Trattoria Trullo — Restaurant in Aliso Viejo

6/28/25: We came back just because ... 😍. Arancini: delicious, crispy on the outside and super creamy moist in the inside. Flavors are spot on including the sauce. Peach and Burrata Salad was very good but not THE salad that you will keep talking about. Sword fish: cooked perfectly and still moist tender, not dry at all. Quite expensive just for small portion of fish with caponata "relish" for $36. Spaghetti pomodoro was tasty, well balanced with bright acidity but not overwhelming tomato sauce, fresh with a touch of sweetness, subtle garlic and basils, and the richness of VOO. Tiramisu was perfect this time, light and creamy but not runny like the first time I had. Rebust espresso flavor. However, i still prefer abit more cocoa powder on top, just another dimension of richness... Vanilla and chocolate gelato was a hit and miss. The vanilla was delicious, creamy but light with real vanilla beans. The chocolate was hard so not creamy at first sight. The taste and texture were not exactly the gelato texture I expected. I wouldn't enjoy it without the vanilla one.

It was always great to see chef Marco coming by our table. Thankyou!

4/19/25: So after our first visit, we wanted to come back but brought our friends to celebrate her birthday. The food, the service were consistently great, our friends were blown away.

With 4 of us, I had to have the fungi risotto in the Parmigiano wheel. And boy, I was so satisfied. The risotto was cooked perfectly, creamy with so earthy mushroom flavor, of course the star was the Parmigiano chunks from the wheel, so creamy and flavorful, not salty at all. It was as delicious as you would taste at the Parmigiano factory in Parma. I could just eat this risotto and call it the day. By the way, no need to add truffle, just simply amazing without.

The Branzino fish dish was so fresh and moist, simply delicious.

The lemon madilli pasta was as amazing as I had last month.

The Bolognese rigatoni dish was packed with flavors and well balanced.

The meatballs were amazing with flavors in bright but not so acidic tomato sauce.

Emily, our server was awesome as well as the staff. Great to chef Marco again to serve us the risotto. 🥰

Any way, we left with happiness. Definitely, this restaurant is the gem in our neighborhood.

3/5/25: I am a sucker for authentic Italian food, especially learned chef Marco from Puglia and the restaurant is 10' away so here we went.

Super Tuscan Tenuta Leoni: pretty good, got plenty of red fruits, not super dry or tannic, bouquet aromas. Pugliese was very moist and spongy. Gotta order the pistachio basil ricotta spread to go with it. Delicious. Mandilli with lemon cream was absolutely delicious, very lemony in both flavor and taste, very velvety. The basil "sauce" got lost because of lemony flavor. The homemade handkerchief pasta was to die for, so soft and silky. It was as good as the real deal in Genoa. The Lasagna plate looked gorgeous but I didn't get to try that night because of the Ash Wednesday but I did taste the leftover tonight, it was abit salty, didn't find "any" bechamel... however, good flavors and silky homemade lasagna pasta. The Insalata "Acqua Sale" was delicious, very refreshing. Tiramisu was a bit of disappointment. The cake seemed not to hold up its shape on the plate. The Mascarpone cream layer was grainny and runny. At first I thought it was prepared with ricotta but after confirmed with the waitress, it was made of Mascarpone, egg yolks and whites. Being grainny and runny is a different story. However, the lady fingers layer was spot on, so robust with the real espresso flavor and taste.

Our waitress was great. Chef Marco brought salad to our table so gotta interact with him. That was really great. We definitely will come back, both for the real Italian food and want to...

This is already in the top 3 Italian restaurants in Orange County.

The chef (Marco) was formerly the top dog at the Italian restaurant at Pelican Hill. He's from Puglia Italy (the region at the heel) and the restaurant has several dishes from that area.

I love the hamachi crudo. Very well prepared with beautiful colors and lots of texture. If you are an Instagram fan, this is a dish you need to order and photograph.

Carpaccio is also amazing. So thin. Terrific frisee and arugula. The lemon vinaigrette was perfect. Just that terrific combination of salad with a tiny bit of savory from the meat and thinly sliced cheese.

We've also had the focaccia with burrata which was a miracle. Crunch on the outside. Soft and rich on the inside. Fantastic.

The pastas and mains here are incredible as well.

I love the orecchiette with broccoli rabe sauce. This is a classic dish from Puglia and it was spectacular. First, the orecchiette are hand made in house (which is a major pain to do). The sauce was perfect. A puree of the rabe and some very good pecorino. I know that this sounds like a weird vegetarian dish but trust me it's very, very savory. Puglia has not exactly been the wealthiest region in Italy so centuries of very good Puglian chefs created very tasty dishes that didn't use expensive meats. This is as tasty as any meat dish - trust me. There are (not very) spicy breadcrumbs on top to add a bit of balance and crunch. A masterpiece of a dish.

My wife has had the Branzino several times. It is always perfectly seasoned. Perfectly cooked. You can tell that you are getting food prepared by an Italian born chef with enough skill to work at one of the top hotel restaurants in Orange County.

The Pork Bombette was a surprise. I thought that it would be braised but they grill it to order, which is quite tricky. Wow! An explosion of pork flavor. They stuff thinly sliced pork with ground pork, spices and cheese and it's cooked until just done so the pork remains juicy. And none of the pork juices in the middle escape because they are sealed within this pouch made of the pork meat. It's almost like eating Xiao Luong Bao. It's served on this perfect salad with lemon vinaigrette. A couple of smashed potatoes on the side. This is worth a trip to eat. I ran to the back after dinner to thank the chef who cooked it - it was that good!

Desserts were fun and interesting. Almond cake with fruit and the Italian version of cherry cream pie which I liked a lot. Most people will get the Tiramisu which I'm sure is great.

Service was friendly and professional. Very casual decor. The wine list is short but very intelligently selected. I’ve had the Chardonnay and Negroamaro from Puglia. Both were very good and...

My friend brought me to Trattoria Trullo for dinner. I love Italian! She was raving about the chef and owner who hails from Italy. He worked in other high end restaurants before starting his own.

I first ordered wine (I’m not a wine drinker) so I got a dessert wine Santa Cristina Vin Santo. It’s very sweet and that’s why they only serve it in 2oz. It was the perfect amount and delicious.

Our server, Jordan was very knowledgeable on the menu, specials of the day, how almost every item on the menu is made fresh each day on site, (including the homemade pasta), and the history of the chef and the restaurant. He recommended the Focaccia Pugliese paired with the imported Apulian Burrata. I can honestly say I have never tasted a better focaccia. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The salt and other seasoning on the surface, was an explosion of delight at each bite. Pairing it with the amazing Burrata cheese was divine.

I love most pastas, but my go to is lasagna. Their Lasagna Classica looked beautiful upon arrival. When I took my first bite, I looked over at my friend with a surprise on my face. The flavors, texture, and ingredients were perfection. My friend thought I was going to cry it was that good. It demanded to be eaten slowly to savor each bite.

We topped it off with some chef-made gelato which was the perfect ending to a perfect meal.

We frequently spoke to the GM, Jill who was delightfully, friendly, and full of spunk.

I can’t wait to go back and take family and friends to also discover and enjoy this amazing restaurant for the food and...