Maria’s Italian Kitchen

Ever since they moved back to the Brentwood village the quality and quantity of food has consistently been subpar. They used to give carrots and zucchini with the chicken Parmesan meal and now they cut that out completely, presumably to save some cost? Wish they would go back to the old Maria’s! If you read this please listen and do something for the sake of your old school customers!

Brunch. So bad. I wanted to love it because I live within walking distance. We were the only people in the restaurant, and it still took an unacceptable amount of time to get our food. Then, I had no syrup for my French toast. Asked for syrup. They clearly tried to make syrup and gave me a small cup with half an inch of still-​chunky brown sugar in it. The waiter saw what he was handing me something not at all syrupy and then quickly scurried away. Bizarre. I signal him over and asked again, and he returned with actual syrup but it was at least 5 minutes later. By this time, my French toast was stone cold, and my husband had already eaten. There were no apologies or acknowledging the mess-​up by the staff.
Get the bill. We were overcharged by $ 1 on each brunch. We already had a crappy experience and weren’t going to let the extra $ 2 go. My husband nicely brings it to the manager’s attention, and the manager’s behavior was so rude and basically insinuating that we made a big deal out of $ 2. It was the point of the matter– our food took forever, I was missing components of my meal, the service was weird, and both me and my husband thought the food was bad. We already were bummed that we had wasted money!
Oh, and they have egg dishes and not one hot sauce option available. How is that possible?!

Just went back because didn’t have any where else to go and WOW, they returned the favor! I went in and immediately smelled the kitchen working! I had called about 5 min ago and It was already ready! Then the guy remembered that I didn’t get my food last time, and comped me for the dish! Really awesome of a guy to do that! I think this place was just on a bad day, and that they really should be given another chance!

I just had lunch here with a group from the West LA Chamber and this place is amazing! I ordered the white bean soup and it was out of this world. I eat a lot of soup and that soup is the best I’ve ever had — so delicious and flavorful — and I love that there’s no meat in it. The bread was super yummy as well. A few of our orders came out late so they treated us to a complimentary pizza and afterwards we were served a beautiful tray of desserts. Our server, Janne, was so attentive and sweet. This place is great! I’ll definitely be back with family and friends!

Quiet surprised with the food. Very nice Italian food. Good food for that price.
I wish they had their ‘alcohol licence’
Nice friendly people as well. Friendly Estonian lady!
Thank you

Maria’s is my go-​to Italian take out restaurant. The food is good (we’re talking red-​sauce Italian, this isn’t Melisse) and the service is always friendly. I already loved it, but then last Friday I ordered pizza and after 45 minutes it hadn’t shown up. For whatever reason, my order hadn’t gone through. They had it to me in 10 minutes, profusely apologized and gave me the pizza for free!

This place just opened again. Great location– pretty good Italian. My two stars are because we often get pretty varying degrees of quality from the food. When it’s great, it rocks. When it’s not– we are all sad.
One HUGE reason I don’t order from here anymore is that I recently found out they include a $ 5 delivery fee, which I assumed goes to the driver, but that is literally stolen right from the hands. Who does that?!
I’m embarrassed for them and for the record– really not cool.
Nada aqui por tacos.

Sad to say Maria’s isn’t what it used to be. I’ve enjoyed several locations of Maria’s over the years, but haven’t been anywhere but the Brentwood one in a while, so can only speak to it. Feels like they’ve become too corporate and chosen cost cutting over quality food and service. Maybe it’s just the re-​opening of this location getting off to a rocky start.
Have tried it four times since it re-​opened — 3 take-​outs and 1 dine-​in. First off the remodel looks nice enough, but has some space issues. Chiefly, the take-​out/​waiting area is right where the servers come through which means somebody is always in somebody else’s way. Also, there is a funky smell, like dirty dish water, near the waiting area. Not sure what’s going on here, but very unpleasant.
Most of the food has just been average at best, inedible at worst. Dining in, an undercooked meatball was gross. Taking out, my favorite grilled chicken panini — the only item on the Maria’s menu I would previously make a special trip for had become a mushy, tasteless mess. It would have been cheaper and better to have gone to Subway two doors down. The chicken used to be grilled and had so much flavor. In fact, I used to really analyze it to figure out why there grilled chicken was so much better than mine. Now it was just slices of flavorless, watery chicken. The aioli lacked flavor and what used to be a delicious focaccia bread with onions and peppers baked in was nothing more than a spongy bread with a little seasoning. I ate half and threw the other half away. Even my friend who eats everything tried a bite and turned it down.
I also had the coconut cake in a cup. Smart idea for take out, but poorly executed. I guess the water from the coconut drained out to the bottom and the cake just sat in it until it was a soggy mess. I’m not a fan of soggy cake. Makes me want to throw up just thinking about it. Another item thrown away.
Even their salads, which used to be so fresh and delicious, are just a shadow of their former selves. My favorite spinach salad is off the menu and the chopped salad that was so good is now mostly lettuce.
I did go in to speak to the manager and he was nice enough. Blamed corporate for most of the food decisions. Offered to give me a credit, but I told him all I wanted was the old Maria’s back and to email me if that were to happen.

Probably the best service I’ve ever had. Amy is amazing!
She made us feel right at home as we were driving back to SF from LA. What a pleasant visit.

stopped in today for the first time since they re-​opened and was surprised to see Donna, my favorite manager from Sherman Oaks there! The store looks great, very bright and clean and the young man who took my order was very nice and helpful. The food was delicious and their slices were just like I remembered them, hot and thin crust, like east coast pizza.

So much for calling in my order! 45 minutes later when I come to pick up my chicken park and I’m waiting on BREAD!!! #epicfail

My wife and I live a few blocks down the street from the Brentwood Maria’s, and used to order from them (particularly their pizza) often before they closed for remodeling. We were glad when they moved back. We ordered a pizza a couple of weeks ago and came in with a «$ 10 large pizza» coupon they had mailed to the neighborhood. We were quite disappointed to find that we were left standing there for a good 10 minutes while they tried to figure out how to enter the coupon into their POS system. Turns out they have to enter in a cheese pizza for $ 10 and then add each ingredient (of a «vegetarian» pizza) separately. Wound up being only a couple of dollars off. And when we got home, it was only luke-​warm (and as I said, we live only a few blocks away).
Ordered another pizza and a salad yesterday. I can’t eat onions because I have a sensitivity and they do really bad things to my digestive tract. We specifically ordered the vegetarian pizza without onions. Get home, start eating (in front of the TV with the room lights out), and midway through my second piece, I find what appears to be sautéed onions all over the pizza. Since they’re not as «sharp» as the usual raw slices that they put on a pizza (and which get cooked in the pizza oven), I couldn’t really taste them. Called, drove back, handed them the old pizza (minus a few slices), and waited, and waited, and waited. Even though the manager we spoke to on the phone had said it would be ready in about 10 minutes. Finally got the new pizza, minus the onions. And little more than a «sorry.» Turns out the onions that I DID eat left me in the bathroom for quite a while last night.
On top of all that, standing at the cashier’s desk, it smelled STRONGLY of what seemed like raw sewage. Not sure what it is, or where it was coming from, but it was pretty gross.
I didn’t recognize ANY of the people who used to work there, including the guy who used to make their pizzas. When I asked, I was told that one cook supposedly had been there for a long time, and the manager came from another location.
Probably won’t be going back.

Im so glad to see that Maria’s is open again… We went to have quick bite and we where surprised to see how busy it was for lunch. Food was just as great as it used to be. Sal and the new traine Jane did excellent job assisting customers on the counter and dining room… can’t wait to see when Marias will get their alcohol license to enjoy mimosas or glass of wine with my meal.

The remodel looks nice but is not very functional. Dining room does not look much bigger just more modern with black floor white walls and splash of red above the kitchen.
We arrived at 6:30 and were told it would be 20 minutes. It was more than 30 minutes… one patron was seated at a 2 top and moved to the 4 top next to his table so he could spread out and read the paper. The management refused to say anything even though there were two parties of four waiting.
There are seats to wait right behind where the servers get the food for the kitchen… it makes for a crowded area that was not very well thought out and definitely not very functional.
The food was just okay. My wife enjoyed her chicken picata. My chicken dish had so much burned garlic it was pretty bad. Could have been an off night in the kitchen. The kids meals are priced at $ 6 and do not include a drink or dessert. I think they ought to take a page out of the CPK kids menu and include a drink and charge $ 1 for a kids Sunday.
Our server was nice but a little too overzealous. He served the food, took a step away for 15 seconds and came back and asked how the food was. We did not have a chance to even take a bite. There was also no bus boy on staff during our visit and our busy waiter did a poor job of removing finished dishes from the table.
I will follow up this review with another once Maria’s has settled in to the revamped location. Hopefully things will improve.

So happy to report that Maria’s in Brentwood is back! Beautifully redone inside, and food is as good as ever — gluten free pizza is top notch and the chicken parm is delicious. I also frequently dream about the cheesecake. Best service in the Village — Edna is my favorite waitress!

This place isn’t really closed– they have moved to a temporary location (in Santa Monica I believe?) while this location is being remodeled.
I have never eaten in restaurant, but my neighbor orders from here all the time. My husband and I decided to try it out. The pizza and lasagna is amazing! My favorite is the Pizza Bread with extra cheese. yum!

I’m writing this review based on their temporary location at 3001 Wilshire Blvd. the location itself is good and I liked the atmosphere and décor of the restaurant. The food gets 4 stars, however the service should get 1. During our dinner we had numerous waiters and waitresses serving us. 2 different people asks for our drink orders after we had already ordered and the service was very slow. We also noticed that two different waitresses were waiting on the entire restaurant, switching between table. Why couldn’t they stick to their own sections? There was a lot of confusion with orders. Hoping their location back in Brentwood will be better.

I’ve tried to give this place chances. After four messed up orders including ice cold pizza. A calzone drenched in BBQ sauce and a chicken that was pink inside– no go. Food is good if made right

Alright. This Is my first Unilocal review and I’m writing it because I hate to see such a fantastic establishment have it’s name dragged through the mud. Someone’s got to stand up for the marvelous place that is Maria’s and that someone is me.
The service is usually good when I go. It hasn’t always been perfect, but as someone who has been here dozens of times, I would say it’s at least average.
But on to what really matters. Maria’s has a big menu for such a little place. I feel like I must have tried half of it by now, and everything I’ve had here has been god damn fantastic. Man I love this place.
I’m not a gluten free person, but I’m surrounded by them, and they all stand by their gluten free pizza crust as the best they’ve ever had. Their normal crust is very good too and if you request pizza with pesto, it’s divine!
Their other dishes are outstanding as well. From their minestrone, to the gnocchi, to the carbonara – man their carbonara is wonderful!
But if I had to pick a favorite here, it would be their sesame chicken. Great chicken, wonderfully breaded, and that lemon butter – oh yummy yummy yum yum!
Ignore the haters. Maria’s is the best damn Italian you’ll find. I used to live a short walk away and have since moved and I miss it soooooo much! Everything they make is outstanding. This is the little Italian place you’ve been looking for!

I needed to pick up a quick lunch for the folks helping me move. Per Unilocal suggestions I called in my order in advance. It was ready when I got there. Everything was correct. The food was good and there was a lot of it. I didn’t think anything was that spectacular but solid.
One thing to note, if you are walking out with your arms full of bags of food, there is a step down when you go out the door. I almost fell and broke my neck!