East Side Mario's - Calgary

Update: The Chicken Milano is SO yummy.‐ This place was way better than the first time we came.My steak was over done, but they made a new one.

Went for my son's birthday dinner. Their meals were acceptable, nothing special. The kids pizza was a mess, looked like it was just tossed together. I ordered the chicken Parm. Couldn't eat it! The tomato sauce is just crushed tomatoes, no seasoning at all. Incredibly bland! The chicken was soggy from all the so called sauce soaking into it. I returned it and ate the rest of my wife's calzone. At least they didn't charge me for it. Won't go back.

We dropped by East Side Mario's for dinner on Sunday night while travelling through Calgary. We seemed to beat the dinner hour rush as we were promptly seated upon arrival. The restaurant did get busy not long afterwards though.Our server brought us two warm loaves of their delicious garlic bread, which we all loved. It definitely helped fill the void while our meals were prepared, especially for the kids. My wife and I both enjoyed our salads that were included with our meals, and as always, freshly grated cheese was plentiful throughout our meal. I opted for the cheese cappelletti while my wife went with the fettuccine Alfredo, which were both delicious. Our children chose the build your own pasta and pizza, which they both devoured even though they already had their full of garlic bread beforehand. The kids enjoyed their gelatos that were included with their meals (strawberry and Swiss chocolate were the available flavours), while my wife and I split the peanut butter stack which was very tasty and a perfect end to a great meal.We'll definitely return to this ESM location while in Calgary on future trips.

I have eaten there twice in the last two months and I was very lucky to have a server by the name of Deborah. The first time I had her she had an amazing attitude and exceptional service! I had her again today and honestly she is consistently good at her job and very personable. The food is the same as it always is and is pretty good but the service from Deborah makes this place so much better so if you get a chance and you can be served by Deborah I suggest you go.

I am a little disappointed that they no longer have the Little Kids/Big Kids menu split because that was handy, but the restaurant is still friendly, still generous with their food, the hot bread still plentiful, and still tastes really good.It was enough food that we had to take away leftovers. The shrimp scampi was amazing, with the perfect bite and a lot of butter, and the steak and parm fries was excellent. Note that parm fries are not done to crispy.They were doing the fresh grated parmesan at the table, which I took what felt like unfair advantage of (you mean I can have this on my soup AND make my parm fries extra extra parmy?)Note that to get the attention of wait staff, you have to honk a horn. My kids were good about it, but maybe you don't want to sit too near it!Thanks to Dona, our server.