Romano's Macaroni Grill
El Cerrito, CA 94530
Phone: (510) 524-9336
Fax: (510) 524-9764
- Price:
- $$
Editorial Review for Romano's Macaroni Grill – by Citysearch Staff
In Short
A boisterous, all-ages crowd of pasta lovers pack this energetic Italian spot, where chefs clad in white hats and red scarves keep diners wide-eyed by showing their moves in the busy open kitchen. The menu boasts family-sized portions of hearty traditional fare, from antipasti, chicken and pasta dishes to seafood, steak and wood-fired pizzas. Signature plates include grilled pork chops, lobster ravioli, and penne rustica with shrimp, grilled chicken and smoked prosciutto in cream sauce.
Editorial content is independent of paid advertisers. Any expenses are paid for by Citysearch.
Insider Tips
What to DrinkEach table is supplied with a huge jug of Macaroni Grill's "house" wine. You tell your server how much your table had to drink, and he or she charges accordingly.
The ExtrasThe little ones will feel right at home here: A kids menu offers corn dogs, grilled cheese and chicken fingers, and there are crayons on the tables for doodling on the paper tablecloths.
User Reviews for Romano's Macaroni Grill
09/20/2007 Posted by hawkeye49
I noticed that it has been almost two years since a new review has been provided for this location but not much has changed since that review. The service is terrible at this location. I'm just sorry that I cannot rate it lower than the one star provided. On a night when there were few people in attendance at the restaurant, it took forever to get seated. Once seated, we waited approximately ten minutes for our waiter to arrive. We placed an order for appetizers as well as our entrees. The appetizers were delivered at the same time as part of our entrees. I say part of our entrees because, my pasta arrived but the meat sauce was not yet ready to be served. It took a full ten minutes before the meat sauce arrived to be placed on top of a, by then, cold sticky plate of pasta. In addition, the wine we had ordered had not yet been provided. The waiter apologized and indicated that they were understaffed that night and that he would quickly bring the wine. This was surprising since, that night, looking around we noticed that there were very few people at this location. A full fifteen minutes passed without the wine arriving nor our waiter being in sight. I went to the maitre-de and requested that we be provided with the bill. The bill was given to us and, sure enough, the wine had been included in the bill. To their credit when we explained that we never received the wine, they did deduct the wine from the billing. We left vowing never to return. I have never experienced worse service at a restaurant than I did at this location. By the way, I should add that when I spoke to three other folks at work who had gone to the same restaurant location, they indicated that they found the service to be equally poor and that each, upon inquiry, had been told that the restaurant was understaffed.
Cons: Extremely slow service.
12/12/2005 Posted by bkienan
We tried this place 3 times, thinking the first time the food was good but they must be having an "off" night. But every night seems to be off. Getting seated was slow, ordering was slower, & the food took forever. We had to ask for silverware on 2 visits. On the 3rd, they kept trying to give us someone else'es order. They just didn't get that it wasn't ours. Our food finally arrived stone cold. We'd brought grandma for her birthday; to be seated, she was told to step over food scraps on the floor (from a baby that just left). Then it took 15 minutes for someone to clean up the mess that was still right next to her chair. They charged for dessert we didn't order--it was just not fun. People told me the service is better in other locations, but this one we would not ecommend.
Pros: tasty food, big portions, ambiance
Cons: bad service, bad service, bad service
Users Like You Also Viewed
La Strada Italian Restaurant
2215 Church Ln
San Pablo, CA 94806-3726
Hard Rock Cafe
Pier 39 Bldg Q1
San Francisco, CA 94119
