We used to eat at M.L.'s prior location near the movie theater in Ashley Park occasionally. A few years ago, they shut down and pursued a different restaurant venue in Newnan. We learned a couple of months ago that they were apparently re-opening M.L.'s in a new location on Hwy 34 a few miles east of Newnan. We put it on our list to check out after the holidays. We called when they opened (for lunch) and made a dinner reservation for that evening (a Saturday). We arrived around 5:30 p.m. Parking is in an adjacent lot which seemed to fill up quickly. We found a space. There appeared to be other parking lots semi-adjoining this, so you can probably find a space nearby if their main lot is full. The layout here is a bar up front with a large, high-ceilinged dining space behind (and another separate 'party room' up front, I think). The open plan makes the acoustics a bit loud. We had eaten in this space once before in one of its prior restaurant incarnations. We were seated in a far corner. Our server was chatty and checked on us often at first (less so as the place filled up, as he got busier). The acoustics led to them mis-hearing my wife's wine order, but they quickly fixed that. Our salads came out quickly and the entrees lagged a bit due to the place filling up (understandable). By the time we were half done, I think every table was taken. Reservations are advisable, definitely. My fettuccini was quite good. At the end, we split a dessert, which took quite a while to arrive. The price was a bit higher than I remembered from the old location (maybe that's just inflation?). It seemed to be in that zone of not-quite-fine-dining but almost-fine-dining-prices. It wasn't too out of line, but I may not go back here just on a whim. I *will* very likely be back, though. read more

If I could leave less than 1 star, I would. The food was of shockingly low quality. We got the whole story about the owner and his mom and her picture and yada dada da but the food fell incredibly short of authentic. We were a large party and ordered all over the menu. The items were as follows: Eggplant Parmesan: lacking sauce and it was served on a bed of overcooked and naked angel hair noodles. I couldn't believe they weren't even al dente and the water wasn't even salted. Chicken Cesar salad: hard to mess this one up and I can't say I'm disappointed. It was exactly what I expected and I'm glad to have played it safe Barramundi: this was NOT barramundi. This was tilapia at best. Barramundi is a sea bass. This was thin and overcooked in a "white wine sauce" that tasted like lemon and milk. It was incredibly disappointing Shrimp scampi: the shrimp was overcooked and they tasted fishy. Low quality and the sauce was lacking that punch of garlic one would look for. Too heavy on the lemon which I assume was intentional to mask the fishy flavor Chicken tenders: wow. Just wow. They were from a package at best. Can you at least obtain something of higher quality? Strawberry salad: seriously?! It was just mixed greens and a few slices of strawberries with plain walnuts. So minimal and not worth the price Garlic bread with mozzarella: O M G. The plate was HUGE. This by far was not made in house. Tasted like Texas toast with a slice of cheese melted on top. Cannoli: burnt shell and overly sweet inside Creme brûlée: one side was firm and the other was soupy. Made me worried about having undercooked eggs and getting sick Chocolate cake: we were literally told this was homemade in house. Cooked from a box is not "homemade" - it's prepared. Low quality, artificial flavor. The coffee was disgusting. I'm sorry. I try to be so polite when leaving reviews but that was by far the worst coffee I have ever had in my life. M Tiramisu: tasted basically like baileys and whipped cream. For an Italian restaurant, you would hope they could at least get this menu item right... but nope. The service was sub par, I think it's because there were so many of us but a lot of things were missed. I asked for a glass of wine and it never came. Another individual had to ask for their beer multiple times, just to be brought a glass of red wine.... And then they still forgot about the beer to make it right. The servers were nice, however. I think they probably don't have the tools to succeed and know the food isn't up to the standards it should be Lastly it was HOT and HUMID in the room. The thermostat didn't work and we were told it barely works at all. That was disappointing and made for an even more uncomfortable experience. *oh, and for yall that think the portion sizes are small... they are HUGE which would have been amazing if the food was good. Portion sizes don't matter if the food is not worth eating. I would not patron this restaurant again. The calories were not worth it at all. read more

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Upon trying to decide where to eat after an event, we ran across Mama Lucia's from YELP assistance per usual. This is a great place for Italian food, off the beaten path. Linen table cloths, great ambiance, and top notch service from Francesca. She gets 5 stars alone. We ordered Chicken Parm, Chicken Piccata w/fried artichokes added for a tasty surprise. Yummy ! Dessert was Creme Brulee, one of my favorite desserts! I'll be back to try other things on their menu. Good stuff! read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - Drink Menu - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

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I am soooo glad to have a nice Italian restaurant around! The food is so good & fresh each time i have gone. Service is great as well, if i am not mistaking her name (carrot top, short hair) Ashley is so sweet & attentive, serves very well. Inside gives me a feel of being at home, which is Brooklyn NY Italian vibe! My go to din din place! read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - Strawberry salad, Shrimp Scampi - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

I'm not a big Italian fan, but here we are. The place is BIG, and BRIGHT. I prefer a more intimate and cozy Italian restaurant experience. It was also very warm. The bread is blah and basic. The salad and entree were very tasty, as was the sangria, and the price point reflects that. The highlight of the evening was our server Shakira. She was delightful and honestly looks into your soul when speaking. Her aura was so powerful. I would absolutely recommend a visit, and ask to be seated with Shakira! read more

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I do not live in Newnan. Its a drive for me however while there, I had to show my sister the fantastic restaurant my niece and I went to, Mama Lucia's. We decided to do take out orders and the take out was just as good as eating in. My sister got shrimp scampi with penne. I (as stated in a previous review) am working my way through the menu. I had chocolate amaretto mousse last time and it was fantastic but today I took out the Tiramisu, and I wish I got two pieces instead of one. I will say the portion was big, just like their food portions. This place is truly a Italian go-to for a special meal experience. read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - TIRAMISU - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

Went with the gf to get some Italian food. Mama Lucia's came to mind. This is a new location for them. Took over an old bar in Newnan. We ordered the chicken and veal parmagiana which both servings were large enough for a second serving at home! Both dishes were hot and tender and delish! Service was good! Our server was training another server and so service was spot on. All in all a good dinner on the Saturday before Easter. read more

Calm, nice restaurant with great service. I had the Ceasars Salad, note anchovies are in the dressing, and Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. A bit expensive. I would try again. read more

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Came to the new location for the first time today. Food was just as good as I remembered! We were one of the only tables there for lunch time, and the service was great! This location has a much more romantic vibe than the previous location. We got the shrimp scampi and the angel hair with sausage. read more

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Fantastic!! Absolutely delicious food, wonderful service, nice atmosphere. Will definitely be back! read more

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My husband wanted Italian,and we came across Mama Lucia's. We are so glad we did. We arrived on a Saturday night with no reservation. We had to wait about 20 minutes, but did so in the bar. They had a huge crowd in a separate room, and I believe our wait was primarily due to allowing the kitchen to catch up. We were seated and our waiter was very nice and personable. We asked him for suggestions and he gave us several. We started with warm bread; I believe I got one piece and my husband finished the rest. Next the baked Brie and it didn't disappoint! The fruit was fresh and the Brie hot. My husband ordered a cup of lobster bisque, and it came out piping hot. He said it was EXCELLENT. My husband ordered bolognese and added sausage. I ordered Adriatica; this dish was scallops, shrimp and blue crab cooked in a lobster sauce. First let me say that I typically go with the creamy sauces as those are my favorite, but this dish was fresh and full of flavor! The marinara sauce it was mixed with.....OMG the tomatoes in this were perfection and I cannot describe how good they were. The seafood was cooked perfect and not over done; as was the fettuccini. The portions are huge and we took home dinner for the following night. I ordered the tiramisu and boy was it soaked in the espresso and SO GOOD. My husband had crème brûlée and he said it was delicious. As we sat, and enjoyed our dinner we observed not only how great our waiter was but just how pleasant, and polite, all the other staff were to their tables. It was a perfect meal and if I had one suggestion it would be to make sure the coffee is hotter. We did order coffee with our dessert and it was not very hot. When she refilled us it was from a carafe; we have one and I know they only hold heat for a couple hours. So reminders to check that coffee. We will definitely be back. read more

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So posting a bit of a joke review. Was looking for an alternative Thanksgiving dinner since we were doing family dinner at home the next night. Really liked the menu online so made reservations. Got a call a couple of days before Thanksgiving apologizing for a gaff. Sorry we're not actually open Thanksgiving. Oops. The apology message was sincere enough. I scrambled and found another experience that was great. Will give them a try sometime soon and come back to post. read more

Great service and the crème brûlée was 100/10. Ambiance was so relaxing and charming.

Shockingly good Italian food, served by a wonderful waitress, Jessica. We happened to show up on what was literally their busiest night ever. They were feeling the pain of that and being a few people short in the kitchen at the same time. They handled it like absolute professionals. Destiny, the hostess, and our waitress, Jessica immediately let us know that the food would be a while. We didn't mind because the food was incredible, and Jessica took great care of us while we waited. Great good and stellar service under tough conditions = Five stars. #Win read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - Interior after the crowd thinned out. - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

For Italian food in the middle of four SW. Georgia, almost Alabama mamas delivers. Walked in we're able to be seated by a very friendly manager and hostess. Our waitress was lovely, bubbly, and extremely attentive. The calamari, hot peppers with the aïoli and marinara sauce were wonderfully done . Which had a different pasta dish. The meatballs are fantastic. The shrimp scampi had a little too much lemon zest, however overall it was wonderful with English bread in yummy oil, garlic, Parmesan, black pepper, dipping sauce. Definitely worth the cost for an amazing meal. Don't miss out on mamas went in Newnan Georgia. read more

This restaurant is highly UNDERRATED! They may have had some problems at the beginning but now have more than made up for them. I lived in Rome 15 years and this restaurant is on a par with the best restaurants in Italy, both in its menu, flavor and care in preparing your meal. The service is impeccable and professional (thanks to Jessica!). If you went once and were disappointed, try again, you will be surprised how good and authentic it is. We just moved to this area and are happy to have found this restaurant. Highly recommend it. Try the seafood crepes, scrumptious! read more

Had to revise my original rating as the food is not as good as when I first ate here (at their old location in Ashley Park). They completely changed the recipe for their lasagna. It now seems to be made with just beef as opposed to sausage, has soggy noodles, watered down sauce and much less flavor. Cannot recommend. Olive Garden has much better lasagna now. See the pic of what you get now compared to a year ago. read more

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We have been twice and had a great meal each time. We are a family of 6 so eating out at a restaurant is never inexpensive. So I won't comment on the prices because everything adds up for us. But our food was delicious, service was good, and ambiance was lovely. Always recommend it. read more

Everything has cheese / is filled with cheese. If you are lactose intolerant you are screwed. They have no substitutes. Every dish is a clone of the next. I don't like this place. No imagination. However, if you LOVE bland food, cheese, are not worried about your cholesterol and are not lactose intolerant, go for it. I think everything tastes the same except for the salad. The service is pretty good. When we went the place was busy, but the server still managed to come by. I had a glass of wine and a salad. Nibbled on my husband's food. read more

The chicken parm was amazing. The wine superb. The service was incredible and the live music was top notch.

We didn't expect such a wonderful restaurant in Newnan. This is definitely a 5 star. The food was great and the service was exceptional. Cole took really good care of us and has a super attention to details. We had the chicken piccata and the seafood crepes. Definitely will get it again. And definitely will be back very soon. read more

Have been waiting for Mama Lucia's new location to open. Ambiance is great, music soft so you can hear your date. Selections on the menu, well let's say there is something for everyone. Must say my husband forgot to take his meds and being diabetic that makes a big difference. Joey and Ricki boxed up our meal so quickly. They did understand and wished us well. Let's just say we will be back. read more

We made reservations for Valentine's Day here, and I get it, it's a night that requires patience no matter what. We were looking forward to good Italian food for dinner, but once we arrived it was clear that was not going to happen. Our reservation was for 6:30, and arrived a bit early. While we waited, not a single party was seated. After a while, a manager announced that they were not seating people because their kitchen was backed up, they did not have sufficient table ware, glasses, plates etc. to serve food and that if they sat people down it would be at least an hour before entries were served. This was roughly 30 minutes after our scheduled reservation. Total failure to manage the restaurant and reservations on a night many people were looking forward to. read more

We had an amazing meal here tonight. The server was very considerate of my gluten allergy and the kitchen was really accommodating. They went above and beyond! We will definitely be adding this restaurant to our list of regulars. read more

Absolutely fantastic! We have been looking for an authentic good Italian restaurant and we found it! We ate one night at a table, service was excellent and the food so delicious we decided to go again before we left town! The second time we sat at the bar, both bartenders were so friendly and kind! Again the good did not disappoint! We cannot wait to visit again! read more

The food was very good! I'm a big proponent of hot food...if was warm enough, but not hot. The wait staff and hostess were very nice! I do plan on trying it again! read more

The only good Italian restaurant in the city. Been 4-5 times and every visit was great. Scott is a great manager, and the waitstaff are always pleasant. read more

Service. Excellent food wonderful highly suggest this place. great bar. Wonderful atmosphere.

Sparse ambiance and didn't feel Italian at all. Mama has "left" the building in more ways than one, if you get my meaning!

This was the worst restaurant I've ever dined in my life! They put all of the black customers in the far back in the purple room together. The food was horrible and greasy. They were out of many items listed on the menu. They were not wearing masks or gloves. And this establishment has racist practices!!!! Never again!!! read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - Hard stale bread - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

Very overpriced for small portion sizes, I ordered a wedge salad for 16.00 and it was literally a half serving. My martini was 18.00. I guess I won't be able to afford any more meals at these prices. Service was awesome, our waitstaff always checking on us and refilling our glasses and bread. read more

Located in Newnan, Ga, you wouldn't think a restaurant with such great food would be in a shopping center. Albeit a nice shopping center, I would figure that Mama Lucia's would be a quaint little place off to itself. However it isn't and it's not a bad thing either. There is plenty of parking in the well maintained parking lot - though I'll bet on big movie premier nights you'll have to compete for a space with the movie theater next door for parking. The interior is nice. However two things irritated me. You have to walk through a narrow section of the bar to get to the rear dining area where we sat. The dining area there was nice and very comfortable. But, the fact that I had to squeeze past a guy in a chair at the bar to get out wasn't very pleasant. And, the men's restroom is next to the host stand, which means you have to squeeze through the bar and through the waiting crowd to get there. But, the food more than made up for this inconvenience. For an appetizer, you must try the Arecini Di Riso, a fried ball of ricotta stuffed with mozzarella. It was served with house marinara and pesto. Simply delicious. I had the Scallops and Shrimp Alla Mostardo. It was one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. It does not come with pasta, so if you are expecting that you will be disappointed. I wasn't. The scallops were sweet and tender and the shrimp perfectly cooked. The artichoke hearts and sauce were absolutely fantastic. It's fine Italian dining at its best, probably the best Italian food I have ever had - and I am a food snob. Mama Lucia's is 6 hours from home and worth every minute of the drive to eat here. read more

Mama Lucia's Restaurant - Shrimp Scallops and Shrimp Alla Mostarda - Italian Near Me - Newnan, Georgia

My boyfriend and I are new to the area and decided to try this restaurant. We arrived and was seated at 8:15 . We waited on our server and multiple servers made eye contact with us but no one decided to ask if we have been served . It was 8:50 by the time a server asked us if we had been served yet . The server was black and so are we . The other servers and patrons were white . I would like not to assume it was a race issue but I began to think it was after we were blatantly ignored .The waiter that was supposed to serve us quickly waited on the other customers in his section and had no problem accommodating them . We were about to leave but our server was pleasant and took off the appetizer for our ticket . The server is the only saving grace for the restaurant. The food was okay and isn't worth the subtle racism we experienced. If you are black or a minority this may not be the place for you . read more

We were looking forward to the new location opening. We made reservations to take our daughter out for dinner before her arrival at UGA. In short, ML's is another restaurant on my endangered list. Newnan is plagued by poor restaurants, and this one is another on a long list of train wrecks. Food: don't know, it didn't arrive in the 95 minutes we waited. Our inquiry at the one hour point was "your food hasn't even been started." The sweet tea was overly sweet and the ice melted quickly. Service: almost nonexistent. A manager's presence to communicate their challenges would have gone a long way. However, our waiter did his best with the bad news. Our waiter roamEd between tables providing updates. Ambiance: hot, 79 degrees, quiet in the corner, but otherwise I didn't see much of the floor plan. read more

Unfortunately, this restaurant is not going to survive. It screams of one of the restaurants you see that Chef Gordon transforms. The ambiance is dated and just doesn't work. The food was hit and miss- bread was horrible, salad was a hit, and the chicken piccata was very good. The price of the food is too expensive for the restaurant. The serving size is too large. I would rather pay a reasonable price for a "normal" serving. I want this business to survive. I'm rooting for them, but unless things QUICKLY change, they will not be around much longer. read more

As a native NewYorker... I have missed real Italian food. FINALLY MAMA LUCIA IN NEWNAN IS SERVING AGAIN. Covid took its toll on many good restaurants and Mama Lucia was one. I was happy to find they are back and as amazing as ever!!!! Tonight I had eggplant parm with angel hair pasta, cooked to perfection ... I had to complement Leon personally. Leon takes the time to listen and will do special orders. Ambiance, food & service. You can't go wrong here. read more

We are long time customers from before the move. Our first time at the new location was an extension of the great food and service we had come to know. Our server was great, knowledgeable and prompt, our food was as good as it has always been. The ambiance was a little loud with background music, but overall a great dinner. read more

For it to be Italian restaurant, very bland food no flavor on lasagna or spaghetti and meatballs. Will not return

I had takeout, but it was excellent and the staff was very friendly on the phone and in person

First time back since opened at their new location. The food was excellent! So glad they are open again. We had Caprese appetizer, salads with the best homemade dressing, Chicken Alfredo and Pasta with Meatballs. Serving sizes were very generous and everything was wonderful. We also had the most pleasant waitress, Shakira. Always a great smile and very attentive. Looking forward to our next visit. read more