I could have sworn I wrote a review for this place already!!!! Restaurant hidden in the middle of a strip mall off Irvine Blvd northwest of Newport Blvd. It can be a hit or miss spotting this place if you are flying down Irvine Blvd. After three visits of testing the service and quality of the food, I find myself here for lunch when craving Italian food. The owners work hard behind the counter and come out very polite and always put customer satisfaction on the top of their list. I've ordered their lunch specials for take-out for all my visits here. I would highly recommend ordering online if you're tight on how long your lunch is and you get 10% off your total order. I've ordered the Personal Pizza lunch special ($7.99+tax) on the first two visits topping the pizza with Sausage ($1 for additional toppings). The lunch special includes self-served salad and a drink. I ordered Baked Lasagna Lunch Special ($7.39+tax) on my last visit. I enjoy the authenticity of the sauce and loads of cheese in the Lasagna. Perhaps I'm bias against chain restaurants, but I'd give this hole-in-the-wall place a chance. The decor is not much catered to anybody in the high class or upper middle class. The prices are on the average side for the area. At least its less than $10 thats all I gotta say. The salad is not WOW since its not the real romaine lettuce and all. The salad is a nice bonus to the lunch and drink. Yet I find myself driving here when my work is located in the Irvine Technology Center off Jamboree and El Camino Rd. read more

I've lived in Tustin for over 4 years and have probably been here maybe 4 times. This is probably because the coupons I see advertised for this place don't seem to fit what our small family will order. This means that each time I've gone, I've paid full price for our pizza(s). Yet they get 4 stars! The 4 stars are because the pizza is really good! The crust is thin, but not like cracker crust, still good and chewy. I always ask for easy cheese and extra sauce and they always seem to get it right. The sauce is flavorful. The toppings are fresh and abundant. It's a good local business so I'm happy to give them our business. read more

Best italian food around! And the chicken wings hands down best ever! I could eat here several days a week!

Lasagna and manicotti are pre bought and just heated at the restaurant. If I wanted microwaved food I could have went to the grocery store myself, but I guess I should have known based on the prices. I guess if you're looking for something quick and cheap and don't have time to microwave your own food this could be an option. Staff did seem nice though. read more

THIS place is the BOMB. try the garlic knots!!! they are so good and came out so fresh! I got the chicken parmigiana and it was so good. can't wait to try everything on the menu. heheh. definitely recommend to anyone who's lookin for some good italian food that isn't olive garden lol read more

I liked this place way more than I thought I was going to. The pictures of the food on yelp do not do it any justice. It's a small shop in a strip mall next to a yoga studio. Staff were friendly enough and the food came out quickly for being so fresh. We had the chicken pesto pasta and the BBQ chicken pizza. Both were really delicious. Pizza wasn't greasy or oily at all. Pasta had really good flavor. Better pesto than I've had in a lot of nice Italian restaurants. This will be my new go to for a quick Italian fix. *If you're in a rush you can call ahead or they deliver also. read more

All the food we bought was bland. The garlic bread was hard on the edges, so hard it was not edible. You can tell the chicken parmigiana was fried in oil that was not clean; It also was rubbery as if it was microwaved. So disappointing. read more

Decent pizza. Cheese was ok and the meatballs were slightly tasty. It's more like a glorified fast food pizza.

It was empty when I got there so I was a bit skeptical but the people were all very nice. The prices are very reasonable and the food is great. I got the calzone with pepperoni and my friend got the spinach raviolis and between us we split the garlic cheesy rolls with marinara sauce. The food did not disappoint. It was all great and good portions, i needed a box for my leftovers. And once again they were all very friendly so I will definitely be going back if I'm in the area. read more

Italian Express - Garlic cheese rolls. - Italian Near Me - Tustin, California

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My work orders here occasionally, the food is decent, but I have one complaint...stop taping your napkins around the to-go forks and knives! We have to rip of the napkins to get our forks free, or use scissors. It's pointless. read more

Absolutely love their pizza. Reminds me of pizza from my childhood in NY 50 years ago. Thin crust that actually has flavor. Real top quality mozzarella cheese (just the right amount....not gobs of cheap cheese) and great flavorful sauce. We have had the subs and eggplant, also very good. Just a cute hole in the wall with very good food. We come from Diamond Bar for the pizza. read more

Great little local place for a quick Italian fix! Mozzarella sticks are our fave. And they make a mean cheese pizza. But ask them to cook it about 5 minutes longer to get a good crust on it. Still testing out different pastas, but so far so good! read more

Our pizza was supposed to be ready for pickup at 7pm on a Saturday night. We were in the area early so we stopped in at 6:40 just in case we had to wait in line. The place was totally empty of patrons and our pizza was sitting in its box on the oven with one other pizza. The employees were not busy and talking to one another in the kitchen. By the time we drove the short distance home we had to reheat it as it was cool to the touch. Imagine if we had picked it up 20 minutes later (the actual pick up time) the pizza would have been even cooler. I don't know how long it had been sitting out or why no one called us to tell us it was ready early. I called the establishment as soon as we got home to give them my feedback. The lady sounded dumbfounded and almost irritated. I guess people don't usually call to inform them of their experience. I was hoping for a reason or solution-but she offered none except that they had been busy...??? She also said not to order online, that we should call it in next time. Gee, thanks. The taste of the pizza itself was nothing special at all. Because we tried this place based on the awesome reviews, we were disappointed. I did think the marinara was clearly homemade and one of the better tasting sauces I've tried though (2 stars). read more

I have been eating here for almost 15 years. Today my shrimp scampi and clam linguine sucked. No flavor, white sauce was watery clam juice. Scampi also was watery. Let's not forget the burned garlic bread. So disappointing. read more

We had Italian Express cater for our daughter's Quinceañera. My daughter loves Italian and we love supporting our local small business in Tustin. The food was a big hit. We had Lasagna, Chick Alfredo, Rigatoni and Meatballs, Chicken Pesto and some amazing specialty bread. All of our guests raved about the food. A big THANKS to Ileana and Gus for helping us through the process and for delivering to our venue, you guys are GREAT! read more

My family and I loved the pizza not too greasy or heavy on the sauce and good quality ingredients

First time here Ordered meatball sandwich and 10" pizza Meatball sandwich could use more spice. Plain cheese pizza. Delicious Over all I give this 4 stars. Will go back. Sandwich is large. Came with 4 large meat balls covered in cheese read more

Italian Express - 4 stars. Will return - Italian Near Me - Tustin, California

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Italian Express not only has great food but they have exceptional customer service! We have ordered this restaurant a ton of times through Doordash since we are out of their delivery area. Tonight we ordered and Doordash gave us the wrong order. After calling and talking to Italian Express they went above and beyond measures to remake our food and deliver it to us themselves! They have earned us as customers for ever! read more

The pizza is good -- greasy, but good. One complaint: The portion for the ground-beef topping is really small. For more than $3, you get only a few sprinkles of ground beef. I'd call it a garnish, not a topping. read more

Stopped by here bc I work down the street. Usually if I want pizza I go to zpizza. By I was tired or that. Felt like something new. This place is a hidden gem!!! Pizza was really good. O got the lunch special. They have a lot of options for lunch there lunch special which I really liked. They have a salad bar where you can eat it there or take it to go. Was satisfied with that too. Which they had a little more toppings to choose from. But hey for 9 bucks you can beat two items!!!! Will be back here when I'm feeling pizza ar work read more

So they got my to-go order wrong. Didn't discover it until I got home. Decided to eat the Caesar salad that they gave me, but it wasn't good. Stale croutons. Meh. Won't bother going back even though I could walk there from my house. Too bad, really wanted to like this local pizza place. read more

This is by far my favorite place to stop by when I'm in Tustin great vibe the people are amazing and the food is the best Im here about 4 times a month if I'm in the area and it has always been a great experience food is always great. My favorite has to be the chicken pesto panini I always walk out of here with two. Highly recommend great prices great food read more

If I tasted it , but unfortunately the food did not reached me. The grubhub did not delivered it. I will definitely give grubhub -0. point.

Asked a question about an item on their menu and we're pretty much told we were stupid for asking. Sad to say as we were excited to try a new place close to home. read more

I order via DoorDash this place regularly. I am not this petty but this is like the 20th I specially request parmesan cheese and they NEVER provide any. What kind of Italian restaurant doesn't provide that automatically. The fact that I ask over and over again and they provide any tells me that they can care less about satisfying customers. I enjoy the food but that's the last time I'll be ordering. If this was a one or two time thing I would care but it's never ending. You can't even provide forks. That screams you are being cheap. Anyway you lost a loyal steady customer. read more

Too bad that we don't live in the area!!!! We just visited there tonight and had a great meal for dinner. The seafood pasta was awesome and I enjoyed every single bites. It came with the very tasty garlic bread as well. My kids loved their meat sauce pasta as well as garlic breads and they eat them all:) We happened to be in the area because my kids had to go to the urgent care located close by. Both of my kids got sick during our Disneyland trip and we were a little disappointed that we had to leave Disneyland early. This dinner experience changed our day:) We are not able to come back as frequently as we want to but we will be back next time when we come back to California! read more

everything is so good. I would post a picture but i ate it all Fettuccine Alfredo was so good and so were the appetizers

This pizza spot ALWAYS does an amazing job! The food and customer service is outstanding. If you ever want some new york pizza I would recommend Italian Express without a doubt. read more

I order from them A LOT. It is the ONLY place I can eat pizza from, and their other food is great too. FIVE EXCELLENT STARS! :) read more

I ordered the chicken parmesan with alfredo sauce and my partner had the spaghetti and meat sauce. We also ordered the chef salad. Unfortunately both dishes were lacking flavor and salad was not very good either. Not sure that I will give it a try. Another bad tasting Italian restaurant. read more

I can't stop ordering the chicken garlic pizza from this place. Every time as good as last time. I thought maybe it's me that likes it so much so I got more and shared with co-workers and they stopped getting pizza from anywhere else it's so good!!! read more

This place hit the spot! Yummy, delicious food and great prices! The lunch special is great as well (side salad and a drink! It is Italian fast food and it is exactly that. I only had about 30 minutes to grab something to eat and it was more then enough time. Definitely recommend if you're in the mood for Italian but low on time. Only downfall: no wine. Lol. Would have loved a glass with my meal but that's ok. read more

Italian Express - Italian Near Me - Tustin, California

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Get the Pesto Chicken - YUMMY!!!! Salad is typical Italian side salad but fresh and good! Really good Ranch dressing! My daughter got pizza and it was very large for a small - lol. She said it was very good as well! Please go and support a small business and enjoy the food! read more

When I sometimes want simple Italian food, I usually eat here. Their garlic cheese ball and pesto chicken panini are my favorite! Gus, the owner is very friendly and nice. It's in very small mall, but the taste of food is awesome. It's mom and pop restaurant. Their plating is not fancy, but simple. Also, their pasta is good, too. One of my friend recommended this place, and I'm lucky~ I definitely come back here soon. read more

Found this ma and pa pizza place next a block away from my new office. Absolutely tasty food and good price. It's a hole in the wall but so great to see the family working in there and not some corporate gig. read more

Was quicker than anticipated, the delivery guy was nice. Food was great too! I recommend the antipasto salad

Amazing food! No frills Italian food, that's reasonably priced, great portions, and friendly owners. Highly recommend.

This is our new go to for Italian. It's always delivered quick and hot. Food is amazing. Our favorites the ckn Alfredo pizza, lasagna, Italian spicy sandwich and the meat balls. Everything we have ordered and tried has yet to disappoint. wish I knew of this place a long time ago! read more

I ordered a green salad & a calzone for take out. When I picked it up and got home, everything looked very fresh and smelled amazing. I sliced my calzone in half to let it cool while I prepared and ate my salad. Everything tasted delicious, my toppings were perfectly mixed with the cheeses (mozzarella & rocotta). I had always wondered about this place when I drove by it on my drive to and from home. Can't wait to taste their pizza next read more

Amazing food and great service. They are family owned & very friendly. They make sure to treat everyone like part of their family. Whenever I'm in there they are always so nice. The food is really good too. Especially the lunch specials. read more