This is the place to bring friends or go on a date. I love a restaurant that will give you the best of both worlds. We always come to eat with friends and food this time as well. The food was delicious and the service was with a smile. I love coming here when I visit town and I am eager to return. I will always get the salad because it is a wonderful pleasure of fresh veggies and meats. But my hubs loves the pasta and says it is the best he's had, he mentioned it is hot and tasty. read more

Grasso's Italian Restaurant - Dinner time! - Italian Near Me - El Centro, California

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Great food, outstanding service. This place has been here since the mid 50s. I've been eating here since the late 60s. It's still as good as ever! Great memories of fantastic Italian food! read more

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Had the Linguini with scallops and cream sauce and it was absolutely fantastic. I drove through here on the way to Scottsdale and was looking for Italian and only two restaurants showed up for the area so I wasn't sure how good this place would be, but I was pretty impressed. read more

Not sure how I've gone on so long without reviewing Grasso's. We come here every year when we are in town for the California Mid-Winter Fair and Fiesta. We find ourselves looking forward to it every year because the food, the atmosphere, and the service are all top notch. We began coming here years ago and have only seen improvements over the years. Lots of remodeling was done and the place looks better than ever, IMHO. Two distinct dining area but the same quality food and service. I usually go with the Lasagna but this most recent trip I decided to go with the Manicotti, and it did not disappoint at all. The filling is so delicious. I may have found a new favorite. Great soups and salads here also. My wife loves their Antipasto salad and is always nice enough to share a bit with me. It is always so large that she makes two meals out of it. You cannot go wrong if you're in El Centro and looking for some fantastic Italian food. Highly recommend and cannot wait for our next visit. read more

Grasso's has been our local family go-to for many many years. They've been in this location for about seventy years, and did a major remodel recently, used to be split into a "family room" and a "date night room" but now it's a couple of smaller rooms which breaks up the noise level a bit. The menu is core Italian-American with all the standards you'd expect. Lots of red meat sauce (or marinara). Highlights are the fried chicken, including chicken livers, as well as the tomato and sweet onion salad when it's in season. I've always loved their salad dressing. I think they have a wine selection but we just gave the Chianti. The owners and staff are welcoming and very friendly. If you're from the Valley you're sure to run into someone you know! read more

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Yummm! Huge portions. Good food. Great service. I think we'll be back often. Not sure how we missed this place before. The chicken oicatta was soooo lemony. By far the best!! So cute inside too. Good space for large parties. read more

I've been coming to Grasso's since I was a young kid (I'm in the early 40's now) and my mom worked as the salad girl when she was a teenager. Grasso's is a Valley institution! The food is superior to any large-chain "Italian" restaurant and you can taste the quality of ingredients over vacuum-sealed pre-made microwaved food. My go-to meal has always been the fried chicken livers, anti-pasti salad with that famous dressing, and garlic bread. As a kid, I was all about the ravioli! In college, I lived in San Diego and I would take a jar of salad dressing after my visits. My roommate was addicted to it! I still love the homely atmosphere of the restaurant. I've never had bad service there. The staff is friendly and attentive. It is a pleasure to spend my money on quality and local service. read more

Sparkling clean bathroom. Great atmosphere. Staff was courteous and attentive. Food was delicious. First time here would come again when in the area. They open at 5pm so we waited for about 40 minutes in the parking lot but well worth the wait. Our server was Tara she was fantastic. read more

First, the ambience was great, quiet, perfect lighting and the service was great. Thank you! Tara! Ok now for the bad news. Now it was my first time so will give benefit of doubt. The pizza was absolutely terrible for the price. No flavor, sauce was weak, presentation was a disappointment. It was a huge mozzarella covered circle with hidden toppings. A lactose mystery. I can't say I would not go here again because I want to try other dishes. But, they should take lessons from Maggiano's Little Italy in San Jose! Oh and the prices are high for this area. Let's see!! read more

Chicken parmesan was very good, but we ordered Ravioli and meatballs with meat sauce too, and wasn't good, meat tasted disgusting, and had too much sauce on it, I could't even see the food on the plate, only sauce, it wasn't a good experience. I'll never come back. read more

Visiting town for work and decided to try this place out. The food was outstanding! Probably the best garlic bread ive ever had. I ordered chicken parm and it was fantastic, and very large portion. Would definitely recommend and like to try again myself as well. read more

Grasso's Italian Restaurant - Chicken Parmesan - Italian Near Me - El Centro, California

Had a family dinner here 2 weeks ago. 11 people in our group. I was advised to make reservations ahead, which I did. When we arrived the table was set up and the staff was waiting for us. Some of the entrees ordered: chicken manicotti. It was good but the chicken is ground, which I did not like. Ravioli: delicious! Shrimp scampi: was good but the person ordered it said the spaghetti with marinara was an odd side dish. Next time he will ask for an alternate side. Garlic bread was wonderful and the side salads were fresh and very good. Service was good. Wait staff and owner Mr. Baron, were all very nice it had been 20 years since I visited Grasso's! I'm glad we choose them for our gathering. read more

The food and service quality was truly exceptional. The owner was so kind to personally greet us and to check on us. We will definitely recommed Grassos to our friends and family! read more

Very classy Italian restaurant and service and food is outstanding! Ordered the calamari steak with spaghetti and my husband the seafood linguine, very delicious... read more

Let's just keep this short and simple, worst Italian dinner I have ever had. The waitstaff was excellent though. Maybe it was an off night. Who serves lasagna with no sauce? The best items I had was the ice water and garlic bread. I guess with food like this you've been in business since 1955 because you can get away with it in a small town without real competition. Stouffer's has better lasagna. Chef Boyardee has better spaghetti. There's no comparison to make for how bad and dry the chicken parm was. My wallet is more tender and flavorful. read more

Tonight I ordered eggplant Parmesan for dinner, which is one of my favorite Italian dishes. This was the worst eggplant Parmesan I've ever had. The eggplant wasn't tender or cooked properly. It was tough and splattered with sauce and cheese. I had better eggplant Parmesan at the Olive Garden by far. The ambience is nice at this restaurant and the service was good, but this is definitely not one of their better dishes. read more

LOVE the Family atmosphere &the comfort food hits the spot! Definitely give this Mom & Pop restaurant a chance over any chained restaurant!

Really good and very large portions! We have Chicken Parmesan with Spaghetti and Fried Chicken with Spaghetti and ravioli. Both LARGE meals nice salad and garlic bread too. Service was really great. Nice friendly staff! It looks like it was a house at one time and now they serve delicious homemade tasting Italian food. We will definitely be back. read more

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Delicious food (especially the veal and chicken piccata, fried chicken, lasagna and the cheesy garlic neead) and wonderfully attentive service! It was our first time here and we were NOT disappointed. Perfect family atmosphere for our party of 11 and staff easily accommodated two latecomers in our party. Thanks for a wonderful meal and a great evening Grasso's! We'll definitely be back. read more

We've been frequenting Grasso's for decades. The food is wonderful and always consistent. Their garlic bread is some of the best I've ever had and is something we look forward to. Every dish we have ordered is fantastic whether it be their lasagna, fettuccine a la Liz, or their handmade pizza. This family-run restaurant never disappoints! read more

Went to take our girls out for a pizza night, and was very disappointed. Our pizza came out burnt, it was too hard for us to eat. One of my daughters ordered spaghetti and meatballs and it had only 1 meatball and she said she did not like the taste of the spaghetti. The order did take a while. Our waitress didn't even check up on us. read more

This place is no bueno. I was hoping the food would be half decent but I have to say the food taste was out of random roadside Diner in the middle of nowhere. read more

Best homemade Italian food, my daughters and I Have tried different places in the Valley and outside the area and by far Grassos is the best Italian food and also has the best staff they are friendly and they never forget your name or what your favorite is. read more

Very homey feel with great service. Everything we had was delicious! The garlic bread, spaghetti, cheese ravioli and shrimp fettuccine Alfredo were very flavorful. Definitely a spot we will consider for special occasions! read more

Went last night after a year or two. The decor was precisely the same. Including a chair that had a shorter leg than the rest. Being handicapped that would've been bad for me to sit on. Regardless, the prices are pretty steep, steeper than, say, Olive Garden (a chain restaurant I'll be doing a lot of comparisons to). Unfortunately while there are some wonderful flavors, you have to be lucky. Their spaghetti/marinara sauce they tend to use a lot is average at best, considering the prices, and while the dressing on their salad is good if you enjoy strong, subtle style, dressings... the salad itself is quite small. Their garlic bread is their major upside, though you do have to pay extra for it. Price is $6 USD for 3 pieces, but honestly well worth it. Even if it's all you order, it'd be worth the visit. I ordered the fettuccine a la lis (with grilled chicken pieces instead of shrimp). The sauce was fantastic and the size was okay, though a bit smaller than you'd get at Olive Garden. But oh my, the chicken breast which was chopped into tiny pieces so it was difficult to remove from the noodles, was seasoned awfully. It had a faint taste of lemon which is fine but it was grilled so hard and had an overwhelming saltiness to it. Keep in mind that I enjoy and generally have a high tolerance for salt, yet I had to separate it from my dish as much as I could. Despite this and mentioning it to my server, nothing was done about it, and I was still charged full price. The dish is around $27 USD, nearly $30 if you get the shrimp instead (which may be better) and I think it's around $22 USD for the pasta by itself instead of a la lis. Keep in mind these are hazy recollections. The dish comes with your choice of soup or salad, the pasta, and bread rolls upon request (again, not garlic bread which is extra). Unlike Olive Garden which gives you the same soup/salad choice and has comparable salad and an actual choice when it comes to soup, you do not receive free all-you-can-eat portions of either. Soup is standard minestrone, brimming with ingredients in a small cup, and was a bit weak on spices for me. An admitted lover of spices and salt though, so your mileage may vary. So in the end my rating is fairly good but it needs a bit of improvement. It's too expensive for what you get. Flavor is comparable to a big chain restaurant which is cheaper and has bigger portions. Except the garlic bread, which is still the outstanding winner here. read more

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Very delicious meals in an inviting environment for the whole family or just two! Staff is always great and food is made fresh! Top two items on the menu you should try: Bread/Dinner salad! You won't regret supporting this small business. read more

First time here I orderd chicken parmesan with Alfredo sauce we got the soup and salad and garlic bread it took a while for our food to arrive and it looked good But the food was cold not even meeting the food safety standards for hot foods. The servers where kinda ignoring us after food was delivered had to wave down a bus boy to get our server. She asked if we wanted the food to be reheated and I ask why?? Shouldn't my expensive dinner be hot when delivered?? She said it would be removed from my check very disappointing for a upper class restaurant so looked at my check and nothing was taken care of the cashier was rude and offered 50% off of meal and askedd why?? We sent the whole entire dish back and did not take anything with us So she told me ONLY for this time she will take off meal and I replied don't worry I will not return here first and last time here...Should have better customer service and hot food service now a days we should value customers because nothing is inexpensive and you loose customers by word of mouths and reviews... read more

This place is over priced ,with average food. Had the manicotti it had no taste. Even the salad was not that good. Olive garden gives you a better mail at a must better price. read more

Amazing food and fast, friendly service....Lasagna and Ravioli was delicious, salad had a great oil & vinegar dressing. Would definitely recommend. read more

Grasso's Italian Restaurant - Italian Near Me - El Centro, California

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Food quality has been decreasing! It was my favorite, now not so much... such a great family place tho.... hope they do something about it

We went to Grasso's years ago and liked it. We had heard that it wasn't as good after the remodel. Not true. We had a great meal in a nice setting and good service too. If you like Italian, you won't be disappointed. read more

This place is a favorite of my El Centro friends so when they persuaded me to spend the night before heading back to San Diego from AZ this was their restaurant of choice to treat me to. I can see why they love it. The food was excellent, the service was good, it was clean and friendly and very family oriented. I think its been there for a few years. The place was packed when I was there--always a good sign! read more

Great place!!! good service!!! And home made cheesecake OMG!!!!!!! Love it Couldn't get the waitress name but she was very good nice ect. read more

A weekend visit to El Centro and an internet search pointed to Grasso's Italian Restaurant as the best pick. If you are looking for DiMilli's or Filippi's this isn't it. There are no chianti bottles hanging from the ceiling nor the smell of marsala and anise wafting from the kitchen. This a small and unpretentious restaurant which seems to have a large and loyal clientele among the El Centro locals. The food is good but not great. The staff was very friendly and attentive. If you're in El Centro give it a try. read more

I have had better Italian food. Sauce is ok. Jus real plain Italian food. Some stuff maybe was microwaved.

When we lived in Yuma, AZ, we made a habit of driving the 80 miles to Grasso's once a month to get some real Italian food. Now we live in Baja, Mexico. We are actually about the same distance away on the odometer, but it is much less convenient to get here because we have to go through Mexicali and a border crossing. Nevertheless, this is still our goto place for Italian food. I know of no more authentic, delicious sauces than are the basis of Grasso's entrees. My favorite is the lasagna. Yum! read more

Love Grassos, love the service, love the food. Family owned. Best fried shrimp! Housemade dressing, yum! Love the blackened salmon.

First things first...if you are in El Centro, you're probably not there for the fine dining. But if you are looking for the best food for the dollar with a home style meal and Gigantic portions...this is your place. We were in for the El Centro Air Show, did a quick Yelp search and Grasso's popped up. Our first good indication that this was better then the local Taco stands was the parking lot was full. We started with the anti-pasto salads. Chocked full of meats, cheese, fresh veggi's, and plenty of olives and pepper-chino's for a hungry crew of five. Ministone was a bit watery, but tasty. The small house salads were sufficient, fresh greens and a small serving of tasty local beets. The best appetizer we were a bit apprehensive about were the fried calamari. But they were sweet, juice and hot. Served with a side of Thousand Island, they hit the spot. The main course were Spag and meat balls, chicken parm, and the clam/scallops and white sauce. The serving were enormous and straight out of the Comfort Food Bible. Hot, creamy and loads of cheese. The servers were really helpful, swamped with full tables, but they knew when to hit the table for refills. We were never looking to see where our food, so I thought they did great. Full wine list, which was a pleasant surprise. Overall, really nice place. I'd agree with some of the observations that this isn't your 5 star Italian joint, but if your in El Centro, you're probably just looking for a nice place to stop and relax with good food. Oh, and the best thing in the place, the garlic bread! read more

Chicken cacciatore and spaghetti are seasoned just right. Portions are large. Family owned comfort food. Complement with Sam Pellegrino for crisp uninterrupted flavor of the dishes. A gem in the city of El Centro, CA. read more

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They have the best chicken gizzards that I have ever eaten. I also like their pan fried chicken. We have not had a bad meal there. I highly recommend this resturant. read more