That’s Amore

The guys from freedom boat club recommended this place and it’s awesome! My wife had the wild boar ragu and I had the veal shank both were awesome and the pasta is perfectly cooked!

The best Italian food that I have ever experienced Food and bread is amazing. Great wine selection and fun and skilled staff. Amore!

The worst Italian food in orange county. My wife and I both ordered pasta meals and they both lacked any taste of Italian food. It was so bland we didn’t even finish it. Too bad, the place is nice looking and the people are friendly but the food is terrible. My guess is the 5 star ratings come from friends and family. Barley a 1 star.

The food was terrible! The service, décor and lounge singer were great! But most important is the food. I ordered the chicken with mushrooms. The chicken was rubbery and way too much pepper. The mashed potatoes were ok but had a funky aftertaste. The Brussels sprouts (which I love!!) were not cooked all the way and still bitter. The kids meal chicken was also rubbery and served with brussel sprouts. My adventurous eater tried the sprouts but would not eat them. I was disappointed because I wanted to love it here, but I’ll stick with café gazelle.

We were hoping this new place close by would be very good. The experience was so-​so. We enter and walk up to the hostess counter. She seats the lady in line in front of us, then walks around us to seat the people who entered after us. I say «excuse me, I think we arrived before they did. Oh, her reply is «I thought you were with that other woman» (the one who said she would wait in the bar until the rest of her party arrived) ??
The place is nice looking but with no soft surfaces, it is HORRIBLY loud in there. We had to yell to be heard. There was a young man singing, and he seemed to sing well, but with the noise we couldn’t be sure.
The menu seemed okay, except it didn’t list soup at all. (we like to start with soup)
Oh, yes, the server told us, we have Italian Wedding soup tonight. Okay, we order that. When soup comes, it is soup, but NOT Italian Wedding soup, and basically it is a bowl of broth with way too much egg in it. Mine has huge clots of cooked egg in it. UGH. The server says nothing as she clears my bowl away with most of the soup still in it, and the big clots of egg pulled up on the rim. Unappealing and not flavorful. She didn’t ever correct her error.
On to the entrees. I order «Dean Martin» which is orechiette pasta, brocollini, and sausage in white wine sauce. I get my entrée, it looks like soup, so much «wine sauce» that is not thickened or reduced at all, just looks like broth at the bottom of the bowl, and all you can taste is the red pepper flakes that have been added with too heavy a hand, so the dish is spicy with no flavor beyond HOT/​SPICY. DH ordered chicken parmesan, which he said had too little tomato flavor in the sauce. We did not love this dinner. We have no ‘Amore’ for That’s Amore.

I’ve been looking for an amazing Italian restaurant close to home and I’ve found it! The staff is very friendly and attentive. Killer atmosphere and they even had a live singer last Friday night — how cool is that?! Voice was amazing. I’m obsessed with their pizza! We’ve been there two weeks in a row — it’s definitely my go to place now! Highly recommended.

Our server Daniele really set the stage for a great experience last night!
Great service! He was so attentive, gave us a tour of his favorite items on the menu, told us about the restaurant and the chef. He was so passionate about what he was talking about — this guy really
Loves his job. Super refreshing!
Best of all, he left us alone so that we could actually enjoy ourselves. Literally — the best service you’ll get in this area! Thank you Daniele!
It’s so hard to find a kitchen, that stays open ‘later’! Thanks for staying open a little later than 9!
Great wine list with a good selection of Italian and California wines.
I got a limoncello martini — super tasty and not too boooozy. And the drinks came quick! So thank you bartender!
We loved the focaccia that was brought out, so tasty — and way better than just bread and butter.
We started off with the caprese, very fresh and tasty.
I got the Dean Martin — tasted just like what my dad makes at home :) sausage, broccoli rabe, tons of garlic and Parmesan, mmmmm
My husband got chicken parm — and guess what — it was good!
That sauce was so good!
The breaking was good!
And because it wasn’t served with pasta — you could actually enjoy the entire thing!
— the broccoli that was served with it… amazing.
We’ll be back!!!

I made the correct choice for the restaurant that I wanted for Valentines. I arrived late to my reservation and even though

Great wine selection and they have cocktails as well. Came with a large group, 33 in all, and we ordered one of every appetizer on the menu: They were all fabulous. For dinner, We ordered numerous salads, pastas and pizzas. Everything was delicious. The chef can prepare gluten-​free as well. If you know you are coming, it is always be helpful to call in advance as they do make the gluten-​free items from scratch.

The flavor of the ‘Spaghetti Carbonara’ entrée was very overwhelming. It thoroughly lacked balance. It was incredibly oily and cloyingly salty. I was quite hungry, but struggled to finish my dish. I would not recommend this dish, unless the above description appeals to you. However, the Tiramisu was good. I would order the dessert again. Perhaps, the kitchen was having an ‘off’ night or this is just not one of their better menu choices. Regardless, I will give them one more chance. I do believe in second chances, before writing a place off altogether. I will update my review, in the event that my next experience compels a change in the rating.

My wife and I came here last night based upon all of the 5 star reviews, pictures, and accolades from fellow Unilocalers. As we pulled into the parking lot and walked through the doors we thought the restaurant looked nice and we looked forward to having a great meal.
When we were sat at the table and looked at the menu everything looked good so far. The server came by and asked if we have dined with them before and we said no it is our first time. He opened by telling us that Chef Alessandro was from Rome, Italy and went on to tell us about a few of the specials.
We both ordered a glass of wine and they brought us a basket of bread. When I reached in the basket it was warm and I felt pieces of bread that were warm and very hard. In fact I thought perhaps the bread was over toasted but they weren’t toasted at all. I tried to bite into the piece and it was like one giant croûton. I quickly discarded it and my wife looked at me strangely because of the weird look on my face. She soon encountered the same experience. We just looked at each other and asked ourselves is this the way the bread is intended to be? Was it stale? I guess we could have tried to rehydrate the bread by pouring olive oil over it but why would you need to do that?
We brushed it off and continued to sip our wine and then my dinner salad called the «Insalata Delizia» was brought to me. It had arugula, lots of sun dried tomatoes and big chunks of pears and was dressed with some kind of vinegar dressing that did not resemble any type of balsamic dressing that I have had before. It was really overdressed and did not come with any parmesan as described on the menu. I was a bit taken back that the pear chunks in the salad were so big and were not thinly sliced. The chunks of pears reminded me of what you would get in a fruit cup in kindergarten.
After this my wife and I looked at each other again and asked if this dinner experience was going to get better with the entrées? My entrée of the «Linguine Del Pescatore» was placed in front of me and it was a large portion of linguine. It was described as assorted shellfish in a roasted garlic white wine sauce. I received about a dozen and a half of tiny bay scallops that were just a tad smaller in size than mini marshmallows and were a little over cooked. The calamari was overcooked and a little rubbery in texture. The shrimp and mussels were cooked okay and the 2 pieces of fish chunks were cooked okay. The linguine was swimming in what was basically water with butter melted in it. The entire dish was very bland and had zero flavor. There was no taste of roasted garlic or white wine whatsoever. Very disappointing and perhaps the worst rendition of seafood linguine I have ever had.
My wife’s entrée was the «Nero Di Seppia». It was described as linguine tossed in squid ink with calamari and scallops. When it was brought to the table it was a huge portion. There was so much squid ink that when she went to put her fork in and twirl the linguine around her fork, squid ink would kind of fling off the pasta. She had to be very careful when doing this otherwise she would be wearing the squid ink on her blouse. The best way to describe this entrée is like a box of Sharpie pens exploding in her dish. She said this dish had zero flavor and had no garlic or hints of any type of seasoning and was very bland. She tried to eat it but pretty much pushed it aside after 4 or 5 bites. Her teeth were slightly stained dark gray from the squid ink. This was not a refined dish by any means and should be taken off of the menu. We were pretty much scratching our heads and wondering what the hell was the chef thinking when he made these dishes?
At this point we were tired and just wanted to politely get out of there and go home. We kindly told the server that we were done and did not want to take home the squid ink pasta and to bring us our bill. Our bill came to $ 81.00 without tip. I tipped the server 20% because he didn’t make the food.
So disappointing and we were hoping to find another good Italian restaurant near our home. This was perhaps the worst Italian food I have ever had. What is it with any restaurants that have opened in Peter’s Landing and not being good?

The perfect start to a wonderful bachelorette party! Incredible atmosphere, kindest staff, and most flavorful and tender meals I have ever tasted. They really take care of you and do everything in their power to make dining here an incredibly special experience. This place is something unique and a place orange county has been needing for a very long time. Did I mention the singer they have is absolutely superb? I swear I kept thinking they switched to radio when a Frank Sinatra song came on but then I looked up and saw it was still their singer. Just fantastic!

Excellent!, Excellent!, Excellent! We went for my husband’s birthday. We started with the Fried artichokes and Antipasto Misto our main course was the Osso Buco with polenta and I had the cioppino. And for dessert the tiramisu and the fried Nutella ravioli. The staff was right on cue with the service. This is what REAL Italian food is about. Plenty of parking and easy to get to, right off PCH in Sunset Beach. A true GEM!

This restaurant was amazing. The appetizers where very good. The pizza was true Italian style and the main course was unbelievable and the bread is made fresh daily at the restaurant. As I was watching the servers bring food out I wanted to try everything. The waitress was helpful and polite and service was fast. They where very generous on the portions of food. I grew up around a lot of Italians so I know traditional Italian food so if you want real Italian food I would recommend this place

The food was delicious, the service was terrific, and the owners made us feel as though we were in their home. A great add to Huntington Harbor. We highly recommend this restaurant! Loved meeting owner John D and Chef Alessandro!

My family and I visited That’s Amore on Tuesday 1÷19÷16. We had a party of seven with five adults and two children.
The service was great; attentive, but not over-​bearing.
The food was phenomenal! Several of us had starter salads and we had an appetizer (don’t remember the name) that included several types of seafood and cheeses; absolutely tasty!
My wife is vegetarian and there were many items she could choose from, which is always good. She ate the eggplant parmesean, I got the mushroom risotto, and my two younger daughters (6 and 9) ordered the four cheese pizza. My wife loved the eggplant! It was NOT the typical, heavy breaded and fried lump. It was savory and still fairly light. My risotto was excellent, with plenty of mushrooms and the light wine and cheese flavors I expect in a good risotto; reminded me of the risotto I had in Rome! Both girls loved their pizza.
My six year old insisted on announcing loudly, «This is the best pizza I have ever had!!!» She also made sure to let the table next to us know several times!
The other three adults in our party were my father (who got the Dean Martin, pasta with sausage, and scotch-​water, neat), my wife’s mother (tortellini), and my wife’s father (also Dean Martin and Gin and Tonic). They all said they liked the food tremendously. Both fathers said the bar served the drinks well, which my father is very particular about.
None of our party had wine so I cannot rate that, but the selection seemed good.
We got some desserts after. My nine year old daughter ordered the tiramisu, my six year old the choc truffle gellato, my wife the hazelnut gellato, and my wife’s mother the limoncello gellato. All enjoyed the desserts and I thought they were very good, as I got to try a little of each.
We all would highly recommend this restaurant!

There were 4 of us in our party and I wish we came with more people because we each had a different dish so we could all try a little of everything. And I can’t decide which we liked more… Everything was SO delicious and fresh!
We had the pasta carbonara, the Osso Buco with fresh pappardelle pasta, linguine with clams and the wild boar ragu. We also ordered a Rustica pizza as an appetizer as well as a plate of fried calamari and fried artichokes.
The wait staff was very attentive and there was plenty on hand to handle the packed house.
We didn’t order drinks but the bar area looks like a great place to hangout.
It’s a definite must try!

Talk about a new restaurant is a little complicated, because the start can be difficult.
It is the work of a great team with different responsibilities which together would have to be successful.
I can only say. .That’s Amore Italian Restaurant is a bit of the heart of Italy, is a meeting place where thousands of stories will be written, including mine. .is the door to reach a heart.
That’s Amore Italian Restaurant is the perfect place to say «I Love You! .
Place because LOVE is the main seasoning in the dishes of this restaurant.

I’ve been here tonight with friends,
the service was excellent, from the hostess to the Server, they are so friendly, the food was delicious, we got some pizza, lasagne, and tortellini and lastly the tiramisù!
Im italian and I recommend this place to everyone!
This is real italian restaurant.

The food was great. We started with fresh mozzarella and fried artichokes. Then came out the salads which were fresh and cold which I really appreciate. The Caesar dressing was a little sweet which caught me off guard but after I was finished with my salad I was using bread to clean the dressing off my plate. For mains we had the egg plant parm and osso bocco which were outstanding. Sauce on both was perfect.
Couple of side notes. Wine list is already showing some serious promise with split bottles of 2001 mondovie reserve. I’m sure it will only grow from here on out.
Service was great. What I did notice is that all the staff would check on us as they walked by. I find that refreshing considering usually at restaurants it’s your waiter and your waiter only who gives a crap about the little timings like water and bread, etc.
atmosphere was very beach fancy. You can be dressed up or casual for sure. Not sure t shirts and flip flops would work here.
Bar is HUGE and was crazy busy which looked like fun for all around it.
Overall a great impression especially considering it was the first night open.