Alza Italian Kitchen — Restaurant in Rancho Santa Margarita

What a wonderful evening and dining experience at Alza Italian Kitchen in RSM. We were greeted by the lovely hostesses and seated at a nice high top inside. The outdoor patio was hopping and the musician was fantastic. We started with margaritas and the stuffed mushrooms which were excellent. Reigna was our amazing server and so nice, professional and kind. We ordered our entrees with my wife selecting the linguine with shrimp and I had the creamy arriabata with sausage. The food was nicely prepared and presented as well as delicious. We also met Ryan the GM who was very personable and quite professional. Scott the chef also came out and was so kind and spoke of his 48 years of experience in the kitchen and his creations are definitely worth the visit as we highly recommend this fine establishment. Tamara was a sweetheart and quite professional while delivering our bread and entrees. Vidal ensured that our table was clean and orderly. The TVs inside give a wide array of choices and Go Dodgers, yes both playoff games were on. We finished with coffee and their in-house made cheesecake which was fantastic. I highly recommend this amazing place and they serve breakfast on the weekend and have awesome happy hour specials weekly and live entertainment. I will be back and hope to see all my Yelpers there as well.

Previous review Had a nice lunch today at Alza in RSM to take a break from shopping. We sat at the bar, and Bryce was our server-bartender extraordinare. The ambiance was positive and uplifting, and Bryce provided stellar service. We both had Don Julio Blanco with club soda and three limes muddled and mint, which were made to perfection. We ordered lunch, and my wife had the grilled chicken panini with a house salad, and I had the eggplant parmesean with a house salad. Both dishes were prepared and presented well and tasted very good. Talking with Bryce, he noted that they also have entertainment, and we will definitely be back....

My friend Giovani recommend this place so we had dinner there last night, anticipating a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, we were very disappoint for the following reasons.

I was the first to arrive, for a party of two. I was dressed casual smart. I requested to sit at a particular section. Mind you I had reservations. The "maitre'd" I.e. the person in charge of seating the customers refused, saying that there is a party. As the evening wore on, I noticed that She seated other better dressed couples at the section which I requested. Noticing this, i felt that she had treated my request unfairly. By the way, the party was in a completely different section. Hence her excuse to me held no substance.

The food was rather bland, and was only so so. However they try to elevate their food to a higher level by claiming that the the ingredients come from different regions of Italy. I frankly could not discern any difference, that justifies their exorbitant prices. Hahaha. It is a pure marketing gimmick.

The table that they seated us was ...hmmm beneath the level of a 2 star restaurant. A table totally without charm...a complete opposite of those tables inside their restaurant...which the matte d refused to sit us either. Our table felt like eating at a Diner. Except that it is multiple times more expensive at this restaurant.

We requested for forks for our desserts. Our waiter has the audacity to tell us that "you cannot eat this with a fork". Just bring it. It is not her place to tell us what we do. We are the paying customers. And yes, one can eat tiramisu with a fork. Try it sometime.

All in all, it was a very disappointing experience. We will never go back again to this hoity-toity restaurant. Totally charmless. Slight contempt, very expensive. the manager came over and wasn't interested in fixing the situation. I could go on and on but I am definitely done with this...

Absolutely disgusting experience. We waited nearly an hour for our food, and when it finally arrived, there was a curly hair in the dish—which disturbingly looked like a pubic hair. I immediately called over the manager, who completely brushed it off. His response? “We’ll comp you a plate.” That’s it. No apology, no concern, no acknowledgment of how gross and unacceptable that is.

To make things worse, he insisted we didn’t wait that long—claiming it wasn’t an hour and 20 minutes. Bold-faced lie. We were there, we know how long we waited. And not once did he address the actual issue: the hair in the food.

I declined the free plate and dessert because that wasn’t the point. The issue is a complete lack of professionalism and basic hygiene standards, and a manager who clearly shouldn’t be in that position. If the owner of this place cares at all about their business, they need to take a serious look at who they’re putting in charge.

Terrible service, unacceptable food hygiene, and absolutely no accountability. Never...