Grotta di Fuoco — Restaurant in City of Long Beach

I was excited to try this place based on all the positive reviews and friend's recommendations. To start, parking is almost impossible. After driving for 10 minutes, I finally found a spot. Next time I'll Uber it. The hostess that greeted us was smiling and welcoming and seated us immediately. I was a little surprised to find the restaurant half full on a Sunday night given it was a holiday weekend. We had tried to go a few weeks earlier but they were full. Our waitress was very nice, we were a table of 8. She told us about the specials which I ordered which was a pasta in mushroom broth with cauliflower. I also ordered the eggplant fries and split the kale and brussel sprout salad. The salad was excellent, the eggplant fries were mostly good but despite being well fried, a few fries were chewy and hard to eat. The dipping sauce was too spicy, I would have preferred a nice marinara or horseradish dipping sauce instead. The main course tasted very fresh and the broth was nice but one of the mushrooms was gritty and clearly not well washed. That just shouldn't happen. The courses came a little slowly given how uncrowded the restaurant was and a few times it was difficult to find our waitress, which I thought was weird considering the size of the restaurant. I had to hint her down to get a drink refill. We ordered dessert but for some reason, they just forgot about my dessert and for 10 minutes, I couldn't get the attention of the staff to find out where it was. I finally got another waitress to come over and get the dessert I ordered. It was a little awkward to eat dessert after everybody already finished. One other thing, the restaurant had live music, a violin and guitar, which was actually very nice. Could be we were there on an off night. I would try it again, I see the potential. Others at my table...

Rude, Condescending Bartender and Zero Customer Service – Won’t Be Returning

We visited on Monday, August 5, looking forward to trying a new neighborhood spot after recently moving in just down the block. Unfortunately, the experience was disappointing from the start, due entirely to a rude and condescending bartender who clearly lacked any sense of hospitality.

We started with wine. The first bottle we requested was unavailable, so we asked for another. She glanced at the menu and replied, in a smug tone, “Oh, it’s a price point.” Unnecessarily condescending!

When we asked about the daily special, a pizza with an egg, we were curious how the egg was served. Her response? “Oh, it’s just an egg.” No description, no context, just dismissive and uninterested.

We then asked about the four pasta dishes on the menu and whether any were particularly good. She snapped back, “If it wasn’t good, it wouldn’t be on the menu.” When asked for more detail, she simply said she’s gluten-free and doesn’t like eggplant. That’s fine, but if you’re working the bar and taking orders, basic menu knowledge and customer engagement are part of the job.

On top of all that, she repeatedly reminded us that “bar seats are set in twos.” We understood, we were already a set of two, but she kept saying it like we were breaking some major rule. It was unnecessary and irritating.

As for the food: the baby gem salad was average at best, and the pasta was served overly al dente—borderline undercooked. And yet, my girlfriend still left over a 20% tip just to avoid being as rude as the bartender had been throughout our visit.

Customer service from this bartender was an absolute zero. She’d be better suited behind the scenes rather than interacting with guests. Unfortunately, despite the promising location, we won’t...

IT WAS SO DELICIOUS WE WENT BACK THE NEXT EVENING Earlier this week we reserved a table to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary It was our first visit to Grotta I had spied Grotta over the last few years as we would drive to and from our beach club In the evening it always looked so cozy with tables outsides topped with lanterns. A warm greeting at the door by Sophia and taken to our table where we met Kristin our waitperson. On Kristin’s recommendation we had grilled octopus that had 2 toppings - a pistachio pesto and another made with squid ink totally delicious! After reading rave reviews about the gnocchi we ordered that and the veal chop Milanese. Since we were sharing, the kitchen staff plated our order. The veal chop was so large when it arrived I couldn’t believe it was only half of the chop. The gnocchi and pesto sauce were scrumptious. The veal chop had just the right amount of breading and was topped with a tasty arugula salad with a tangy vinegar dressing that was the perfect compliment to the melt-in-your-mouth veal chop. Since we couldn’t decide on one dessert, we had 2 - the buddino (pudding) - something one rarely finds on a menu, as well as the affogato. Both delicious! And we were happy to get to meet Andrew, the chef-owner. An affable, knowledgeable young guy with obviously an incredible culinary talent. The wood-fired oven also caught our eye. So……the next evening we ordered a delicious pizza - the Diavola- which was recommended by Eva, another of the waitstaff crew. The pizza had a thin, delicious crust and the spicy toppings were a perfect flavor and “heat.” We also had the arugula and fennel salad with roasted pine nuts and a toasted Parmesan crumble - a perfect compliment to the heat of the pizza. Don’t miss dining at Grotta!...