Gaetano's Restaurant — Restaurant in Torrance

It is very difficult for me to write this review because Gaetano's has been our absolute favorite Italian restaurant in the Southbay for many years. My wife and I, along with numerous family members, have eaten here dozens of times and consider ourselves "regulars". Following our experience the night after Christmas, we will not be returning. Not because of the food, but because of how Vince, who introduced himself as "part owner", treated us.

We arrived slightly before 6:00 pm and were told that there was about a 40 minute wait. We sat at the bar with the pager and enjoyed a glass of wine while waiting. Our wait was about an hour, which was surprising because it did not appear to be that busy and there were several tables open during most of our wait. We settled our bar bill, were finally seated and ordered our meals, along with a salad for my wife.

Our service was just about as slow as was our wait for seating. After my wife finished her salad, we sat for a very long time unattended and ignored. The waitress never stopped by to check on us, or tell us what was happening. spotted Vince walking by and stopped him to ask if they were having trouble in the kitchen. He immediately asked us if we were having trouble with our waitress, which led me believe that perhaps he was. Not wanting to point fingers at her, I said "no", but our wait was far too long. He told us he would check with the kitchen and get back to us.

Upon exiting the kitchen, Vince weaved his way around the back of the restaurant and into the service area. I fully expected him to immediately return to our table and let us know the status of our meals. Upon seeing the guests next to us receive their meals, even though they were seated 20 minutes after us, and not hearing back from Vince yet, we decided that enough was enough. I flagged Vince down again and said "you know what, it's probably best we just go". He said that yes, that was a good idea. What??? This is an owner??? What did we do to draw that response? Perhaps Vince forgot that his customers are the reason he has a restaurant - the reason his employees have jobs. Rule number one in the service industry Vince - what is it?

As I was walking out behind my wife, Vince walked behind me so closely that he kicked the back of my feet three times. I stopped, turned back, looked down at his feet and then at his face, and said "Are we not leaving fast enough?" to which he replied "No, you need to get out now".

So Vince, do you think that was the best way to handle this issue? And to the other owners of Gaetano's - is this how you want your loyal customers treated? We did nothing to deserve this rude treatment but the toughest part will be missing our favorite food. Our friends and family are very disappointed to hear of this and will no longer be returning either. I'm sure it won't cripple your business, but your...

This was my first time trying the restaurant and the food was good but the service was abysmal.

The server was prompt to come out and take our orders but was practically non-existent through the rest of the meal. It felt like he was actively avoiding having to deal with our table. My partner, her son, and myself all had no drinks about halfway through the appetizer. There was two separate occasions of the server walking past, visibly looking at the empty drinks, making eye contact with me, then continuing on ignoring us.

We never got refills until we had to ask the person who was bringing our food to get us refills. She said she would tell our server but he didnt come until about halfway through the actual meal with the refill which was also his "how is the food" check in.

He almost immediately asked if we needed boxes after dropping off those drinks as if trying to get us out of the restaurant. My partner had quite a bit of food left on her plate and had just popped out to the car for a jacket because by that point it had gotten cold enough in the restaurant to warrant one.

We finished the drinks and the meal with no sign of the server at all. Other bussers and servers cleaned our table and we sat waiting for a very long time for the check. I overheard other tables asking which server we were assigned to as I'm pretty sure they noticed how long we were sitting there with an empty table.

The server finally came by and said "no rush" while dropping off the check and walked away while I was visibly grabbing the card from my wallet as I desperately wanted to leave the restaurant at that point. Fortunately the hostess came by and took the card and check to process it and dropped it off quickly.

The server on the check was listed as "Joe" as I dont think I ever even got the servers name. Most of the time those terminals are set up with some generic log in which is disappointing because if I went back I would request not to have the server.

As being a server before, I refuse to not leave some sort of tip but this is the closest I have ever been to not tipping in years. I definitely did not give my standard 20% and I hope the tips are at least pooled as everyone but our server seemed to be doing their jobs well.

As previously mentioned, the food was good. Calamari was quick, light and good breading. Chicken marsala was sauced well, not to heavy but not too light and decent pasta served with. My partner and son were thrilled with their lasagna. The food is the only thing saving this place from a one...

I have been a patron at Gaetanos for over ten years. It's a combination of great food, service, atmosphere and I live just three miles away. Yesterday, I called in an order to go, which I've done many times over the years, so much so that when I gave the order and my phone number came up, my name popped up from previous orders. The order taker asked if I would like silverware and I replied yes. Normally, when I get my food to go, I'm headed home so if I don't get the silverware it isn't a big deal. Yesterday, I was headed to a nearby park and only discovered I didn't have the silverware as I was preparing to eat. It was already after 5p and I wanted to eat before I went for my 2 mile walk and I don't like walking in the dark. I had 3 choices, I could go back to the restaurant and get the silverware then eat and drive back to the park, drive home and eat the food then drive back to the park to walk or eat the food I could with my hands and take the rest home for another day. I don't like to eat after my late afternoon/evening walk. I enjoyed what I could eat by hand several slices of the cheese garlic bread and the salmon, which I couldn't leave in a hot car for an hour and be concerned about any spoilage. I brought the salad and the rest of the bread home after my walk and put it in the refrigerator. It will probably be tomorrow's lunch because I'm going out today. I was just disappointed that the service didn't match the usual level and this was a time that I really needed the silverware to enjoy the food I purchased. I know now to check before I leave with the order because the restaurant was full and very busy, so that was a mistake not the...