This was my first visit and I found my experience rather mixed. The good: Despite previous reviews stating that the restaurant was dirty, wait times were long, and staff unfriendly, I did not experience this. The food tasted good, but definitely was as expected from a chain. The spices were mild but present, however, nothing stood out as amazing. Their signature chicken parmigiana was very tasty. The place was clean, we were seated within the quoted time, and our waitress was friendly. The "Not-so-good": I can't say that there was anything bad, however, the main dishes were just not hot...they were warm and the mozzarella under the crusty top was not melted. This points to a quick bake. Overall: I had a pleasant experience. I would classify this place as a step below Olive Garden. Would I eat here again? Maybe, but next time I would request the kitchen to run everything through the hot part of the oven. read more

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Ordered pizza and garlic fingers for family waited 2 hours for food and never got a word on when it would arrive. Would have left if I hadn't have paid for it, don't go here you will be waiting a long time for worse than average food. Will attach photo of what our food looked like. read more

East Side Mario's - Fredericton - This is what it looked like when I received my order - Italian Near Me - Fredericton, New Brunswick

People rude, food unedible. I never leave reviews but I had to for this "restaurant" it's more like a slop house. They are uncleanly and understaffed. They hired my son and then they next day said it was an accident and they thought he was someone else after taking all this banking info and putting him in a very uncomfortable position. They don't deserve service. read more

Most unorganized business. Workers are rude and unapologetic. Food was gross, atmosphere was more gross. There was also hair in my food and the servers were nothing but rude and annoyed by it. Don't waste your time, just go to montanas instead. Or even just eat at home. read more

A nice little franchised business nestled on the property of a small shopping center. The place was clean and organized but seemed short-handed when it came to available staff. My waitress served me as greeter, hostess and waitress. I ordered the lunch special for $10.99, which included all you can eat garlic loaf bread, garden salad and soup. I didn't go for the garlic bread but the soup that I ordered (Minestrone) and the salad were really good. read more

East Side Mario's - Fredericton - Bar area - Italian Near Me - Fredericton, New Brunswick

Very formal atmosphere, one gentleman was wearing a tuxedo with tails and ended up being the host Mario, of the eastern side. Jokes aside, great spot, cauliflower pizza was way better than it sounded, actually I 97% recommend that pizza and ask for Amanda. Nice server, I think it was Amanda, or maybe Amber... nonetheless, great food. Ps- don't order from this location as east side Mario's uses call centres read more

I took my wife here for her birthday a few years ago, it was pretty good service, decent atmosphere and the food was tasty. However the table was dirty, the wooden board they bring the bread out on was dirty and out of 4 place settings we were only able to find 2 clean forks and 1 clean knife. we each ordered a beer (in the bottle) as we were nervous of the rest of the dishes, we likely should have left when the bread came out but we stayed... That was enough for us, lots of other good restaurants in the city. read more

It's a chain. The atmosphere was actually nice. We had lunch, because their lunch prices are a little more bearable and worth it than their supper ones. It was pretty good. But you can tell it is microwaved. It's not the worst you can do in Freddy, but there are so many better places. read more

Came back Sept 11 2013 for a second chance - see my previous review. This time around was much better. The server Lori was great. The chicken parm was good as was the soup. This experience has restored my faith that this East Side Mario's can at least do the basics. read more

So East Side Marios - A family classic. Perfect for anything from casual dinner to something a bit more formal. The menu is well layer out and full of variety. I ordered the "Build Your Own Pasta!", one of the if not the best part of this fine establishment. Spaghettini with rose and meatballs. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The sauce had the perfect balance between the alfredo and the marinara. And the meatballs. Where do I start? Juicy and just delicious. The salad that comes with the "Build Your Own Pasta!" Is also phenominal. Dressing was brought to me on the side as I am lactose sensitive. The free bread which comes with every meal was soft and cooked to perfection. The staff were very attentive. Shannon and Casey. Very accommodating and very sociable. The pricing for what you get is spot on. Will come again for sure :). read more

East Side Mario's - Fredericton - Amazing pasta with rose sauce and broccoli. - Italian Near Me - Fredericton, New Brunswick

Even for a chain restaurant where the cooks' jobs basically consist of assembling pre-packaged food, it was below standards. My chicken parmesan was burnt, my wife's Riso Italiano was tasteless, and my four year old chose to eat her salad instead of eating her grilled cheese; stating that it was "chewy and old looking." She was right, it looked like it sat in the window whilst my chicken parmesan burned. Hilariously, this was supposed to be a redemption visit. We had a poor dining experience the last time we were here and landed a gift card for our trouble. We were using it tonight to give them another chance. Thank god most of our meal was covered by the gift card. The server was great, the food was not. It'll be our last visit. read more

Great service. Salad & bread were great but Very disappointed in my pasta meal. It's bad when you can tell the chicken in your pasta is processed to the point that one wonders how much of it actually was chicken vs soy product. My kids didn't love their soggy pizza either. read more

Went for wing night. House wasn't overly full but we still wanted over 20 minutes between baskets. The waitress, who was friendly, explained that the kitchen was backed up. Seems like the kitchen staff were Ill prepared. Food was good. Waitress was attentive and friendly. The decorations are tacky and the restaurant was loud, but it was wing night. Also, the seat in our booth had holes covered poorly and in transparent packing tape. read more

Out of Chicken Parm. Offered to try the Hell's Kitchen by a very nice waitress. To which I ask "how is that available? They can't use that chicken and make a parm out of it?" At this point I realized how chains work and it's a shame that a cook cannot be trusted enough to batter fry a chicken breast. Or flat out cannot. Wait staff was great. But it's not acceptable that a kitchen (chain or not) cannot prepare a menu item. First time in 4 years at an East Side Marios. Last time. read more

I visited today for lunch and was very surprised at how large the menu was. I ordered a Caesar salad add grilled chicken and it was perfect. Very well done and the chicken was warm (which is what I like). As an added bonus, they have Pepsi products. Our waitress was great and very accommodating to our large group. Overall a very nice experience. read more

Definitely seemed understaffed, went with friends and found 3 strands of hair in our food, we went mozzarella sticks back twice and never got a refund. Rather disappointed. read more

Went for a Valentine's meal yesterday mid-afternoon with my husband. The place was very quiet. We waited next to 15 minutes just to get a soup, salad and bread. Our waitress probably figured it was more important to takes dishes away from other tables and even cleaned and dressed a few other tables rather than serve us. When we finally got some of her attention, everything that came on our table was served first to my husband. Every single items, including the grated cheese. Not acceptable! Any good trained server would know to always serve women first. Not the case here and not the first time either. Why is it so hard to have good, proper service? Can't blame this one on being too busy. Why doesn't the manager look at how things are done with her staff? read more

The food and service is always great. I just don't understand why kids are allowed to sit on the bar side. They even sit at the bar! Lots of people don't enjoy the company of kids around them. When going out to eat on a date, having a snotty kid next to you is very unpleasant. Asking to be seated on the bar side, one should not have to be sitting next to any kid!! read more

A little redemption update here -- tonight was much better and our server was a sweet young lady working in the bar area. Ordered the Riso Italiano but the sausage not to my liking. Definitely recommend the Italian Wedding soup but at times it might feel like they're rationing the meatballs (3 here or there). Overall a better experience. read more

I generally like Eastside Mario's because you can count on their good taste but not this one. They ran out of lasagna. How does that happen? The manager got extremely defensive and really pissed me off with her terrible attitude. Don't get in the customers face ever for any reason. She said they were really busy due to a storm and therefore they ran out of lasagna. I'm just overall offended and annoyed. It's typical bad customer service as to be expected. Nobody cares about their customers and nobody takes pride in what they do. read more

East Side Mario's well let's get to it shall we. I personally believe that this particular Restaurant is always understaffed. Wait times can be much longer then you would expect. The food however while not what I call worth the wait, is very appetizing and has brought me back more then once. The free bread is surprising tasty and keeps you happy through most of the wait. I have never been unsatisfied with the food itself. I particularly enjoy the Italian wedding soup. Which comes as a choice sider with many of the meals. Food ranges from pizza and pasta to sea food. The atmosphere is casual, a good place to take a date or have a family outing. read more

One star cause it's cold in here and 31 degrees outside. Poor service, poor food. Not a great experience. Waitress took forever in a nearly empty restaurant. Not coming back to this one read more

Love the food, and the unlimited bread and salad. But its always busy and seems understaffed.

Today (October 18, 2013) was the first time at ESM for me and my wife. I had the 16 layer Lasagna and my wife had a pepperoni pizza. My lasagna was 16 layers of noodle with a little cheese in between and a tiny bit of meat in the top layer. Normally I LOVE lasagne but this was the worst lasagna I've ever had. My wife's pizza was mediocre as was their soup. Finally service, the waitress was very unattentive leaving dirty dishes that we were obviously done with on the table until I finally had to ask her to take them with her. Was very uninterested in anything, and that was the feeling I got from all the staff walking around there. Hard to believe I hear good things about this place, will never set foot here again. read more

As a couple that usually stays well within our comfort zone and likes to dine only at places we're quite familiar with, branching out to East Side Mario's (in the same parking lot as our usual favorite) was a pretty big deal! It was less busy than our old fav so we decided to try 'er out and boy, we weren't disappointed! As soon as we walked in we were fairly impressed with the decor! Nice, even lighting (nothing too dim like some fancy restaurants) and quiet contemporary background music were inviting and quite welcoming! As we prefer a booth for eating, we were ushered to a table out in the open dining area and it wasn't even bad! We happily stayed put and enjoyed the crystal chandeliers, classic red/white table cloths, and old-world pasta theme. When our friendly, knowledgeable waiter came, he quickly took our drink menu, and brought it to the bar tender. The bar tender was slightly slow as he was playing catch-up with the entire restaurant, but when our drinks arrived, we hadn't a complaint. The boyfriend ordered a Keith's which was ice cold and satisfying. I ordered a Shirley Temple which was BY FAR the best I've ever had! It was your classic grenadine & Sprite but served with 3 multi-colored maraschino cherries and a heap of cotton candy! It was fantastic! We ordered our meals, which for the LOW price were INCREDIBLE. Hot, tasty, and FILLING. Our entree, Budda Boomers, were different, but didn't disappoint! For our entrees, I ordered Chicken Strips and Fries which came with a soup or salad (vegetable soup was tasty), and he opted for a Cesar salad with Chicken Parmesan (and pasta). Both quite tasty, and generously portioned. He (my boyfriend) said the chicken was slightly overcooked, and could've been more moist, but still very good, nonetheless. Before the main courses arrived however, we were served with complimentary "Home Loaf" which was DELICIOUS warm, soft and wonderful garlic dusted loaf (and whipped butter). It was simply incredible. Our server was quick, knowledgeable and awesome! The bill arrived, and what a shock; a fraction of what we've paid at other places (our trusted favorites), and the experience was unreal. Perfect evening out. Definitely did not disappoint. read more