Galletto Bar & Grill

Goodbye to a restaurant we have frequented for over 20 years. We have so many great memories of wonderful food, caring service and great music. Thank you John, Santino, Vera and everyone for the best of times. We will miss Galletto but will see you at Farfalla. Sadly Galletto closed on June 18.

We were told about the great happy hour and once we came in signs were on the door saying they were closing. They were out of several items we ordered. I ended up with the shrimp pasta special. It was good, heavy on the garlic. The bread was good and my coworkers somewhat enjoyed their meals.

This was one of my favorite places to go. UNTIL IT CLOSED DOWN!!! I loved their penne santino, I fact my whole family loved to have dinner there. I know that this review is technically useless due to it closing down, but the same person who owned this place owns another place called farfalla. This place is pretty much as good as Galleto. The pasta is done right, and their pizza is TO DIE FOR.

Great food and superb service. The food is always fresh and tasty. Great portions and very tasty food. Service is by employees who have worked there for years. They are so sweet and attentive with a great sense of humor. Outside seating is very nice. Hear there is a band on weekends.

I’m only giving this place 3 stars because I thought the food was really good. The service was really really bad, the waitress did not understand us and we ended up waiting until 1030 to even get food. We were there for 3 hrs, unhappy waiting!
Lame lame lame!

I haven’t read all the lower star reviews but read enough to wonder if I was eating at the same place as those reviewers.
See my review from 2010… I could repeat it here based on dinner tonight with a vendor. Still delicious.
I got the Xixo Misto with black beans & rice, again! I just couldn’t help it.
The beef & chicken are juicy, tender, well seasoned & chargrilled nicely, the garlicky chimichurri is a perfect accompaniment & the rice n beans round out the plate nicely. That being said, I’d prefer the beans in a small bowl & the rice molded in a ramekin/​turned out onto the plate so they don’t cool off so quickly.
Some have said the Xixo Misto is lacking in portion size. I took home half of my plate so for me it was generous (3 to 4 muliti-​bite pieces of each proten, in addition to chunks of tomatoes, peppers & onion).
For this meal, I added a house salad. The mixed greens were very fresh, perfectly dressed and topped with a couple roasted veggies — there could have been a more but it was still tasty.
One of the people in our party ordered the Tortiglioni with mushrooms in a pink cream sauce & I had a taste. The pasta dish was creamy, comforting & perfect for a drizzly night like tonight.
I really need to come here more often. The servers are attentive without hovering so you don’t feel rushed plus it’s local, tasty & has a very cozy feel.

Great food, great service! Vera will make sure you get what you need to make your experience perfect! She is on top of it, and makes you feel like a very special guest. We highly recommend giving Galleto a try!

Just walking around the stripmall and found this restaurant after shopping at sprouts… I had the clams vongolle very good can’t complain good portion. wife had chicken and cheese empanadas as she wasn’t very hungry … was very good and empanadas done to perfection and not too much cheese… perfect for one person with a small appetite. Good service
$ 65.00 plus tips that night including 2 glasses of good house cab wine.

Two things I liked about this place: generous wine pours and the ambience, but THAT’S IT.
The service:
Our waitress/​the bartender tried to come off as funny in a cold kind of way the whole time. Did we find it amusing? No, it was rude and actually annoyed my dad greatly (which I, in turn, found amusing). An example — My dad asked for two waters and with no response, she walked away, got two waters, and put them in front of us, all without making eye contact, smiling, or talking. We both looked at each other and said, «She does a very good job of making you feel like you don’t exist.» The last quality you want in a waitress.
Now, take my review of the food with a grain of salt, as (other than the Caesar Salad) we ordered off of the happy hour menu.
CAESAR SALAD WITH CHICKEN: Can you mess up a Caesar salad? No, not really. Can you make it average at best? Yes, yes you definitely can and this salad was average at best with its unappetizing chicken and burnt and bland slices of what I think was supposed to be garlic bread.
MARGARITA PIZZA: Not so much a pizza. More a very thin piece of bread with only cheese. Where was the sauce, you ask. I don’t know, we were wondering the same thing.
CHICKEN EMPANADAS: Let’s just say, I took one tiny bite of this and put the rest down. Cheese was nowhere to be found, making the the filling composed of, yet again, unappetizing chicken.
BURRATA NAPOLETANA: Unnecessarily thick slices of bread with a generous mountain of tomatoes and the tiniest bit of burrata that I probably needed a microscope in order to find. Kidding. (Kinda)
Will I be coming back? Definitely not.

My husband and I never miss stopping at Galletto for a meal while traveling from our Santa Barbara home to points south or on our way back. We stopped by the other day and shock!.. the door was locked for lunch. We were too late. But wait, our favorite wait person, Vera, opened the door and asked if we wanted to stay for lunch if she could get the kitchen fired up again. Sure enough, we were welcomed in and treated royally. I love the Pasta Norma, which Vera remembered and she had my Margarita to me just the way I like it in minutes. My husband varies his meals and drinks and they are always delicious and fresh.
If I could only get them to open a Galletto North in Montecito or Santa Barbara, I would be so very happy. Until then we will continue to visit and tell our friends what a great hidden gem this is.

Horrible food and the dessert was obviously frozen before served. Will never eat here again

After my last experience here, I will definitely rethink ever going back! We went for happy hour and the hostess told us we could sit at any of the «high tops», at the bar, or outside, Since it was hot outside, we opted for a high top instead of the 90 degree heat or the crammed bar. After sitting there for a few minutes, the hostess comes over and tells us we can’t sit there because it’s «reserved». Ummm, really? There’s no reserved sign on it and it’s a high top that YOU said we could sit at. She just said we had to move without any offer of a free appetizer or similar for the inconvenience. I said we’d gladly move if they comped us a round of drinks or something but she just kept saying «NO».
We opted to leave and I asked for the managers business card on the way out and instead she said I could speak with him right then and marched back to him and started LYING to him about what happened and saying that she never said we could sit there. I explained what happened with the hostess standing right there, shaking her head no at everything I said. What happened to the «CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT?» And the manager didn’t jump in and say something like «Oh I’m so sorry, let me make this right right away, etc»…after a few minutes of banter back and forth he finally said «oh ok you can sit there» like he was doing me a favor with no other offers. I said «No thanks — there are plenty of other places we can spend money.» And we left because apparently they like money walking out the door.
Such a shame because I really enjoyed my past visit. The hostess and Friday night manager should really learn some customer service or GET OUT OF THE SERVICE INDUSTRY!!!

Love, love this place. Great food, service and ambiance. The bruschetta is off the hook.

I pass by Galletto all the time and since I’m a sucker for outdoor seating and market lights I couldn’t wait to go there on a date night with my husband! Unfortunately, we were super disappointed. As expected, the ambiance was fantastic. You feel like you’re a million miles away from Westlake with that romantic patio seating. If you prefer more of an upbeat vibe, inside is a bit dressier and they have live music. The drinks are also fantastic! We had three rounds of jalapeño margaritas and mango martinis. So delicious! Unfortunately, the service and food left much to be desired. Here’s what we had:
Tuna tartare (HH menu, ¹⁄₅ stars): not fresh at all. What’s the point of tuna tartare if it’s not fresh and instead is heavily seasoned? We each took one bite and left the rest. The garlic bread it comes with is delicious.
Bruschetta burrata (HH menu, ²⁄₅ stars): you can’t mess up bruschetta but I’d suggest skipping this as the burrata is skimpy and tomatoes not very fresh.
Brazilian chicken (¹⁄₅ stars): we each took one bite and couldn’t eat it. Very fatty, seemed undercooked, and just overall unappetizing. All the waiters raved about this dish so maybe it was just us?
Risotto (⁴⁄₅ stars): we were big fans of this dish but maybe just in comparison to everything else? They bring out a huge cheese round and ask if you’d like light, medium or heavy cheese. We got medium and it was perfect. If you’re a risotto fan this is one to try!
Pesto mozzarella pizza (³⁄₅ stars): on the more oily side but not too bad.
1 star for ambiance and 1 star for drinks. Maybe food and service was an off night? Go for the drinks and patio seating!

I visited Galetto’s recently, as as you probably have guessed, was less than impressed with the subpar food and lousy service. This allegedly «nice» restaurant was awful, and currently ranks as one of the worst dining experiences of my life.
Now I will get to the «meat and potatoes» of this review, except I feel terrible using that metaphor, as real meat and potatoes would have been a welcome substitution for the joke of a meal that was presented to us for our main entrée.
The Brazilian skewer meal was basically a bad joke from start to finish; apart from taking 30 mins to get to us, when it finally arrived I was literally shocked at what was on the plate.
A small amount of boiled spinach, corn that looked like it had just called out of a Green Giant can, some bizarre pic de gallo mix, a few lousy roast potatoes and some dreadful meat and chicken (don’t worry I’ll explain that part next) was what constituted the $ 25 dinner. The portion was so small it looked barely bigger than a kids meal, and basically appeared like it was a microwaveable dinner that hadn’t been cooked properly.
This begs the question, why exactly did it take so long to cook? Could the «chef» not find his can opener for the corn? Did someone forget how to use the microwave again? Was the server too busy flirting with her regular customers, that she forgot the whole «serving» portion of her occupation criteria?
Now for the meat. Do you know that situation when you buy meat from the grocery store, and forget to cook it, so that it passes it sell by date slightly, and turns from red to brownish? (Westlake Village patrons may have to ask their personal cooks regarding this issue). Yet despite being brown, and smelling slightly off, you decide to cook it anyway, since it’s just for you own consumption? Well, that’s pretty much what the chefs at Galetto’s like to do. Except they serve the food to customers and charge them an exorbitant amount for the «service» of doing so. The meat smelled very strongly of being borderline cheap steak that was currently watching it’s sell by date in the rear view mirror, and it’s completely audacious how this restaurant had the gall to serve it to us.
The outdoor seating was nice enough, but that level of cooking is inexcusable. The only reason I can think of why it is so busy is due to the regular customers who come here to feast on the crappy food so they have something to talk about at the country club the next day. They must seriously be living in la-​la land if they think this food is actually edible, let alone «good». One to avoid.

It’s time for an updated review. It’s been nearly 4 years since I’ve written the previous review, and when I did, I was just discovering my «review voice», so it was basic and not very creative.
Lunch and Dinner is an entirely different experience. Lunch, quiet and nice. Dinner, loud and vibrant. For the latter, if you want to have a conversation, make reservations for the patio. It’s an excellent choice for a casual date, group outing, or for business lunches and dinners. I have done all of the above, and out-​of-​towners seem to really enjoy themselves, as do I. What helps is that happy hour is M-​Th (4p-​8p), and Fri (5p-​8p). Giddy up.
The menu is a mixture of Italian and Brazilian; pastas and meats are the specialties of the house. They also have a wonderful salads and seafood. You really can’t go wrong with anything. They’ve been open for 10+ years, so the items have been fully vetted. It’s a little pricey.
I recommend:
1. Risotto Al Fungi ($ 22.95, 5.0 stars) — Rolling on a cart with wheels to your table, the risotto is inside of a HUGE 80 pound parmesan cheese-​wheel. They will ask if you want it light, medium, or heavy cheese, and scoop out the risotto with the amount of your requested cheese. This is a sight and a great experience.
2. Bife Buenos Aires ($ 20.95, 4.5 stars) — Grilled skirt steak, with black beans and rice (or roasted potatoes).
3. Braziribs ($ 25.95, 4.5 stars) — Braised beef short ribs (super tender and lean), served with cilantro mashed potatoes.
4. Salad Bahiana ($ 21.95, 4.5 stars) — grilled scallops and shrimp, corn, feta, avocado, white beans, tortilla strips, with a great dressing and served with plantains.
To add to the food and the energy, they have live music at night (Fri/​Sat) and offer a full bar with some drafts. Service is good and professional each and every time I’ve been. It’s hard to fathom being sad coming here, it’s all good.

How disgraceful and desperate can a, restaurant be to charge a fee for splitting a salad?
I could not believe it when my friend told me what this waiter had tracked on to the bill.
My company entertains a lot with over 309 employees and we have never had any place in Westlake Village Or, Agoura do something so shady or low class. T He Prices Are EXTREAMLY High But This CHARGE Was Simply stupid!
Please don’t think there are no better places. there are. quieter and with a lot more class…

Happy hour until 8 which is a huge perk!
$ 4 beer. Varied selection
$ 8 beef carpaccio. Good carpaccio at an amazing price.
$ 7 calamari. Average no complaints although I wish aoli vs marinara. Good for the price.
$ 9 tuna tartar. Good.
Ceviche was fresh and flavorful. It comes with chips and guacamole
On the other hand I came for lunch and I thought it was just ok.
Nice classy interior. In newly remodeled plaza so they don’t have a sign yet so it was hard to find. No wait on a mon night
Will come again!

Great place for happy hour (they offer it on the weekends, too!). They have a great variety of drinks ($ 4-​$ 9) and food ($ 6-​$ 9) options. HH is available outside, too.
Sangria was meh, but the other drinks were solid (caipirinha, gin martini). All the food we ordered was tasty. The stracciatella (burrata with plum jam, walnuts, and balsamic served with crostini) was really delicious! Unusual, lots of flavors. The pesto pizza was great, with an ultra thin, cripsy crust.
Now I’m tempted to come back to try dinner!

I am so down for a place out here that isn’t a cookie-​cutter chain restaurant. And Italian-​Brazilian cuisine? Sweet.
We started with the CEVICHE BRASILEIRA, which is meant to be shared. There’s diced mahi-​mahi, scallops and shrimp marinated in fresh lime juice, cilantro, green onions and Brazilian malagueta pepper, and it’s served with guacamole and tortilla chips. For our entrée, we split one of the specials (also meant for two people), the RIBEYE ALLA NAPOLETANA, a juicy, 18 oz. mesquite grilled prime beef ribeye topped with a grilled tomato and melted burrata mozzarella, and served with soft polenta and spinach. It was plenty… and I had left-​overs which were still fantastic the next day. I was on my own for dessert and had their special MANGO MOUSSE CAKE and a CAPPUCCINO. The cake was slightly sweet and very light and it was the perfect end to our meal.
There’s indoor seating and an outdoor patio. It’s definitely quieter outside, plus it’s heated. On weekends, it gets loud inside with music and dancing. My friend had mentioned that this place attracts a cougar-​ish crowd. But I had to see it for myself. And yep, there were the ladies dancing with the much younger male staff.