La Parolaccia Osteria - Long Beach — Restaurant in Long Beach

My partner and I have dined here several times. Until our most recent visit, we'd always had nice meals that were worth the wait and the price. This week was a disappointment.

As we waited to be seated, we heard a waiter describe the day's specials. We were particularly interested in an item he described as "short rib ravioli in a creamy tomato sauce with sausage on top." My partner loves short rib, and my favorite dish is a creamy tomato rigatoni with Italian sausage. Surely, we thought, this special would be ideal for us.

When our server took our order, we asked her to tell us about the specials. Again, she described "ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce, stuffed with shortrib, with sliced sausage on top." We ordered it--and a regular menu item (tortellini with sliced ham and a browned butter sauce).

What we got was half-good. The regular menu item--the tortellini--had a lovely taste and was exactly as described. The ravioli, however, were a huge disappointment. What we received a was a plate containing exactly 4 ravioli (each about 2"x2"). The creamy tomato sauce was indistinguishable from Chef Boyardee, as was the supposed shortrib filling. We enjoy shortrib because it is so hearty and savory. But this was almost entirely tasteless. More surprisingly, the advertised "sliced sausage" was nowhere to be found.

When our server came around, I told her that we were disappointed with the ravioli and specifically asked her where the sliced sausage was. She then changed her story and said that the sausage was inside the ravioli. Then she walked away. We had two of the ravioli left. We opened them up..there were nothing in them aside from the tasteless paste that we took to be the saddest short rib in Long Beach. No sausage. Certainly no sliced sausage. Our server never bothered to check in with us again.

All of this would have been less of a pain if the four ravioli had been offered as an appetizer. But the restaurant apparently considered these Chef Boyardee disapointments to be an entree, and they charged us $28 for the privilege. The server made no attempts to improve or exchange the dish, nor did she offer to reduce the cost.

We like this restaurant and we are happy to be in a position to support local businesses, but I think we've learned our lesson. From now on, we'll stick to the standard menu items and likely avoid the...

It's very casual restaurant. Very crowded and very noisy. People were standing out front of the restaurant waiting to get in because they didn't have reservations. Food was okay. Seemed like the bruschetta had nothing on it but tomatoes and something green I think it might have been parsley I don't know what it was for sure. Scardino's Italian restaurant in Torrance has all kinds of stuff on there bruschetta. They have tomatoes parsley lots and lots of spices and goat cheese they have all kinds of stuff on their bruschetta . But this place comes in second best bruschetta. The Caesar salad had very little Caesar dressing so there wasn't a whole lot of flavor to the Caesar salad but we added vinegar and oil to dunk our bruschetta in and it ran into the salad made the salad taste better too. Entrees were good but again very light on the seasonings or something it was just kind of okay. For lack of a better word it just didn't pop. Needed more garlic needed more something it just was kind of dull or plain. But most of all I was very disappointed because on the phone when I made my reservations the girl who took my reservations I told her that I was bringing my boyfriend in for his birthday his 81st. And again on the day I called to verify the reservations for that night I told the gentleman that I was bringing my boyfriend in for his birthday and do they do anything special for birthdays and he explained to me cannoli and I think they said a dish of ice cream or something and if they have time if they're not busy they'll sing Happy birthday. Well none of that happened. And I told them when I called those two times because I wanted him to be surprised. And if I had told the waiter or the waitress when we got there he would be with me and he would have heard and he wouldn't have been surprised. And when nothing happened I didn't say anything because I didn't want him to be hurt that they ignored my telling them the other two times and didn't do it so I didn't say anything because he would have been there and would have hurt him. So try scardino's Italian restaurant in Torrance it's better or try lomeli's in Gardena. They even give you a little glass of wine included with your complete dinner and a vegetable tray with dip and spumoni ice cream for dessert all on the...

Wait staff are friendly, helpful. The restaurant clearly considers itself an authentic Italian restaurant, but based solely on its eggplant Parmesan and tiramisu, it is not.

The first might as well have been a 1970s fondue fest. There must’ve been a half pound or more of cheese in the dish and that is fine for Americans who love a lot of cheese, but any Italian will tell you that it was just too much cheese. It was also decidedly lacking in flavor. Some salt and pepper would’ve gone a long long ways.

The tiramisu, again, had way too much cheese. More importantly, you could barely taste the coffee or the brandy that should’ve been in the ladyfingers.

It was also really loud. There were families with little kids who could not hold still or keep from yelling. It was just very uncomfortable.

Let’s talk about bread. Or rather, let’s not talk about it and move on.

On the flipside, the service was pretty darn good. Not great, but pretty darn good and they comped the dessert because we were so obviously not impressed with the meal.

All things being equal, it was our first visit and we both had the same thing. I will go back to try some of the pasta dishes that looked great and I will make a reservation outside so there is less noise. I hope I can come back later with an updated more...