I’ve heard many positive reviews about Mamma Mia Italian Bistro in Apex, NC, and I knew I wanted to give it a try. My family wanted to go out and I decided to bring my best friend to celebrate her birthday!
Mamma Mia is located in a little shopping center off of Laura Duncan Road, wedged between a thrift store and a Food Lion. You can’t miss the bright, glowing Mamma Mia letters on the restaurant front, begging you to come inside. When you enter the restaurant you walk down a little entryway that is separated from the dining room. On the wall to the left there were funny t-shirts hanging that said “legalize marinara” and “do you want a pizza this?”. We shuffled towards the hostess stand, which was framed by a giant chef statue and a fridge filled with gigantic, delicious looking cheesecakes. The owner told us that it would be an hour long wait, and then quickly corrected himself saying it would be more like twenty minutes. We squeezed on to a waiting bench and within five minutes we heard “cinque!”, and we knew our table for five was ready.
On our way to our seats I checked out the atmosphere of the restaurant. There was a ton of wine! There was also a TV showing a slideshow of the owners of the restaurant and their customers touring through Italy. It was cute, and got me excited for my travels in Italy this summer.
Even though the owner of the restaurant is from Naples, and I knew the pizza would be delicious, I was more interested in pasta. The menu is set up so that you choose the type of pasta and sauce separately. I was in the mood for a short pasta, and I was craving a lighter, tomato sauce. The waitress told us about the daily specials and I tossed the idea of rigatoni with tomato sauce to the side, and ordered “Cuore di Ravioli”, which is heart shaped ravioli in a sage and cream sauce.
Before our entrees came out, we got fresh bread with a balsamic olive oil blend to dip it in. It was delicious! The balsamic and spices were swirled around in the oil so that every bite of the oil dipped bread had a different flavor.
When the waitress brought out our food, I had major heart eyes! My dish was gorgeous. I was not prepared for the bright red, perfectly shaped ravioli hearts. There was balsamic drizzled on top of the sauce which added sweetness to the savory flavor. There were only 5 ravioli hearts, which doesn’t seem like a lot, but it was very filling. Just a warning, this specialty ravioli had a surprise, heartbreaking price on the bill.
I took a bite of my dad’s food as well, he ordered linguine with carbonara sauce, which is made with eggs, cream, and parmesan. Having never had carbonara sauce, I was surprised by the thick, eggy consistency of the sauce, but it was very yummy.
We finished the meal with a hard decision. The homemade Tiramisu or the famous Justin’s cheesecake I had eyed on the way in. Sometimes life gives you decisions you aren’t ready to make, but in this moment I knew what I had to do. I ordered the Tiramisu. It was one of the best tiramisus I had ever tasted. Every bite was smooth and melted in my mouth. It wasn’t too sweet, and was perfectly creamy. If I hadn’t been so full of food, I may have never stopped eating.
Going to Mamma Mia’s was an excellent way to celebrate. There was another person there having a big birthday party, and the owner and wait staff sang “Happy Birthday” to the customer in a megaphone. The food was delicious, authentic, but not cheap! If you want to treat yourself, have a nice meal at Mamma Mia.
Caroline's Blog 