Mama Louisa's Italian Restaurant & Catering

First time here - friendly, clean, service was great, food hot and fresh, even gave us a free cannoli for we were celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. Will definitely be back!

The pasta and sauce are always first rate. The mozzerella cheese sticks appetizer we shared was scrumptious. The two wines we had were both excellent. I wish they would add fish such as sole or salmon or tilapia to have with pasta since I don't eat shrimp or chicken or meat.

We loved the delicious “Joes Special” with homemade pasta and an order of perfectly chilled antipasto. The antipasto was for two but three of us enjoyed it and there was even some leftover to take home. We all enjoyed a great dinner!

Although our waitress was super busy we were treated well and our food came quickly. It was very good. We will be back soon!

I wanted to rate Mama Louisa's highly as I had read good reviews and the idea of an "old fashioned" New York style Italian restaurant was very appealing. It started out well. The ambience was very nice, "old school Italian" in the best sense. Prices were more than reasonable. Service was very good also (although we were there at 4:30 PM ant the restaurant was not busy yet). Aperol spritzes were good and very generous. Deep fried calamari were excellent as were soft breadsticks. However that was it. Mains were not good at all. Lasagna (although big enough for at least 2) was sort of like a dry brick, covered with tomato sauce and veal marsala (although the veal itself was very good size) was smothered with a heavy brown mushroom sauce with little or no marsala flavor. The accompanying fettucine alfredo was a thick, sticky, flavorless mess. Sadly I cannot recommend Mama Louisa's based on very poor main courses. Too bad since price, ambience, and calamari were excellent.

I'm sure for a lot of people this is great but the sauce seemed very sweet to me and that usually means they add sugar. We are from Italy - we don't EVER use sugar in sauce. And we also NEVER use oregano in red sauce. I can't say my heartburn was because of the sauce because we also had the fried zucchini which was great but the likelihood that they are usually fresh oil to fry in is slim to none. The Cesar salad was also very good. The service was excellent. The place is tired and old; needs a desperate refresh. It has great potential to be great again.

For me, they're the best. I visit them only frequently.

My friend had a small dinner party for 12, so he ordered Mama Louisa's meat lasagna and some bland (no herbs or parmesan) bread sticks from the catering menu. The first bite of lasagna tasted overwhelmingly of sulphured garlic powder-and lots of it. Even just using fresh crushed garlic would have been a big improvement. The meat sauce was very finely ground with the flavor of ground pork. No other herbs or spices were detected. The pasta itself was flavorless. Even though it was unappetizing I finished my serving to be polite but paid the price by burping up garlic gas and suffering from indigestion for the next 16 hours, even after taking doses of simethicone to treat it. I will inform my friend of the availability of Stouffer's family size frozen lasagna for future dinners which is much better at a fraction of the price. And their veggie version is even better than the meat version. Mama, you really need to rethink your recipe for this Italian staple. Another reviewer on this site also recently complained about the grey color, which we noticed too. Maybe they've been stored in their walk-in freezer for too long.

The pizza was good, so tasty! 🤌🏻

The Joe's special was delicious. Definitely going back to try different items.

Been in tucson for 40 years and finally decided to try this place. I can finally see what the hype was all about! Ordered the Joe's special. Simple dish with a ton of flavor! Server was friendly and allowed us time to enjoy our appetizer (bruschetta) before bringing out our entree. Will be coming back for sure!

Mama Louisa's has been serving outstanding Italian cuisine for decades, and continues to do so. We started with the fried zucchini appetizer, which was done just right, crispy without being greasy. The four of us shared a large fresh Italian salad accompanied by warm soft breadsticks. Our pasta entrees were all excellent. The portions are large, so we had more than enough leftovers for a second meal at home. The setting is rustic, not elegant, but the atmosphere is family friendly and the service is outstanding. Some of the best Italian food in Tucson!

Service & Food were amazing!!! We were in town for a convention and decided to try some local Italian food!! Looked at the reviews on Open Table and made our decision to give Mama L a try!! Great experience! The bruschetta was phenomenal!!!! Thank you! Cathy G

Had this restaurant recommended so many times and finally had opportunity to go. The family house salad had everything the kitchen had (mushrooms, peperocini, black olives and more) was huge. Our eggplant was done perfectly as was the chicken piccata. Our server was friendly and professional. Can't wait to go back.

Food is exceptional. Home made pasta and sauce were very, very good. Calamari appetizer, anti pasta salad, & garlic bread very good. Service was mediocre, not professional. Wait person asked about appetizers - uh, we'd like drinks first?? Entrees came out while we were still eating salads. Square tables for 4 are WAAAY too small - nowhere to put food. Had to continually shuffle plates, glasses, menus, candles, salt/pepper around every time food came out. Should be for 2 only. Had to call for waiter for more drinks. Go for the food & adjust expectations for everything else. Happy hour menu from 4-6 is a good value.