Bright cafe with a patio serving Italian fare & homemade breads amid brick walls & local artwork. Based on 825 reviews, the restaurant has received a rating of 4.5 stars. Price $$
✔️ Dine-in ✔️ Curbside pickup ✔️ Delivery
Address:
1303 12th St, Bellingham, WA 98225
Phone: (360) 734-7677
Social Profile: 
Hours
| Wednesday | 12–9 PM |
| Thursday | 12–9 PM |
| Friday | 12–9 PM |
| Saturday | 12–9 PM |
| Sunday | 12–9 PM |
| Monday | 12–9 PM |
| Tuesday | 12–9 PM |
Menu
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Menu Photos
Photo Gallery
Order and Reservations
Reservations: resy.com
Reviews
Marissa Morse
Not only do you get a bread basket to start, but we also had the Bruschetta starter. Then, as main dishes, we got Seafood Puttanesca,Spaghetti Pomodoro and all was delicious!
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Lawrence Fosnick Davis
Cute little place with a real bistro feel. Service was friendly and music was tasteful. The food was tasty with good size portions. My daughter was delighted to be able to get gluten-free pasta with a vegan Alfredo. That’s a rare find for her given gluten and diary are challenging. It was quite delicious. We’ll definitely be back!
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Paul Weber
Mixed feelings … our party of three dined here Thursday Feb 16. The atmosphere was mixed … tight footpeint with very high ceiling, cold breeze from entry door dumping directly on seating area, lots of brightly colored “art” for sale hanging on the walls. Booths were very uncomfortable and tight – booth seats were not pleasing to sit on with deep seat thst dug into back of legs, padding was thin and bumpy, distance to table was too tight so you had to sit with back tightvagainst the seat back … overall all the dimesions just felt off, and the table was fixed so couldn’t be adjusted … I am 5’7″ and 225# and was squeezed into the spacing. This was an expensive restaurant yet no tablecloth, paper napkins and cheap cutlery but $20 to $35 entrees. Service was less than it should have been. Had to ask for bread. And this is what should have downgraded the overall rating to 2 stars … they serve $25+ a plate entrees and $35 (obtuse price) pizza and they have an expensive always on pizza oven that could have be used to bake scratch made crusty Italian loaves, bread sticks, or even pizza crust bread sticks yet the bread they served was NOT baked on site, was NOT served hot from oven or wven warm .. it was served stone cold, and was awful… tasted like safeway bakery fake Italian bread. The mark of a good Italian restaurant (maybe any restaurant) is the quality of their bread and also their scratch made pastas … FAIL on both accounts. The pasta dishes were solidly good but not exceptional. Entree size was large and the linguini vongole had a bright lemony sauce and at least a dozen clams in the shell and but for $28 it was inadequate. The cacciatore had a nice amount of dark meat chicken, capers and palm hearts but was overpowered by a what is best described as a cheap pungent flavor that I would liken to dried “McCormack Italian Seasoning” . The cabonara was good – niw there are two schools of thought – one with egg and cream and the other egg only – this was cream style. It was a bit oily … either from added olive oil or the fat from the panchetta. It was good … decadent as it should be but was a bit spartan compared to the other dishes. Luckily since we all enjoy each others company we had a very nice time, these issues notwithstanding. Obviously leaps better than Olive Garden and maybe not as good as Macaroni Grill … but this should be better as it’s not a canned chain, and truly these disappointments are really not acceptable when spending $25 to $35 a plate.
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Craig Johnson
After starting our meal with the mambo sangria and beef soup, we started to realize how many clams were included in the Saute Di Vongole appetizer. We both enjoyed the garlic, wine and seasoning provided in the taste explosion but I couldn’t help thinking the actual clam flavour was missing and overwhelmed by excess alcohol not properly burned off. I usually return to Mambo’s after one or two pizzas, found elsewhere, to confirm they still make the best pizza in Bellingham and was not disappointed. My wife chose the parmesan chicken and was delighted to find the crispy chewy browned cheese and tender chicken in abundance.
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Bob Yu
This is a very nice restaurant, and a pleasant surprise for us while visiting Fairhaven. The service and staff are exceptional first and foremost. The food here is pretty good as well. The general ambiance was just okay though. It was a bit rustic for us, but still good. The clams and seafood were cooked to perfection, and all the ingredients were very fresh.
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Russ
I was a little wary about eating here. Reviews on different platforms seemed to indicate a live it or hate it type of experience. It didn’t start off positive as the hostess wasn’t very friendly or helpful. After being seated, the waitress brought some bread over. Nothing special and the butter was in little packs. At this point I was beginning to rethink eating here. But I stuck it out and was so glad I did. The pollo Parmesan was both huge and tasty! Two huge pieces of juicy chicken and the spaghetti sauce was both filling and tasty. Totally turned the experience around. The waitress recommended the key lime pie. I’m picky about my key lime pie as at most places it’s just ok. But this was something entirely different. Really really good. While it may not have started out great, it ended spectacularly.
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Lynn Korth
Would give 5 out of 5 but service was a bit slow for not being very busy, that being said a lovely lady. I ordered the chicken with fettuccine and Gorgonzola cream sauce. Delicious and perfectly balanced with the garlic, cream, and Gorgonzola. To add lovely atmosphere. Will come again.
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Jesse Booth
Had a great experience here. It was busy and we had no reservation but they fit us in at the bar. The server / bartender was genuinely kind and welcoming so we decided to eat at the bar top. The food was all delicious and the espresso martini was awesome! We will check it out again next time we are in town. Thank you!
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Austin Kenny
Mambo’s Italian restaurant in Fairhaven. Beautiful mixed greens with a vibrant vinaigrette. Incredibly flavorful Caprese salad leaves you yearning for more….
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Randy Davis
I have been to the Mambo Italiano Cafe about 4 times over the past couple of months. Normally, we really enjoy it but last night we went and it was NOT a good experience. We walked in and requested a booth. The hostess brought us to a small both and we requested a bigger booth because my wife and I like to sit next to each other. When we moved to a bigger booth the hostess really copped an attitude with us. After that, my wife and I ordered pasta. The waiter came back and told us our cost would increase 6 dollars because my wife substituted chicken for shrimp. I said okay. That makes sense since seafood generally cost more than chicken. Our waiter came back and told me my dish would coast 4$ more because I exchanged a tomato based sauce for alfredo sauce. To me that was a little much so I requested to see the manager. She came over and was very rude. She proceeded to lecture me on the cost of milk and cream. More than that was the very unfriendly approach unapologetic attitude which I did not appreciate. So, we will not be going there any longer. So take it for what it is worth.
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