Romeo Cucina

Ate dinner at 7:15 last Saturday night.
We had reservations and were seated promptly
The menu selection was innovative from appetizers to dessert. The minestrone was incredible. You could actually taste the different vegetables and not get a spoonful of one «canned» taste.
The table service was friendly and efficient. We had Lou as a server and the manager stopped by the table a few times to make sure we were happy. The buss staff was very busy (a couple large parties) but we were checked on regularly. Each course arrived in a timely manner, even though they were busy.
The décor is comfortable and efficient. Lots of bar space for single diners.
I would give 5 stars if they offered a house chianti in a liter carafe at a fair price.

Bought a groupon and went with my daughter. The service was amazing! The food was interesting (good way) and delicious. Price on the high end however the food, service and ambiance made up for it. We had their lobster ravioli (Panzarotti D’Aragosta), La Capricciosa Pizza and Misto di Calamaretti (calamari)… all delicious.

Parking: You can park at Wells Fargo next door past 5pm [didn’t see any attendants or ticket booths; the restaurant told me I could show my receipt on the way out if there was someone collecting payment]
Bar: The happy hour menu says 5−6pm. not sure if they meant to write 7pm since they handed us the happy hour menu at 6:30pm?
Service: We were seated right away and received the complimentary bread & water. It took a while for the only server to come back to us to take our order. There were a few other couples around and one large party getting seated next to us. Unfortunately, the only waiter working wasn’t so great about checking up on us and we felt like an inconvenience. We got our food, paid our check and left. We didn’t even feel like getting wine or appetizers or desserts because it was clear that the tables that did that were receiving more attention. and that shouldn’t be the case. The food tasted good enough but we didn’t realize the portions would be so small. We definitely won’t be back anytime soon; there are just too many other Italian restaurants that do it better [service & food-​wise].

Absolutely fabulous!!! Delicious gnocchi! Wine was excellent. Dessert was divine. The service and atmosphere are perfect. We will be loyal customers! We were very impressed.

Came hear with a Groupon on a Sunday night and was welcomed with a smile.
The place is huge, with lots of tables to dine at in which you can hold private conversations without feeling others may hear.
I ordered the tortelloni de carne. These were huge homemade tortellinis stuffed with ribeye and smothered with pesto sauce and arugula to garnish.
Presentation it was quite appealing. Taste wise, it was a bit too salty for my liking and I ended up drinking a lot of water.
Their complimentary fresh bread was delicious, apart from the olive spread (I’m not a huge fan of olives in the first place). However, I saw many people just putting globs of it on their bread so it must taste good to the olive lovers out there!
Time to get the food was a bit longer than normal, but since they made their pasta from scratch, I’d have to give them some credit. Overall ok dining experience — just wish I could had eaten more of it without feeling dehydrated!

Everything was good. Food was very good. Service was ok. They forgot to deliver a drink but charged us for it. Not a big deal but we didn’t notice it until after the credit card was processed.

First impression when we walked in was nice until we told them we had a groupon, then it was like a cold wall went up. The food was good but overpriced for what you got. The drinks were very good, the risotto was yummy, the osso bucco was a little dry. The tiramisu was amazing. i’d go back just for dessert!

10-​17-​2015
In Laguna to photograph an engagement session, our couple Aurora and Gary took us here for lunch, outstanding food and atmosphere. There is charm and family feelings at this restaurant and the food is fantastic, try the olive spread and margerita pizza… wow!

Perfect date night place — lights are dimmed, noise level is good, food is decent and servers are attentive… I’m a happy romantic!

What a find! We stumbled upon this beautiful small restaurant. I had minestrone soup and grilled vegetable «salad». Both were delicious!
My husband had the Margherita pizza. Of course I had to taste! It was wonderful! Baked to perfection!
Our friend ordered the veal scallopini. She said: This is out of this world!“
Service was great! We weren’t rushed even though all the tables were full. We were asked how our meal was and if there was anything else they could do.
All in all, I’d like to keep this restaurant a secret! We’ll be back!

We had a wonderful time here on Monday night. We had a Groupon which was absolutely no problem.
Actually bought the Groupon because I thought it was a different Italian restaurant in town which we like. Took a few minutes to get our cocktails but John was also the host and seating several parties.
Food was wonderful as was our server John! He made our night special. I had the Pollo mama which was huge and my husband had the lasagna. Never would’ve gone there without the Groupon and now we will definitely be back.

I came here last night for dinner and was so excited to try this restaurant. We had a total party of 8 and were sat pretty promptly. I’ll get to the details shortly, but let me just start off by saying the food was delicious and the service was horrible.
After being seated, we waited at our table for 10 minutes without a greeting. The server did have water for us when he arrived, but we could have ordered our drinks and entrees in that time.
For a table of 8, 2 baskets of bread will not suffice. One woman in our party tried to order the gnocchi without mushrooms and light sauce; a pretty basic request. Our server said that because it was dinner, her request would be impossible to accommodate and she should choose something else. We also ordered 2 salads that never made it out to our table.
Our server was clearly annoyed with our requests and the inconveniences of refilling our drinks, grating cheese for our entrees, and questioning where our salads were after our dinners had arrived.
Let me just say we were not summoning our server to run around getting something for us every minute. But as a diner, and as someone who is paying you, being rude and annoyed with me doesn’t work out.
Needless to say, I won’t be back. The food was great, but being treated as annoyance isn’t worth my time or money.

Came here on a Friday night, waited for the host to finish laughing at a joke and talking to another employee. Wasn’t too busy, there were open tables so we didn’t have to wait. My boyfriend ordered a margarita and didn’t get carded. I ordered a white wine and the waiter immediately asked for ID. As I was pulling out my wallet to get my license, he nodded at my boyfriend to show his ID too. It’s not a huge deal but I found it awkward that he wasn’t more consistent/​professional when asking for identification.
The customer service was seriously lacking, our waiter was basically a ghost. He paid more attention his other tables that had older customers, I’m assuming because he thought they would tip better. At one point there were multiple waiters/​bus boys attending to a table of two older couples whereas we only got asked, «How is everything?» after we had already finished our meals and after several failed attempts to get someone’s attention to have our waters refilled. The waiter forgot when we asked for a side of marinara, probably wouldn’t have even checked up on us if we hadn’t stopped him, and was blatantly discriminating against us because we were younger than his other tables. Another employee took care of us more than he did (he was the one who brought us our food/​the forgotten side of marinara) and you could tell he seemed annoyed by it too.
Bottom line: The food was good but won’t go back anytime soon because I disliked the service. Usually we are good tippers, even with subpar service, but this was too much.

I think this is a GEM. Walking distance to the Pageant of the Masters. Real homemade pastas and pizzas. Great service and we were drinking a lot of iced tea (super hot summer day and their brewed tea was tropical and delicious). We did make a reservation but only a day before.
The menu has something for everyone. What impressed me was having both RISOTTO and GNOCCHI. Most Italian restaurants have one or the other (and usually the gnocchi is not house made).
We had a party of 6. I got the seafood scampi with saffron risotto (the prawns were so BIG 5 stars). Others ordered: pesto tortelloni 5 stars, spaghetti 4 stars, gnocchi 4 stars, salmon special 5 stars, and lasagna 4 stars. We also got risotto appetizer, Caesar salad (polenta croutons were unique). I have had a lot of fantastic risotto so theirs is 4 stars and the gnocchi is good but not the stand out. The seafood was very good. We did not get dessert.

My momma, sis, and myself got tickets to Pageant of the Masters, and we wanted to try this place for the first time. We had reservations for 6:30pm, arrived on time. No hostess for a few minutes.
Let me premise this by saying that I thought the food was overall very good. Service was probably not worth coming back for. Especially for the money you’re spending. For example:
— No hostess in the front when we first arrived (previously mentioned)
— My sis asked for no mushrooms on her pizza, and the waiter said it was simply too busy to accommodate such requests. Wow, alrighty then!
— Rushed stops at the table by the waiter, and took his time coming back with anything we asked for (drinks, butter, dessert and check)
— Waiter highly suggested my mom and sister get their own desserts («too small to share»), so they agreed. Only brought one and had no idea they wanted two, what?
— Asked for dessert and check together since we needed to walk to the show. It took more than 20 minutes for it to arrive, we almost got locked out of the Pageant. It was dead by this time, too. And it’s ice cream???
Like I said, food and ambiance is nice. Service, not so much. Maybe better luck at Laguna Niguel location?

A stunning find! After a fun day in Laguna Beach, we stumbled here and was it ever worth it!
Seafood pasta and tagliatelle with meatballs, awesome food! A definite recommendation!

Very Classic Italian family owned restaurant.
Friendly service… quality Food… great atmosphere.
A must try when in Laguna…

Me and my girlfriend was looking for something different to eat on a Monday night in Laguna beach. I found this place on Unilocal and the pictures started making me hungry, so I figured I would give it a shot.
When I walked in I was greeted right away by a very friendly worker. Bread and water came out right away with in minutes of me being there. My girlfriend ordered linguine pescatora which was well prepared and practically had her drooling on the table. I ordered pollo mamma which was a great variation of chicken parm.
Overall a very great experience and defiantly recommended to everyone

The boyfriend and I came here for dinner with a couple of our friends on a weekend night and had a marvelous dining experience.
ATMOSPHERE: The ambience is warm, beautiful, and so very romantic. About to go on a first date with someone special? Running out of ideas for an amorous dinner spot with your current, steady squeeze? This is the perfect place for a dreamy date night! You cannot go wrong with Italian cuisine and a sappy atmosphere. You’re also right by the beach, so you can end the perfect night with a nice evening stroll along Heisler Park after dinner.
FOOD: I love my pastas and seafood, so I chose the «Spaghetti Pennello» for my main entrée. My dish had fresh shrimp, scallops, asparagus, and roasted bell peppers sautéed with garlic & extra virgin olive oil. The portion was perfect — not too big, not too small. The chef put just the right amount of extra virgin olive oil in my pasta, so my meal wasn’t too dry nor was it drenched and greasy. I was pleasantly surprised with how deliciously flavorful my pasta dish was, partly because it had an average rating on Unilocal.
SERVICE: Our server was nice, friendly, and attentive.
OVERALL EXPERIENCE: We all had a great night at Romeo Cucina and I definitely look forward to coming back for the tasty Italian pasta dishes and to try the other courses on the menu. This place truly deserves at least a 4-​star rating.

We had a great time here. The waiter was very attentive and offered some good suggestions. The food here is pretty good. I had the spinach ravioli and the husband had some sort of seafood risotto. We sat on the patio on a February evening… and the weather was like summertime with some good people watching. Gotta love California! The inside of the restaurant is cozy and nicely decorated.
You just can’t beat a good Italian meal and a stroll around Laguna Beach on a warm February evening! A great date night place.