This place was originally in Moline, Illinois, and served up really old salad - gross! Its name was "Molineros" rather than Molinaros, which came from the name of the city (Moline), and the initials R.O.S. (for the "really old salad" they were famous for serving to customers). Of course when they moved to Buffalo they had to change their name, so they simply substituted a vowel. They also stopped serving really old salad, so now the last three letters stand for "Really OK Salad".
I feel really bad about this, but I have to be honest, right? I was told by at least half a dozen people (and it might be more than that), that if I liked Village Eatery (and my word do I like it), then I would love Molinaro's. I came in, I asked her what was good, and I ordered one of everything (about 5 different things, no less).
The wait time was insane (45 mins, I think, but they'd just opened so I'm okay with that), and that doesn't factor into the rating whatsoever. The salad was average at best, at least it was nice and cold. The Garlic Bread was average, it was nowhere near the incredible, home baked level of the Village which is perhaps the best Garlic Bread I ever had. The Chicken Parm was very disappointing and there wasn't much chicken in there. It was also overpriced... I think it may have been more expensive than the hefty and fantastic Parm at Village. It's a little more understated than Village (I thought it would be the opposite), so that gave me high hopes for the food and the prices, but the food was less impressive (considerably), and the prices were a little higher (not much, but a little).
My friend had a grilled chicken salad... it was the very definition of average.
Also I had a slice of the pizza because it came highly recommended. It was probably my favourite item out of the many items we got, but it was still not particularly impressive.
Also, I'm sure it was just one person, but our server was not particularly friendly, and everything she recommended was average at best.
Also, this is the third time in a row I've started a paragraph using also, so I'm going to cut out of here now and quit while I'm ahead. It's okay that a lot of people love this place and I don't... it's all a matter of taste. But if you ask me, this is nowhere near a 4 out of 5, and I don't give much lower than a 3 when it comes to family owned places. And Village, on the other hand - the main rival of Molinaro's, I suppose - is more of a 6 out of 5 than a 5 out of 5. It sets the bar very very very high, and honestly only Mulberry rivals it in terms of an Italian meal in WNY. read more