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    Mambo Italiano Cafe

    3.8 (368 reviews)
    ModerateItalian, Pizza
    Closed 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM
    Updated 3 months ago

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    Business Info

    MAMBO ITALIANO CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Mambo Italiano Cafe

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    Seared halibut and pasta.
    Jennifer J.

    I visited here with a large group after wedding dress shopping recently (not for me!) - even though we were a big group of over 10 people, they happily accommodated us and even let us split things into separate checks. The service was fast, friendly, and efficient. Our server handled everything so well, even though there were so many of us. The food was delish - I had their seared halibut special, served with pasta, and it was quite tasty. And so filling - I really wanted to order some dessert, but couldn't imagine eating another bite! It's a pretty tight space, and kinda loud, but that's really my only "dislike" about Mambo. Other than that, it's good to see they're still so popular after all this time!

    Smoked Salmon Penne
    Sarah H.

    My friend and I dined in for dinner on a Friday night and were seated immediately. I ordered the smoked salmon penne and was very happy with the food. From past experiences I have noticed they tend to seat the younger/dressed down customers in the courtyard area. Not to say the restaurant has a dress code, but just an interesting observation. Definitely a solid place for Italian food in Bellingham!

    Mambo cheese bread
    Meredith S.

    Not sure about recommending this one. It was busy. Food was ok and service was friendly but not very attentive. I just want to remember not to come here again.

    The Scarlett Surprise mocktail!
    Sheri S.

    Ha! I never knew about this wonderful place. I blame the wonderful Black Cat! After being told there that they had an hour and a half waiting list (this is what happens when you spontaneously try to dine here at 7 PM on a Friday night), we milled around in the Sycamore Square building. We happened upon Mambo Italiano--only a 20 minute wait, but the bar was available pronto and no extra wait for food! What luck!!! At the outset, we totally fell in love with our fabulous bartender/server, Scarlett. Great service, great sense of humor and great drinks! It was mocktail night for me, and she offered up (I think I have the ingredients right) a concoction of sparkling soda water, lime, coconut creamer, honey, a burnt orange slice and a fancy bartender cherry. OMG! You wouldn't know it didn't have alcohol in it (unless you tested your blood ETOH level...) It was a fascinatingly flavored drink. We decided to nickname it "Scarlett's Surprise." The second was a lovely combination of soda, agave syrup, pineapple, lime (I think) and cayenne pepper--name to be decided, so I shall provisionally name it "Scarlett's Caribbean Poolside." Wonderful! Butternut Squash Soup was very nice. Clams for dinner from the starter selection--most excellent and especially the broth--oh my gosh. And the Greek Salad (we added lovely prawns cooked to perfection) was an amazement. I have never had better. So very fresh, perfectly executed, and the dressing added to the taste of such freshness (white balsamic dressing) as did the feta which was creamy and not briny at all (which I sometimes like, but this was better for this dish). The place is lively, cozy, old-timey looking and jazzed up by a billion fabulous paintings by Ben Mann--so another new discovery for me. Everyone looked like they were having a great time. Wonderful night out after all!

    Starter bread with butter
    April Y.

    Parking can be an issue however thisnlocation has a better selection for parking than most businesses here. Located in a beautiful historic building it has great ambiance but it does have some downs. If you are seated in the front area it gets a bit breeze when the door is opened and everyone enters through that door. Staff was friendly and we were seated right away. The menu has a good selection of options and you bget a starter bread with butter. I got the Pistachio Gnocchi. This is my first time trying Gnocchi so I don't really have anything to compare it to but I can tell you the flavor was good. I can't say it was amazing but it was good. The other person ordered the farmhouse calzone. It was cooked well and tasted like it was prepared with fresh ingredients.

    Pistachio cream gnocchi
    Angi C.

    We were up in Bellingham checking out the WWU campus. A friend mentioned that Mambo Italiano was a delicious restaurant. We had a very late lunch/early dinner. The restaurant is small, you a can hear all the fresh food being prepared in the kitchen. We all tried something different. I had the pistachio cream gnocchi with roasted chicken- was soooo rich and delicious!! Everyone loved their food! Service was fantastic! Highly recommend!

    Watery spaghetti Bolognese with seven dollar meatballs. $30
    Amy O.

    I have wanted to try this place since moving to Bellingham because every time I'm in Fairhaven it smells so good and there are people lined up outside. I now understand why. The place has zero space for waiting guests. You stand in the door way which happens to also be where the servers pick up their food. The hostess and server were very nice. There was a small amount of bread served after we ordered. But the food was mediocre at best. I paid $7 for meatballs that were luke warm and had barely any flavor. The bolognese was watery and had a ring of watery pasta juice around the whole bowl. The pasta was over cooked and on the verge of mushy. My spaghetti bolognese with three meatballs came to $30. Plus a glass of wine (small pour) $14. For two people two glasses of wine and two entrées. It was $87 without a tip. I hate saying this but you can skip this place. Over all will not return. Prices don't fit the quality.

    Shrimp Linguini

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    4 months ago

    Excellent food ,service great ,ambiance feels welcoming will be back again feels very homie will be back again .

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    9 months ago

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    7 months ago

    Great service better food I love the pollo parmesan and their garlic bread bread is incredibly good

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    2 years ago

    Best Italian food in Bellingham! Great service. GIANT glasses of wine. Get the pasta dish with the cracked pepper

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    Ask the Community - Mambo Italiano Cafe

    Are there any gluten free options for pasta?

    Yes

    Do they take reservations?

    Yes, they take reservations.

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    Storia Cucina - Margherita Pizza! IG - @bilalandjesseatfood

    Storia Cucina

    4.4(316 reviews)
    2.5 mi
    $$

    The bar staff was a bit condescending when trying to order a glass of wine while we waited for a…read moretable. Otherwise, food and table service were excellent.

    It's probably silly to update my review when I've already written about the incredible arancini…read more(deep fried rice balls) with a marinara so lovely that I would happily drink it, and the wonderful Margherita pizza with its lovely crust (just the right amount of heft and chewiness--importantly, not too much!). My companion and I arrived during Happy Hour and these two selections are on that menu, so we had them again--and I guess the utility of this review is to say that these selections continue to be consistently delicious and that this is a wonderful place. We also shared an Afogato--vanilla gelato with decaf espresso poured over! Perfect, quite light after our meal and beautiful enough to paint as a watercolor. This is one of our easy go-to's when looking to dine out. We were happily helped by friendly bartenders, Nicole and Sie, who made great recommendations and great drinks for us. I especially loved the Mario Cicotti cocktail (an interesting variant of an Old Fashioned--including tobacco bitters and charred orange peel!--very interesting). And we enjoyed the beautiful, warm Montepulciano Nicole recommended. And they concocted a surprise drink for my dessert--I can't recall what it was--but it was lovely and came with a bunch of hearts! Consistently wonderful place in all ways, with lots of heart itself. In my opinion, what's not to love?

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    Storia Cucina - Area for cooking pizza

    Area for cooking pizza

    Storia Cucina - Squid ink pasta. A ok!!

    Squid ink pasta. A ok!!

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    Goat Mountain Restaurant & Bar - GOAT MTN SALAD - solid

    Goat Mountain Restaurant & Bar

    4.6(28 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    What a fun place, terrific food and people. Fun art on the walls…read more Ordered 2 different focaccia pizzas to go: caramelized onion & walnut, chili garlic mushroom; and the absolutely delish goat mountain salad. Would most definitely recommend this unique pizza place.

    Fans traveling for the Taylor Swift concert in BC filled our downtown streets last night, so we…read morewent hunting from restaurant to restaurant, looking for a place without a long wait. Lo! We saw some people exiting Goat Mountain and were able to snag their empty seats at the bar. Lucky us! And not only for the seats. We've never been here before, and we had a great time. We ordered the Goat Mountain Salad--huge! A bargain! Varied! Delicious! And I, who has never met a beet that I didn't dislike, was delighted that ingredients were grouped individually so I could avoid those. Wonderful salad! And--for a mere buck--you can order a dressing on the side for anything you want. The buttermilk was delicious. I ordered a slice of the Apple & Bacon pie; my guy, Potato & Bacon. Upon their arrival, our notions of pizza were shattered. These were big slices of cake! (Website says Roman-style--we've been to Rome, but these exquisite things were very different.) Totally yummy. As was the warm chocolate chip cookie--divine. (Funny story: I didn't have my readers on. I thought the price was $25. "That's quite a cookie!" I thought, imagining one as large as a pizza--which, incidentally, would have been more expensive than their full pizzas! I looked over the Happy Hour menu, planning a future return. The cookie on the HH menu was only $2. A savings, I excitedly told our bartenders, Miyuki and Montana, of $23!!! No, they told me: 50 cents. I hadn't been able to see the dot.) And speaking of our barkeeps, I am so glad we sat up at the bar. They were wholly delightful and friendly. We very much enjoyed chatting with them. We felt like we had just moved and this was our new "neighborhood bar." And their recommendations for food and drink were spot on. The Smoke in Mirrors was fantastical! Great place!

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    Goat Mountain Restaurant & Bar
    Goat Mountain Restaurant & Bar - Potato bacon and hummus sun-dried tomato with goat cheese pizzas.

    Potato bacon and hummus sun-dried tomato with goat cheese pizzas.

    Goat Mountain Restaurant & Bar - Negroni on tap

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    Fiamma Pizza - Green Salad

    Fiamma Pizza

    4.1(577 reviews)
    2.2 mi
    $$

    | Fiamma Pizza in Bellingham, WA…read more I've officially been here twice now and I can confidently say... I'm in love. This might be some of the best pizza I've had in Washington, and I say that as someone from the East Coast who takes pizza very seriously. While there are a few great slices in Seattle, Fiamma is easily in my top three pizzas in Washington. We've stopped here twice now after biking up in Bellingham (shoutout to Transition Bikes Outpost), and it's the perfect post-ride stop. Grab a brew, order a pizza, and relax. First off, the service has been great both times. Everyone is kind, friendly, and efficient. It's been busy each time we visited, but pizzas still came out in about 15-20 minutes, which feels completely reasonable for a quality pizza spot. The second time we ordered takeout and it was ready in about 10 minutes, which was awesome. One thing I really appreciate is that you can order a medium pizza with two different halves. That's perfect when you're trying a new place and want to sample more than one style. We tried a few different things: * The Rossa pizza (small to-go) - This was my personal favorite. As an East Coast girl, I'm always searching for a good tomato pie and this scratched that itch. I ordered a small, took some home, and honestly... it was amazing cold the next day. If you know, you know. Next time I might ask for a little less garlic and extra sauce, but overall it was fantastic. * POTATO GORGONZOLA & FENNEL SAUSAGE - I'm a sucker for potatoes on pizza. This one leaned a little sweeter than I expected, but still really interesting and worth trying. The rosemary on it was top notch. * Cheesy SQ Pie - My husband ordered this. It wasn't his absolute favorite style, but it was still a really solid rendition of deep dish and definitely worth trying if you like that style. * "Big Kid" cheese pizza - You really can't go wrong here. Simple, classic, and done well. Husband said the sauce is a smidge more tangy than he would like but it's a dang good slice. But the true star discovery? You can buy a pint of their homemade ranch dressing. Yes. A pint. It's $9 and lasts about a week in the fridge and honestly... it might ruin all other ranch for you. There is nothing worse than bad ranch with good pizza, and this stuff is legit homemade and dangerously good. Some people might think buying a pint of ranch with pizza is a little unhinged. I personally think it's a brilliant life decision. All in all, Fiamma has become a must-stop whenever we're in Bellingham. Great pizza, great service, quick turnaround, and the kind of place you start craving the second you leave. 10/10 will be coming here again!

    I really wanted to like this place. Definitely a Bellingham "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude from…read morethe staff. I ordered a half & half pizza. Half of the pizza was excellent (the Sofia - The FIAMMA favorite. Tomato sauce, mozzarella blend, prosciutto, red onions, fresh rosemary and freshly cracked black pepper) . The other half -- the Charred Tomato White Pie (Herbed white sauce, mozzarella blend, chèvre, charred grape tomatoes and roasted garlic) was just super soggy - not good. Maybe I should have not ordered a 50/50???? At least they tried to make it right by crediting me some $ for the pizza I didn't like too much after I complained it was inedible. I'm also not a huge fan of dogs in restaurants -- that's just me. I might come back again to give them another shot someday, who knows.

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    Fiamma Pizza
    Fiamma Pizza - Soggy pizza - charred tomato white pie

    Soggy pizza - charred tomato white pie

    Fiamma Pizza - Large Half and half Meatlover and Dungeness Crab

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    Large Half and half Meatlover and Dungeness Crab

    Mambo Italiano Cafe - italian - Updated May 2026

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