Buon Gusto — Restaurant in Huntington Beach

No-frill Italian restaurant ("trattoria") in Huntington Beach, located near Valley View and Warner (on Warner). Don't expect 100% authenticity, as this is more of an Italian-American restaurant than an absolutely authentic Italian one. Which means large plates (i.e. large portions), lots of cheese, lots of tomato sauce, etc. That, however, doesn't mean it's not a good restaurant: it's just another style, one that actually many Americans prefer.

In fact, the food is quite good. Not spectacular, but good. And prices are reasonable, meaning that the bang for your buck is pretty high. I had the "pastora" (shepherd-style) penne, which is pasta with tomato sauce, ricotta, mushrooms, sausages, and a ton of cheese on top. Authentic? Not really, but definitely creative. It's like a baked "boscaiola" (pasta with cream sauce, mushrooms, and sausages) with a tomato sauce in place of the cream. It was very tasty, and I enjoyed it, despite having a tad too much tomato sauce and cheese (like I said, Italian-American style). My wife had the "melanzane alla parmigiana" (eggplant parmesan), which I also sampled. They came with a side of spaghetti with meat sauce (once again, a traditional Italian-American way to serve this dish). Also quite tasty, and I particularly liked the meat sauce (for the record, you can also order this dish with marinara sauce, if you prefer).

For dessert, we split a Tiramisu. Not the best I've ever had (if that's what you want, buy a flight ticket to Italy...), but --once again-- pretty good. And, I should add, better than what's served at some much more expensive restaurants in the area).

Service was prompt and corteous, and the restaurant was very clean.

All in all, a very positive experience and definitely a great value...

Super good food! Great service. Good beer,wine. Best thing not at all expensive. Our two entrees plus two to go $62.00. Great menu. Way too hard to choose. Authentic Italian with nothing but fresh ingredients. A must to return!

We've been there at least 2 dozen times, and 99% of the time were very happy with the food and service. Today, February 15th, not so much. We were there when they were opening. It appeared there was a new staff on hand. There were no servers we've ever seen. At the time we entered there was only 1 other party. We asked to give us a minute to order but it was more like 10 mins.

Our food was not the same as we were accustomed to. Our pasta was borderline cold. My sauce and meatball was hot but not the pasta on my wives' order as well. It took a lot more time time than usual to get our food, considering the restaurant was not too busy. We were first to order. We asked for bread, and our server replied it was coming out, assuming out from the oven. When it came to our table, the bread wasn't even hot enough to melt the butter. The 2nd order of bread was hot.

When we finished eating we waited another 10 mins for our server to see if we needed a to-go box. We didn't want to wait for our check, so we handed our credit card for her ahead. Overall, because the food has always been great, we will be back, just a bit disappointed on this visit. We'll chalk the not so good experience to lack of...

Buon Gusto is the best Italian restaurant in the area by far. The first thing you will notice when you walk into the place is the warm atmosphere from added embellishments to the construction. It has a large wooden bar area that is elevated with a railing and several big screens so you can watch the Rams lose another one. The main dining area is good size and there is another small elevated area with another railing. There is also another large enclosed room for big parties. The menu is huge and everything is great.

I love the linguine in clam sauce and a rigatoni with chicken and broccoli with white sauce . I often have just linguini with marinara add Italian sausage. Wow. Good stuff! Also the salads are fresh cold and crisp. If you are tired of limp lettuce that is warm and lifeless come here for a great salad. Everything is very affordable.

Almost forgot. Great pizza. Thin or normal crust. Better than most pizza out there. And nice Italian flavor.

Lastly you couldn't ask for friendlier servers and an owner who often walks the floor to greet guests.

Families come here and kids are welcome. And there is a generous Italian spamoni...