Mangiamo Ristorante — Restaurant in Manhattan Beach

I was in Manhatten Beach/El Segundo for a work conference and decided to dine here during our "off" night (no group dinner). I read the reviews and checked out the menu beforehand and had a good idea of what I was going to order. I made a reservation via Open Table, & was seated immediately when I arrived. My server Leslie was really sweet!! The restaurant is small & intimate. It's a White Table Cloth kind of space, but I felt welcome & comfortable showing up in jeans & a sweater. Unfortunately I have to take a star away because of my food. I ordered the Crab Crusted Sea Bass & followed up with the Butter Cake. My Bass was cooked to perfection, but my shrimp risotto was underdone. By the time I figured it out I was already halfway through my fish and it was so good I just decided to finish. The butter cake, while beautiful in presentation, was burnt in the middle. Really burnt, to where it felt like a crouton in the center and I couldn't get my spoon through it. Leslie ended up taking it off the check for me, & I appreciated that. As I said, the service was excellent & everything was great, I just didn't have the greatest luck with my food items. And when I ordered it wasn't that busy so I imagine maybe the chef(s) just made a couple oversights. But for what it's worth, the Sea Bass was cooked to freaking perfection and the risotto was seasoned really really well..just a bit underdone. I will definitely be back to give it...

I had an intimate surprise birthday celebration during happy hour last week and Frank, the manager helped me plan it and made himself available for questions and suggestions. Upon arrival, he made sure to assist in every way he could. Wes I believe is the bartender’s name, he kept every one of my guests happy with taking their drink and appetizers orders were taken and served promptly. A group of us stayed for dinner and Fidel, our server did an excellent job at keeping my guests fed and happy. This cozy restaurant is in a great location steps from the Manhattan Beach Pier. The environment and energy are calming and pleasant but celebratory. The service is absolutely outstanding. The happy hour menu is incredible! Lots of great food choices with nice libations options, and all wines are half price! The dinner menu is also fantastic. I had the Frutti De Mare and if you like seafood, you won’t be disappointed. Another guest had the King Salmon and cleaned her plate. Actually, everyone did and I’m not ashamed to admit it! I was praised by all my guests for hosting the event at Mangiamo’s for days!

Things to be aware of is that they’re only open for dinner. Their happy hour is Mon-Thurs 4-6pm. Parking is quite challenging, and make sure that if you park on a hill your wheels are turned accordingly or you WILL get a ticket. Manhattan Beach is known for being quick at this. I highly recommend this place for any occasion. I know for sure I’ll be...

Your mediocre Italian fare in the most pretentious environment. Ordered Italian sausages on pasta. What I got was a handful of pasta with sprinkle of sausage pieces, which may total up to a half of sausage link what you see in the grocery store. And the quality/taste is not any better than Farmer Johns sausage links.

My wife ordered an fettuccine Alfredo and immediately reminded by our server that it has no "Protein" in it (what happened to word meat? Can you get any more pretentious?) She ask for addition of chicken. I swear, the chicken they add was a quarter of a regular sized chicken breast and most probably it was something that didn't sell from last night. So dry and so tasteless.

And as some other reviews indicated, the main ingredient in this kitchen must be salt. Saltiest Italian food I ate for a long time.

Last but not the least, to add insult to the injury, when someone asks you if you want a refill for your soft drink, it is not free. Every little glass, more than half filled with ice, will cost you $2.50 as of today. Whenyou read this it might have gone up as this establishment seems to thrive on nickeling and diming its customers.

Needless to say, it was my first and last visit...