First time here. Meh. Loud, mediocre food and wine, limited selections. Was expecting much more.

Arrived last evening at approximately 5:00 pm. There was a 40 minute wait so we sat at the bar. We have been to this location three or four times and have normally had mediocre service and good food - sometimes very good food. We hadn't been here for about three years and were not impressed with the food this time. My chicken picatta was lacking the sauce that makes it chicken picatta - just a very small amount on the plate, so essentially I just had a piece of chicken that was just okay - I did eat most of it. The chicken was on top of Arugula and artichokes. I do not like either of these items, but the menu description didn't mention them. My wife was very disappointed in her chicken marsala, once again - almost no sauce and the pasta was not homemade. My wife gets this dish everywhere it is available and said this was one of the least inspired versions. The girls working the bar were awesome though - very sweet and attentive. We decided we won't be back. Wasn't horrible - we ate our food, but weren't even close to being wowed. For $72 (with tip) we expected a little better. read more

Delicious food and popular place! It was very busy on a Friday night so they seated our family with young children in the bar area. The portions were generous and the price for kids meals were reasonable. The lasagna was very good and a LARGE portion for an adult. I expected a side salad or something to come with the entre but that was extra. There was free Italian bread as an appetizer but we had to ask for it because our waiter was so busy. The tiramisu was huge and amazing! read more

Marcella's - Large lasagna as well as kids lasagna and free bread and oil for dipping. - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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I cannot take this place serious if my Pinot Noir that I selected is served in a vessel such as this. If this is normal than they should only offer one red and one white wine. Disappointed before the food even hit the table. Update: yes, the food was no better. There are many other establishments that do it much better for the price. The food, the wine and the tacky music (Wang Chung was playing) made this my most disappointing dining experience in years. Perhaps Happy Hour in the bar might be ok but I'd rather dine elsewhere. read more

Better than Carrabba's and definitely second to as it's probably every Italian restaurant in Columbus to the place in powell - Novella Osteria that No no one can hold a candle to. As always dependable Italian food. Big portions solid service read more

Went back for a friend's birthday party, the food was amazing. I found a new favorite drink!!! STRAWBERRY BALSAMIC MARTINI it is amazing. The lemon verbena foam is light and yummy sitting atop the strawberry drink. I'm going to happy hour very soon. read more

I would rate this CM restaurant 3.5 stars. The garlic bread was delicious and my absolute favorite thing on the menu. I didn't care for the creamy Italian salad dressing because I felt it lacked flavor. However, my bf enjoyed it. I had spaghetti with meatballs and he had lasagna. Both dishes were good. The tiramisu was wonderful. read more

Wow so good. Everything had so much flavor. The gnocchi was some of the best I ever had. The tiramisu was exactly what I wanted it to taste like. Fantastic! read more

Marcella's - Gnocchi, Arancini and tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Always consistently great food and service in a traditional Italian atmosphere. We always look forward to eating at Marcella's.

Best meatballs and fettuccine around! Their spaghetti and lasagna is equally as wonderful! Service is fantastic!

I love Marcella's in the Short North so I decided to give the Polaris location a try one night when my family was in town. When I walked in, I could see it was pretty different from the other location. There is a lot more space - much better for groups - but it lacked the same fun vibe/decor/setup that the Short North does (which I guess I should've expected since Short North is a younger crowd overall). The service was okay. They were a little more skimpy on the oil and bread at this location. I thought it was really nice though that they brought out fresh fruit for the kids - a great touch! Luckily, despite the meh vibe I was getting overall, the food was still wonderful. The chicken Parmesan was cooked perfectly and the linguine had a delightful flavor. The Italian wedding soup came in a cute rustic pot and tasted delightful. Cocktails were superb. The Margarita pizza wasn't the best - I was looking for more fresh tomatoes - but I still enjoyed it. I'd say this is a fantastic go-to for quality Italian food. They have a Sunday supper that I'll be trying out in the near future. read more

Marcella's - Italian wedding soup - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

My favorite Italian restaurant, been hard to get in lately hours have changed. Best meatballs in town! Don't sit in the window seating in the winter won't be an enjoyable experience.. read more

This is the second time that I've been to this location and it was mediocre at best. was seated right away after calling ahead and our server came pretty fast. There was just something off about her. We ordered wine and waited for our waters. she came back with the wrong bottle and acted baffled and appalled that we old her we asked for a different bottle. she later returned and apologized. we ordered appetizers and asked to have gluten free bread. we received our appetizer and there was two different kinds of bread and we asked her if she knew which one was gluten free. insisted it was on one and said she was "75% positive" it was gluten free. Ordered dinner and one of the salads came out completely wrong. Waited 10 minutes for an incredibly mediocre salad that cost almost $20. The dressing was incredible overpowering. The added chicken was hastily cut, and the other salad additions were slim. I was really excited to go here, and I was a bit let down by the quality of food, our waiter, and the price. Ive had better experiences at Olive Garden. read more

Great food, excellent service, speedy, hot and tasty - ambience was bustling for a Wednesday night - this is a great Italian restaurant we have been back several times read more

I cannot get enough of this place. The food, the experience, the taste, wow! The food is so delicious, be sure to read my previous reviews, one of which was a ROTD! What?!! We came in this time with a friend from out of town and had a delicious meal together. Appetizer Tuscan Cheese Board - aged goat, pecorino, Gorgonzola dolce, and apricot preserves. Yummy! Meatball - this is heavenly! It's super delicious and very tasty Dinner I ordered the fettuccine & meatball. This is one of several things that I always order when I'm here. You can't go wrong with this delightful meal. read more

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I was surprised to see this is a Cameron Mitchell restaurant that is pretty affordable (prices compare to Cap City). I came in specially wanting fettuccine Alfredo. My mistake was not reviewing the menu at this item- when it came out it was fettuccine Alfredo on a bed of marinara sauce and a meatball on top- THIS IS NOT FETTUCCINE ALFREDO! That was the first disappointment . I asked to send it back and come back as fettuccine Alfredo should really be. The sauce was the worst sauce I have ever Tasted in my life. There was no taste. On top of it they put croutons in it and they tasted horrible. I took most of it home and spruced it up at home to make it edible. Wow- what a disappointment. For a menu adjustment this should really be advertised as "fettuccine spaghetti" as I'm wondering if that's why they put marinara sauce on bottom because the Alfredo is tasteless. We did order Caesar salad- that was good. I also ordered tomato basil soup- that was good. 2 stars the server was nice and attentive and he could tell the look on my face when he brought out my pasta and told me he would send back and get it how I wanted and that process was very quick . I was appreciative of that as I am always hesitant to send food back. He asked me how it tasted once it came out again and I lied because he was so nice. I'm not sure if there are better menu items there but an Italian advertised restaurant with poor Alfredo sauce rubs me the wrong way. I think we will just stick to Cap City next time on an affordable Cameron Mitchell restaurant. read more

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Food was not as good as previous visits because they ran out of what we ordered. We had to request extra cheese because server forgot to serve it with the meal. Ambiance was nothing special. We will not return read more

Stopped in here due to my normal Italian restaurant being closed for the day. Parking lot looked quite busy, but we were seated in about 5 minutes. First off, the staff was extremely friendly, from the hostess, to our waiter, to the person who brought the food. The bread served is kinda firm, and served with plain olive oil. Typically I've seen this seasoned or flavored. It was pretty basic, and just a hard crusted roll. Started with the bruschetta. It was good, but not the best I've had. Nothing wrong with it, just not outstanding. Came fast. Dinner came extremely fast, almost too fast. I had hardly put a dent in the appetizer. I had the chicken Parmesan. It was a large portion. Chicken was crunchy breaded, juicy and had excellent flavor. Served with a pasta with a cream based sauce, which admittedly isn't my favorite, but this was actually quite good. Was too full to try any desserts. Will surely eat hear again. read more

This place is great! I highly recommend this place if your feeling saucy. The pasta here is great and I would definitely come back to this place. The service was kind of slow and the inside was kind of dingy. I feel like it was too dark and it needs to lighten up a little. Overall really good food! read more

Friday night happy hour on the patio! Our waitress, Alexis was fantastic! She brought out our drinks at the absolute perfect time, every time. She was extremely friendly and gave good suggestions. The Whisky Rosso was so delicious and only $5 on happy hour. We also had the Veal Meatball which was incredible. The Chicken Parmesan Sandwich was okay, pretty messy and the bread was soggy but the fries were excellent. The bathrooms were cutely decorated but very low lighting. It was difficult to see in the stall and would suggest a little more lighting. Overall this was a good experience and we will be back. We thought the happy hour was very reasonable and with such a beautiful patio, you can't go wrong. read more

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We went there hoping for a great dinner. Sadly disappointed. Our server was in a big hurry right from the start. We kept telling her we weren't ready to order and hadn't decided yet and she kept coming up to us every 60 seconds asking if we were ready. She brought my wine in a a rocks glass so I asked for a wine glass. No butter for the bread. The salad was great. My entree the lasagna tasted like it was a week old. She brought us the bill and we charged us $12 for a meatball added. I asked her about the menu saying it was $5.79 for the meatball and she said that was to add it to the build your pasta. I said I looked at the menu and it didn't say anywhere about $12. She said I'll get the menu and show you. She brought it back and said here it says 5.79 but it doesn't say anywhere $12. I said yes that's what I said. She said yea sorry. So I said can you get a manager and have it fixed then? She said ok I will try. Pretty much the worse service I have had in a bit. read more

Enjoyed a nice dinner for our anniversary! We had a reservation and were seated quickly! The food was tasty, we skipped the appetizers and went with salads, both were delicious! Love that the entrees are made to order, made it very easy to ask them to leave off the spinach from my husbands meal. Only complaint is we asked our waiter for more bread, but he never brought any. read more

Marcella's - Fettuccine & Meatball - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Easy online reservation for Saturday evening dinner. I highly recommend making a reservation because I heard parties in front of us being told a 45 minute wait time. Service was great, food came out fast, and the house sauce is amazing! I recommend the veal meatball as a starting appetizer. Both the lasagna and chicken parmesan are tasty dishes. The chicken parmesan stands out because unlike most other restaurants, it's served with fettuccine alfredo. The lasagna is a good sized portion too. read more

I'm just going to say one word.....SEASONING!! I don't think I have ever ate more bland food in my life. Their food has potential, but you cannot serve food without using, at minimum, salt and pepper. The ricotta cheesecake was not good either. Legit tastes like box mix that my 11 year old daughter could make. On the up side, everyone that worked here was super friendly. read more

I love this restaurant. The food is great and the service we received the last visit was phenomenal. Why only 4 stars? The chicken risotto is awful. i tried it last week at the downtown location and it was undercooked. Thought I would give it another try at the Polaris location and it was even worse- undercooked, really salty and the chicken was so overcooked it wasn't even chewable. I have never had another dish there that I haven't loved, but this one needs some work. I won't let this deter me from visiting my favorite restaurant, but obviously I will steer clear of the risotto. read more

Waitress was lovely When the server gives you bread make sure you ask for some spices in your olive oil and add a little balsamic vinegar. The food was good but not amazing. It's like the taste and quality was right there but it wasn't enough? read more

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Last time I ate here everything was over salted and the pasta sauce was over cooked and too sweet.

Came here with my friend after shopping at Polaris mall. We ordered the olives as an appetizer and I had the Sunday salad as my entree. I love the meatball in the salad, it's what I get every time! Will be back for sure! read more

Marcella's - Aranchini - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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Marcella's is, of course, famous for the meatball. You can get it as an appetizer with marinara sauce, or it comes on some of the pasta dishes. And you can add it to any entree for $5! At lunchtime Marcella's has a really great burger. It might seem strange to order a burger here, but it was an excellent choice! I was actually disappointed when I went for dinner once and found out the burger is only on the lunch menu. I love the crispy potato pizza! It took a while, but I finally discovered that their alfredo sauce is made with a kick. I had tried the fettuccine and meatball which comes with both marinara and alfredo sauces. I thought the marinara had a kick, so the next time I ordered a tortellini alfredo. Boom. Alfredo has a kick, so now I avoid it. It was unexpected! On our most recent visit the food took a little long to come out, and Marcella's made sure we were well taken care of and left happy. We could tell that service is really important to them. Be sure to visit the restrooms for some mouthwash and other fancy offerings. read more

Marcella's - Tuscan cheese board - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

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I just paid $25 for Chicken Marsala , I received half the amount I normally received, paid more and it's not as good. I traveled 30 minutes away from my home. Never again! read more

Got takeout tonight from Marcella's at Polaris, it was exceptional and excellent. The minute you call the restaurant to place an order, you're greeted by a pleasant voice ready to take your order. Tonight my husband ordered the salmon, i got lamb bolognese, and I wanted to try the risotto which is always changing, tonight it was risotto with charred Brussel Sprouts and Acorn squash, i hate making risotto st home because I'm the only one eating it. So glad to have leftovers! read more

OMG... Absolutely fantastic! We had the wedding soup and the meatball BEST one I have ever had! And our waitress was phenomenal!! This is a great restaurant!! Love love it!! read more

Marcella's - Meatball - Italian Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Absolutely love the food at Marcella's. I wish the marinara wasn't necessarily as spicy as it is, but it's great food nonetheless.

We went to Marcella's for the first time today. We had a wonderful meal. I had pasta and meatball. My spouse had a filet migon with potatoes. Everything was delicious. Our server was Rin. She was amazing. We got seated and she quickly came to get our drink order and delivered the bread. She also had to set up for a large table that arrived shortly. Even with the large table she was there just as we may have needed something. More bread ( which is very good) or refills on the drinks. She was very complimentary of the coworkers as well saying everyone is always willing to help out. That's the sign of a welk run place. Keep up the good work. We will return soon. read more

Typical excellent service for a Cameron Mitchell restaurant. Always a good time with friends. The ambiance is wonderful. Good place to take your loud friends. read more

We came here Sunday night for dinner. The interior of Marcella's is very pretty in that moody sort of higher end Italian spot kind of way. But that also means the lights were dim and does not make a food photography friendly environment (isn't that half the fun?) Service was perfectly nice, we were seated right away. We were able to put in a toddler's kids pizza in right away while everyone else looked at the menu. The two appetizers came out promptly. The risotto balls, A++. I was told the olives were good and I'll have to take their word for it because I don't "do" olives. The meals were great too! My kids gobbled theirs up. I've been on a quest to find authentic carbonara, and while this didn't quite fit the bill it still a huge step up from the spaghetti in alfredo with peas bacon bits lots of places sell as carbonara. Desserts were amazing, we had a pretty large party so I got to sample a lot of the options and my favorite was the cookies and ice cream. read more

Always a lovely place to go for GREAT happy hour prices. It's in the middle of Polaris Parkway and near a lot of shops, so if you're hungry from shopping...stop by and grab some cheap cocktails and delicious appetizers. I've tried all of their cocktail drinks and my favorite is probably the Whisky Rosso. There's a kick to it but at the same time it's got a sweet aftertaste. The strawberry balsamic martini is one of the other favorites on the cocktail list. Their calamari is always my go to dish to order, along with the meatballs! Absolutely tasty and packs a great flavor. The portion for the cheese bread is plentiful, I feel like I always order way too much food. Simply because it's hard to resist not taking a bite out of all their appetizers. Seating is always easy for me, but if you have a big party - makes sure to get there early to get a table for your party. They can easily accommodate your requests. The staff is always very quick and friendly. read more

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Marcella's has to be one of the most Gluten friendly (non-speciality) restaurants in town. I have never seen so much care to detail, even at the advertised GF places. My wife and I ordered take out. They had a GF tab on their site, so I didn't have to scroll through and look for the "gf" symbol. I easily picked the penne and clams, with the Caesar salad. My wife, the gnocchi (she always goes for the gnocchi). My food came in containers that had stickers on them labeling them GF. Anyone who's GF knows how good it feels to be reassured that your food isn't going to make you sick. What makes it all even better...they gave me my own GF bread and oil as a side. I've been to some fancy restaurants that had some pretty decent GF accommodations...but I've NEVER been given free GF bread and oil. It easily the item that restaurants won't try to accommodate, because they don't get paid more to do it. An additional note: we've struggled to find quality take out lately (and I don't just mean price - I mean food that travels well). I really don't know what the deal is. And to make it more difficult, we gotta find GF options - so most Chinese is off the table. Anyways - Marcella's is on our list. Not only accommodating, but absolutely delicious. read more

I have to say, I thought of this place again and decided to return on a recent trip to Columbus and I again left extremely impressed. There was a small wait but no big deal, I simply walked across the parking lot to World Market, also, there's a possibility they read my last review as more signage was added. The atmosphere was still nice, and the service was nothing short of excellent. There iced tea is good as is the complimentary bread and oil and the Italian Wedding Soup is second only to Carrabas Sausage and Lentil soup for best restaurant soup. There were 3 of us and two got the lasagna, one with salad, and both were impressed. As for me, I couldn't resist getting the salmon I go last time. It was fantastic. I'm sure there desserts are good but we were way too full at that point. Overall, fantastic food and experience! read more

The appetizers here are amazing! The margaerita pizza and meatball are the best! And the happy hour cannot be beat.