Mondello Ristorante Italiano

Quaint, but Strange. I just read the earlier post about the family of three wanting to have a good experience, but were treated as less than expected. I too felt that way when my daughter and I decided to stop in to eat at this establishment while waiting for a tennis match to begin. As we stood at the door, waiting to be seated, the patrons that were in the restaurant kept glancing at us, short of staring. What? Did I forget to button my pants? The hostess-waitress was kind enough. She was pleasant and cordial. We ordered the octopus appetizer. It was delicious. Then we ordered two salads. One was the Caesar that came with rock hard croutons! The salad itself was very tasty, but those croutons were an invite to a crown on a tooth! We pointed this out to the waitress who apologized, but then that was it. Oh well, moving on. The other salad we had was the salmon salad. Served on a bed of spinach and tossed with a lemon oil dressing, along with cherry tomatoes, was pretty tasty, except for the generous sprinkling or dose of SALT. Arrggh. Ugh. If you are on a reduced sodium diet, do not order this salad. The salmon is lox, btw. Other than being stared at again by another couple, we had a fairly good dinner--despite the fact that I never could eat the salmon salad due to the saltiness of it. Thank goodness for the five baby octopus. BTW, their dishes are overpriced for the portion sizes.…

NOT A family restaurant. This review is catered to families interested in visiting Mondello's. For our family, taking our three young children to dinner is a rare treat- a chance to dress up and feel special about going to dinner as a family. So... when the young hostess tells you upon arrival (with a reservation mind you) that another party of 3 gets the corner table because "they're regulars" and my family of five gets a table for 3 because we're not, it really ruined a special night right from the start. Shame on you Mondello's. The way you get regulars is to treat new customers as 'regulars'.

The food was okay; nothing terrific and nothing awful - very average Italian food with portions slightly smaller than expected. I'd imagine as readers, you'd all expect that when you drop $100, you'd get a little 'wow!' in one of the five plates being served. Not so much.…

not bad, but not great. Got a groupon/deal so decided to trek all the way to Magnolia to try it. Started off with the Antipasto Misto, which was pretty good. Date had the Rigatoni Puttanesca which was really good. I can't remember what I had, maybe the gnocchi, but it obviously wasn't super amazing if I can't even remember. Wine selection was ok, but the two that we picked were both not super good. Probably won't go back since it's in Magnolia, but not bad if you live in the neighborhood.…

Italian Dining worth driving to Magnolia!. I visited some friends in Magnolia last Saturday. They suggested Mondello because they know I like Italian. The place was pretty busy so we sat up to the bar and started with a glass of wine. As busy as they were they actually took some time recommending different wines and making us feel welcome. We had a mini wine tasting.

I have my favorite Italian restaurants like Il Terrazzo Carmine in Pioneer Square, Tavolàta in Belltown and Volterra in Ballard but hands down Mondello cooks up the best meal. The Pappardelle con Polpette was Magnifico!

You must go! I am headed back this Thursday. You will also like the quaint neighborhood feel.…