MAMA D'S (NEWPORT BEACH, CA)

Mama D's
3012 Newport Blvd
Newport Beach, CA 92663
www.mamadsnewport.com
Tel: 949.675.6262
$$ ($15-$30)
Sat, 05/21/2016, 8:00pm Walk-In
    (4 Piglets)

Mama D's is an Italian restaurant located in beautiful Newport Beach. The mother of 7 children, Mama D utilizes her Italian grandmother's recipes to share good Italian home cooking to Southern Californians.

The restaurant has been ranked as "Best Italian Restaurant in America" on Yelp 2016. Mama D's doesn't take any reservations. The wait time can be fairly long if you're not there when it opens. During your wait, you can expect them to roam around the waiting premises offering bread and other goodies to keep you company.

The restaurant itself looks nothing fancy. It's packed, full of people waiting to get a taste of the very popular pink sauce. When you step foot onto the premises, you feel you've been dining here for years...a sense of a neighborhood Italian kitchen mixed in with a beach house vibe.  

The interior

The kitchen

The garlic oil dipping sauce for the delicious complimentary bread

Complimentary homemade raviolis for our wait

The focaccia bread...so good!

MAMA D'S FAMOUS HOMEMADE MEAT FILLED RAVIOLI ($15.00): Beef and Pork. The ravioli is definitely homemade. The filling was soft and delicate. The actual pasta itself was thin and had a strong resemblance to a wonton wrapper. I ordered this dish with the pink sauce and it just made it that much better. I can see why everyone loves this red sauce. It's almost similar to a vodka sauce, creamy and not too acidic.

MY FAVORITE DISH. MAMA D'S PASTAS-DANE'S DISH ($16.00 + $3.50 for Pink Sauce): Fresh Mushroom, Roma Tomato, Onion, Garlic and Basil with Penne Pasta in Pink Sauce. So the way this place works is you pick what type of pasta you want and the type of sauce and the ingredients to go along with the dish. We chose something pretty simple with the Pink Sauce and it was super delicious. The pasta isn't homemade, rather they use DeCecco pasta (which I approve of). The portion sizes are big and we had plenty of leftovers for the next day. It's definitely a must order. 

TIRAMISU WITH COOKIE CRUMBLE AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE: This is not your traditional tiramisu. It was delicious but definitely a bit too rich and sweet. It's a lot saying that coming from me but I was so overwhelmed by the sweetness that I couldn't finish it. It looked amazing though!

Overall, Mama D's is pretty darn good. I wouldn't say it's my favorite Italian restaurant. The feeling you get when you leave is that you just tasted some good homemade Italian food. The large portions make it easy to share. The pink sauce that is infamous at this establishment is like crack! I seriously started craving it a week later. If you want something chill, not too pretentious, and some good ol' home cookin', this is a go-to spot. Oh and expect some chocolate chip cookies at the end of your meal...






Notable Dishes: Mama D's Pastas in Pink Sauce