mona lisa restaurant syracuse ny

First off, let me say that we made reservations with this establishment well in advance (over a month), for a party of 14 for their so called "Thanksgiving Buffet". The Sunday before thanksgiving, the owner calls me to collect a $25 per person deposit to guarantee our reservation. That in itself was kind of sketchy as this was never mentioned before, but I reluctantly gave her our credit card number after talking to some family about this request. Fast forward to Thanksgiving day, we all got there on time, and stood in line for 30 minutes before we could even check in. Their lobby was so full, we couldn't move. My elderly father who's in a wheelchair had to wait outside in the cold because there was no place to put him inside. After another 15-20 minutes, I finally got to the front of the line, and told them our name, and we were finally seated after another 10-15 minutes. The two tables they gave us only had 11 place settings, and we had to go and ask what was up. They ended up giving us a second table that seated more people, and then we had to ask for water glasses, and more place settings. One of our tables had their water glasses filled up with water, but unfortunately, the other table did not. It was very dry, as my husband jokingly stated. We then placed our orders, and received our salads, and other drinks we ordered. My sister wanted the Brie appetizer, but the waiter stated that they were all out of that. When I took my children to the buffet, in the bar area, it was very very dark in certain areas, so it was hard to see all the foods. The bin for macaroni and cheese was empty, and the bin for turkey was almost empty, with tiny scraps of meat left in it. We settled for ham, a couple scraps of turkey and "prime rib", and some mashed potatoes. I did take a small gelatinous piece of dressing and gravy as well. When everyone started eating, we all discovered that this $45.95 a plate buffet that was not all you can eat, by the way, was the most inedible food we've ever encountered. The mashed potatoes were very lumpy and had absolutely no flavor. The dressing was jello texture, and disgusting. All three meat selections up there, (ham, turkey scraps, and "prime rib") was most definitely deli meat sliced very very thin. The haddock that was up there looked dehydrated and inedible so we didn't take any. When the waitress checked back in on us, and gave us the check, I think she knew we all hated the food, because we handed her very full plates back. The majority of the $32.95 turkey plate was canned vegetables, with only 2 tbsp of gravy on potatoes. I will say that the tiny amount of bread given to us before dinner was very good. The desserts of pumpkin pie (bought at price chopper, as a person in our party saw the label on the pie tin), and cheesecake were subpar. They didn't put cherries on the cheesecake as advertised either. Also, my sister and brother in law both stated the leek soup tasted like dish water. Our waitress, was very polite, but our overwhelming experience for the price, was extremely disappointing.

Been here Seven yrs. Wasn't. like reretirement I ever seen. Too people have change to well.All Kind Every one in drawer full.can.t one bed don.t follow the rules.elevaror run slow.Neat New two.dining gotten vase of flowers.but food not like home food like steak&Lobster dinner for Christmas party Don t know, what time,what day,what time,be Surprise won.t I not my kind resident who live.M.A.Motell,nick,Debra,anionette,Abbey the rest of second flr.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

cold dinner and salmon was awful. don't go there.

I highly recommend Mona Lisa’s! Service was excellent! We had the meatball riggies, chicken parm and Utica greens. Everything was very flavorful and delicious. It was cooked and prepared perfectly. Their red sauce is wonderful. Would definitely recommend this restaurant to everyone!

We just had the most amazing outdoor dinner. The prime Rib and The Chicken Reggie’s are excellent. The menu had so many choices we will be back to try all of them. The service, atmosphere were great.

Had dinner here last night. wonderful service, wonderful food, nice wine list. it was a great evening.

First time at Mona Lisa and we loved the food, atmosphere and service. We will definitely be back. Thank you Adriana for you kind, knowledgeable and excellent service!