May 1, 2007

Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!

Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant is open Monday through Saturday, 11am�to 10:00pm. They are located at 16 W. Old St.�

Posted by brenda p at 3:09PM under Uncategorized |

28 Responses to “Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!”

posted by tg4360 at May 2, 2007 8:50 am :

I can’t wait to check it out.

I’ve already heard that the food is good!

TG
posted by Teresa at May 2, 2007 9:20 am :

I have been waiting for their opening and went over on May 1 (first day) for lunch. All members of the party got sandwiches as our time was limited, and all dishes were excellent and reasonably priced. The rest of the menu is mouth-watering and I’ll be back again soon. We love the decor inside - examine the etched glass panels when you are in there! We are very happy to have this wonderful new addition to our Old Towne dining options. Go and try it out!
posted by Elizabeth W. Tucker at May 20, 2007 7:53 am :

Have eaten there three times - very good!
We love it and are so glad they have joined our downtown Petersburg!!!!!
posted by Michael at May 20, 2007 7:21 pm :

Walked by the other night and it looked good… but they need to dim the lighting a little for atmosphere.
posted by micheal at March 21, 2008 3:39 am :

THE FOOD IS GREAT!!! I LOVE MARIA’S!!
posted by Chuck at March 21, 2008 10:06 am :

I agree with Michael, we’ve eaten there a couple of times and the food has been great! The portions are huge so you can always have leftovers for next days lunch….or a midnight snack.
posted by Akin S at March 21, 2008 1:31 pm :

My wife Treska and I have eaten there several occasions and have found it to be a great place to dine.
posted by VaGirl at March 21, 2008 4:15 pm :

I love Maria’s white pizza!! I crave it all the time. :)
posted by Chuck at March 21, 2008 4:35 pm :

“I love Maria��s white pizza!! I crave it all the time. :)”

Just curious, do you think it’s better than Sal’s white pizza - I LOVE theirs and if Maria’s is good/better…well I need to try it!!
posted by brenda p at March 21, 2008 5:12 pm :

Get thee to Maria’s. I’ve enjoyed the full octane pizza, the spagetti (the sauce rocks), and a zippy pasta dish I can’t recall the name of… will have to rally back on that one. Haven’t tried the white pizza yet. Oh, and the tiramisu — outstanding!
posted by tg4360 at March 21, 2008 7:41 pm :

What and where is this Sal’s place?
posted by Chuck at March 21, 2008 8:54 pm :

Sals is near the corner of Sycamore & Crater in that little shopping center where Blockbusters is located. They sort of back up to Merchants Tire & Auto.

Both of us LOVE their white pizza and my other half says their Eggplant Parm. is one of his favorites.
posted by Chuck at March 21, 2008 8:59 pm :

Oh does anyone know anything about the Bombay Restaurant that is going to be opening up by the hotel at 95 & Washington Street?

I CANNOT wait for that one, I haven’t seen any other Indian restaurants around here.
posted by tg4360 at March 23, 2008 9:54 am :

Are you talking about the round one on the south bound Washington ramp?

Sadly that seems to be a cursed location. It’s even already been an Indian restaurant before.

I wish them luck if they open though.
posted by Chuck at April 8, 2008 8:42 pm :

Yes, that location tg! I see they have a new”ish” Banner out front and a very small menu on a write-on/wipe-off board in the window. Maybe we’ll try to see if they are open this weekend.

Hmmmmmmmm lamb samosas with corriander chutney, egg curry, and mango lassis
posted by VaGirl at April 9, 2008 4:03 pm :

“Just curious, do you think it’s better than Sal’s white pizza - I LOVE theirs and if Maria’s is good/better…well I need to try it!!”

Chuck, I have not tried Sal’s…I will have to check it out. Thanks.
posted by James Wesley Medlin at April 9, 2008 4:48 pm :

Sal’s is a dive compared to Maria’s. Absolutely. For sure.
posted by Chuck at April 9, 2008 9:31 pm :

Ahhh but dives sometimes have very good food, n’est pas?

Don’t get me wrong, the food at Maria’s is good!! I just go places for the food, not the wall color or the Pottery Barn/Crate & Barrel decor. =)

Side note - coming home today I saw alot of Indian gentlemen going into Bombay - maybe the owners were have a pre-opening party for friends and they will soon be open!

Sorry for jackin’ the Maria’s thread!
posted by shawn at April 10, 2008 10:58 am :

The indian restaurant that was there before was VERY GOOD.

I’ve been to a lot of good indian restruants in big cities and the food was not better than in right there in that round building.

My family did what it could to support that restaurant, but it faced some challenges…

First off, the owner found it hard to find good help. Waitresses would often just not show up, even on the busiest nights. A problem that other restaurants have in their first year is that when business is slow, it is hard to find good help. That’s why it is smart to have a FAMILY run the place instead of employees who understandably don’t want to just hang out at a low rate of pay.

Thirdly, southside is not the most cosmopolitan or diverse of populations. That includes taste. There are people who love indian food here, but far more that have never had it, and have little interest in trying it.

Last I heard, the motel unwisely raised the rent on the guy, which made him throw in the towel.

A lotta people don’t understand that you usually have to be very well capitalized to start a restaurant. You got to be prepared to lose money at a sickening rate for longer than you think you will when you are in the planning phase. Overhead for restruants is HIGH, and competition is fierce, because ANYONE can open one.

Smarter to open a grocery first.
posted by Najmah at April 11, 2008 9:20 am :

Can’t wait to support a real grocery store downtown!
posted by shawn at April 11, 2008 10:07 am :

Najmah,

Have you ever been to the asian-run IGA?

It’s an interesting phenom. It seems to have the business-plan of a ghetto corner store, but it is huge!!

I usually buy only omega-3 eggs and organic milk over at the walmart but when it is morning and we are out of some such item, I run over there to pick it up. What I see there is interesting. The building is not exactly filled to the ceiling with products, yet they have the basic long shelf-life produce, off-brand fresh meat, cheap beer, and lots of processed food.

The owners seem friendly, and they have state-of-the-art cash registers, so it looks like they have invested in the place.

My point is, there already IS a real grocery store downtown (unless your definition is different, could be..) Their problem is that location, I guess. Everyone HATES anything in between washington and wythe, for some reason, except for the mentally ill. Also, they’ve got that tree growing out of the top of their sign — it looks like it could use a little fertilizer.

That place could have great potential if it was patronized. I have known asian grocers before. They have no preconceptions about what they should be selling and will sell whatever there is demand for.

Maybe a group of downtown merchants should get together and talk to the owners about promoting the store, since anything that helps the area between washington and wythe helps oldtowne because it W+W is what visitors see first and last.
posted by James Wesley Medlin at April 11, 2008 10:16 am :

Whole Foods would be nice :)
posted by brenda p at April 11, 2008 11:52 am :

the Old Towne Market on W. Bank St. offers the sort of stuff I used to go to Elwood Thompson for… great wine, cheese, etc. And they’ve stocked particular items for us on request (e.g., preserved lemons, Nutella).
posted by shawn at April 11, 2008 2:03 pm :

James,

Don’t hold your breath.

Brenda,

I haven’t been to OTM in a while. They had nice stuff there, but not much that I use — or it is of a level of refinement that does not fit my consumption profile. It seemed almost more of a gift store than a grocer, to me.

They may have changed their offerings since then.

“And they’ve stocked particular items for us on request (e.g., preserved lemons, Nutella).”

I suppose I can buy the occational nutella for my wife, but I am more a “fresh lemon” guy. I believe they are more health-bringing.
posted by shawn at April 11, 2008 2:05 pm :

Of course, the more people shop there, the more perishables they will be able to stock.
posted by brenda p at April 11, 2008 4:57 pm :

preserved lemons are called for in tagine or Moroccan style cooking. (We tried to make our own, but they were wwwaaaayyyyy too sour. I think the nice jarred ones are a different variety than the ones in the typical local grocery.
posted by Janneth at May 20, 2008 12:27 am :

I grew up in Europe and the italian food there taste different then the italian food here in the states. This is the first restaurant, whose style of cooking reminded me of the authentic taste italian food, the way I grew up…I love this place..Not only the food is great, but the restaurant looks awsome!!!
posted by carolyn at May 26, 2008 9:36 am :

Excellent food, looking forward to returning SOON!

Petersburg People's News

CALENDAR - THIS WEEK

CLASSIFIEDS

May 1, 2007

Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!

28 Responses to “Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!”

Leave a Comment

RECENT COMMENTS

RECENT POSTS

SEARCH

ARCHIVES

COMMUNITY BLOGS

Petersburg People's News

CALENDAR - THIS WEEK

CLASSIFIEDS

May 1, 2007

Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!

28 Responses to “Maria’s Cafe & Italian Restaurant: Now Open!”

Leave a Comment

RECENT COMMENTS

RECENT POSTS

SEARCH

ARCHIVES

CATEGORIES

COMMUNITY BLOGS

TAG CLOUD