Mama Riso's was easily one of the best restaurants we've ever been to. Michelle was a fantastic server and helped make our experience all the more enjoyable. It got a little hot in the outside seating section and she was very accommodating to transferring everything inside to a table that she wouldn't normally serve, but did anyways. Now for the food. If you go to Lake George, make sure you stop in. It is the best New York style Italian we've ever had at a restaurant, which in my book means the best Italian period. The veal parm was literally like eating heaven. The steak pizzaiola and cheesecake were equally sublime. The prices are reasonable and the ambiance is comforting. Give it a shot, you'll love it. read more

See all

Local here. Don't let the HM tourists fool you. Great food, great family and plenty of food on the plates to go around. This is a come in, chill, enjoy the courses and of course the drinks. read more

Grabbed dinner here with the family. If you are lucky to sit in the patio area, that's a lot nicer than the dining room space. The hostess tried to seat us right by the entranceway and when I requested a spot where I wouldn't be bumped, she looked a little annoyed. The food here was ok. I thought their sauce with seafood was pretty good, but the spaghetti was a little overcooked. The salad with calamari wasn't good, but I would have opted to use different types of lettuce. Service was slow, but I liked our waitress. Would probably give this place 2.5 stars, but stayed with three because of her. Good service is a little tough to find in town. read more

Mama Risos Restaurant - salad with calamari - Italian Near Me - Lake George, New York

See all

I'm sure it was popular and good back in the day! Seems to have lost its charm! The atmosphere and furniture is dated! read more

Decided to come here for dinner with my family for dinner as we were staying at a nearby hotel. Even though we had a reservation, it took a while to get seated and get our orders. The server that we had either did not have much interest in accommodating us or was overwhelmed (although the other servers seemed to be fine). The chicken fettuccini is a joke. For $21 you get 5 small pieces of chicken. The flavor of the linguini was meh. The only one who finished her plate clean was my daughter who ordered a kids meatball and spaghetti. read more

My husband and I are up to Lake George for our Anniversary. We chose to have Italian . This place reminds me of when I was growing up with the foods my dad used to cook brings a smile to my face !! From the time we came and we're seated we felt very comfortable. A family feel throughout ! We had the zucchini flower with ricotta as the appetizer the flower was so fresh and just melted in your mouth:) for our entree's my husband had the chicken francese with a side of pasta and I had the seafood fra diavolo . Both dinners were fresh and delicious just like as if there was an extra dash of love and care in the making! If your ever up in lake George this place is a hidden gem! read more

My boyfriend and I both had veal pasta. The food was decent, However, they clearly didn't enforce the social distancing rule. Right after we sat down, the waiter let other customers sit right next to us. We were surrounded by 8 other customers. We felt very comfortable eating with close distance with others. We will never return again because the restaurant does not have customer's best interests in mind. read more

The food was delicious' i had the scallops which were cooked to perfection. Tender, moist, and served over linguini. It was a generous portion as well. Everyone else enjoyed their meal- no complaints. We were seated in their enclosed porch which was roomy and airy for this covid19 phobic group. Servers and staff wore masks. Prices were reasonable. It was a little noisy, but the noise came mostly from my grandkids. Acoustics could be improved. That said, I would certainly return the next time I visit Lake George. read more

Very nice atmosphere inside. Food was great! Only thing is it is a little pricey for the potion size but overall a nice spot for a good dinner with your partner! read more

This was for a take out order, thankfully. The restaurant smelled like it was saturated in bleach. It would have made me sick to eat in there. The two orders of veal parmesan were pathetically skimpy, lacking sauce, cheese and flavor. So we added our own sauce and cheese. It clearly has changed ownership since the last time I was there. The quality did not warrant the high price. I don't not recommended. read more

Our food was wonderful everything was very good! I had the chicken parmigiana with homemade linguine, my daughter had ravioli and my husband had the special pork shanks with penne pasta. We had dessert too and it was very good too! Orange sorbet served in an orange skin was delightful for my daughter and I had the cappuccino gelato truffle. I recommend this place! read more

Hostess was very nice in seating our party of 9 without a reservation promptly. Denise our waitress was very friendly and very patient with taking orders. Food took very long to come to table. Food was so so. Not the best, not the worst, average. Red homemade Sangria was amazing. Small place but good for groups and families, just don't expect to be served food quickly. read more

The service was less than desirable. Waitress annoyed when we asked for bread & charged without informing us that there would be a charge for additional bread. Not all drinks were brought out as should. Had to ask twice for a drink for one of us & waitress admit to not having written it down for either time. The food quality was definitely not worth the prices. Most of us did not enjoy our meals. All dishes lacked flavor. It was our first time at at this establishment and will be the last. We truly cannot give anything but one star. read more

overpriced and very poor quality food to say the least. wish I took pictures 17 dollars for calamari and looked like a plate of crumbs. they should be ashamed to even serve something like that let alone charge astronomical prices! Ordered chicken francaise chicken was hard and dry and definitely not the right sauce. someone else ordered veal saltimbocca veal came out hard and sauce was very watery also no flavor. this place is definitely not your definition of Italian food steer clear of this place! read more

Everything that my family had was amazing. The adult meals, the kids meals, and the deserts. The bread that was brought to the table was so good. We will definitely be back when we come back to Lake George. Service was also great! read more

We dined there last night and I was extremely disappointed. I had spagetini with sausage, very little thin watery sauce on the pasta and dry hard tasteless sausage at a very high price. Very small bowl of soup. read more

Been to much better. Wife was not impressed. Very PRICEY! Watch out for extra charge using your charge card. What was good? Fresh Bread and Salad. I had the Veal Parm. Nothing special. The Wife had the Raviolis, again, Blah.. $54 for Dinner and coffee and cola. Go elsewhere! read more

Good Italian food. Probably the best I have had "around the lake George area" . Prices are on the high side. Service is usually good. Have eaten here atleast 5 times so far and never disliked anything I have had. They have family style dishes but they require you to have a minimum amount of people to order them. It is usually somewhat busy if you go around dinner time. read more

I wanted to be happy! I wanted to be excited! I have wanted to come here for years. Mediocre garden salad. It even had brown lettuce. Seafood special my daughter found pieces of shell in the food. They said the seafood was lacking flavor, scallops had no sear on them. An Italian restaurant that doesn't make its own pasta??? Shrimp over cooked. I had the pork special great flavor super tender... however I pulled a hair out of my dish. Staff is friendly and polite and willing to fix issue... disappointed sometimes trying a new place is disappointing. But the bathroom was clean!! read more

Food did not have much flavor. Portions were small for price. Some food tasted as if it were frozen, not fresh. Charged extra for bread without informing us. Soup was watered down, salad was drenched in dressing. Pasta sauce tasted like canned sauce. Beer was not cold. Had to ask multiple times for refills including adult beverages. VERY disappointing for cost. Will not be going back. Although staff may have been short, not an excuse for lack of food taste and freshness. read more

This restaurant was a over all amazing food.but we had a reservation and waited 1 45 to be seated Hostess was very nice and helpful

Very good! Very crowded and expensive place but amazing food

The food quality was sub par. So much so that I would prefer Olive Garden!!! The service was not good, not sure if she was new or untrained, but it was poor. The only saving grace was that she did not add the normal 18% gratuity for parties of 6 or more (we had 10). We had to ask for bread multiple times and the extra bread that finally came there was a $5 charge which we were not informed. The food seems to be frozen that "cooks" reheated. Charging $24 - $30 for plates of reheated frozen food is ridiculous. Realizing it's a "tourist" town, but this is no excuse. We went base on our misinformation from a different restaurant. If we do not have a place to eat again, we would rather not eat!! read more

Friendly, attentive service but Veal Parm was way too thick with breading and not pounded thin or tender. Must be pink veal; "Now pink veal, you can pound that $@#! for two days, and it'll never ever get tender, you know what I mean?" (Nick Santoro - Casino, 1995). Pasta was overcooked that came as a side order for everyone; pasta that was a main dish for others was cooked al dente. Seafood in the entree pastas dishes tasted fresh and well prepared. Tomato sauce was ketchupy sweet. Overall it's an ok place for the area, maybe we're spoiled back home. read more

After a long day of family activities I had an early family dinner with kids and wife at Mama Riso. We were there very early 4:30 so it was not crowded at all. Neither the decor or atmosphere were anything special. Things seemed somewhat dated but clean and adequate. Nothing fancy. Also use thin lightweight dinner utensils that feel cheap. The place seems like an old house giving the impression Mama Riso is in the Kitchen cooking. I don't know if she was but the food did taste as though it was cooked my a true Italian. The regular bread and garlic bread we order were average. The garlic bread perhaps below average with very little garlic flavor. My sons meal was very immpressive platter of steamed mussels with a side of pasta in marinara. My son loved them and ate so many it was hard for me to believe. My wife had a few and enjoyed them as well. Clearly these were excellent. My wife and I both had veal entreees which were very good. The veal was tender and moist. No complaints and no leftovers either. Both dishes included pasta side dishes. The marinara sauce was stand out and tasted like authentic Italian - and I'm an Italian from Brookyn. Even my 8 yr old daughter -who only had pasta with butter - declared this was her favorite restaurant and best pasta in Niagra. A few other places served her clumped pasta , but not Mama Riso. Our waitress was very good. No hiccups and she provided the right amount of attention to us. Though I've only eaten here once overall I consider the food here is a solid choice even if it's not the fanciest place. Prices were also reasonable. I'd go back again for the food. read more

Food was mediocre at best. This was our first time there. We were a party of 4 with 2 kids 12 & 8. We asked for a kids menu while being seated . The service was slow over all and it seems the server was doing us a favor by getting us water or even by taking our order. we order for our selves and then for the kids from the kids menu. We all had our meal and then when the check came I blindly (my mistake) gave them my card. Once I got the card back with the receipt for signature I noticed that they charged us for 4 adult meals. When I asked the server she went to call the owner. The owner comes over and says to me adult meals were brought out for the kids and they ate it all so we have to charge for adult meal.. No apology for the mistake no nothing .. I felt cheated when u order a kids meal from kids menu .. do you need to double check on delivery on the meal about the appropriate size of the kids meal.. anyways I just paid the bill and moved on feeling cheated Basically poor customer service and mediocre food at best .. never going there again .. read more

When Gordon Ramsay accuses a chef or restaurant of being "dated," I've always kind of known what he meant. After a visit to Mama Riso's, I feel like I know EXACTLY what he means. Despite a friendly welcome and decent service, the decor and most sadly the food feel like something that might have been acceptable in 1972. A starter of minestrone soup was bland and characterless, leading me to wonder if anyone in the kitchen tastes what they are serving; at least the fresh bread served with it was good. A special chicken and eggplant parm entree seemed intriguing enough to try, but the flavors did not complement each other, the chicken was dry, and the eggplant was mushy. My wife's seafood fra diavolo seemed a better choice to me, and the one scallop she shared was tasty and well-cooked, but she said she liked my dish better. Which is good, since I gave up on it and gave her the last half, allowing her to bring home the remainder of her entree. The desserts were acceptable but unremarkable, and seemed brought in rather than freshly made on-premises. Dinner for two with one adult beverage was about $75.00 with tip; I would not return without hearing convincing claims that the management had made a strong effort to modernize the menu and embolden the flavors. With Massie's, Mario's and even Olive Garden within a few short miles, Mama Riso's needs to try a little harder than was apparent on our visit tonight. read more

Some of the best Italian-American food I have ever had... it's all in the sauce... and the friendliness of the staff. I agree that the American Cheese would be pretty bad, but I have had the Chicken Parm and it never had that on it. read more

Food was good. Portions were large. Reasonably price. Pretty good italian food overall. My boyfriend and ate here one night in Lake George.. We had fried calamari... perfectly seasoned, entrees came with pasta and salad. And we had dessert too.. all for 60 bucks. My apple dessert needed work.... In terms of ambience the place is dated like everyone else said but I would definitely come here again for the food. These people know how to cook and it was fresh. read more

After checking the reviews on yelp I decided to go there with my wife. Both mine and my wife chicken dishes and muscles inside the chicken breast pieces And we couldn't really eat it read more

Excellent restaurant and friendly staff. We are very finicky with authentic Italian restaurants and this one is a very good catch. read more

See all

It's a small and quaint restaurant, very happy and thankful that they are open in the off season, perfect sized dishes (especially since it's a tourist town and who wants left overs when you're on vacation) and very friendly staff! Great place! read more

Food was marginal. Not a lot of flavor to sauce or any of the food. Service was good despite the restaurant being very busy. Would not return given how bad food was. read more

I only gave two stars because while this restaurant has been a hit in the past, the last two times we went it did not live up to the previous experiences. Hubby ordered Chicken Parm and there was a slice of American !!! Cheese melted on it.....unforgivable. Went with another couple and we all agreed the food was not so great. Our waitress was very personable and she did a great job. With the many choices available in the area it will be tough to give them one more chance. (I usually have a three strike and you're out rule.) read more

The food there was ok, but the service and management were horrible. Beware of your check. We were automatically charged 18% gratuity when the service definitely didn't deserve it. When I mentioned it to management they said it was stated on the menu and the door, neither of which he could show me. In addition, I was charged almost $10 for using a credit card. Again, not stated on the menu but was stated on a very small sign on the door. When I brought both issues to management I was asked to "leave the building". With all the wonderful places to eat in Lake George, I would never return to this place nor do I recommend it. read more

We came here because it was close to our hotel and it was a mistake. Food had no taste! How can you messed up shrimp and pasta? The service was ok. The food took forever to come out and even my six year old didn't eat their pizza. read more

I almost never post on yelp good or bad,myself and fiance ate there this past weekend we are both over 50 and lifetime NY'ers and both in the Restaurant business,we have ate from Bolton Landing to The Bronx, appetizer Eggplant rollentini average @ best,Scungilli/Calamari App with no exaggeration 4 pieces of Scungilli and a few very small pieces of calamari,Clams Casino over cooked dried up on a plate with some liquid? Side of Escarole over cooked bland Garbage no garlic,evoo,butter,S+P portion was s small too,we took the clams and escarole home to doctor up (I don't waste food!!!) steamed clams were ok,ohh and bread was not even close to Italian (Fiance from Bronx myself from Albany) we are not food snobs at all but I am so sorry this is Crap!!!!! Our Bartender/server.....we sat outside was very good!!!!!! read more

Where do I start? When we sat down, I said to my son I thought the place would be a great candidate for Restaurant Impossible. It was grungy. I am not sure the last time it was painted, possibly not in my lifetime. Artwork was cheap prints. Artificial flowers well past their time appointed each table. Chairs were vintage hotel conference room style. Overall, it was quite rustic. My son had a steak. He said it was alright. It seemed slightly thin for a NY Strip. I had their house-specialty chicken dish in brown gravy with cherry peppers. It was actually very tasty, but the chicken was overdone and a little tough. I had cheesecake for dessert, which was pretty good. My son had ice cream. read more

We had the baked clams oreganato (clams chopped :-/ ), fried calamari and mozarella sticks for apps, they were just ok. I had the special, mixed seafood fra diavolo and I upgraded to homemade linguini. I have to say that made me so happy. It was a real fra diavolo, spicy and delish; the shrimp, crab and scallops were cooked perfectly. It was a good size dish and I liked it so much, I kept eating til it was all gone. My husband had the veal and he was underwhelmed. My kids are simple, pasta with no sauce so they were happy with that. Selfishly I would go back to repeat what I had. I would steer my husband to something that he would like better. As for upkeep and atmosphere...it's runned down and that's ok if the food makes up for it. The critical thing I must say is that they were poor with keeping the customers safe from their walkway from the snow and ice. How difficult is it to throw some salt on it? It was like walking on an ice skating rink or oiled floor. read more

Great restaurant I walked right through the back door and me and the boys were seated at a table immediately. We were immediately approached by the lovely waitress named Ana who was nothing but genuine and caring when it came to our dining experience. We got our drinks and an amazing 4 course meal which consisted of the cheesy garlic bread, salad, chicken Francine, penne al vodka and the most amazing homemade cheesecake. Would definitely recommend coming here I know I will again mainly because one of my best friends is the son the owner and I got all the food for free. read more