Mama 'n Papa's Pizza Grotto

988 Civic Center Dr, Vista - 92083
299 reviews
Italian Pizza
(760) 941-3900

Had dinner here tonight 7/10. It was my husband, me, my four KIDS. So two adults and four kids. Later I noticed that gratuity was added for six people? Which doesn’t make sense since these four kids aren’t paying for their own dinner. With gratuity I paid 30 on a 100 bill. I would’ve given more of a tip if gratuity hadn’t been added for my KIDS. My husband and I make sure that our kids don’t leave a mess and we pick up our plates. We both know what is it to work in the restaurant service. My oldest is 12 and my youngest is two. Idk but to me this seems offensive and out of hand.

Wonderful ambience, great music like Elvis and Frank Sinatra playing. My dad was super excited to hear their meatballs are the size of baseballs. My chicken parmesab was out of this world. It definitely reminded my family and I of the Italian food we would have back home in NJ. It's been so hard to find quality like that out here, in my opinion. They also had the old style bills l, nothing electronic but hand written. It's the little things honestly. I will be returning to try more food on the menu.

All I got was pizza so that's all I am rating:It's superb. Insane amount of cheese and toppings, both good quality, with a medium crust thickness baked just stiff enough to handle the sheer weight of it. Sharing a 16" large two ways, expected to finish but barely got halfway through it. A beast of a pizza.

The Large-Pizza is enough food for 6-meals (2-very large slices per serving); the pizza has toppings cooked beneath the cheese, which is awesome; chicken Caesar salad was very good as was the garlic bread. Cash payments = 10% off; friendly/knowledgeable staff; reasonable prices for what you get.

complete disappointment. Used to love going here. Large portions don't make up for tasteless food.And then they charge you 3.5% for using your credit card as a surcharge. Cheezy business practice.One person in our group got the pizza. We used to get their pizza all the time to take home. The dough was so thick and tough. Toppings were flavorless and weirdly placed. One side of the pizza had all the flavorless cheese, while the other side all you saw was sauce. Really??Never going there again.Gonna have to warn all my friends. We all loved this place. What the heck happened??

I'm really speechless. Okay:Not sure why this place is still open. Service! Heh... None. They wouldn't even cut our lasagna in half ("oh, they can't do that"), as me and my other half came to grab a quickie... Both had to go separate ways. So, "to-go" turning into"shouldn't have even gone. No plastic forks, napkins or smiles. Mama n Papa would be discouraged. Food was less-desirable bc of the service! Bad taste in our mouths. We will not return. Not worth pictures... Not to be continued

We tried this place yesterday. It was good but not great. We heard great things about it, and we were hoping that it would be better than it was. We ordered a medium Special without bell peppers. The crust had a good texture but not a lot of flavor. The sauce and toppings were all decent but not outstanding. The pizza would have been just a bit better left in the oven for a minute or two more to get a little brown on top. Overall it was okay. We just didn’t love it. Our server was really kind and attentive.

This place is phenomenal. I grew up in an Italian family and this place always reminds me of when I would go to my grandparents’ house. I highly recommend the Mamas and Papas chicken special. It is very good. My server, Hailee, did an outstanding job. She was very attentive and had a very pleasant disposition. 10/10

Great mom and pop Italian restaurant. Reminds me of Fillippi's pizza grotto.Sauce is amazing and that is all you need to know to determine if an Italian restaurant is good.I loved loved loved their antipasto salad that can feed a large family. I especially liked their interesting dressing mix of Italian and ranch or maybe it was blue cheese. I forget. You wouldn't think mixing the two would be good but it is!! I highly recommend it. I also appreciate their generous portion of bread!I also had their veal parmesan which is also a good indicator of a good Italian restaurant and it did not disappoint either. It's also reasonably priced. Their pizza is readily good as well, again it reminds me of Fillippi's without the ridiculous prices.Check this place out if you're in the area!

Great mom and pop Italian restaurant. Reminds me of Fillippi's pizza grotto.Sauce is amazing and that is all you need to know to determine if an Italian restaurant is good.I loved loved loved their antipasto salad that can feed a large family. I especially liked their interesting dressing mix of Italian and ranch or maybe it was blue cheese. I forget. You wouldn't think mixing the two would be good but it is!! I highly recommend it. I also appreciate their generous portion of bread!I also had their veal parmesan which is also a good indicator of a good Italian restaurant and it did not disappoint either. It's also reasonably priced. Their pizza is readily good as well, again it reminds me of Fillippi's without the ridiculous prices.Check this place out if you're in the area!