Gusto Handcrafted Pasta & Pizza — Restaurant in Seaside

As Gusto's is highly rated, I made the Valentine's reservation with anticipation. When I suggested it, my husband showed interest too. We showed up just as our table opened, and received prompt seating. From there it went down hill a bit.

While other restaurants give you bread when you dine, Gusto's does not. You must purchase bread at over 5 bucks per order. We skipped it.

We received a complementary glass of ice water. I say complementary because there was no refill. While there were pitchers of water being offered at every table but ours, we were not offered a refill until we were about ready to leave and that was only because the waitress saw me slurping the dregs of my husband's beer. When she finally offered, I refused and told her we were leaving. I was a bit curt and she got the hint that I wasn't happy about it.

Speaking of beer, I ordered a glass of Moretti on tap from the menu. It took awhile for our waitress to show up and ask us what we wanted to drink. When I asked for the Moretti, I was told that they don't have it and I was offered another brand which I am unfamiliar. When I refused, the waitress left to give me a moment to make another decision. It took two minutes for me to make up my mind. The waitress took 15 minutes before she showed up again. I ordered a glass of prosecco. My husband then ordered a glass of Duvel from the menu. They do not have Duvel on tap as advertised, just like they didn't have the Moretti on tap. He ordered (what we both consider to be inferior) a bottle of Stone IPA as he wasn't really interested in any of the beer on tap besides Duvel, Moretti being second.

We each received a free cocktail, Amore Mio, which is a sparking wine with a very tasty cherry on the bottom. This normally runs for $11 on the cocktail menu, which was light and refreshing and not intoxicating. I liked this touch and it was appreciated. Normally, this would bump up the tip from us.

Our salads arrived at the same time as our entree, instead of spaced out as is standard in fine dining. My husband ordered the Beet Salad which was good, except the Gorgonzola was a giant heaping spoonful that was just dumped into the salad. He also ordered the Seafood Linguini, which he said was Okay. The seafood was clean and without any residue or sand, it was cooked a little overdone, but still palatable, and tasted Okay.

I had the Mushroom Ravioli. It came in what my husband calls a "faker's dozen" of 11 ravioli on a large plate that made it look positively Nuvel. They were quite good, a bit salty for my no salt taste, but probably perfect for the average American. I found them to be tasty. I also ordered a salad. The Organic Garden Salad was quite good and lightly dressed. Some of the leaves were a bit large for me and I would have really liked to be able to cut them with a knife. Both my husband and myself found it odd that the table is set with only a fork in a cloth napkin per setting. My husband was given a large spoon for his linguini when it arrived.

The place was packed! Maybe that's their problem, the elegant problem of being too successful.

We were given a little gift at the end of our meal, which I presume to be candy for Valentine's, which was another nice touch. Unfortunately, I can't tell you what was in it because I forgot to pick it up on the way out. Frankly, we just wanted to leave.

I have been to some very nice places but this is only so-so. So much for The Weekly, which gives everyone in town 5 stars as promotional advertising. If the place was once as great as they say, then I tell you it is no longer. Could this be the product of their success? Who knows, maybe once the praise wears off they will strive to do better?...

Two of us attempted to go here for lunch. Why attempted? Funny you should ask… We walked it to see no one at what appeared to be the hostess stand, but waited a few minutes (we wanted to sit at the bar). Since there was A) no host or hostess stand, and B) no sign stating “Please wait to be seated” or “Please seat yourself”, along with several employees walking by and starting at us like we might be morons for loitering, we decided to see if there were seats at the bar. We located one seat at the bar, and next to it was someone who was getting ready to head out. At this point an employee (maybe a waiter?) walked by saying “you can’t sit there!”. I thought I was being pranked, akin to those online folks who yell out the car window “Hey! You can’t park here!” to some poor soul who just had a vehicle mishap. We were perplexed to say the least. Then the bartender came and told us “you need to see the hostess!” (Super friendly delivery by the way). We attempted to explain that we HAD been waiting at the hostess stand, but no one was present, nor did they arrive after several minutes. He was in no mood for our cogent argument, and repeated his mantra of seats being taken. He told us we came in the back entrance. This is not even possible as the back entrance is locked and can only be used as an exit. We explained this. His next approach was to proclaim that people were waiting for these seats. Had we seen anyone waiting before us (which we didn’t), we would’ve inquired if they saw any host or hostess. In a way I wish we had attempted to seat ourselves at a table. It probably would’ve been knives out time. At this point we decided it was best to find somewhere else to eat, who wanted patrons. I did enjoy looking back and seeing the look on the face of bartender guy as we walked out. I can only surmise that he’s used to people putting up with this treatment? Someone should possibly explain to him that he doesn’t work at Dick’s Last Resort, where that’s part of the “experience”. On the upside, check out Oven Pizzeria over on Broadway! Great pizza, good beer and wine options, along with friendly and...

After checking in to our hotel, we asked the person at the desk to recommend a good place to eat. One of them was Gusto and he added that it was right next door. I have to admit, from the sign in the parking lot, I felt that they were probably a cheesy, fast food type of "Italian" restaurant. Boy was I wrong! Even though the place was virtually empty @ 1:30p, (usually a bad sign), we decided to stay. We were greeted warmly and seated quickly. Our waitress introduced herself and was very pleasant. The menu seemed a bit "scattered", like they aren't sure who they want to be. However, my bf wanted a burger, (they put stuff on the I'm to try to make it "Italian"), and they had one. I wanted TRUE/AUTHENTIC Italian, but feared I wouldn't get it there. (My test is Linguine Carbonara. Most restaurants don't make it. And even when they do, they cheap out and use things like ham or bacon, instead of the authentic pancetta or guanciale). I took a deep breath and ordered it. Our order was placed and our complimentary bread, olive oil and balsamic arrived. She also brought us their Olive Tapenade. OMG! The Tapenade was EVERYTHING! A bit later, our food showed up. The burger was Huge and a pile of perfectly cooked fries came with it. My Carbonara arrived with an Egg yolk on top and the waitress tossed it in to the pasta! SO authentic. Well, it was love at first bite!! The pasta was CLEARLY homemade and had that tell-tale bite to it! My bf tried it, after hearing me moan, LOL, and then wished he had ordered it. Although he loved his burger, he removed the Arugula though, as he felt it overwhelmed the flavors. We left stuffed and happy that we found a new restaurant to go to, when in Seaside! (PS., they have freshly made pasta, Burrata and other things for sale in...