Crivello's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano

Don't order the steak here. In general, the place is overpriced with average service, average food quality, and portion sizes not reflecting the price. First impressions start small. Our server was Juan and our first interaction was regarding the beverage. We ordered ice water with no lemon; it came with lemon. Not something to stress about but this sort of boded not well for what was to come. Was advised about the specials for that day (the porterhouse and the swordfish). Asked what they cost, he didn't know the prices and had to go check; interesting but again, ok, people have good and bad days when they are not on their game. He came back and told us, porterhouse $45, so in response I asked what is the weight; was told 16oz so I think that's fair price for such a large cut and I order it, cooked medium rare. We also order the calamari appetizer and ask for all to come out together as the meal at once. The appetizer comes out a little ahead but again, no big deal, we can roll with it. The big complaint was about the porterhouse; it is NOT 16 oz and it is NOT the correct thickness of a porterhouse. At its thickest point this was MAYBE half inch, other areas were thinner. Porterhouse is (should be) about 1.25 inches; even USDA specifies this. If it were not for the bone in, I'd think someone thought they were preparing a cut of veal. Being so thin, not surprised they couldn't hit it at medium rare but instead was medium well and well. Also, it had significant spots of hard, very hard gristle. So in summary, the cut was too thin, not at advertised weight, not trimmed correctly, et al... for the price, it was far from normal expectations for a Porterhouse, and WAY below expectations for a $45 cut. As for the calamari, for what that cost, $22, the portion was quite modest, maybe should have been larger. I don't understand the high marks and the pricing of this place considering the service, the food quality, the...

This place was unknown to me until yesterday, and I'm so stoked that we came across it while out shopping. The restaurant was nearly full, but we were fortunate to get a nice table, and we were greeted, served promptly, and the menu was packed with traditional dishes, all of which sounded awesome. But as is my way in a new restaurant, I went right for one of the most difficult dishes to execute....the manicotti :)

While I fully expected to be underwhelmed, when it was brought to the table, I was immediately surprised (pleasantly) rather than using manicotti pasta shells, the chef had given it a twist, using a scratch made crepe as the shell to hold the delicious ricotta parmesan blend. I could instantly tell the marinara was handmade, adorned with a beautiful fresh cut chiffonade of basil sprinkled over the sauce and plate. The smell was amazing. And then, the first bite.....omg! The balance, the fresh ingredients, bright marinara sauce, creamy ricotta, fresh basil, absolutely amazing and delicate. It was a 10 out of 10.

My wife ordered the italian sub, panini style. It was also packed with beautiful fresh cold cuts, tomato and cheese, perfectly pressed and warmed. Delicious! It isn't often that you encounter someone in the kitchen that truly knows what they're doing, but Sebastian blew us away with his approach to Italian/Sicilian dishes. He is absolutely a master chef.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this place to anyone. Can't wait to go back. I was told by our server that the Tiramisu is a family recipe, and on a scale of 1-10, it's a 100. Definitely on my list for...

Let me start by saying my family and I like to support small businesses. We had seen this restaurant for a while and wanted to try it. Our visit was on Sept 14 at around 6:30pm. When we arrived we were greeted and seated in a reasonable amount of time however our server Adolfo was unprofessional. We looked over the menu and decided on ordering a bottle of wine. Adolfo returned with a bottle we assumed was what we had ordered. He poured a sample for my sister. We agreed it was ok but later learned he switched what we had ordered to a $44 bottle of what is listed on our bill as Pinor Noir, Sextant, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey California. Things just got worse from there as our entire meal was horrible. The bread the $14.95 Bruschetta came on was too hard, the Gnocchi with Pesto I had ordered was too oily, The Penne Fra Diavolo we were told came only with a little bit of spice but holy cow this thing was on fire and my wife could eat only 3 bites. The Chilean Sea Bass was a special and recommended by Adolfa but was less then desirable. I will give them a little praise as my son liked his Spaghetti And Meatballs and the Tiramisu was good as well. Overall I would not recommend this...