Maria's Italian Kitchen - Pasadena

Chris U

Came to this location based on the reviews and I was not disappointed. Such friendly service, delicious food, and a cozy venue. Bruschetta is a must have to start off with and I wasn’t able to decide on one thing so I did the pasta duo on their Summer Menu. Penne Pomodoro was my favorite of the entire meal. If you got a sweet tooth then I recommend finishing off with their tiramisu. I have no choice but to come back to try the rest of their menu.

Greg Kimura

I'm a huge fan of their baked ziti! I ask for extra cheese and have them cook it until it gets a little brown! That's really good! Service is good too. We feel we're treated well and the staff is nice and friendly. The atmosphere is nice. There's regular indoor and there's also an area that's not outdoor, but not indoor either - like a covered outdoor area. Prices are okay. We've been eating here for 10 years now - can't believe it's been that long. As with all restaurants, prices have gone up, but that's to be expected. Overall, it's a great place to go to get some Italian food here in the east side of Pasadena!

Alicia Lawrence

Quick disclaimer—this restaurant seemed to be incredibly under staffed with only 3 wait staff for the entire restaurant. For this reason, I will refrain from reviewing their customer service. I will say that the wait staff were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. Now…about the food—we had calamari and garlic knots for the appetizer. While the calamari flavor was ok, they were severely undercooked and therefore chewy. The garlic knots were ok. My daughter loved them. I did appreciate the presence of real garlic and the bread did taste as though it had just been baked. Now onto the entrees. I hate to say this, but I honestly had the worst meatball sandwich I’ve ever had. There was very little to no flavor, and the flavor that did exist was not very palatable. Too much cheese, flavorless sauce, and bland meatballs. I’ve honestly had better meatball subs at subway…😬👀 My husband had the vegetarian pizza. I tried it and it wasn’t bad. It was actually ok—about a 6 out of 10. The crust was just way too thin for the ingredients and please keep in mind, we didn’t add anything. These are the ingredients that come with. I also would highly recommend against using salad tomatoes to top a vegetarian pizza, and perhaps, instead, more thinly sliced tomatoes. The flavor wasn’t bad though. Prepare to eat it with a knife and fork. My kids had the pepperoni and basil pizza and they loved it. They gave it an 8 out of 10. For this reason, as well as the fact that the wait staff were super nice when they were able to come to the table—I’m giving this restaurant a 2 star instead of 1. I was dissatisfied enough to not visit this restaurant again in the future. 😕

Steven Lockwood

I love this place. Great location, they have much more parking in the rear than the front. Service is stellar, but the interior needs a revamp. The food is sensational. I did have to ask for more marinara sauce, other than that no issues. Desserts were also top notch, the cappuccino was lovely. We’ll be back most assuredly.

Henny Setiawan

The foods were always amazing. Been coming here for years and nothing’s changed. Not sure if everything made in the house but they tasted so fresh and can’t be compared to other Italian restaurants I’ve been.