Maria’s Restaurant

Cute little neighborhood place obviously frequented by many locals. We visited on a Saturday evening, and it got quite crowded. Nevertheless, the service was friendly and prompt. The food itself was good and came in good portions that also included salad and bread. They also had decent wine and dessert menus.
The décor was fun. I have fond memories of growing up going to little mom and pop Italian places with murals on the wall of village life. This place felt comfortable, even for outsiders. I would definitely go back if I lived in/​near Braintree.

Wow, Maria’s gives you a lot of food for your money! I had the chicken dinner for one and it was very good. With soup and salad included, I sure didn’t leave hungry. My wife had chicken and gnocchi parm and liked it. Both dishes came in casserole bowls and the end of the chicken was a bit overdone where it stuck out beyond the sauce. But that’s a minor complaint. The food is good, and they give you a lot, and prices are very reasonable. Not a bad deal at all.

Had dinner there this past Saturday couldn’t have been happier. We arrived kind of late so we had no wait. I had my old stand by, chicken Parmesan, probably the best I ever had.
The décor is 50 years old and still appealing! I guess when you get it right there’s no sense changing it. Would highly recommend this restaurant to everyone!

Very good food. I actually like the atmosphere with all the paintings. Everything I got was great. the deserts were delicious too. My waitress was very efficient although not too personable. that said I could tell all the other waitresses around me were very friendly. seems like they get alot of regulars.
The only things Id have them change is to dump the paper placemats and paper napkins. The place just feels classier then that. and where there foods contain alot of sauce they probably should upgrade the takeout containers which are more for sandwiches.
but none of that takes away from the good food and nice atmosphere.

I haven’t had Italian food this good since me and my Italian ex-​girlfriend broke up! Our service was incredible and everyone we encountered treated us with courtesy and respect. No wonder they’ve been here for so many years and I look forward to many years of coming back!

I take the kids here all the time Artie the owner operator comes personally to check on us and make sure we are enjoying our evening and enjoying the delicious food. I will be back soon
Thanks everyone at Marias

Family favorite. Been going since I was a kid and now we go as a family with my own children and great niece and nephews. We joke that the chicken cutlet is on the menu because of me (I don’t like cheese on my food and I always ordered chicken parm without the parm). Best sauce anywhere. Always good service. Never disappointed whether eat in or take out. My husband loves the Maria’s Sampler dinner. We also enjoy their pizza. Once a year my family takes over the majority of the back room and they handle our large party so well. Wonderful food and wonderful memories.
Oh — and yes, the décor HAS been renovated since it opened (snarky reviewer). This décor is old, but it’s not the décor that was there when I was a kid, going there for pizzas with my friends after school. For those snobs that actually care about a place’s décor so much, some of us locals LIKE the vintage décor — which I know was changed sometime around the time my husband I started dating. We went there on our first date. And yup — that was 21 years ago. But the place has been open a lot longer than that. My mother in law remembers going there for pizza after school when she was a girl! I like that it doesn’t try to be something that it’s not. It’s an old-​fashioned, neighborhood, mom-​and-​pop run restaurant. Yeah, the décor is dated and maybe a bit cliché — even cheesy. But for those of us who have loved Maria’s our whole lives, it would be so wrong for it to try and be sleek and modern. It would lose that, warm, old Italian family feel. So just forget about the décor and enjoy the delicious food!

Not looking for a meal from Tuscany but this food was really bad. Chicken Saltimbocca is not that hard to ruin but this place figured it out tonight. I was fine with the dated walls and my server couldn’t have been nicer but this food was horrible.

We have been going to them for years, great food fair prices, huge portion sizes. The Italian dinner for two is really four meals. Best seafood chowder I have ever had, and that’s a bold statement.

I still do not like the suffocating décor, so this is a rare 5 star score for an establishment that is not «flawless». The food however is excellent. I had perfect Chicken Marsala today. The chicken and eggplant is the best anywhere. The prices are good for all that one gets, bread, greek salad, large portions.

This place is really fucking good.
I had some sausage, stuffed shells, chicken combo thing. Fucking amazing. Had some lasagna, also fucking amazing. Had their chicken, broccoli, pasta dish, also fucking amazing.

Have to go at least 2 times a month. Great food. great staff. Great all around. Love the Seafood Fra Diavlo. (not on the menu, just ask). If you go it is a bit dated but who cares. Last visit had the Shrimp Ala greque for the app. It was heavy on garlic. Just the way I like garlic. bread is huge. children’s menu is good. Portions are huge. DO NOT CHANGE!

I should preface this review with Italian food is my least favorite, but right up there with my husband.
We have been there four times in the past 15 years. One being last spring for a birthday party function, the last within the past week.
With me having a sore tooth from dental work and wanting soft food, I thought of this as it was good last spring.
I have to say for something that’s not my favorite, it was very good (I ate my leftovers). Nothing really left of my husband’s veal parm, so I know that was good.
Service was excellent. Already plan on going back for the $ 40 dinner for two.,.Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday which includes a bottle of wine. Something for everyone on that menu.

If you like to cut into a chicken «tender» in your piccata only to have blood ooze out into your sauce, then this is your place. If you like wait staff who upon seeing bloody chicken on your plate say, «They normally get it right» and who then clears the table and brings the check without apology or having the manager drop by, then this is your place. I should have called the health department. There is no way that this boneless chicken reached a safe temperature for serving.

Not the place it used to be (15 yrs ago). I don’t enjoy their watered down sauce on their chicken cutlet with a slice of cheese, they pull off as Chicken Parmesan. Waitresses seem like they have been there since it’s opened and not much of a good help if you want to «know their signature dishes». There is better Italian grub to spend your money on. Sorry

This is one of those places that should not be changed. It has that lived in look both outside and inside which is the antithesis of the super scrubbed decidedly boring chain restaurants. Maria’s has comfortable seating (all be it a bit tight seating) in a warm atmosphere.
Service: Excellent with a wait staff that is prompt and friendly A+
Drinks: They pour a terrific drink; no cheap airport fills here. A+
Food: Really good and abundant. I personally would prefer a more scaled back portion but I suspect I am in the minority. The stuffed mushrooms were wonderful. The regular sized antipasti salad was enough to feed most of Braintree. I can not image what the large looks like. The eggplant parmesan was excellent. Bread was good but I wish they put olive oil on the table versus the ubiquitous plastic butter packets. A–
Parking: Easy enough A
Prices: More than fair A

I came here with my husband, parents and sister after the place was recommended to me by my boss. I came forewarned that the exterior was lacking charm and the interior was outdated, but I was told that the food was delicious as well as affordable. I was not misled!
If you need something modern, updated, sleek, elegant or trendy, just don’t bother. The reviews reiterate this point over and over, so why visit full-​well knowing what it’s like, but then complain about it? You come here for the food. And in it’s own way, the cheesy interior (complete with canal murals and faux Roman pillars) is kind of quaint. It makes you smile (unless you have a giant stick up your you-​know-​what)…
Every meal starts with salad (Greek or Tossed) and a choice of pasta (spaghetti, angel hair, linguini or ziti). The portion sizes are huge. We have enough leftovers for dinner tonight! I tried the chicken parm and thought it was delicious. My Mom had the veal parm and eggplant. She said the eggplant was so good, she would order it on its own the next time. My husband enjoyed the gnocchi and my Dad had the shrimp in garlic lemon butter. The sauce for his shrimp was so good, we requested a second bread basket to sop it all up.
The garlic bread does not come with the meal, so make sure you order some for the table. Well worth it.
I also really liked their house malbec. My Mom had the chianti and said it was very good as well.
We had a great experience here. The place was packed (and there were folks of all ages — even a table of family celebrating their 15 year old’s birthday) for a Tuesday night.
Oh, and the cannoli … highly recommend saving some room!

This weekend while in the Braintree area we decided to stop in at Maria’s Restaurant to have some Italian cuisine. When we arrived it was an hour after opening and the place was empty. This would usually be great but the restaurant was so quiet that it made the dining experience slightly awkward.
Since we came as a large party we were seated in their back room which had some very intricate artwork on the back wall. Our waitress was very sweet and professional but didn’t check on us as often as we would have liked. A few different times some of the guys in the group needed refills and never got them.
The food itself had mixed reviews between the party. The majority of the items were delicious and the portion sizes were large, but even when three people from the table got the same item, there was such a discrepancy between the plates. For example I purchased fettuccini alfredo which was creamy while a friend order the same dish and his looked as though it was drowning in a ocean of butter.
In the end, the experience here was neither great nor bad. We enjoyed the food overall and the waitress was polite but there definitely could have been room for improvement. That being said, I would definitely try this place again in the future.

Do I love Maria’s? YES I DO!
The décor is outdated, it’s dark, but the service is great and most importantly the food is good!
Big Portions, you’ll definitely have leftovers for the next couples days. and the prices are great.
It’s great for families, big groups to share, and just have a relaxed dinner.
Order the chicken fettuccine Alfredo, it comes with big chicken chunks and fresh veggies. SOOO YUMMY!

Went there on a Saturday evening… the place was packed… not too long of a wait — 10−15min wait.
The décor is definitely dated — don’t think it was ever renovated since it opened. Leave it to the locals to say otherwise.
Definitely seems like a local kind of restaurant. Our server wasn’t the best — just think its because her tables were all over the restaurant (front and back) which makes it inefficient.
Took forever to get our drinks, food and check (had to wait over 20mins for her to come back with our credit card).
As for the food — definitely nothing to rave about — ordered
fried clams as appetizer
dinner 1– eggplant and chicken parm with gnocchis (very oil and little eggplant — gnocchis were blah)
dinner 2 — prime rib with mashed potatoes and garden salad (looks and taste alright)
If you live in Quincy — definitely stick with Gennaros.