Mama Cucina is an Italian restaurant located in the West End of Richmond, tucked away in the community of Innsbrook. My husband and I discovered it accidentally, once again because we were starving and happened to be driving by. I’m more than a little amused to remember we found some of Richmond’s finest Italian cuisine because we pulled into the shopping center parking lot to get a hamburger at Dairy Queen.
I don’t know if East Coast DQs have grills, but the ones back where we used to live almost always do. This DQ only served ice cream, so we continued on around the corner and found Mama Cucina. It was one of many choices in that Innsbrook shopping area. There was a mediterranean place and what looked like a bar and grill, but I noted lots of people heading in to the Italian restaurant, even though it was a little early for dinner, so I realized it might be the kind of place that would be packed later on in the evening. That meant it had to be good!
Mama Cucina Italian Restaurant
We walked inside and realized this is the kind of place that recommends making reservations. We shyly admitted to not having made any. The host assured us it would be fine and he led us to a table, where we did have to wait a bit before we received menus. I know this because I remember it hit me I have no idea the price range of this place, and here we were, sitting at a table, munching on bread and oil, kind of committed at this point.
When the menus arrived and we were able to talk to the server, we settled on our meal choices. I remember mine was the manicotti with “half and half” – white walnut cheese sauce and red tomato sauce on my pasta. Very striking appearance!
My husband wanted salad, so he ordered the Cobb salad. When his salad arrived, it was a HUGE – it looked the size of a salad they might bring for the whole table to share. And they did bring a bottle of their own house dressing, a creamy balsamic.
So, everything was delicious. I couldn’t decide if I liked the white sauce or the red sauce better; they were both so good. I would get the half and half again, probably. If I was made to choose one over the other, I might go with the white because I have it less often than red sauce. According to my husband, the salad was good too and the dressing was superb.
The shock came when we got the bill. I will post the picture below. For a high-end Italian meal we think we got a great deal. We did, admittedly, select the more modestly-priced options because we’re just getting established in our new area and we have to be budget conscious. It was a late lunch/early supper. $30 plus tip was a great price.
Mama Cucina also has patio seating, as do the other restaurants in that area. They all share a neat little interior courtyard that would be great for live music. Does anyone know if they do music like that there? It would be so perfect for it.
Also, it would be a good spot to go with friends because you could get Italian, any of your friends could pick up a burger, someone else could have falafel and hummus, but you could all sit together in the courtyard. I really liked the concept, even though we didn’t have our friends with us that evening. When the weather is nice again, I want to go back some Friday evening to see what the vibe is like.
Mama Cucina
4028-O Cox Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060
(804)-346-3350 – Reservations are recommended.
MamaCucinaRVA.com
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