Romano Cucina — Restaurant in Laguna Hills

Review update: I still love this place. The food and service are still great. It's just getting harder and harder to get a table without waiting an hour or more. That's great for business. I just refuse to wait more than 30 minutes for a table, no matter how good the food is. The last 4 or 5 times we've tried to eat here, we ended leaving and going somewhere else because of the long wait.

Original review:

I have nothing against Peppino's, Salvatore, or other quality Italian restaurants in town, but Roman Cucina is simply my favorite. In fact, I would say it is my favorite restaurant, Italian or otherwise.

The food and the service are always top notch. The chicken marsala with cream sauce is not on the menu, but if the kitchen has marsala wine on hand, they will make it for you. I can't eat chicken marsala anywhere else now. Thanks Roman Cucina!!! The shrimp scampi is also incredible.

The cannoli is just as unbeatable as the chicken marsala.

The staff are very professional and classy. I feel like I should be paying a lot more for the experience, but I'm glad I don't.

The one downside to this place (at least the Laguna Hills location) is that the dining room is a bit small. It can get crowded and a bit loud, but the food and service are worth it.

If somehow I were forced to eat at only one restaurant for the rest of my life, I would not hesitate to choose...

Overall score: 2 stars for the food, 3rd star for the service/hospitality. Place was busy for a Thursday at 8pm and instead of waiting 20 minutes for a table we opted ordering to-go. We ordered a kids penne & meatball, side of meatballs (2 come in an order) and wedding soup. Total cost, $20 + tip.

Kids portion of pasta was pretty big, my son and I split it and shared the meatballs and had leftovers to spare. Sauce was on the sour side which was disappointing and we didn’t love it. Meatballs were a little tough. Size of meatballs were generous and lots of extra sauce for sipping.

Wedding soup had a great flavor but was over salted. Also, I can’t believe I’m saying this as a pasta lover but there was too much pasta in the soup. Would have loved to have more of the broth but it was too salty to eat it all.

2 sides of bread were included which was the best part of the meal. Bread was soft and delicious.

Third star given for the service. Hostess was friendly and the bartender was awesome. Super prompt service, extremely friendly and food came out quick (kudos to the kitchen!). Hoping maybe it was an off night flavor-wise and will give it one more chance as there are some other menu items I’d...

When I first walk into this dimly light restaurant, I was immediately greeted with a warm smile by the lovely staff up front. My friend and I placed our name down and the wait was about 20 minutes or so.

Glancing through the menu, I settled on the pasta Gianni with fettuccine while my friend got the primavera aglio olio with spaghetti. We also got served some bread as appetizers. Our server, Sam was extremely friendly and easygoing, he gave us plenty of suggestions and was very patient.

While waiting for our pasta, I had a fun time looking around at the endless picture frames that decorated the walls. The whole ambience of the restaurant was homey and cozy, it felt like dining at your grandma’s house.

When our pasta arrived, I was happy to see that the portion size matches the price. Digging into the fettuccine, I loved that the pasta was perfectly cooked to al dente, however, flavor wise, it is on the blander side. There is a tasty spice in the sauce and I liked that there were plenty of shrimp and crawfish but I do wish there was more flavor. Overall, the meal was still quite delicious and I would definitely want to revisit for the cozy vibes and to also try...