Mama Giola's

This place is a total scam. The cook is Middle Eastern, not Italian, and received her cooking skills by operating a chain of beeper stores and a hamburger grill joint. She's failed at everything else she tried, so I have no hopes for this place either.

If you want real Italian food go to Corso or Palazzo. Next month there will be another "restaurant" in this space.

No atmosphere, no parking, awful food. But if you advertise here, you'll at least get a feature story.

Cathar has it right.

Wowie Gawawie! - Sarah has been outed again!

I used to eat at her previous failed restaurant on some Friday nights, and I remember there was a woman named Patricia there. Maybe the same Patricia? Anyway, she told me that Sarah pretended to be the "cook". She was really the salad maker, but Sarah wanted to take credit for doing the cooking to make herself feel better. The real cook wasn't too presentable, even more reason, said Patricia.

His food was pretty good, but the pasta since it was frozen commercial pasta and not made at the restaurant, sometimes had freezer burn and had lost taste. But I liked his sauces.

So is the "Mama" a St. Thomas neighbor? Or the "real" cook's mother? Only the Gazawies know for sure.

Just got back from Mama Giola's, this time we had the Eggplant parm, the eggplant was very thin, I never had it like that, delicious! Ate the same house salad which was better than last time, I think because I got to eat the whole thing myself, no sharing with Mark. And most importantly, the cheesecake, ooooh the cheesecake. Maybe it's because I prefer sweets over savory, I am pretty sure I would live my life on desserts if I could, but this cheesecake was THE BEST I've ever had. I told Sarah, who makes the cheesecake from scratch and she said I was the third person to tell her that...today! I'd also like to confirm her chef, Augusto, is 100% Italian, since some of you seem to have a preference for the cook to be the nationality of the food they are making. I can tell you, where Mark works, at Passionne, none of the chef's are French yet they make perfectly delicious French food. And at Mama Giola's, they make perfectly delicious Italian food.

So now you're copying posts from other threads for this place? What's up with THAT?

There is something fishy going on, what happened to the 30 other posts that used to be here?

Katie, Liz, care to explain???

Mama Giola's is a wonderful place for delicious Italian comfort food. It's comfortable without being too fancy. It's not trying to be a place for candlelit dining. It's fresh, delicous and unpretentious food with excellent service. Our family has eaten there several times and always enjoyed everything. Sarah is a wonderful cook and gracious hostess. Don't let a few people who seem to have some personal vendetta against Sarah stop you from trying a nice addtion to the restaurant scene in town.

This isn't the review, it's their separate page - like all other restaurants have. I just posted a comment I left on the review here so when the story drops off the food page the comment can still be read:
http://www.baristanet.com/food/2007/10/the_new_italian.php

Katie..good point...also,why not make it so that people can find the old stories on the food page, just like you do for the main page.

Sometimes it's good to be able to check out those older stories, all in one easy to find place.

ps - I'll be taping one of my Holiday eating spots with Chef Michael at Passionne very soon ( I've had them on my show many times over the last two years ), why don't you come on over, sit at one of the tables while we tape , and you can see Mark too.

On the main page if you do a search you can search "Baristanet Food" in our search tab, but I'm not the one who set that up, Tom did, so I couldn't set it up on the food page too. As well, at the bottom of each restaurant's page listing that we have reviewed, we have a button to the review, there is one on this page, it reads "Barista Review". I'll let Mark know about Passionne, the problem with eating there for me is that there is virtually no vegetarian meals, so...

Yesterday's Record included an article about Mama Giola's new restaurant in Montclair having been expanded and "beautifully remodeled" so I decided to have
dinner with friends. We were lucky enough to be able to make an early reservation in the original side of the restaurant as the new section which was "beautifully remodeled" (with a fireplace as its centerpiece) was hosting a Wedding Rehearsal Dinner for 40 guests. Shortly after being seated, one of the co-owners, Eddie, offered us a complimentary glass of wine. Nice touch! As appetizers we shared the Calimari Arrabiata and Spedini alla Romano,delicious, as was Mama Giola's salad. Our main course did not disappoint . My Chicken Porto was outstanding and my companions enjoyed Eggplant Parmigiana, Veal Piccata and Spaghetti and Meatballs.
We met co-owners Patricia and Eddie's wife Sarah who brought us several pieces of her delectible, made from scratch cakes.
All in all a wonderful meal with good service and congenial hosts.
P.s. We are planning to return on New Year's Eve for an all-inclusive 5 course dinner with complimentary wine for $65.00. What a deal!

Mama Giola's is a great place for great Italian food. Last Saturday night, my wife and I enjoyed some delicious veal and salmon dishes. For dessert, my wife had the apple/cocount/pistachio cake which she loved. The service was great and the staff was very friendly. We highly recommend this restaurant. We are looking forward to returning for dinner and inviting our friends and family to join us.

Had dinner at Mama Giola's Sat night. The new section is really nice. On a cool evening the fireplace is really cozy. We shared the Monkfish dish and the Tuna. Both were delicious. We tried the homemade apple /coconut/pistachio cake mentioned by the previous poster. Delicious. The place was packed and since we did'nt have a reservation we had a short wait for a table. They are having a special Valentine's Day dinner which we made a resrvation for. It's good to see a new restuarant doing well on a Sat night. Try it.

Tonight we had a very pleasant evening and very good dinner. The calamari arrabiat and mussel fra diablo appetizers were delicious! The shrimp scampi and first fresh pasta were very good and the pistachio gelato was delicious.

The service was friendly, attentive and professional - and they offered us refills on the expresso and cappuchino.

Had dinner here tonight and it was excellent on all counts;food was fantastic as well as the friendly efficient wait staff and of course the hospitality of Sarah(chef and owner) who makes all her guests feel welcome. A great italian restaurant!

I agree on all counts!! the portions are generous, the food delicious and the environment friendly!