East Side Mario's

New Ownership really shows!

I had heard East Side Mario's Peterborough had new owners and I hadn't been in awhile and WOW! From the hostess opening the door for us to the Owners Matt and Dianne Kraft introducing themselves, a great start. The kids menu is all pictures making it easy for the kids to point out. The kids drinks are really cool lookin, my sons shirley temple came with three cherries and cotton candy! Their Ceaser al Diavolo is one of the best ceasers around, I love that peperocini pepper. We love the all-u-can eat fresh salad and garlic bread, we had several refills. For dinner we had Veal Parmasean and Scallop Carbonara, kids cappeletti and kids spaghetti. Delicous tasting, great presentation and to top it all off it was my daughters birthday and all the servers, managers, owners in attendance all sang a very unique high energy birthday song that had us all smiling. This place is great for kids. The server then brought over a treasure chest for the kids to grab a toy, the cherry on top of the cake. Overall Great service awesome atmosphere. This is a place to go if you want fun,value and service. Thumbs up! We'll be back soon...

We were sat a a little table for two by little I mean the thing was a size of a postage stamp which is hard to get comfortable on. They also have the little tables right by the front door so you get the nice winter breeze and get everyone waiting for a table looking at you. At one point a waitress was leaning on a divider right behind my wifes chair. That's comfortable. The table had a nice wobble on it. I will give the waitress credit for getting on the floor and fixing it with coasters but it's a nice start. The all you can bread was nice. The first loaf they brought? I could have knocked somebody out with it if I hit them over the head. It had to be sitting there for a day at least. They replaced it. Then came the salad bowl so we took out our forks. My wifes fork was totally filthy and had a piece of food stuck in the middle of it. I guess nobody checks them when putting the place settings together. I couldn't wait to get out of there and won't be back.

So sad I grew up going to this place used to love...

So sad I grew up going to this place used to love it, I loved the new york little italy feel, the large portions and the fun enthusiastic staff, but since their renovations its gone way down hill. The atmosphere doesnt fit or compliment the feel of the chain, they made the portions smaller, and the service has been mediocre at best what a let down.

I came here with a large group and we had mixed...

I came here with a large group and we had mixed reactions. Myself and a couple others had the Chicken Tetrazini and found it was bland and unpalatable. Others had Penne with Sausage and raved about it. Yet others said the food was "okay..." The food took quite ahile to arrive, but in fairness we were a large group. The server could have checked in on us a little more often considering there were more than ten of us. It was an "okay" experience, but there are so many other nicer restaurants in Peterborough that next time I will be going elsewhere.

Worst Way to Be Welcomed to Peterborough

It was my frst time in Peterborough, and seeing ESM reminded me of my great experience with the restaurant from my home city... It took 15 minutes to be seated, to just order drinks took 25 minutes, we were never asked what we would like to order until I called the waiter and placed the orders he of course did not even listen he just nodded and left, there were many available tables and ALL were waiting to give orders EVERY CUSTOMER WAS WAITING TO BE SERVED. Meanwhile, all staff were standing around doing nothing but reporting to those that asked for a bill. Jokes on them because nobody bothered give a tip that night. Eventually at the 45 minute mark before we got up to leave, we had to remind the manager of our order which came immediately and cold. The fries were over salted, both pastas were cold, the salad was limp and the garlic bread was stale. Furthermore, the drinks had a rancid taste to it. Of course when it was time for the bill, the waiter was delighted to give it as he was desperate for tips and he got none. Everyone in the restuarant exchanged looks of anger and frustration. I love ESM but the experience at the Peterborough ESM was horrible.