Monday, June 11, 2007
New Italian on Main Street Bethlehem
After several months of renovating the former "Friends Cafe" at 548 Main Street in Bethlehem, Mama Nina Focacceria has opened. (Thank goodness, as Friends was a sad, sad excuse for a deli and a Main Street storefront.) Mama Nina's interior features color murals and rustic decor evoking an obvious Italian theme. The menu appeared typical for a small Italian joint: pizzas, hoagies, pasta, appetizers. However, I spent a couple minutes talking with the enthusiastic owner. He said he uses only fresh ingredients -- no mushrooms or tomatoes from a can -- everything delivered fresh daily and prepped on site. (I glanced at the pizza toppings storage area and his claim appeared true.) The waitstaff seemed eager and friendly. A complete review is in the offing. In the meantime, share your experiences with me. Considering my office at Spark is right down the street, I'll have plenty of opportunity to assess Mama Nina's.
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27 comments:
Sorry to be off topic but....I see no review of Melt. I have much to say about this place but am strictly an amateur so wanted to see what a Pro had to say first. I shall await....
No comment about food is ever off topic here!
I purposely have not reviewed Melt because I have a business relationship with the restaurant. I want to maintain impartiality and full disclosure in this blog. However, I welcome your impressions.
Well if we are suggesting restaurants for you to review, I would like you to check out Balasia in Emmaus (balasia.net) ... They have a huge variety of ethnic cuisine and their menu changes daily. I've never had a bad meal there... but I'm not a pro either, so I'd like to hear what you think as well!
Mama Nina's proves the best Italian is still found in the city. You can go out to the burbs and find fancy restaurants, but if you want atmosphere, fresh ingredients, and the restaurant's owner sitting right there next to you then come into Bethlehem and try Mama Nina's. I have been there twice in the past week and it was delicious both times. My first round was a pesto pizza with FRESH PESTO, something unheard of here in the Valley. At 9 bucks it wasn't even expensive, but it was perfect, crust and all. As someone who just returned from Rome, I have to say I was impressed. The second round that week was Penne Alla Vodka and it was a beautiful thing. Incredibly rich vodka sauce covered perfectly Al Dente Penne. I tried to save some to take home, but my fork moved of its own volition. I think you can add Mama Nina's to the list of great Valley Italian restaurants with Sette Luna and Louie's.
Friends Cafe was so pathetic.
I took my mom to Mama Nina's on Saturday, and we were quite impressed. I had a an amazing pizza with fresh mozzerella and crumbled bacon. The crust was crisp and perfect, and the sauce tasted so, so fresh. She had an equally impressive chicken marsala. The prices aren't bad considering the quality of the ingredients. The atmosphere was great, and the staff is all very friendly, personable, and attentive. I will definitely be back - and soon!
I purposely have not reviewed Melt because I have a business relationship with the restaurant. I want to maintain impartiality and full disclosure in this blog.
You, sir, are a class act!
I popped into this place after work and had two slices of their New York style plain pizza to tide me over for the drive. What I noticed was that the pizza was quite god and reasonably priced ($1.50 a slice, for fairly large slices) But especially, the atmosphere in the joint was very warm and welcoming. At least three employees said hello, and the guy working the oven reminded me of a puppy with a new bone.
I stopped at this place on my way home the other night to get something to tide me over for the drive. I got two slices of plain, NY-style pizza. The pizza was good and reasonably priced ($1.50 a slice). Plus, the staff was very friendly, and moved fast. I think this place probably is an upgrade over Friends, although the owners of the latter tried hard. I don't think they really had much experience in the business though.
This place is Pane e Vino "lite". It's run by the same people who reincarnated their once popular Schoenersville Rd. eatery that shut down. Their free starter of bread with cheap oil and loads of raw garlic is so 1980's (and obnoxious).
This place is above average for ubiquitous, family-style Italian eateries in the Valley but sub-par compared to the real deal. For authentic, fresh, gourmet Italian, check out Sette Luna in Easton. Don't take my word for it. Do a search on the restaurant at www.mcall.com. This is one subjective interview that is dead-on in accuracy.
please try the best.
Bianca's on Irene street.
very good.
Harry
Dad, can you take me to Mama Nina's sometime? It sounds so good!!!
-Lauren
I have eaten here 3 times since I heard it opened two weeks ago. All I can say is FANTASTIC!! Just what Bethlehem needed in my opinion. Food is great and the staff is super friendy!
Thanks for all the comments. I'll concur with anon 4:36 -- it is Pane E Vino on a smaller basis. Same family. Same garlic knots that make you smell like Sicily for three days. The focus is big flavor, whether you order a slice of pizza or pasta dish. Consistently, people in our office have given it high marks for lunch. By no means is it Sette Luna, which is much more traditional in nature: subtle, understated, refined.
Mama Nina's has a foundation in Italian food, but it Americanizes the flavor with the attitude that bigger is better.
Josh: Thanks for the lead on Balasia. This slipped under my sights. I was a big fan of The Green Cafe.
And to Lollipop55 (my lovely daughter), I'd be happy to take you to Mama Nina's! Maybe you can be my guest blogger for the day.
Mama Nina's is delicious!!! The fettucine alfredo is wonderful and the garlic rolls are phenomenal. The price is right and food is fabulous!
Hey, the way I look at it, with Mama Nina's & Sette Luna and others, the Valley has a lot of good options. The fact that Mama's is BYOB does help hold the cost down a bit, though the beer selection at Sette is REALLY good.
Regarding MELT, food is good however, way overpriced for the Valley, waitstaff is poor, maybe because they are working the kinks out? There are better places to go in the area...
Don't forget Terry's in Easton... still the best Italian in my book...
We just ate at Mama Nina's for the first time tonight. The food was really quite good -- my 7 and 4 year old sons helped me with a plate of calamari that was perfectly done, and then I had the chicken marsala and my husband had the lasagna. The boys had your basic spaghetti with a meatball. It was all very good and the portions were quite generous.
The experience of walking from our house downtown to a bustling restaurant with outdoor seating and a lively interior made me so happy to be a Bethlehem dweller. In fact, downtown seemed busier than ever on this warm Friday night.
Not all that great!!! Have had better in Bethlehem. A lot of nerve taking up the whole sidewalk and continuing on to adjacent properties. There are laws regarding these issues. He has no values or does Most of us are worried about Historic Bethlehem burning down. (When they get tired of it)
I've eaten at Mama Nina's twice in the past two months, and found it delicious each time. I ordered the Angel Hair Florentine with chicken and shrimp and found it out of this world. The portion was tremendous and I took more than half of it home each time. The ingredients were fresh and the basil tomato cream sauce was heaven in creamy liquid form.
The second time we brought my in-laws, who are rather picky, and they were very pleased. The look forward to returning again soon. The place is small and a bit cramped (we also had a toddler in a high chair), and you do wait a little for the food, but the wait only seems long because in American restuaratns we're used to getting our meals so quickly. Vacationing in Monterosso, Italy we waited nearly an hour for our dishes! Not that I'm complaining - the food was wonderful everyone was so relaxed.
So, I've been pleased with my experiences at Mama Nina's and will return again.
What a great site! Please keep up the good work!
My husband and I tried Mama Nina's last evening and were very pleasantly surprised to see that it is Pane E Vino on a smaller scale. Same food, atmosphere, garlic knots, BYO, etc. Nina is wonderful!
my wife and i heard great things about mama nina's and after reading mostly positive reviews on here we went today...hawaiian pizza was wonderful...posts were right on about the great crust...chicken parm was average at best...we had a 100% different opinion on the wait staff...they were not attentive and not very friendly...we had to find them several times both to make our initial order and to get refills on our drinks...the portions were a nice size but you can find the same level of chicken parm at any restaurant in the valley...personal pizza was expensive $15 and the pizza sat while someone ran to the store to get pineapples...overall a decent meal but wouldn't go again...
Momma Nina's is so much better than Louie's. Louie overcooks his pasta, but at Momma's is just the right amount of Al Dente. Also, no one can beat Momma's delicious Garlic Bread. The bread at Louie's is while frozen bread from the supermarket. Terrible!
so they say when leaving a negative comment you should sandwich it with two positive things kinda like an oreo or somethin like that so here goes. . . the food was outstanding. our waitress recommended the angel hair catelina off the specials menu which along with the balsamic calamari as an appetizer were absolutely fabulous! on the down side it was quite unprofessional for the owner to be yelling at one of the servers loudly enough for everyone to hear especialy when it was extremely busy and with the size of the place it was a bit difficult to move around. dont let this discourage you from stopping in as the service was phenominal and mama nina is an absolute peach. i just hope that nino learns how to deal with people a little better
Heading to Mama Nina's for lunch today. It will be our third time there. To me, it's a very NYC atmosphere, and the food has been very good.
Another poster compared this to Sette Luna. It's simply a different atmosphere, food is good to excellent at both.
Bottom line for me...I'd rather not go to the same place every time out, so I's nice to have at least two great Italian restaurants in the Valley. Two more come to mind, but that's for another time.jefg115g
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