Tutto Fresco — Restaurant in Orange

The first thing one is likely to notice about this little gem in the City of Orange is that, as a customer, one is very likely to be standing in line a lot. The lighting and décor tended to cause me to believe that this was not a cafeteria. Lighting and décor have led me astray before and they have done it once again.

Our badly hungover, but still rowdy party consisted of 11 persons. Eight big and three little (pssh.. and I thought I would never use all of that math stuff.. Thanks Mr. Hastings!). The family birthday party that we were was seated along the wall of the dining room which was furthest from the cash register counter. This fact will be important in a moment.

The dining room is one large open room (European-style I’ve been told.). The cafeteria-like spaciousness is broken up into quiet, dim vignettes by strategically-placed booths and low hanging lights. Our party of 11 set-up, chatted and lamented our sobriety. We quickly found ourselves walking from our temporary real estate all the way across the room to stand in line at the registers for beer. This is where our seating location becomes important. We got up, traversed Europe, stood in line, returned to our waiting children, and drank the beer. This ritual was realized three full times before we even decided to journey once again, this time to order food.

Not until our food was plates and carted did a small force of servers commit themselves to our service. They came quickly bearing lasagna and parm, then, just as quickly disappeared again. While they accidently did bring us two too many entrees (which they contributed to our festive bellies for gratis), they did not, even after being reminded, bring us an extra plate for the two of our number who decided to share a plate . The food looked how it was supposed to and it smelled lovely, before we could eat, tho, we had errands to run. #1 Go to server station and nab more parm. #2 Go to server station and nab that extra plate. #3 Stand in line for more beer. Errands done, we dug in. The food tasted like Italian food, but there was nothing which would make it being worth how really really expensive it was. We had no servers. One would imagine that the savings could be passed on to the line standers, but this was not so.

As we began to see our plates emptied, we were brought to the realization that the portions were quite small for such high-prices fare. To make ourselves feel better about being robbed, we nabbed more parm and got in line the last time for beer.

We wondered then, how do we tip? The cashiers opened our bottles for us as they slung our brew, but only after we stood in line. There was no bartender “feel". The little bit of table service we got was clumsy and the servers were non-committal. It seemed that the only people who actually did anything to help our fun time was the kitchen staff. They were competent and quick. Truth be told, they were very patient and quite talented. We finally threw down 20% on a bill in the neighborhood of $500 in the hopes that our cooks and table cleaners might see some of it.

To sum up. The parking was close and safe. The workers not-genuine and lazy. The food over-priced and the portions small. The kitchen staff ruled.

Parting tip for management – raise those low-hanging lights! After my Sis proved to be not the first to bang her noggin', she WAS the first to draw blood doing so. The closest cafeteria-worker to our table could only laugh and explain that it happens all the time. While it WAS quite funny, I feel it should prob be avoided in the future.

Would we return? Only if they raised the lights and...

I started going here back in 2014 when my Dad moved back to California and was living in an Independent Living Community in Anaheim Hills. We both loved Italian food and happened upon Tutto Fresco one day and had lunch. We enjoyed it so much we went there on a regular basis until my Dad passed away in 2016. The atmosphere was family friendly, and great for lunch or casual dinner with friends or dates and business lunches. Great service and the food fantastic!! I hadn't gone there for quite a while, but kept hoping the owners would eventually open one in North Orange County near me. It hasn't happened yet, but fingers crossed. In the meantime, my friend an I were on our way back from an out of town concert and we were hungry. Tutto Fresco came to mind and I made a detour so we could stop for lunch. It was just as fantastic as I had hoped. My friend loved it as well and I've taken a couple other friends as well that were also impressed. In fact, my friend's brother lived close by, so she ordered the lamb chop dinner to go and we delivered it to her brother. I'm sure he'll be a regular patron going forward. I still live a good distance from Tutto Fresco, but since rediscovering how delicious and fresh the the food still is; I drive out there about every 2 or 3 weeks to eat. It's totally worth the 20 min or so drive. I have a number of Italian restaurants close by and choose to drive a little farther for the best. I highly recommend Tutto Fresco if you enjoy excellent quality, fresh Italian food with friendly, professional service in a welcoming atmosphere. Their menu is phenomenal, offering the favorites, ie spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, ziti, ravioli, pizza, calzone as well as, several appetizers, soups, salads and sandwiches all the way to filet mignon and rack of lamb. There is truly something for everyone. Reasonable prices, patio dining and a drive thru with the same quality and quantity. Plenty of parking. I recommend you try whatever strikes your fancy, because I'm sure you will enjoy whatever you select....

When you arrive, you order your food at the counter, so I was kind of thinking that it was going to be a bad experience from the getgo.

After taking my order and self serving my own drinks, I was ready for the letdown of the century.

We got to a table we picked and sat and waited. Pretty sure there would be 0 service since we had to tip up front.

We Ordered:

the Rotisserie Chicken half - It was so good my Daughter tried to finish it even though it was huge and she was full. Where do they grow chickens this big?

Mac n Cheese - My son is picky when it comes to Mac n Cheese, but he ate almost all of the larger serving.

Steak Salad - I barely got any steak.. because everyone at the table wanted some including the baby... the 2 pieces left were delicious... frigging sharks I tell you... Baby shark do do do...

Spaghetti with Meatball - thatsa one-a big-a ball-ay. I was a backup in case my daughter didn't like the chicken. I took it home and had it the next day for lunch, the marinara was perfect with chunky pieces of tomato. The meatball tasted like a ... meatball but one that was very good.

Cobb Salad- At first we thought there was barely any avocado, then we found it buried beneath the egg and the bacon. Delicious salad.

Artichoke Dip- the cream cheese made this a no go. Too much cheese overall, not even my son who loves cheese wanted it.. Oh well cant win them all.

Now the service........... The reason I gave this a 5 star instead of a 5 star is because even though we ordered at the counter, the waiters and waitresses were super attentive making sure we had everything we needed. I honestly was not expecting that. So instead of a 5 star, this restaurant gets 6, great food and great...