Mangia Bene

We were going to Kaiser in Martinez but got there too early than the appointment time. So we looked on Google see any restaurants near by. We saw IHOP close by and pulled in parking lot saw this Italian restaurant. Google says 4.4 stars so we decided to give a try. I ordered presto pasta, my husband ordered lasagna. The bread is so fresh, dipping sauce is very good. Both of our dishes are very tasty and you can taste homemade not frozen ingredients. Believe or not they serve sparkling water. It is very refreshing. We are very impressed by this hidden gem and the daughter of the owner told us they have been there 26 years. The price is super reasonable. I will definitely go back again and highly recommend!

I am not a huge fan of Italian restaurants normally, it is too easy to throw low quality sauce together with store bought noodles and charge $20 a plate. However, Mangia Bene is such a welcome exception. Their food is flavorful and well prepared and it made for such a delightful date night. This is now the place I plan on sating my future Italian cravings :)

My husband and I have always enjoyed dinning here. Tonight we decided to have a dinner at home with a bottle of wine . I ordered the food Togo . To start off the man was rude on the phone and I seemed to be a bother to him for calling. I would hope they want Business .My husband got home and his chicken Marsala was cold and dry. The food was not ready when he got there so it should not of been cold. I ordered the filet on their special menu and asked for the steak to be cooked medium-rare. It was well done . No color or flavor at all. I did not see the Gorgonzola on the steak and the white wine cream sauce looked as if they just poured cream on the steak . Not cooking the sauce down or thickening it a little bit. I called to make them aware and the manager apologized and offered to make a new steak . So my husband drove back and when he got home the second filet was well done . Not only that both times the cream sauce spilled out in the bag which got everywhere. My husband said when he showed up he was standing right in front of the lady and she did not acknowledge him for awhile . He said there was no one in the restaurant. I called back to let the manager know about the second steak and she apologized. I told her I did not want anything but they should know when other people order it they may get complaints . You do not have two steaks on your menu if the chef does not know how to cook it. This whole situation ruined our dinner at home together since my husband had to leave again and we did not enjoy our dinner nor did we get to our wine . Not only paying $71 for a meal that was horrible. Very disappointing.

Large party of 8 for lunch we were the only people in restaurant. Mediocre food not hot room temp. BE CAREFUL OF GRATUITY BUILT INTO TOTAL AMOUNT DUE! My bill came to 75 handed waitperson 100 said keep change so they got double tipped - yeh I’m an idiot! Did individual checks but told us “only because we were ONLY people in restaurant” Polenta appetizer nasty calamari good ( not as spectacular as other reviewers say ) Tiramisu nothing to rave about All enjoyed butternut squash ravioli with sage but overall opinion is meh

Usually I give this restaurant a 4 to 5 star rating but last night the food was mediocre and the service was slow. We ordered the mozzarella caprese appetizer and it consisted of three semi ripen tomato slices a chunk of cheese and some balsamic drizzled over it with what look like might have been a Basil Leaf not sure but it was pretty, it just wasn't flavorful. I ordered the carpaccio appitizer. It was covered in arigula. Yes some with it is good but this was more of a salad. We also ordered the calamari appetizer, and I picked up a piece , to just put it on my plate...it was cool to touch... fried calamari is not supposed to be cold! The shell pasta with shrimp was okay the sauce was a little thin the temperature was lukewarm My father-in-law and my husband ordered the lasagna. My father-in-law got a huge piece of lasagna that was almost cold and my husband got a small piece that was barely warm. I ordered the veal saltimbocca. The veal itself was tender but very gamey tasting, there was no other flavor to it except the game taste. Veal is never supposed to be gamey so that tells me the veal was old. I substituted Polenta for mashed potatoes qith my saltimbocca, and the polenta was lukewarm and chunky-epic fail . I've loved this hidden gem of a restaurant for a few years but the last few visits has provided this negative review.