Marino's Italian

Critic's Review

Marino's is one of those places that serves lunch until 2:30, and it's always about 2:15 when I think of it. Today I got an early start but on the way there I hit a draw bridge, a long freight train and got stuck behind a truck trying to make a right turn from the left lane for 2 light cycles. I still made it by 2:15; there was one other table when I arrived.

You've probably seen this place; it's right next to the Hard Rock hotel. When I first saw it I thought it was a pizzeria, but it's a restaurant.

Decor is outdated and the place is badly in need of a refresh. It kind of fits the bill for everything in this part of town that's not part of the Hard Rock complex.

Marinos inside

I ordered iced tea and ordered some Veal Parmesan, which comes with bread and a choice of soup or salad. The soup was Minestrone, so I decided to try that. The bread, tea and soup came out right away.

Marinos tea

They have fake Yellow (not Splenda); and the tables are covered with maroon vinyl.

Marinos bread

The bread was closer to white bread than italian; the butter was soft. The big thing with the bread is that there was no bread plate, so I had to butter it in the basket and put it on a napkin. My server sped out of sight after dropping stuff off so I couldn't flag her down easily.

Marinos soup

The soup was a loser; not bad tasting but mostly wildly overcooked pasta and hardly any vegetables. Not very freshly made.

The music is excellent; tunes from Duran Duran, David Gray, Adele, The Beatles and Tom Petty filled the air during my visit. The veal parm looked like a decent portion for the price.

Marinos veal parm

Very basic stuff; a big breaded cutlet, sauce and a couple of slices of mozzarella melted over it. I liked the sauce. Veal is pretty expensive, so $7.95 for this is a good value. The picture on their website shows freshly grated cheese, but I was only offered the sawdust shaker.

Service was good while I was the only table in the place, but when another customer came in she became consumed with servicing her and didn't even look over for a good 10 minutes. When I got my CC back, there was a note attached that said that "Tipping in cash would be appreciated". I don't really like such things; what's the fee on $2, 6 cents? "I don't want to pay taxes, so please leave cash".

I was going to leave cash but I only had 20s and I wasn't waiting for change.

Not a bad place. Just don't get here at 2:35 or the door will be locked.