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| - TL;DR: Mario's is a decent neighborhood restaurant / bar that serves traditional American food, with a mix of craft, domestic, and import beers on tap and in bottles. Beyond beer, Mario's has a good selection of liquor and wine.
During my first visit, I had the taco special, and 12 Dogs of Christmas for my draft beer. The first taco was ground beef; the second was chicken. I liked the beef taco, and especially the low price (around $2.50 each). The beef taco tasted fresh, but the chicken taco tasted processed, like the kind served in frozen TV dinners. The beer was reasonably priced at $5.00, which is standard for a craft beer on draft in a Cleveland suburb. I also ordered a take-out Marguerite pizza for later, which was very doughy, had a decent amount of toppings, and huge portions. I am not much for doughy pizza, preferring the New York-style thin crust, but for fans of dough-based pizza in mass quantities, it was a good deal at $10.50.
During my second visit I had the Royalton Burger, which included an egg among other toppings. The burger was well-made and tasted good, with a lot of bread on the bun. It was also a big burger, so again, the portions were good. The burger was $12.00, which was overpriced for the taste, in comparison with the $10.00 burgers available at The Boneyard in Broadview Heights. However, the portions softened the feeling that I ordered an over-priced burger. I thought that it was worth about $10.00 in the end. I also had the 12 Dogs of Christmas again on draft, and was satisfied with the price of the craft beer at $5.00.
The service was decent, both times. The bartender doubled as server, and there was only one other available. The food came out in a reasonable amount of time. Due to the number of customers, I did not receive a lot of attention, but did not get ignored either. The pizza took 45 minutes to be prepared, because the original got burned in the oven. Errors happen, so this wasn't a huge issue. The server offered to give me another beer for free, but I already had two, so I said no. I would have appreciated it if the server offered more options; I did not think to ask to take one of the beers off the bill until after I left. I appreciated that the server offered compensation for the time it took to make the pizza.
The décor in the restaurant is bare-bones, with some flat screens on the walls for sports. There are several traditional photographs on the walls, like the classic shot of construction workers sitting on a high-rise, legs dangling, eating lunch. Classic vinyl records (Rolling Stones comes to mind) appear nailed to the back walls. The floor looks like hard, polished cement. There is a section with games - a claw machine, basketball shooting, an arcade cabinet, etc. near the front. I enjoyed using the TouchTunes jukebox, as I was the only person playing music. It was loud enough to be heard, without overpowering the conversation. Customers seemed to appreciate a variety of music, including Rock, Country, and Pop. Overall it gives the feel of someone's basement rec room, which adds to the atmosphere of a friendly neighborhood bar.
The clientele spans all generations, with the feeling that anyone is welcome. There were construction workers, "alternative" young adults, older people, and families. There were no obnoxious outbursts, and I saw the actual Mario socializing with some of the patrons. My only concern was that I caught the scent of marijuana coming from the bar, and looked up to see someone finishing a roach. The person quickly got up and left, so I'm not sure if the bartender was aware of it. If this type of behavior is permitted, it will turn away some customers, especially those who bring children out for a family dinner.
The atmosphere is relaxed, and other customers are unobtrusive. I also liked having the opportunity to play music through the Touch Tunes jukebox, without competition. I would go back for the taco special and craft beer.
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