Cantalini's Salerno Beach Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I normally like to find the best about something rather than leave a negative review... But the service we received last night definitely needed addressing.

My husband decided he wanted to grab some Italian food for dinner, so we headed out expecting an awesome evening. When one thinks of Italian, the first thoughts that come to mind are: family, welcoming, happiness... etc. We experienced none of these things and almost walked out before we were seated. We chose to wait and see if the food was as good as it was supposed to be.

When we first arrived, the elderly lady standing behind the hostess station seemed irritated and refused to acknowledge us. She left the station twice before I decided to ask her if there was a bar that we could seat ourselves at. She looked at me and very unprofessionally stated, "the way it works, you give me your name and I write it down." So we gave her our name and asked how long the wait was. She responded with, "Now, you can go wait at the bar next door and we will come get you." I was extremely put off by this and asked if the bar serves food. She scoffed and proceeded to tell me that it was a different business... What?? OK... We went and waited at the bar, which was another nightmare. It only took 10 minutes to be seated and we were at our table.

Once seated, we waited until our server came by to take our order. We ordered an appetizer and he took our wine menu before we ordered our meals. (I had to walk back up to the hostess station to grab another wine menu because our server never came back to check on us. The elderly lady who was walking back up there gave me a dirty look for it.) The bread was cold and looked like we were given another table's basket. There were torn pieces of bread in with the sliced pieces, and the tissue paper was wrinkled in a manner that suggests previous use.

When he returned, we asked our server for a pairing recommendation for the ravioli (their signature entree). He just brought us both a glass of pinot grigio, which did not pair well with our food. Our appetizer of garlic shrimp was sitting in the window for a while. The server looked back at us, came over to the table, and told us that our food would be out shortly. The server station is connected to the window and he chose to leave it there to let us know that it will be out shortly... Seriously? By the time it reached our table it was cold-ish and hardly extraordinary.

The management team here is seriously failing because the servers all look overworked, underpaid and unhappy.

Moving on, we ordered their signature dish, the ravioli. My husband ordered the seafood ravioli with lobster cream sauce and I ordered the Portobello ravioli with a pesto sauce. When our food arrived, my order had the wrong sauce. The server who stopped by our table to check on us, offered to take it back and correct it. 15 minutes later, our original server came over and asked how I liked my ravioli, thinking I had already consumed my dinner. I explained that I had been given the wrong order, that it was taken back and that I have yet to eat. He looked genuinely upset by the mix-up and went to see what had happened. I went up to the elderly hostess to ask a simple question but her rudeness and lack of courtesy was the last straw for me. After a few moments, I simply walked up to our server and asked if they could just plate mine up to go. We asked for a to-go box for my husband's plate and asked for our bill. The server was super nice about the mix-up and comped my meal but, it was hardly enough to make up for everything. The ravioli was good... Nothing exciting and hardly amazing.

I would not recommend this place for any type of meal. The food is grossly overpriced for the quality, and the service leaves something to be desired. I would definitely recommend searching for another Italian restaurant, if you're in the mood for good quality Italian food and a warm environment to...

I’m new to the Playa Vista area and this Sunday afternoon, I drove to this neck of the wonderful woods, called, “Playa Del Rey.” It was 5:30pm and I looked for a cup of Java to sustain me, through my beach explorations. My caffeine radar did not find a specific coffee-house, but I was pointed in the direction of a restaurant called, “Cantalini’s,” (near the intersection and across from the beach). I was originally going to get a coffee to go, but invited to have a seat and also enjoy a dessert. I sat outside and thoroughly enjoyed drinking the cappuccino; because it was made perfectly, with the Italian Illy brand. (I prefer this brand of coffee over all the others, including Starbucks, et al.) To my delight, it was served with a delish biscotti. Also, I normally don’t prefer to sit outside, where cars drive-by; however, the customer service, from Lisa, (Hostess), and Heidi (Server), was warm and welcoming. The hostess recommended the Tiramisu and when the server found out I’m a foodie and owned a high profile, fine dining establishment; she proudly said the Italian food was authentic and marinara, (‘gravy,), magnifico. When it comes to Italian food, I’m rather picky, because if it’s not better than what I cook, then I’d rather stay home. However, I could confirm her recommendation, because I was seated outside the restaurant window. The smells from the kitchen were mouth watering. I’m planning to dine here very soon and looking forward to also trying their bread. I’m only sorry I won’t be dining here tonight, because the musicians walked in and kindly invited me to dine and watch the show. I will look forward to seeing the live entertainment on a Sunday evening next month and further review the menu offerings. So far, I...

I went here with my two girlfriends a while back and had the worst restaurant experience I think anyone could ask for. Honestly it was awful. I don't recommend ANYONE going here. I asked to split to bill but failed to mention that I wanted my specific items that I ordered on my bill and our waiter came back with the bill split down the middle. I KINDLY asked the manager if he could split it the other way and he turned red with anger telling me " next time don't do that because it's very hard for us to void it" I thought it was odd to speak to a paying guest like that but I apologized because I felt bad. Now I work at a restarant, we do voids all the time it is a not a hard process but I guess he was just lazy!? Anyways our waiter slammed the new bill down and walked away with a n attitude. We're still paying the same price? No tip for sure awful attitude. (I always tip as well, always) but not in this case. Me and my friends walked around the beach for a couple of HOURS and our car was parked by the business as we got in the car to leave all three of us saw him flip us off through the window. I was heated. I went it asked him for a business card, wanted to speak to a manager and he said he was the manager. I was like let me speak to someone else he said "no they're is no one else" & I proceeded by asking for his first name he gave me an obvious FAKE name and I asked him, " is that your real name?" He shrugged, smirked and said "maybe". I can't believe this place. Something...