Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant in Boynton Beach for a taste and feel of New York
Outside Mamma Mia
You might think you’re in Brooklyn at this casual eatery featuring Italian-American cuisine
Take your favorite Italian spot from Brooklyn or Long Island and plop it down in in a suburban strip center in Boynton Beach and you’ve got Mamma Mia.
Over the year’s it’s become my go-to place for Italian comfort food. And the crowds gathered outside Mamma Mia’s doors on any given evening are a testament that it’s a go-to place for many others.
A mainstay of the area since 1983, on a recent weeknight couples; trios and larger groups lined the canopied sidewalk— the length of four storefronts —wafting for a table. They were out there at 8 at night! Mamma Mia only takes reservations for parties of six or more so there’s almost always a line. It moves quickly. And there’s a good chance you’ll find one of the owners, Vinnie LoGasso, attired in black with a microphone, aside his wooden check-in podium orchestrating the seating.
Good food in bountiful portions and good value help account for Mama Mia’s popularity. For the price of a single entrée, either side of $20 depending on what you order, you’ll get a main that will provide leftovers for the next day’s dinner at a minimum, hot-out-of-the oven garlic knots, a bowl of soup, and a salad that easily could sate two.
The pizza counter
The dining room
Inside there’s a pizza counter in the center filled with take-out customers waiting for brick-oven pizzas and more. Plain wooden tables and chairs fill the rustic wood and exposed brick dining rooms. Nothing fancy here. Service is friendly and efficient. Once, our server was a woman from my old Gravesend neighborhood in Brooklyn and we chatted about old times. And, on occasion there’s a gent working his way around the room playing requests on his accordion.
The food is not fussy either. Flavorful minestrone soup, brimming with veggies and beans, is soulful and sets the tone for what’s to come. Salad greens are crisp and fresh. Pastas are perfectly al dente and mains, which run the gamut of parmigianas and other traditional chicken, veal, fish and shellfish dishes, fill a long menu page. And that doesn’t count the separate specials menu.
Veal parmigiana with side of pasta
Salad and house dressing
Minnestrone soup
Garlic rolls
I’m a sucker for the veal and eggplant parm. The veal is tender, the eggplant just firm enough, both topped with a flavorful, albeit sweetish, red sauce and just the right amount of melted mozzarella. Chicken Scarpariello also is a winner, as is my spouse’s favorite, Chicken Francese. The pizzas, available by the slice at lunch, feature crispy crusts—you can her the crunch as the slices are cut— that bring back memories of Brooklyn (here, I prefer the round to the square).
I’ve never gotten around to desserts, because I’ve always been too full. Besides, I’ve seen the same photos on the menu at supplier trade shows.
I can’t complain, though. As with so many guests departing Mamma Mia I always leave sated—and with bags of leftovers, and a bit wistful about the dish I chose not to order. There’s always the next time.
Mamma Mia Italian Restaurant & Pizza of Boynton.
3841 W. Woolbright Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33436-7207
(561) 369-0670
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Wonderful authentic Italian family food and by far the best pizza in all of Palm Beach County