-workers and I (group of 5) decided to grab lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. Not to sound like a broken record with all the other comments, but something is terribly wrong with the service here. I just don't get it. Based on my observation, it looked like the restaurant was well staffed for lunch? I also question whether it was an issue with our server. First of all, we could barely hear him speak. He didn't tell us the lunch specials, wasn't outwardly friendly AT ALL, didn't wait for one of my co-workers to give his drink order (I asked him to wait a few seconds as my co-worker took his coat off, to which he completely disregarded and ran away for another 15 minutes), and was literally missing for a solid 20-30 minutes as we sat ready to order. When we saw him appear again, he breezed past us to another table of 5-6 that was seated well after we were seated. All the other servers looked friendly and were interacting with their customers. What should've been a lunch that lasted no longer than 60 minutes was nearly two hours! We were clearly doing a business lunch, and you would think that would signal some sense of urgency. We will not be returning to this location.
(1)
Gretchin A.
Service was decent and its not that the food was bad, just not impressive and way overpriced for mediocre food.
(1)
S J.
We've been eating at Maggiano's for years. We've been to all the locations: Chicago, Oak Brook, Woodfield, Naperville. The food had always been great. Not so at the Vernon Hills location. Our bread and bruschetta were delicious, but our entrees left a lot to be desired. I ordered the eggplant parmesan for my daughter and me to share and neither one of us liked it. It was soggy and had way too much garlic. My husband 's gnocchi was cold and over cooked. My son who had the kid's chicken was the only good meal at the table. Our server was friendly, but not attentive. We didn't get water even though we asked for it. We had to ask someone else to bring it. Our food was brought and our server didn't offer parmesan cheese. We told her we did not enjoy our meal and all she said was sorry. That's nice and all, but she should have offered to get the manager for us. Later, the manager was nice enough to take my husband's gnocchi and my eggplant parmesan off the bill. So disappointed. I always love Maggiano's eggplant parmesan and gnocchi. This location needs to work on food and service. Servers need to be attentive not just friendly. They should at ask about the food and bring things you ask for. Not sure if we come back again. Don't have high expectations for this location.
(2)
Eileen L.
My meal was good, but wasn't sure what to do with the small mystery like plastic piece that was in my chicken. Some of the chicken was very grisly and chewy and was uneatable. Showed the plastic piece to the waiter, and the manager came over as well; got an apology but that was about it.
(3)
Joel A.
Always a big fan of Maggianos Old Orchard so I'm excited they finally have come to Vernon Hills. They offer $12.95 pasta for dine in and they give you a second pasta from their list to take home. Their fettuccine Alfredo has always been one of the best around as it is my favorite here.
(5)
Michelle K.
It is unfortunate that we had such a bad experience for lunch, perhaps they are still getting out the kinks with staff and kitchen at this new location. We made reservations for 9 at 1145am and were advised we could not be sat until entire group was there. We advised we needed to be back at the office by 1pm. Thankfully they sat 7 of us, 10 min after our reservation time. We had one individual that could not show until 20 min after, and had one person that had to cancel after we had already sat. Took more than 30 minutes to receive the food that we ordered, one salad that had been ordered was brought out incorrectly and was sent back to the kitchen. It took 20 minutes for it to be brought out and had to be boxed up as no time to eat with all others. Took 10 min to get the check, and to go boxes. Manager was kind enough to remove salad from our check and offered a dessert, as well. We finally got out of the restaurant at 110pm. It will be a while before we return and for sure not for lunch. And what was more frustrating, when we got back to the office, salad was still not right!
(1)
Thomas C.
A spectacular disaster of an experience. The food was fine, nothing special but not bad. Everything else was a mess. Our waiter was largely unattentive; spent his time socializing with another one of his tables or was otherwise out of sight. Took him 20-30 minutes to bring our bottle of wine. Some harried server dropped a dirty knife on my wife as she rushed by, completely unaware. They also never cleared any dishes off our table - a first for me. The lowlight, though, was when they set a large table next to ours that was jammed into my 3-year-old daughter's chair. I had to put her on my lap for her to have room to eat. I complained to the manager and they moved us to a booth, but this place is horrible. Skip it.
(1)
Blythe M.
Not part of Lettuce Entertain You. I was looking forward to being able to use my gift certificate and make my reservation online but couldn't. Maybe that is why all the reviews seem like this place is slacking because it's independently owned?
(1)
Jimmy S.
I'd give Maggiano's 4.5 stars for a chain restaurant. I'm not a big "chain" food kinda guy but I must admit, everything about my experience was top notch. From the warm bread, to the stuffed mushroom appetizer, right down to every individual meal, our experience was excellent! Chicken moist, pastas extremely flavorful and perfectly aldente. Just about everything on the menu has a recipe that dates back 100 YEARS! I also have to mention the service. My mother in law has really bad gluten allergies and from the moment we walked in the Manager Nino (literally straight from Italy), met us, walked us to the table, made a couple recommendations for her allergy. He didn't stop there. He brought a chef out to go over options and they even asked if she'd like to see the kitchen to put her at ease. We have NEVER been treated so well at a food establishment. Ever. We'll be back for sure!
(5)
Alicia C.
I was there a few weeks ago for my son's bday and we had a great time. Our waiter was very kind and helpful. The only thing is the place is a bit small making it a bit of a wait. Other than that it is great for a sit down family meal. deserts on the menu are fabulous . The server was awesome and the food was over the top. I will go again.
(4)
Bernardo S.
Ok so we arrived after receiving our text that out table was available and it wasn't so we had to wait 15 minutes for something to open up but the hostess was very apologetic. We got seated in the bar area and the service started great but it seems that maybe the waitress had to much to handle as we them found ourselves waiting for drinks, never getting the bread we asked for etc. again very nice so it is keeping me from dropping to 2 stars. The food was excellent so that saved it as well, I loved my lasagna and my wife really liked her chicken parmesan. With that said if they weren't new I would say I would never go back but they did just enough well that I will give it one more shot!
(3)
Christy S.
The service was horrible. Our waiter was very inattentive. I had to ask for new silverware because they were dirty. I had to ask for little plates,which are usually already on the table before be seated. I had to ask for glasses of water and refills. The typical little services that every waiter should be attentive to was overlooked. I have been to 3 other Maggiano's in IL, those three held similar excellent service. This location by far the worst in comparison to any restaurant.
(1)
Alice A.
let me begin by saying the service was good and does not reflect on the ONE STAR that i am giving this horribly run chain restaurant in Vernon Hills. (and i hardly EVER give out 1 stars) ~~~~~~~ Please enjoy my story ~~~~~~~ I went here tonight for dinner. Gave them my name at 7:22PM. Was told there was a 45min wait. Sure, thats fine. My bf and I happen to be hanging by the host desk. I started to realize that some people who "checked in" after us were being seated first. At first i thought i just got the people mixed up but what i heard and saw next confirmed i wasnt seeing things. After waiting for 40 mins, Four 20 some year old's walked in around 8PM, went up and asked how long the wait is. The 2 hostess (girls, medium length dark hair, one was wearing braces, late teens early 20s). The host with the braces told them the wait was about 45mins-1hr. And the guys were like 'wow really? is there anything you can do about that? My buddy is visiting and today is his last day here" something along those lines. Plus some flirting that were added. (of course im sure them being all around the same age played a part as well) So then the host got the floor manager (girl) and said something to her and she gave her the OK and ... what do you know?! she SAT the 4 guys IMMEDIATELY!! They did NOT have to wait AT ALL. Of course, after seeing that, i went up to the host and said why did they not have to wait and after a few small talks, they got seated immediately? She gave me the LAMEST EXCUSE of, "we lost their reservation so we have to HONOR their reservation." (right.. keep lying to me) SO i was thinking to myself... does someone who made a reservation need to ASK you how long the wait was?! LIES LIES LIES... and the funny part is... after i said that, My bf and I were seated immediately as well. (weird how that works huh) And the old couple that was sitting in the couch, who was there a lot earlier than us, was still waiting...and waiting and waiting... Dinner was good. Food was good. Service was good. Before we left, we asked our waitress if we can speak to the GM. And guess who came to see us? the floor manager (girl) that Oked the girls to let the 4 guys in without a wait. You should've SEEN the look on the managers face when we confronted her.It was like a deer in headlights. She probably didnt think anyone heard or saw anything of her "cover up" CLEARLY you arent suitable to be a manager, esp with those business ethics and favoritism that you have. ANNNNND of course, she started to say "im sorry you experienced that and then started saying how some of the stories that the hostess hear are so "heart wrenching." (uh huh... that a group of 4 teenage boys buddy is leaving town tonight so THATS why they need a seat immediately.. right... ) If i have seen this done ONCE, im sure this kind of "favoritism" has happened more than once ever since they have opened. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in MAGGIANO'S business ethics. The hostess basically get to pick and choose who they want to seated first. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS RESTAURANT! I guess if you have plenty of time to spare and/ or if you are a boy in your early 20s and good looking, im sure some small chit chat will get you a seat within 5 mins while some of us have to wait 45mins. *word of advice* If you do go, PLEASE make sure you have a reservation. Or else you'll be waiting there, literally for 45-mins to an hour, while some teen boys get preferential treatment! ) If not, DONT leave the restaurant and watch and see if the people who came later than you got seated before you. OR, you can make up some "heart wrenching" story and will be seated shortly as well ) Again, the food is good, wait staff is great. It's just that one female (short light brown hair ) floor manager (whatever her position she is, she CLEARLY doesn't deserve to be it ) and the 2 hostesses that really needs to get their act together! ~~~end of story~~~
(1)
Raegan D.
I have only ever eaten at Maggiano's once, so I cannot compare it to other locations; I can only compare it to Olive Garden. I hate OG and I will never return there. Ever. We had a reservation and were seated in a reasonable a out of time. Our server was slower than molasses and took us 2 1/2 hours to get through dinner. That was pretty crazy, and he was kind of terrible, but the food was AMAZING, The prices were fantastic, and I cannot wait to come back. You can get though that I'll edit this review to reflect our next visit there, let's hope it is faster next time.
(4)
Tony A.
Just went for the first time today, went on Yelp to write a review, and frankly was shocked by the number of 1 star ratings. Don't understand all the hate... I booked a reservation just to be safe. Since it was a weekday it wasn't terribly busy so we were sat well before the reservation time. The waitress was very very friendly and sociable; though she could've came by more frequently. The drinks are shockingly pricey. Beers and regular drinks are reasonable, but the mixed drinks are outrageously expensive. The fried mozzarella marinara appetizer pretty much filled us up. My steak was cooked perfectly, even though our food took 20 minutes. The bill was way too much than I was expecting. It's a nice, upclass place. Has calm, dim, dinner lighting so it could be very nice depending on the occasion. But if you're just in the mood for Italian for dinner I would check elsewhere.
(3)
Mardi T.
Good food. Crappy service. I eat at the LEYE restaurants frequently, and am a huge fan. This location is just sub par- We have been here a number of times because it is convenient, but we won't be back. The service has consistently been bad when dining in, so this time for a group- we opted for carry out. We ordered a large takeout order, and the woman who "helped" us for 30 seconds so we could pay for our food was such grumpy person that I can't believe she is employed in a customer facing industry. Even though the food is good, there are so many better dining options where the bitter and angry staff won't ruin your meal. I seriously doth expect them to make it for many years at this location with service this bad.
(2)
Paula H.
Food was as expected (I've been to other Maggiano's). Not amazing, but very good. The difference here was the poor service. They sat our party of 7 at a round table. The waitress kept reaching over to serve or retrieve items rather than going around the table, even though the tables around us were not occupied. The result is that those of us sitting at her favorite spot got to see others' plates very close up, flying over our own plates and very close to our chest. The waitress would disappear for long periods of time and we had to ask other servers who would go get her. The dessert that was supposed to be warm was served cold and I think that the server should have noticed that.
(2)
Ritu D.
Maggiano's is a chain that I've loved for a VERY long time! The food is always so good, the quantities are large enough for me not to complain about the prices, and usually service is great. I like that a location opened up in Hawthorne, I noticed it the last time I visited my parents, but this past time was our first visit. We visited while I was at home for my stepdads birthday. The food was great, of course! They've decreased their portions, but they always have the eat one, take one home deal on their classic pastas, so you can't get angry about the portion. The service is where this location lost stars, for sure! It sounds like it's been a trend since their opening. Don't get me wrong, our server, Mel, was friendly, funny, apologetic if something was missed, and did everything right as a server! She seemed to be stretched so thin, though - and it wasn't just her, EVERY staff member did. From the moment we walked in, all we saw were the wait staff in the white shirts scurrying around, running into each other, and just trying to catch up. But, I am very hard-pressed to blame them, especially if this seems to be a trend - I think management should consider staffing some more employees during busy dinner hours, for sure. We had reservations (only had later resies by the time I called, but we took it) - we got there a bit early and the girl told us she would call us in 10 minutes, which was our scheduled time - no big deal, but then almost 25 minutes went by and we hadn't been called- a family that walked in without reservations after us walked past to get seated so I went up to inquire. The hostess saw that one of the waiters paged the wrong number thinking it was us and cancelled us out of the system- she quickly remedied the problem by finding an open table and we were seated within 10 minutes, which I appreciated. Annoying that it happened, but glad she made sure we were seated right after she realized what happened. The food, of course, is amazing. The bread = DELISH. Dip it in some olive oil and parmesan.. YUM. We asked for balsamic (three times) and finally got it.... poured into a dish on it's own (weird since we were hoping to add it to the olive oil). We started with the stuffed mushrooms and oh my goodness- this was my first time trying these here and I am SO glad I did!! We all got the eggplant parmesan (we're all so unique, I know) and it was wonderful as usual! My take home meal was the mushroom ravioli - SO good!! (see a trend here with the food). They brought over some lemon cookies, as they always do, for birthdays. We also ordered the chocolate cake (my mom has had this before but this was my first) and OH MY GOODNESS. There must be an extra compartment in our stomachs for chocolate cake because regardless of how full we were, we INHALED that cake!! SO DELICIOUS, SO CHOCOLATEY, SO SOFT. just YUM. Like I mentioned, as expected, the food is like any other location - delicious. The service is what brings this place down and I really believe if a few more employees were staffed at peak times, it may help relieve some of the issues.
(3)
Steve M.
Wait a minute...Not quite 5 stars yet... This place isn't quite there yet. They just opened up this week and it appears that they are still learning how to serve with timing and execution. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but the service and execution was lacking severely. My wife and I came here for lunch on a Friday. We made reservations in advance so we were seated right away. The thing was we had to wait longer than you should wait for our server to finally arrive. As we were seated another server came and took our drink order. She mentioned that our server would be by soon. Our server eventually did come by. After going back and forth we had decided to start off with a Maggiano's salad with blue cheese on the side (my wife doesn't like blue cheese). About 5 minutes later two salads were brought out to our table but they weren't ours, we ordered one large salad to share. The girl that brought them out looked confused after we told her that these were not our salads. She eventually took them back and delivered them to another table. Alertly our server noticed that we hadn't received our salad yet so she went back to check on it. By the time that she brought our salad to our table our meals had arrived. I had to ask or remind our server that she forgot the blue cheese which she did finally bring. After looking at the salad, it turns out that the blue cheese was already mixed in the salad. I had ordered the Veal Parmesan from the dinner menu with a side of rigatoni. When my veal arrived I received a side of spaghetti instead of rigatoni. She went back to replace my side. As we started to eat our meal we realized that everyone around us had a basket of bread. My wife asked me "Where is our bread"? By this time it's too late. We ended up paying over $60 for a lunch and I expected a whole lot more that what we got. Step it up Maggiano's and one day you may get the 5 stars.
(2)
Maira O.
I didn't think the ckn Cesar salad was worth $16.00! I DON'T EVEN THINK IT WAS REAL CKN?
(1)
Marni R.
If I could give this TERRIBLE HORRIBLE restaurant a 1/2 star I would. The food is salty, the salad had nothing on it, they got my order wrong and my husbands. It's just AWFUL. EPIC FAIL "Lettuce Entertain You!!" By the way it's this MAGGIANOS that is bad. Not all of them. It's a training problem. Yuck, bleh, and bleh!! Won't give them another dime of my money. Lying in bed with a stomach ache!!
(1)
David Y.
This location is new and it needs alot of work. We came in at 5:30p without a reservation. They made us wait over 40 minutes, while tables were available. When we finally got seated, that table was open since we got there. Frustrating! Now, when the food finally came, the portion sizes were far less than what I had remembered. Before we would take ample leftovers home, but not this time! Not sure what has changed with Maggiano's, but the one in Vernon Hills is not good.
(2)
Steven K.
The Caesar salad is an embarrassment. It was literally a bag of lettuce with dressing. They should be ashamed charging $12.
Probably should have checked yelp before I dined here. However, I was very nostalgic of past memory from dining with parents while growing up at Maggiano's form back home. Recently relocated to Vernon Hills and have been wanting to give this place a try. Finally dined here yesterday with a friend who was visiting town. where should I start? Well we were here around 11:30AM on a Sunday. The place looked normal as we entered, and we were seated. But then immediately I noticed the tables we were seated at was quite dim, I know that's the ambiance they are going for but usually it has more of a homey feel to it, with Italian family portraits hanging and such, lamps and decor, but none of that here, just a modern decor. I had to use my hands to push open the blinds in order to see my menu. Then the waiter came by, asked if we wanted to have our olive oil dipping set up. I said sure. He asked me to hand him the tray of condiments. I did, he just pulled the oil out and poured it onto a plate. What was the point of that!!?? I could have done it myself for less work. I thought he'd at least add some vinegar to it or something. Both my friend and I ordered the classic pastas. My eggplant parm was nothing special. I enjoyed the spaghetti on the bottom more than the eggplant, in fact it was very heavy and probably the worst eggplant parm i've ever had. waiter told us with the classic pastas, we also get to take one home for free. Which at first he did not say free, I had to get him to clarify. They need to do a better job explaining this concept. When we checked out, waiter brought over our free take home entrees. I was applauded, they were frozen entrees!! What an insult, and it says compliment of the chef on there? That's a slap in the face. Especially since my friend said oh sure, I'll be going to the airport later tonight I can eat it while I am there before I board the plane. How is she supposed to eat frozen pasta? What a joke, the food also looked super unhealthy, nothing but fettuccine and alfredo sauce with cheese. No veggie or anything nor meat. You'd think it's a good deal you are getting buy 1 get 1 free, but you really are just being scammed. We also asked for our "checks", we emphasized on CHECKS, not just 1 check, and the waiter still brought over 1 check. The worst is I flipped over a pile of 4 plates on our table, I guess they were set there for the purpose of appetizers or sharing. Every SINGLE ONE of the plates on the bottom had food or sauce or something stuck to it. This is unacceptable. The food on there had no resemblance to what we were eating so I knew it wasn't ours. The waiter is the direct contact with the diners, he needs to do a better job at checking the plates he brings out and the presentation, even if he did not wash the plates. At a restaurant this caliber, completely unacceptable. When you are charging starting at $25 a plate for one of your signature pastas, this is just not ok.
(1)
Neil D.
Because of my son, we come to magianos for an italian fix. But because of Jaqueline H's review, we will definitely not be coming back. If there is one thing i look for in any restaurant, it would be cleanliness. A used spoon on a dessert is just disgusting.
(1)
Drew S.
At 7:15 I was sitting in a closed section of the place and the manager came over and explained he needed the table and I would have to move. I explained that the only reason I was in that area was the entire waiting area was full and our 6:30 reservation was not being honored. He moved some chairs out for my kids and I to use. We were sat about 10 minutes later, without menus. So after waiting awhile longer I went to the host stand and got them for the table. Our server joined us awhile later and asked how we were doing, when we explained the situation he said something about how people love the food here but hate the wait. Well we certainly did a lot of waiting, the same manager who asked me to remove myself from the closed section brought our waters 10 minutes after we sat. He offered us unlimited appetizers and desserts on the company's dime. The Capri salad was served with hard tomatoes, September 1, and they couldn't find ripe tomatoes? After we ate our entrees our server offered dessert, again the waiting game. After what seemed to be about 15 minutes our server who by this time didn't have to many tables left came by, and when we asked him about our food he informed us that corporate has very high standards and it takes the cooks along time to get the product looking right. When my dessert came ( warm apple turnover with carmel sauce ) it had the texture that it was sitting under the hearing lamp to long . And was rather flavorless. We left at 9:30, not good on a school night My overall impression if this Magiannos, 1) closed section while many people waited-poor management 2) being sat with no menus- poor host/hostess service 3) not having my iced tea lemonade mixture offered to be refilled and corporate bashing to the customers - poor service staff 4) delays on food- poor kitchen staff The food court in the mall would gave been a better choice
(1)
K C.
I'm normally a fan of Maggiano's. As far as chain-style Italian goes, this is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the Vernon Hills location is less than stellar. They've employed some rude, incompetent young women as hostesses who are too busy talking to each other to pay attention to the people waiting to be seated. Service is either too rushed or too s.l.o.w. (read: glacial), there's no in-between. They've forgotten my "take home" pasta TWICE. And, when the waitress brought me a fresh glass of iced tea, she touched the top of my straw with her fingers and put it in the new glass. This place needs some SERIOUS training in the hospitality arena. Pretty disappointing.
(1)
Luke C.
Better than I remembered the food to be. Read all of the bad reviews and almost did not go. We were sat immediately when arrived. Reservations on OpenTable was easy. Warm complimentary bread was delicious. I ordered pasta and was given a second portion to go. Attentive service at this LEYE chain. I would go again soon.
(4)
Toshi I.
Came here with my bro and his family and was seated in a booth near the bar. I'm surprised at the low ratings as Maggiano's. I ordered a salad and pasta and both dishes were good. Wasn't blown away. I don't think you can go wrong here with the food. Our server was really friendly and helpful too.
(3)
Christopher B.
Never actually got to eat there. Went in with a friend around 6:45 last night to have dinner. Hostess told us there would be an hour wait. When we inquired about half the restaurant being not in use during the dinner rush, we were informed they were short-staffed. So, we asked about eating in the bar area and were told that was fine, that it was full-service. But, when we went to take a recently-vacated table, we were informed that part of the area wasn't open seating. A group of ladies waiting for a table at the bar asked about taking the table, since they were next up. The hostess informed them they couldn't have it either, as it was only for people who had reservations. We ended up leaving for somewhere else (another story entirely). Right now, Maggiano's as a whole is 0 for 2 in my book (prior visit to another Maggiano's resulted in stone-cold food which was then reheated under a salamander and brought back to the table). Perhaps the third time will be the charm?
(1)
Igor C.
This place is new to the area and I've never been to one of their other locations. Three of us ordered takeout. Chicken parmesan, shrimp scampi and rigatoni D. We also had the calamari. It was all ready on time, packed well and stayed warm. To me the calamari was outstanding, light breading and fried to the correct shade of brown, not overdone and rubbery. My chicken was a disappointment, to dry and the cheese seemed lumped on one end. I also prefer a little more sauce. My son was happy with his rigatoni and I don't have any comment on the scampi because my put it in the refrigerator to eat later. Overall, it was expensive for average Italian food.
We visited during Christmas Rush. The restaurant was very full but we were seated promptly as there were two of us. Service was excellent quick and friendly. We ordered the zucchini fritte. They were very good hot and crispy the lemon aeoli was homemade and perfectly seasoned. We had just finished the last piece when our entrees arrived. Gnocchi with sausage and the lighter take chicken piccata. Both good sized servings we took portions home. Saved room for chocolate cake and the server added lemon cookies. Still warm! A beautiful evening during a hectic week.
(4)
Johnny C.
I was on the opening team of this location. Simply put, this place is terrible. It doesn't even deserve to be called Maggiano's because it's an insult to the brand name. This place is awful from top to bottom. The management staff has absolutely no idea what they are doing, and it shows. When you order your food, you should expect it to take about twice as long as it should, and when it finally does arrive, it'll most likely be cold, prepared wrong, and/or taste horrible. Don't worry though, if you complain to a manager, you'll get it for free. Far and away the worst place I've ever worked. You should avoid this place at all costs. If you're craving Maggiano's, make the drive out to Skokie or Schaumburg. You'll thank me later.
(1)
Michele B.
Save your $$$ we spent 92.00 on a dinner for 3 and had some of the lowest tasting lasagna I've ever had in my life. Tasteless, poor quality meat. Service was okay, for a Father's day dinner. Wouldn't go back. Way too expensive for the me as l, the only thing they have is their new atmosphere. That's it.
(1)
Dr S.
another bleh meal here, came here because of a coupon..... prolly wont be back for awhile until they get theyre act together.... still seems like they are 'rookies' around here.....
(2)
Todd H.
Took my daughter there. Wait staff was very attentive and the food was to die for. My only complaint is that they forgot my take home order. My daughter received hers. Did not catch this until I got back to my hotel room.
(4)
Bryn R.
My brother and I came in here yesterday after having a very stressful day. Our server was very kind and helpful and made sure our meal was outstanding! It was our first time ever at maggianos and we will definitely return
(5)
Bill B.
Here for a family birthday Saturday dinner. 6:30 reservation for 8 and we didn't get served dinner until 8pm. Service was Horrible! Everything took twice as long as a normal. No water, no toilet paper in the lady's bathroom, no one asking if we wanted our empty drinks refilled, no pen when we received our credit card bill, no manager on staff, etc..... Just overall a bad experience. Don't go here until they get their act together.
(1)
Aaron E.
Maggiano's has long had a positive reputation, but I'm not sure why. My girlfriend and I visited for dinner at 8:30 on a Saturday night, and were promptly seated minutes after requesting a booth. The outward facing lounge style booths are nice, and made for excellent people / food watching. Food: I had the Veal Piccata, my date the Veal Marsala. We had the Calamari for an appetizer, which was the best thing we'd end up eating. The breading crispy, the squid tender and perfectly cooked. Sadly, the marinara sauce they served with it came in a dish that was barely half full, so we enjoyed the rest of it sans sauce - still delicious. The main entrees were bland, overpriced, barely satiating and relatively unexciting. Service: The service was good, and it was service by committee, rather than exclusively by our server, who was clearly overburdened on this packed night. It took 25 minutes before we were served table bread, which while a freebie, still featured heavily in our decision to come here; Lettuce Entertain You restaurants are known for their awesome bread. The reasoning given: We are busy(read: We are a new location and have inept kitchen staff) Overall: Our entrees were filling, but we were told by our server to expect to take lots of bags home because of their enormous portions. While this isn't true, I'd give them exactly one try before you realize that this is worse than just about everything else.
(2)
Kyle K.
Judging by the previous reviews of fellow Yelpers, this place has come a long way in their service to customers. We went there tonight, and the place was completely jammed with people! We waited about 30 minutes to be seated, but it was definitely worth the wait. The waitress we had was very professional, and cheerful. She took care of all of us in a timely manner, and kept our drinks full. The best part was the chicken and shrimp ziti dish I ordered. It had to be one of the best pasta dishes I've had in ages. The shrimp were large and plentiful, and the asiago cheese sauce with it was absolutely perfect! I would highly recommend this dish if you visit Maggiano's. The ambiance of this restaurant was quite nice. We all felt comfortable, and the music playing in the background was a nice touch. If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be that it was a tad bit noisy in there, but that's because it was so busy. Other than that, great job Maggiano's!
(5)
Bill T.
Every visit I read the reviews and continue to surprised at the negatives. Service, quality, wait times, portions all continue to please. To be fair tonight was an hour wait but on a Saturday night arriving at 7:00 if there's not a wait at a restaurant its probably not worth eating at. Any decent place should have some wait at peak times.
(5)
Tammy M.
The food is fabulous and our waitress was wonderful. The only tip I would give is if you go for dinner make reservations.
(5)
D G.
Brought my 12 year old daughter and her 4 friends here for a last minute, impromptu birthday party on a Friday night. Even though they were extremely busy they treated the girls like gold! Nino, the manager and the rest of his staff (great waiter!) bent over backwards to make sure they had a memorable evening! Great food, great service - Thank you!
(5)
Howard N.
I have gone to Maggiano's for many years and recently tried their Vernon Hills location. I love the jumbo crab cakes. Although new, the staff was very courteous and friendly. The food came hot from the kitchen and was excellent. Sometimes, we take advantage of their pasta specials, where if you order one you get another to take home with you. A very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
(5)
M W.
After being accustomed to excellent service at the Schaumburg location, the slow service here was disappointing and unexpected. Our waitress, although friendly, was not very efficient. Took about 25 minutes from being seated to her taking our order. Another 15 minutes or so until a salad came out. We had to request items multiple times. Overall the dinner was in excess of two hours. Other indications that this restaurant is poorly managed were: there was a liquid spill on the floor and all employees did was put soaking pads on top of the spill. Over two hours later, not one employee had even bothered to clean up the floor. ( hazardous and unsafe, not to mention a very unsightly mess) I noticed tables were left uncleared for long periods of time after guests had left. I can see why there is a long wait to get seated. Restrooms had no paper towels and were not clean. There are numerous restaurants in the mall and surrounding area that would be a better choice than this Maggianos.
(2)
Robert S.
This location needs a lot of help. We went with a group of 18 people, and ordered family style. We were seated right at the reservation time, and that was the highlight of the night. Starting with the drink orders, the waiter took the drink orders of 4 people and then just left to help some other tables. Once we finally started getting the drinks, my wine glass was so dirty you could feel the scum on the glass, then we got the wrong wine. None of the food came out hot. Apps Mozzarella Marinara, cheese not fully melted. Stuffed mushroom were soggy. Main Course: The dishes they brought out didn't even make it around the table before we had to order more. One dish was the spaghetti and meatballs, for 18 people they brought out 1 bowl with 1 meatball. Gnocchi-overcooked, spaghetti-undercooked, Rigatoni "D"- bland. Dessert-no complaints there except once we had our bill and getting ready to leave more were brought out . The whole experience showed a real lack of customer service.
(1)
Patricia C.
This was our first time at this Maggiano's, we usually go to the one in Skokie, but this is much closer to us. We went there early ( 4pm ) last Wednesday on our way home from a matinee at the Marriott. We were seated right away and the restaurant had only a few full tables. We sat there for 25 minutes with nothing but the menus before my husband asked a passing waitress if she was our waitress, she said she wasn't but she would bring us bread and water until our waitress arrived, she also took our drink order. After another 20 minutes she also took our meal order as the regular waitress still hadn't arrived. ( She was very nice and I'm sure she wanted to leave as her shift was over, but she did take very good care of us up to that point and I'm very sorry that we couldn't give her part of the tip she did more then the regular waitress did ). My husband had soup which he said was ok,, I had the Maggiano's salad which was also good, could have used a little more dressing. We both ordered the Rigatoni D as it is our favorite. It was not as flavorful as it usually is and seemed a little watery, so we were dissapointed. I don't know how soon we will go back there, had I read all the reviews I probably would have gone elsewhere.
This is the best family style Italian place you will ever eat at! It's a shame is has poor reviews!
(5)
Arnita F.
Just went to Maggianos in Vernon Hills sat 12/21/14 and had a great experience. Stopped in after shopping and didnt have reservations but was able to sit in a nice booth in the bar area. We loved the decor and nice music. Did not have to wait long for our server Gretchen to come and she was very nice and informative since this was our 1st time at this location. Ordered the dinner for two for $39.99 which was a great deal and the food was excellent with 2 dinners to take home. Will defintely be going back real soon.
(5)
Lisa M.
After eating at other Maggiano's locations many times, I was disappointed that the new location did not measure up. After ordering, it took almost 40 minutes for our dinner to arrive, and there were many empty tables so it's not like the kitchen was too busy. If you're craving Maggiano's, you'd do better to try Schaumburg or Skokie.
(2)
Sarah L.
I am a regular, I've been dinning here every other week since they have been open. It takes a lot for me to be upset. With that being said, it has been made pretty clear to me that management there has absolutely no idea what they are doing!! Service sucked when they first open and still sucks to this day! I probably had every server/bartender there and they are all inattentive, slow, have no knowledge of the menu, and THEY ARE ALWAYS ON THEIR PHONES. What is more important that's on your phone that you cant even do your job?? I highly suggest you make the drive out Skokie or Schaumberg if you want excellent service. This place is a joke of a restaurant and shouldn't be called Maggiano's, it is an insult to the other Maggianos. Don't get me wrong, the food is great and so is the portion size. But the service here blows and after reading all yelp reviews, this place will always suck unless they get it together. Doing carryout from now on, since my food comes out faster there!
(1)
Gretchin A.
Service was decent and its not that the food was bad, just not impressive and way overpriced for mediocre food.
(1)
Raegan D.
I have only ever eaten at Maggiano's once, so I cannot compare it to other locations; I can only compare it to Olive Garden. I hate OG and I will never return there. Ever. We had a reservation and were seated in a reasonable a out of time. Our server was slower than molasses and took us 2 1/2 hours to get through dinner. That was pretty crazy, and he was kind of terrible, but the food was AMAZING, The prices were fantastic, and I cannot wait to come back. You can get though that I'll edit this review to reflect our next visit there, let's hope it is faster next time.
(4)
Eric B.
Chicken piccata in the house! Not sure why all the reviews for this place are low, but my experience was 5 stars, and thats rare for my time in Chicago. We did have a reservation so that helped. We were asked if it was a special occasion. When I mentioned it was my first time there, they offered a free appetizer, thank you very much. The wine pairing was spot on as well for the chicken piccata, which was so phenomenal. Get it. It may appear buttery, but I found it very much to my liking. Great support for our son as well, at 2 years old.
(5)
Maria A.
Made a reservation through Open Table for my BFF's birthday. We were directed to a nice booth where they had a card that said "thank you for celebrating with us" which was signed by the staff. Nice touch! Andrea was our server and she was a delight. She could teach the server at Old Orchard a thing or to about customer service. We went a little crazy because it was my BFF's birthday. Started with the zucchini fritters then moved on to the Mushroom Raviolo Al Forno and the special chef inspired dish- hand cut egg noodle pasta with pesto sauce, chicken & riccotta meatballs, and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious and both came with a classic pasta to take home. Special birthday dessert was the lemon cookies which were presented with 3 candles- Maggiano's wants to celebrate your birthdays past, present, & future. I also had the special chocolate pudding dessert. This location seems smaller compared to other locations but they pack a big punch with their portions and their wait staff. Will definitely be coming back here again!
(4)
Marni R.
If I could give this TERRIBLE HORRIBLE restaurant a 1/2 star I would. The food is salty, the salad had nothing on it, they got my order wrong and my husbands. It's just AWFUL. EPIC FAIL "Lettuce Entertain You!!" By the way it's this MAGGIANOS that is bad. Not all of them. It's a training problem. Yuck, bleh, and bleh!! Won't give them another dime of my money. Lying in bed with a stomach ache!!
(1)
Camille B.
First time at this Maggiano's location. For a weeknight they seemed to be very busy! We checked in and were told the wait would be about 25 minutes. Pleasantly surprised when it was only 5 minutes. We were seated in a large booth in the back of the restaurant. It was only me & my husband so there was plenty of room to enjoy our meal. Server came to our table pretty quickly and asked have we dined with them before. When we said yes, he smiled and said "Then you know about our big portions!" We did. He brought out a basket of warm Italian bread, and olive oil with cheese on the table always makes it that much better! We decided to order the classic pasta dishes, since that is such a great deal. You order one and get to choose another to take home! How can you beat that?? My husband had the Taylor Street Baked Ziti and I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo (lighter take) with grilled chicken, asparagus and a light Asiago cream sauce. We decided to share our meal and both were delicious! The portions are pretty big, but we managed to finish both! Take home portions are frozen so you don't have to eat them right away. I recommend Maggiano's and will be coming back again!
It's my husband's first time here and they gave him complimentary bruschetta! Our server also recommended their chianti which I really like. The staff seem really nice and the wait for our food wasn't long at all! We like the experience so far! :)
(5)
Rachel L.
Meh. It's ok. The last time, we ordered carryout, and I was impressed that they carefully double-checked that we had everything in the bag. But the food itself is bland and non-nondescript. No one was terribly thrilled with their dish, but none were bad either. They do have gluten free pasta, which was decent, but not the best I've ever had.
(3)
Laura B.
I've been to this specific Maggiano's multiple times and loved the food and service... This particular time was disappointing.... The entire meal, our waitress was trying to speed up our meal. We like to order drinks, enjoy them, order an appetizer, enjoy it, and then order our entree. She was pressing for the entree so often that we felt uncomfortable and just ordered... Then felt rushed through our meal like we were wasting her time by being a party of 2. I would have ordered more drinks and dessert if I wasn't so aggravated with the service. I'm not the type to write a negative review. This was just an unfortunate experience. We will go to other Italian restaurants in the area in the future.
(1)
brent k.
Normally heading here for a quick lunch is out of the question, but sometimes you just want pasta. In an effort to shorten the visit we sat at the bar where The bartender, Tommy, got us in and out fairly quickly. I like their food, and find their buy one, take one offerings to be good and of value. However, their dining area wait staff are horrendously slow. I couldn't really tell if it was a staffing issue or growing pains, but be warned that's there no quick meals at lunch, or even a lazy Saturday afternoon.
(3)
Lauren N.
So after the last debacle with overcharging and double charging my mother's and my credit cards they ended up taking care of it with gift cards to be used any way. Before Christmas I had my parents over and I ordered out. I figure this way I'm almost eliminating the worst part of the restaurant, which is the service. I ordered about $85 worth of food, and asked if they would be kind enough to include plenty of bread. Parking out front for pick up is nice and was certainly convenient as busy as the mall was just before the holiday. I picked up the items at the counter and didn't double check because honestly I wanted to see how well they had done without me having to check up on it. Stuffed mushrooms and mozzarella marinara were fantastic! Chicken Parmesan had hardly any sauce but other than that was good. Rigatoni d was as expected, it is my all time favorite and it didn't disappoint. The lasagna was also excellent. The chopped salad left a lot to be desired. First off it hardly had any of the toppings, and second it consisted almost entirely of huge chunks of not-the-best looking sections of iceberg lettuce. See the picture. I mean it was fine but not at all what I expected, I've had it in the restaurant and it was nothing like this. Also, the plenty of bread I asked for was 4 pieces, we could have used at least twice that. Oh well. In any case this was my first time ordering out from Maggiano's and it was overall good. Having eliminated most of the service helps a lot with a less stressful meal. I'll definitely order out here again.
(3)
Mark M.
My family celebrated my niece graduating from Marquette earlier tonight here. The food and service was excellent. We had a great time; both the adults and kids. To be fair my sister and brother in law payed for everyone; free food always tastes a little better. Although we did buy my niece a nice present so I guess it really isn't free. My sister ordered family style, and the food came out fast and was hot. There was no problem getting more servings if we wanted them. Calamari - keep it coming!! Chopped salad w avocado was very tasty. The mussels were excellent, many of us tried our bread dipped into the bowl, mmmmmm! The lemon chicken and parmesan tilapia were both juicy and full of flavor. The spaghetti was perfect, but the meatballs were too salty for my tastes. For dessert: cheescake - just ok, apple thing with ice cream - delicious! Many of the other reviews say that this location is not as good as the others. It seemed about the same to me.
(4)
David Y.
This location is new and it needs alot of work. We came in at 5:30p without a reservation. They made us wait over 40 minutes, while tables were available. When we finally got seated, that table was open since we got there. Frustrating! Now, when the food finally came, the portion sizes were far less than what I had remembered. Before we would take ample leftovers home, but not this time! Not sure what has changed with Maggiano's, but the one in Vernon Hills is not good.
(2)
Ritu D.
Maggiano's is a chain that I've loved for a VERY long time! The food is always so good, the quantities are large enough for me not to complain about the prices, and usually service is great. I like that a location opened up in Hawthorne, I noticed it the last time I visited my parents, but this past time was our first visit. We visited while I was at home for my stepdads birthday. The food was great, of course! They've decreased their portions, but they always have the eat one, take one home deal on their classic pastas, so you can't get angry about the portion. The service is where this location lost stars, for sure! It sounds like it's been a trend since their opening. Don't get me wrong, our server, Mel, was friendly, funny, apologetic if something was missed, and did everything right as a server! She seemed to be stretched so thin, though - and it wasn't just her, EVERY staff member did. From the moment we walked in, all we saw were the wait staff in the white shirts scurrying around, running into each other, and just trying to catch up. But, I am very hard-pressed to blame them, especially if this seems to be a trend - I think management should consider staffing some more employees during busy dinner hours, for sure. We had reservations (only had later resies by the time I called, but we took it) - we got there a bit early and the girl told us she would call us in 10 minutes, which was our scheduled time - no big deal, but then almost 25 minutes went by and we hadn't been called- a family that walked in without reservations after us walked past to get seated so I went up to inquire. The hostess saw that one of the waiters paged the wrong number thinking it was us and cancelled us out of the system- she quickly remedied the problem by finding an open table and we were seated within 10 minutes, which I appreciated. Annoying that it happened, but glad she made sure we were seated right after she realized what happened. The food, of course, is amazing. The bread = DELISH. Dip it in some olive oil and parmesan.. YUM. We asked for balsamic (three times) and finally got it.... poured into a dish on it's own (weird since we were hoping to add it to the olive oil). We started with the stuffed mushrooms and oh my goodness- this was my first time trying these here and I am SO glad I did!! We all got the eggplant parmesan (we're all so unique, I know) and it was wonderful as usual! My take home meal was the mushroom ravioli - SO good!! (see a trend here with the food). They brought over some lemon cookies, as they always do, for birthdays. We also ordered the chocolate cake (my mom has had this before but this was my first) and OH MY GOODNESS. There must be an extra compartment in our stomachs for chocolate cake because regardless of how full we were, we INHALED that cake!! SO DELICIOUS, SO CHOCOLATEY, SO SOFT. just YUM. Like I mentioned, as expected, the food is like any other location - delicious. The service is what brings this place down and I really believe if a few more employees were staffed at peak times, it may help relieve some of the issues.
(3)
Jacqueline H.
Don't go to this location. We had reservations last Saturday evening, we arrived at 8:30pm, it appeared they had a busy evening because all the tables around us were loaded with dirty dishes, and were never cleared. I'm a pretty laid backed diner, I honestly dislike sending things back, I'm there to relax and enjoy myself, not nit pick, you know? So, it takes a lot for me to complain, but we were served a dessert to share, with two spoons, one of the spoons, on our plate, was full of cheesecake, with teeth marks from whoever had eaten with it, on our dessert! Disgusting, and speaks to the level of care and cleanliness at this restaurant, how could this not be noticed by anyone? The next morning, I woke up ill, I spent the entire Sunday in bed, or the restroom. Inexcusable, and I wont be back. Head to the Schaumburg location if you are in a Maggiano's mood, avoid this one.
(1)
Alice A.
let me begin by saying the service was good and does not reflect on the ONE STAR that i am giving this horribly run chain restaurant in Vernon Hills. (and i hardly EVER give out 1 stars) ~~~~~~~ Please enjoy my story ~~~~~~~ I went here tonight for dinner. Gave them my name at 7:22PM. Was told there was a 45min wait. Sure, thats fine. My bf and I happen to be hanging by the host desk. I started to realize that some people who "checked in" after us were being seated first. At first i thought i just got the people mixed up but what i heard and saw next confirmed i wasnt seeing things. After waiting for 40 mins, Four 20 some year old's walked in around 8PM, went up and asked how long the wait is. The 2 hostess (girls, medium length dark hair, one was wearing braces, late teens early 20s). The host with the braces told them the wait was about 45mins-1hr. And the guys were like 'wow really? is there anything you can do about that? My buddy is visiting and today is his last day here" something along those lines. Plus some flirting that were added. (of course im sure them being all around the same age played a part as well) So then the host got the floor manager (girl) and said something to her and she gave her the OK and ... what do you know?! she SAT the 4 guys IMMEDIATELY!! They did NOT have to wait AT ALL. Of course, after seeing that, i went up to the host and said why did they not have to wait and after a few small talks, they got seated immediately? She gave me the LAMEST EXCUSE of, "we lost their reservation so we have to HONOR their reservation." (right.. keep lying to me) SO i was thinking to myself... does someone who made a reservation need to ASK you how long the wait was?! LIES LIES LIES... and the funny part is... after i said that, My bf and I were seated immediately as well. (weird how that works huh) And the old couple that was sitting in the couch, who was there a lot earlier than us, was still waiting...and waiting and waiting... Dinner was good. Food was good. Service was good. Before we left, we asked our waitress if we can speak to the GM. And guess who came to see us? the floor manager (girl) that Oked the girls to let the 4 guys in without a wait. You should've SEEN the look on the managers face when we confronted her.It was like a deer in headlights. She probably didnt think anyone heard or saw anything of her "cover up" CLEARLY you arent suitable to be a manager, esp with those business ethics and favoritism that you have. ANNNNND of course, she started to say "im sorry you experienced that and then started saying how some of the stories that the hostess hear are so "heart wrenching." (uh huh... that a group of 4 teenage boys buddy is leaving town tonight so THATS why they need a seat immediately.. right... ) If i have seen this done ONCE, im sure this kind of "favoritism" has happened more than once ever since they have opened. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in MAGGIANO'S business ethics. The hostess basically get to pick and choose who they want to seated first. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS RESTAURANT! I guess if you have plenty of time to spare and/ or if you are a boy in your early 20s and good looking, im sure some small chit chat will get you a seat within 5 mins while some of us have to wait 45mins. *word of advice* If you do go, PLEASE make sure you have a reservation. Or else you'll be waiting there, literally for 45-mins to an hour, while some teen boys get preferential treatment! ) If not, DONT leave the restaurant and watch and see if the people who came later than you got seated before you. OR, you can make up some "heart wrenching" story and will be seated shortly as well ) Again, the food is good, wait staff is great. It's just that one female (short light brown hair ) floor manager (whatever her position she is, she CLEARLY doesn't deserve to be it ) and the 2 hostesses that really needs to get their act together! ~~~end of story~~~
(1)
Steve M.
Wait a minute...Not quite 5 stars yet... This place isn't quite there yet. They just opened up this week and it appears that they are still learning how to serve with timing and execution. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but the service and execution was lacking severely. My wife and I came here for lunch on a Friday. We made reservations in advance so we were seated right away. The thing was we had to wait longer than you should wait for our server to finally arrive. As we were seated another server came and took our drink order. She mentioned that our server would be by soon. Our server eventually did come by. After going back and forth we had decided to start off with a Maggiano's salad with blue cheese on the side (my wife doesn't like blue cheese). About 5 minutes later two salads were brought out to our table but they weren't ours, we ordered one large salad to share. The girl that brought them out looked confused after we told her that these were not our salads. She eventually took them back and delivered them to another table. Alertly our server noticed that we hadn't received our salad yet so she went back to check on it. By the time that she brought our salad to our table our meals had arrived. I had to ask or remind our server that she forgot the blue cheese which she did finally bring. After looking at the salad, it turns out that the blue cheese was already mixed in the salad. I had ordered the Veal Parmesan from the dinner menu with a side of rigatoni. When my veal arrived I received a side of spaghetti instead of rigatoni. She went back to replace my side. As we started to eat our meal we realized that everyone around us had a basket of bread. My wife asked me "Where is our bread"? By this time it's too late. We ended up paying over $60 for a lunch and I expected a whole lot more that what we got. Step it up Maggiano's and one day you may get the 5 stars.
(2)
Maira O.
I didn't think the ckn Cesar salad was worth $16.00! I DON'T EVEN THINK IT WAS REAL CKN?
(1)
Tony A.
Just went for the first time today, went on Yelp to write a review, and frankly was shocked by the number of 1 star ratings. Don't understand all the hate... I booked a reservation just to be safe. Since it was a weekday it wasn't terribly busy so we were sat well before the reservation time. The waitress was very very friendly and sociable; though she could've came by more frequently. The drinks are shockingly pricey. Beers and regular drinks are reasonable, but the mixed drinks are outrageously expensive. The fried mozzarella marinara appetizer pretty much filled us up. My steak was cooked perfectly, even though our food took 20 minutes. The bill was way too much than I was expecting. It's a nice, upclass place. Has calm, dim, dinner lighting so it could be very nice depending on the occasion. But if you're just in the mood for Italian for dinner I would check elsewhere.
(3)
Mardi T.
Good food. Crappy service. I eat at the LEYE restaurants frequently, and am a huge fan. This location is just sub par- We have been here a number of times because it is convenient, but we won't be back. The service has consistently been bad when dining in, so this time for a group- we opted for carry out. We ordered a large takeout order, and the woman who "helped" us for 30 seconds so we could pay for our food was such grumpy person that I can't believe she is employed in a customer facing industry. Even though the food is good, there are so many better dining options where the bitter and angry staff won't ruin your meal. I seriously doth expect them to make it for many years at this location with service this bad.
(2)
Paula H.
Food was as expected (I've been to other Maggiano's). Not amazing, but very good. The difference here was the poor service. They sat our party of 7 at a round table. The waitress kept reaching over to serve or retrieve items rather than going around the table, even though the tables around us were not occupied. The result is that those of us sitting at her favorite spot got to see others' plates very close up, flying over our own plates and very close to our chest. The waitress would disappear for long periods of time and we had to ask other servers who would go get her. The dessert that was supposed to be warm was served cold and I think that the server should have noticed that.
(2)
Steven K.
The Caesar salad is an embarrassment. It was literally a bag of lettuce with dressing. They should be ashamed charging $12.
Probably should have checked yelp before I dined here. However, I was very nostalgic of past memory from dining with parents while growing up at Maggiano's form back home. Recently relocated to Vernon Hills and have been wanting to give this place a try. Finally dined here yesterday with a friend who was visiting town. where should I start? Well we were here around 11:30AM on a Sunday. The place looked normal as we entered, and we were seated. But then immediately I noticed the tables we were seated at was quite dim, I know that's the ambiance they are going for but usually it has more of a homey feel to it, with Italian family portraits hanging and such, lamps and decor, but none of that here, just a modern decor. I had to use my hands to push open the blinds in order to see my menu. Then the waiter came by, asked if we wanted to have our olive oil dipping set up. I said sure. He asked me to hand him the tray of condiments. I did, he just pulled the oil out and poured it onto a plate. What was the point of that!!?? I could have done it myself for less work. I thought he'd at least add some vinegar to it or something. Both my friend and I ordered the classic pastas. My eggplant parm was nothing special. I enjoyed the spaghetti on the bottom more than the eggplant, in fact it was very heavy and probably the worst eggplant parm i've ever had. waiter told us with the classic pastas, we also get to take one home for free. Which at first he did not say free, I had to get him to clarify. They need to do a better job explaining this concept. When we checked out, waiter brought over our free take home entrees. I was applauded, they were frozen entrees!! What an insult, and it says compliment of the chef on there? That's a slap in the face. Especially since my friend said oh sure, I'll be going to the airport later tonight I can eat it while I am there before I board the plane. How is she supposed to eat frozen pasta? What a joke, the food also looked super unhealthy, nothing but fettuccine and alfredo sauce with cheese. No veggie or anything nor meat. You'd think it's a good deal you are getting buy 1 get 1 free, but you really are just being scammed. We also asked for our "checks", we emphasized on CHECKS, not just 1 check, and the waiter still brought over 1 check. The worst is I flipped over a pile of 4 plates on our table, I guess they were set there for the purpose of appetizers or sharing. Every SINGLE ONE of the plates on the bottom had food or sauce or something stuck to it. This is unacceptable. The food on there had no resemblance to what we were eating so I knew it wasn't ours. The waiter is the direct contact with the diners, he needs to do a better job at checking the plates he brings out and the presentation, even if he did not wash the plates. At a restaurant this caliber, completely unacceptable. When you are charging starting at $25 a plate for one of your signature pastas, this is just not ok.
(1)
Neil D.
Because of my son, we come to magianos for an italian fix. But because of Jaqueline H's review, we will definitely not be coming back. If there is one thing i look for in any restaurant, it would be cleanliness. A used spoon on a dessert is just disgusting.
(1)
Drew S.
At 7:15 I was sitting in a closed section of the place and the manager came over and explained he needed the table and I would have to move. I explained that the only reason I was in that area was the entire waiting area was full and our 6:30 reservation was not being honored. He moved some chairs out for my kids and I to use. We were sat about 10 minutes later, without menus. So after waiting awhile longer I went to the host stand and got them for the table. Our server joined us awhile later and asked how we were doing, when we explained the situation he said something about how people love the food here but hate the wait. Well we certainly did a lot of waiting, the same manager who asked me to remove myself from the closed section brought our waters 10 minutes after we sat. He offered us unlimited appetizers and desserts on the company's dime. The Capri salad was served with hard tomatoes, September 1, and they couldn't find ripe tomatoes? After we ate our entrees our server offered dessert, again the waiting game. After what seemed to be about 15 minutes our server who by this time didn't have to many tables left came by, and when we asked him about our food he informed us that corporate has very high standards and it takes the cooks along time to get the product looking right. When my dessert came ( warm apple turnover with carmel sauce ) it had the texture that it was sitting under the hearing lamp to long . And was rather flavorless. We left at 9:30, not good on a school night My overall impression if this Magiannos, 1) closed section while many people waited-poor management 2) being sat with no menus- poor host/hostess service 3) not having my iced tea lemonade mixture offered to be refilled and corporate bashing to the customers - poor service staff 4) delays on food- poor kitchen staff The food court in the mall would gave been a better choice
(1)
K C.
I'm normally a fan of Maggiano's. As far as chain-style Italian goes, this is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the Vernon Hills location is less than stellar. They've employed some rude, incompetent young women as hostesses who are too busy talking to each other to pay attention to the people waiting to be seated. Service is either too rushed or too s.l.o.w. (read: glacial), there's no in-between. They've forgotten my "take home" pasta TWICE. And, when the waitress brought me a fresh glass of iced tea, she touched the top of my straw with her fingers and put it in the new glass. This place needs some SERIOUS training in the hospitality arena. Pretty disappointing.
(1)
Luke C.
Better than I remembered the food to be. Read all of the bad reviews and almost did not go. We were sat immediately when arrived. Reservations on OpenTable was easy. Warm complimentary bread was delicious. I ordered pasta and was given a second portion to go. Attentive service at this LEYE chain. I would go again soon.
(4)
Toshi I.
Came here with my bro and his family and was seated in a booth near the bar. I'm surprised at the low ratings as Maggiano's. I ordered a salad and pasta and both dishes were good. Wasn't blown away. I don't think you can go wrong here with the food. Our server was really friendly and helpful too.
(3)
Johnny C.
I was on the opening team of this location. Simply put, this place is terrible. It doesn't even deserve to be called Maggiano's because it's an insult to the brand name. This place is awful from top to bottom. The management staff has absolutely no idea what they are doing, and it shows. When you order your food, you should expect it to take about twice as long as it should, and when it finally does arrive, it'll most likely be cold, prepared wrong, and/or taste horrible. Don't worry though, if you complain to a manager, you'll get it for free. Far and away the worst place I've ever worked. You should avoid this place at all costs. If you're craving Maggiano's, make the drive out to Skokie or Schaumburg. You'll thank me later.
(1)
Michele B.
Save your $$$ we spent 92.00 on a dinner for 3 and had some of the lowest tasting lasagna I've ever had in my life. Tasteless, poor quality meat. Service was okay, for a Father's day dinner. Wouldn't go back. Way too expensive for the me as l, the only thing they have is their new atmosphere. That's it.
(1)
Dr S.
another bleh meal here, came here because of a coupon..... prolly wont be back for awhile until they get theyre act together.... still seems like they are 'rookies' around here.....
(2)
Todd H.
Took my daughter there. Wait staff was very attentive and the food was to die for. My only complaint is that they forgot my take home order. My daughter received hers. Did not catch this until I got back to my hotel room.
(4)
Bryn R.
My brother and I came in here yesterday after having a very stressful day. Our server was very kind and helpful and made sure our meal was outstanding! It was our first time ever at maggianos and we will definitely return
(5)
Laura S.
Service is poor at this location compared to others I have visited. Food has not disappointed. I would rather visit a local spot for Italian since this location hasn't gotten it together yet.
(2)
E B.
Excellent food, excellent location (Old Orchard location is so annoying to find parking). Manager accommodated us with a special that ended the day before we were there and honored it for us- we were very thankful and pleased! Our server was outstanding! She treated us like royalty! I'd definitely go back!! They have me my first great experience at this location! Thank you!!
(5)
Mark M.
Very nice place to go with family for birthday dinner or any celebration...
(4)
Aaron E.
Maggiano's has long had a positive reputation, but I'm not sure why. My girlfriend and I visited for dinner at 8:30 on a Saturday night, and were promptly seated minutes after requesting a booth. The outward facing lounge style booths are nice, and made for excellent people / food watching. Food: I had the Veal Piccata, my date the Veal Marsala. We had the Calamari for an appetizer, which was the best thing we'd end up eating. The breading crispy, the squid tender and perfectly cooked. Sadly, the marinara sauce they served with it came in a dish that was barely half full, so we enjoyed the rest of it sans sauce - still delicious. The main entrees were bland, overpriced, barely satiating and relatively unexciting. Service: The service was good, and it was service by committee, rather than exclusively by our server, who was clearly overburdened on this packed night. It took 25 minutes before we were served table bread, which while a freebie, still featured heavily in our decision to come here; Lettuce Entertain You restaurants are known for their awesome bread. The reasoning given: We are busy(read: We are a new location and have inept kitchen staff) Overall: Our entrees were filling, but we were told by our server to expect to take lots of bags home because of their enormous portions. While this isn't true, I'd give them exactly one try before you realize that this is worse than just about everything else.
(2)
Bill T.
Every visit I read the reviews and continue to surprised at the negatives. Service, quality, wait times, portions all continue to please. To be fair tonight was an hour wait but on a Saturday night arriving at 7:00 if there's not a wait at a restaurant its probably not worth eating at. Any decent place should have some wait at peak times.
(5)
Tammy M.
The food is fabulous and our waitress was wonderful. The only tip I would give is if you go for dinner make reservations.
(5)
Katie M.
The food is delicious here, and the little girl I nanny for quite enjoyed herself here as the staff was super friendly and paid attention to her. The staff is VERY friendly, but that being said, the food service is VERY slow, even during the weekdays and not during lunch rush hour. What should have been an hour lunch was much closer to two hours (for one adult and one toddler). My meal was very appetizing (honey mustard salmon sandwich), but they did have to remake it after putting bacon on it the first time, after I specifically asked for no bacon. Kids portions are HUGE, so do note that one child's flatbread pizza can actually feed at least two.
(3)
Bill B.
Here for a family birthday Saturday dinner. 6:30 reservation for 8 and we didn't get served dinner until 8pm. Service was Horrible! Everything took twice as long as a normal. No water, no toilet paper in the lady's bathroom, no one asking if we wanted our empty drinks refilled, no pen when we received our credit card bill, no manager on staff, etc..... Just overall a bad experience. Don't go here until they get their act together.
(1)
Kalinda L.
I met a friend for lunch there yesterday. we only ordered appetizers and shared. the 3 we chose....zucchini fritters, margherita pizza and caprese salad were very very good. I had a coupon sent to my email for $10 off a $30 purchase only at the new location in VH. the waitress ruffled her feathers and flat out said she couldn't honor it bc it was not printed. I replied that no where did it say that in the email. She said it was ON the coupon itself. When I asked her ot show me where it said that, she said "oh I can't read that, its too small" I suggested she send the manager over. She came back with a FORM I had to fill out so they could "honor" the coupon. wow. the experience was such that I wouldn't go back. I was at Old Orchards maggiano's and actually completed the online survey for the lovely waitress we had there back in June. as a thanks for giving my time and bc I gave my email, they were going to send me special offers and coupons. it costs next to nothing to compose an email and send it out in mass distribution for advertising...BUT IM SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE BURDEN AND COST OF PRINTING A COUPON SENT BY ELECTRONIC MEANS OR IT WON'T BE HONORED???? never never never have I been refused bc I showed an offer on my phone as opposed to having it printed. The two stars were for the food quality minus the bad experience at the end of the lunch. In a world where there are choices, especially for ITALIAN food, I wouldn't go back.
(2)
Sherry W.
Food is good and large portions. Service is slow but friendly. They calculated the tips on the bill based on tax included. The tips should be based on food/drinks and service.
(3)
Jeanne C.
I am being generous giving two stars. We had a large party (12) and ate family style. So we were limited to choose off of that menu. Had a great selections of food too bad they tasted like frozen pre made fair. The service wasn't that great either multiple times are food was placed at the table and we would have no plates and we had to flag down someone to help us. That happened at least twice. Best part of the meal was the dessert. Skip this chain - not worth the $$
(2)
Laurie D.
Aug. 5, Tuesday night-90 minutes for a table of 3, half the restaurant empty. I'd wait for a few months to go back and hopefully they will have it figured out. Once seated, service was great, food was less than spectacular, teenagers hosting may need a little better training from their maître D.
(2)
Robert D.
I was here with my family in November and had a HORRIBLE experience. My wife and I thought we would try this Maggiano's location again, hoping the first experience was a fluke. NOT!!! The service was still quite poor and the food was served cold. This just reconfirms that this location is managed poorly and does not live up to the quality or tradition of the restaurant located in Schaumburg. I will tell everyone I know, that if they enjoy Maggiano's, DO NOT VISIT THIS LOCATION!!!!! The Schaumburg location is 180 degrees different. I bet this location will close unless they put in proper management. Going to this location will only piss you off!! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!! This place sucks!!!
(1)
Kyle K.
Judging by the previous reviews of fellow Yelpers, this place has come a long way in their service to customers. We went there tonight, and the place was completely jammed with people! We waited about 30 minutes to be seated, but it was definitely worth the wait. The waitress we had was very professional, and cheerful. She took care of all of us in a timely manner, and kept our drinks full. The best part was the chicken and shrimp ziti dish I ordered. It had to be one of the best pasta dishes I've had in ages. The shrimp were large and plentiful, and the asiago cheese sauce with it was absolutely perfect! I would highly recommend this dish if you visit Maggiano's. The ambiance of this restaurant was quite nice. We all felt comfortable, and the music playing in the background was a nice touch. If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be that it was a tad bit noisy in there, but that's because it was so busy. Other than that, great job Maggiano's!
Wonderful food ruined by horrible service. Inexperienced waiters and a lack of busboys with the expectation that the waiters will take orders, deliver the food and bus the tables left our table of ten waiting forever for food and then sitting through dinner with dirty serving bowls on the table. For large parties they assign 3 waiters to the table which results in no one waiter taking charge of the service. At one point I counted 44 people seated in the smaller dining room where they seat larger family parties and one waiter in sight! Lettuce needs to stop sacrificing service for larger profits. We recently had a similar experience at Wildfire waiting 45 minutes at lunch for our food with young children in a barely full room. Offering free cookies for a poorly served meal is insulting.
(2)
Joel A.
Always a big fan of Maggianos Old Orchard so I'm excited they finally have come to Vernon Hills. They offer $12.95 pasta for dine in and they give you a second pasta from their list to take home. Their fettuccine Alfredo has always been one of the best around as it is my favorite here.
(5)
Michelle K.
It is unfortunate that we had such a bad experience for lunch, perhaps they are still getting out the kinks with staff and kitchen at this new location. We made reservations for 9 at 1145am and were advised we could not be sat until entire group was there. We advised we needed to be back at the office by 1pm. Thankfully they sat 7 of us, 10 min after our reservation time. We had one individual that could not show until 20 min after, and had one person that had to cancel after we had already sat. Took more than 30 minutes to receive the food that we ordered, one salad that had been ordered was brought out incorrectly and was sent back to the kitchen. It took 20 minutes for it to be brought out and had to be boxed up as no time to eat with all others. Took 10 min to get the check, and to go boxes. Manager was kind enough to remove salad from our check and offered a dessert, as well. We finally got out of the restaurant at 110pm. It will be a while before we return and for sure not for lunch. And what was more frustrating, when we got back to the office, salad was still not right!
(1)
Thomas C.
A spectacular disaster of an experience. The food was fine, nothing special but not bad. Everything else was a mess. Our waiter was largely unattentive; spent his time socializing with another one of his tables or was otherwise out of sight. Took him 20-30 minutes to bring our bottle of wine. Some harried server dropped a dirty knife on my wife as she rushed by, completely unaware. They also never cleared any dishes off our table - a first for me. The lowlight, though, was when they set a large table next to ours that was jammed into my 3-year-old daughter's chair. I had to put her on my lap for her to have room to eat. I complained to the manager and they moved us to a booth, but this place is horrible. Skip it.
(1)
Jimmy S.
I'd give Maggiano's 4.5 stars for a chain restaurant. I'm not a big "chain" food kinda guy but I must admit, everything about my experience was top notch. From the warm bread, to the stuffed mushroom appetizer, right down to every individual meal, our experience was excellent! Chicken moist, pastas extremely flavorful and perfectly aldente. Just about everything on the menu has a recipe that dates back 100 YEARS! I also have to mention the service. My mother in law has really bad gluten allergies and from the moment we walked in the Manager Nino (literally straight from Italy), met us, walked us to the table, made a couple recommendations for her allergy. He didn't stop there. He brought a chef out to go over options and they even asked if she'd like to see the kitchen to put her at ease. We have NEVER been treated so well at a food establishment. Ever. We'll be back for sure!
(5)
Blythe M.
Not part of Lettuce Entertain You. I was looking forward to being able to use my gift certificate and make my reservation online but couldn't. Maybe that is why all the reviews seem like this place is slacking because it's independently owned?
(1)
Susan A.
I have been to other locations and have always had great service and meals. This locations was terrible! They brought the salad out at the same time as our meal. I asked is they had any vegetables and the waitress said asparagus and tomatoes. I ordered tomatoes and the table next to us got a side of green beans. When I asked she said" oh yeah we have those!" I would not suggest going to this location. Too bad, I was hoping for it to be as great as the others.
(1)
Jen W.
My co-workers and I (group of 5) decided to grab lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. Not to sound like a broken record with all the other comments, but something is terribly wrong with the service here. I just don't get it. Based on my observation, it looked like the restaurant was well staffed for lunch? I also question whether it was an issue with our server. First of all, we could barely hear him speak. He didn't tell us the lunch specials, wasn't outwardly friendly AT ALL, didn't wait for one of my co-workers to give his drink order (I asked him to wait a few seconds as my co-worker took his coat off, to which he completely disregarded and ran away for another 15 minutes), and was literally missing for a solid 20-30 minutes as we sat ready to order. When we saw him appear again, he breezed past us to another table of 5-6 that was seated well after we were seated. All the other servers looked friendly and were interacting with their customers. What should've been a lunch that lasted no longer than 60 minutes was nearly two hours! We were clearly doing a business lunch, and you would think that would signal some sense of urgency. We will not be returning to this location.
(1)
S J.
We've been eating at Maggiano's for years. We've been to all the locations: Chicago, Oak Brook, Woodfield, Naperville. The food had always been great. Not so at the Vernon Hills location. Our bread and bruschetta were delicious, but our entrees left a lot to be desired. I ordered the eggplant parmesan for my daughter and me to share and neither one of us liked it. It was soggy and had way too much garlic. My husband 's gnocchi was cold and over cooked. My son who had the kid's chicken was the only good meal at the table. Our server was friendly, but not attentive. We didn't get water even though we asked for it. We had to ask someone else to bring it. Our food was brought and our server didn't offer parmesan cheese. We told her we did not enjoy our meal and all she said was sorry. That's nice and all, but she should have offered to get the manager for us. Later, the manager was nice enough to take my husband's gnocchi and my eggplant parmesan off the bill. So disappointed. I always love Maggiano's eggplant parmesan and gnocchi. This location needs to work on food and service. Servers need to be attentive not just friendly. They should at ask about the food and bring things you ask for. Not sure if we come back again. Don't have high expectations for this location.
(2)
Eileen L.
My meal was good, but wasn't sure what to do with the small mystery like plastic piece that was in my chicken. Some of the chicken was very grisly and chewy and was uneatable. Showed the plastic piece to the waiter, and the manager came over as well; got an apology but that was about it.
(3)
Alicia C.
I was there a few weeks ago for my son's bday and we had a great time. Our waiter was very kind and helpful. The only thing is the place is a bit small making it a bit of a wait. Other than that it is great for a sit down family meal. deserts on the menu are fabulous . The server was awesome and the food was over the top. I will go again.
(4)
Bernardo S.
Ok so we arrived after receiving our text that out table was available and it wasn't so we had to wait 15 minutes for something to open up but the hostess was very apologetic. We got seated in the bar area and the service started great but it seems that maybe the waitress had to much to handle as we them found ourselves waiting for drinks, never getting the bread we asked for etc. again very nice so it is keeping me from dropping to 2 stars. The food was excellent so that saved it as well, I loved my lasagna and my wife really liked her chicken parmesan. With that said if they weren't new I would say I would never go back but they did just enough well that I will give it one more shot!
(3)
Christy S.
The service was horrible. Our waiter was very inattentive. I had to ask for new silverware because they were dirty. I had to ask for little plates,which are usually already on the table before be seated. I had to ask for glasses of water and refills. The typical little services that every waiter should be attentive to was overlooked. I have been to 3 other Maggiano's in IL, those three held similar excellent service. This location by far the worst in comparison to any restaurant.
(1)
D G.
Brought my 12 year old daughter and her 4 friends here for a last minute, impromptu birthday party on a Friday night. Even though they were extremely busy they treated the girls like gold! Nino, the manager and the rest of his staff (great waiter!) bent over backwards to make sure they had a memorable evening! Great food, great service - Thank you!
(5)
Howard N.
I have gone to Maggiano's for many years and recently tried their Vernon Hills location. I love the jumbo crab cakes. Although new, the staff was very courteous and friendly. The food came hot from the kitchen and was excellent. Sometimes, we take advantage of their pasta specials, where if you order one you get another to take home with you. A very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
(5)
M W.
After being accustomed to excellent service at the Schaumburg location, the slow service here was disappointing and unexpected. Our waitress, although friendly, was not very efficient. Took about 25 minutes from being seated to her taking our order. Another 15 minutes or so until a salad came out. We had to request items multiple times. Overall the dinner was in excess of two hours. Other indications that this restaurant is poorly managed were: there was a liquid spill on the floor and all employees did was put soaking pads on top of the spill. Over two hours later, not one employee had even bothered to clean up the floor. ( hazardous and unsafe, not to mention a very unsightly mess) I noticed tables were left uncleared for long periods of time after guests had left. I can see why there is a long wait to get seated. Restrooms had no paper towels and were not clean. There are numerous restaurants in the mall and surrounding area that would be a better choice than this Maggianos.
(2)
Robert S.
This location needs a lot of help. We went with a group of 18 people, and ordered family style. We were seated right at the reservation time, and that was the highlight of the night. Starting with the drink orders, the waiter took the drink orders of 4 people and then just left to help some other tables. Once we finally started getting the drinks, my wine glass was so dirty you could feel the scum on the glass, then we got the wrong wine. None of the food came out hot. Apps Mozzarella Marinara, cheese not fully melted. Stuffed mushroom were soggy. Main Course: The dishes they brought out didn't even make it around the table before we had to order more. One dish was the spaghetti and meatballs, for 18 people they brought out 1 bowl with 1 meatball. Gnocchi-overcooked, spaghetti-undercooked, Rigatoni "D"- bland. Dessert-no complaints there except once we had our bill and getting ready to leave more were brought out . The whole experience showed a real lack of customer service.
(1)
Patricia C.
This was our first time at this Maggiano's, we usually go to the one in Skokie, but this is much closer to us. We went there early ( 4pm ) last Wednesday on our way home from a matinee at the Marriott. We were seated right away and the restaurant had only a few full tables. We sat there for 25 minutes with nothing but the menus before my husband asked a passing waitress if she was our waitress, she said she wasn't but she would bring us bread and water until our waitress arrived, she also took our drink order. After another 20 minutes she also took our meal order as the regular waitress still hadn't arrived. ( She was very nice and I'm sure she wanted to leave as her shift was over, but she did take very good care of us up to that point and I'm very sorry that we couldn't give her part of the tip she did more then the regular waitress did ). My husband had soup which he said was ok,, I had the Maggiano's salad which was also good, could have used a little more dressing. We both ordered the Rigatoni D as it is our favorite. It was not as flavorful as it usually is and seemed a little watery, so we were dissapointed. I don't know how soon we will go back there, had I read all the reviews I probably would have gone elsewhere.
(2)
Christopher B.
Never actually got to eat there. Went in with a friend around 6:45 last night to have dinner. Hostess told us there would be an hour wait. When we inquired about half the restaurant being not in use during the dinner rush, we were informed they were short-staffed. So, we asked about eating in the bar area and were told that was fine, that it was full-service. But, when we went to take a recently-vacated table, we were informed that part of the area wasn't open seating. A group of ladies waiting for a table at the bar asked about taking the table, since they were next up. The hostess informed them they couldn't have it either, as it was only for people who had reservations. We ended up leaving for somewhere else (another story entirely). Right now, Maggiano's as a whole is 0 for 2 in my book (prior visit to another Maggiano's resulted in stone-cold food which was then reheated under a salamander and brought back to the table). Perhaps the third time will be the charm?
(1)
Igor C.
This place is new to the area and I've never been to one of their other locations. Three of us ordered takeout. Chicken parmesan, shrimp scampi and rigatoni D. We also had the calamari. It was all ready on time, packed well and stayed warm. To me the calamari was outstanding, light breading and fried to the correct shade of brown, not overdone and rubbery. My chicken was a disappointment, to dry and the cheese seemed lumped on one end. I also prefer a little more sauce. My son was happy with his rigatoni and I don't have any comment on the scampi because my put it in the refrigerator to eat later. Overall, it was expensive for average Italian food.
We visited during Christmas Rush. The restaurant was very full but we were seated promptly as there were two of us. Service was excellent quick and friendly. We ordered the zucchini fritte. They were very good hot and crispy the lemon aeoli was homemade and perfectly seasoned. We had just finished the last piece when our entrees arrived. Gnocchi with sausage and the lighter take chicken piccata. Both good sized servings we took portions home. Saved room for chocolate cake and the server added lemon cookies. Still warm! A beautiful evening during a hectic week.
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Specialities
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner, Dessert Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : No Wi-Fi : No Has TV : No Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Laura B.
I've been to this specific Maggiano's multiple times and loved the food and service... This particular time was disappointing.... The entire meal, our waitress was trying to speed up our meal. We like to order drinks, enjoy them, order an appetizer, enjoy it, and then order our entree. She was pressing for the entree so often that we felt uncomfortable and just ordered... Then felt rushed through our meal like we were wasting her time by being a party of 2. I would have ordered more drinks and dessert if I wasn't so aggravated with the service. I'm not the type to write a negative review. This was just an unfortunate experience. We will go to other Italian restaurants in the area in the future.
(1)brent k.
Normally heading here for a quick lunch is out of the question, but sometimes you just want pasta. In an effort to shorten the visit we sat at the bar where The bartender, Tommy, got us in and out fairly quickly. I like their food, and find their buy one, take one offerings to be good and of value. However, their dining area wait staff are horrendously slow. I couldn't really tell if it was a staffing issue or growing pains, but be warned that's there no quick meals at lunch, or even a lazy Saturday afternoon.
(3)Lauren N.
So after the last debacle with overcharging and double charging my mother's and my credit cards they ended up taking care of it with gift cards to be used any way. Before Christmas I had my parents over and I ordered out. I figure this way I'm almost eliminating the worst part of the restaurant, which is the service. I ordered about $85 worth of food, and asked if they would be kind enough to include plenty of bread. Parking out front for pick up is nice and was certainly convenient as busy as the mall was just before the holiday. I picked up the items at the counter and didn't double check because honestly I wanted to see how well they had done without me having to check up on it. Stuffed mushrooms and mozzarella marinara were fantastic! Chicken Parmesan had hardly any sauce but other than that was good. Rigatoni d was as expected, it is my all time favorite and it didn't disappoint. The lasagna was also excellent. The chopped salad left a lot to be desired. First off it hardly had any of the toppings, and second it consisted almost entirely of huge chunks of not-the-best looking sections of iceberg lettuce. See the picture. I mean it was fine but not at all what I expected, I've had it in the restaurant and it was nothing like this. Also, the plenty of bread I asked for was 4 pieces, we could have used at least twice that. Oh well. In any case this was my first time ordering out from Maggiano's and it was overall good. Having eliminated most of the service helps a lot with a less stressful meal. I'll definitely order out here again.
(3)Laura S.
Service is poor at this location compared to others I have visited. Food has not disappointed. I would rather visit a local spot for Italian since this location hasn't gotten it together yet.
(2)Josh F.
Only open for 4 days, but it's Maggianos. Not like this is their first restaurant. Ordered family style - 8 at the table. We were seated at 7. Ordered our food at 715. Didn't get our appetizers until almost 8. Stuffed mushrooms were ice cold and their namesake salad was missing the prosciutto, calamari was good. Entrées came at around 845, once again mostly cold. Lasagna was ice cold, veal picatta was ice cold, chicken parmesan was cheeseless and we ended up with a dish we didn't order. Manager came over and checked out our table and upon seeing the disaster that was occurring offered to comp all the food. When we said that we just wanted what we ordered and hot, he said he couldn't do that because it would take an hour to cook all of it again - mind you, we ordered family style, we could have ordered more at anytime. He insisted he would just comp the food, which he did. To top it off, spent the night suffering through a mild case of food poisoning. Didn't eat anything else anytime near that dinner. Incredibly disappointing for a restaurant we used to love. Will not be going back here anytime soon.
(1)Nancy P.
Wonderful food ruined by horrible service. Inexperienced waiters and a lack of busboys with the expectation that the waiters will take orders, deliver the food and bus the tables left our table of ten waiting forever for food and then sitting through dinner with dirty serving bowls on the table. For large parties they assign 3 waiters to the table which results in no one waiter taking charge of the service. At one point I counted 44 people seated in the smaller dining room where they seat larger family parties and one waiter in sight! Lettuce needs to stop sacrificing service for larger profits. We recently had a similar experience at Wildfire waiting 45 minutes at lunch for our food with young children in a barely full room. Offering free cookies for a poorly served meal is insulting.
(2)Susan A.
I have been to other locations and have always had great service and meals. This locations was terrible! They brought the salad out at the same time as our meal. I asked is they had any vegetables and the waitress said asparagus and tomatoes. I ordered tomatoes and the table next to us got a side of green beans. When I asked she said" oh yeah we have those!" I would not suggest going to this location. Too bad, I was hoping for it to be as great as the others.
(1)Connie C.
So glad Maggiano's opened a location in Vernon Hills! The food there is very fresh. Ingredients are high-quality. The Salmon salad is delicious. The vinaigrette goes so well with the salmon and greens. The lighter Take menu items are tasty and filling. I've had the Shrimp Fra Diavolo and the Chicken Franchese and even though they are light versions they are bursting with flavor and portion sizes are extremely filling! The hand cut pasta is so good! I tried the green bean & bacon and sautéed spinach side dishes and they are fantastic. Looking forward to returning soon.
(4)Danielle W.
This is the best family style Italian place you will ever eat at! It's a shame is has poor reviews!
(5)Arnita F.
Just went to Maggianos in Vernon Hills sat 12/21/14 and had a great experience. Stopped in after shopping and didnt have reservations but was able to sit in a nice booth in the bar area. We loved the decor and nice music. Did not have to wait long for our server Gretchen to come and she was very nice and informative since this was our 1st time at this location. Ordered the dinner for two for $39.99 which was a great deal and the food was excellent with 2 dinners to take home. Will defintely be going back real soon.
(5)Lisa M.
After eating at other Maggiano's locations many times, I was disappointed that the new location did not measure up. After ordering, it took almost 40 minutes for our dinner to arrive, and there were many empty tables so it's not like the kitchen was too busy. If you're craving Maggiano's, you'd do better to try Schaumburg or Skokie.
(2)Sarah L.
I am a regular, I've been dinning here every other week since they have been open. It takes a lot for me to be upset. With that being said, it has been made pretty clear to me that management there has absolutely no idea what they are doing!! Service sucked when they first open and still sucks to this day! I probably had every server/bartender there and they are all inattentive, slow, have no knowledge of the menu, and THEY ARE ALWAYS ON THEIR PHONES. What is more important that's on your phone that you cant even do your job?? I highly suggest you make the drive out Skokie or Schaumberg if you want excellent service. This place is a joke of a restaurant and shouldn't be called Maggiano's, it is an insult to the other Maggianos. Don't get me wrong, the food is great and so is the portion size. But the service here blows and after reading all yelp reviews, this place will always suck unless they get it together. Doing carryout from now on, since my food comes out faster there!
(1)Eric B.
Chicken piccata in the house! Not sure why all the reviews for this place are low, but my experience was 5 stars, and thats rare for my time in Chicago. We did have a reservation so that helped. We were asked if it was a special occasion. When I mentioned it was my first time there, they offered a free appetizer, thank you very much. The wine pairing was spot on as well for the chicken piccata, which was so phenomenal. Get it. It may appear buttery, but I found it very much to my liking. Great support for our son as well, at 2 years old.
(5)Maria A.
Made a reservation through Open Table for my BFF's birthday. We were directed to a nice booth where they had a card that said "thank you for celebrating with us" which was signed by the staff. Nice touch! Andrea was our server and she was a delight. She could teach the server at Old Orchard a thing or to about customer service. We went a little crazy because it was my BFF's birthday. Started with the zucchini fritters then moved on to the Mushroom Raviolo Al Forno and the special chef inspired dish- hand cut egg noodle pasta with pesto sauce, chicken & riccotta meatballs, and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious and both came with a classic pasta to take home. Special birthday dessert was the lemon cookies which were presented with 3 candles- Maggiano's wants to celebrate your birthdays past, present, & future. I also had the special chocolate pudding dessert. This location seems smaller compared to other locations but they pack a big punch with their portions and their wait staff. Will definitely be coming back here again!
(4)Camille B.
First time at this Maggiano's location. For a weeknight they seemed to be very busy! We checked in and were told the wait would be about 25 minutes. Pleasantly surprised when it was only 5 minutes. We were seated in a large booth in the back of the restaurant. It was only me & my husband so there was plenty of room to enjoy our meal. Server came to our table pretty quickly and asked have we dined with them before. When we said yes, he smiled and said "Then you know about our big portions!" We did. He brought out a basket of warm Italian bread, and olive oil with cheese on the table always makes it that much better! We decided to order the classic pasta dishes, since that is such a great deal. You order one and get to choose another to take home! How can you beat that?? My husband had the Taylor Street Baked Ziti and I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo (lighter take) with grilled chicken, asparagus and a light Asiago cream sauce. We decided to share our meal and both were delicious! The portions are pretty big, but we managed to finish both! Take home portions are frozen so you don't have to eat them right away. I recommend Maggiano's and will be coming back again!
(5)Jennifer L.
Truth be told, I was terrified to eat at this location after reading some of the less than stellar reviews and seeing the average rating on Yelp. However, I was pleasantly surprised by my dining experience. My family, my fiancé and I dined in on a Wednesday evening in April around 7:30. The restaurant was surprisingly packed with people including two large parties. My mom made sure to call and ask the host to verify whether she could use her Lettuce Entertain You giftcards. The host confirmed that we could use them. I immediately noticed the space, which was formerly a Ruby Tuesday's. A large candelabra hangs by the host's booth and there are two comfortable leather chairs in the waiting area. The space is fairly large with an open dining area. The space has dark wood floors and chairs. The tabletops are covered in red and white checkered cloth. Expect to hear some noise since the dining area is open. You'll have to speak up a bit if you want your party to hear you. There's also a good chance you'll hear the conversations of the parties seated next to you. I did notice some booths along the back and side wall, so perhaps it is quieter there. We were promptly greeted by our server who asked if we wanted any beverages. She brought back our waters and was patient while we went back and forth about order appetizers. We passed since we wanted to save more room for our food (and dessert, of course!). Menu wise, I felt that it wasn't as large as other Italian places I've dined at in the past. However, they did have a pretty good deal where you can get one pasta entree to take home free when you buy one. Prices for those dishes were either $12.95 or $14.95. They also have a family style option for $28.95 a person. We declined that since it seemed like too much food. For calorie conscious diners, they do offer a "lighter take" options for some of their dishes. These are marked clearly on the menu and boost calories counts under 1000. That definitely was a big plus in my book. While we were waiting, we munched on the delicious, warm bread that we dipped in olive oil and cheese. Now, I love me some bread, and this bread was outstanding. I seriously could have eaten a basket of that and been just fine. I wasn't super hungry so I ordered a cup of creamy tomato basil soup ($3.95) and the margherita flatbread ($9.95). Our server asked if I wanted both items at the same time, which I appreciated. The soup was pretty good, but had a bit too much of a kick for my liking. The flatbread came with 8 pieces and can serve as a meal if you don't have a big appetite. My fiancé opted for the pasta deal, so I was able to sample some of his Lighter Take Baked Ziti, which contained Italian Chicken Sausage, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Pomodoro Sauce. He chose the Lighter Take Fettuccine Alfredo to go, which we'll try soon. Service wise, our server checked up on us a decent amount of times, but unfortunately, my father did not get the side of spaghetti to accompany his chicken dish until he was almost finished with it. Our server did bring it out right away once he notified her of the issue. You may be (read: probably will be) stuffed after your meal, but I highly recommend trying the Warm Apple Crostada ($7.95) for dessert. It's topped with vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce. It's sweet, decadent and a nice way to end a good meal. Also, our server brought out a plate of Vera's Lemon Cookies with candles for my mom since she mentioned that her birthday was coming when asked if we were celebrating anything. That was a nice touch and made up for the missing spaghetti hiccup. Oh, and the cookies were so delicious! They taste like the Girl Scouts' Savannah Smiles cookies, but a million times better. A plate of 6 will set you back $3.25. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and I can definitely see my fiancé and I placing a carryout there in the future, especially since they do take Lettuce Entertain You giftcards.
(3)Queen B.
It's my husband's first time here and they gave him complimentary bruschetta! Our server also recommended their chianti which I really like. The staff seem really nice and the wait for our food wasn't long at all! We like the experience so far! :)
(5)Rachel L.
Meh. It's ok. The last time, we ordered carryout, and I was impressed that they carefully double-checked that we had everything in the bag. But the food itself is bland and non-nondescript. No one was terribly thrilled with their dish, but none were bad either. They do have gluten free pasta, which was decent, but not the best I've ever had.
(3)Mark M.
My family celebrated my niece graduating from Marquette earlier tonight here. The food and service was excellent. We had a great time; both the adults and kids. To be fair my sister and brother in law payed for everyone; free food always tastes a little better. Although we did buy my niece a nice present so I guess it really isn't free. My sister ordered family style, and the food came out fast and was hot. There was no problem getting more servings if we wanted them. Calamari - keep it coming!! Chopped salad w avocado was very tasty. The mussels were excellent, many of us tried our bread dipped into the bowl, mmmmmm! The lemon chicken and parmesan tilapia were both juicy and full of flavor. The spaghetti was perfect, but the meatballs were too salty for my tastes. For dessert: cheescake - just ok, apple thing with ice cream - delicious! Many of the other reviews say that this location is not as good as the others. It seemed about the same to me.
(4)Jacqueline H.
Don't go to this location. We had reservations last Saturday evening, we arrived at 8:30pm, it appeared they had a busy evening because all the tables around us were loaded with dirty dishes, and were never cleared. I'm a pretty laid backed diner, I honestly dislike sending things back, I'm there to relax and enjoy myself, not nit pick, you know? So, it takes a lot for me to complain, but we were served a dessert to share, with two spoons, one of the spoons, on our plate, was full of cheesecake, with teeth marks from whoever had eaten with it, on our dessert! Disgusting, and speaks to the level of care and cleanliness at this restaurant, how could this not be noticed by anyone? The next morning, I woke up ill, I spent the entire Sunday in bed, or the restroom. Inexcusable, and I wont be back. Head to the Schaumburg location if you are in a Maggiano's mood, avoid this one.
(1)Katie M.
The food is delicious here, and the little girl I nanny for quite enjoyed herself here as the staff was super friendly and paid attention to her. The staff is VERY friendly, but that being said, the food service is VERY slow, even during the weekdays and not during lunch rush hour. What should have been an hour lunch was much closer to two hours (for one adult and one toddler). My meal was very appetizing (honey mustard salmon sandwich), but they did have to remake it after putting bacon on it the first time, after I specifically asked for no bacon. Kids portions are HUGE, so do note that one child's flatbread pizza can actually feed at least two.
(3)Mark M.
Very nice place to go with family for birthday dinner or any celebration...
(4)Kalinda L.
I met a friend for lunch there yesterday. we only ordered appetizers and shared. the 3 we chose....zucchini fritters, margherita pizza and caprese salad were very very good. I had a coupon sent to my email for $10 off a $30 purchase only at the new location in VH. the waitress ruffled her feathers and flat out said she couldn't honor it bc it was not printed. I replied that no where did it say that in the email. She said it was ON the coupon itself. When I asked her ot show me where it said that, she said "oh I can't read that, its too small" I suggested she send the manager over. She came back with a FORM I had to fill out so they could "honor" the coupon. wow. the experience was such that I wouldn't go back. I was at Old Orchards maggiano's and actually completed the online survey for the lovely waitress we had there back in June. as a thanks for giving my time and bc I gave my email, they were going to send me special offers and coupons. it costs next to nothing to compose an email and send it out in mass distribution for advertising...BUT IM SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE BURDEN AND COST OF PRINTING A COUPON SENT BY ELECTRONIC MEANS OR IT WON'T BE HONORED???? never never never have I been refused bc I showed an offer on my phone as opposed to having it printed. The two stars were for the food quality minus the bad experience at the end of the lunch. In a world where there are choices, especially for ITALIAN food, I wouldn't go back.
(2)Sherry W.
Food is good and large portions. Service is slow but friendly. They calculated the tips on the bill based on tax included. The tips should be based on food/drinks and service.
(3)Jeanne C.
I am being generous giving two stars. We had a large party (12) and ate family style. So we were limited to choose off of that menu. Had a great selections of food too bad they tasted like frozen pre made fair. The service wasn't that great either multiple times are food was placed at the table and we would have no plates and we had to flag down someone to help us. That happened at least twice. Best part of the meal was the dessert. Skip this chain - not worth the $$
(2)Laurie D.
Aug. 5, Tuesday night-90 minutes for a table of 3, half the restaurant empty. I'd wait for a few months to go back and hopefully they will have it figured out. Once seated, service was great, food was less than spectacular, teenagers hosting may need a little better training from their maître D.
(2)Robert D.
I was here with my family in November and had a HORRIBLE experience. My wife and I thought we would try this Maggiano's location again, hoping the first experience was a fluke. NOT!!! The service was still quite poor and the food was served cold. This just reconfirms that this location is managed poorly and does not live up to the quality or tradition of the restaurant located in Schaumburg. I will tell everyone I know, that if they enjoy Maggiano's, DO NOT VISIT THIS LOCATION!!!!! The Schaumburg location is 180 degrees different. I bet this location will close unless they put in proper management. Going to this location will only piss you off!! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!! This place sucks!!!
(1)E B.
Excellent food, excellent location (Old Orchard location is so annoying to find parking). Manager accommodated us with a special that ended the day before we were there and honored it for us- we were very thankful and pleased! Our server was outstanding! She treated us like royalty! I'd definitely go back!! They have me my first great experience at this location! Thank you!!
(5)Jen W.
My co-workers and I (group of 5) decided to grab lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. Not to sound like a broken record with all the other comments, but something is terribly wrong with the service here. I just don't get it. Based on my observation, it looked like the restaurant was well staffed for lunch? I also question whether it was an issue with our server. First of all, we could barely hear him speak. He didn't tell us the lunch specials, wasn't outwardly friendly AT ALL, didn't wait for one of my co-workers to give his drink order (I asked him to wait a few seconds as my co-worker took his coat off, to which he completely disregarded and ran away for another 15 minutes), and was literally missing for a solid 20-30 minutes as we sat ready to order. When we saw him appear again, he breezed past us to another table of 5-6 that was seated well after we were seated. All the other servers looked friendly and were interacting with their customers. What should've been a lunch that lasted no longer than 60 minutes was nearly two hours! We were clearly doing a business lunch, and you would think that would signal some sense of urgency. We will not be returning to this location.
(1)Gretchin A.
Service was decent and its not that the food was bad, just not impressive and way overpriced for mediocre food.
(1)S J.
We've been eating at Maggiano's for years. We've been to all the locations: Chicago, Oak Brook, Woodfield, Naperville. The food had always been great. Not so at the Vernon Hills location. Our bread and bruschetta were delicious, but our entrees left a lot to be desired. I ordered the eggplant parmesan for my daughter and me to share and neither one of us liked it. It was soggy and had way too much garlic. My husband 's gnocchi was cold and over cooked. My son who had the kid's chicken was the only good meal at the table. Our server was friendly, but not attentive. We didn't get water even though we asked for it. We had to ask someone else to bring it. Our food was brought and our server didn't offer parmesan cheese. We told her we did not enjoy our meal and all she said was sorry. That's nice and all, but she should have offered to get the manager for us. Later, the manager was nice enough to take my husband's gnocchi and my eggplant parmesan off the bill. So disappointed. I always love Maggiano's eggplant parmesan and gnocchi. This location needs to work on food and service. Servers need to be attentive not just friendly. They should at ask about the food and bring things you ask for. Not sure if we come back again. Don't have high expectations for this location.
(2)Eileen L.
My meal was good, but wasn't sure what to do with the small mystery like plastic piece that was in my chicken. Some of the chicken was very grisly and chewy and was uneatable. Showed the plastic piece to the waiter, and the manager came over as well; got an apology but that was about it.
(3)Joel A.
Always a big fan of Maggianos Old Orchard so I'm excited they finally have come to Vernon Hills. They offer $12.95 pasta for dine in and they give you a second pasta from their list to take home. Their fettuccine Alfredo has always been one of the best around as it is my favorite here.
(5)Michelle K.
It is unfortunate that we had such a bad experience for lunch, perhaps they are still getting out the kinks with staff and kitchen at this new location. We made reservations for 9 at 1145am and were advised we could not be sat until entire group was there. We advised we needed to be back at the office by 1pm. Thankfully they sat 7 of us, 10 min after our reservation time. We had one individual that could not show until 20 min after, and had one person that had to cancel after we had already sat. Took more than 30 minutes to receive the food that we ordered, one salad that had been ordered was brought out incorrectly and was sent back to the kitchen. It took 20 minutes for it to be brought out and had to be boxed up as no time to eat with all others. Took 10 min to get the check, and to go boxes. Manager was kind enough to remove salad from our check and offered a dessert, as well. We finally got out of the restaurant at 110pm. It will be a while before we return and for sure not for lunch. And what was more frustrating, when we got back to the office, salad was still not right!
(1)Thomas C.
A spectacular disaster of an experience. The food was fine, nothing special but not bad. Everything else was a mess. Our waiter was largely unattentive; spent his time socializing with another one of his tables or was otherwise out of sight. Took him 20-30 minutes to bring our bottle of wine. Some harried server dropped a dirty knife on my wife as she rushed by, completely unaware. They also never cleared any dishes off our table - a first for me. The lowlight, though, was when they set a large table next to ours that was jammed into my 3-year-old daughter's chair. I had to put her on my lap for her to have room to eat. I complained to the manager and they moved us to a booth, but this place is horrible. Skip it.
(1)Blythe M.
Not part of Lettuce Entertain You. I was looking forward to being able to use my gift certificate and make my reservation online but couldn't. Maybe that is why all the reviews seem like this place is slacking because it's independently owned?
(1)Jimmy S.
I'd give Maggiano's 4.5 stars for a chain restaurant. I'm not a big "chain" food kinda guy but I must admit, everything about my experience was top notch. From the warm bread, to the stuffed mushroom appetizer, right down to every individual meal, our experience was excellent! Chicken moist, pastas extremely flavorful and perfectly aldente. Just about everything on the menu has a recipe that dates back 100 YEARS! I also have to mention the service. My mother in law has really bad gluten allergies and from the moment we walked in the Manager Nino (literally straight from Italy), met us, walked us to the table, made a couple recommendations for her allergy. He didn't stop there. He brought a chef out to go over options and they even asked if she'd like to see the kitchen to put her at ease. We have NEVER been treated so well at a food establishment. Ever. We'll be back for sure!
(5)Alicia C.
I was there a few weeks ago for my son's bday and we had a great time. Our waiter was very kind and helpful. The only thing is the place is a bit small making it a bit of a wait. Other than that it is great for a sit down family meal. deserts on the menu are fabulous . The server was awesome and the food was over the top. I will go again.
(4)Bernardo S.
Ok so we arrived after receiving our text that out table was available and it wasn't so we had to wait 15 minutes for something to open up but the hostess was very apologetic. We got seated in the bar area and the service started great but it seems that maybe the waitress had to much to handle as we them found ourselves waiting for drinks, never getting the bread we asked for etc. again very nice so it is keeping me from dropping to 2 stars. The food was excellent so that saved it as well, I loved my lasagna and my wife really liked her chicken parmesan. With that said if they weren't new I would say I would never go back but they did just enough well that I will give it one more shot!
(3)Christy S.
The service was horrible. Our waiter was very inattentive. I had to ask for new silverware because they were dirty. I had to ask for little plates,which are usually already on the table before be seated. I had to ask for glasses of water and refills. The typical little services that every waiter should be attentive to was overlooked. I have been to 3 other Maggiano's in IL, those three held similar excellent service. This location by far the worst in comparison to any restaurant.
(1)Alice A.
let me begin by saying the service was good and does not reflect on the ONE STAR that i am giving this horribly run chain restaurant in Vernon Hills. (and i hardly EVER give out 1 stars) ~~~~~~~ Please enjoy my story ~~~~~~~ I went here tonight for dinner. Gave them my name at 7:22PM. Was told there was a 45min wait. Sure, thats fine. My bf and I happen to be hanging by the host desk. I started to realize that some people who "checked in" after us were being seated first. At first i thought i just got the people mixed up but what i heard and saw next confirmed i wasnt seeing things. After waiting for 40 mins, Four 20 some year old's walked in around 8PM, went up and asked how long the wait is. The 2 hostess (girls, medium length dark hair, one was wearing braces, late teens early 20s). The host with the braces told them the wait was about 45mins-1hr. And the guys were like 'wow really? is there anything you can do about that? My buddy is visiting and today is his last day here" something along those lines. Plus some flirting that were added. (of course im sure them being all around the same age played a part as well) So then the host got the floor manager (girl) and said something to her and she gave her the OK and ... what do you know?! she SAT the 4 guys IMMEDIATELY!! They did NOT have to wait AT ALL. Of course, after seeing that, i went up to the host and said why did they not have to wait and after a few small talks, they got seated immediately? She gave me the LAMEST EXCUSE of, "we lost their reservation so we have to HONOR their reservation." (right.. keep lying to me) SO i was thinking to myself... does someone who made a reservation need to ASK you how long the wait was?! LIES LIES LIES... and the funny part is... after i said that, My bf and I were seated immediately as well. (weird how that works huh) And the old couple that was sitting in the couch, who was there a lot earlier than us, was still waiting...and waiting and waiting... Dinner was good. Food was good. Service was good. Before we left, we asked our waitress if we can speak to the GM. And guess who came to see us? the floor manager (girl) that Oked the girls to let the 4 guys in without a wait. You should've SEEN the look on the managers face when we confronted her.It was like a deer in headlights. She probably didnt think anyone heard or saw anything of her "cover up" CLEARLY you arent suitable to be a manager, esp with those business ethics and favoritism that you have. ANNNNND of course, she started to say "im sorry you experienced that and then started saying how some of the stories that the hostess hear are so "heart wrenching." (uh huh... that a group of 4 teenage boys buddy is leaving town tonight so THATS why they need a seat immediately.. right... ) If i have seen this done ONCE, im sure this kind of "favoritism" has happened more than once ever since they have opened. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in MAGGIANO'S business ethics. The hostess basically get to pick and choose who they want to seated first. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS RESTAURANT! I guess if you have plenty of time to spare and/ or if you are a boy in your early 20s and good looking, im sure some small chit chat will get you a seat within 5 mins while some of us have to wait 45mins. *word of advice* If you do go, PLEASE make sure you have a reservation. Or else you'll be waiting there, literally for 45-mins to an hour, while some teen boys get preferential treatment! ) If not, DONT leave the restaurant and watch and see if the people who came later than you got seated before you. OR, you can make up some "heart wrenching" story and will be seated shortly as well ) Again, the food is good, wait staff is great. It's just that one female (short light brown hair ) floor manager (whatever her position she is, she CLEARLY doesn't deserve to be it ) and the 2 hostesses that really needs to get their act together! ~~~end of story~~~
(1)Raegan D.
I have only ever eaten at Maggiano's once, so I cannot compare it to other locations; I can only compare it to Olive Garden. I hate OG and I will never return there. Ever. We had a reservation and were seated in a reasonable a out of time. Our server was slower than molasses and took us 2 1/2 hours to get through dinner. That was pretty crazy, and he was kind of terrible, but the food was AMAZING, The prices were fantastic, and I cannot wait to come back. You can get though that I'll edit this review to reflect our next visit there, let's hope it is faster next time.
(4)Tony A.
Just went for the first time today, went on Yelp to write a review, and frankly was shocked by the number of 1 star ratings. Don't understand all the hate... I booked a reservation just to be safe. Since it was a weekday it wasn't terribly busy so we were sat well before the reservation time. The waitress was very very friendly and sociable; though she could've came by more frequently. The drinks are shockingly pricey. Beers and regular drinks are reasonable, but the mixed drinks are outrageously expensive. The fried mozzarella marinara appetizer pretty much filled us up. My steak was cooked perfectly, even though our food took 20 minutes. The bill was way too much than I was expecting. It's a nice, upclass place. Has calm, dim, dinner lighting so it could be very nice depending on the occasion. But if you're just in the mood for Italian for dinner I would check elsewhere.
(3)Mardi T.
Good food. Crappy service. I eat at the LEYE restaurants frequently, and am a huge fan. This location is just sub par- We have been here a number of times because it is convenient, but we won't be back. The service has consistently been bad when dining in, so this time for a group- we opted for carry out. We ordered a large takeout order, and the woman who "helped" us for 30 seconds so we could pay for our food was such grumpy person that I can't believe she is employed in a customer facing industry. Even though the food is good, there are so many better dining options where the bitter and angry staff won't ruin your meal. I seriously doth expect them to make it for many years at this location with service this bad.
(2)Paula H.
Food was as expected (I've been to other Maggiano's). Not amazing, but very good. The difference here was the poor service. They sat our party of 7 at a round table. The waitress kept reaching over to serve or retrieve items rather than going around the table, even though the tables around us were not occupied. The result is that those of us sitting at her favorite spot got to see others' plates very close up, flying over our own plates and very close to our chest. The waitress would disappear for long periods of time and we had to ask other servers who would go get her. The dessert that was supposed to be warm was served cold and I think that the server should have noticed that.
(2)Ritu D.
Maggiano's is a chain that I've loved for a VERY long time! The food is always so good, the quantities are large enough for me not to complain about the prices, and usually service is great. I like that a location opened up in Hawthorne, I noticed it the last time I visited my parents, but this past time was our first visit. We visited while I was at home for my stepdads birthday. The food was great, of course! They've decreased their portions, but they always have the eat one, take one home deal on their classic pastas, so you can't get angry about the portion. The service is where this location lost stars, for sure! It sounds like it's been a trend since their opening. Don't get me wrong, our server, Mel, was friendly, funny, apologetic if something was missed, and did everything right as a server! She seemed to be stretched so thin, though - and it wasn't just her, EVERY staff member did. From the moment we walked in, all we saw were the wait staff in the white shirts scurrying around, running into each other, and just trying to catch up. But, I am very hard-pressed to blame them, especially if this seems to be a trend - I think management should consider staffing some more employees during busy dinner hours, for sure. We had reservations (only had later resies by the time I called, but we took it) - we got there a bit early and the girl told us she would call us in 10 minutes, which was our scheduled time - no big deal, but then almost 25 minutes went by and we hadn't been called- a family that walked in without reservations after us walked past to get seated so I went up to inquire. The hostess saw that one of the waiters paged the wrong number thinking it was us and cancelled us out of the system- she quickly remedied the problem by finding an open table and we were seated within 10 minutes, which I appreciated. Annoying that it happened, but glad she made sure we were seated right after she realized what happened. The food, of course, is amazing. The bread = DELISH. Dip it in some olive oil and parmesan.. YUM. We asked for balsamic (three times) and finally got it.... poured into a dish on it's own (weird since we were hoping to add it to the olive oil). We started with the stuffed mushrooms and oh my goodness- this was my first time trying these here and I am SO glad I did!! We all got the eggplant parmesan (we're all so unique, I know) and it was wonderful as usual! My take home meal was the mushroom ravioli - SO good!! (see a trend here with the food). They brought over some lemon cookies, as they always do, for birthdays. We also ordered the chocolate cake (my mom has had this before but this was my first) and OH MY GOODNESS. There must be an extra compartment in our stomachs for chocolate cake because regardless of how full we were, we INHALED that cake!! SO DELICIOUS, SO CHOCOLATEY, SO SOFT. just YUM. Like I mentioned, as expected, the food is like any other location - delicious. The service is what brings this place down and I really believe if a few more employees were staffed at peak times, it may help relieve some of the issues.
(3)Steve M.
Wait a minute...Not quite 5 stars yet... This place isn't quite there yet. They just opened up this week and it appears that they are still learning how to serve with timing and execution. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but the service and execution was lacking severely. My wife and I came here for lunch on a Friday. We made reservations in advance so we were seated right away. The thing was we had to wait longer than you should wait for our server to finally arrive. As we were seated another server came and took our drink order. She mentioned that our server would be by soon. Our server eventually did come by. After going back and forth we had decided to start off with a Maggiano's salad with blue cheese on the side (my wife doesn't like blue cheese). About 5 minutes later two salads were brought out to our table but they weren't ours, we ordered one large salad to share. The girl that brought them out looked confused after we told her that these were not our salads. She eventually took them back and delivered them to another table. Alertly our server noticed that we hadn't received our salad yet so she went back to check on it. By the time that she brought our salad to our table our meals had arrived. I had to ask or remind our server that she forgot the blue cheese which she did finally bring. After looking at the salad, it turns out that the blue cheese was already mixed in the salad. I had ordered the Veal Parmesan from the dinner menu with a side of rigatoni. When my veal arrived I received a side of spaghetti instead of rigatoni. She went back to replace my side. As we started to eat our meal we realized that everyone around us had a basket of bread. My wife asked me "Where is our bread"? By this time it's too late. We ended up paying over $60 for a lunch and I expected a whole lot more that what we got. Step it up Maggiano's and one day you may get the 5 stars.
(2)Maira O.
I didn't think the ckn Cesar salad was worth $16.00! I DON'T EVEN THINK IT WAS REAL CKN?
(1)Marni R.
If I could give this TERRIBLE HORRIBLE restaurant a 1/2 star I would. The food is salty, the salad had nothing on it, they got my order wrong and my husbands. It's just AWFUL. EPIC FAIL "Lettuce Entertain You!!" By the way it's this MAGGIANOS that is bad. Not all of them. It's a training problem. Yuck, bleh, and bleh!! Won't give them another dime of my money. Lying in bed with a stomach ache!!
(1)David Y.
This location is new and it needs alot of work. We came in at 5:30p without a reservation. They made us wait over 40 minutes, while tables were available. When we finally got seated, that table was open since we got there. Frustrating! Now, when the food finally came, the portion sizes were far less than what I had remembered. Before we would take ample leftovers home, but not this time! Not sure what has changed with Maggiano's, but the one in Vernon Hills is not good.
(2)Steven K.
The Caesar salad is an embarrassment. It was literally a bag of lettuce with dressing. They should be ashamed charging $12.
(1)Ray F.
Another mediocre chain restaurant in Vernon Hills, Perhaps a notch above the Olive Garden but not by much. The décor is old and outdated and looks like the 70's have returned. The music is the same outdated and boring. Service needs to improve, slow and inconsistent. Below is a link to an Italian restaurant that is modern and inviting. I love the décor, it's not old and pretentious like Maggiano's. tinello.co.uk/content/us…
(2)Victoria W.
Probably should have checked yelp before I dined here. However, I was very nostalgic of past memory from dining with parents while growing up at Maggiano's form back home. Recently relocated to Vernon Hills and have been wanting to give this place a try. Finally dined here yesterday with a friend who was visiting town. where should I start? Well we were here around 11:30AM on a Sunday. The place looked normal as we entered, and we were seated. But then immediately I noticed the tables we were seated at was quite dim, I know that's the ambiance they are going for but usually it has more of a homey feel to it, with Italian family portraits hanging and such, lamps and decor, but none of that here, just a modern decor. I had to use my hands to push open the blinds in order to see my menu. Then the waiter came by, asked if we wanted to have our olive oil dipping set up. I said sure. He asked me to hand him the tray of condiments. I did, he just pulled the oil out and poured it onto a plate. What was the point of that!!?? I could have done it myself for less work. I thought he'd at least add some vinegar to it or something. Both my friend and I ordered the classic pastas. My eggplant parm was nothing special. I enjoyed the spaghetti on the bottom more than the eggplant, in fact it was very heavy and probably the worst eggplant parm i've ever had. waiter told us with the classic pastas, we also get to take one home for free. Which at first he did not say free, I had to get him to clarify. They need to do a better job explaining this concept. When we checked out, waiter brought over our free take home entrees. I was applauded, they were frozen entrees!! What an insult, and it says compliment of the chef on there? That's a slap in the face. Especially since my friend said oh sure, I'll be going to the airport later tonight I can eat it while I am there before I board the plane. How is she supposed to eat frozen pasta? What a joke, the food also looked super unhealthy, nothing but fettuccine and alfredo sauce with cheese. No veggie or anything nor meat. You'd think it's a good deal you are getting buy 1 get 1 free, but you really are just being scammed. We also asked for our "checks", we emphasized on CHECKS, not just 1 check, and the waiter still brought over 1 check. The worst is I flipped over a pile of 4 plates on our table, I guess they were set there for the purpose of appetizers or sharing. Every SINGLE ONE of the plates on the bottom had food or sauce or something stuck to it. This is unacceptable. The food on there had no resemblance to what we were eating so I knew it wasn't ours. The waiter is the direct contact with the diners, he needs to do a better job at checking the plates he brings out and the presentation, even if he did not wash the plates. At a restaurant this caliber, completely unacceptable. When you are charging starting at $25 a plate for one of your signature pastas, this is just not ok.
(1)Neil D.
Because of my son, we come to magianos for an italian fix. But because of Jaqueline H's review, we will definitely not be coming back. If there is one thing i look for in any restaurant, it would be cleanliness. A used spoon on a dessert is just disgusting.
(1)Drew S.
At 7:15 I was sitting in a closed section of the place and the manager came over and explained he needed the table and I would have to move. I explained that the only reason I was in that area was the entire waiting area was full and our 6:30 reservation was not being honored. He moved some chairs out for my kids and I to use. We were sat about 10 minutes later, without menus. So after waiting awhile longer I went to the host stand and got them for the table. Our server joined us awhile later and asked how we were doing, when we explained the situation he said something about how people love the food here but hate the wait. Well we certainly did a lot of waiting, the same manager who asked me to remove myself from the closed section brought our waters 10 minutes after we sat. He offered us unlimited appetizers and desserts on the company's dime. The Capri salad was served with hard tomatoes, September 1, and they couldn't find ripe tomatoes? After we ate our entrees our server offered dessert, again the waiting game. After what seemed to be about 15 minutes our server who by this time didn't have to many tables left came by, and when we asked him about our food he informed us that corporate has very high standards and it takes the cooks along time to get the product looking right. When my dessert came ( warm apple turnover with carmel sauce ) it had the texture that it was sitting under the hearing lamp to long . And was rather flavorless. We left at 9:30, not good on a school night My overall impression if this Magiannos, 1) closed section while many people waited-poor management 2) being sat with no menus- poor host/hostess service 3) not having my iced tea lemonade mixture offered to be refilled and corporate bashing to the customers - poor service staff 4) delays on food- poor kitchen staff The food court in the mall would gave been a better choice
(1)K C.
I'm normally a fan of Maggiano's. As far as chain-style Italian goes, this is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the Vernon Hills location is less than stellar. They've employed some rude, incompetent young women as hostesses who are too busy talking to each other to pay attention to the people waiting to be seated. Service is either too rushed or too s.l.o.w. (read: glacial), there's no in-between. They've forgotten my "take home" pasta TWICE. And, when the waitress brought me a fresh glass of iced tea, she touched the top of my straw with her fingers and put it in the new glass. This place needs some SERIOUS training in the hospitality arena. Pretty disappointing.
(1)Luke C.
Better than I remembered the food to be. Read all of the bad reviews and almost did not go. We were sat immediately when arrived. Reservations on OpenTable was easy. Warm complimentary bread was delicious. I ordered pasta and was given a second portion to go. Attentive service at this LEYE chain. I would go again soon.
(4)Toshi I.
Came here with my bro and his family and was seated in a booth near the bar. I'm surprised at the low ratings as Maggiano's. I ordered a salad and pasta and both dishes were good. Wasn't blown away. I don't think you can go wrong here with the food. Our server was really friendly and helpful too.
(3)Christopher B.
Never actually got to eat there. Went in with a friend around 6:45 last night to have dinner. Hostess told us there would be an hour wait. When we inquired about half the restaurant being not in use during the dinner rush, we were informed they were short-staffed. So, we asked about eating in the bar area and were told that was fine, that it was full-service. But, when we went to take a recently-vacated table, we were informed that part of the area wasn't open seating. A group of ladies waiting for a table at the bar asked about taking the table, since they were next up. The hostess informed them they couldn't have it either, as it was only for people who had reservations. We ended up leaving for somewhere else (another story entirely). Right now, Maggiano's as a whole is 0 for 2 in my book (prior visit to another Maggiano's resulted in stone-cold food which was then reheated under a salamander and brought back to the table). Perhaps the third time will be the charm?
(1)Igor C.
This place is new to the area and I've never been to one of their other locations. Three of us ordered takeout. Chicken parmesan, shrimp scampi and rigatoni D. We also had the calamari. It was all ready on time, packed well and stayed warm. To me the calamari was outstanding, light breading and fried to the correct shade of brown, not overdone and rubbery. My chicken was a disappointment, to dry and the cheese seemed lumped on one end. I also prefer a little more sauce. My son was happy with his rigatoni and I don't have any comment on the scampi because my put it in the refrigerator to eat later. Overall, it was expensive for average Italian food.
(3)john r.
07/30/14, Wednesday night reservation for a birthday/anniversary celebration!!! I do not make it out to Maggianos often because of the distance from home, so I was glad to try this closer location. The four of us were seated in one of the raised, half circle booths, oh, both hostess' were very sweet with their greeting, even saying happy birthday. Ok, we took our seats, and the waiter (Josh), popped by within a minute. Josh seemed to be a genuinely friendly guy, who wanted us to be happy guests. He took our drink and appetizer order and brought over some bread. Orderrd calamari as our app, seemed to take a bit long to receive, and was not piping hot when it finally did arrive. Was cooked fine, but was salty. For entrées, I ordered the Mom's Lasagna, and the rest of the group ordered fruiti de mari. The portion were just right and the flavor excellent. For my drink, I had an Arnold Palmer, which is simply ice tea with lemonade...at a cost of $2.95 per glass...and refills are not included. Found that out when I got the bill. Next time, it will be either plain ice tea, or water with lemon. There are a few kinks to work out, but I imagine that the dining experience will improve quickly.
(3)Marisa M.
We visited during Christmas Rush. The restaurant was very full but we were seated promptly as there were two of us. Service was excellent quick and friendly. We ordered the zucchini fritte. They were very good hot and crispy the lemon aeoli was homemade and perfectly seasoned. We had just finished the last piece when our entrees arrived. Gnocchi with sausage and the lighter take chicken piccata. Both good sized servings we took portions home. Saved room for chocolate cake and the server added lemon cookies. Still warm! A beautiful evening during a hectic week.
(4)Johnny C.
I was on the opening team of this location. Simply put, this place is terrible. It doesn't even deserve to be called Maggiano's because it's an insult to the brand name. This place is awful from top to bottom. The management staff has absolutely no idea what they are doing, and it shows. When you order your food, you should expect it to take about twice as long as it should, and when it finally does arrive, it'll most likely be cold, prepared wrong, and/or taste horrible. Don't worry though, if you complain to a manager, you'll get it for free. Far and away the worst place I've ever worked. You should avoid this place at all costs. If you're craving Maggiano's, make the drive out to Skokie or Schaumburg. You'll thank me later.
(1)Michele B.
Save your $$$ we spent 92.00 on a dinner for 3 and had some of the lowest tasting lasagna I've ever had in my life. Tasteless, poor quality meat. Service was okay, for a Father's day dinner. Wouldn't go back. Way too expensive for the me as l, the only thing they have is their new atmosphere. That's it.
(1)Dr S.
another bleh meal here, came here because of a coupon..... prolly wont be back for awhile until they get theyre act together.... still seems like they are 'rookies' around here.....
(2)Todd H.
Took my daughter there. Wait staff was very attentive and the food was to die for. My only complaint is that they forgot my take home order. My daughter received hers. Did not catch this until I got back to my hotel room.
(4)Bryn R.
My brother and I came in here yesterday after having a very stressful day. Our server was very kind and helpful and made sure our meal was outstanding! It was our first time ever at maggianos and we will definitely return
(5)Bill B.
Here for a family birthday Saturday dinner. 6:30 reservation for 8 and we didn't get served dinner until 8pm. Service was Horrible! Everything took twice as long as a normal. No water, no toilet paper in the lady's bathroom, no one asking if we wanted our empty drinks refilled, no pen when we received our credit card bill, no manager on staff, etc..... Just overall a bad experience. Don't go here until they get their act together.
(1)Aaron E.
Maggiano's has long had a positive reputation, but I'm not sure why. My girlfriend and I visited for dinner at 8:30 on a Saturday night, and were promptly seated minutes after requesting a booth. The outward facing lounge style booths are nice, and made for excellent people / food watching. Food: I had the Veal Piccata, my date the Veal Marsala. We had the Calamari for an appetizer, which was the best thing we'd end up eating. The breading crispy, the squid tender and perfectly cooked. Sadly, the marinara sauce they served with it came in a dish that was barely half full, so we enjoyed the rest of it sans sauce - still delicious. The main entrees were bland, overpriced, barely satiating and relatively unexciting. Service: The service was good, and it was service by committee, rather than exclusively by our server, who was clearly overburdened on this packed night. It took 25 minutes before we were served table bread, which while a freebie, still featured heavily in our decision to come here; Lettuce Entertain You restaurants are known for their awesome bread. The reasoning given: We are busy(read: We are a new location and have inept kitchen staff) Overall: Our entrees were filling, but we were told by our server to expect to take lots of bags home because of their enormous portions. While this isn't true, I'd give them exactly one try before you realize that this is worse than just about everything else.
(2)Kyle K.
Judging by the previous reviews of fellow Yelpers, this place has come a long way in their service to customers. We went there tonight, and the place was completely jammed with people! We waited about 30 minutes to be seated, but it was definitely worth the wait. The waitress we had was very professional, and cheerful. She took care of all of us in a timely manner, and kept our drinks full. The best part was the chicken and shrimp ziti dish I ordered. It had to be one of the best pasta dishes I've had in ages. The shrimp were large and plentiful, and the asiago cheese sauce with it was absolutely perfect! I would highly recommend this dish if you visit Maggiano's. The ambiance of this restaurant was quite nice. We all felt comfortable, and the music playing in the background was a nice touch. If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be that it was a tad bit noisy in there, but that's because it was so busy. Other than that, great job Maggiano's!
(5)Bill T.
Every visit I read the reviews and continue to surprised at the negatives. Service, quality, wait times, portions all continue to please. To be fair tonight was an hour wait but on a Saturday night arriving at 7:00 if there's not a wait at a restaurant its probably not worth eating at. Any decent place should have some wait at peak times.
(5)Tammy M.
The food is fabulous and our waitress was wonderful. The only tip I would give is if you go for dinner make reservations.
(5)D G.
Brought my 12 year old daughter and her 4 friends here for a last minute, impromptu birthday party on a Friday night. Even though they were extremely busy they treated the girls like gold! Nino, the manager and the rest of his staff (great waiter!) bent over backwards to make sure they had a memorable evening! Great food, great service - Thank you!
(5)Howard N.
I have gone to Maggiano's for many years and recently tried their Vernon Hills location. I love the jumbo crab cakes. Although new, the staff was very courteous and friendly. The food came hot from the kitchen and was excellent. Sometimes, we take advantage of their pasta specials, where if you order one you get another to take home with you. A very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
(5)M W.
After being accustomed to excellent service at the Schaumburg location, the slow service here was disappointing and unexpected. Our waitress, although friendly, was not very efficient. Took about 25 minutes from being seated to her taking our order. Another 15 minutes or so until a salad came out. We had to request items multiple times. Overall the dinner was in excess of two hours. Other indications that this restaurant is poorly managed were: there was a liquid spill on the floor and all employees did was put soaking pads on top of the spill. Over two hours later, not one employee had even bothered to clean up the floor. ( hazardous and unsafe, not to mention a very unsightly mess) I noticed tables were left uncleared for long periods of time after guests had left. I can see why there is a long wait to get seated. Restrooms had no paper towels and were not clean. There are numerous restaurants in the mall and surrounding area that would be a better choice than this Maggianos.
(2)Robert S.
This location needs a lot of help. We went with a group of 18 people, and ordered family style. We were seated right at the reservation time, and that was the highlight of the night. Starting with the drink orders, the waiter took the drink orders of 4 people and then just left to help some other tables. Once we finally started getting the drinks, my wine glass was so dirty you could feel the scum on the glass, then we got the wrong wine. None of the food came out hot. Apps Mozzarella Marinara, cheese not fully melted. Stuffed mushroom were soggy. Main Course: The dishes they brought out didn't even make it around the table before we had to order more. One dish was the spaghetti and meatballs, for 18 people they brought out 1 bowl with 1 meatball. Gnocchi-overcooked, spaghetti-undercooked, Rigatoni "D"- bland. Dessert-no complaints there except once we had our bill and getting ready to leave more were brought out . The whole experience showed a real lack of customer service.
(1)Patricia C.
This was our first time at this Maggiano's, we usually go to the one in Skokie, but this is much closer to us. We went there early ( 4pm ) last Wednesday on our way home from a matinee at the Marriott. We were seated right away and the restaurant had only a few full tables. We sat there for 25 minutes with nothing but the menus before my husband asked a passing waitress if she was our waitress, she said she wasn't but she would bring us bread and water until our waitress arrived, she also took our drink order. After another 20 minutes she also took our meal order as the regular waitress still hadn't arrived. ( She was very nice and I'm sure she wanted to leave as her shift was over, but she did take very good care of us up to that point and I'm very sorry that we couldn't give her part of the tip she did more then the regular waitress did ). My husband had soup which he said was ok,, I had the Maggiano's salad which was also good, could have used a little more dressing. We both ordered the Rigatoni D as it is our favorite. It was not as flavorful as it usually is and seemed a little watery, so we were dissapointed. I don't know how soon we will go back there, had I read all the reviews I probably would have gone elsewhere.
(2)Connie C.
So glad Maggiano's opened a location in Vernon Hills! The food there is very fresh. Ingredients are high-quality. The Salmon salad is delicious. The vinaigrette goes so well with the salmon and greens. The lighter Take menu items are tasty and filling. I've had the Shrimp Fra Diavolo and the Chicken Franchese and even though they are light versions they are bursting with flavor and portion sizes are extremely filling! The hand cut pasta is so good! I tried the green bean & bacon and sautéed spinach side dishes and they are fantastic. Looking forward to returning soon.
(4)Danielle W.
This is the best family style Italian place you will ever eat at! It's a shame is has poor reviews!
(5)Arnita F.
Just went to Maggianos in Vernon Hills sat 12/21/14 and had a great experience. Stopped in after shopping and didnt have reservations but was able to sit in a nice booth in the bar area. We loved the decor and nice music. Did not have to wait long for our server Gretchen to come and she was very nice and informative since this was our 1st time at this location. Ordered the dinner for two for $39.99 which was a great deal and the food was excellent with 2 dinners to take home. Will defintely be going back real soon.
(5)Lisa M.
After eating at other Maggiano's locations many times, I was disappointed that the new location did not measure up. After ordering, it took almost 40 minutes for our dinner to arrive, and there were many empty tables so it's not like the kitchen was too busy. If you're craving Maggiano's, you'd do better to try Schaumburg or Skokie.
(2)Sarah L.
I am a regular, I've been dinning here every other week since they have been open. It takes a lot for me to be upset. With that being said, it has been made pretty clear to me that management there has absolutely no idea what they are doing!! Service sucked when they first open and still sucks to this day! I probably had every server/bartender there and they are all inattentive, slow, have no knowledge of the menu, and THEY ARE ALWAYS ON THEIR PHONES. What is more important that's on your phone that you cant even do your job?? I highly suggest you make the drive out Skokie or Schaumberg if you want excellent service. This place is a joke of a restaurant and shouldn't be called Maggiano's, it is an insult to the other Maggianos. Don't get me wrong, the food is great and so is the portion size. But the service here blows and after reading all yelp reviews, this place will always suck unless they get it together. Doing carryout from now on, since my food comes out faster there!
(1)Gretchin A.
Service was decent and its not that the food was bad, just not impressive and way overpriced for mediocre food.
(1)Raegan D.
I have only ever eaten at Maggiano's once, so I cannot compare it to other locations; I can only compare it to Olive Garden. I hate OG and I will never return there. Ever. We had a reservation and were seated in a reasonable a out of time. Our server was slower than molasses and took us 2 1/2 hours to get through dinner. That was pretty crazy, and he was kind of terrible, but the food was AMAZING, The prices were fantastic, and I cannot wait to come back. You can get though that I'll edit this review to reflect our next visit there, let's hope it is faster next time.
(4)Eric B.
Chicken piccata in the house! Not sure why all the reviews for this place are low, but my experience was 5 stars, and thats rare for my time in Chicago. We did have a reservation so that helped. We were asked if it was a special occasion. When I mentioned it was my first time there, they offered a free appetizer, thank you very much. The wine pairing was spot on as well for the chicken piccata, which was so phenomenal. Get it. It may appear buttery, but I found it very much to my liking. Great support for our son as well, at 2 years old.
(5)Maria A.
Made a reservation through Open Table for my BFF's birthday. We were directed to a nice booth where they had a card that said "thank you for celebrating with us" which was signed by the staff. Nice touch! Andrea was our server and she was a delight. She could teach the server at Old Orchard a thing or to about customer service. We went a little crazy because it was my BFF's birthday. Started with the zucchini fritters then moved on to the Mushroom Raviolo Al Forno and the special chef inspired dish- hand cut egg noodle pasta with pesto sauce, chicken & riccotta meatballs, and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious and both came with a classic pasta to take home. Special birthday dessert was the lemon cookies which were presented with 3 candles- Maggiano's wants to celebrate your birthdays past, present, & future. I also had the special chocolate pudding dessert. This location seems smaller compared to other locations but they pack a big punch with their portions and their wait staff. Will definitely be coming back here again!
(4)Marni R.
If I could give this TERRIBLE HORRIBLE restaurant a 1/2 star I would. The food is salty, the salad had nothing on it, they got my order wrong and my husbands. It's just AWFUL. EPIC FAIL "Lettuce Entertain You!!" By the way it's this MAGGIANOS that is bad. Not all of them. It's a training problem. Yuck, bleh, and bleh!! Won't give them another dime of my money. Lying in bed with a stomach ache!!
(1)Camille B.
First time at this Maggiano's location. For a weeknight they seemed to be very busy! We checked in and were told the wait would be about 25 minutes. Pleasantly surprised when it was only 5 minutes. We were seated in a large booth in the back of the restaurant. It was only me & my husband so there was plenty of room to enjoy our meal. Server came to our table pretty quickly and asked have we dined with them before. When we said yes, he smiled and said "Then you know about our big portions!" We did. He brought out a basket of warm Italian bread, and olive oil with cheese on the table always makes it that much better! We decided to order the classic pasta dishes, since that is such a great deal. You order one and get to choose another to take home! How can you beat that?? My husband had the Taylor Street Baked Ziti and I ordered the Fettuccine Alfredo (lighter take) with grilled chicken, asparagus and a light Asiago cream sauce. We decided to share our meal and both were delicious! The portions are pretty big, but we managed to finish both! Take home portions are frozen so you don't have to eat them right away. I recommend Maggiano's and will be coming back again!
(5)Jennifer L.
Truth be told, I was terrified to eat at this location after reading some of the less than stellar reviews and seeing the average rating on Yelp. However, I was pleasantly surprised by my dining experience. My family, my fiancé and I dined in on a Wednesday evening in April around 7:30. The restaurant was surprisingly packed with people including two large parties. My mom made sure to call and ask the host to verify whether she could use her Lettuce Entertain You giftcards. The host confirmed that we could use them. I immediately noticed the space, which was formerly a Ruby Tuesday's. A large candelabra hangs by the host's booth and there are two comfortable leather chairs in the waiting area. The space is fairly large with an open dining area. The space has dark wood floors and chairs. The tabletops are covered in red and white checkered cloth. Expect to hear some noise since the dining area is open. You'll have to speak up a bit if you want your party to hear you. There's also a good chance you'll hear the conversations of the parties seated next to you. I did notice some booths along the back and side wall, so perhaps it is quieter there. We were promptly greeted by our server who asked if we wanted any beverages. She brought back our waters and was patient while we went back and forth about order appetizers. We passed since we wanted to save more room for our food (and dessert, of course!). Menu wise, I felt that it wasn't as large as other Italian places I've dined at in the past. However, they did have a pretty good deal where you can get one pasta entree to take home free when you buy one. Prices for those dishes were either $12.95 or $14.95. They also have a family style option for $28.95 a person. We declined that since it seemed like too much food. For calorie conscious diners, they do offer a "lighter take" options for some of their dishes. These are marked clearly on the menu and boost calories counts under 1000. That definitely was a big plus in my book. While we were waiting, we munched on the delicious, warm bread that we dipped in olive oil and cheese. Now, I love me some bread, and this bread was outstanding. I seriously could have eaten a basket of that and been just fine. I wasn't super hungry so I ordered a cup of creamy tomato basil soup ($3.95) and the margherita flatbread ($9.95). Our server asked if I wanted both items at the same time, which I appreciated. The soup was pretty good, but had a bit too much of a kick for my liking. The flatbread came with 8 pieces and can serve as a meal if you don't have a big appetite. My fiancé opted for the pasta deal, so I was able to sample some of his Lighter Take Baked Ziti, which contained Italian Chicken Sausage, Ricotta, Mozzarella and Pomodoro Sauce. He chose the Lighter Take Fettuccine Alfredo to go, which we'll try soon. Service wise, our server checked up on us a decent amount of times, but unfortunately, my father did not get the side of spaghetti to accompany his chicken dish until he was almost finished with it. Our server did bring it out right away once he notified her of the issue. You may be (read: probably will be) stuffed after your meal, but I highly recommend trying the Warm Apple Crostada ($7.95) for dessert. It's topped with vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce. It's sweet, decadent and a nice way to end a good meal. Also, our server brought out a plate of Vera's Lemon Cookies with candles for my mom since she mentioned that her birthday was coming when asked if we were celebrating anything. That was a nice touch and made up for the missing spaghetti hiccup. Oh, and the cookies were so delicious! They taste like the Girl Scouts' Savannah Smiles cookies, but a million times better. A plate of 6 will set you back $3.25. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised and I can definitely see my fiancé and I placing a carryout there in the future, especially since they do take Lettuce Entertain You giftcards.
(3)Queen B.
It's my husband's first time here and they gave him complimentary bruschetta! Our server also recommended their chianti which I really like. The staff seem really nice and the wait for our food wasn't long at all! We like the experience so far! :)
(5)Rachel L.
Meh. It's ok. The last time, we ordered carryout, and I was impressed that they carefully double-checked that we had everything in the bag. But the food itself is bland and non-nondescript. No one was terribly thrilled with their dish, but none were bad either. They do have gluten free pasta, which was decent, but not the best I've ever had.
(3)Laura B.
I've been to this specific Maggiano's multiple times and loved the food and service... This particular time was disappointing.... The entire meal, our waitress was trying to speed up our meal. We like to order drinks, enjoy them, order an appetizer, enjoy it, and then order our entree. She was pressing for the entree so often that we felt uncomfortable and just ordered... Then felt rushed through our meal like we were wasting her time by being a party of 2. I would have ordered more drinks and dessert if I wasn't so aggravated with the service. I'm not the type to write a negative review. This was just an unfortunate experience. We will go to other Italian restaurants in the area in the future.
(1)brent k.
Normally heading here for a quick lunch is out of the question, but sometimes you just want pasta. In an effort to shorten the visit we sat at the bar where The bartender, Tommy, got us in and out fairly quickly. I like their food, and find their buy one, take one offerings to be good and of value. However, their dining area wait staff are horrendously slow. I couldn't really tell if it was a staffing issue or growing pains, but be warned that's there no quick meals at lunch, or even a lazy Saturday afternoon.
(3)Lauren N.
So after the last debacle with overcharging and double charging my mother's and my credit cards they ended up taking care of it with gift cards to be used any way. Before Christmas I had my parents over and I ordered out. I figure this way I'm almost eliminating the worst part of the restaurant, which is the service. I ordered about $85 worth of food, and asked if they would be kind enough to include plenty of bread. Parking out front for pick up is nice and was certainly convenient as busy as the mall was just before the holiday. I picked up the items at the counter and didn't double check because honestly I wanted to see how well they had done without me having to check up on it. Stuffed mushrooms and mozzarella marinara were fantastic! Chicken Parmesan had hardly any sauce but other than that was good. Rigatoni d was as expected, it is my all time favorite and it didn't disappoint. The lasagna was also excellent. The chopped salad left a lot to be desired. First off it hardly had any of the toppings, and second it consisted almost entirely of huge chunks of not-the-best looking sections of iceberg lettuce. See the picture. I mean it was fine but not at all what I expected, I've had it in the restaurant and it was nothing like this. Also, the plenty of bread I asked for was 4 pieces, we could have used at least twice that. Oh well. In any case this was my first time ordering out from Maggiano's and it was overall good. Having eliminated most of the service helps a lot with a less stressful meal. I'll definitely order out here again.
(3)Mark M.
My family celebrated my niece graduating from Marquette earlier tonight here. The food and service was excellent. We had a great time; both the adults and kids. To be fair my sister and brother in law payed for everyone; free food always tastes a little better. Although we did buy my niece a nice present so I guess it really isn't free. My sister ordered family style, and the food came out fast and was hot. There was no problem getting more servings if we wanted them. Calamari - keep it coming!! Chopped salad w avocado was very tasty. The mussels were excellent, many of us tried our bread dipped into the bowl, mmmmmm! The lemon chicken and parmesan tilapia were both juicy and full of flavor. The spaghetti was perfect, but the meatballs were too salty for my tastes. For dessert: cheescake - just ok, apple thing with ice cream - delicious! Many of the other reviews say that this location is not as good as the others. It seemed about the same to me.
(4)David Y.
This location is new and it needs alot of work. We came in at 5:30p without a reservation. They made us wait over 40 minutes, while tables were available. When we finally got seated, that table was open since we got there. Frustrating! Now, when the food finally came, the portion sizes were far less than what I had remembered. Before we would take ample leftovers home, but not this time! Not sure what has changed with Maggiano's, but the one in Vernon Hills is not good.
(2)Ritu D.
Maggiano's is a chain that I've loved for a VERY long time! The food is always so good, the quantities are large enough for me not to complain about the prices, and usually service is great. I like that a location opened up in Hawthorne, I noticed it the last time I visited my parents, but this past time was our first visit. We visited while I was at home for my stepdads birthday. The food was great, of course! They've decreased their portions, but they always have the eat one, take one home deal on their classic pastas, so you can't get angry about the portion. The service is where this location lost stars, for sure! It sounds like it's been a trend since their opening. Don't get me wrong, our server, Mel, was friendly, funny, apologetic if something was missed, and did everything right as a server! She seemed to be stretched so thin, though - and it wasn't just her, EVERY staff member did. From the moment we walked in, all we saw were the wait staff in the white shirts scurrying around, running into each other, and just trying to catch up. But, I am very hard-pressed to blame them, especially if this seems to be a trend - I think management should consider staffing some more employees during busy dinner hours, for sure. We had reservations (only had later resies by the time I called, but we took it) - we got there a bit early and the girl told us she would call us in 10 minutes, which was our scheduled time - no big deal, but then almost 25 minutes went by and we hadn't been called- a family that walked in without reservations after us walked past to get seated so I went up to inquire. The hostess saw that one of the waiters paged the wrong number thinking it was us and cancelled us out of the system- she quickly remedied the problem by finding an open table and we were seated within 10 minutes, which I appreciated. Annoying that it happened, but glad she made sure we were seated right after she realized what happened. The food, of course, is amazing. The bread = DELISH. Dip it in some olive oil and parmesan.. YUM. We asked for balsamic (three times) and finally got it.... poured into a dish on it's own (weird since we were hoping to add it to the olive oil). We started with the stuffed mushrooms and oh my goodness- this was my first time trying these here and I am SO glad I did!! We all got the eggplant parmesan (we're all so unique, I know) and it was wonderful as usual! My take home meal was the mushroom ravioli - SO good!! (see a trend here with the food). They brought over some lemon cookies, as they always do, for birthdays. We also ordered the chocolate cake (my mom has had this before but this was my first) and OH MY GOODNESS. There must be an extra compartment in our stomachs for chocolate cake because regardless of how full we were, we INHALED that cake!! SO DELICIOUS, SO CHOCOLATEY, SO SOFT. just YUM. Like I mentioned, as expected, the food is like any other location - delicious. The service is what brings this place down and I really believe if a few more employees were staffed at peak times, it may help relieve some of the issues.
(3)Jacqueline H.
Don't go to this location. We had reservations last Saturday evening, we arrived at 8:30pm, it appeared they had a busy evening because all the tables around us were loaded with dirty dishes, and were never cleared. I'm a pretty laid backed diner, I honestly dislike sending things back, I'm there to relax and enjoy myself, not nit pick, you know? So, it takes a lot for me to complain, but we were served a dessert to share, with two spoons, one of the spoons, on our plate, was full of cheesecake, with teeth marks from whoever had eaten with it, on our dessert! Disgusting, and speaks to the level of care and cleanliness at this restaurant, how could this not be noticed by anyone? The next morning, I woke up ill, I spent the entire Sunday in bed, or the restroom. Inexcusable, and I wont be back. Head to the Schaumburg location if you are in a Maggiano's mood, avoid this one.
(1)Alice A.
let me begin by saying the service was good and does not reflect on the ONE STAR that i am giving this horribly run chain restaurant in Vernon Hills. (and i hardly EVER give out 1 stars) ~~~~~~~ Please enjoy my story ~~~~~~~ I went here tonight for dinner. Gave them my name at 7:22PM. Was told there was a 45min wait. Sure, thats fine. My bf and I happen to be hanging by the host desk. I started to realize that some people who "checked in" after us were being seated first. At first i thought i just got the people mixed up but what i heard and saw next confirmed i wasnt seeing things. After waiting for 40 mins, Four 20 some year old's walked in around 8PM, went up and asked how long the wait is. The 2 hostess (girls, medium length dark hair, one was wearing braces, late teens early 20s). The host with the braces told them the wait was about 45mins-1hr. And the guys were like 'wow really? is there anything you can do about that? My buddy is visiting and today is his last day here" something along those lines. Plus some flirting that were added. (of course im sure them being all around the same age played a part as well) So then the host got the floor manager (girl) and said something to her and she gave her the OK and ... what do you know?! she SAT the 4 guys IMMEDIATELY!! They did NOT have to wait AT ALL. Of course, after seeing that, i went up to the host and said why did they not have to wait and after a few small talks, they got seated immediately? She gave me the LAMEST EXCUSE of, "we lost their reservation so we have to HONOR their reservation." (right.. keep lying to me) SO i was thinking to myself... does someone who made a reservation need to ASK you how long the wait was?! LIES LIES LIES... and the funny part is... after i said that, My bf and I were seated immediately as well. (weird how that works huh) And the old couple that was sitting in the couch, who was there a lot earlier than us, was still waiting...and waiting and waiting... Dinner was good. Food was good. Service was good. Before we left, we asked our waitress if we can speak to the GM. And guess who came to see us? the floor manager (girl) that Oked the girls to let the 4 guys in without a wait. You should've SEEN the look on the managers face when we confronted her.It was like a deer in headlights. She probably didnt think anyone heard or saw anything of her "cover up" CLEARLY you arent suitable to be a manager, esp with those business ethics and favoritism that you have. ANNNNND of course, she started to say "im sorry you experienced that and then started saying how some of the stories that the hostess hear are so "heart wrenching." (uh huh... that a group of 4 teenage boys buddy is leaving town tonight so THATS why they need a seat immediately.. right... ) If i have seen this done ONCE, im sure this kind of "favoritism" has happened more than once ever since they have opened. I am VERY DISAPPOINTED in MAGGIANO'S business ethics. The hostess basically get to pick and choose who they want to seated first. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE DOES NOT EXIST AT THIS RESTAURANT! I guess if you have plenty of time to spare and/ or if you are a boy in your early 20s and good looking, im sure some small chit chat will get you a seat within 5 mins while some of us have to wait 45mins. *word of advice* If you do go, PLEASE make sure you have a reservation. Or else you'll be waiting there, literally for 45-mins to an hour, while some teen boys get preferential treatment! ) If not, DONT leave the restaurant and watch and see if the people who came later than you got seated before you. OR, you can make up some "heart wrenching" story and will be seated shortly as well ) Again, the food is good, wait staff is great. It's just that one female (short light brown hair ) floor manager (whatever her position she is, she CLEARLY doesn't deserve to be it ) and the 2 hostesses that really needs to get their act together! ~~~end of story~~~
(1)Steve M.
Wait a minute...Not quite 5 stars yet... This place isn't quite there yet. They just opened up this week and it appears that they are still learning how to serve with timing and execution. Don't get me wrong, the food was good but the service and execution was lacking severely. My wife and I came here for lunch on a Friday. We made reservations in advance so we were seated right away. The thing was we had to wait longer than you should wait for our server to finally arrive. As we were seated another server came and took our drink order. She mentioned that our server would be by soon. Our server eventually did come by. After going back and forth we had decided to start off with a Maggiano's salad with blue cheese on the side (my wife doesn't like blue cheese). About 5 minutes later two salads were brought out to our table but they weren't ours, we ordered one large salad to share. The girl that brought them out looked confused after we told her that these were not our salads. She eventually took them back and delivered them to another table. Alertly our server noticed that we hadn't received our salad yet so she went back to check on it. By the time that she brought our salad to our table our meals had arrived. I had to ask or remind our server that she forgot the blue cheese which she did finally bring. After looking at the salad, it turns out that the blue cheese was already mixed in the salad. I had ordered the Veal Parmesan from the dinner menu with a side of rigatoni. When my veal arrived I received a side of spaghetti instead of rigatoni. She went back to replace my side. As we started to eat our meal we realized that everyone around us had a basket of bread. My wife asked me "Where is our bread"? By this time it's too late. We ended up paying over $60 for a lunch and I expected a whole lot more that what we got. Step it up Maggiano's and one day you may get the 5 stars.
(2)Maira O.
I didn't think the ckn Cesar salad was worth $16.00! I DON'T EVEN THINK IT WAS REAL CKN?
(1)Tony A.
Just went for the first time today, went on Yelp to write a review, and frankly was shocked by the number of 1 star ratings. Don't understand all the hate... I booked a reservation just to be safe. Since it was a weekday it wasn't terribly busy so we were sat well before the reservation time. The waitress was very very friendly and sociable; though she could've came by more frequently. The drinks are shockingly pricey. Beers and regular drinks are reasonable, but the mixed drinks are outrageously expensive. The fried mozzarella marinara appetizer pretty much filled us up. My steak was cooked perfectly, even though our food took 20 minutes. The bill was way too much than I was expecting. It's a nice, upclass place. Has calm, dim, dinner lighting so it could be very nice depending on the occasion. But if you're just in the mood for Italian for dinner I would check elsewhere.
(3)Mardi T.
Good food. Crappy service. I eat at the LEYE restaurants frequently, and am a huge fan. This location is just sub par- We have been here a number of times because it is convenient, but we won't be back. The service has consistently been bad when dining in, so this time for a group- we opted for carry out. We ordered a large takeout order, and the woman who "helped" us for 30 seconds so we could pay for our food was such grumpy person that I can't believe she is employed in a customer facing industry. Even though the food is good, there are so many better dining options where the bitter and angry staff won't ruin your meal. I seriously doth expect them to make it for many years at this location with service this bad.
(2)Paula H.
Food was as expected (I've been to other Maggiano's). Not amazing, but very good. The difference here was the poor service. They sat our party of 7 at a round table. The waitress kept reaching over to serve or retrieve items rather than going around the table, even though the tables around us were not occupied. The result is that those of us sitting at her favorite spot got to see others' plates very close up, flying over our own plates and very close to our chest. The waitress would disappear for long periods of time and we had to ask other servers who would go get her. The dessert that was supposed to be warm was served cold and I think that the server should have noticed that.
(2)Steven K.
The Caesar salad is an embarrassment. It was literally a bag of lettuce with dressing. They should be ashamed charging $12.
(1)Ray F.
Another mediocre chain restaurant in Vernon Hills, Perhaps a notch above the Olive Garden but not by much. The décor is old and outdated and looks like the 70's have returned. The music is the same outdated and boring. Service needs to improve, slow and inconsistent. Below is a link to an Italian restaurant that is modern and inviting. I love the décor, it's not old and pretentious like Maggiano's. tinello.co.uk/content/us…
(2)Victoria W.
Probably should have checked yelp before I dined here. However, I was very nostalgic of past memory from dining with parents while growing up at Maggiano's form back home. Recently relocated to Vernon Hills and have been wanting to give this place a try. Finally dined here yesterday with a friend who was visiting town. where should I start? Well we were here around 11:30AM on a Sunday. The place looked normal as we entered, and we were seated. But then immediately I noticed the tables we were seated at was quite dim, I know that's the ambiance they are going for but usually it has more of a homey feel to it, with Italian family portraits hanging and such, lamps and decor, but none of that here, just a modern decor. I had to use my hands to push open the blinds in order to see my menu. Then the waiter came by, asked if we wanted to have our olive oil dipping set up. I said sure. He asked me to hand him the tray of condiments. I did, he just pulled the oil out and poured it onto a plate. What was the point of that!!?? I could have done it myself for less work. I thought he'd at least add some vinegar to it or something. Both my friend and I ordered the classic pastas. My eggplant parm was nothing special. I enjoyed the spaghetti on the bottom more than the eggplant, in fact it was very heavy and probably the worst eggplant parm i've ever had. waiter told us with the classic pastas, we also get to take one home for free. Which at first he did not say free, I had to get him to clarify. They need to do a better job explaining this concept. When we checked out, waiter brought over our free take home entrees. I was applauded, they were frozen entrees!! What an insult, and it says compliment of the chef on there? That's a slap in the face. Especially since my friend said oh sure, I'll be going to the airport later tonight I can eat it while I am there before I board the plane. How is she supposed to eat frozen pasta? What a joke, the food also looked super unhealthy, nothing but fettuccine and alfredo sauce with cheese. No veggie or anything nor meat. You'd think it's a good deal you are getting buy 1 get 1 free, but you really are just being scammed. We also asked for our "checks", we emphasized on CHECKS, not just 1 check, and the waiter still brought over 1 check. The worst is I flipped over a pile of 4 plates on our table, I guess they were set there for the purpose of appetizers or sharing. Every SINGLE ONE of the plates on the bottom had food or sauce or something stuck to it. This is unacceptable. The food on there had no resemblance to what we were eating so I knew it wasn't ours. The waiter is the direct contact with the diners, he needs to do a better job at checking the plates he brings out and the presentation, even if he did not wash the plates. At a restaurant this caliber, completely unacceptable. When you are charging starting at $25 a plate for one of your signature pastas, this is just not ok.
(1)Neil D.
Because of my son, we come to magianos for an italian fix. But because of Jaqueline H's review, we will definitely not be coming back. If there is one thing i look for in any restaurant, it would be cleanliness. A used spoon on a dessert is just disgusting.
(1)Drew S.
At 7:15 I was sitting in a closed section of the place and the manager came over and explained he needed the table and I would have to move. I explained that the only reason I was in that area was the entire waiting area was full and our 6:30 reservation was not being honored. He moved some chairs out for my kids and I to use. We were sat about 10 minutes later, without menus. So after waiting awhile longer I went to the host stand and got them for the table. Our server joined us awhile later and asked how we were doing, when we explained the situation he said something about how people love the food here but hate the wait. Well we certainly did a lot of waiting, the same manager who asked me to remove myself from the closed section brought our waters 10 minutes after we sat. He offered us unlimited appetizers and desserts on the company's dime. The Capri salad was served with hard tomatoes, September 1, and they couldn't find ripe tomatoes? After we ate our entrees our server offered dessert, again the waiting game. After what seemed to be about 15 minutes our server who by this time didn't have to many tables left came by, and when we asked him about our food he informed us that corporate has very high standards and it takes the cooks along time to get the product looking right. When my dessert came ( warm apple turnover with carmel sauce ) it had the texture that it was sitting under the hearing lamp to long . And was rather flavorless. We left at 9:30, not good on a school night My overall impression if this Magiannos, 1) closed section while many people waited-poor management 2) being sat with no menus- poor host/hostess service 3) not having my iced tea lemonade mixture offered to be refilled and corporate bashing to the customers - poor service staff 4) delays on food- poor kitchen staff The food court in the mall would gave been a better choice
(1)K C.
I'm normally a fan of Maggiano's. As far as chain-style Italian goes, this is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, the Vernon Hills location is less than stellar. They've employed some rude, incompetent young women as hostesses who are too busy talking to each other to pay attention to the people waiting to be seated. Service is either too rushed or too s.l.o.w. (read: glacial), there's no in-between. They've forgotten my "take home" pasta TWICE. And, when the waitress brought me a fresh glass of iced tea, she touched the top of my straw with her fingers and put it in the new glass. This place needs some SERIOUS training in the hospitality arena. Pretty disappointing.
(1)Luke C.
Better than I remembered the food to be. Read all of the bad reviews and almost did not go. We were sat immediately when arrived. Reservations on OpenTable was easy. Warm complimentary bread was delicious. I ordered pasta and was given a second portion to go. Attentive service at this LEYE chain. I would go again soon.
(4)Toshi I.
Came here with my bro and his family and was seated in a booth near the bar. I'm surprised at the low ratings as Maggiano's. I ordered a salad and pasta and both dishes were good. Wasn't blown away. I don't think you can go wrong here with the food. Our server was really friendly and helpful too.
(3)Johnny C.
I was on the opening team of this location. Simply put, this place is terrible. It doesn't even deserve to be called Maggiano's because it's an insult to the brand name. This place is awful from top to bottom. The management staff has absolutely no idea what they are doing, and it shows. When you order your food, you should expect it to take about twice as long as it should, and when it finally does arrive, it'll most likely be cold, prepared wrong, and/or taste horrible. Don't worry though, if you complain to a manager, you'll get it for free. Far and away the worst place I've ever worked. You should avoid this place at all costs. If you're craving Maggiano's, make the drive out to Skokie or Schaumburg. You'll thank me later.
(1)Michele B.
Save your $$$ we spent 92.00 on a dinner for 3 and had some of the lowest tasting lasagna I've ever had in my life. Tasteless, poor quality meat. Service was okay, for a Father's day dinner. Wouldn't go back. Way too expensive for the me as l, the only thing they have is their new atmosphere. That's it.
(1)Dr S.
another bleh meal here, came here because of a coupon..... prolly wont be back for awhile until they get theyre act together.... still seems like they are 'rookies' around here.....
(2)Todd H.
Took my daughter there. Wait staff was very attentive and the food was to die for. My only complaint is that they forgot my take home order. My daughter received hers. Did not catch this until I got back to my hotel room.
(4)Bryn R.
My brother and I came in here yesterday after having a very stressful day. Our server was very kind and helpful and made sure our meal was outstanding! It was our first time ever at maggianos and we will definitely return
(5)Laura S.
Service is poor at this location compared to others I have visited. Food has not disappointed. I would rather visit a local spot for Italian since this location hasn't gotten it together yet.
(2)E B.
Excellent food, excellent location (Old Orchard location is so annoying to find parking). Manager accommodated us with a special that ended the day before we were there and honored it for us- we were very thankful and pleased! Our server was outstanding! She treated us like royalty! I'd definitely go back!! They have me my first great experience at this location! Thank you!!
(5)Mark M.
Very nice place to go with family for birthday dinner or any celebration...
(4)Aaron E.
Maggiano's has long had a positive reputation, but I'm not sure why. My girlfriend and I visited for dinner at 8:30 on a Saturday night, and were promptly seated minutes after requesting a booth. The outward facing lounge style booths are nice, and made for excellent people / food watching. Food: I had the Veal Piccata, my date the Veal Marsala. We had the Calamari for an appetizer, which was the best thing we'd end up eating. The breading crispy, the squid tender and perfectly cooked. Sadly, the marinara sauce they served with it came in a dish that was barely half full, so we enjoyed the rest of it sans sauce - still delicious. The main entrees were bland, overpriced, barely satiating and relatively unexciting. Service: The service was good, and it was service by committee, rather than exclusively by our server, who was clearly overburdened on this packed night. It took 25 minutes before we were served table bread, which while a freebie, still featured heavily in our decision to come here; Lettuce Entertain You restaurants are known for their awesome bread. The reasoning given: We are busy(read: We are a new location and have inept kitchen staff) Overall: Our entrees were filling, but we were told by our server to expect to take lots of bags home because of their enormous portions. While this isn't true, I'd give them exactly one try before you realize that this is worse than just about everything else.
(2)Bill T.
Every visit I read the reviews and continue to surprised at the negatives. Service, quality, wait times, portions all continue to please. To be fair tonight was an hour wait but on a Saturday night arriving at 7:00 if there's not a wait at a restaurant its probably not worth eating at. Any decent place should have some wait at peak times.
(5)Tammy M.
The food is fabulous and our waitress was wonderful. The only tip I would give is if you go for dinner make reservations.
(5)Katie M.
The food is delicious here, and the little girl I nanny for quite enjoyed herself here as the staff was super friendly and paid attention to her. The staff is VERY friendly, but that being said, the food service is VERY slow, even during the weekdays and not during lunch rush hour. What should have been an hour lunch was much closer to two hours (for one adult and one toddler). My meal was very appetizing (honey mustard salmon sandwich), but they did have to remake it after putting bacon on it the first time, after I specifically asked for no bacon. Kids portions are HUGE, so do note that one child's flatbread pizza can actually feed at least two.
(3)Bill B.
Here for a family birthday Saturday dinner. 6:30 reservation for 8 and we didn't get served dinner until 8pm. Service was Horrible! Everything took twice as long as a normal. No water, no toilet paper in the lady's bathroom, no one asking if we wanted our empty drinks refilled, no pen when we received our credit card bill, no manager on staff, etc..... Just overall a bad experience. Don't go here until they get their act together.
(1)Kalinda L.
I met a friend for lunch there yesterday. we only ordered appetizers and shared. the 3 we chose....zucchini fritters, margherita pizza and caprese salad were very very good. I had a coupon sent to my email for $10 off a $30 purchase only at the new location in VH. the waitress ruffled her feathers and flat out said she couldn't honor it bc it was not printed. I replied that no where did it say that in the email. She said it was ON the coupon itself. When I asked her ot show me where it said that, she said "oh I can't read that, its too small" I suggested she send the manager over. She came back with a FORM I had to fill out so they could "honor" the coupon. wow. the experience was such that I wouldn't go back. I was at Old Orchards maggiano's and actually completed the online survey for the lovely waitress we had there back in June. as a thanks for giving my time and bc I gave my email, they were going to send me special offers and coupons. it costs next to nothing to compose an email and send it out in mass distribution for advertising...BUT IM SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE BURDEN AND COST OF PRINTING A COUPON SENT BY ELECTRONIC MEANS OR IT WON'T BE HONORED???? never never never have I been refused bc I showed an offer on my phone as opposed to having it printed. The two stars were for the food quality minus the bad experience at the end of the lunch. In a world where there are choices, especially for ITALIAN food, I wouldn't go back.
(2)Sherry W.
Food is good and large portions. Service is slow but friendly. They calculated the tips on the bill based on tax included. The tips should be based on food/drinks and service.
(3)Jeanne C.
I am being generous giving two stars. We had a large party (12) and ate family style. So we were limited to choose off of that menu. Had a great selections of food too bad they tasted like frozen pre made fair. The service wasn't that great either multiple times are food was placed at the table and we would have no plates and we had to flag down someone to help us. That happened at least twice. Best part of the meal was the dessert. Skip this chain - not worth the $$
(2)Laurie D.
Aug. 5, Tuesday night-90 minutes for a table of 3, half the restaurant empty. I'd wait for a few months to go back and hopefully they will have it figured out. Once seated, service was great, food was less than spectacular, teenagers hosting may need a little better training from their maître D.
(2)Robert D.
I was here with my family in November and had a HORRIBLE experience. My wife and I thought we would try this Maggiano's location again, hoping the first experience was a fluke. NOT!!! The service was still quite poor and the food was served cold. This just reconfirms that this location is managed poorly and does not live up to the quality or tradition of the restaurant located in Schaumburg. I will tell everyone I know, that if they enjoy Maggiano's, DO NOT VISIT THIS LOCATION!!!!! The Schaumburg location is 180 degrees different. I bet this location will close unless they put in proper management. Going to this location will only piss you off!! Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!! This place sucks!!!
(1)Kyle K.
Judging by the previous reviews of fellow Yelpers, this place has come a long way in their service to customers. We went there tonight, and the place was completely jammed with people! We waited about 30 minutes to be seated, but it was definitely worth the wait. The waitress we had was very professional, and cheerful. She took care of all of us in a timely manner, and kept our drinks full. The best part was the chicken and shrimp ziti dish I ordered. It had to be one of the best pasta dishes I've had in ages. The shrimp were large and plentiful, and the asiago cheese sauce with it was absolutely perfect! I would highly recommend this dish if you visit Maggiano's. The ambiance of this restaurant was quite nice. We all felt comfortable, and the music playing in the background was a nice touch. If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be that it was a tad bit noisy in there, but that's because it was so busy. Other than that, great job Maggiano's!
(5)Josh F.
Only open for 4 days, but it's Maggianos. Not like this is their first restaurant. Ordered family style - 8 at the table. We were seated at 7. Ordered our food at 715. Didn't get our appetizers until almost 8. Stuffed mushrooms were ice cold and their namesake salad was missing the prosciutto, calamari was good. Entrées came at around 845, once again mostly cold. Lasagna was ice cold, veal picatta was ice cold, chicken parmesan was cheeseless and we ended up with a dish we didn't order. Manager came over and checked out our table and upon seeing the disaster that was occurring offered to comp all the food. When we said that we just wanted what we ordered and hot, he said he couldn't do that because it would take an hour to cook all of it again - mind you, we ordered family style, we could have ordered more at anytime. He insisted he would just comp the food, which he did. To top it off, spent the night suffering through a mild case of food poisoning. Didn't eat anything else anytime near that dinner. Incredibly disappointing for a restaurant we used to love. Will not be going back here anytime soon.
(1)Nancy P.
Wonderful food ruined by horrible service. Inexperienced waiters and a lack of busboys with the expectation that the waiters will take orders, deliver the food and bus the tables left our table of ten waiting forever for food and then sitting through dinner with dirty serving bowls on the table. For large parties they assign 3 waiters to the table which results in no one waiter taking charge of the service. At one point I counted 44 people seated in the smaller dining room where they seat larger family parties and one waiter in sight! Lettuce needs to stop sacrificing service for larger profits. We recently had a similar experience at Wildfire waiting 45 minutes at lunch for our food with young children in a barely full room. Offering free cookies for a poorly served meal is insulting.
(2)Joel A.
Always a big fan of Maggianos Old Orchard so I'm excited they finally have come to Vernon Hills. They offer $12.95 pasta for dine in and they give you a second pasta from their list to take home. Their fettuccine Alfredo has always been one of the best around as it is my favorite here.
(5)Michelle K.
It is unfortunate that we had such a bad experience for lunch, perhaps they are still getting out the kinks with staff and kitchen at this new location. We made reservations for 9 at 1145am and were advised we could not be sat until entire group was there. We advised we needed to be back at the office by 1pm. Thankfully they sat 7 of us, 10 min after our reservation time. We had one individual that could not show until 20 min after, and had one person that had to cancel after we had already sat. Took more than 30 minutes to receive the food that we ordered, one salad that had been ordered was brought out incorrectly and was sent back to the kitchen. It took 20 minutes for it to be brought out and had to be boxed up as no time to eat with all others. Took 10 min to get the check, and to go boxes. Manager was kind enough to remove salad from our check and offered a dessert, as well. We finally got out of the restaurant at 110pm. It will be a while before we return and for sure not for lunch. And what was more frustrating, when we got back to the office, salad was still not right!
(1)Thomas C.
A spectacular disaster of an experience. The food was fine, nothing special but not bad. Everything else was a mess. Our waiter was largely unattentive; spent his time socializing with another one of his tables or was otherwise out of sight. Took him 20-30 minutes to bring our bottle of wine. Some harried server dropped a dirty knife on my wife as she rushed by, completely unaware. They also never cleared any dishes off our table - a first for me. The lowlight, though, was when they set a large table next to ours that was jammed into my 3-year-old daughter's chair. I had to put her on my lap for her to have room to eat. I complained to the manager and they moved us to a booth, but this place is horrible. Skip it.
(1)Jimmy S.
I'd give Maggiano's 4.5 stars for a chain restaurant. I'm not a big "chain" food kinda guy but I must admit, everything about my experience was top notch. From the warm bread, to the stuffed mushroom appetizer, right down to every individual meal, our experience was excellent! Chicken moist, pastas extremely flavorful and perfectly aldente. Just about everything on the menu has a recipe that dates back 100 YEARS! I also have to mention the service. My mother in law has really bad gluten allergies and from the moment we walked in the Manager Nino (literally straight from Italy), met us, walked us to the table, made a couple recommendations for her allergy. He didn't stop there. He brought a chef out to go over options and they even asked if she'd like to see the kitchen to put her at ease. We have NEVER been treated so well at a food establishment. Ever. We'll be back for sure!
(5)Blythe M.
Not part of Lettuce Entertain You. I was looking forward to being able to use my gift certificate and make my reservation online but couldn't. Maybe that is why all the reviews seem like this place is slacking because it's independently owned?
(1)Susan A.
I have been to other locations and have always had great service and meals. This locations was terrible! They brought the salad out at the same time as our meal. I asked is they had any vegetables and the waitress said asparagus and tomatoes. I ordered tomatoes and the table next to us got a side of green beans. When I asked she said" oh yeah we have those!" I would not suggest going to this location. Too bad, I was hoping for it to be as great as the others.
(1)Jen W.
My co-workers and I (group of 5) decided to grab lunch here on a Wednesday afternoon. Not to sound like a broken record with all the other comments, but something is terribly wrong with the service here. I just don't get it. Based on my observation, it looked like the restaurant was well staffed for lunch? I also question whether it was an issue with our server. First of all, we could barely hear him speak. He didn't tell us the lunch specials, wasn't outwardly friendly AT ALL, didn't wait for one of my co-workers to give his drink order (I asked him to wait a few seconds as my co-worker took his coat off, to which he completely disregarded and ran away for another 15 minutes), and was literally missing for a solid 20-30 minutes as we sat ready to order. When we saw him appear again, he breezed past us to another table of 5-6 that was seated well after we were seated. All the other servers looked friendly and were interacting with their customers. What should've been a lunch that lasted no longer than 60 minutes was nearly two hours! We were clearly doing a business lunch, and you would think that would signal some sense of urgency. We will not be returning to this location.
(1)S J.
We've been eating at Maggiano's for years. We've been to all the locations: Chicago, Oak Brook, Woodfield, Naperville. The food had always been great. Not so at the Vernon Hills location. Our bread and bruschetta were delicious, but our entrees left a lot to be desired. I ordered the eggplant parmesan for my daughter and me to share and neither one of us liked it. It was soggy and had way too much garlic. My husband 's gnocchi was cold and over cooked. My son who had the kid's chicken was the only good meal at the table. Our server was friendly, but not attentive. We didn't get water even though we asked for it. We had to ask someone else to bring it. Our food was brought and our server didn't offer parmesan cheese. We told her we did not enjoy our meal and all she said was sorry. That's nice and all, but she should have offered to get the manager for us. Later, the manager was nice enough to take my husband's gnocchi and my eggplant parmesan off the bill. So disappointed. I always love Maggiano's eggplant parmesan and gnocchi. This location needs to work on food and service. Servers need to be attentive not just friendly. They should at ask about the food and bring things you ask for. Not sure if we come back again. Don't have high expectations for this location.
(2)Eileen L.
My meal was good, but wasn't sure what to do with the small mystery like plastic piece that was in my chicken. Some of the chicken was very grisly and chewy and was uneatable. Showed the plastic piece to the waiter, and the manager came over as well; got an apology but that was about it.
(3)Alicia C.
I was there a few weeks ago for my son's bday and we had a great time. Our waiter was very kind and helpful. The only thing is the place is a bit small making it a bit of a wait. Other than that it is great for a sit down family meal. deserts on the menu are fabulous . The server was awesome and the food was over the top. I will go again.
(4)Bernardo S.
Ok so we arrived after receiving our text that out table was available and it wasn't so we had to wait 15 minutes for something to open up but the hostess was very apologetic. We got seated in the bar area and the service started great but it seems that maybe the waitress had to much to handle as we them found ourselves waiting for drinks, never getting the bread we asked for etc. again very nice so it is keeping me from dropping to 2 stars. The food was excellent so that saved it as well, I loved my lasagna and my wife really liked her chicken parmesan. With that said if they weren't new I would say I would never go back but they did just enough well that I will give it one more shot!
(3)Christy S.
The service was horrible. Our waiter was very inattentive. I had to ask for new silverware because they were dirty. I had to ask for little plates,which are usually already on the table before be seated. I had to ask for glasses of water and refills. The typical little services that every waiter should be attentive to was overlooked. I have been to 3 other Maggiano's in IL, those three held similar excellent service. This location by far the worst in comparison to any restaurant.
(1)D G.
Brought my 12 year old daughter and her 4 friends here for a last minute, impromptu birthday party on a Friday night. Even though they were extremely busy they treated the girls like gold! Nino, the manager and the rest of his staff (great waiter!) bent over backwards to make sure they had a memorable evening! Great food, great service - Thank you!
(5)Howard N.
I have gone to Maggiano's for many years and recently tried their Vernon Hills location. I love the jumbo crab cakes. Although new, the staff was very courteous and friendly. The food came hot from the kitchen and was excellent. Sometimes, we take advantage of their pasta specials, where if you order one you get another to take home with you. A very welcome addition to the neighborhood.
(5)M W.
After being accustomed to excellent service at the Schaumburg location, the slow service here was disappointing and unexpected. Our waitress, although friendly, was not very efficient. Took about 25 minutes from being seated to her taking our order. Another 15 minutes or so until a salad came out. We had to request items multiple times. Overall the dinner was in excess of two hours. Other indications that this restaurant is poorly managed were: there was a liquid spill on the floor and all employees did was put soaking pads on top of the spill. Over two hours later, not one employee had even bothered to clean up the floor. ( hazardous and unsafe, not to mention a very unsightly mess) I noticed tables were left uncleared for long periods of time after guests had left. I can see why there is a long wait to get seated. Restrooms had no paper towels and were not clean. There are numerous restaurants in the mall and surrounding area that would be a better choice than this Maggianos.
(2)Robert S.
This location needs a lot of help. We went with a group of 18 people, and ordered family style. We were seated right at the reservation time, and that was the highlight of the night. Starting with the drink orders, the waiter took the drink orders of 4 people and then just left to help some other tables. Once we finally started getting the drinks, my wine glass was so dirty you could feel the scum on the glass, then we got the wrong wine. None of the food came out hot. Apps Mozzarella Marinara, cheese not fully melted. Stuffed mushroom were soggy. Main Course: The dishes they brought out didn't even make it around the table before we had to order more. One dish was the spaghetti and meatballs, for 18 people they brought out 1 bowl with 1 meatball. Gnocchi-overcooked, spaghetti-undercooked, Rigatoni "D"- bland. Dessert-no complaints there except once we had our bill and getting ready to leave more were brought out . The whole experience showed a real lack of customer service.
(1)Patricia C.
This was our first time at this Maggiano's, we usually go to the one in Skokie, but this is much closer to us. We went there early ( 4pm ) last Wednesday on our way home from a matinee at the Marriott. We were seated right away and the restaurant had only a few full tables. We sat there for 25 minutes with nothing but the menus before my husband asked a passing waitress if she was our waitress, she said she wasn't but she would bring us bread and water until our waitress arrived, she also took our drink order. After another 20 minutes she also took our meal order as the regular waitress still hadn't arrived. ( She was very nice and I'm sure she wanted to leave as her shift was over, but she did take very good care of us up to that point and I'm very sorry that we couldn't give her part of the tip she did more then the regular waitress did ). My husband had soup which he said was ok,, I had the Maggiano's salad which was also good, could have used a little more dressing. We both ordered the Rigatoni D as it is our favorite. It was not as flavorful as it usually is and seemed a little watery, so we were dissapointed. I don't know how soon we will go back there, had I read all the reviews I probably would have gone elsewhere.
(2)Christopher B.
Never actually got to eat there. Went in with a friend around 6:45 last night to have dinner. Hostess told us there would be an hour wait. When we inquired about half the restaurant being not in use during the dinner rush, we were informed they were short-staffed. So, we asked about eating in the bar area and were told that was fine, that it was full-service. But, when we went to take a recently-vacated table, we were informed that part of the area wasn't open seating. A group of ladies waiting for a table at the bar asked about taking the table, since they were next up. The hostess informed them they couldn't have it either, as it was only for people who had reservations. We ended up leaving for somewhere else (another story entirely). Right now, Maggiano's as a whole is 0 for 2 in my book (prior visit to another Maggiano's resulted in stone-cold food which was then reheated under a salamander and brought back to the table). Perhaps the third time will be the charm?
(1)Igor C.
This place is new to the area and I've never been to one of their other locations. Three of us ordered takeout. Chicken parmesan, shrimp scampi and rigatoni D. We also had the calamari. It was all ready on time, packed well and stayed warm. To me the calamari was outstanding, light breading and fried to the correct shade of brown, not overdone and rubbery. My chicken was a disappointment, to dry and the cheese seemed lumped on one end. I also prefer a little more sauce. My son was happy with his rigatoni and I don't have any comment on the scampi because my put it in the refrigerator to eat later. Overall, it was expensive for average Italian food.
(3)john r.
07/30/14, Wednesday night reservation for a birthday/anniversary celebration!!! I do not make it out to Maggianos often because of the distance from home, so I was glad to try this closer location. The four of us were seated in one of the raised, half circle booths, oh, both hostess' were very sweet with their greeting, even saying happy birthday. Ok, we took our seats, and the waiter (Josh), popped by within a minute. Josh seemed to be a genuinely friendly guy, who wanted us to be happy guests. He took our drink and appetizer order and brought over some bread. Orderrd calamari as our app, seemed to take a bit long to receive, and was not piping hot when it finally did arrive. Was cooked fine, but was salty. For entrées, I ordered the Mom's Lasagna, and the rest of the group ordered fruiti de mari. The portion were just right and the flavor excellent. For my drink, I had an Arnold Palmer, which is simply ice tea with lemonade...at a cost of $2.95 per glass...and refills are not included. Found that out when I got the bill. Next time, it will be either plain ice tea, or water with lemon. There are a few kinks to work out, but I imagine that the dining experience will improve quickly.
(3)Marisa M.
We visited during Christmas Rush. The restaurant was very full but we were seated promptly as there were two of us. Service was excellent quick and friendly. We ordered the zucchini fritte. They were very good hot and crispy the lemon aeoli was homemade and perfectly seasoned. We had just finished the last piece when our entrees arrived. Gnocchi with sausage and the lighter take chicken piccata. Both good sized servings we took portions home. Saved room for chocolate cake and the server added lemon cookies. Still warm! A beautiful evening during a hectic week.
(4)