Amazing place. been there on a few occasions before. fantastic staff, always service with smile. amazing food, tried a few options, all of them are very nice. and finally, the garlic knots. fresh hot garlic knots show up as soon as you sit. this itself is worth a visit. read more

I give it my favorite three! Great service! Great food! And great atmosphere! One of my favorite restaurants. read more

Such welcoming staff and a steady stream of patrons rolling in around 8:30 on a beautiful Saturday night. When it is nice out they have both indoor and outdoor seating. We opted indoor by the window and they had the door open so you could still get the weather without being outside. I dreamed of the garlic rolls for years. They are baked fresh throughout the day and evening. Freshly made rolls, drowned in olive oil, and then covered in basically an entire head of garlic. So many dates and girls nights we would have to stash supplies in our bags to cover the smell. It is always beyond worth it, so simple and so perfect. I could write a love letter to these garlic rolls and how I could and possibly have eaten an entire basket by myself. They even reheat well the next day. Got a side of their freshly made sauce and you could see the whole chunks of tomato. Our server was so kind and didn't judge us at all for only wanting the rolls and the sauce. She even described the two options and offered us more if we wanted. The perfect ending to dinner when you want a little more, but cannot handle an entire plate of pasta. Come here for the bread rolls and you will not be disappointed. read more

Mama Nina's - Garlic rolls - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Let's start with Sal - he is the best - attentive , knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating - a true asset to the business The menu is expansive, with good variety -- tastily prepared in large portions. We always try a different item and the chicken parm is exceptional. Don't forget the complimentary garlic bread and glass of wine. Con -Too bad they think it's necessary to charge for a soda refill which probably costs them 5 cents read more

This place never disappoints. It has been in business for years. The aroma of garlic cannot be mistaken. They are always so kind, casual vibe (at least for lunch), and the food is delicious. A must stop in Bethlehem. read more

This is such a cute spot, I was definitely digging the atmosphere. I finally got a chance to try this place after hearing about it from a few people. They start you off with their homemade garlic bread which was delicious, and then I decided to get something traditional, so I went with their Chicken Parm. The sauce was delicious as well as the entrée itself. Service was fast and friendly. Keep in mind this is a BYOB, and they only take reservations for parties of six or more. Buon Appetito!! read more

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Mama Nina's is a family owned restaurant that specializes in authentic Italian cuisine. This establishment has had many mentions of "Best Italian" in the Lehigh Valley and I have to agree. I've dined at this place many times over the years and it never disappoints. The service is great and the food is fantastic. My most recent visit I tried the Mozzarella Bella and Cajun Seafood Sachette. My date and I both agreed that the mozzarella was the best we've ever had. The Cajun Seafood Sachette consists of four cheese filled purse pasta sautéed with shrimp, scallops, jumbo lump crab meat, diced tomatoes and red onions in a spicy white cajun cream sauce. If you're a fan of seafood pastas you have to try it! My date ordered Penne alla Vodka. She gets the same thing every Italian place we visit and she said Mama Nina's is the best! Mama Nina's is BYOB and has indoor/outdoor seating. Takeout and delivery are both available. Garlic Rolls - 8.5 Mozzarella Bella - 8.7 Cajun Seafood Sachette - 8.6 Penne alla Vodka - 8.5 Tiramisu - 8.7 Food - 8.6 Service - 8.4 Value - 8.5 Restaurant score - 85 read more

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First off dinner portions are pretty big and can be easily shared. We all enjoyed our plates and took half of it to go. The chicken was juicy on all the plates and the sauces used had great flavor. The food takes a little bit of time to come out but nothing unreasonable. While you wait, you are given complimentary warm garlic bread rolls. Salvador was our server and he was so friendly and provided food suggestions. Our family enjoyed chatting with him and appreciated how attentive he was. read more

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I am in from out of town for a 3 day conference, and admittedly I am already exhausted! I was taking a peek around to see what looked good for dinner, and Italian (for me) is always a safe bet. When I saw this place on Yelp, I worried because the photos made it look a little suspect.... BUT! let me tell you, they don't do it justice by a long shot! After walking a short distance from my training site I came to find this absolutely lovely spot! The decor is so charming to me, and the folks were were very nice as I entered and toon a seat. Please note that this is place is BYOB, so if you need a glass of wine to go with your delicious meal, make sure to bring a bottle (or 2) of a nice wine of your choosing. I wish I had known that coming in, because my meal was PHENOMENAL! Warning - TREMENDOUS PORTIONS! My meal started with free garlic rolls, which already started me on a happy note! I am a huge fan of fresh garlic, but for those that are not, be warned... they have A LOT of garlic. You can easily remove it if that's not your thing! I ordered the Portobello Caps as an appetizer. The shrimp and scallops were cooked very nicely, and the sauce was soooooo good! Next I ordered the Eggplant Rollatine, and I didn't know what to expect as I'd never had this - but I am always down for cheese on cheese action. Let's just say.... I can't move, and I am very okay with that. This dish was so gooey and delicious, but not to where I couldn't enjoy the eggplant. Delicious! Would definitely recommend you try this place out, and bring wine! read more

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food was delicious, however our server was not very friendly. Also, when ordering a kids meal, we were asked if we wanted 3 or 6 ravioli for our child. We were never informed that ordering 6 would be an adult meal. She should have informed we were in fact ordering an adult meal as opposed to a kids meal. Disappointed with our server's unfriendly attitude and lack of information. Other than that the food was great. read more

Dianna was the best and the food was absolutely great we will be back!! And the price was great as well.

Everything ! I had been there years ago and had good memory's of their food. Unfortunately, the other evening was upsetting. I'm a 70 yr old Italian and this was the worst Italian meals we have even had. One woman in our party was sick all night from their Eggplant parm. All I know is no Italian would ever make meals like this. I have never bashed a local business but this experience was the worst! read more

Stopped in while visiting Bethlehem. It was very busy. Very small place. The Tables are so close together you are practically sitting with people on all 4 sides of you. To get in the door I had to squeeze between people at 2 tables. The menu had a nice selection of pastas and salads. We chose the Angel Hair Key West. Their signature dish. There was 2 lobster tails, scallops, crab meat (couldn't find that in the dish) and shrimp. Everything was swimming in a light creamy sauce. Very good and large enough to share. The garlic knots were very good. They were out of a couple of desserts. The servers were nice and helpful however we never were offered more wine as they were very busy. The ambiance is loud and tightly packed. I would recommend eating here if you don't mind the crowded tables. read more

Mama Nina's - Inside tables are very close to each other - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

GREAT FIND!!! Diamond in the rough! Exceptional Italian cuisine, get menu, large portions, friendly staff, great service! Please...please...somehow dim the lighting. Lower watt bulbs or dimmer switches. It was extraordinary bright with bright cold white bulbs, and that was the case with 1/2 the bulbs burned out! We've driven by many times over the last 5 yrs or so, and didn't go because it screamed cafeteria! **Not so...loved the place, couldn't give a stronger food and service review. Just a little tweek on the lightening situation, set a little ambiance, and we're rocking 10/10 stars!! read more

Adorable! Felt welcomed and the ambiance is so cute. My daughter ordered the pasta with mushrooms and was so happy with it. We are traveling and I really needed some veggies. I ordered the Mama Nina's salad. It is beautiful! Mozzarella, basil, greens, onions, tomatoes, olives, and oranges. It is an amazing burst of flavor in each bite. What a great find for out of town travelers. read more

Mama Nina's - Pasta with mushrooms. - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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I am so impressed with the entire staff ,so friendly and full of smiles even accommodating my picky teenager ,with helping to make a decision on his entree.We will be back that's for sure !!! read more

Mama Nina's - Front of the restaurant - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

I had the pleasure of visiting Mama Nina again while on vacation from NY. From the moment we walked in ( 10 of us) it was warm an inviting. The service was exceptional as well as the food. This place is a must, I can't wait to return. read more

One of my favorites in Bethlehem, a BYOB. Tight tables but lots of good food for the price! Free sangria if you ask. Go on "off peak times" for the best experience. read more

Not even midway through my meal staff knocked over water and spilled it all over onto me and my food. When they came back I told them I could not finish it because my food has ice and water in it. They took the food away and gave us our bill without even offering any sort of alternative or apology. We asked for the item to be taken off or for some sort of discount because I wasn't even finished with half of the meal when this happened. We talked to the manager who comes and immediately acts defensive and extremely rude manner and just leaves after stating that I had "three spoons of food left"(not true) and refusing us of a discount after offering one previously. Kept saying "why are you fighting me", I do understand that we might have come off as a bit upset but still for a good reason and I don't quite understand why he immediately became so standoff-ish and aggressive with us. Another staff member came later after he left and applied a "discount" which was a military discount of $3 off of my item only and when we tried to explain our situation we were immediately shut off. Food also took forever to get to our table. Will not be returning. read more

first time dining here in a few years and we definitely won't be back. flies and bugs were constantly around our food/drinks/heads while we dined inside. Food was just ok but nothing like it used to be. read more

Eggplant parmesan with tomato sauce and spaghetti came with salad. Enjoyed eating salad with garlic knots in olive oil and crushed garlic. Service was good. read more

Everything. Service, Ambiance and food! Consistent. I can't wait to go back soon. The Garlic bread is a must try.

What a charming little family run Italian restaurant! We stopped in for a quick bite and thoroughly enjoyed the Mama Nina salad with chicken and penne vodka. Fantastic, fast and friendly service. read more

Another great Mama Nina experience! The shrimp Florentine was amazing. So much flavor. We also got the Mama Nina salad, also a must try. read more

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Mama Nina's is an absolute must when you are in the Bethlehem area!! Do not let the big crowd outside deter you from waiting. They move at a nice pace. They do not take reservations, call ahead, or even add your name to a list. A man at the door will call out a number of seats and if you have that magic number then you are in. We were a party of 7 and we only waited maybe a half hour. They are a well oiled machine and keep things moving. At no time did we feel rushed as we were looking to eat and get back out for Christmas shopping. As soon as you sit the most delicious garlic bread is put on your table. They are a BYOB but do offer 1 complimentary glass of red or white wine if you ask. Their portions are very large!! I ate half there and had half to bring home for another filling meal. Everyone took half of their meal home. I had the Creamy Cavitappi. It was the most amazing pasta dish I have ever had!!!! The flavor exploded in my mouth!!! Service was wonderful!!! It is a small place so be prepared to be very close to strangers. This was not an issue for me but wanted others to be prepared. I highly recommend this restaurant and will be going back for sure!!! read more

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The owner is very rude. Chased myself & friends out of restaurant. Wanted to order dessert but started packing up our left overs & asked us to leave. read more

Have eaten here several times over the last few years. Always give it the benefit of the doubt... No more. I ordered linguine with white clam sauce one of the easiest things you can make. He came out cold. I sent it back. After tasting it, I should've sent it back for good. All it had was a dash of broth no lemon, no garlic, no olive oil, no butter, no parsley... Nothing it was the worst I've ever had in my life. read more

Delish!!! Love this place!! I've been to Bethlehem at dinnertime twice (from North Jersey) and each time need to come here and will be back. Starts off with complimentary garlic knots! I LOVE garlic and the generosity of the garlic does not disappoint. Also a complimentary glass of wine if you forgot that this is a blob. I had the stuffed shells. So good! Shared Caesar salad. My friend had linguini with white clam sauce and said it was really good. I wish this place was close to my home!! I'd be there at least once a week. Also, nice ambiance and good service. Next time I will try chicken parm. But, oh the stuffed shells!! read more

Where to begin? First, we were the only people there so seating was not at a premium. We were a party of 6. They sat us at a table for 4... 5 if we're being generous. Second, calamari was served rubbery and gross, obviously frozen and not fresh. Third, my mother in laws salad was never served. When we asked the server said, "oh yeah, I never rang it in." After all of this we get the bill with TWENTY percent gratuity added. While I generally tip 20% that seems too excessive after terrible service. Finally, the icing on the cake... the manager never even found the decency to come over and apologize for their terrible service. This will be our last visit to this place. read more

Food: Chicken marsala- very sweet. different than what expected. penne ala vodka- very creamy but good overall. - desserts are small and overpriced Service: - waitress did take awhile given monday night and 6 people were seated (different tables). there was long periods of time between waitress coming. our food did take about 25 minutes to come out with total of 6 people being served. when asking for bill, dessert menu, there was was about a 5-10 minute wait. - waitress was also short with with us and seemed not to care. read more

Mama Nina's - dessert menu - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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Had high hopes for this one, huge let down. Server was friendly but not as attentive as I would have liked. Their website indicated a lunch menu with lunch specials, no lunch menu or specials, website menu not updated since Covid (2020). Ordered the Veal Parm and my daughter the mussels and stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer. Stated with the garlic bread, looks like the garlic was an afterthought, mediocre at best. Veal was under seasoned, pasta was over cooked and the sauce tasted like is out of a can, also very under seasoned. Daughter said the mussels were just ok. The stuffed mushrooms and the lemonade were the best two items of lunch. $70 bucks for lunch, the juice was not th the squeeze on this one. The ultimate turnoff is when you get the bill and you pay with a credit card and the charge the customer a 3.5% charge to use your credit card. I'm sorry I'm old school and if your a business accepting credit cards, what it cost you to process credit cards is the cost of doing business should not be passed along to your patrons. read more

My boyfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed the food at this place. The dishes were incredibly fresh and satisfying for both of us. The atmosphere is very cute and quaint. One minor suggestion or issue we encountered was with the table or booth size. I would recommend opting for a table in the middle for a more comfortable dining experience. read more

I want to start by stating how much I used to adore this restaurant. The "Mussels Marinara" are the gold standard. No other restaurant can match them! So I was concerned when the original owners sold and retired a number of years ago. The last few years since, I've eaten there occasionally... and must admit that the food quality still remained extremely high. Maybe down a half notch... but the food was still very good! Although on a 2018 my wife noted that "the new guy sure is full of himself"... overhearing some interaction with his staff. Today was my first Post-Covid visit... so I was excited to get my beloved mussels and an entree. We arrived at 3PM and the restaurant was about 1/3 empty. While being guided to a table, my wife and I asked to be seated in a table that seated four... because the only "two-seat table" was one that was about two-feet wide and extended into the area where servers were constantly coming past the chairs & table within inches. What became apparent today is that the new owner is not just full of himself. He is the exact opposite of the original owner and his wife Mama Nina. Loud, crude and rude would be an understatement in describing him! He chased me out of the restaurant... causing a big scene in front of all his customers... and called me a "piece of sh!t." I was so rattled I just stood out front catching my breath. A patron came out and told me that she saw the whole thing and told him as she exited that he "can't treat customers that way." He then said "Get outta here! I don't need you." That gave me the courage to run back in to snap a photo of the table... and he chased me out... screaming "You're banned for life!" All this reminds me of the "Soup Nazi" episode on SEINFELD. If you want to eat their food, you must be be careful not to anger them. Of course, after being called a "Piece of Sh!t by the owner"... I kind of lost my appetite!" ‍ read more

Mama Nina's - Look how close foot traffic comes! - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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What a great restaurant for Italian food. They start you off with garlic bread. The bread is loaded with garlic. I like garlic, however I brushed off a few pieces of garlic( too much for me). Ii was not fresh garlic, but the ones that come in a jar. For my main meal I got the seafood marinara. There were plenty of fish, (scallops, mussels, squid , shrimp and clams). Everything was delicious. They also gave me a large portion linguine. It's a small restaurant, however they had tables everywhere. We were in the lower level, which got us away from all the activity. We had 10 people and they were all satisfied with their meals. A public parking garage is walking distance to the restaurant. read more

Mama Nina's - Seafood combination - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

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I went to Mama Nina with my boyfriend for dinner one night. I was excited to try this resturant because I always see the resturant very busy! I was a bit disappointed to say the least. The prices were very high and the food wasn't too great. I'm willing to pay more for high quality food and this food wasn't at all worth it in my opinion. We ordered a Caesar salad for an appetizer. It was very dry with little to no dressing. I asked the waitress for extra dressing and she never brought me any. Our food came quickly and the presentation was very nice. The taste was not. The penne vodka was tasteless and did not have the traditional vodka sauce taste. My favorite dish was probably the chicken parmigiana my boyfriend ordered. It was a thinner slice of chicken, which I appreciated but the tomato sauce wasn't anything to write home about. Overall, I did not enjoy having dinner at Mama Nina's, I felt that the food is mediocre and the prices were a little too high compared to the food quality. I did enjoy the chicken parmigiana and the garlic knots they put on the table before you order your meals. read more

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Food was awful, no flavor at all, very watery. The manager was a very arrogant man who argued, yelled , and still charged us $100 for food we only took one bite of. If I could give it ZERO stars, I would. DONT waste your money. DO NOT go here. read more

Whoa!!!!! I've frequented this restaurant in the past, but this time was absolutely outstanding. I ordered the Mama Nina's Angel Hair Gorgonzola, which is Sautéed with baby lobster, shrimp, scallops and jumbo lump crab meat in a vodka gorgonzola basil cream sauce. BABBBBYYYY!! Oh my goodness! The food was so good I almost thought I was fluent in Italian!!! Great job!!! Sorry--I ate the food so fast, I forgot to snap a picture! read more

SAL ROCKS! We drove to Center City, Bethlehem for pre-Musikfest day of 2021. Parked the car and walked up the alley and voila, MAMA NINAS caught our eye and ultimately satisfied our stomachs. Sal placed a basket of garlic knots on the table for us. His service was efficient, personable and his manner was impeccable through our entire dining experience. complimentary red wine was full body and great pairing with pasta. We ordered a Mama Nina salad: fresh ingredients of Kalimantan olives, fresh orange sections, Spring mix, tomato, etc ($9). The four pieces of eggplant Parmigiana over angel hair and red sauce tasted great and red sauce wasn't over salted! ($15) The star of the table was the Fettuccine Alfredo: light, creamy, and very satisfying and fresh. ($17). Cheers to kitchen staff. It was really good. Dined al fresco on Main Street and it was a great experience! read more

Mama Nina's - Bethlehem law patrolling the streets - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

At this time... outdoor seating is available. It's not covered outdoor seating, But They have outdoor heaters. The waiter is very strict on social distancing - much appreciated!!! We came at lunch time. There was no pizza on the menu so we opted for 3 different plates : seafood risotto, bolongese, and seafood fettuccini with a spicy red sauce. We also got a Caesar's salad. The potions are hearty ... so we were able to share all dishes between 3 peoples satisfactorily. What I like best is that there is more seafood pieces/ meat sauce than the pasta. I was able to really taste the flavours and enjoy the seafood which included big shrimps, scallops, clams, and crab meat. I would definitely return if I visit the area. Our bill ended up being 120$ (with tip included). read more

Mama Nina's - Outdoor seating - Italian Near Me - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

The restaurant has changed since the change in ownership. The food tastes like premade packaged food. The service is fine. And don't tell the waiter you didn't like your food. The owner gets told about it and he comes over to the table and is not very nice. He actually told me "what did you expect" and "what do you want me to do". How about take it back and don't charge me for something I did not like because it was over seasoned. He actually got angry and to avoid a situation I just paid the bill and went home. Sadly I will not be returning anytime soon. read more