Mulberry Italian Restaurant

64 Jackson Avenue, Lackawanna

[A long post, for reason]

After many coworkers, friends, & tv shows (Guy Fieri) continued to give high ratings to Mulberry's I decided to check it out on a Saturday night with my girlfriend. I knew the place was popular, read up a bit on it, and knowing that they didn't take reservations after 6pm for a party under 4, called them up. I told the hostess I wanted to sit around 7-730 and asked what time I should arrive. 6pm was her response. "This better be some damn good food" was my thought.

Getting there promptly at 6pm, we were met to a PACKED bar and an hour and a half wait. With hardly enough room to stand, the two of us crammed into a space barely comfortable enough for one. And then we waited....and waited.... and waited. An hour and fifteen minutes later, we were seated. My thoughts on this are: That's ballsy. To tell customers that basically your food is so good, you can stand, cramped and on top of other for over an hour to sit takes guts. I guess people enjoy it. Even if the rest of my experience had been absolutely amazing, I don't see myself standing around an hour to get a table. Take reservations like 99.9% of every other restaurant. On the plus side (a minor one), the place did have cool decorations hanging from the ceiling and plenty of famous peoples pictures on the walls to look at. Not an hour+ of entertainment though...

The waitress greeted us rather promptly and asked what we would like to drink. Asking what beer they had (bottles only), she asked for ID. I gave it to her. Her reply, in a rather snarky attitude was..."Soooo you were born in 85?...How old are you then?" Correctly answering her math quiz, her next answer was "eh I don't know...Bud, bud light, blue, blue light" and then drifted off without even finishing. So be it. Sam Adams for me (after noticing someone at the bar holding a bottle of it). I understand carding and fully agree with it, but the attitude should go. First, I don't look 18. Second...no I'm not here with my girlfriend handing off fakes. Third...even if I was, lose the tone. Forth (and final)...if my ID meets your criteria, answer the question or go find out if you don't know. Regardless of how old/young you think I am, I still believe I'm entitled to some form of answer.

Food came out at a rather slow pace. Ok, I'll overlook it as it was really busy. The meatball, which everyone was so excited about, came first first. Nothing all that special- It was good, but not the best thing ever.

Dinner was Pollo Saltimbocca for me, Ravioli di Carciofo for her. The ravioli was pretty good, I actually liked it more than my chicken. My dinner was ok, and would have been much better had it not had the texture of chicken that was sitting in a sterno heated pan all day. It was rather tough, which is a difficult thing to do to chicken.

For dessert we split Tiramisu, which I thought was really good. The only downside was that because the meal was moving along at a painfully slow pace, we had to flag the waitress down to 1) place the order so we could get out in a reasonable time and 2)request a glass of water for the second time. Ok, again its busy, I understand. But seriously...thats where your tip went. If the general attitude about the ID wasn't enough, she genuinely didn't seem to give a damn about anything there. Time from seating to out the door was just about 2 hours.

Cliffs:

Good- Ravioli, Tiramisu, decor

Bad- No reservations, long wait, bad waitress, rubberized chicken, slow service.

Egh...I've been neglecting writing this review, as it's to be the first place I really was not happy with in a long time. Maybe it was the hype? Maybe it was the wait? Maybe the bad service? I can't say for sure, but either way that's my thoughts on Mulberry's (probably much to the dislike of many others who have been there). I would go back, but never on a weekend and not without STRONG protest to head somewhere else. So be it- 2 noms (generously, for the tiramisu and ravioli)

nom nom