Mama Miro's 30/64 Pizza Place

The building Mama Miro's is located in used to be a drive-in dinner called Guido's. My father used to take us to dinner there at least once during the summer. I rather enjoyed the waitress' skating around like they did in the 50's and 60's. Even before I learned girls didn't have cooties. I was excited when I moved to Enfield to be close to it only to find Guido's had moved to Manchester and a new place had opened up, Mama Miro's. It's address is 117 Hazard Avenue Enfield, CT. The hours of operation are 11am to 11pm Fridays and Saturdays and 11am to 10pm the rest of the week.

Even from the outside you can tell the food is going to be very heavily influenced. I had avoided eating here for several months mostly because I was upset Guido's had moved. I finally decided to give it a try. With my food blog I want to get out and try new places instead of just reviewing all the places I know are good already.

The inside of the building is rather small with less than ten tables spaced about the dining area. The counter space and kitchen seem to dominate most of the floor plan. I am not sure if they enlarged this kitchen or I had just not been inside before when it was Guido's. Mama Miro's does a lot of business with take out, or catering so the lack of space is not a big issue to them. The area was very clean, and had a very simplistic set up over all. I give the Dining Room a 8/16 for a basic and standard layout with nothing special to make it stand out.

When I first walked in and ordered, I was not aware they had a larger menu then the menu board hanging over the counter. The typical pizzeria offerings are all there, hot and cold grinders, pizza as well as salads, seafood dishes and appetizers. They do offer the standard fare for children's menus as well. The design of the menu was very basic and looked as if it had been typed and printed on a home computer. If they plan on changing the menu often this is acceptable, however if they did this just to save a few bucks I can't say I agree. Spending a little extra for a professionally printed menu can help to sell your selections. Other than the pizza section there is little to no description of the items. Most of the items such as fish and chips or chicken parmesan don't need a description. However if they prepare their items in a non-classic way it's good to point it out. Looking at the prices some things seemed to be a decent deal like a large slice of pizza for 2.25 or the real veal grinder for 8.50. I was however disappointed when I received my grinder as it was very scarce on the meat, sauce and cheese and the roll was the majority of the grinder. I give the Menu Layout a 6/16 for a home made and slightly under developed and over priced menu.

When I walked in and ordered a "Real Veal Grinder" the woman behind the counter scribbled it on a paper, asked if i wanted it "parm style" and then yelled it into the back. I took a seat at a table and waited about ten minutes before another woman came over and asked if I'd like it to go or here. I was a little shocked at the disorganization of the place but decided to eat in. She brought me silver ware and a glass of water promptly. The sandwich was served in a typical diner style basket with some pickles and pasta salad to my surprise. The sandwich looked crisp with the cheese oozing across it and it was definitely larger than a foot to my surprise. The execution and appearance of the meal I give a 11/16 for a slightly disorganized but very appetizing service of the meal.

The grinder definitely had my mouth watering, they'd done well on making it look and smell good. I ate the small side of pasta salad first and it was well made. The mayo dressing wasn't to heavy and the peas were crisp with a bit of salt and pepper seasoning. As I bit into the grinder I began to get disappointed. The veal while sliced thin and tasting wonderful was nearly non-existent and the first bite took half of my cheese from the grinder. I figured it would get better towards the middle. As I continued to eat I found that the grinder was as I'd first experienced and spoke of earlier, mostly roll with little cheese, sauce or veal. I was very disappointed as it had looked huge and tasty but they had just bulked it up with a large roll. I give the taste and quality of the meal a 5/16 for a scant amount of veal in a veal grinder. But what was there still tasted pretty good.

I went into this meal with a fairly open mind and was expecting a decent italian meal, well priced, large portions with great flavor. While the flavor was there and the pricing seemed to be in line, I think the portion size was not nearly what it should have been. I may try Mama Miro's again however I can't say I will be rushing over there after this post to give them another shot. I would say unless there's not many other options to look else where for a good meal.

My overall rating for Mama Miro's is a 30/64.