Marco Polo Italian Eatery

I have to say Im not sad in the least to see this restaurant gone. I dined there with family a few years ago — and wow. Worst experience I have ever had. The waiter did not write down any orders, and he got three tables (that we saw) wrong… one of which was ours. The table next to us ate the wrong food, I didnt want to — and he got extremely upset that he had to redo my food — when he got it wrong. It just went downhill from there. We had to get up and pay our bill at the bar, the service was awful. We did not leave a tip, because a tip is EARNED, not OWED. As we left, the waiter was at a table in the front window, leaning over towards the window flipping us off. He also walked outside and told us to «F» off. I called the next day and asked to speak to a manager, which I can bet you was not the manager, because he was very rude, and said you should never leave a restaurant without leaving a tip and his waiter did nothing wrong (I have a hard time believing ANY manager would ever act this way). Its a big joke in our family now «Hey, lets go eat at Marco Polo again»… because it honestly was the worst experience any of us had ever had.

We and our group of friend always enjoyed the consistently good food here at Marco Polo. But last year 2008 they disappeared? Does anyone know what happened? I’m guessing it was business partnership issues, unpaid federal taxes, etc… or worse? They were too busy to just close down.

Tried the food and used the entertainment card. To make a long story short, price is about right when the discount is applied. Food is worth it only with the discount. Tasted pretty good. Large enough portions to eat half and save half for a second meal.
We stood by the door for about 5 minutes before anyone greeted or even acknowledged us. Waiter did his job of getting orders and food, nothing extra and wasn’t friendly, but not rude either. Menus were laminated but falling apart. The place had fake plants placed randomly throughout the dining room. Kinda tacky. It could use a make over and the help of Gordon Ramsay.
If I had another discount, I would be back, if not then I’d go elsewhere.

Marco Polo is a solid Italian restaurant. They also send out plenty of coupons and are in the Entertainment book so the value is great.
Come hungry to this place, they don’t skip on portion size. They start you off with these little bread twists that have a pretzel dough taste to them, minus the salt. All of the pastas are made fresh there and are quite good. I’ve also had the veal parmesan here but my main complaint with it would be that it is heavy on breading and light on veal. They also have a vodka pasta that is really good if you add some chicken to it.
They do have a pizza oven which I am itching to try but cannot yet report on that. Wine prices are reasonable which is nice. The service is a little iffy but what do you expect from a staff that seems heavy on high school/​young college age kids. Its not a deal breaker. Again though, the portions are seriously huge so share or take it home.

After some disappointing visits to local Italian eateries, we had pretty much given up on finding decent and affordable Italian restaurants in this area. So when I was suggested to try this place, I admit I had my doubts. Fortunately, we had a 2 for 1 coupon from the Entertainment book so I figured if the food was subpar, at least we wouldn’t feel ripped off.
The restaurant itself is located in an unremarkable shopping mall on the corner of MacArthur and Bison. We went there on a Thursday night and it was pretty bustling – a group of WASPY Newport kids decked out for prom was dining there. The décor wasn’t too bad, not fancy, kinda cozy and old school.
We ordered two entrees – the chicken parmigiana and the tortellini with halibut accompanied by a creamy white wine sauce. The tortellini was quite good – it tasted homemade and it had a firm but tender (al dente) texture. The sauce was flavorful without being salty. The chicken parmigiana arrived piping hot and the chicken was quite juicy, although the marinara sauce tasted a bit bland. The complimentary bread was pretty forgettable however.
The service was pretty ho-​hum though – our server wasn’t too friendly or attentive. Some of the other servers appeared friendlier however so maybe we were unlucky. But overall, the food was better than what you would find at Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill, and the prices were quite reasonable too (for us it was a steal since we had the coupon). I’d definitely come back here for local solid Italian fare.

I do like this place. I am almost about to give it 4 stars.
I’ve tried their grilled salmon dishes, some pizza, and pastas. I have really not been disappointed yet. Expect to pay around $ 20 – 30 per person. The service is adequate. They cook the pizzas in a huge stone grill with a smoked log fire. mmmm