Cucina Alessa

It was our third time here and we loved it. Whenever we come to Newport Beach, we check this place out. Friendly staff and good food is what you find here.

Cucina Alessa is one of the best Italian restaurants in Newport– if not THE best. You have to try their meatballs because they are absolutely to die for. I have dreams about these meatballs and crave them on the regular. I love to come here with my family and share all the food together, family style– it’s a fantastic environment to do so. Can’t wait to come back again for the amazing meatballs and of course the delicious fresh made pasta.

Very good Italian food, pleasant service and nice choice of vine. Will drop by again.

Every time this place is amazing. Service, food, ambiance is exceptional. Homemade pastas. Perfecto. The server there Brian is on point. He takes care of us every time. I would recommend the calamari to start. Best in town. Lightly flash fried calamari is unbeatable. Fresh fresh fresh.

Great food, better dessert and even better service! Came here with friends to celebrate end of the school year and had a great time! Luis the manager took such great care of us and even surprised us with a dessert sample platter. Such amazing time!

Found that place through Unilocal and after reading a few reviews we decided to try it out. I wasn’t disappointed!
This restaurant serves very good Italian food, including great raviolis and the best pizza I have had in newport so far. Our server was very kind and ready to adjust our order however we wanted, he was very flexible on changing things out on the menu for us.
The service is very fast and effective, I don’t recall having an empty glass or a non refilled glass at all during our lunch. Will definitely try to come back again once I come to Newport Beach.

Came here for my birthday dinner. Ambience was vice, reminds of a small authentic italian restaurant. We ordered the RAVIOLI DI ZUCCA, GNOCCHI FRITTI and CONCHIGLIE GAMBERI E ASPARAGI. Service was excellent. Portions were nominal. The gnocchi was different here. They were fried potato balls with an awesome pesto sauce. Even the bread with pesto sauce was good. Overall a good experience but not something I would drool over. Can try once if you are a fan of italian food.

This will be our new go to date spot. My boyfriend and I just moved to OC and love checking out new restaurants once a week for date nights.
The ambiance is so adorable and classic.
The wine list never ending of so many choices. (dangerous hehe)
And the best part was the service. Wow, the server was so bubbly and genuine with great recommendations.
The food was amazing. We got a seafood pasta dish that was fantastic and a pizza to split. Which was perfect as they were both big.
We finished off with the tiramisu which was one of the BEST I have ever had.
Forgot to add, everything is from scratch and fresh, you can taste it too.
Great experience

I may have given 4 stars if my $ 10.50 salad was more than just a couple pieces of lettuce with a few little mushroom slices on top. The salad I got should have been free with each meal I ordered. $ 20 for each meal which were also small portions is a bit pricey. Still searching for something better than Gardunos on 17^th.

Cucina Alessa is a little gem on PCH right on the border of Newport Beach and Huntington Beach…
Why do I love it somuch? Well, the answer is pretty simple. The food is Delicious and the restaurant itself is very cute.
I might sound boring but when I go there I only have to get this dish called, ‘Conchegli Gamberi’. What is so special about this dish? It consists of generous numbers of shrimps with asparagus tossed in this heavenly buttery lobster sauce… Do I have your attention yet??? Well, good. Because the review is almost over… Hehehe…
We also got the ‘Pollo Saltimbocca’ which included two chicken breasts tossed in wine sauce with artichokes and potatoes… Delishhhhh…
Ahhh… Let me talk about the appetizer too! The Sage ravioli… It is heavenly… You might think that the sage would be too overpowering… In this specific case, you are wrong… I would get this appetizer everytime…
One star deduction, is soley because of plating and presenting the food…
Note to the chefs: Work on your presentation and plating skills a bit more… I would say that is cooking 101 no?
Yup, I will be back soon enough… After I burn all the Cals that I have gained from that creamy, buttery lobster sauce…

Pros:
1. Food — Booooomb! Ordered the linguine pescatore (i recommend this if you like seafood)
2. Service — Fantastic! Per request we were seated outside (no wait) and our waitress was very courteous. We waited no longer than 20 minutes maybe less for our food.
3. Location — right off of pch
Cons: None.
100% will be back!

Cucina alessa is one of my favorite places for Italian and they have an awesome happy hour. Their happy hour has small plate appetizers for only $ 5 per dish and they have drink specials as well. We were not offered complimentary bread for happy hour but that’s okay, I still really like this place. The customer service was awesome.

AMAZING FOOD!!! FAST SERVICE
so divine! kay was great!
so efficient and great service!
quaint little spot with amazing food
the prawn pasta is divine

Lived in NB all my life (for the most part) and I have never been here. Met a girlfriend for a bite to eat here after work… What an amazing place !!! Hands down the best Italian food I’ve ever had! It was so good, when I came home I told my son about my yummy meal, phoned the place and got him a to go order that we picked up 20 minutes after I got home! Over and above that, the service was great! Nice cosy atmosphere and really amazing food! I highly recommend! And I definitely will be going back!!!
Oh ps I had The ravioli type of dish with a mushroom sauce which was incredible!
THANK YOU!

came here because I wanted some pasta. it was Monday February 15, the day after vday so I made a reservation in case people decided to celebrate vday today instead of yest. turns out there was no wait so that’s good.
decided to sit outside because inside was loud. first thing I noticed is that this place is really compact and I don’t like restaurants like that. I like space!
— eggplant Parmesan $ 18 — it wasn’t on the menu but I always eat this appetizer every italian place I go. it’s pretty good here. I recommend it!
— linguine pescatore — mussels, clams, calamari, and shrimp sautéed in garlic white wine tomato sauce — this dish was okay. I wish the sauce was more thick. I should have asked for a side of marinara sauce and put it in. I recommend you do that if you like the sauce a little thick. this sauce was kinda watery. the thing I didn’t like about this is that it has a bit of a seafood after taste.
— rigatoni toscana — grilled chicken, sun-​dried tomatoes, mushroom, porcini cream sauce — I substituted the pasta for linguini instead. it tastes so much better this way. I also added sausages!
I noticed that the server didn’t really acknowledge me. like he would say «sir» this «sir» that but not once did he say «MA’AM» I didn’t like his customer service towards me at all.
when i ordered the rigatoni, I asked him to substitute it for linguini and it seems like he forgot or something. he didn’t come back for a while so I had to ask another server to call him for me.
when he came I was like «oh sorry but I asked for linguini instead» and he quickly said «oh ok» and took the dish away. he didn’t apologize or anything to me.
overall this place was okay but I won’t be back because I didn’t feel welcomed here.

Had an amazing meal here about a week ago. I come from an East Coast Italian family (my grandparents immigrated from Italy), and we had an italian restaurant for over a decade. Let me tell you, this is the best Italian food I have had in Southern California. It is a cozy little spot in Newport, great ambience.
We started out with the burrata, which was so good. For my main course, I had the chicken parm, and they let me substitute the side of pasta with one of their homemade pastas and an arrabiata sauce. Reminded me of my Nonna’s cooking. SO GOOD!!! Can’t wait to go back.

I’ve come here 3 times, and have had something of an inconsistent experience every time. I’d say it all probably averages out to a 4 though.
This last time I went, I had the best food experience of the 3 times I’ve been. It was a cold, rainy night. I was hankering for some warm pasta with marinara. Thankfully, the special of the night was pasta with bacon bits (hear me out), your choice of meat, over marinara sauce. I got mine with sausage. It was as savory as it sounds, and it was great. As a tough critic of Italian food, I was satisfied. The times I had a mixed experience w the food. I think from now on I’ll probably stick to the specials, since I had a good experience with that.
The service left something be desired. I’m fairly easy to please, but our server only came around once to fill up our waters, and we had to ask for the check. I get they don’t want to rush their customers, but this seemed more typical of disorganized, understaffed serving.

We have eaten here for dinner a few times and have never had anything we didn’t like. I have found it to be pretty difficult to find authentic, good Italian food in OC. This place is one of the closest things I’ve found to that in the area.
The pasta dishes are flavorful and the portions are good. Not too much so you feel overly full after eating, but definitely filling enough. I like the wine list as well. We’ve had some food Chianti here. The heirloom salad with burrata is really good and fresh! Definitely try it. Butternut squash ravioli is also excellent! They have it as an appetizer or entrée.
They have cannoli for dessert and while it isn’t the best I’ve ever had, it’s decent enough and I don’t see it on a lot of menus in OC italian restaurants.
Service has been good and quick when we’ve been here. It is a smaller restaurant and tables are pretty close together, so it does get noisy. It’s right off PCH and easy to find.

Oh Amore! This place is fantastico! I have heard so much about how delicious the food was here from my co-​workers, that we came here twice for lunch already, and it has been truly wonderful.
Some good advice from my Italian father-​n-​law in eating at an Italian restaurant is to find the most main important trait in Italian pastas dishes. The thing to look for is freshness. If the entrees on the menu seem too confusing or too detailed, and when you aren’t sure if you’re gonna like it or not, it may be fresh pasta or not. So when in doubt, go with the House Specials. This place offers unbelievably fresh and flavorful house specials, which I have already gone with it twice in coming here. From my experience, the pasta is fresh, presentable, and al dente.
The staff is friendly and attentive when we were here. I wish I wasn’t on the work clock, I would have enjoyed my pastas with an awesome glass of pinot noir or maybe the house chianti. oh well. Noted for next time! The house special of the risotto with three cheeses was to die for! Salty and buttery risotto and delectable cheeses. The house special of the Crab ravioli was amazing as well. Full of flavor and a very nice and creamy vodka sauce. Bellisima! A+ for creative dishes.
Perks: Wine list, very inviting menu for entrees, salads, soups and desserts. Romantic inside décor, and outdoor patio dining area.
Downside: Dining area seems small, but can be accommodating.
Awesome TIP: As mentioned, go with the house specials! Something new, different and tasty.
KNOW before you GO: This location in Newport is facing Coast Hwy. Parking may be full since its a small area, be patient for a spot to open up.
OverALL: O sole mio! Deliciously good food for good times. Great for a date night for two. I will be back again!

Came here for a date night, but it was so hard to enjoy the night.
There were belligerent drunk people yelling and cussing… yet they kept giving them more and more wine. I understand u can’t kick out someone and thst it’s a tricky thing, but it was so uncomfortable because there were families with young kids and everything.
Food was good but not great
Calamari is a No. Nothing special and not crispy
Cioppino was great! Added some linguini to make it a seafood pasta
Star of the restaurant was the mushrooms and cheese. Will upload pics!