Since 1992 Marina’s on the Square has occupied the building at the corner of Maple and College streets, a fixture of downtown Murfreesboro, serving some of the best pizza in town, all sorts of fine pasta dishes, calzones, salads, and an assortment of Italian-themed veggies, meats and desserts.

Many begin a meal here with one of the restaurant’s great Caesar salads.

Or, for a fantastic combination of vegetable flavors, try the delicious eggplant salad with mushrooms, olives, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese topped with slices of a crispy, breaded piece of eggplant. Other salad selections include a spinach salad, the antipasto salad—which contains ham, turkey, roast beef, pepperoni and artichoke hearts, in addition to the basic salad veggies—and an Italian chicken salad, similar to the eggplant salad, but with slices of breaded chicken instead of eggplant.

Eggplant Salad

“Great pasta and pizza,” Jay Sanders stated after a meal at Marina’s. “Loved the stuffed mushrooms,” he said about the popular appetizer of mushroom caps filled with sausage, beef and provolone, served with alfredo sauce.

Aside from the salads and mushrooms, most of the options on the large menu fall into pizza, pasta or calzone categories, or are bread-related in some way.

“The calzones are amazing!” Beverly Sanford said.

Marina’s fills these excellent creations with toppings of choice and bakes them until they are just a little crispy on the outside and gooey, cheesy and piping hot inside.

Cheese Tortellini

Pasta items include a delicious cheese tortellini topped with both marinara and/or alfredo sauces for a very flavorful dish. Other pasta selections include lasagna, chicken parmesan, manicotti, ravioli, eggplant parmesan, a cajun chicken pasta, chicken bruschetta pasta and more.

From the Italian sausage and potato soup to the lasagna to pizza to cannoli, Marina’s, owned by Doug Duross, has earned a wealth of positive comments on the food, atmosphere and service, as well as many loyal customers over the past decades.

Caesar Side Salad

Jason Rice said he ate “the best eggplant parmesan I’ve ever had” at Marina’s. “The cheesecake and cannoli were out of this world,” he added.

Marina’s uses a nice, chunky marinara sauce on its pastas, and other specialty dishes on the pasta menu include the summer shrimp pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes and basil, and a unique, spicy creation called Dante’s Inferno—chorizo, jalapeños, onions, mushrooms and penne pasta tossed in a spicy cream sauce.

The Monte Cristo Calzone, another house specialty, contains turkey, ham, onions, provolone and cheddar, accompanied by a special Dijon and horseradish dipping sauce.

Chicken Parmesan

The diner at Marina’s can create one of thousands of possible varieties of pizzas and calzones selecting from the wide variety of toppings available, all of the expected pizza meats and veggies plus artichoke hearts, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, salami, smoked turkey and garlic.

The Marina’s crew, according to a team member, makes dough in-house everyday, and uses the same dough for pizza crust, loaves of bread, calzones and the focaccia bread—herbed up and served with spinach artichoke dip. When you find something that works, stick with it.

“Their spinach-artichoke dip is absolutely fantastic,” Anne Talbott said. And many customers say they really appreciate the soft, fresh, hot loaves of bread offered to each table before a meal.

Fresh-baked bread with every meal

“The best calzone I have ever had the pleasure of eating! Pure heavenly bliss,” Jacque Howard reported after a meal. “The homemade bread is absolutely perfect.”

Marina’s cooks a massive creation called the Super Stuffed Pizza Pie with an additional crust on top and toppings sandwiched between. Although the full stuffed pizza goes for $34.99, and takes 35 minutes to bake, lunch patrons can grab a slice of the ready-made stuffed pizza of the day for $7.99, as slices last.

With so many of the dishes tied to the (very well made) dough or pasta, dining at Marina’s can be slightly difficult for the low-carb dieters, though the salads are good.

An advantage to the pizza, however, is that it is a thinner crust pie, with not an overwhelming amount of bread per slice.

The hours of operation can require a little planning as well; Marina’s is closed on Sunday and Monday, closes at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and often has a small crowd of folks waiting outside on the sidewalk for a table on Friday and Saturday evenings, but make a point to visit and discover your favorite pasta or pizza offering.

As with any ethnic restaurant, some will surely say “it’s not authentic.”

Pepperoni, bacon, extra cheese

To that, I will say that I am not Italian, I have never been to Italy, but I have eaten a lot of pizza in my days. Marina’s pizza ranks pretty close to the top of that list.

This New York-type pizza with a thinner crust, with just a little crispness on the bottom, still foldable, with the cheese all the way out to the edge of the crust, just tastes fabulous.

Get a large. The bigger slices have a certain magic about them compared to the small. Both use the same dough and ingredients, but the larger slices cook up perfectly for the full foldability and floppiness factors.

And leftover pizza in the fridge is a wonderful thing.

“We love going for date night Thursday! All the food is outstanding. Try the cheesecake; it is the best,” Holly Marie Christian said. “We have never had a bad meal or wait staff! The service is always great and they are so nice and friendly.”
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Marina’s on the Square
125 N. Maple St.
Tues.–Thurs.: 11 a.m.–8 p.m., Fri.–Sat. 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
615-849-8881
Calzone with three toppings: $9.99; Tortellini with salad or soup: $13.99; 16-inch meat lovers pizza: $19.99; Small eggplant salad: $6.59; 6-inch meatball sub: $6.99; Chicken parmesan: $12.99
marinasonthesquare.com

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