Pesto

Everything was delicious and fresh. I had the Italian salad and margarita pizza and it was amazing, service was great and good prices. Highly recommend it!

It was so nice to finally get a chance to eat at Pesto! We had a dinner meeting with students from SDSU. Everyone loved the food, the service was excellent and the patio was perfect. The mushroom and ricotta pizza was absolutely perfect! We will be back very soon!

I needed a place to meet my nice for lunch a halfway kind of spot and Pesos tsounded really good so we picked it from the reviews. It was worth the drive! The food was great atmosphere was really nice. A little hidden secret I would give it 5 stars but the waitress didn’t know what a Italian soda was. So if I could give 4 ½ stars I would.
The infused olive oil was amazing kudos to the Margarita Pizza hard to find a good one my niece loves pesto and hers was great on her sandwich definitely will keep this restaurant in mind for our next stop out that way.

This is our first time. First of all to the review who complained that the server doesn’t understand English, «Learn Spanish!»
Get the Sangria, it’s made fresh in house.
We had linguini pescatore and fresh ravioli with Alfredo and one with meat sauce. Everything was excellent.
The best thing we had however was the fresh made bread with Chimichurri, a spicy olive oil and basil mix. The bread was hot, slightly toasted and the sauce should have been served in a glass with a straw it was so good.
The strip mall that it’s in leaves something to be desired, but it’s worth it! Don’t be afraid and come hungry!

Look– if you’re going to serve Italian food, perhaps educate your Latina workers as to what Italian food actually is. If I ask you about your ravioli and whether or not your have artichokes as an option… you shouldn’t be asking me what those things are, especially if they are on the menu! I think the problem here is that the people taking my order couldn’t comprehend English. That’s was a problem.

Wow, just wow. The food was absolutely horrendous. Downright inedible. We were the only ones in the restaurant, that should have been my first clue.
It was Mother’s Day and I wanted Italian for dinner. After reading all the great reviews we decided on eating at Pesto’s. Worst meal ever.
Mind you, I’m originally from NY, I know what Italian food should taste like. We started with the bread they served. It was excellent. We then ordered garlic bread and the chopped salad. The chopped salad was so small I couldn’t believe they charged $ 10 for it. The salad was average at best.
For the entrees we ordered spaghetti and meatballs, shrimp fra di ablo, and chicken piccata with pesto linguine on the side. This is why they get 1 star, at best. The chicken was tough and it was chicken medallions. Yuck. The pesto linguine was so dry it came up in a clump when you tried to twirl it around your fork. The shrimp and meatballs were inedible. The meatballs looked like they had been frozen for years and the shrimp tasted rancid. I’m cringing even thinking about the meal. We barely touched our plates and the waitress never even asked if there was a problem.
I didn’t complain or send the food back, which in hindsight, I should have. I paid over $ 60 for a meal I hated on Mother’s Day. Do not eat here. It truly was that bad.

This is a really great Italian restaurant! This was my first time coming here, and I didn’t know what to expect. But the chicken ravioli was amazing and the bread with olive oil was so delicious. Can’t wait to keep returning, since this is definitely an underrated place and the food is spectacular!

Friendly, quick and attentive service. I had the Linguini Carbonara and was yummy. We will be back!

This place is totally underrated. Everyone should check this place out and support good food coming from a small restaurant, this is not a chain. The food is delicious. The bread is soft warm and yummy. The Fresh bread is hard to beat with the sauce that tastes likes it comes from the Argentinian steak house. The food came out in great time and looks just like the pictures and it smells and tastes like a five star restaurant in San Francisco. (I lived their for 12 years in downtown SF). Enjoy.

I’ve been eating Pesto’s since I heard they existed :) I walked in expecting the food to have a taste close to Olive Garden. I wouldn’t know any better I’m not Italian lol but let me tell you it’s nothing like that. First of all the service is great and the food I can’t even find the right words to describe how I truly feel about it. AMAZING!
Anyway this place is my FAVORITE! So this weekend I had them cater my party. First of all the pricing was great and affordable! I got 2 amazing salads Caesar salad which is my favorite, mango salad which was soooo tasty and delicious. 2 pastas Cappellini pasta and Primavera pasta. Breads and Chimichurri sauce. I knew it was going to be a success but I didn’t expect that ALL my 30 guests were going to be in love with the food. You know it’s hard to please people but thanks to Pesto it was a piece of cake. Every single one of my guest told me how amazing the food was. To bad I forgot to ask them to put business cards in my trays for my guests to take.
They made my party a success with the food. I couldn’t thank them enough! I had so much food some people took plates home and everyone had seconds. Which was great! If you haven’t tried this place please do your self a favor and give them a try.

My search for the best Calzone is concluded. Pesto makes the perfect Calzone. You order what you like in it and 12 minutes later a huge Calzone comes out just the way you wanted. I should have added Jalapenos as it was in need of some heat. It was good enough for 3 people or 2 big eaters. I was surprised that only a couple of people were dining in there. If this place was on the West side there would be a wait.
I will be back.

The food was delicious. We had the pizza Margarita and Milanese sandwich. The bread was better than any other place I’ve eaten at lately and don’t gorget to try the chimichurri sauce… yum.
I will come again for sure… I like to support local business so if you live in the south Torrance area you should stop by…

I’ve order food from this mom & pops restaurant several times and really enjoyed it. The food quality is good and the prices are reasonable. This is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the area. Great flavors. They also deliver, which is fantastic.

This place rocks! It’s a very specific take on Italian food. Similar to Alejo’s that used to be on Lincoln Ave.
Everything here tastes amazing, the menu has just about every Italian specialty i can think of, and there even have optional Gluten Free pasta. The service is great as well. Fast and with a smile. A real hidden gem for Italian food enthusiasts.

Great pizza. Nice to find a good pizza place in Torrance. Friendly staff and customers. Coming here again!

Finally we have a real Italian restaurant in Torrance. The food is very delicious well worth the price. Pesto pasta was to die for. Very filling make sure to add the chicken.

I tried their meatball sandwich which I think is a base measurement of the quality of an Italian restaurant.
The bread, which many places don’t realize is a very important part, was outstanding. The meatballs and sauce were both very good. The cheese I think they went the cheap route because it didn’t have that buttery flavor a good mozzarella has.
Overall it was good and I’d definitely return to try other dishes.

Simple, but delicious Italian food!
Came for lunch with a friend, only to find that the place was empty. Wish that more people knew about this place!
The starter bread was amazing: soft, slightly chewy, and piping hot. The olive oil dipping sauce went really well with it– wished that I could’ve asked for more of the bread!
Ordered the Florentine Pizza and Linguine Carbonara. The pizza dough was actually homemade, and I liked the fact that it could hold up the weight of the toppings, without becoming greasy and soggy. The crust also had some bite to it, which is always a plus.
Linguine Carbonara was good, even though it was simple. The pasta actually looked more like spaghetti, rather than linguine, but in any case was al dente and just right. Nothing but good old comfort food.
Prices are reasonable for the amount of food you get there (a single pizza can easily feed two people). Service was courteous and pleasant. Solid homemade Italian food; more people need to know about this place! Go check it out!

Pesto is a new, locally owned Italian café on the north side of Pacific Coast Highway in a shopping center with an odd assortment of establishments. The décor has not changed much from the string of Mexican eateries that have previously occupied the spot — the same benches and tables that are prone to falling over if you lean or push on them (because nothing is permanently installed) and the same sunny walls that are meant to look like a hacienda with cacti and bright flowers. The owner is doing what he can… he is putting white butcher paper on some tables and white linen tablecloths on others… to make it feel more «Italian.» They don’t have their liquor license yet, but they hope to be able to serve beer and wine after the 7÷23÷14 hearing.
Except for the pasta, everything on the menu appears to be housemade, and it is impressive. First, you will have delightful little garlic rolls that come to the table in a paper lined plastic basket with a fresh and fruity olive oil with tons of chopped fresh herbs and garlic. This was absolutely outstanding. The bread was like ciabatta flavored with garlic that had excellent mouth appeal.
For the LO, we ordered a piece of sausage pizza ($ 2.99 versus $ 10 for the whole thing). Impressive! They essentially make you a mini-​slice sized pizza from their FRESH, HOUSEMADE dough and top it with marinara, mozzarella and sliced sausage. Gourmet, it is not, but it is well-​executed and super fresh. You can taste that this dough was made this morning. The pizza was also perfectly cooked — crisp around the edges with no soggy bites. LO devoured it.
I ordered the chicken marsala ($ 13.99) with the sauteed veggies (rather than the pasta or potato options, but you can do a split of the sides too). Delicious! The veggies were a mélange of thinly sliced carrots and zucchini with bits of broccoli. While a little underseasoned, they were perfectly cooked and sweet, and I appreciate that they did not suffer from over-​seasoning. I easily added a little pepper and grated Parmesan at the table to liven them up. The chicken was the real highlight — white chicken medallions that are tenderized (VERY FEW do this properly, but they do it right here) are served in a perfectly seasoned marsala sauce with loads of sauteed, sliced mushrooms. Very good.
DM ordered the chicken piccata ($ 13.99) with sauteed veggies and pesto pasta (they let you pick your sauce for your pasta, if you ask). This was the absolute star at the table. The pesto pasta was well cooked — just a bit past al dente — and the sauce was flavorful. The veggies were wonderful. The chicken was OUTSTANDING. While the dish was missing capers (my only criticism), the sauce had an intense lemon flavor that was perfectly seasoned and had a generous amount of fresh chopped parsley and garlic. I highly recommend this dish.
For dessert, we each ordered a piece of the tiramisu ($ 5). The tiramisu is housemade. It is good but definitely not the best that I have ever had. The ladyfingers on the base were not soaked in rum, so they were really dry. Also, there was WAY too much cocoa on the top. That being said, when I dusted the surplus cocoa off the top (you can tell that the shaker got away from the chef when he made it) and when I pulled the dry ladyfingers out from under it, it was very tasty.
The service here was great. The hostess/​waitress/​busser is very friendly and bustles. Because we were one of four tables plus a to-​go order, she was VERY busy. It would be a real problem if all of their tables (two 2-​tops, four 4-​tops and one 6-​top) were full, because she could not cover them all at one time. I hope that they add another server as their business grows.
For family friendly Italian cuisine, Pesto cannot be beat. The food is FAR SUPERIOR to Vince’s or Buca di Beppo, and the people are just lovely. Come check Pesto out!

Pesto is a small mom and pop Italian eatery takes the place of a string of failed Mexican restaurants in this small PCH strip mall. I decided to stop by on my way home on a lark. The place was empty. I nearly just grabbed a To-​go menu and bolted but the hostess/​waitress talked me into staying for their Monday all-​you-​can-​eat special for $ 9.99.
I ordered a chopped Italian salad which tasted fine although I may need a magnifying glass to see the bits of salami. I think I would’ve been disappointed if I ordered this a la carte at $ 9.99.
The Caesar salad had fresh romaine, was slightly overdressed, but what I liked about it were the large shards of Parmesan (tasted like domestic parm to me).
I was brought out a toasted dinner roll with a nice herbaceous oil dip next to it.
The linguini aglio e olio tasted fine. The linguini may have been the thinnest linguini I’ve ever eaten. I was happy that the garlic, while in big chunks, was soft and mellow and not harsh (which was my experience at the Appetizer eatery in the next strip mall over).
The spaghetti with meat sauce was homey. It tasted fine too. It wasn’t the most mind blowing sauce I’ve had but I was happy to see meat in the meat sauce (beef per the menu).
The pepperoni pizza… How would I describe it? The crust is a medium thickness with a nice crust and char on the bottom. The menu lists it as being made with homemade dough. I can believe it. The pepperoni itself was standard. Where the pizza could use some help is the sauce quantity and cheese. Less sauce would be a good idea. There was too much. The cheese was the shredded type, in good quantity, and it was gooey, but there was a bit of an oil slick which isn’t my thing and the cheese didn’t have any brown spots. Yes, I realize this isn’t Pizzeria Mozza.
I have to hand it the place. I think they were making everything to order which may be an issue if this place gets packed. Who knows?
They also offer Alfredo and carbonara options but I didn’t partake. I was too full.
Will I be back? Probably since the location is convenient and they offer whole wheat pasta (and Gluten free too).
The Monday AYCE option was a helluva deal. You should probably call before coming to make sure it’s still going on.
Welcome to the hood, Pesto.