Oh GoD! The food at this place is awful. They really have to step their game up! The only reason that they get 2 starts from me is only because of the service, otherwise I would give them a 0 if it was possible!
(2)
Amy B.
We go here often due to the fact that its close to our house, and we get alot of coupons..Its a chain Italian restaurant that is a step above Olive Garden. I usually get the create your own pasta, and have gotten the mama's trio several times also. It usually does not disspapoint and the service is always pretty good. If your in the mood for italian and dont mind a chain, id recommend it.
(3)
A J.
The service is not the best and the food is nothing special. I did not care for this place.
(2)
Kathryn R.
The food is good, that is not the complaint. The service is spotty at best, but the big issue is the dirtiness of the kitchen area. Yuck!
(1)
Melissa D.
My boyfriend and I were driving towards Fairfax 14 and the sign on the front caught our attention; $7.99 lunches! We said YUUUP! As we approached it said "under 7 minutes or it's free" so this sounds like an awesome place to eat on your hour long lunch break. We both ordered a glass of the house red; it was too sweet for our taste so we switched to a bottle of 14 Hands red- love this wine. I love bread while you wait- I know some people think it's not cute to stuff yourself with pre-dinner bread but I don't care- the combo of warm buttery bread with the olive oil and salt and pepper was so good we got 2 loafs. We both opted for the 3 course meal for $10; the first course was a little fried cheese triangle with marinara- pretty tasty, the second was a decent sized ceasar salad- nom, and the third course- I got the three cheese ravioli which was amazing, he got the gorgonzola fettuccine and it was also delicious..we were surprised at how large the main dish was- they were both very very yummy. We left extremely fully and happy; we will definitely be back!
(4)
Mark B.
I'm writing to give credit where credit is due. Maybe it's not cool to eat at a chain Italian restaurant, but we just had a delicious meal with great service at a reasonable price. I'm an Italian who knows how to cook and I'm proud to write this review.
(5)
William C.
This place sucks. Food was cold and terrible. When the waitress asked "how is everything?" I said the food is cold and my pizza is burnt and asked where is the cheese on my pizza???. She smiled said awe I'm sorry and walked away! Bad service! On a positive note my date and I think they have the best ice water!
(1)
Bob V.
Used to be one of my favorite restaurants but not any more... Seems to have really gone down hill like many other chain restaurants over the past few years in Northern Virginia. I arrived with my party of 4 around 8:30 pm and was seated outside relatively quickly. Service by two different servers was confusing the entire evening. Servers were not professional. Server #1 was nonchalant and server #2 was a smart ass, making stupid joking comments each time he visited our table, in between flirting with a nearby table of overly tatooed Jerry Springer girls. Had to request bread 3 times and it finally arrived after about 15 minutes. I usually get the Chicken Marsala dish in past visits but this time it was extremely overcooked, think crispy, and so dry in part because there was very little Marsala sauce to even cover the chicken, mushrooms or capellini pasta. Very disappointing for a dish that used to be so great! The lemon cake dessert was brought out 10 minutes later than the other desserts, and it was frozen, so did not taste right. As mentioned, service was very mediocre, spotty, and almost seemed insulting. I will remember not to come back to this restaurant again.
(2)
Jessica K.
I havent' stepped foot into a Macaroni Grill in a very long time. Ever since living in Cali. Suprisingly everything was what I had remembered. The fresh ciabatta bread was still yummy, they still put paper table covers on so that your waiter/waitress can write there name on it and you can doodle all over the paper. I got the Mama's Trio and shared the mac n cheese truffle bites along with a bottle of wine. The Mama's Trio was so much food, I couldn't even finish half of it. I recommend that you share it, my favorite was the lasagna. The mac n cheese truffle bites were to die for! It comes with a truffle sauce which was really good. Overall, dinner was good and it all came out to about $ 35.00 per person, which is good because we did have a bottle of wine :)
(3)
Lily W.
We loved our server. His name is Daniel and he really connected well with us. He is the main reason we will come back and why I gave 4 stars instead of 3! However, the food is mediocre. The pasta sauce was bland and some of the leaves in the starter salad were wilted. We were over quoted on the wait time too, so the shortcomings in the food didn't really help. Another thing that was strange was that it was gorgeous outside... But the outdoor seating area was empty and there were trash bags sitting outside on it. This restaurant is a good place to go to if you're looking for a casual dinner but it's not something I would rave about.
(4)
Linda C.
I only come here a few times a year, so I was really surprised there was no wait on a Friday evening for dinner. Not that long ago, it seems there would have been at least a 30 minute wait for a table. On this recent Friday night, there were many tables empty and available. So that was a bit of a red flag for me. As others have commented, the menu keeps changing. And yep, there was a whole new menu again. And it seems to get smaller! By now, it's down to a piece of paper with the wine list and drinks on one side, and the food items listed on the other side. More than once, I felt like folding it up to at least make it look like a menu rather than a placemat. They are trying to introduce some upscale menu items but I went with a simpler item, Carmela's Chicken. It was definitely simple. I imagined a 1/4, or maybe even 1/2, of a roast chicken bedded with some delicious noodles wrapped in a delicate wine sauce. What I got was a bowl of noodles, a bit of buttery sauce, and a few pieces of white meat chicken tossed in. The pieces of chicken were actually hard to find! It was flavorful, but I kept thinking I could have gotten something very similar at Noodles & Co., for a much cheaper price. The other big disappointment (big!) is that they have done away with their frozen Bellini!! This is heartbreaking! It was my favorite drink at the Macaroni Grill, and our server even commiserated with me, telling me it was her favorite drink too. How could they get rid of it? She mentioned it had been their best-selling drink, in fact, so what sense does that make? I ended up with the Peach Bellini, hoping it was close, but really....it wasn't. It's just Prosecco (sparkling wine) and a bit of peach puree. Eh. I don't know, MG, personally I am not sure you are headed in the right direction. Skimping on the chicken and taking away my frozen Bellini? Can't say I'll be rushing to come back.
(2)
Jim W.
8 PM on Saturday night - not very busy. Food was okay. Service was good. Attentive. BUT, the chocolate cake was a huge disappointment.
(2)
Faith C.
I stopped by yesterday (Reston location) and ordered the Bruschetta: grilled ciabatta bread, whipped ricotta, roma tomatoes, garlic, basil, then the Goat Cheese Peppadew Peppers: toasted breadcrumbs & honey balsamic glaze, then the Spicy Sausage & Peppers: italian sausage, calabrian peppers, peppadew peppers. These three items turned out to be my dinner. Also, you can order dinner while sitting at the bar. The house red, Chianti Blend, is a very nice wine...your palate will explode and you'll be wanting more. A bottle (last night) is $15 right now! The "I want to speak Italian" lessons you hear in the restroom crack me up. I'm not sure if it's the same in the men's restroom. The professional bartenders, and overall restaurant has always been a pleasant experience for me.
(5)
Mike T.
My wife and I went here for dinner and we had calamari appetizers and both ordered the make your own pasta. I had ziti with roasted garlic, asparagus, and pepper and for an extra $5 had sausage and ricotta meatballs. My wife had spaghetti with roasted everything. They gave us a taste of house wine and we each ordered a glass but it was definitely nothing special. The meals were ok, again nothing special. The waiter forgot to bring the meatballs with my meal and I had to find him to let him know. He also forgot to come by with cheese and I had to once again get up and walk over to get another waiter, this time to get us some cheese. We were unimpressed all around.
(2)
Rita B.
We got an email about the new "braisers" on the menu. Looked good and they gave us a BOGO to try one (sign up for the email to get good deals!). We got the brick oven olives, the pork shank braiser and the Mediterranean sea bass. And a half price bottle of wine! The brick oven olives replace the old mixed olive appetizer (which I loved). This version is heated with some garlic slivers, lemon zests and bread crumbs on top. I really loved it and the olive oil at the bottom was garlicky, citrusy and delicious to dip the bread into. The sea bass was lovely - served with an arugula, cannellini bean and tomato salad. It was a light, refreshing and satisfying meal. The pork shank - wow. It was really large. Served with a ton of cremini mushrooms and a wonderful braise sauce. Carrots, celery and potatoes accompanied it with large sprigs of rosemary. It was a perfect autumn dish. We were lucky enough to be in Charlotte's section. She is a great server. Helpful and never pushy. I always ask to be in her section. I know I will have a good time if she is there. I do like the new menu items and thing that Macaroni Grill has taken on a new direction. My compliments!
(4)
Aimen H.
Used to be one of my favorit places to have Italian meal. Had dinner there couple of month ago, had to wait for 10 min to find some one to take my order, then the food came Fettuccine Alfredo and it was so dry no sauce, took 10 min to find the waiter who was busy chatting with another waiter to tell him about food is dry. His answer was this is the way it should. So, no more MG. Welcome Carrabba's
(2)
Jay M.
Meh, not too impressed. The food was bland (mine) and superfatty and greasy (hubbs). Prices are not justified. Probably won't go back.
(2)
Matt R.
Bland, greasy and expensive. I'll stick to the olive!
(2)
John M.
My wife and have visited this Macaroni Grill many times before, including about a month ago where it was probably a "3". This visit, on Veterans' Day, rated definitely a "2". They're lucky they're not getting a "1". We walked in and were surprised that at dinner time on a Monday night, even for a holiday, it wasn't very crowded. Our host, Mohssen, turned out to be our server as well. And I think at that moment was when our visit started to go downhill. You're thinking "But they haven't even sat down yet!" If the other restaurants in the area are mysteriously closed and you want some decent Italian, make sure that you don't sit in Mohssen's section. I'm begging you now, for your sake. You'll thank me later. Mohssen showed us to our table, and then offered us the special, which was house wine at half price. We declined. Then he asked us if we wanted to order any appetizers, and again we declined. The reason we had come was because we had a coupon for a free "classic" entree to use that was expiring, and when I told Mohssen that, something changed in him. I think he probably realized that we weren't going to be spending a lot of money, and as such, we didn't deserve much of his time. Before he came back to take our order, he hadn't even asked us if we wanted something else to drink. So he returns to the table and takes our order, during which my wife and I both make a point of ordering soft drinks with our entrees. Mohssen offers us both a salad, and once again we decline. When we declined the salads, he definitely made a sour face, like we had somehow insulted him. So he left, coming back once to bring soft drinks. Mohssen never came back to our table after that unless we flagged him down, which we had to do TWICE. He never asked about drink refills, if wanted more bread, or generally check up on us. NOTHING. Another server brought the food, and he didn't even come by to make sure everything was prepared correctly. He spent most of his time working the other tables near us. All of them were families, and it was clear to us that he was going to make sure they got great service; honestly, I think it was because he knew they would be tipping more. He didn't really seem to care about us one way or another. He even wouldn't walk by our table most of the time; he avoided us by walking through another part of the restaurant to get to the other tables. He seemed to be all smiles for them, but there wasn't a smile for us at all. At least the food was halfway decent. I flagged him down once to get drink refills, and one more time to get a check. Once I asked for the check, he came back to the other tables multiple times--at least four but perhaps more--but it wasn't until he saw my wife putting on her coat that he decided to come back. From the time we asked for the check until the time we received it, it was probably at least 15 minutes. When he finally did arrive, my wife was laughing from the futility of it all, and he asked "Are you ready?" "Ready for what? Can I have my credit card back now?" Then he remembered what was going on and gave me the credit card receipt to sign. D'OH! We couldn't RUN out of there fast enough, ladies and gentlemen. My wife went to the car, but I just couldn't let this one slide. So I spoke to the GM, and told him what happened. He said all the right things, and promised to speak with Mohssen and monitor him more closely. Kudos to him for at least listening with an open mind; he saved this restaurant from getting a "1". I've read many of the reviews for this restaurant and I must agree: The service and food has gone downhill in the past few years. We used to go once a week, and while we moved a little further away, we could go that often if this place was worth it. Sadly, it's not.
(2)
Fritz V.
joined their email club and got a coupon by email for two $7 express lunches for the price of one. also took a friend with us and he was allowed to use our coupon also, so he got one express lunch to go with the one he ordered to dine in with us, for $7. this was very late lunch hour, almost 4pm which is the end of the lunch hour. the restaurant was clean, quiet, as the lunch crowd had cleared out mostly. we sat at a table near the lunch counter and were attentively served. our express lunch plates were served promptly, with hot fresh and accurate dishes: i ordered the express lunch ravioli dish, it was great. the wife ordered the spaghetti dish, also great. our friend order the chicken parm dish to dine in, and the caesar salad express to go. he was also happy with the hot food, and he took the salad home, but heard later it was terrific as well. the drinks were served and refilled promptly. the manager also threw in some free pesto and dipping italian rolls. the manager also stated that they can do happy hours for large clubs, as their location and large parking lot can accommodate late afternoon rush hour happy hour parties. next i will report on their two for the price of one express dinner specials that they sent me a coupon for through their email club. best italian for the money in my book, at least for the western suburbs of DC where we live.
(4)
Valencia W.
They're slipping. The customer service is really good but damn, the cooks are slippin'. I wanted a Pasta Milano and what I had was something rather unsatisfying. The noodles were hard, I mean like not fully cooked hard. Come on its not that hard. Here look, even I'll go back there and show you how its done. Secondly there was no sauce. It was astonishing how crappily made the dishes were. I expected more and should've been comped for a meal so crappy...but it was raining and I was hungry. Plus, I noticed this once I had gotten all settled back at home and about to watch a Caps game... Needless to say that sucked!
(2)
Hangry F.
BLAH! I tried this place for the first time today..probably will be the last time. The waitress was friendly and really tried, but it took her 3 tries to tell us what the Blackboard soup was, we had to ask her twice for several things, and our check total was wrong. We got: The pesto shrimp and avocado crostini: this thing was ginormous; I thought crostinis were on the smaller side. And, there were 2 small bits of shrimp total; and mostly beans; this item is mislabeled. Spicy ricotta meatballs: they tasted ok, but, I do not know where the ricotta was or the spice. Pomodorina soup: just ok; tasted like tomato soup. Bibb & blue salad: again, just ok; I didn't taste any blue, could make just as good or even better salad myself. All in all, I won't be going back anytime soon.. or ever.
(2)
Becky C.
I used to love Macaroni grill. I would go there all the time with work associates and always got the chicken ceaser calzonetta. Of course they removed it from the menu, sometimes I could still get it, but now no one even knows what I am talking about because it's been so long. It seems like they constantly change the menu and nothing is ever that great. The last two times I ate there, the food was downright bad. It's such a shame, because I really used to love the food and the atmosphere there. I really have no desire to go there any more. The menus are not original, and the food isn't good, and they charge way too much for the quality of the meal.
(2)
Emily A.
I would rate this place mediocre at best. Every time I go here they have a new menu, and it's usually not for the better. I will still never forgive them for removing dessert raviolis from the menu. Those were the best! The drinks were a bit overpriced. I ordered the peach bellini and it was in a champagne glass, as they sometimes are, but it was just sort of small and nothing special. The bread was covered in butter, making it even unhealthier when you go to dunk it in the olive oil, which did not end up being necessary. I ordered the caprese salad to start off, and it was really, really good. I would certainly recommend it. It was sort of two salads. One side of the plate with chunks of mozzarella and red and yellow tomatoes on top of a nicely balsamic-dressed bed of arugula. The other half of the plate had a couple layers of beefsteak tomatoes and mozzarella. I probably could have just eaten that for dinner. I ordered the chicken parm. It was a little boring. I don't have anything particularly bad or good to say about it, but I have to admit, it was sort of a boring thing for me to order to start off. My husband had a lobster ravioli and my friend a mushroom ravioli. Both were pleased. My other friend had the mussels and really enjoyed those as well. The service was nothing to write home about. It was okay the whole time, but the end game was a bit slow when sorting out the check. There was a girl there singing happy birthday to guests in opera-style. It was kind of neat, but it was also sort of strange/awkward for Macaroni Grill. I would have wanted her to go away if she were at my table, but she did sing it pretty well...just sort of out of place for casual Italian dining.
(3)
Benjamin L.
The highlight of my dining experience tonight was definitely the dark chocolate gelato. It was pure heavenly bliss... so creamy and luscious. I'm going to be dreaming about it for days to come. As for the main entree I must say that the Pasta Milano was a low scoring number. It had RAW mushrooms in it accompanied by two slim jim pieces of chicken to top it off. I'm a pasta lover, but this dish didn't cut it. How could they mess it up?
(3)
Rico Z.
The food and service has gone down hill. Had the Penne Rustica which used to have 3-4 real big nice shrimp the shrimp are 1/2 the size they used to be and the dish itself is small and has lost a lot of it's flavor. The waiter was nice but he should find another line of work.
(2)
Christine N.
I used to love Macaroni Grill. What a disappointment it has become. I ate there with my family last night. Number one--the bread is no longer baked fresh. It is just heated up. It has the consistency of the stuff you find in the grocery store in a plastic bag where you heat it in the oven for 5 minutes. Yuck! The open kitchen is now a meaningless show. Nothing is freshly prepared---just removed from the Sysco truck and heated up. The chianti tastes like water. How do you ruin chianti people? It is table wine--it is already cheap! The kids spaghetti portion was lousy also. The spaghetti looked like it was San Giorgio and the sauce was nasty. Our server was surprised when my son asked for Parmesan cheese and had to make a special trip to get it---huh??
(1)
Judith L.
I rarely eat Italian food, much less food from an Italian chain. After a night of debating what to eat with a friend, we ended up here. I had never been here before, and did not have extremely high hopes. Got seated in a booth, and all I really remember is having to shine my cell phone on the menu to get a better view of it. Yeah, kind of dark... I got the Mama's Trio since I couldn't decide what the heck I wanted. It included: "Lasagna al Forno, Chicken Parmigiana, and Chicken Cannelloni". The lasagna was just okay. It just seemed like pasta with some tomatoes and chunks of meat: no real depth of flavor like the homemade lasagna my own mother makes from scratch (and she's not even Italian....). The Parmigiana was dry and my least favorite. The Cannelloni was actually pretty good (although that might have to do with eating it after the Parmigiana), and I actually finished it all. Bottom line: I had leftovers, but after opening them up at home and picking at them for a few minutes, I just threw them away. Which kind of defines how I see this place: it's okay, I have definitely had worse; but I won't eat here often.
(2)
Esakal F.
Went there for birthday dinner on a weekend. The food wasn't bad at all but it could have been better. The service and the ambience were great though. A waiter named KP was very proactive and gave provided us a good service. Overall a nice experience !
(3)
M L.
I haven't been to a Macaroni Grill for about 10 years. After 10 years of not going there, I couldn't remember the original reason why I decided not to eat there in the first place, so I decided to go back to the Fairfax location with the renewed hope that maybe they fixed whatever it was that drove me away so long ago. PROS: - The people who work there are nice. CONS: - The food is NOT GOOD. I'd even go out on a limb here and say that the food at Olive Garden is a step above this place and my feelings about Olive Garden are already lukewarm. - This is the #1 reason why I thought that the food was bad: They use processed chicken in their pasta! I thought that processed chicken was reserved solely for fast-food establishments and maybe the lazy home cook who doesn't know any better. But for a restaurant that is charging $14 a plate for pasta, they need to use real chicken that hasn't been liquified and re-formed into blocks and then cut into uniform pieces. Both my husband and I both noticed the processed chicken at the same time. I felt like I was tricked. My kids were eating pasta too and I didn't want to feed them the chicken. If you're in the mood for Italian food, make the trek out to Maggiano's or go to a mom and pop establishment. Don't eat here.
(1)
One K.
It has been awhile that I visited this establishment. Sadly both the food & the service have declined.
(2)
Flora L.
I had their express lunch deal. It had fast service and actually good food! $7 for 4 pieces of chicken panini! See my pictures for detail:) I recommend this place for the deals!
(4)
Ana H.
The evening was fine. Zero wait, which was great. But we ended up sitting close to the hostess stand. This was very frustrating and distracting to have 4 young ladies drinking beverages, playing with their cellphones, joking with each other and simply standing idle. Meanwhile, our server seemed to be working really hard to manage her tables. Our appetizers took so long, we got one comped. Then the food got to us, and it was disappointing. Chicken parmesan was burned, my pasta Milano had chicken that was grey. When I sent the chicken back, instead of getting a new dish, the server brought a bowl with some more chicken. Never saw a manager. It is clear that this location of Romano Macaroni Grill is not well managed. Very disappointing. We will not be back. Our server was very nice and did what she could to make the experience a positive one, but we came for the food and ambiance, and both of those were a "fail." Mikaela was a good server.
(1)
Anahita G.
While the service was decent, the food and experience could have been better. After being seated, I noticed that I was given dirty utensils. The complimentary bread took quite some time to be served. Lastly, the dish that I ordered (Chicken Marsala) was served cold and my co-workers noodles (Fettuccine) were not thoroughly cooked. On the bright side, when seated, your table comes with crayons and paper table cloth which welcomes artistic abilities!
(2)
Kate H.
This review is for the Express Dinner - $9 delivered in 9 minutes, or it's free. Sign up for the email club for $5 coupons or a BOGO offer. At this location, you enter the restaurant and head over to the kitchen side of the building, to the right. See the posted menu above, then place your order with the staff person at the ordering station. Take your number and sit at one of the dozen tables closest to the ordering station. Servers bring drinks, plates and silverware, but it's a no muss, no fuss kind of set-up, so you don't have an actual server who checks back in regularly. I ordered the Prosciutto & Chicken Penne. The description said cream sauce, but it was actually a pink sauce (white and red mixed). Overall it was salty. I didn't notice it at the start, but about halfway through the dish, I was salted out. I think the natural saltiness of the prosciutto combined with the over-salted sauce was a bad combo.The portion size was generous, but I chose to leave the leftovers behind. My husband had the Pesto Chicken Farfalle. A little sweet for my taste, and the pasta was drown in the soupy sauce. Other options on the menu include a Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti, Brisket Ravioli or Rigatoni, Pork Belly and Chicken Carbonara or a seasonal pasta. Add a round of the rosemary bread for $1, or a side salad for $3. Note that there are no kid options on this menu, but the staffer allowed us to tack on an item from the kid's menu. Kid options are $5+ and include a drink. The kid's mac and cheese is a simple cheese sauce tossed with penne. Overall, the food is average. At 6 p.m., there were only about a dozen other tables filled in the restaurant. Service was helpful and fast. The $9 dinners are a fairly good value for the portion size, but there are so many better tasting options at the same cost elsewhere.
(2)
Beth C.
We like to come and sit in the bar area and enjoy some wine and appetizers. Today we had the Pesto Primavera pizza. It was delicious. There's a new brunch menu with $2 mimosas. Warning to parents hostess drops "F" bombs at will
(2)
Andrea R.
Our server, Micahia, was very nice. The food was delicious but the hostesses were extremely rude. I was close to leaving because we received a very rude welcoming. At the end, It was worth staying because our server was great and the food was def great. They should train the hostesses better since they are the first thing a customer sees.
(3)
Lottie Y.
It now has $7 lunch and $9 dinner. The pasta have quite good quality but the pasta sauce is too thick and salty. I don't quite like the flat bread though.
(3)
anna c.
We came here on a Thursday evening. Our calamari appetizer ($12!)was overdone and slightly burnt. It's a shame bc the quality of the actual squid was great. We ordered the new "braisers/baked" entrees. So underwhelming. The chicken had so much skin and not a lot of meat. My pasta was watery and the sauce wasn't robust. My boyfriend ordered the meatballs and sausage one and it was also overcooked. Service was also sub par at best. The waiters were arguing with each other loud enough for us to overhear without listening in. Next time ill stick with the GAR chain like we usually do.
(1)
Ali S.
Super disappointed in my lunch experience yesterday. A huge sign on the building advertised "$7 lunches in 7 minutes or less!" I should have known it was too good to be true. To start off, if you do that deal you are quarantined to a small sectioned off area of the dining room. You also awkwardly order at a computer near the kitchen. There were lots of options though so my mom and I decided on the Chicken Caesar Calzone and Prosciutto Grilled Cheese. They came out really quickly but my mom's calzone was burned and had barely any chicken in it. My Prosciutto grilled cheese was disgusting (I've never used that word to describe a meal before). The prosciutto was fatty and sliced thick so it was chewy like rubber. It's supposed to be paper thin and incredibly tender. It was beyond gross. The cheese was not melted whatsoever. It was this awful clammy temperature and had no flavor. Everyone working there insisted that we did not have a waiter because we did the lunch special and even when I went up to ask if we could at least order a glass of wine, the guy awkwardly insisted that I didn't get a server so no, I could not get any wine. The guy sitting next to me ordered iced tea! Why couldn't I get a beverage? All we were given was a (dirty) bottle of water for the table. I didn't even ask them to bring wine to my table. He was like "well what do you want?" I have no idea what they even serve. The guy wouldn't even tell me where to find a drink menu. Other tables around us were checked on multiple times by a waitress, I just don't get it. Super uncomfortable atmosphere. It was like a crappy restaurant within a mediocre restaurant in general. Not impressed. I won't be back.
(1)
Jeremy K.
This is a happy hour review. I had their "New Manhattan" and two antipasta: meatballs and cheese stuffed peppers. Service: I did not find out there was a happy hour until my bill arrived and my drink was cheaper than expected. Had I known beforehand, I might have drank more. On that note, the bar tender was not engaging with the customers at all and while the bar was full, it was not overwhelmingly busy. Food: my two dishes were fresh and good for the price. Bar atmosphere on a Tuesday evening was not too crowded or noisy. Overall, this is an ok place if you live nearby, but I would not go out of my way to come here. Updated comment 7/20/2015: Bar sucks. Happy hour over at 7 and the atmosphere and drink menu suck
(2)
Peter M.
Easy seating and good service. Leslie (Boom Boom) was very helpful and pleasant, and quick with meeting any of our needs. Now, this is a chain, but we always do the "build your own pasta bowl" - as it makes it a lot easier on the chef and us to get what we want exactly right. So I was happy. However my wife got the Marsala chicken, which she enjoyed, and daughter got Mac n cheese, plus a salad. Everyone was happy, and wife and I enjoyed a good, basic chianti together. Daughter had her "Moo white" so she was happy too. Decor is pretty standard, but I like it. Not too noisy and comfortable, clean. Good for families, adults, or even date nights.
(4)
Telmen E.
Loved the place so much! Servers hostess are very very nice. Tried the Chianti Porkchop it was the most delicious porkchop I've ever tasted and i asked the server (her name was Karen or Erin cant remember well) what sauces does it have in the dish it turns out she was very well knowledgable. Coming back for the porkchop for sure!!!
(5)
Edward C.
They spit on your food. Do yourself a favor: read my review, read everyone else's review on this place, and never step foot in here. We arrived at 2:30 pm on 1/4/2015. We were seated relatively promptly in a mostly empty dining area, and then that was the end of any semblance of service. By 2:45 pm, not a single soul had come to greet us, offer water, give a customary sales pitch on the house wine, or offer bread. Literally nothing happened. Multiple servers looked through us and carried on as if we did not exist. After twiddling our thumbs for long enough, I brought this situation to the attention of the host, who quickly (as if routinely?) referred me to the manager. After telling the manager that nobody has helped us since we were sat 15 minutes ago, he immediately pulled the host aside for a private scolding and then only grunted to me, "someone will help you." That's it. No apologies. No condolences. Nothing to try to rectify the situation. He just turned his attention back to standing in the kitchen area. I helped myself back to my seat. Odd. OK. So I'm back in my seat. A few minutes pass, and a lady server from a nearby section comes by and clearly explains TWICE to us that she was not our server, but she was told to get us started. So she said she'll go ahead and bring us bread and water. Well, guess what she did? Neither. Thumb twiddling continues. A few minutes later, what appears to be our server finally arrives, tries to hide the fact that he clearly just got scolded by the manager, and proudly writes his name on the table in crayon: Brysen. Then, he went to the kitchen and took an odd, hidden route back to our table. He was holding a plate with bread, and he studied and studied the bread intently as he slowly turns the corner to our table. It was obvious why: our bread clearly had a fresh, big splotch of warm, bubbly, gooey, phlegmy spit right across the top...compliments of Brysen. And he was admiring his work of spit art. Yay. When I called him back and played dumb asking what was on the bread, he says "oh, um, that must be olive oil?" HA! I set the bread aside. Since we weren't offered their house wine, we gave our order against my good judgement. Poor confused Brysen, though, struggled to take down two orders. After seemingly stumping him by our orders, he hesitated, asked if we wanted any salad (we declined) and then was off on his way. The food, if you care still? Disgusting. Greasy. Tasteless. Clumpy. But, nothing in this review should be shocking, given the dozens of other reviews saying the same thing. Let me put it this way... if you aren't already scared away from this place after reading all of the reviews about this place, well, good luck in life. Otherwise, for your own health and sanity, stay far, far, FAR away!
(1)
Jo W.
Leslie Boom Boom is an asset to your establishment! After reading the reviews, I was bummed my friend wanted to visit for dinner. I know the founding family from Texas and have eaten in the original, non chain restaurant so seriously was not even planning on ordering anything other than dessert and coffee...... enter Leslie Boom Boom!! Wonderful personality and made the BEST suggestions! I ordered an Italian soda but they were out of a certain flavor so he made me a "boom boom soda", ubber yum! Our food came out quickly and was AMAZING! I had salmon and my friend the lobster ravioli BOTH I would have a hard time choosing between! I'm excited to go back and try the express dinners! Thank you folks for the wonderful food and dinning atmosphere! See you SOON!
(5)
Dave T.
I know a 1 star rating is harsh but my wife and I were very underwhelmed and actually disappointed. The last time we made a visit to this restaurant was approximately 2-3 years ago and after this most recent visit we remembered why. We came on a Friday night at approximately 8pm, clearly not busy with tables visibly open but we still had to wait 10 minutes to be seated. We ordered mama's trio and the butternut squash special. My wife was about halfway through until she stopped. She did not like the cream sauce at all. The mama's trio consisted of a bolognese, chicken parm, and lasagna. Chicken parm was average at best. Bolognese, eh. And the lasagna. Should be something an Italian restaurant perfects since it's considered a staple in Italian cuisine but it was just bad. Lack of flavor and everything was like mush. Neither of us finished our meal. Service was not too great either. I'd like to think we are pretty patient people but after waiting a good amount of time to receive our check, our check was never collected to be charged. After waiting we had to ask another service member to assist us and our original server came back to us and admittedly stated they forgot and thought they took care of us already. Just not a fan.
(1)
Victor M.
Their new change of menu changed my mind for MAcaroni Grille. Their Romano pizza is as good as having it in Venice. I've tried it in Venice as well. This is going to be my new go to Italian place.
(5)
Kyle S.
(Doesn't even deserve one star) Recently visited the Chantilly and stayed at the Westfield Marriott (great hotel). My gf and I were in the mood for Italian food and couldn't really find any other options besides this place which was a major mistake. Let's get right to the point. The service at this place was terrible. Upon being seated we were given empty glasses with no ice and a bottle of what I presume was filtered water that wasn't really cold. It took about another 5 minutes to get cups of ice and the place wasn't even busy. I order the chicken parm, it was disgusting. I could immediately tell that the piece of chicken was not fresh and was microwaved. Also the sauce tastes like Sh$&! I am pretty sure it was Ragu! Save your money and go to Chipotle or anywhere else!
(1)
Katie W.
Parmesan crusted chicken, chicken Parmesan and mushroom ravioli are to die for! Not to mention their Rosemary thyme bread. Comforting on a cold winters night!
(5)
Michelle M.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we got seated and we ordered our food. And in a matter of 5 minutes our food came out and it looked like it has been sitting out for and hour but they just heated it up. So when we started eating, the food was cold and the pasta was hard and not fully cooked. We asked the waiter to bring us a fresh one but he brought back the same one just reheated. We were extremely disappointed.
(1)
Jin J.
I have to say.. this place serves the worst pasta sauce ever! I'm normally not picky at all when it comes to pastas but this time.. I couldn't even finish my pesto sauce. Not sure if I would ever go there again. I rather just go to the near by Olive Garden instead.
(1)
Stephanie K.
Not going back. I used to love Macaroni Grill as a kid, so either it's gone seriously downhill or I just had no idea what I was eating when I was 9 years old. It looks like they've tried to recreate their menu with new and more sophisticated dishes. But change without direction never yields the right results. We started with macaroni and cheese bites (the only reason this place is getting 2 stars, not 1). They were a yummy (albeit heavy) take on traditional macaroni and cheese. Then we had the shrimp, cannelini bean and avocado crostini. Cannelini bean aplenty but there was one little piece of shrimp in each crostini and while I think I spotted a minuscule piece of avocado, I certainly didn't taste any. For the main entree, I had the grilled shrimp spiedini. It's two skewers of shrimp, each skewer had three pieces of shrimp. The shrimp on one of the skewers came out gray--it was clearly undercooked. And yet my waiter assured me it should be like that. Service was generally lacking. Waiters are no where to be found when you need your water glass refilled or are ready for them to take the check.
(2)
Brady S.
It's not often that I am so disappointed with a restaurant that I can't wait to make it out of the place to start complaining. Last nights dining experience had the triple threat 1) food was bad 2) servers were rude 3) and the check took FOREVER to get to our table and have the check paid. For an Italian restaurant one would think that pasta shouldn't be an obstacle right? Apparently not in this case. The pasta was over done and sticking together and the sauce was barely there and bland. The other dishes that we got were also lack luster and far from satisfied the "authentic" Italian food fix. And when we brought this to the attention of the waiter, he offered to reties the pasta rather than replace it. At most of the Macaroni Grill locations I have visited the kitchen area is open to the viewing pleasure of the diners. At this location, there is seating along side of the kitchen/expo area, and this is where we were sitting. Our server was very friendly and, though a bit pushy with the top shelf drinks and wines, overall he was fine. HOWEVER there was a server in the expo area that apparently was not happy with the section that she was assigned that night, and was berating two other servers for having a larger sections than hers. She was very loud and unpleasant and completely disrupted our dinner. This continued intermittently throughout the meal. Finally, and the cardinal restaurant sin as far as I'm concerned, when we were finished eating our sub par meal and were thoroughly annoyed with the whiny waitress we asked for our check, and waited another 20 minutes for him to bring it to the table, then another 15 for him to pick it up and run the cards. I asked the hostess for a comment card, but she said that they were out and directed me to the website. I will certainly not be returning to this Macaroni Grill location, possibly none of their locations.
(1)
mary s.
My husband and I went to Macaroni Grill last Sunday night. Why was it empty? what happened to this place? I soon found out. The food was passable but I've had better. I did some research and it looks as if the company has been bought by a crab shack business??? What happened to the Italian atmosphere, the singing waiters, the good food? I used to go there and it was always packed and busy...and the food was tasty. I ordered Mama's trio and it had a funky taste. I decided that it had to be the seasoning...I can make better lasagna. I don't know, I can't go back there again. Do you think they used Old Bay seasoning in the food? BRING BACK THE OLD MACARONI GRILL!!!
(2)
Revani G.
The food here is pretty decent. I think its a little pricey and there isn't much to choose from; what you do get to choose from is pretty delicious though. We had spicy meatballs and some shrimp tapas to start which was tasty, but as you can guess *small*. Next up was fettuccine Alfredo (a mundane choice, i know) and some dish which included chicken, mushrooms, rigatoni, and some amazing sauce. I thought the place was classy till I sat at the table and we had crayons to draw with and then paid 9 dollars for 2 choices of tapas and 12-13 dollars for each entree. Since I was there with my boyfriend we made the most of it and defaced the paper table cloth with writing as it seemed like the only decent thing to do. I've come to this place for wine before, but never for food and the bar area is quite nice. I still say I am confused by the layout which is olive-garden-esque and the paper table cloths. The service was great and any server will refill your water jug despite the fact that they aren't the one that wrote their name on your table like you were at a cheap steak house. Still confused by what happened so I'll give it 3 stars for taste and presentation of food but I am still left confused over the environment.
(3)
Pam C.
What a terrible experience. The poor waiter should find another job, he tried his best but couldn't cope, even though it wasn't busy. I asked for Chardonnay, not quite sure what was served except it was white, not chilled and in a warm glass. I ordered the waiters "favorite" Penne Rustica. It looked and tasted like it had been prepared a week earlier and heated in the microwave, the prawn were flavorless and chewy as was the pasta. The standard of food and service was extremely poor. We will never go back.
(1)
Tom B.
I agree with other posters about the declining quality of their food. This has always been my alternate spot to go to when the nearby Fairfax Gov't. Ctr. gets overcrowded; it's been easier to get a table here. Now I know why. The most recent meal was supposed to be one of their featured meals on their new "summer menu," clams with rigatoni. The pasta was stiff, the sauce bland and the clams looked and tasted like they came out of a can. Should have said something, but didn't. Just probably won't come back. The nearby Fridays is looking better all the time.
(1)
Kino A.
PLACE: This place was packed when I went this past weekend and it looked promising. The wait wasn't that bad so I thought this must be a good place. BACKGROUND: Service was good even while it was soooooooo busy. I went with a friend of mine and they thought we were on a date. The hostess buzzed us and another guy chose our seat, then another guy led us to our seat and pulled the middle of the three chairs. It was an awkward few seconds that looked like several minutes but we chose the other two seats. We all laughed and went along our business. FOOD: I ordered the calamari appetizer and it was decent. The sauce was just some ordinary tasting cocktail sauce? The bread was ordinary tasting garlic bread too and the sauce was just olive oil and pepper, no special spices. I also ordered the lasagna and it was definitely bland. It just tasted like pasta on tomato sauce. I couldn't even taste the ricotta cheese. It looked dry and wasn't moist. usually lasagnas are smothered with cheese all around it, this wasn't. That was seriously the worst lasagna I've ever had. Let's just say I didn't even finish the meal. I forgot what pasta my friend had but she said it was OK. OTHER: I will definitely not flock here anytime soon but I will come try it again and try something else.
(2)
Ryan M.
Last night, in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism, I returned to the Macaroni Grill. In the twelve years I've lived in the area, I'd been twice before, and twice I'd had a mediocre, overpriced meal. "But," I argued with myself, "it's so close to the apartment! And you have a gift card to Maggiano's, but Tyson's feels like a chore at the end of a workday! Surely they've improved. Nothing that terrible could stay open in that spot." I was wrong. If anything, this visit was worse than the previous two. I won't be making this mistake again. My first warning should have been the menu. "Italian tapas?" That's ridiculous, but I understand what they're trying to convey. "Italian nachos?" Tortilla chips with mozzarella instead of cheddar? Now that's offensive. Italian food is already a marvelously diverse and delicious cuisine; it does not need to be larded down with cast-off ideas from other ethnic traditions. I bit back my distaste, and we ordered an appetizer: Zucchini Fritti. What could be an easier win for the kitchen, especially considering that their sister franchise, Maggiano's, produces a very capable version of the dish? I guess they don't talk to Maggiano's people much, because the zucchini was a disaster. Cut into scraps as thin as paper, rendered translucent by the deep fryer, nothing on that plate tasted like zucchini. It didn't taste like delicious breading, either; what batter there was had mostly flaked off and formed a pile of rubble beneath. It only tasted of oil and a little flour. Liberal application of the salt shaker managed to improve the flavor profile to salty flour, but my wife and I left more than half of the wan vegetables alone. I tried to mop the pool of fry grease on my tongue with a piece of the complimentary ciabatta, but my efforts were in vain. The entire loaf had arrived with an ambiguous oil drizzled on top, leaving it almost too slick to grasp effectively. Past that, the bread was only a moderate success: the flavor of rosemary was overwhelming and unsubtle, and had a smack of the artificial to it. Now I was nervous about the entrees. I'd looked online before we left and the pictures looked appealing, but the terrible fritti left me with doubts. I ordered the mushroom ravioli, and my wife chose the fettucine alfredo. Once more, I felt we would do nothing to challenge the talent of the kitchen staff. Ravioli are easily prepared ahead and dumped into water at the last moment, a marsala cream sauce is simplicity itself, and fettucine alfredo is an Italian-American staple with about four ingredients. A home run on at least one factor is guaranteed! Sadly, it was not to be. My mushroom ravioli were bland and overcooked. No salt had been applied anywhere in the dish, which left only the overwhelming sweetness of cheap marsala and the sad, limp mound of caramelized onions shoved to one side of the plate. To add insult to injury, the cream sauce bore a slick of extra grease like I've only seen on reheated Olive Garden leftovers. If it is possible, the fettucine was even more disppointing, if only because the dish itself is so simple. The alfredo sauce was like lukewarm half-and-half. No salt to be found, no evidence of the rich butter and savory parmesan that should have made up the heart of the dish. Just soggy, overcooked pasta and some thin cream. My wife ate about a third of the dish, and she's pregnant. After the embarrassing display we'd been subjected to, my wife and I eyed the dessert menu skeptically. With hesitation, I guessed that virtually all the items on the dessert menu would have been prepared elsewhere, by competent cooks, and sent here frozen. The kitchen couldn't possibly fail to defrost a cake. Impossible. She, a traditionalist, ordered the New York style cheesecake. I, more interested in self-preservation, ordered the dark chocolate gelato. They wouldn't even have to defrost it! Nothing could go wrong. What a mess this dessert was. My gelato had the thin layer of hoarfrost indicative of a dish that had been scooped yesterday and left in a freezer overnight. One of my three scoops was almost completely hollow. The bottom hemisphere of each scoop had contracted a crunchy layer of ice that ruined the velvety texture of a gelato. Even with all that, the gelato itself was terrible. None of the rich bittersweetness of dark chocolate was to be found; the flavor was indistinguishable from cheap, watery chocolate ice cream available at worse grocery stores. I ate half of a scoop and pushed it away. Though not a fan of cheesecake, I had to see if we'd at least been served one acceptable dish. We had not. The filling was dry and mealy. To be fair, my wife said that the first part of the cheesecake was better, and it only fell apart toward the crust. I'll take her word for it, but even so, it was a dire representative of the species. I don't know if our experience represents every Macaroni Grill everywhere, but I don't think we'll be eager to find out. Avoid.
(1)
Chae W.
A group of friends and I came here for a dinner before an event, and I had never been here in the past. If I had, I probably would have refused to come. I ordered the mushroom ravioli and was very unsatisfied. There was quite a bit of waiting, which was completely understandable since there were many other big groups at the time, but the food was not worth it. The ravioli noodles were overcooked and pretty much tasteless... No distinct mushroom flavor or anything, really. Overcooked noodles + bland = NOT a good combination. Ick. The sauce was really thin and watery. My bill also had an 18% tip added on automatically, when my waiter had pretty much done nothing except give me a refill on my Dr. Pepper (which they didn't have, by the way, had to give me Pepsi instead) which I wouldn't have minded had the food been worth it. I almost feel like I got ripped off instead. On top of that, the waiter seemed reaaallly reluctant to give us all our change. Didn't want to go ALL THE WAY to the front to get some measly change for us, I suppose. Won't be coming back, ever.
(1)
Min A.
Do not sit with CRYSTAL!!!! My family ate here on my son's birthday, the server, Crystal was so rude and made the nastiest faces when we would tell her our order. She acted like she had better things to do and we were just annoying her. The food had good flavor but half of it was ice cold. We waited forever for our food and it made me think she just didn't want to bring it to us. If the food had been hot this would have been a worth while expenditure. I wanted to talk to a manager, but my husband held me back because it was our son's birthday, but by the end of the meal I was irate. I didn't want our food complementary I just wanted the manager to know Crystal's service was aweful at best. Right as we were about to leave Crystal came and took the check, after we had signed it, which is so rude and then looked at the tip gave us all a dirty look because she thought she deserved better and stormed off. She then stood right in our way as we were trying to leave... and didn't move so I took the liberty to move her out of the way and and continue to push her so my son could pass she then stepped back into the way of my husband and my father in law who, said excuse me and she did not acknowledge them so they squeezed by. Unless I hear of a good server at Macaroni Grill and know their name I will not eat here again!
(1)
Dave A.
First a disclaimer: I haven't been there in probably over a year. I see a lot of recent very bad reviews, so maybe it has gone downhill. I'll try to visit it sometime soon and update this review, which is based on how it was three-plus years ago, when we went there fairly often. Upsides: great food, good service, reasonable prices. Downside: can be a looong wait to get a table on a busy night, even if you use the call-ahead line.
(4)
PitBull D.
Generally, I avoid chains, but Romano's Macaroni Grill usually does not disappoint. This time, it didn't disappoint either. We came for lunch. Menu prices actually are the same for lunch and dinner except they may have just a couple of specials, like two or three. We hadn't been to any Macaroni Grill in a while because we moved in December 2010 and there are none where we live in WV. Not too busy today at 11:45 AM, and Jen was our waitress. Standard service. I happen to notice most of the other comments are about the service, and little is said about the food. We had the stuffed mushoom (with crabmeat) appetizer and it was outstanding ($8.99). Probably their best offering on the appetizer menu. Gets 5* from me for taste, preparation, and presentation. There was a "wood fired" crisp on the top that was nice, and the EIGHT mushrooms (medium-sized) were overstuffed with real crabmeat, no discernable filler. One other commenter said his serving was still partially frozen. If these were previously frozen, I could not tell. Wife had the grilled shrimp on a skewer with grilled veggies, and she raved about it ($13.99) Another 5* I had the spinach salad with with scallops ($13.99). The spinach was very fresh and lightly cooked. The scallops were grilled and done just right. There was strong overpowering vinegar throughout...taking this down to 3* I asked if I order this in the future could I ask for the vinegar (a balsamic) to come on the side so I can add to my taste, and Jen said Yes. So that's still on my list for the future. I am not one to send a plate back to the kitchen that appears to be prepared "as advertised" on the menu, nor to penalize the wait staff because they didn't have anything to do with the preparation. So for those three items, some complimentary ciabatta bread (hot and fresh-baked) with "Italian butter" (extra virgin olive oil and cracked pepper), NO drinks (except ice water) or any other sides or dessert, the total came to $38.82 with tax. I tipped 15% for service, that met expectations, or 3* I consider this A LOT to spend for two relatively light lunches, so I will keep this in mind next time I consider Romano's Macaroni Grill. So two 3* and two 5* averages to my overall evaluation of 4*
(4)
John K.
I forgot how good Macaroni Grill is. It used to be the "hot spot" for when you were in high school. You know, when you wanted to impress your date, but now that I'm a grown up, the prices are really reasonable for the dishes that they offer ($10-17). I love the warm bread that they bring out that you dip in olive oil and freshly ground pepper. It's my second favorite free bread next to the cheese biscuits from Red Lobster. And you know how good those are.... My go to dishes are the: Penne Rustica Fettuccine Alfredo Lasagna Al Forno Spaghetti and Bolognese GF ordered the Beef Rigatoni - not that great. Beef was blehh and chewy, and the sauce didn't taste that great.
(3)
Alexa C.
A step up from the Olive Garden, but this wouldn't be a favorite place for me. I ate at their bar on a Friday night, it was a busy night for them obviously, but the staff at the bar was friendly and took care of us despite making drinks and pulling extra wait shifts on tables. Their gluten free menu had to be printed off for me, as they don't have on on hand, and I then had to compare it to the regular menu, as it had listings, but no descriptions. The food was good, I love a good cream based pasta dish, who doesn't? It was on the salty side though as well. The glass of Riesling I had was absolutely delicious and perfectly sweet!
(3)
A. S.
Had a really good experience here last Friday night. It was the first time I'd been to a Macaroni Grill in 2 years. As far as Italian chain restaurants go, I used to think Olive Garden was better, because they give you unlimited salad and breadsticks with your meal, and also because they have cheese ravioli on the menu, which I love, and Macaroni Grill for some reason doesn't offer. But after having enough cloyingly sweet over-sauced pastas at Olive Garden and a really delicious chicken cannelloni at Macaroni Grill, I have to put Macaroni Grill on top. So, as I said, the chicken canelloni is great. The fried mozzarella and arrabiata sauce appetizer was also good, and the complimentary bread was fresh and hot. The create-your-own pasta has dwindled in options since last we were there (e.g., no more artichoke hearts), but at least you can get arrabiata sauce, which is nowhere to be found at Olive Garden. Service was good. I ordered an amaretto sour from the bar which came to me tasting like 100% sour mix, and the waiter was pleasant enough about taking it back and bringing me a second (very good) drink. They also have flavored iced teas, and the mango flavor is awesome.
(4)
AL K.
The reinvented menu is a delight! a must try! ambiance and service is excellent! good for family and large groups.
(4)
Saurabh G.
I am really a fan of this location of Macaroni Grill, and have been dining here pretty regularly since the beginning of 2008. It is a chain restaurant, so reviewing the food at this location would be like reviewing all the other Macaroni Grills at the same time. In terms of location, this is at a pretty good location. Browsing through the bookshelf at the nearby Barnes and Noble takes its toll, leaving you hungry. Luckily, this restaurant is right around the corner! I am also a fan of the positive attitude of the staff here. I have always been greeted with smiling faces and quick service. Granted, it gets very very busy during the weekend evenings, but it's upto you to be cognizant of the fact and not expect someone catering to just your needs. Food is pretty good for what you pay, and offers just the type of upscaleness that you would expect on a cheap(er) date. If you're nice, the server will even arrange for a custom-made pasta/pizza dish from the kitchen, like he did for us last night. The house red wine is pretty decent, and I like the mini bar area with the HDTV. Oh yeah, the rosemary bread - wish they would put it on the takeout menu! Or, maybe they do...I need to go back and ask...it's that good! Try it.
(4)
John P.
Absolutely horrible. The service was terrible, AND the food was terrible. This is why they get one star. And now to the details. Admittedly, we had a large party. 9 people..... Two waitresses, both of whom we are sure had hearing problems... Stuffed mushroom app comes out STILL frozen in the middle...although full disclosure, the Manager did come out and apologize twice. We returned two mushroom apps and received one, very very hot one in return. The food was so so. It was greasy and unappealing. I had the Shrimp Portofino, and it made me want to Shrimp porto vomito. COVERED in spinach or arugula or some overcooked nasty greasy dark green obscuring the decently cooked shrimp. The lemon butter sauce was gross. Probably not going back...
(1)
Harvey E.
I thought I liked Macaroni Grill, but this time it was okay. We went because they sent me a coupon for a free piece of chocolate cake for my birthday. We ordered the Pasta e Fagioli soup, which was brownish, not red, which I'm guessing was a bean base not a tomato base. I ordered lasagne and I forget what my wife ordered but we both thought it did not, "wow" us. Finally, the comped cake. In prior years we got a whole piece of cake, enough to share for two and even three. This time we got half of that piece of cake, not even enough for one. That was the final disappointment. Maybe it was this location (we usually go to the Kingstowne location), in any event, we most likely will not return to this one.
(2)
Justin C.
My server was Crystal. Appetizers and food came out at a reasonable time. It was hard to get a hold of our server because it seems like she always had something better to do. Not sure if she just didn't like us or her boss was making her do alot of other back of the house duties but regardless the service was slow, food was OK, price was alright. I find that it is difficult to find a VA restaurant with excellent service equal to an average nobody restaurant in Austin TX... so from now on I will lower my standards a bit when I visit VA and grade them on a curve.
(3)
Duane S.
Romano's Macaroni Grill used to be one of my favorite chain restaurants. Their food has sadly gone downhill in the past couple years. I ordered a dish and had hardly any chicken in it. The server brought me some extra chicken, but I shouldn't have had to ask for it. It just seems they are cutting corners every which way in quality to save some money.
(2)
Jeannie R.
I was very disappointed. The service was terrible. She took our drink orders, brought them, then took forever to tell us about the specials and take our orders. She brought my fathers's martini with a lemon twist. I commented about the lack of olives and she said dry martinis always come with lemon (in what country?). We ordered the olive appetizer and she said they were all out of them. (Due to a dispute with their olive providers.) I guess that's why my dad didn't get any in his martini. My dad's pasta was not cooked enough. My lobster ravioli was salty and the lobster was overcooked. My niece thought the cheese on her pepperoni pizza tasted strange. They never refilled our water and my wine was gone. We had to ask for someone to fill our water. By then I was almost finished so didn't pursue getting a wine refill. Our waiter apologized once and said they were understaffed by two people, but many times we saw workers standing around doing nothing. In conclusion, I will never be returning to this Fairfax Macaroni Grill - not sure about any others.
(1)
Kevin J.
A strong 3 I have been here twice recently and the food was good both times. The first time I came back here the service was delivering the wrong foods to the wrong tables all around us. We could hear people complaining among themselves about how terrible everything was. We got the wrong food too, but our waiter took care of us. We came back the next weekend and the service was improved. I would go back and I would recommend, its one of the better Italian chains around.
(3)
Amy P.
Abysmal. Disappointing. Unprofessional. There are so many choice adjectives to describe the experiences I've had at this location of Macaroni Grill. The kicker- food is actually good! Management and service deserves negative stars. Tonight I walked in around 7:45pm and though moderately busy there were a number of tables unoccupied. I waited at the host stand for a good minute and a half before being acknowledged by anyone and when a waitress finally came to greet us. We asked to not be seated by the one table near the door (three empty tables were available in the in the middle of the restaurant) and the hostess had the balls to tell us that it would be a 15-20 minute wait. We asked why we couldnt have any of the other three open tables and she said I can't just sit you anywhere, the servers have sections... blah blah blah LAME. On a previous visit to this same location I was seated in a no-mans land and three servers literally argued in front of my table about which section I was sitting in and who was serving me.. THEN my appetizer came out two minutes before my entree. When I brought this to a manager they gave me a measley $5 off. Suffice to say I will NEVER AGAIN waste my time or money with the Fair Lakes Macaroni Grill.
(1)
Chris B.
Mediocre. The service is polite but slow. Foods comes out slowly. The bread is blander than it used to be. The new menu is ok, but a lot of mixed stuff. The place seems to be on a downward trend.
(2)
Cari B.
Be weary of what they say the wait is for a table. We were there at 7:15pm on a Saturday, yes, a busy time. They said 30 minutes, it ended up being an hour. This is very frustrating with three kids in tow. Had they told us the truth we would have went elsewhere. Service: our 'easy on the eyes,' Brad Pitt look alike waiter (shh... don't tell my husband I said that) was very apologetic and accommodating and he got our food out quickly. Things are looking up. Food: Two of my children ordered a slight variation of something on the kids menu - simply penne with butter. They were disappointed for when it came there were only about 12 penne's in the bowl. I ordered the capellini pomodoro. It was tasty but the pasta could have been more el dente. My husband ordered a steak. It was juicy and a good size portion but nothing to write home about. My older son ordered the chicken parm. That was actually very good and he ate every last bit. But what teenage boy wouldn't? Another reviewer mentioned the meal was fairly priced but I have to disagree. No salads included, (a few $ extra) just bread provided and our entree's were $11-$18 each. I would expect more. At least at Olive Garden which has the same quality, you get a salad. If it's your Birthday-the blonde hostess was singing Happy Birthday in Italian with her lovely operatic voice. Nice touch. We had fun imitating her on the car ride home.
(2)
C S.
As I have said previously, the Missus and I do like our Italian forays. The place we tend to call "home" would have to be the Macaroni Grille in Fairfax. We have eaten there quite a number of times over the last couple years and keep coming back. Not so much for the service, but for the food. I do like good service, and I'd say that this restaurant does have good service. But does it have great service? Service that goes one notch beyond good? No, not really, but it's never been bad. And that's got to be worth something, right? We do like coming there for the food, however. I pretty much always order the lasagna and get a heaping, steaming brick of the stuff every time. It is always spectacular. For an appetizer we like to get the tomato brochette if only for the mound of yummy cherry tomatoes that come in the bowl. Bear T Sr., when visiting, digs the Caesar salad and filet mignon dinner. It's just enough food for his slight senior appetite. They offer outdoor dining in the summer, something the Missus and I are always looking for in a restaurant, which is adequate but not great. It's right next to Monument Dr. and there is a lot of noisy traffic that goes by. Also, at the height of summer, the flies get to be a bit much. A little more pest control would be nice. Indoors is nice in the winter. They have the novel butcher paper table coverings and crayons the wait staff uses to write their name and your order on the table with. I've also been known to do a doodle or two while waiting. The usual stuff, hearts with "Me + the Missus =" messages written in the middle. That's what all of you do, right? So the food is great, and why we come back. The service is adequate but not disappointing. I'd recommend this place for a family evening or just a couple who enjoy drawing silly stuff on the tablecloth.
(3)
Wendy H.
Hadn't been to Macaroni Grill in a while, so figured give it a try again. The bread was delicious. We had a great waiter also. I had the chicken scalopini-it was delicious. But the best part of the whole meal was the chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce. It is FANTASTIC!
(5)
Gurkie C.
I used to like this place... They had their make your own pasta thing, which they still have but they have trimmed down the options and upped the price on it. And there eggplant parm was good as was the house salad. But then there Mac Grill made it on that list of unhealthy places to eat and everything started to change... They added all sorts of Mediterranean dishes, none of which have really appealed to me, but that is irrelevant. The important part is that first they changed the salad, what used to be one of the reasons I would pick Mac Grill over OG was now gone... And then they changed their eggplant parm recipe what I used to enjoy became a bit... well yuck. So I have left the Mac Grill camp and am now going to OG for my chain Italian food, although I like Carrabas too, unfortunately that isn't as close to me.
(2)
Cindy B.
We go here regularly and like the food and service. My favorite dish has become the Pollo Magro, grilled chicken with a honey balsamic glaze and asparagus and broccoli. If you order it on the Trio menu you get salad and dessert for 12.99. My husband's favorite dish is the Chicken Marsala. Save room for dessert, their lemon and chocolate cakes are also super yummy!
(4)
Ellen T.
What happened to this place? I used to love Macaroni Grill and tonight has definitely changed my perception. My friends and I will never come back here. First of all, they changed half the menu, especially the appetizers. I understand restaurants change them every now and then but it was drastic enough that their spaghetti and meatballs were different. They are going to stop serving flavored teas so they couldn't make their blackberry mint tea and made whatever they could with their remaining stock of flavored syrups. The desserts that we were familiar with are completely changed. The tiramisu which was once one nice big slice is now in a small dish accompanied with two stale, rock-hard "lady fingers." The cannolis were terrible. I would've rated them a 4 or 5 just a few months ago but this latest experience was just that disappointing.
(1)
Erin G.
I have never been to a Macaroni Grille before, I would say it is an Olive Garden Plus, the plus being that you don't have to wait 4 hours for a table. Stupid Olive Garden why do people love you?! It was 7PM on a Wednesday when we went in for dinner and had absolutely no wait. Our server was Travis, who helpfully wrote his name in crayon on our table. My mother thought he wrote "bacon" and was excited until I translated. Anyway, we both ordered a pretty bland pinot grigio by the glass and when we saw they had filet of sole on the menu we were dinner twins because we are sole fanatics. As in, if my mother suspects she has been served an alternate fish she starts throwing fists and the police have to be called. The meal was Parmesan Crusted Sole with Spinach Orzo Salad for $14.79. We waited quite a while for that to arrive but were sufficiently distracted by the mini loaf of rosemary bread and EVOO that arrived to placate us. The meal was enormous, EASILY 2 people could eat one dinner. there were 2 huge filets of sole on each plate and a mountain of orzo salad. We definitely took home half of our dinners for next day's lunch. I have a sneaking suspicion that the sole was really flounder because it was so large, sole usually is a small fish but my mother thought the consistency and weight was in line with sole and didn't fly into a rage. whew. I thought the sole reheated well in the microwave too, but the crust part was a little soggy.
(4)
Bryan N.
I love the chain, but this location was pretty bad. The place was pretty empty when got there (about 5pm). We were seated pretty quickly, then the wait began. it was about 10 min before drinks arrived and we put in our food order. The wait on the food (which wasn't hot) was about 40 min. I'm not saying this is typical for this location. It was my first time in there. But I won't be back either, so beware.
(2)
Beth D.
Went there today for lunch because I was given gift card by my mom so my husband and I could enjoy an nice meal out. I ordered Grilled Shrimp Spiedini and it was not edible at all - the shrimp were so overcooked that it was like eating rubber, the grilled veggies were so overcooked it was like eating baby food, and the roasted potatoes were done on the outside and completely uncooked inside. I told the waiter, and he offered to get me something else. I then ordered the margherita pizza, and it was not any better - the tomatoes were sliced so thin that they turned to mush in the oven, and it had zero flavor. I was not even offered an apology, let alone some sort of compensation for my inconvenience. I was charged for everything that we ordered. Also let me add, the service was horrific - not even a full restaurant and they could not keep up with the few tables that were there. When we arrived, we were told that there was a 5-10 minute wait - there were more empty tables than full. While I was waiting, I got to observe the manager and a waitress arguing about a problem in front of everyone. Once we were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant, since we did not know what we wanted right away, it took almost 15 minutes for our waiter to come back and take our order. Then we had to wait 20 minutes for bread, but it was hot from oven once we got it. We had to listen to the waitress complain to another table about how exhausted she was because it was so busy. There are better places to eat than this, fins some place else to spend your hard earned money at.
(1)
Jane R.
I went here once a long time ago and never went back because of a bad experience. We waited over an hour for our food. We complained to the manager who was apologetic but when we FINALLY got our food, it was crap. They didn't charge us because of the wait but the food did not taste good at all. If you're going to try and redeem yourself, atleast WOW us with the food.
(1)
Aaron B.
I was very disappointed about my experience at this location. The server took about 10 minutes just to get to our table and take our drink orders. He seemed a little less that enthused about being there, but hey everyone has had a bad day at work. We were seated next to the kitchen area and had the pleasure of hearing all the severs complain, fight with each other and curse at each other while waiting for their tables orders. If you know that there are customers 3 feet away from you should probably watch what you say. Our food took a very long time to get to our table but it was a busy night so it was excusable. When it did arrive i was fairly disappointed by the fact that my pasta was just barely warm. it was also all suck together in large clumps like when you leave it in the pot too long. instead of sending it back i decided to just eat it because i did not want to wait even longer to eat. I am really not a picky person but i was very disappointed with this place. The food was not worth the price, the service was terrible, and the fact that we had to wait a long time for this sub par service was what really did it though. This place really was terrible.
(1)
Brent D.
We were a large group (18 people). Reservation at 7pm (were seated at 7:35), drinks came at 8, they took our order at 8:30, and food came around 9:10. My and my fiancee's pizzas were cold (they took care of it and made us new pizza's), but in the end... we ate at 9:30 when the reservation was at 7pm. Oh... and all the checks were wrong. This place was really bad tonight.
(1)
tina y.
do not order the fresh pasta items! a few months ago, my husband and I ordered dinner to go and I ordered one of their new fresh pasta dishes with seafood. I couldn't eat it. they pasta was clumped together and wouldn't separate. they sauce slid off the noodles and the noodles were very thick and chalky. I called to see if maybe the kitchen overcooked the noodles b/c I know fresh pasta isn't supposed to taste like that. the person who answered said they were supposed to be that way. okay?? not sure how he likes his pasta but I like it to be absorbed by the sauce and smooth and edible! I spoke with the mgr who agreed that it shouldn't have been that way so he said he would refund my husband's credit card and send us vouchers to dine at the restaurant. wow that's great service! a few months later, we still haven't gotten those vouchers and my husband said he never saw the credit back on his card. oh well. we'll never go back to mac grill.
(1)
Charlene B.
The worst food i have had in 5 years! when we ordered the food it only took 5 min for them to bring out the food which was odd it only took that long. The food was bad. i got the macaroni i have had it before. but the first time they brought my food out there was no cheese. so they took it back and gave me a new one and the pasta was burned. the waiter was great but food............. :~( .......... i will never go Aegean!!!!!!!!!!!
(1)
CYNTHIA C.
I've always been a fan of Romano's Macaroni Grill but this Fairfax location was a complete disappointment. I never got around to the food because from the time I was seated, not one waiter came over after sitting there for at least 5 minutes. The wait staff needs a lesson on etiquette because at least 4 waiters passed by me...saying nothing. So I asked the hostess if there was a waiter assigned....she said "yes"...told the manager...blah blah blah. Manager apologized and said he'd get someone to help me right away. I ended up leaving. The experience had already aggravated me to the point I didn't want to waste a cent there.
(1)
Daniel H.
Had good & bad here, try Cantina D'Italia instead, right up the street, never had to wait (Macaroni Grill can get pretty backed up).
(2)
Josh Y.
Food here is getting more expensive, We used to have to wait or call ahead. Now, just walk right in. No wonder they have to give out coupons more often now. I also wonder they have to re-train our waiter. We needed more time to read through the menu, he got impatient. He was getting too lazy in serving salad and almost threw my salad to me instead of walking over to my side and gave me salady. No fresh ground black pepper was offered. My mixed green salad was drawn in a big body of dressing. My friends' salad literally did not have dressing. He came over asking about our entrees right after we got them. We did not even have time to take a look at our entrees yet. How were were supposed to know how our entrees were? Then we never saw him again until we were waiting for our check.
(2)
Aly P.
Doesnt even deserve a star! This place is disgusting and pitiful. They can never redeem themselves. They hit new lows. I went in a few years ago and ordered mac n cheese. Wrong choice. The cheese had bugs in it, it tasted like it was days old and the macaroni was still hard! The service sucks. My moms food was overcooked, my dads was barely cooked and my brothers...well he didnt even get his! They forgot his order! I asked to see the manager and the server said (exact words) " Why, so you can complain about me to him? Sit down and eat your food!". OMFG are you kidding me?! Who the f do you think you are lady?! I told her to EFF off and went to talk to the manager and explained everything to him, and about what the server said....and my family wasnt the only one that heard her say that, 3 other tables did! And they complained about her and were my witness. The manager pitifully apologized, and fired the server right on the spot. He seemed embarassed, good! He didnt charge us for our meal since we barely touched it and offered a free meal next time..my response- "Are you kidding me?! No way." I refuse to ever go back to that place.
(1)
Stephani K.
Went there for lunch with a girlfriend. Sat in a booth. Still the place was a bit loud and the service a little slow despite a nearly empty restaurant due to the time we went ... 11:00 am. At any rate, there food was delicious! The kids love their rosemary bread that's served with olive oil dipping oil during every meal. I had the artichoke cakes that was topped with a delicate cream sauce in a addition to a marinara sauce. The kid's menu cheese pizza was ENORMOUS and could have easily served two 5 years old -- little did we know!
(4)
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Address :12169 Fair Lakes Promenade Dr.
Fairfax, VA, 22033
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : No Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes 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.
Sogol G.
Oh GoD! The food at this place is awful. They really have to step their game up! The only reason that they get 2 starts from me is only because of the service, otherwise I would give them a 0 if it was possible!
(2)Amy B.
We go here often due to the fact that its close to our house, and we get alot of coupons..Its a chain Italian restaurant that is a step above Olive Garden. I usually get the create your own pasta, and have gotten the mama's trio several times also. It usually does not disspapoint and the service is always pretty good. If your in the mood for italian and dont mind a chain, id recommend it.
(3)A J.
The service is not the best and the food is nothing special. I did not care for this place.
(2)Kathryn R.
The food is good, that is not the complaint. The service is spotty at best, but the big issue is the dirtiness of the kitchen area. Yuck!
(1)Melissa D.
My boyfriend and I were driving towards Fairfax 14 and the sign on the front caught our attention; $7.99 lunches! We said YUUUP! As we approached it said "under 7 minutes or it's free" so this sounds like an awesome place to eat on your hour long lunch break. We both ordered a glass of the house red; it was too sweet for our taste so we switched to a bottle of 14 Hands red- love this wine. I love bread while you wait- I know some people think it's not cute to stuff yourself with pre-dinner bread but I don't care- the combo of warm buttery bread with the olive oil and salt and pepper was so good we got 2 loafs. We both opted for the 3 course meal for $10; the first course was a little fried cheese triangle with marinara- pretty tasty, the second was a decent sized ceasar salad- nom, and the third course- I got the three cheese ravioli which was amazing, he got the gorgonzola fettuccine and it was also delicious..we were surprised at how large the main dish was- they were both very very yummy. We left extremely fully and happy; we will definitely be back!
(4)Mark B.
I'm writing to give credit where credit is due. Maybe it's not cool to eat at a chain Italian restaurant, but we just had a delicious meal with great service at a reasonable price. I'm an Italian who knows how to cook and I'm proud to write this review.
(5)William C.
This place sucks. Food was cold and terrible. When the waitress asked "how is everything?" I said the food is cold and my pizza is burnt and asked where is the cheese on my pizza???. She smiled said awe I'm sorry and walked away! Bad service! On a positive note my date and I think they have the best ice water!
(1)Bob V.
Used to be one of my favorite restaurants but not any more... Seems to have really gone down hill like many other chain restaurants over the past few years in Northern Virginia. I arrived with my party of 4 around 8:30 pm and was seated outside relatively quickly. Service by two different servers was confusing the entire evening. Servers were not professional. Server #1 was nonchalant and server #2 was a smart ass, making stupid joking comments each time he visited our table, in between flirting with a nearby table of overly tatooed Jerry Springer girls. Had to request bread 3 times and it finally arrived after about 15 minutes. I usually get the Chicken Marsala dish in past visits but this time it was extremely overcooked, think crispy, and so dry in part because there was very little Marsala sauce to even cover the chicken, mushrooms or capellini pasta. Very disappointing for a dish that used to be so great! The lemon cake dessert was brought out 10 minutes later than the other desserts, and it was frozen, so did not taste right. As mentioned, service was very mediocre, spotty, and almost seemed insulting. I will remember not to come back to this restaurant again.
(2)Jessica K.
I havent' stepped foot into a Macaroni Grill in a very long time. Ever since living in Cali. Suprisingly everything was what I had remembered. The fresh ciabatta bread was still yummy, they still put paper table covers on so that your waiter/waitress can write there name on it and you can doodle all over the paper. I got the Mama's Trio and shared the mac n cheese truffle bites along with a bottle of wine. The Mama's Trio was so much food, I couldn't even finish half of it. I recommend that you share it, my favorite was the lasagna. The mac n cheese truffle bites were to die for! It comes with a truffle sauce which was really good. Overall, dinner was good and it all came out to about $ 35.00 per person, which is good because we did have a bottle of wine :)
(3)Lily W.
We loved our server. His name is Daniel and he really connected well with us. He is the main reason we will come back and why I gave 4 stars instead of 3! However, the food is mediocre. The pasta sauce was bland and some of the leaves in the starter salad were wilted. We were over quoted on the wait time too, so the shortcomings in the food didn't really help. Another thing that was strange was that it was gorgeous outside... But the outdoor seating area was empty and there were trash bags sitting outside on it. This restaurant is a good place to go to if you're looking for a casual dinner but it's not something I would rave about.
(4)Linda C.
I only come here a few times a year, so I was really surprised there was no wait on a Friday evening for dinner. Not that long ago, it seems there would have been at least a 30 minute wait for a table. On this recent Friday night, there were many tables empty and available. So that was a bit of a red flag for me. As others have commented, the menu keeps changing. And yep, there was a whole new menu again. And it seems to get smaller! By now, it's down to a piece of paper with the wine list and drinks on one side, and the food items listed on the other side. More than once, I felt like folding it up to at least make it look like a menu rather than a placemat. They are trying to introduce some upscale menu items but I went with a simpler item, Carmela's Chicken. It was definitely simple. I imagined a 1/4, or maybe even 1/2, of a roast chicken bedded with some delicious noodles wrapped in a delicate wine sauce. What I got was a bowl of noodles, a bit of buttery sauce, and a few pieces of white meat chicken tossed in. The pieces of chicken were actually hard to find! It was flavorful, but I kept thinking I could have gotten something very similar at Noodles & Co., for a much cheaper price. The other big disappointment (big!) is that they have done away with their frozen Bellini!! This is heartbreaking! It was my favorite drink at the Macaroni Grill, and our server even commiserated with me, telling me it was her favorite drink too. How could they get rid of it? She mentioned it had been their best-selling drink, in fact, so what sense does that make? I ended up with the Peach Bellini, hoping it was close, but really....it wasn't. It's just Prosecco (sparkling wine) and a bit of peach puree. Eh. I don't know, MG, personally I am not sure you are headed in the right direction. Skimping on the chicken and taking away my frozen Bellini? Can't say I'll be rushing to come back.
(2)Jim W.
8 PM on Saturday night - not very busy. Food was okay. Service was good. Attentive. BUT, the chocolate cake was a huge disappointment.
(2)Faith C.
I stopped by yesterday (Reston location) and ordered the Bruschetta: grilled ciabatta bread, whipped ricotta, roma tomatoes, garlic, basil, then the Goat Cheese Peppadew Peppers: toasted breadcrumbs & honey balsamic glaze, then the Spicy Sausage & Peppers: italian sausage, calabrian peppers, peppadew peppers. These three items turned out to be my dinner. Also, you can order dinner while sitting at the bar. The house red, Chianti Blend, is a very nice wine...your palate will explode and you'll be wanting more. A bottle (last night) is $15 right now! The "I want to speak Italian" lessons you hear in the restroom crack me up. I'm not sure if it's the same in the men's restroom. The professional bartenders, and overall restaurant has always been a pleasant experience for me.
(5)Mike T.
My wife and I went here for dinner and we had calamari appetizers and both ordered the make your own pasta. I had ziti with roasted garlic, asparagus, and pepper and for an extra $5 had sausage and ricotta meatballs. My wife had spaghetti with roasted everything. They gave us a taste of house wine and we each ordered a glass but it was definitely nothing special. The meals were ok, again nothing special. The waiter forgot to bring the meatballs with my meal and I had to find him to let him know. He also forgot to come by with cheese and I had to once again get up and walk over to get another waiter, this time to get us some cheese. We were unimpressed all around.
(2)Rita B.
We got an email about the new "braisers" on the menu. Looked good and they gave us a BOGO to try one (sign up for the email to get good deals!). We got the brick oven olives, the pork shank braiser and the Mediterranean sea bass. And a half price bottle of wine! The brick oven olives replace the old mixed olive appetizer (which I loved). This version is heated with some garlic slivers, lemon zests and bread crumbs on top. I really loved it and the olive oil at the bottom was garlicky, citrusy and delicious to dip the bread into. The sea bass was lovely - served with an arugula, cannellini bean and tomato salad. It was a light, refreshing and satisfying meal. The pork shank - wow. It was really large. Served with a ton of cremini mushrooms and a wonderful braise sauce. Carrots, celery and potatoes accompanied it with large sprigs of rosemary. It was a perfect autumn dish. We were lucky enough to be in Charlotte's section. She is a great server. Helpful and never pushy. I always ask to be in her section. I know I will have a good time if she is there. I do like the new menu items and thing that Macaroni Grill has taken on a new direction. My compliments!
(4)Aimen H.
Used to be one of my favorit places to have Italian meal. Had dinner there couple of month ago, had to wait for 10 min to find some one to take my order, then the food came Fettuccine Alfredo and it was so dry no sauce, took 10 min to find the waiter who was busy chatting with another waiter to tell him about food is dry. His answer was this is the way it should. So, no more MG. Welcome Carrabba's
(2)Jay M.
Meh, not too impressed. The food was bland (mine) and superfatty and greasy (hubbs). Prices are not justified. Probably won't go back.
(2)Matt R.
Bland, greasy and expensive. I'll stick to the olive!
(2)John M.
My wife and have visited this Macaroni Grill many times before, including about a month ago where it was probably a "3". This visit, on Veterans' Day, rated definitely a "2". They're lucky they're not getting a "1". We walked in and were surprised that at dinner time on a Monday night, even for a holiday, it wasn't very crowded. Our host, Mohssen, turned out to be our server as well. And I think at that moment was when our visit started to go downhill. You're thinking "But they haven't even sat down yet!" If the other restaurants in the area are mysteriously closed and you want some decent Italian, make sure that you don't sit in Mohssen's section. I'm begging you now, for your sake. You'll thank me later. Mohssen showed us to our table, and then offered us the special, which was house wine at half price. We declined. Then he asked us if we wanted to order any appetizers, and again we declined. The reason we had come was because we had a coupon for a free "classic" entree to use that was expiring, and when I told Mohssen that, something changed in him. I think he probably realized that we weren't going to be spending a lot of money, and as such, we didn't deserve much of his time. Before he came back to take our order, he hadn't even asked us if we wanted something else to drink. So he returns to the table and takes our order, during which my wife and I both make a point of ordering soft drinks with our entrees. Mohssen offers us both a salad, and once again we decline. When we declined the salads, he definitely made a sour face, like we had somehow insulted him. So he left, coming back once to bring soft drinks. Mohssen never came back to our table after that unless we flagged him down, which we had to do TWICE. He never asked about drink refills, if wanted more bread, or generally check up on us. NOTHING. Another server brought the food, and he didn't even come by to make sure everything was prepared correctly. He spent most of his time working the other tables near us. All of them were families, and it was clear to us that he was going to make sure they got great service; honestly, I think it was because he knew they would be tipping more. He didn't really seem to care about us one way or another. He even wouldn't walk by our table most of the time; he avoided us by walking through another part of the restaurant to get to the other tables. He seemed to be all smiles for them, but there wasn't a smile for us at all. At least the food was halfway decent. I flagged him down once to get drink refills, and one more time to get a check. Once I asked for the check, he came back to the other tables multiple times--at least four but perhaps more--but it wasn't until he saw my wife putting on her coat that he decided to come back. From the time we asked for the check until the time we received it, it was probably at least 15 minutes. When he finally did arrive, my wife was laughing from the futility of it all, and he asked "Are you ready?" "Ready for what? Can I have my credit card back now?" Then he remembered what was going on and gave me the credit card receipt to sign. D'OH! We couldn't RUN out of there fast enough, ladies and gentlemen. My wife went to the car, but I just couldn't let this one slide. So I spoke to the GM, and told him what happened. He said all the right things, and promised to speak with Mohssen and monitor him more closely. Kudos to him for at least listening with an open mind; he saved this restaurant from getting a "1". I've read many of the reviews for this restaurant and I must agree: The service and food has gone downhill in the past few years. We used to go once a week, and while we moved a little further away, we could go that often if this place was worth it. Sadly, it's not.
(2)Fritz V.
joined their email club and got a coupon by email for two $7 express lunches for the price of one. also took a friend with us and he was allowed to use our coupon also, so he got one express lunch to go with the one he ordered to dine in with us, for $7. this was very late lunch hour, almost 4pm which is the end of the lunch hour. the restaurant was clean, quiet, as the lunch crowd had cleared out mostly. we sat at a table near the lunch counter and were attentively served. our express lunch plates were served promptly, with hot fresh and accurate dishes: i ordered the express lunch ravioli dish, it was great. the wife ordered the spaghetti dish, also great. our friend order the chicken parm dish to dine in, and the caesar salad express to go. he was also happy with the hot food, and he took the salad home, but heard later it was terrific as well. the drinks were served and refilled promptly. the manager also threw in some free pesto and dipping italian rolls. the manager also stated that they can do happy hours for large clubs, as their location and large parking lot can accommodate late afternoon rush hour happy hour parties. next i will report on their two for the price of one express dinner specials that they sent me a coupon for through their email club. best italian for the money in my book, at least for the western suburbs of DC where we live.
(4)Valencia W.
They're slipping. The customer service is really good but damn, the cooks are slippin'. I wanted a Pasta Milano and what I had was something rather unsatisfying. The noodles were hard, I mean like not fully cooked hard. Come on its not that hard. Here look, even I'll go back there and show you how its done. Secondly there was no sauce. It was astonishing how crappily made the dishes were. I expected more and should've been comped for a meal so crappy...but it was raining and I was hungry. Plus, I noticed this once I had gotten all settled back at home and about to watch a Caps game... Needless to say that sucked!
(2)Hangry F.
BLAH! I tried this place for the first time today..probably will be the last time. The waitress was friendly and really tried, but it took her 3 tries to tell us what the Blackboard soup was, we had to ask her twice for several things, and our check total was wrong. We got: The pesto shrimp and avocado crostini: this thing was ginormous; I thought crostinis were on the smaller side. And, there were 2 small bits of shrimp total; and mostly beans; this item is mislabeled. Spicy ricotta meatballs: they tasted ok, but, I do not know where the ricotta was or the spice. Pomodorina soup: just ok; tasted like tomato soup. Bibb & blue salad: again, just ok; I didn't taste any blue, could make just as good or even better salad myself. All in all, I won't be going back anytime soon.. or ever.
(2)Becky C.
I used to love Macaroni grill. I would go there all the time with work associates and always got the chicken ceaser calzonetta. Of course they removed it from the menu, sometimes I could still get it, but now no one even knows what I am talking about because it's been so long. It seems like they constantly change the menu and nothing is ever that great. The last two times I ate there, the food was downright bad. It's such a shame, because I really used to love the food and the atmosphere there. I really have no desire to go there any more. The menus are not original, and the food isn't good, and they charge way too much for the quality of the meal.
(2)Emily A.
I would rate this place mediocre at best. Every time I go here they have a new menu, and it's usually not for the better. I will still never forgive them for removing dessert raviolis from the menu. Those were the best! The drinks were a bit overpriced. I ordered the peach bellini and it was in a champagne glass, as they sometimes are, but it was just sort of small and nothing special. The bread was covered in butter, making it even unhealthier when you go to dunk it in the olive oil, which did not end up being necessary. I ordered the caprese salad to start off, and it was really, really good. I would certainly recommend it. It was sort of two salads. One side of the plate with chunks of mozzarella and red and yellow tomatoes on top of a nicely balsamic-dressed bed of arugula. The other half of the plate had a couple layers of beefsteak tomatoes and mozzarella. I probably could have just eaten that for dinner. I ordered the chicken parm. It was a little boring. I don't have anything particularly bad or good to say about it, but I have to admit, it was sort of a boring thing for me to order to start off. My husband had a lobster ravioli and my friend a mushroom ravioli. Both were pleased. My other friend had the mussels and really enjoyed those as well. The service was nothing to write home about. It was okay the whole time, but the end game was a bit slow when sorting out the check. There was a girl there singing happy birthday to guests in opera-style. It was kind of neat, but it was also sort of strange/awkward for Macaroni Grill. I would have wanted her to go away if she were at my table, but she did sing it pretty well...just sort of out of place for casual Italian dining.
(3)Benjamin L.
The highlight of my dining experience tonight was definitely the dark chocolate gelato. It was pure heavenly bliss... so creamy and luscious. I'm going to be dreaming about it for days to come. As for the main entree I must say that the Pasta Milano was a low scoring number. It had RAW mushrooms in it accompanied by two slim jim pieces of chicken to top it off. I'm a pasta lover, but this dish didn't cut it. How could they mess it up?
(3)Rico Z.
The food and service has gone down hill. Had the Penne Rustica which used to have 3-4 real big nice shrimp the shrimp are 1/2 the size they used to be and the dish itself is small and has lost a lot of it's flavor. The waiter was nice but he should find another line of work.
(2)Christine N.
I used to love Macaroni Grill. What a disappointment it has become. I ate there with my family last night. Number one--the bread is no longer baked fresh. It is just heated up. It has the consistency of the stuff you find in the grocery store in a plastic bag where you heat it in the oven for 5 minutes. Yuck! The open kitchen is now a meaningless show. Nothing is freshly prepared---just removed from the Sysco truck and heated up. The chianti tastes like water. How do you ruin chianti people? It is table wine--it is already cheap! The kids spaghetti portion was lousy also. The spaghetti looked like it was San Giorgio and the sauce was nasty. Our server was surprised when my son asked for Parmesan cheese and had to make a special trip to get it---huh??
(1)Judith L.
I rarely eat Italian food, much less food from an Italian chain. After a night of debating what to eat with a friend, we ended up here. I had never been here before, and did not have extremely high hopes. Got seated in a booth, and all I really remember is having to shine my cell phone on the menu to get a better view of it. Yeah, kind of dark... I got the Mama's Trio since I couldn't decide what the heck I wanted. It included: "Lasagna al Forno, Chicken Parmigiana, and Chicken Cannelloni". The lasagna was just okay. It just seemed like pasta with some tomatoes and chunks of meat: no real depth of flavor like the homemade lasagna my own mother makes from scratch (and she's not even Italian....). The Parmigiana was dry and my least favorite. The Cannelloni was actually pretty good (although that might have to do with eating it after the Parmigiana), and I actually finished it all. Bottom line: I had leftovers, but after opening them up at home and picking at them for a few minutes, I just threw them away. Which kind of defines how I see this place: it's okay, I have definitely had worse; but I won't eat here often.
(2)Esakal F.
Went there for birthday dinner on a weekend. The food wasn't bad at all but it could have been better. The service and the ambience were great though. A waiter named KP was very proactive and gave provided us a good service. Overall a nice experience !
(3)M L.
I haven't been to a Macaroni Grill for about 10 years. After 10 years of not going there, I couldn't remember the original reason why I decided not to eat there in the first place, so I decided to go back to the Fairfax location with the renewed hope that maybe they fixed whatever it was that drove me away so long ago. PROS: - The people who work there are nice. CONS: - The food is NOT GOOD. I'd even go out on a limb here and say that the food at Olive Garden is a step above this place and my feelings about Olive Garden are already lukewarm. - This is the #1 reason why I thought that the food was bad: They use processed chicken in their pasta! I thought that processed chicken was reserved solely for fast-food establishments and maybe the lazy home cook who doesn't know any better. But for a restaurant that is charging $14 a plate for pasta, they need to use real chicken that hasn't been liquified and re-formed into blocks and then cut into uniform pieces. Both my husband and I both noticed the processed chicken at the same time. I felt like I was tricked. My kids were eating pasta too and I didn't want to feed them the chicken. If you're in the mood for Italian food, make the trek out to Maggiano's or go to a mom and pop establishment. Don't eat here.
(1)One K.
It has been awhile that I visited this establishment. Sadly both the food & the service have declined.
(2)Flora L.
I had their express lunch deal. It had fast service and actually good food! $7 for 4 pieces of chicken panini! See my pictures for detail:) I recommend this place for the deals!
(4)Ana H.
The evening was fine. Zero wait, which was great. But we ended up sitting close to the hostess stand. This was very frustrating and distracting to have 4 young ladies drinking beverages, playing with their cellphones, joking with each other and simply standing idle. Meanwhile, our server seemed to be working really hard to manage her tables. Our appetizers took so long, we got one comped. Then the food got to us, and it was disappointing. Chicken parmesan was burned, my pasta Milano had chicken that was grey. When I sent the chicken back, instead of getting a new dish, the server brought a bowl with some more chicken. Never saw a manager. It is clear that this location of Romano Macaroni Grill is not well managed. Very disappointing. We will not be back. Our server was very nice and did what she could to make the experience a positive one, but we came for the food and ambiance, and both of those were a "fail." Mikaela was a good server.
(1)Anahita G.
While the service was decent, the food and experience could have been better. After being seated, I noticed that I was given dirty utensils. The complimentary bread took quite some time to be served. Lastly, the dish that I ordered (Chicken Marsala) was served cold and my co-workers noodles (Fettuccine) were not thoroughly cooked. On the bright side, when seated, your table comes with crayons and paper table cloth which welcomes artistic abilities!
(2)Kate H.
This review is for the Express Dinner - $9 delivered in 9 minutes, or it's free. Sign up for the email club for $5 coupons or a BOGO offer. At this location, you enter the restaurant and head over to the kitchen side of the building, to the right. See the posted menu above, then place your order with the staff person at the ordering station. Take your number and sit at one of the dozen tables closest to the ordering station. Servers bring drinks, plates and silverware, but it's a no muss, no fuss kind of set-up, so you don't have an actual server who checks back in regularly. I ordered the Prosciutto & Chicken Penne. The description said cream sauce, but it was actually a pink sauce (white and red mixed). Overall it was salty. I didn't notice it at the start, but about halfway through the dish, I was salted out. I think the natural saltiness of the prosciutto combined with the over-salted sauce was a bad combo.The portion size was generous, but I chose to leave the leftovers behind. My husband had the Pesto Chicken Farfalle. A little sweet for my taste, and the pasta was drown in the soupy sauce. Other options on the menu include a Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti, Brisket Ravioli or Rigatoni, Pork Belly and Chicken Carbonara or a seasonal pasta. Add a round of the rosemary bread for $1, or a side salad for $3. Note that there are no kid options on this menu, but the staffer allowed us to tack on an item from the kid's menu. Kid options are $5+ and include a drink. The kid's mac and cheese is a simple cheese sauce tossed with penne. Overall, the food is average. At 6 p.m., there were only about a dozen other tables filled in the restaurant. Service was helpful and fast. The $9 dinners are a fairly good value for the portion size, but there are so many better tasting options at the same cost elsewhere.
(2)Beth C.
We like to come and sit in the bar area and enjoy some wine and appetizers. Today we had the Pesto Primavera pizza. It was delicious. There's a new brunch menu with $2 mimosas. Warning to parents hostess drops "F" bombs at will
(2)Andrea R.
Our server, Micahia, was very nice. The food was delicious but the hostesses were extremely rude. I was close to leaving because we received a very rude welcoming. At the end, It was worth staying because our server was great and the food was def great. They should train the hostesses better since they are the first thing a customer sees.
(3)Lottie Y.
It now has $7 lunch and $9 dinner. The pasta have quite good quality but the pasta sauce is too thick and salty. I don't quite like the flat bread though.
(3)anna c.
We came here on a Thursday evening. Our calamari appetizer ($12!)was overdone and slightly burnt. It's a shame bc the quality of the actual squid was great. We ordered the new "braisers/baked" entrees. So underwhelming. The chicken had so much skin and not a lot of meat. My pasta was watery and the sauce wasn't robust. My boyfriend ordered the meatballs and sausage one and it was also overcooked. Service was also sub par at best. The waiters were arguing with each other loud enough for us to overhear without listening in. Next time ill stick with the GAR chain like we usually do.
(1)Ali S.
Super disappointed in my lunch experience yesterday. A huge sign on the building advertised "$7 lunches in 7 minutes or less!" I should have known it was too good to be true. To start off, if you do that deal you are quarantined to a small sectioned off area of the dining room. You also awkwardly order at a computer near the kitchen. There were lots of options though so my mom and I decided on the Chicken Caesar Calzone and Prosciutto Grilled Cheese. They came out really quickly but my mom's calzone was burned and had barely any chicken in it. My Prosciutto grilled cheese was disgusting (I've never used that word to describe a meal before). The prosciutto was fatty and sliced thick so it was chewy like rubber. It's supposed to be paper thin and incredibly tender. It was beyond gross. The cheese was not melted whatsoever. It was this awful clammy temperature and had no flavor. Everyone working there insisted that we did not have a waiter because we did the lunch special and even when I went up to ask if we could at least order a glass of wine, the guy awkwardly insisted that I didn't get a server so no, I could not get any wine. The guy sitting next to me ordered iced tea! Why couldn't I get a beverage? All we were given was a (dirty) bottle of water for the table. I didn't even ask them to bring wine to my table. He was like "well what do you want?" I have no idea what they even serve. The guy wouldn't even tell me where to find a drink menu. Other tables around us were checked on multiple times by a waitress, I just don't get it. Super uncomfortable atmosphere. It was like a crappy restaurant within a mediocre restaurant in general. Not impressed. I won't be back.
(1)Jeremy K.
This is a happy hour review. I had their "New Manhattan" and two antipasta: meatballs and cheese stuffed peppers. Service: I did not find out there was a happy hour until my bill arrived and my drink was cheaper than expected. Had I known beforehand, I might have drank more. On that note, the bar tender was not engaging with the customers at all and while the bar was full, it was not overwhelmingly busy. Food: my two dishes were fresh and good for the price. Bar atmosphere on a Tuesday evening was not too crowded or noisy. Overall, this is an ok place if you live nearby, but I would not go out of my way to come here. Updated comment 7/20/2015: Bar sucks. Happy hour over at 7 and the atmosphere and drink menu suck
(2)Peter M.
Easy seating and good service. Leslie (Boom Boom) was very helpful and pleasant, and quick with meeting any of our needs. Now, this is a chain, but we always do the "build your own pasta bowl" - as it makes it a lot easier on the chef and us to get what we want exactly right. So I was happy. However my wife got the Marsala chicken, which she enjoyed, and daughter got Mac n cheese, plus a salad. Everyone was happy, and wife and I enjoyed a good, basic chianti together. Daughter had her "Moo white" so she was happy too. Decor is pretty standard, but I like it. Not too noisy and comfortable, clean. Good for families, adults, or even date nights.
(4)Telmen E.
Loved the place so much! Servers hostess are very very nice. Tried the Chianti Porkchop it was the most delicious porkchop I've ever tasted and i asked the server (her name was Karen or Erin cant remember well) what sauces does it have in the dish it turns out she was very well knowledgable. Coming back for the porkchop for sure!!!
(5)Edward C.
They spit on your food. Do yourself a favor: read my review, read everyone else's review on this place, and never step foot in here. We arrived at 2:30 pm on 1/4/2015. We were seated relatively promptly in a mostly empty dining area, and then that was the end of any semblance of service. By 2:45 pm, not a single soul had come to greet us, offer water, give a customary sales pitch on the house wine, or offer bread. Literally nothing happened. Multiple servers looked through us and carried on as if we did not exist. After twiddling our thumbs for long enough, I brought this situation to the attention of the host, who quickly (as if routinely?) referred me to the manager. After telling the manager that nobody has helped us since we were sat 15 minutes ago, he immediately pulled the host aside for a private scolding and then only grunted to me, "someone will help you." That's it. No apologies. No condolences. Nothing to try to rectify the situation. He just turned his attention back to standing in the kitchen area. I helped myself back to my seat. Odd. OK. So I'm back in my seat. A few minutes pass, and a lady server from a nearby section comes by and clearly explains TWICE to us that she was not our server, but she was told to get us started. So she said she'll go ahead and bring us bread and water. Well, guess what she did? Neither. Thumb twiddling continues. A few minutes later, what appears to be our server finally arrives, tries to hide the fact that he clearly just got scolded by the manager, and proudly writes his name on the table in crayon: Brysen. Then, he went to the kitchen and took an odd, hidden route back to our table. He was holding a plate with bread, and he studied and studied the bread intently as he slowly turns the corner to our table. It was obvious why: our bread clearly had a fresh, big splotch of warm, bubbly, gooey, phlegmy spit right across the top...compliments of Brysen. And he was admiring his work of spit art. Yay. When I called him back and played dumb asking what was on the bread, he says "oh, um, that must be olive oil?" HA! I set the bread aside. Since we weren't offered their house wine, we gave our order against my good judgement. Poor confused Brysen, though, struggled to take down two orders. After seemingly stumping him by our orders, he hesitated, asked if we wanted any salad (we declined) and then was off on his way. The food, if you care still? Disgusting. Greasy. Tasteless. Clumpy. But, nothing in this review should be shocking, given the dozens of other reviews saying the same thing. Let me put it this way... if you aren't already scared away from this place after reading all of the reviews about this place, well, good luck in life. Otherwise, for your own health and sanity, stay far, far, FAR away!
(1)Jo W.
Leslie Boom Boom is an asset to your establishment! After reading the reviews, I was bummed my friend wanted to visit for dinner. I know the founding family from Texas and have eaten in the original, non chain restaurant so seriously was not even planning on ordering anything other than dessert and coffee...... enter Leslie Boom Boom!! Wonderful personality and made the BEST suggestions! I ordered an Italian soda but they were out of a certain flavor so he made me a "boom boom soda", ubber yum! Our food came out quickly and was AMAZING! I had salmon and my friend the lobster ravioli BOTH I would have a hard time choosing between! I'm excited to go back and try the express dinners! Thank you folks for the wonderful food and dinning atmosphere! See you SOON!
(5)Dave T.
I know a 1 star rating is harsh but my wife and I were very underwhelmed and actually disappointed. The last time we made a visit to this restaurant was approximately 2-3 years ago and after this most recent visit we remembered why. We came on a Friday night at approximately 8pm, clearly not busy with tables visibly open but we still had to wait 10 minutes to be seated. We ordered mama's trio and the butternut squash special. My wife was about halfway through until she stopped. She did not like the cream sauce at all. The mama's trio consisted of a bolognese, chicken parm, and lasagna. Chicken parm was average at best. Bolognese, eh. And the lasagna. Should be something an Italian restaurant perfects since it's considered a staple in Italian cuisine but it was just bad. Lack of flavor and everything was like mush. Neither of us finished our meal. Service was not too great either. I'd like to think we are pretty patient people but after waiting a good amount of time to receive our check, our check was never collected to be charged. After waiting we had to ask another service member to assist us and our original server came back to us and admittedly stated they forgot and thought they took care of us already. Just not a fan.
(1)Victor M.
Their new change of menu changed my mind for MAcaroni Grille. Their Romano pizza is as good as having it in Venice. I've tried it in Venice as well. This is going to be my new go to Italian place.
(5)Kyle S.
(Doesn't even deserve one star) Recently visited the Chantilly and stayed at the Westfield Marriott (great hotel). My gf and I were in the mood for Italian food and couldn't really find any other options besides this place which was a major mistake. Let's get right to the point. The service at this place was terrible. Upon being seated we were given empty glasses with no ice and a bottle of what I presume was filtered water that wasn't really cold. It took about another 5 minutes to get cups of ice and the place wasn't even busy. I order the chicken parm, it was disgusting. I could immediately tell that the piece of chicken was not fresh and was microwaved. Also the sauce tastes like Sh$&! I am pretty sure it was Ragu! Save your money and go to Chipotle or anywhere else!
(1)Katie W.
Parmesan crusted chicken, chicken Parmesan and mushroom ravioli are to die for! Not to mention their Rosemary thyme bread. Comforting on a cold winters night!
(5)Michelle M.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we got seated and we ordered our food. And in a matter of 5 minutes our food came out and it looked like it has been sitting out for and hour but they just heated it up. So when we started eating, the food was cold and the pasta was hard and not fully cooked. We asked the waiter to bring us a fresh one but he brought back the same one just reheated. We were extremely disappointed.
(1)Jin J.
I have to say.. this place serves the worst pasta sauce ever! I'm normally not picky at all when it comes to pastas but this time.. I couldn't even finish my pesto sauce. Not sure if I would ever go there again. I rather just go to the near by Olive Garden instead.
(1)Stephanie K.
Not going back. I used to love Macaroni Grill as a kid, so either it's gone seriously downhill or I just had no idea what I was eating when I was 9 years old. It looks like they've tried to recreate their menu with new and more sophisticated dishes. But change without direction never yields the right results. We started with macaroni and cheese bites (the only reason this place is getting 2 stars, not 1). They were a yummy (albeit heavy) take on traditional macaroni and cheese. Then we had the shrimp, cannelini bean and avocado crostini. Cannelini bean aplenty but there was one little piece of shrimp in each crostini and while I think I spotted a minuscule piece of avocado, I certainly didn't taste any. For the main entree, I had the grilled shrimp spiedini. It's two skewers of shrimp, each skewer had three pieces of shrimp. The shrimp on one of the skewers came out gray--it was clearly undercooked. And yet my waiter assured me it should be like that. Service was generally lacking. Waiters are no where to be found when you need your water glass refilled or are ready for them to take the check.
(2)Brady S.
It's not often that I am so disappointed with a restaurant that I can't wait to make it out of the place to start complaining. Last nights dining experience had the triple threat 1) food was bad 2) servers were rude 3) and the check took FOREVER to get to our table and have the check paid. For an Italian restaurant one would think that pasta shouldn't be an obstacle right? Apparently not in this case. The pasta was over done and sticking together and the sauce was barely there and bland. The other dishes that we got were also lack luster and far from satisfied the "authentic" Italian food fix. And when we brought this to the attention of the waiter, he offered to reties the pasta rather than replace it. At most of the Macaroni Grill locations I have visited the kitchen area is open to the viewing pleasure of the diners. At this location, there is seating along side of the kitchen/expo area, and this is where we were sitting. Our server was very friendly and, though a bit pushy with the top shelf drinks and wines, overall he was fine. HOWEVER there was a server in the expo area that apparently was not happy with the section that she was assigned that night, and was berating two other servers for having a larger sections than hers. She was very loud and unpleasant and completely disrupted our dinner. This continued intermittently throughout the meal. Finally, and the cardinal restaurant sin as far as I'm concerned, when we were finished eating our sub par meal and were thoroughly annoyed with the whiny waitress we asked for our check, and waited another 20 minutes for him to bring it to the table, then another 15 for him to pick it up and run the cards. I asked the hostess for a comment card, but she said that they were out and directed me to the website. I will certainly not be returning to this Macaroni Grill location, possibly none of their locations.
(1)mary s.
My husband and I went to Macaroni Grill last Sunday night. Why was it empty? what happened to this place? I soon found out. The food was passable but I've had better. I did some research and it looks as if the company has been bought by a crab shack business??? What happened to the Italian atmosphere, the singing waiters, the good food? I used to go there and it was always packed and busy...and the food was tasty. I ordered Mama's trio and it had a funky taste. I decided that it had to be the seasoning...I can make better lasagna. I don't know, I can't go back there again. Do you think they used Old Bay seasoning in the food? BRING BACK THE OLD MACARONI GRILL!!!
(2)Revani G.
The food here is pretty decent. I think its a little pricey and there isn't much to choose from; what you do get to choose from is pretty delicious though. We had spicy meatballs and some shrimp tapas to start which was tasty, but as you can guess *small*. Next up was fettuccine Alfredo (a mundane choice, i know) and some dish which included chicken, mushrooms, rigatoni, and some amazing sauce. I thought the place was classy till I sat at the table and we had crayons to draw with and then paid 9 dollars for 2 choices of tapas and 12-13 dollars for each entree. Since I was there with my boyfriend we made the most of it and defaced the paper table cloth with writing as it seemed like the only decent thing to do. I've come to this place for wine before, but never for food and the bar area is quite nice. I still say I am confused by the layout which is olive-garden-esque and the paper table cloths. The service was great and any server will refill your water jug despite the fact that they aren't the one that wrote their name on your table like you were at a cheap steak house. Still confused by what happened so I'll give it 3 stars for taste and presentation of food but I am still left confused over the environment.
(3)Pam C.
What a terrible experience. The poor waiter should find another job, he tried his best but couldn't cope, even though it wasn't busy. I asked for Chardonnay, not quite sure what was served except it was white, not chilled and in a warm glass. I ordered the waiters "favorite" Penne Rustica. It looked and tasted like it had been prepared a week earlier and heated in the microwave, the prawn were flavorless and chewy as was the pasta. The standard of food and service was extremely poor. We will never go back.
(1)Tom B.
I agree with other posters about the declining quality of their food. This has always been my alternate spot to go to when the nearby Fairfax Gov't. Ctr. gets overcrowded; it's been easier to get a table here. Now I know why. The most recent meal was supposed to be one of their featured meals on their new "summer menu," clams with rigatoni. The pasta was stiff, the sauce bland and the clams looked and tasted like they came out of a can. Should have said something, but didn't. Just probably won't come back. The nearby Fridays is looking better all the time.
(1)Kino A.
PLACE: This place was packed when I went this past weekend and it looked promising. The wait wasn't that bad so I thought this must be a good place. BACKGROUND: Service was good even while it was soooooooo busy. I went with a friend of mine and they thought we were on a date. The hostess buzzed us and another guy chose our seat, then another guy led us to our seat and pulled the middle of the three chairs. It was an awkward few seconds that looked like several minutes but we chose the other two seats. We all laughed and went along our business. FOOD: I ordered the calamari appetizer and it was decent. The sauce was just some ordinary tasting cocktail sauce? The bread was ordinary tasting garlic bread too and the sauce was just olive oil and pepper, no special spices. I also ordered the lasagna and it was definitely bland. It just tasted like pasta on tomato sauce. I couldn't even taste the ricotta cheese. It looked dry and wasn't moist. usually lasagnas are smothered with cheese all around it, this wasn't. That was seriously the worst lasagna I've ever had. Let's just say I didn't even finish the meal. I forgot what pasta my friend had but she said it was OK. OTHER: I will definitely not flock here anytime soon but I will come try it again and try something else.
(2)Ryan M.
Last night, in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism, I returned to the Macaroni Grill. In the twelve years I've lived in the area, I'd been twice before, and twice I'd had a mediocre, overpriced meal. "But," I argued with myself, "it's so close to the apartment! And you have a gift card to Maggiano's, but Tyson's feels like a chore at the end of a workday! Surely they've improved. Nothing that terrible could stay open in that spot." I was wrong. If anything, this visit was worse than the previous two. I won't be making this mistake again. My first warning should have been the menu. "Italian tapas?" That's ridiculous, but I understand what they're trying to convey. "Italian nachos?" Tortilla chips with mozzarella instead of cheddar? Now that's offensive. Italian food is already a marvelously diverse and delicious cuisine; it does not need to be larded down with cast-off ideas from other ethnic traditions. I bit back my distaste, and we ordered an appetizer: Zucchini Fritti. What could be an easier win for the kitchen, especially considering that their sister franchise, Maggiano's, produces a very capable version of the dish? I guess they don't talk to Maggiano's people much, because the zucchini was a disaster. Cut into scraps as thin as paper, rendered translucent by the deep fryer, nothing on that plate tasted like zucchini. It didn't taste like delicious breading, either; what batter there was had mostly flaked off and formed a pile of rubble beneath. It only tasted of oil and a little flour. Liberal application of the salt shaker managed to improve the flavor profile to salty flour, but my wife and I left more than half of the wan vegetables alone. I tried to mop the pool of fry grease on my tongue with a piece of the complimentary ciabatta, but my efforts were in vain. The entire loaf had arrived with an ambiguous oil drizzled on top, leaving it almost too slick to grasp effectively. Past that, the bread was only a moderate success: the flavor of rosemary was overwhelming and unsubtle, and had a smack of the artificial to it. Now I was nervous about the entrees. I'd looked online before we left and the pictures looked appealing, but the terrible fritti left me with doubts. I ordered the mushroom ravioli, and my wife chose the fettucine alfredo. Once more, I felt we would do nothing to challenge the talent of the kitchen staff. Ravioli are easily prepared ahead and dumped into water at the last moment, a marsala cream sauce is simplicity itself, and fettucine alfredo is an Italian-American staple with about four ingredients. A home run on at least one factor is guaranteed! Sadly, it was not to be. My mushroom ravioli were bland and overcooked. No salt had been applied anywhere in the dish, which left only the overwhelming sweetness of cheap marsala and the sad, limp mound of caramelized onions shoved to one side of the plate. To add insult to injury, the cream sauce bore a slick of extra grease like I've only seen on reheated Olive Garden leftovers. If it is possible, the fettucine was even more disppointing, if only because the dish itself is so simple. The alfredo sauce was like lukewarm half-and-half. No salt to be found, no evidence of the rich butter and savory parmesan that should have made up the heart of the dish. Just soggy, overcooked pasta and some thin cream. My wife ate about a third of the dish, and she's pregnant. After the embarrassing display we'd been subjected to, my wife and I eyed the dessert menu skeptically. With hesitation, I guessed that virtually all the items on the dessert menu would have been prepared elsewhere, by competent cooks, and sent here frozen. The kitchen couldn't possibly fail to defrost a cake. Impossible. She, a traditionalist, ordered the New York style cheesecake. I, more interested in self-preservation, ordered the dark chocolate gelato. They wouldn't even have to defrost it! Nothing could go wrong. What a mess this dessert was. My gelato had the thin layer of hoarfrost indicative of a dish that had been scooped yesterday and left in a freezer overnight. One of my three scoops was almost completely hollow. The bottom hemisphere of each scoop had contracted a crunchy layer of ice that ruined the velvety texture of a gelato. Even with all that, the gelato itself was terrible. None of the rich bittersweetness of dark chocolate was to be found; the flavor was indistinguishable from cheap, watery chocolate ice cream available at worse grocery stores. I ate half of a scoop and pushed it away. Though not a fan of cheesecake, I had to see if we'd at least been served one acceptable dish. We had not. The filling was dry and mealy. To be fair, my wife said that the first part of the cheesecake was better, and it only fell apart toward the crust. I'll take her word for it, but even so, it was a dire representative of the species. I don't know if our experience represents every Macaroni Grill everywhere, but I don't think we'll be eager to find out. Avoid.
(1)Chae W.
A group of friends and I came here for a dinner before an event, and I had never been here in the past. If I had, I probably would have refused to come. I ordered the mushroom ravioli and was very unsatisfied. There was quite a bit of waiting, which was completely understandable since there were many other big groups at the time, but the food was not worth it. The ravioli noodles were overcooked and pretty much tasteless... No distinct mushroom flavor or anything, really. Overcooked noodles + bland = NOT a good combination. Ick. The sauce was really thin and watery. My bill also had an 18% tip added on automatically, when my waiter had pretty much done nothing except give me a refill on my Dr. Pepper (which they didn't have, by the way, had to give me Pepsi instead) which I wouldn't have minded had the food been worth it. I almost feel like I got ripped off instead. On top of that, the waiter seemed reaaallly reluctant to give us all our change. Didn't want to go ALL THE WAY to the front to get some measly change for us, I suppose. Won't be coming back, ever.
(1)Min A.
Do not sit with CRYSTAL!!!! My family ate here on my son's birthday, the server, Crystal was so rude and made the nastiest faces when we would tell her our order. She acted like she had better things to do and we were just annoying her. The food had good flavor but half of it was ice cold. We waited forever for our food and it made me think she just didn't want to bring it to us. If the food had been hot this would have been a worth while expenditure. I wanted to talk to a manager, but my husband held me back because it was our son's birthday, but by the end of the meal I was irate. I didn't want our food complementary I just wanted the manager to know Crystal's service was aweful at best. Right as we were about to leave Crystal came and took the check, after we had signed it, which is so rude and then looked at the tip gave us all a dirty look because she thought she deserved better and stormed off. She then stood right in our way as we were trying to leave... and didn't move so I took the liberty to move her out of the way and and continue to push her so my son could pass she then stepped back into the way of my husband and my father in law who, said excuse me and she did not acknowledge them so they squeezed by. Unless I hear of a good server at Macaroni Grill and know their name I will not eat here again!
(1)Dave A.
First a disclaimer: I haven't been there in probably over a year. I see a lot of recent very bad reviews, so maybe it has gone downhill. I'll try to visit it sometime soon and update this review, which is based on how it was three-plus years ago, when we went there fairly often. Upsides: great food, good service, reasonable prices. Downside: can be a looong wait to get a table on a busy night, even if you use the call-ahead line.
(4)PitBull D.
Generally, I avoid chains, but Romano's Macaroni Grill usually does not disappoint. This time, it didn't disappoint either. We came for lunch. Menu prices actually are the same for lunch and dinner except they may have just a couple of specials, like two or three. We hadn't been to any Macaroni Grill in a while because we moved in December 2010 and there are none where we live in WV. Not too busy today at 11:45 AM, and Jen was our waitress. Standard service. I happen to notice most of the other comments are about the service, and little is said about the food. We had the stuffed mushoom (with crabmeat) appetizer and it was outstanding ($8.99). Probably their best offering on the appetizer menu. Gets 5* from me for taste, preparation, and presentation. There was a "wood fired" crisp on the top that was nice, and the EIGHT mushrooms (medium-sized) were overstuffed with real crabmeat, no discernable filler. One other commenter said his serving was still partially frozen. If these were previously frozen, I could not tell. Wife had the grilled shrimp on a skewer with grilled veggies, and she raved about it ($13.99) Another 5* I had the spinach salad with with scallops ($13.99). The spinach was very fresh and lightly cooked. The scallops were grilled and done just right. There was strong overpowering vinegar throughout...taking this down to 3* I asked if I order this in the future could I ask for the vinegar (a balsamic) to come on the side so I can add to my taste, and Jen said Yes. So that's still on my list for the future. I am not one to send a plate back to the kitchen that appears to be prepared "as advertised" on the menu, nor to penalize the wait staff because they didn't have anything to do with the preparation. So for those three items, some complimentary ciabatta bread (hot and fresh-baked) with "Italian butter" (extra virgin olive oil and cracked pepper), NO drinks (except ice water) or any other sides or dessert, the total came to $38.82 with tax. I tipped 15% for service, that met expectations, or 3* I consider this A LOT to spend for two relatively light lunches, so I will keep this in mind next time I consider Romano's Macaroni Grill. So two 3* and two 5* averages to my overall evaluation of 4*
(4)John K.
I forgot how good Macaroni Grill is. It used to be the "hot spot" for when you were in high school. You know, when you wanted to impress your date, but now that I'm a grown up, the prices are really reasonable for the dishes that they offer ($10-17). I love the warm bread that they bring out that you dip in olive oil and freshly ground pepper. It's my second favorite free bread next to the cheese biscuits from Red Lobster. And you know how good those are.... My go to dishes are the: Penne Rustica Fettuccine Alfredo Lasagna Al Forno Spaghetti and Bolognese GF ordered the Beef Rigatoni - not that great. Beef was blehh and chewy, and the sauce didn't taste that great.
(3)Alexa C.
A step up from the Olive Garden, but this wouldn't be a favorite place for me. I ate at their bar on a Friday night, it was a busy night for them obviously, but the staff at the bar was friendly and took care of us despite making drinks and pulling extra wait shifts on tables. Their gluten free menu had to be printed off for me, as they don't have on on hand, and I then had to compare it to the regular menu, as it had listings, but no descriptions. The food was good, I love a good cream based pasta dish, who doesn't? It was on the salty side though as well. The glass of Riesling I had was absolutely delicious and perfectly sweet!
(3)A. S.
Had a really good experience here last Friday night. It was the first time I'd been to a Macaroni Grill in 2 years. As far as Italian chain restaurants go, I used to think Olive Garden was better, because they give you unlimited salad and breadsticks with your meal, and also because they have cheese ravioli on the menu, which I love, and Macaroni Grill for some reason doesn't offer. But after having enough cloyingly sweet over-sauced pastas at Olive Garden and a really delicious chicken cannelloni at Macaroni Grill, I have to put Macaroni Grill on top. So, as I said, the chicken canelloni is great. The fried mozzarella and arrabiata sauce appetizer was also good, and the complimentary bread was fresh and hot. The create-your-own pasta has dwindled in options since last we were there (e.g., no more artichoke hearts), but at least you can get arrabiata sauce, which is nowhere to be found at Olive Garden. Service was good. I ordered an amaretto sour from the bar which came to me tasting like 100% sour mix, and the waiter was pleasant enough about taking it back and bringing me a second (very good) drink. They also have flavored iced teas, and the mango flavor is awesome.
(4)AL K.
The reinvented menu is a delight! a must try! ambiance and service is excellent! good for family and large groups.
(4)Saurabh G.
I am really a fan of this location of Macaroni Grill, and have been dining here pretty regularly since the beginning of 2008. It is a chain restaurant, so reviewing the food at this location would be like reviewing all the other Macaroni Grills at the same time. In terms of location, this is at a pretty good location. Browsing through the bookshelf at the nearby Barnes and Noble takes its toll, leaving you hungry. Luckily, this restaurant is right around the corner! I am also a fan of the positive attitude of the staff here. I have always been greeted with smiling faces and quick service. Granted, it gets very very busy during the weekend evenings, but it's upto you to be cognizant of the fact and not expect someone catering to just your needs. Food is pretty good for what you pay, and offers just the type of upscaleness that you would expect on a cheap(er) date. If you're nice, the server will even arrange for a custom-made pasta/pizza dish from the kitchen, like he did for us last night. The house red wine is pretty decent, and I like the mini bar area with the HDTV. Oh yeah, the rosemary bread - wish they would put it on the takeout menu! Or, maybe they do...I need to go back and ask...it's that good! Try it.
(4)John P.
Absolutely horrible. The service was terrible, AND the food was terrible. This is why they get one star. And now to the details. Admittedly, we had a large party. 9 people..... Two waitresses, both of whom we are sure had hearing problems... Stuffed mushroom app comes out STILL frozen in the middle...although full disclosure, the Manager did come out and apologize twice. We returned two mushroom apps and received one, very very hot one in return. The food was so so. It was greasy and unappealing. I had the Shrimp Portofino, and it made me want to Shrimp porto vomito. COVERED in spinach or arugula or some overcooked nasty greasy dark green obscuring the decently cooked shrimp. The lemon butter sauce was gross. Probably not going back...
(1)Harvey E.
I thought I liked Macaroni Grill, but this time it was okay. We went because they sent me a coupon for a free piece of chocolate cake for my birthday. We ordered the Pasta e Fagioli soup, which was brownish, not red, which I'm guessing was a bean base not a tomato base. I ordered lasagne and I forget what my wife ordered but we both thought it did not, "wow" us. Finally, the comped cake. In prior years we got a whole piece of cake, enough to share for two and even three. This time we got half of that piece of cake, not even enough for one. That was the final disappointment. Maybe it was this location (we usually go to the Kingstowne location), in any event, we most likely will not return to this one.
(2)Justin C.
My server was Crystal. Appetizers and food came out at a reasonable time. It was hard to get a hold of our server because it seems like she always had something better to do. Not sure if she just didn't like us or her boss was making her do alot of other back of the house duties but regardless the service was slow, food was OK, price was alright. I find that it is difficult to find a VA restaurant with excellent service equal to an average nobody restaurant in Austin TX... so from now on I will lower my standards a bit when I visit VA and grade them on a curve.
(3)Duane S.
Romano's Macaroni Grill used to be one of my favorite chain restaurants. Their food has sadly gone downhill in the past couple years. I ordered a dish and had hardly any chicken in it. The server brought me some extra chicken, but I shouldn't have had to ask for it. It just seems they are cutting corners every which way in quality to save some money.
(2)Jeannie R.
I was very disappointed. The service was terrible. She took our drink orders, brought them, then took forever to tell us about the specials and take our orders. She brought my fathers's martini with a lemon twist. I commented about the lack of olives and she said dry martinis always come with lemon (in what country?). We ordered the olive appetizer and she said they were all out of them. (Due to a dispute with their olive providers.) I guess that's why my dad didn't get any in his martini. My dad's pasta was not cooked enough. My lobster ravioli was salty and the lobster was overcooked. My niece thought the cheese on her pepperoni pizza tasted strange. They never refilled our water and my wine was gone. We had to ask for someone to fill our water. By then I was almost finished so didn't pursue getting a wine refill. Our waiter apologized once and said they were understaffed by two people, but many times we saw workers standing around doing nothing. In conclusion, I will never be returning to this Fairfax Macaroni Grill - not sure about any others.
(1)Kevin J.
A strong 3 I have been here twice recently and the food was good both times. The first time I came back here the service was delivering the wrong foods to the wrong tables all around us. We could hear people complaining among themselves about how terrible everything was. We got the wrong food too, but our waiter took care of us. We came back the next weekend and the service was improved. I would go back and I would recommend, its one of the better Italian chains around.
(3)Amy P.
Abysmal. Disappointing. Unprofessional. There are so many choice adjectives to describe the experiences I've had at this location of Macaroni Grill. The kicker- food is actually good! Management and service deserves negative stars. Tonight I walked in around 7:45pm and though moderately busy there were a number of tables unoccupied. I waited at the host stand for a good minute and a half before being acknowledged by anyone and when a waitress finally came to greet us. We asked to not be seated by the one table near the door (three empty tables were available in the in the middle of the restaurant) and the hostess had the balls to tell us that it would be a 15-20 minute wait. We asked why we couldnt have any of the other three open tables and she said I can't just sit you anywhere, the servers have sections... blah blah blah LAME. On a previous visit to this same location I was seated in a no-mans land and three servers literally argued in front of my table about which section I was sitting in and who was serving me.. THEN my appetizer came out two minutes before my entree. When I brought this to a manager they gave me a measley $5 off. Suffice to say I will NEVER AGAIN waste my time or money with the Fair Lakes Macaroni Grill.
(1)Chris B.
Mediocre. The service is polite but slow. Foods comes out slowly. The bread is blander than it used to be. The new menu is ok, but a lot of mixed stuff. The place seems to be on a downward trend.
(2)Cari B.
Be weary of what they say the wait is for a table. We were there at 7:15pm on a Saturday, yes, a busy time. They said 30 minutes, it ended up being an hour. This is very frustrating with three kids in tow. Had they told us the truth we would have went elsewhere. Service: our 'easy on the eyes,' Brad Pitt look alike waiter (shh... don't tell my husband I said that) was very apologetic and accommodating and he got our food out quickly. Things are looking up. Food: Two of my children ordered a slight variation of something on the kids menu - simply penne with butter. They were disappointed for when it came there were only about 12 penne's in the bowl. I ordered the capellini pomodoro. It was tasty but the pasta could have been more el dente. My husband ordered a steak. It was juicy and a good size portion but nothing to write home about. My older son ordered the chicken parm. That was actually very good and he ate every last bit. But what teenage boy wouldn't? Another reviewer mentioned the meal was fairly priced but I have to disagree. No salads included, (a few $ extra) just bread provided and our entree's were $11-$18 each. I would expect more. At least at Olive Garden which has the same quality, you get a salad. If it's your Birthday-the blonde hostess was singing Happy Birthday in Italian with her lovely operatic voice. Nice touch. We had fun imitating her on the car ride home.
(2)C S.
As I have said previously, the Missus and I do like our Italian forays. The place we tend to call "home" would have to be the Macaroni Grille in Fairfax. We have eaten there quite a number of times over the last couple years and keep coming back. Not so much for the service, but for the food. I do like good service, and I'd say that this restaurant does have good service. But does it have great service? Service that goes one notch beyond good? No, not really, but it's never been bad. And that's got to be worth something, right? We do like coming there for the food, however. I pretty much always order the lasagna and get a heaping, steaming brick of the stuff every time. It is always spectacular. For an appetizer we like to get the tomato brochette if only for the mound of yummy cherry tomatoes that come in the bowl. Bear T Sr., when visiting, digs the Caesar salad and filet mignon dinner. It's just enough food for his slight senior appetite. They offer outdoor dining in the summer, something the Missus and I are always looking for in a restaurant, which is adequate but not great. It's right next to Monument Dr. and there is a lot of noisy traffic that goes by. Also, at the height of summer, the flies get to be a bit much. A little more pest control would be nice. Indoors is nice in the winter. They have the novel butcher paper table coverings and crayons the wait staff uses to write their name and your order on the table with. I've also been known to do a doodle or two while waiting. The usual stuff, hearts with "Me + the Missus =" messages written in the middle. That's what all of you do, right? So the food is great, and why we come back. The service is adequate but not disappointing. I'd recommend this place for a family evening or just a couple who enjoy drawing silly stuff on the tablecloth.
(3)Wendy H.
Hadn't been to Macaroni Grill in a while, so figured give it a try again. The bread was delicious. We had a great waiter also. I had the chicken scalopini-it was delicious. But the best part of the whole meal was the chocolate cake with warm chocolate sauce. It is FANTASTIC!
(5)Gurkie C.
I used to like this place... They had their make your own pasta thing, which they still have but they have trimmed down the options and upped the price on it. And there eggplant parm was good as was the house salad. But then there Mac Grill made it on that list of unhealthy places to eat and everything started to change... They added all sorts of Mediterranean dishes, none of which have really appealed to me, but that is irrelevant. The important part is that first they changed the salad, what used to be one of the reasons I would pick Mac Grill over OG was now gone... And then they changed their eggplant parm recipe what I used to enjoy became a bit... well yuck. So I have left the Mac Grill camp and am now going to OG for my chain Italian food, although I like Carrabas too, unfortunately that isn't as close to me.
(2)Cindy B.
We go here regularly and like the food and service. My favorite dish has become the Pollo Magro, grilled chicken with a honey balsamic glaze and asparagus and broccoli. If you order it on the Trio menu you get salad and dessert for 12.99. My husband's favorite dish is the Chicken Marsala. Save room for dessert, their lemon and chocolate cakes are also super yummy!
(4)Ellen T.
What happened to this place? I used to love Macaroni Grill and tonight has definitely changed my perception. My friends and I will never come back here. First of all, they changed half the menu, especially the appetizers. I understand restaurants change them every now and then but it was drastic enough that their spaghetti and meatballs were different. They are going to stop serving flavored teas so they couldn't make their blackberry mint tea and made whatever they could with their remaining stock of flavored syrups. The desserts that we were familiar with are completely changed. The tiramisu which was once one nice big slice is now in a small dish accompanied with two stale, rock-hard "lady fingers." The cannolis were terrible. I would've rated them a 4 or 5 just a few months ago but this latest experience was just that disappointing.
(1)Erin G.
I have never been to a Macaroni Grille before, I would say it is an Olive Garden Plus, the plus being that you don't have to wait 4 hours for a table. Stupid Olive Garden why do people love you?! It was 7PM on a Wednesday when we went in for dinner and had absolutely no wait. Our server was Travis, who helpfully wrote his name in crayon on our table. My mother thought he wrote "bacon" and was excited until I translated. Anyway, we both ordered a pretty bland pinot grigio by the glass and when we saw they had filet of sole on the menu we were dinner twins because we are sole fanatics. As in, if my mother suspects she has been served an alternate fish she starts throwing fists and the police have to be called. The meal was Parmesan Crusted Sole with Spinach Orzo Salad for $14.79. We waited quite a while for that to arrive but were sufficiently distracted by the mini loaf of rosemary bread and EVOO that arrived to placate us. The meal was enormous, EASILY 2 people could eat one dinner. there were 2 huge filets of sole on each plate and a mountain of orzo salad. We definitely took home half of our dinners for next day's lunch. I have a sneaking suspicion that the sole was really flounder because it was so large, sole usually is a small fish but my mother thought the consistency and weight was in line with sole and didn't fly into a rage. whew. I thought the sole reheated well in the microwave too, but the crust part was a little soggy.
(4)Bryan N.
I love the chain, but this location was pretty bad. The place was pretty empty when got there (about 5pm). We were seated pretty quickly, then the wait began. it was about 10 min before drinks arrived and we put in our food order. The wait on the food (which wasn't hot) was about 40 min. I'm not saying this is typical for this location. It was my first time in there. But I won't be back either, so beware.
(2)Beth D.
Went there today for lunch because I was given gift card by my mom so my husband and I could enjoy an nice meal out. I ordered Grilled Shrimp Spiedini and it was not edible at all - the shrimp were so overcooked that it was like eating rubber, the grilled veggies were so overcooked it was like eating baby food, and the roasted potatoes were done on the outside and completely uncooked inside. I told the waiter, and he offered to get me something else. I then ordered the margherita pizza, and it was not any better - the tomatoes were sliced so thin that they turned to mush in the oven, and it had zero flavor. I was not even offered an apology, let alone some sort of compensation for my inconvenience. I was charged for everything that we ordered. Also let me add, the service was horrific - not even a full restaurant and they could not keep up with the few tables that were there. When we arrived, we were told that there was a 5-10 minute wait - there were more empty tables than full. While I was waiting, I got to observe the manager and a waitress arguing about a problem in front of everyone. Once we were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant, since we did not know what we wanted right away, it took almost 15 minutes for our waiter to come back and take our order. Then we had to wait 20 minutes for bread, but it was hot from oven once we got it. We had to listen to the waitress complain to another table about how exhausted she was because it was so busy. There are better places to eat than this, fins some place else to spend your hard earned money at.
(1)Jane R.
I went here once a long time ago and never went back because of a bad experience. We waited over an hour for our food. We complained to the manager who was apologetic but when we FINALLY got our food, it was crap. They didn't charge us because of the wait but the food did not taste good at all. If you're going to try and redeem yourself, atleast WOW us with the food.
(1)Aaron B.
I was very disappointed about my experience at this location. The server took about 10 minutes just to get to our table and take our drink orders. He seemed a little less that enthused about being there, but hey everyone has had a bad day at work. We were seated next to the kitchen area and had the pleasure of hearing all the severs complain, fight with each other and curse at each other while waiting for their tables orders. If you know that there are customers 3 feet away from you should probably watch what you say. Our food took a very long time to get to our table but it was a busy night so it was excusable. When it did arrive i was fairly disappointed by the fact that my pasta was just barely warm. it was also all suck together in large clumps like when you leave it in the pot too long. instead of sending it back i decided to just eat it because i did not want to wait even longer to eat. I am really not a picky person but i was very disappointed with this place. The food was not worth the price, the service was terrible, and the fact that we had to wait a long time for this sub par service was what really did it though. This place really was terrible.
(1)Brent D.
We were a large group (18 people). Reservation at 7pm (were seated at 7:35), drinks came at 8, they took our order at 8:30, and food came around 9:10. My and my fiancee's pizzas were cold (they took care of it and made us new pizza's), but in the end... we ate at 9:30 when the reservation was at 7pm. Oh... and all the checks were wrong. This place was really bad tonight.
(1)tina y.
do not order the fresh pasta items! a few months ago, my husband and I ordered dinner to go and I ordered one of their new fresh pasta dishes with seafood. I couldn't eat it. they pasta was clumped together and wouldn't separate. they sauce slid off the noodles and the noodles were very thick and chalky. I called to see if maybe the kitchen overcooked the noodles b/c I know fresh pasta isn't supposed to taste like that. the person who answered said they were supposed to be that way. okay?? not sure how he likes his pasta but I like it to be absorbed by the sauce and smooth and edible! I spoke with the mgr who agreed that it shouldn't have been that way so he said he would refund my husband's credit card and send us vouchers to dine at the restaurant. wow that's great service! a few months later, we still haven't gotten those vouchers and my husband said he never saw the credit back on his card. oh well. we'll never go back to mac grill.
(1)Charlene B.
The worst food i have had in 5 years! when we ordered the food it only took 5 min for them to bring out the food which was odd it only took that long. The food was bad. i got the macaroni i have had it before. but the first time they brought my food out there was no cheese. so they took it back and gave me a new one and the pasta was burned. the waiter was great but food............. :~( .......... i will never go Aegean!!!!!!!!!!!
(1)CYNTHIA C.
I've always been a fan of Romano's Macaroni Grill but this Fairfax location was a complete disappointment. I never got around to the food because from the time I was seated, not one waiter came over after sitting there for at least 5 minutes. The wait staff needs a lesson on etiquette because at least 4 waiters passed by me...saying nothing. So I asked the hostess if there was a waiter assigned....she said "yes"...told the manager...blah blah blah. Manager apologized and said he'd get someone to help me right away. I ended up leaving. The experience had already aggravated me to the point I didn't want to waste a cent there.
(1)Daniel H.
Had good & bad here, try Cantina D'Italia instead, right up the street, never had to wait (Macaroni Grill can get pretty backed up).
(2)Josh Y.
Food here is getting more expensive, We used to have to wait or call ahead. Now, just walk right in. No wonder they have to give out coupons more often now. I also wonder they have to re-train our waiter. We needed more time to read through the menu, he got impatient. He was getting too lazy in serving salad and almost threw my salad to me instead of walking over to my side and gave me salady. No fresh ground black pepper was offered. My mixed green salad was drawn in a big body of dressing. My friends' salad literally did not have dressing. He came over asking about our entrees right after we got them. We did not even have time to take a look at our entrees yet. How were were supposed to know how our entrees were? Then we never saw him again until we were waiting for our check.
(2)Aly P.
Doesnt even deserve a star! This place is disgusting and pitiful. They can never redeem themselves. They hit new lows. I went in a few years ago and ordered mac n cheese. Wrong choice. The cheese had bugs in it, it tasted like it was days old and the macaroni was still hard! The service sucks. My moms food was overcooked, my dads was barely cooked and my brothers...well he didnt even get his! They forgot his order! I asked to see the manager and the server said (exact words) " Why, so you can complain about me to him? Sit down and eat your food!". OMFG are you kidding me?! Who the f do you think you are lady?! I told her to EFF off and went to talk to the manager and explained everything to him, and about what the server said....and my family wasnt the only one that heard her say that, 3 other tables did! And they complained about her and were my witness. The manager pitifully apologized, and fired the server right on the spot. He seemed embarassed, good! He didnt charge us for our meal since we barely touched it and offered a free meal next time..my response- "Are you kidding me?! No way." I refuse to ever go back to that place.
(1)Stephani K.
Went there for lunch with a girlfriend. Sat in a booth. Still the place was a bit loud and the service a little slow despite a nearly empty restaurant due to the time we went ... 11:00 am. At any rate, there food was delicious! The kids love their rosemary bread that's served with olive oil dipping oil during every meal. I had the artichoke cakes that was topped with a delicate cream sauce in a addition to a marinara sauce. The kid's menu cheese pizza was ENORMOUS and could have easily served two 5 years old -- little did we know!
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