I placed a to-go order at Macaroni Grill at 2:56 PM and was told it would be ready in 20 minutes. I arrived at 3:18 PM and saw my food already sitting out. However, I wasn't helped until 3:25 PM after trying to get someone's attention. There appeared to be only one server actively working while another staff member was walking around but not assisting customers. When I finally spoke to the busy server, I was brushed off and told it wasn't her section. After waiting several more minutes, she returned and said she didn't know how to handle to-go orders and was too busy with her 3 tables By the time someone finally helped me, it was around 3:34 PM, meaning my food had been sitting out for quite a while. When I expressed concern (especially since the meal contained dairy), I was told to "touch the bottom" and that it was still hot, which it was not. Another customer even confirmed it was not at a safe temperature/up to food regulation standards. At that point, the lady assisting me was annoyed and rudely said they'd remake it as she walked away , but after already waiting and being dismissed multiple times, I chose to leave without my food. Overall, this was a frustrating experience due to lack of service, poor communication, and food safety concerns. I hope management addresses this, as it reflects poorly on the restaurant. read more

This has got to be the worst dine in experience I've had at a restaurant in over a decade. We only came here because we had a gift card. First, there was no complimentary bread. The server repeated that multiple times while seating us and taking our orders and said how embarrassed she was about it, but didn't offer any alternatives. I ordered a truffle mac n cheese ($19.50) and added crispy prosciutto ($4). When it arrived....it just looked pathetic. Like the cheapest possible penne and cheese that you'd serve a toddler, and the prosciutto looked like lazily sliced ham. It reminded me of the basic macaroni and ham you'd find at the most casual HK cafes that should cost no more than $5. It was just a completely insult to be charged $23.50 for something like that. My husband ordered a Chianti Steak ($32) that was cooked properly at medium rare, but was obviously a poor quality cut of meat with lots of fat and tendon. The final slap in the face? They wouldn't accept our gift card. Apparently there were some changes from corporate this year where they no longer accept the type of gift card we had. There is absolutely no way we even would've considered coming here if it weren't for the gift card, and we ended having to pay full price for the biggest joke of a meal. The server also never checked up on us while we ate, and it took an excruciatingly long time for her to come back to us with the bill so we could leave. 0/10 would recommend and you're better off buying something from the frozen section at Walmart for dinner. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

The salmon was perfectly cooked, fresh, and full of flavor. The spicy meatballs were a standout, with just the right amount of heat and a rich, delicious sauce. Everything was well prepared, the service was friendly, and the overall experience was excellent. I would definitely come back and order both again! read more

Macaroni grill is a restaurant that I've always loved but lately, it's changing for the worse. The menus are smaller, and made of cheaper material. We ordered Calamari and they were way smaller. The waiter barely checked on us even though there were only about 5 people in the restaurant. To top it off, the bathroom is filthy. You just get the feeling that they don't care. They need to make some serious changes before I ever come back. read more

Please give your staff some help! There was only one lady checking up on all of the tables, bringing them food, and processing payment. I saw a male worker casually replacing the paper tablecloth over and over again. Not a great use of staff. Honestly I only came here because I have a Brinker gift card that I received awhile ago but it's no longer valid. Paying full price for food isn't an issue.. IF the food was decent. The food was not. My wife's Mac and Cheese was the saddest thing I've ever seen and I don't know if I even want to call it Mac and Cheese at this point. My chianti steak, on the other hand, came out medium rare as requested. The cut of meat was overall a bit tough though and there was more fat than anticipated. One of the bites low key hurt my teeth too . read more

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The food is good, I've only been here for lunch, which is really slow. Every time I've gone there for lunch they only staff one waiter. So you wait a long time to be seated, to be waited on, etc. So be warned. read more

Come here every few months. I never have any problems. We usually get the calamari, parm chicken salad and bib and blue. I've gotten a few pasta dishes in the past. Never had any problems. Came here last night and everything was fine. read more

Surprised by the reviews. The restaurant is nice. I have never had an issue with the food. I dine in and order pick up. Have ordered trays as well. This location os excellent read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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I ordered via Door Dash and it was gross. No seasoning, no lemon and tough chicken. Chicken scallopine. Yuk!

We had Door Dash deliver and the food was great! Chicken Parmesan the best. This is not our first order. We really Love their food. read more

Service was trash, food was less than mid, management is incompetent, do not come. Spent my daughters birthday here and they tried over charging us for items we did not order, argued about the Mac and Cheese with truffle, it looked liked the kids mac and cheese. Management would not help, this place is a joke! read more

The food was decent, but dessert was not because there was an ant in my ice cream and the service was extremely slow. From the mouth of my eight-year-old daughter. read more

Good service, but costly prices for a chain restaurant. My partner and I were sat in the booths by the bar and loved how friendly the waitress was with the other patrons/regulars, good sense of community vibe. Some other reviewers complained about a person in the kitchen yelling; it was a quick cheer every now and then but nothing to ruin your night over, more amusing than anything. With everyone talking and an nba game playing on the tvs, it was barely noticeable. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Spaghetti, sub rigatoni noodles - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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We had a very nice lunch today at Macaroni Grill. The food was delicious and the service was exceptional. Thank you Quinn! We will be back soon read more

Food was delicious and the restaurant was clean and friendly staff. Will keep coming g back for the food is delicious. thanks !

i ordered the shrimp portofino and wife had the mushroom ravioli. My entree tasted great and my wife liked hers as well. This will definitely be a repeat for us to try other entrees. i saw from previous reviews the service was not great, our experience with Marcialo, no problems. though i think they were understaff because he seems to be the only server, this would be an area that i believe needs improvement.....but like i said, he did a good job. i do love the ambience, the decor, very Italian, and clean. Thanks again Marcialo. See u next time. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Shrimp Portofino - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

Lwk soulless pasta, was not a fan of the grilled chicken. Server was cool. I liked the atmosphere.

Regular or was a regular.. Dinner | $30-40 Update: As I was leaving, I spoke to the waiter that insulted me in front of another customer for asking for a clean glass. First he denied. He'd said he did not say anything but was sitting about 6 ft away from him when he mocked me. And then I said ," maybe I won't come here anymore. That was rude" he replied," I don't care if you never come here again. I don't care if your family doesn't come here or anybody you know doesn't come here anymore. I don't care." Wow! This is a restaurant that wants business????? I wish this place was at least ok because it is close to home and the atmosphere is nice. It could be a jewel. I don't mind spending an extra $20 for better food, clean glasses and some service. I always tip 25%+. June 1, 2026, tried one more time, the food portions got smaller, plates got tinny. The service got worse, in an empty restaurant. My wine glass was filthy read wine residue cemented inside a glass served with white wine. Filthy! The new waiter was mocking me because I said the glass is filthy. Out loud mocking me to another guest. The food was ok, edible. I noticed a staff change... April 2026 The food has been getting worse and worse from June 2025. No flavor, stale bread, overworked tiny staff read more

Five. Stars. This was amazing. 50+ so fresh. They took a little bit of food there, and they gave me another water, and they gave me the food for free. read more

We have been coming for years, primarily for the make-your-own pasta deal and kids menu for our kids, but we keep getting disappointed in quality of food and service. The creamy sauce for our pasta we usually get was watered down, the chicken was tough, probably from freezer burn, and our hot food arrived at our table lukewarm. Add this to the server that was nonexistent because he was the only server serving 10 tables. The make your own pasta used to be cheaper too! $20 for pasta !?! Getouttahere! 3 kid items, 2 pasta dishes, 1 salad= $100 with tax and tip. If the food was substantial higher quality then the money we spent is well spent, but not this time. Not worth the price! Never again. read more

I had never visited this Romano's Macaroni Grill location and I can't remember when my previous visit to any location was. I decided to check it out after they sent me a birthday reward. The 2.9 star rating did not fill me with confidence, so I began reading the reviews. Italian is my favorite cuisine and I might have otherwise ordered a pasta dish, but it seemed like reviewers were more into the desserts than the entrees. Luckily, I also have a sweet tooth, and I quickly settled on the tiramisu and the cannoli. I tried to order online, but the system would not let me place an order for that evening -- only for the next day. I refreshed and tried again a couple of times before finally calling in the order. Allow me to tell the series of events that unfolded after that. The restaurant does not seem especially busy when I arrive, but I have to wait a few minutes at the hostess stand before someone returns and points me in the right direction to pick up a to-go order. I thought it would be a quick transaction: I'd give the person my phone number and would pay whatever I owed beyond the value of the birthday reward ($15). Strangely, she tells me I owe an amount that is quite a bit higher than I expected and does not make any sense; when I ask what she is talking about, she says that because I am not dining in, she is only able to take off 15%. Thinking she is confused, I apologize (without any need to do so) and clarify that it is supposed to be 15 dollars off -- not 15 percent off. She is not convinced. There is a family waiting to pick to up their dinner order, so I ask her to help them before we figure out what the confusion is about. The family asks for parmesan cheese, and the employee curtly replies that parmesan cheese is not included with take out orders. Trying not to laugh, I look over at the family and the father makes a joke to me about the strict rules the restaurant seems to have when you're not dining in. Once the family leaves, the employee starts telling me that she can only take off one dessert from my bill. I try explaining that how many items I ordered is not relevant -- I have a reward with a specific value. She doesn't seem interested, and says I can either pay for the second one or she can remove it from the bag. Not wanting to spend any more time in this ridiculous exchange, I tell her I will take just one dessert. She removes the cannoli, and as I'm looking forward to getting the hell out of there, a manager comes over. He listens as I explain the very simple situation. He shows her what she actually needs to do in the system. Everyone makes mistakes -- I can give her a pass on that -- it's very frustrating, though, when someone who has made a mistake is insistent that they are right and refuses to consider the alternative. The tiramisu wasn't the best I've ever had, but it wasn't bad. The cannoli shell, unfortunately, got pretty soggy in the fridge overnight. A higher quality cannoli shell is supposed to remain relatively hard even when stored in the fridge for a short period of time. I don't feel any need to come back and give this place another chance. read more

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I thought I was in another Olive Garden- OmG it's better! I love the stained glass "Cheesecake Factory" looking lights and comfortable chairs. The table has paper lining and crayons :) you can color on- so that was interesting. Food- okay on the pricey side, but it is an elevated Olive Garden! (Lol going to stop the OG comparison) .. but is it worth it? For the area/ I would say YES! Mac Bites- warning- it is good- so order 2 if you plan to share Bruschetta - tomatoes were juicy! Bread was toasted well Salad (to balance the Mac bites ) was fresh and delish! Downside: they're heavy on the salt, if you're ordering veggies, please ask for light salt Drinks- pretty standard, no Diet Coke :( Server was knowledgeable and friendly. I think they have many tables they handle, so there was a point I can't find my server, but he made up for it in humor. Overall- pretty good experience read more

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My wife took her mother and our daughter out for Mother's Day to have a girls dinner. Their food came out cold, in separate 10+ minute gaps between them. Their appetizer came out after the main meal. Then the manager themself decided to talk down to our 10 year old for asking for cheese on her pasta. This is abhorrent. Shame on you read more

The glazed salmon tasted good. They didn't have any tarter sauce to go with it but they had a nice creamy sauce to add and it was good. The salmon has a good taste and flavor. I was disappointed because I wanted to substitute the pasta for a salad and was told they wouldn't allow it unless I paid 2.00 to add on.. read more

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Looks like they've finally got new management! We haven't come here often because it wasn't being run well. I think things may have changed tho. Every single dish we ordered was better than we have had there in a long time. Both the Chianti steaks were cooked and flavored really well and both teens were very happy! My pork chop was tasty and so were the greens. The inside hasn't changed and still gives out the Italian villa vibe! It's definitely worthy of another visit but I suggest to come early or late and not during peak dinner or lunch times as they seemingly don't have enough wait staff although our waiter was very good and efficient this is where they lost a star. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - The Chianti steak - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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I generally do not write reviews -- especially negative ones -- but this experience was so disappointing that I felt compelled to make an exception. On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, I placed an $82 online order through the Romano's Macaroni Grill website for three pasta entrées, one side of bruschetta, and one side Caesar salad. The order was scheduled to be ready between 5:25 and 5:30 PM. At 5:29 PM, I entered the restaurant and went to the pick-up area where I saw three to-go containers on the counter, which I assumed (correctly) were part of my order. No one was present to assist customers, and I stood waiting for nearly 10 minutes before anyone acknowledged me -- despite two employees walking by without so much as a greeting or offer to help. When an employee finally assisted me, it quickly became clear that my order was incomplete: one pasta entrée was missing an ingredient, and both the bruschetta and the salad were missing. The pasta was taken back to the kitchen for correction, and the salad was retrieved. When I asked about the missing bruschetta, I was told it would take more than five minutes to prepare -- despite my having ordered an hour in advance. At this point, already having waited 15 minutes, I declined to wait further and requested a refund for the bruschetta. I was then informed by the shift manager that corporate would need to process the refund, and that they would send an email. I found this completely unacceptable: I was expected to leave having paid for an item I did not receive, with no immediate refund and only the staff's word that corporate would handle it?! Appalling! However, the shift manager said his hands were tied so I conceded, but I did ask for written confirmation that the refund request would be submitted, so the manager wrote a note on receipt paper. By the time I left the restaurant, 20 minutes had passed -- for what should have been a simple pick-up order. I left frustrated, inconvenienced, and frankly too irritated to enjoy the meal I had purchased. By the time I got home, I did receive a refund email from DoorDash -- which added to the confusion, as I did not use DoorDash for this order. It's unfortunate how one negative experience can cloud your judgment about an entire business -- but based on what occurred, it is highly unlikely that I will ever choose to eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill again. I wasn't trying to be a "Karen" -- I simply expected decent customer service and a properly prepared, complete order. This location needs to improve its service standards to ensure that customers like me do not walk away feeling disappointed and frustrated. And while the item I did not receive (the bruschetta) was inexpensive, it's the principle of the matter! No customer should be expected to pay for an item they do not receive and be left to navigate an unclear refund process. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

That poor girl, I had to leave a zero for tip. Going to a restaurant is to pay for a service and we did not receive basic service. 20 minutes wait to put in our order, 40 for the food, and we waited so long for someone to pick up our credit card for the check I got out of my seat to find someone. Forget about asking for a refill or a side of ketchup for your fries, you wont see your server in your lifetime and if you do, she's too much in a rush to be friendly. Not her fault, I blame management. This place needs to hire more staff, they're being so cheap by not having enough people. All the tables near us also were annoyed with the wait time. This was a Monday night guys, I have no idea why there's one waiter for 20 tables, that's cruel to them. Also there was a customer screaming at random intervals and it was a bit hard to ignore, unsettling ambiance. If you must get food here, do takeout. It's really not worth it though. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Butternut Asiago Tortellaci - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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Food: 3/5 Stuffed mushrooms came out piping hot, loved the flavor of the goat cheese, and I appreciated the fact they were not rubbery or chewy which sometimes happens with mushrooms. Shrimp portofino was slightly lacking in flavor, I did not taste pine nuts or lemon much. Very subtle flavors in the dish and the sauce was heavy on the oil/butter. I also noticed the ratio of pasta to vegetables and shrimp was a bit off. Even a few more vegetables and some garlic would have elevated it. For the price, I felt the 4-5 medium shrimp were not enough and I was mostly eating pasta. The portion was large, but again, mostly pasta. Service: 4/5 Server was friendly and attentive. I enjoyed the fact they had red pepper I could add and the freshly grated Parmesan cheese tableside service. Ambiance: 4/5 This was my first time trying this restaurant chain and I enjoyed the fact that you can draw on the table cover. The service was on point in terms of timing but this is an interesting and fun way to interact while waiting for food. The restaurant inside seemed a bit empty. read more

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This is the worst restaurant I've ever been to. We waited 30 minutes to be seated, and then waited another 30 minutes at our table, but no one came to take our order. At first, we thought they were just busy, but then we saw another table that arrived 20 minutes after us get their order taken within 5 minutes. I simply can't understand this. read more

I've been coming to Macaroni Grill for years, but sadly, this place has gone downhill. I usually order the Penne Rustica and I don't know if it's just my taste buds or what, but this time it was salty as hell--almost inedible. The quality just isn't what it used to be, and for the price, I expect better. I really want to love this place like I used to, but unless things improve, I'm not sure I'll be back anytime soon. One positive thing is the bread still good lol read more

I think the rating should be higher. Second time here with a coworker. Always good quality italian dishes. I had a fresh ravioli with seafood pate inside. The shrimps were really well cooked with nice charred flavors. Their portion is usually very generous, too. Plus, nice ambiance for business meetings. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Seafood ravioli - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

After our small pampering day, my boyfriend and I were hungry and walked past a few quick stop restaurants like panda express and a ramen spot, but we settled on Romano's Macaroni Grill. It was busier than normal for the middle of the afternoon on Friday, but we were seated pretty quickly. For appetizers we started with the mac n cheese bites and the brussel sprouts. The brussel sprouts eere pretty fantastic and the mac n cheese bites were alright. There wasn't anything that wowed me about the mac n cheese bites, but the brussel sprouts were sweet with a bit of a balsalmic taste and lightly crispy. That was my fave. For our entrees my boyfriend ordered the steak and potatoes and I ordered the seafood ravioli. He chose to get his steak medium well, but it came out more medium rare for sure especially after the first cut. I took a bite of the first cut of his steak and it was delicious. The rosemary and butter complemented the steak. Too red for me, but he didnt mind it and kept it. My seafood ravioli was too citrusy. A lot of lemon was used for the sauce and I wasn't a fan. With seafood ravioli i'm used to enjoying the cream sauce with a hint of lemon if it's used at all. That just wasn't the case here - I stuck to eating the ravioli only and left a pool of sauce on my plate. The asparagus was also far too bitter for me. I wouldn't order it again, but I had to give it a try. Service was quick and as expected. Nothing out of the ordinary, but there also wasn't anything to complain about. read more

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The service was very chill due to dinner rush, but our server was as attentive as she could be with at least 7 tables in our area! Rockstar service!!! This a family establishment and was very accommodating to families that were there!! Nice bright room with holiday decorations! Very cute!!! The salmon entrée was large... and the salmon was grilled, which was splendid! Sorry I was starving n forgot the pic, so you'll have to try it for yourself! My friend sent her Pasta Milano back 2x because it tasted very rosemary like and not too tasty... she got the steak instead, but by then she lost her appetite. Unfortunate...we tried to recover with a tiramisu! I'll be back, but will never order the Pasta Milano! Huge parking lot! Nice restrooms, very clean! read more

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Decent for fast-casual pasta! Solid 3.5 rounded up to 4 for that category. My bf has had Romano's before from back home and he liked it, as it's pretty similar in taste/concept to Olive Garden with one caveat- the complimentary bread loaf at Romano's is better, subjectively of course. The rosemary peasant bread is supple, crispy on the outside/soft inside, with a delicious subtle rosemary aftertone. You get one for free, and $1 for additional loaves. We ordered online for takeout/pickup for a later time. We showed up around 5 minutes after our designated time. There is a specific pickup table around the side of the restaurant, and our order was there already for pick up! Easy process. After scouring the menu, I opted to 'make my own pasta': + fettuccine with roasted garlic cream sauce + three complimentary add ins: roasted garlic, roasted mushrooms, and broccolini- meat is an additional fee. I liked the garlic cream sauce a lot, I think the garlic taste is subtle. As someone who LOVES garlic, I think the taste could be much more prominent, but I think most people would like it. I wish they gave more of the sauce though, it was a tad dry. The roasted garlic pieces were delicious, the mushrooms/broccolini was a bit undercooked though. The fettuccine also tasted a tad stale. $16.50 + spinach artichoke dip: Comes with garlic brushed rosemary bread- the dip was a bit salty, but it was very cheesy with substantial chunks of creamy artichoke. I enjoyed it; I bet it would taste even better dine-in. $11.50 For what it is, it was a pretty solid take out pasta meal. The food was decent quality, and the ordering/pick up process is streamlined. And the BREAD - so good. read more

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Macaroni grill is always exceptional. The staff is gracious and welcoming. The lemon drops and drinks are always on point. The food is very good as well. My first love is chicken Marsala. Nicole Sophie are great managers. Stacy, Trey, Paul and Betty are great bartenders and Angie is a great host! Down to earth spot with a great atmosphere. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Bar area - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

This review is for their Thanksgiving menu 3 stars, 3.5 at best! NOTE TO SELF- menu's are deceiving. My friends and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving at Macaroni Grill this year, and I was pretty excited because I saw that they had a three course meal for Thanksgiving. But, sadly, I was disappointed. For the appetizer, there was a choice of four: 1) Fresh Green Salad, 2) Rosa's Signature Caesar Salad, 3) Cup of Tomato Basil Soup, 4) Cup of Lobster Bisque I ordered the green salad, but the waiter came out with a plate of Caesar salad instead. I didn't question it because I was enjoying the company of my friends. Like the other review, the ceasar salad tasted very generic as if it came in one of those ceasar salad kits. I was not impressed. (2 stars) The entree consisted of roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes with roasted garlic demi-glaze sausage, apple sausage stuffing, and cranberry relish. When the food came out, I had very high expectations that this would indeed be scrumptious, but unfortunately, it was just overall average. The turkey breasts, which were four slices, had only a little gravy on top of the pile, not enough for all the turkey slices and more if I wanted to put some on my stuffing or potatoes When I bit into the turkey, I was overwhelmed with the taste of rosemary! Unless you love rosemary, I'd say yeah, it was fantastic, but for me, it wasn't! I like a little rosemary on food, but this was way too much that, honestly, all I could taste was rosemary! Without the gravy, the turkey itself was very tender and scrumptious. The potatoes were great, and I thought they did a good job here. They were delicately spiced and of great consistency and texture. However, I wish I had some decent gravy to put on it. The stuffing was again overwhelming tasting of rosemary. It really took away from a good old-fashioned stuffing. I could barely taste the Italian sausage, which was mildly spiced and apples that were in it. I don't like brussel sprouts unless it is prepared where I can minimally taste the bitterness, but they didn't give me a choice, and I would have preferred the broccolini instead. The brussel sprouts were not that great at all, in my opinion. It was too bitter, and with all the overwhelming rosemary I was eating, it didn't do any justice to the meal. (3 stars for the entree) The desert was a choice of 1) Pumpkin Cannoli, Pumpkin Tiramisu, and Traditional Cannoli. When they served the pumpkin tirmamisu, it looked very tasty, and it was! However, there was only a little bit of pumpkin puree at the very bottom, so that disappointed me because I was craving pumpkin. Overall, the desert did save the day! It was the best part of my meal. (4 stars). I didn't eat much of my dinner and took the rest of it home. Upon re-heating it and pouring some Trader Joe's gravy on my turkey and potatoes, my leftovers were upgraded to a whopping 4 stars! No more overwhelming rosemary taste because I didn't have any gravy left! read more

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Service - we dined here at 2 pm on a Thursday. Place was relatively empty save a line man nursing a drink at the bar, a family of five in the corner booth and a mom and daughter at a booth on the other side of the restaurant. Still, the lone server (guess the establishment thought he could be a host, a bar keep and a waiter at the same time) took a year and a day to seat us. Guess we should be grateful it was a year and a day and not a year and two days! Once seated, our server took forever to get to us. Keep in mind we'd already used our long wait at the host podium to review the menu:..not a promising start. Food - we ordered a chicken parm sandwich and a meatball sandwich from the NEW lunch menu. While the flavor of the chicken parm was not bad, the size of the chicken left A LOT to be desired. Moreover, the sandwich was dry and had the finest bit of cheese ever known to exist. The meatball sandwich was in a class of its own (a class that includes the worst kids in the school). There were 3, yes 3 total meatballs on the sandwich. The sandwich arrived cut in half, so we decided to split it. As you can see from the first photo, I received the half that contained ONE meatball. My hubby received the half with 2.5 meatballs and the other .5 meatball was squarely resting on the plate next to the few fries Macaroni Grill provided. Side note: the menu said the fries were truffle Parmesan fries but the server was quick to note they were Parmesan fries with just a bit of truffle oil. Neither half of the sandwich had but a brush of sauce and a wiff of cheese. Pathetic! When we asked where the rest of the meatballs were for the sandwich, and asked that we pre-provided at least two more, the server told us, and no uncertain terms that we would have to pay for those and that we would be provided with three additional meatballs only. He was sure to note that food costs are expensive, and that the Restaurant had to make decisions about how much food to provide. He also noted that for these same reasons, they had to charge every bit of food that left the kitchen. Needless to say, we paid the extra money for the extra meatballs. The second picture, showcases the three additional meatballs that I placed on my half of the meatball sandwich. As you can see, this sandwich should have come with at least eight meatballs; four for one half, and four for the other. I had not eaten at Macaroni Grill in years and this was my husband's first visit. Needless to say, we will NOT be back. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - What the meatball sandwich looked like. - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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Met my old work colleague there in El Cerrito. We both had the pasta lunch specials and had a chance to catch up on what has gone on in our respective lives. Considering it was a weekday, there was only one server. He seemed overwhelmed as there were clients in various areas of the dining establishment. We enjoyed our lunch pasta entrees as we took our time and wasn't rushed. The server stopped by to check on us and apologized for being the only one there. I tipped him generously and told him we understood. Would come back if I was in the area, it's a halfway point between my friend and my residence. To our surprise, there's no fresh ground pepper available. We did get freshly grated cheese though. Nice to have plenty of off the street parking. Actually, I had a chance to shop @ a shop afterwards. read more

The food is always good. Recently had the charcuterie board which was a nice display and went well with my happy hour drink. The severs are great. There is Stacy who's at the bar and Marcial in the main dining area. They all provide great service and attention. read more

Romano's Macaroni Grill - Charcuterie Board - Italian Near Me - El Cerrito, California

We were visiting friends in San Francisco and offered to take care of dinner. I was surprised when they said how much they loved this place and so I offered to pick up a family meal and some extra items on my way in. I don't have much experience with this chain, except for a few visits years ago when they had a location in Stockton and I remember being unimpressed so I was excited to give them another try. We placed an order online for the premium feast for five and added some desserts and an order of parmesan fries for the road. When we arrived to pick up the food there was only one other person there and they were also picking up. The employee gave us the food and after a few moments we had to explain to him that we hadn't paid yet. It was a little awkward. We headed outside and secured the food but I grabbed the fries because I was starving... They were inedible. I literally spit them out. They were cold, soggy and flavorless. Then, I started to panic. If the fries were this disgusting, what was the rest of the food going to be like. It would be really embarrassing to show up with food like this to a friends' house. There was nothing I could do because we were already on the road, but as soon as we arrived I explained my experience and apologized in advance. They said not to worry and we set all the food out and started eating. To my surprise, most of the food was fine. I would even say that I enjoyed the chicken parm. So overall, most of the food was 3 or 4 stars but the fries were literally the worst I have ever had and the cannoli's were dry and disappointing. Most importantly though, my friends enjoyed the meal so I was happy. I plan on buying them gift cards to this location in the future, but personally I would probably not return. I think they are deserving of their 3 star rating and I would really only recommend them for large meals because we did get a good amount of food for the group at a reasonable price. read more

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