Palazzo Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Oʻahu

On the hunt for best Italian in Aiea, and honestly Palazzo might be it. Palazzo is a no frills, hole in the wall mom & pop shop that you really want to support, especially when the food is delish and service is on point. I called to make a 6:30pm reservation on a weekday, which probably wasn't necessary until about 7ish when more parties filled the restaurant.

For food, we ordered the fried mozzarella, chicken marsala, and special of the night which was scallop & shrimp Florentine. First, softened butter and a basket of hot bread was dropped off at our table. The bread had a crispy crust and soft interior, and it was hottt with steam which I loved. The fried mozzarella comes out as a fried block of cheese and a serrated knife for you to slice it however you want. The cheese was super gooey, the coating was wonderfully crispy and well seasoned, and the marinara sauce complemented it so well. On to the sides, the chicken marsala had a distinct marsala wine flavor and the chicken had a delicious crust on it. The special of the night was on a white board at the entrance, described as "jumbo shrimp and sea scallop sautéed with garlic, olive oil, mushroom, bacon, spinach in a white wine butter sauce over linguine pasta ($26.90)". This dish was goooood, super garlicky with a good portion of seafood, bacon, mushrooms and spinach. I did ask for sub fettuccine but it came out with the advertised linguine - no biggie.

I have to note that all the dishes came out STEAMING hot, meaning they were being brought out the second cooked. The servers were hustling table to table. Water was constantly refilled. Oh also the crushed red pepper was spicy, which is always a plus. Parking is ample and free first 2 hours.

P.S. We were celebrating a birthday, and without even saying anything (we had a birthday gift bag on a chair), the server brought out an ice cream sundae at the end - so thoughtful and attentive!

Will...

This place is so good it had me thinking about it the next morning😅 PROS the food was absolutely delicious real Italian food The bread was fresh and steaming coming out to the table ! I recommend just getting the large portion because its only 3$ more and its huge portions and you won't regret it because the food is so delicious even as left overs its mouth watering! One thing I loved is I've been wanting some AUTHENTIC Italian food (not talking olive garden) and not have the Italian food mixed with Asian style .. last place I went it was like that so I was a little worried BUT NO HERE you get authentic food.. The service was also AMAZING I had such good service probably the best I have ever had every waiter I came in contact with was sweet and helpful which is great because if your not familiar with some of the dishes you will have questions and they always came to make sure we were good and understood ! The atmosphere is great also cute little restaurant and beautiful even can say fancy for it being a little "hole in the wall" CONS I literally only have one and it may seem silly to most but it matter to me! So you get two glasses of water when you first sit which is fine but the water is tap water and I can't stand tap (im a picky water drinker) and also all drinks besides coffee and tea you need refills me and my husband got lemonade and coke and they came in these pretty little small glasses I mean not even one can of soda would fit in the glass .. if i remember correctly for like 2.99 I was a little thrown off by that and thought it just goes with the atmosphere its okay I can get refills come to find out there's no refills and the cups were tiny.. I was pretty shocked other than that I couldn't let that little detail take away from all the rest so 5 stars ill be...

We have been coming here for many years for family get togethers and special occasions. We recently had dinner for Father's Day.

Sure it was busy, and you have to expect to wait when it's like that, so be proactive if it's busy and order a couple drinks and appetizers right away if it's a special day like that. Great effort by the staff.

I love the antipasto salad, as well as the escargot and clams casino.

First of all, Lot makes the best Martinis! I like Sapphire martinis. They are ALWAYS the best with little ice chips and filled to the absolute rim. We always have fun watching them carry martinis to the table without spilling a drop.

I often order veal parmesan or oso bucco, but this time I had wanted old school home style Italian so I ordered Meatballs and Italian Sausage with Meat Sauce on Angel Hair Pasta. It was awesome!

You can tell it had been simmered for a long time, which is the way I like it. Old school home cooking. It normally comes with spaghetti, but you can order other types of pasta like linguine, fettuccine or in my case the angel hair. To me it's the perfect balance for a sauce like that, and not too filing.

Everything was excellent. Meatballs were just the right texture and the Italian sausage had wonderfully robust flavor. Umami to the max. The bread is always excellent as well and we always like to bring some home.

I know a lot of people like Tiramisu, but I always have some chocolate gelato for dessert.

Lot and his staff always take great care of our family. He never seems to age and he is like family when we go to Palazzo. Thanks for all the great times and...