Memphis Restaurant Guide

My wife and I visited Marciano's on 03/04/2010. The space is nicely decorated, with a small bar on part of one wall and several tables in front. We were seated immediately by our attentive waitress, and given plenty of time to read over the menu after she explained the night's specials. My wife selected an excellent ceasar salad followed by a shrimp and scallop risotto. I started with a yummy hearts of palm salad, followed by a sausage and lentil soup - both were top shelf. My entree was an intriguing Turkish Chicken and Split Pea stew on basmati rice and it was delicious. My wife's commented that her salad and risotto was the best restaurant meal she had ever had (we are in our mid-60s and have lived all over the world). The restaurant filled quickly from 7pm, but our one waitress handled all tables very efficiently. The owner/chef came out mid-meal to introduce himself and inquire if our food was satisfactory. Having learned the night was my 67th birthday, he sent out a wonderful dessert, gratis. All in all a most enjoyable evening. The tab for this exceptionally memorable meal was a paltry $70.00.

"Beautiful ambiance and delicious food. We took our friends from out of town to eat dinner for the holidays. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was perfect for our special dinner. The crab cakes were cooked perfect. We each ordered different entrees. The sauce used for their pasta dishes is unique and superb. We shared two different desserts and they were equally good. It was a very nice dinner that we all enjoyed. We look forward to our next dinner there.

Save your time (and money) A friend and I went to Marciano's last night and were disappointed.
Appetizer was good, but short on avocado and the crab meat may have been fresh but did look a bit like imitation crab.
Salad was ok, but my spinach was drowned in so much balsamic vinaigrette it was difficult to eat. And the tomatoes were not fully ripe.
Main course: Seafood crepes were pretty good. Unfortunately the shrimp and salmon in my dish were overcooked (rubbery) and mushy/watery (rather than nice and flaky as salmon should be), respectively.
Dessert was very good. By far the best course of the night.
After Dinner Tea: The 'selection' of herbal tea turned out to be three choices from Bigelow, Green, English and Earl Grey, served without sugar and with only a cup (not a pot) of water.
Service was OK, but not worth the 20% that was automatically added to the bill. There were only two occupied tables, yet we had to flag down our server a couple of times. And though we specified (twice) that we wanted our wine served with the main course, it came early.
And all this for only 100 bucks! (after taking off our $25 coupon...)

Very good food, great Ambience, and an owners willingness to make you comfortable

I had lunch & the scampi was excellent. The prices were reasonable particularly for a classy restaurant like this. Looking forward to eating there again.