We come here often, just do not come on a special day, I mean a holiday. Everyone waits until it is Valentines Day or New Years Eve, and they are about 250 square feet in there, just come on a Wednesday, or earlier on a Friday or Saturday like 5:30. They are closed on Mondays. The food is to die for, super delicious. The wine is always good. Beer is from Italy, drinks are made in the back at the smallest bar in Seattle (a lot of people do not know it exists and it is a secret, you have to go outside to go in to it.) The owner Julio is from Italy, some of the time he is cooking, he knows what he is doing. They do not take reservations, they can not afford to hold a table if no one shows up. Just go and wait. Sometimes your wait will be 45 minutes. As mentioned, go on a weeknight, the service is totally different and less stressful. Too bad they do not have 3 floors to seat people on. Authentic old back alley in a village decor. If you are super attractive and dressed well I think he puts those couples in the front widow as advertising for business. This is where the view of the beach is. In summer the place is about 110 degrees inside. Try and sit outside but they have tacky plastic chairs, just get a bottle of wine. The flowers and container gardening is absolutely amazing, I wonder if they have a gardening staff? It is really gorgeous here in early summer. Try it, you will definitely like it, but do not complain if you go their when the rest of Seattle has decided to show up the same night, it is very small so work with it! read more

The food and service here is amazing. I have wanted to go to this place for several years now and got the chance last Friday night. They were able to accommodate our party of eight without issue. The years of anticipation were not wasted, the food was amazing. The service was top notch as well! Thank You! read more

I will dream about this food!! So delicious and comforting. The atmosphere is genuine and the service is just wonderful. They don't take reservations, which I like, but that does mean you should expect a little wait time. But it's 100% worth it! read more

Well, we've been wanting to go here for years, having passed by thousands of times. For us, the staff was pleasant and professional. Pricing was about what we expected. Good wine selection. Pretty interesting menu. The food was only average, however. Clam chowder was very, very salty (even though we like salt). Bread put down at the start was yesterday's foccacia or something. Cold and almost stale. Just throw it in the oven for about 30 seconds to bring it back to life. The entree chicken was just fine. No major complaints. Didn't charge the $6.50 split plate charge. Big hunks of rosemary in both the salad and entree. I like rosemary but don't need to end with a big horkin' piece in my mouth. Not a bad experience over all. Anybody can have an average night. Hopefully it'll be a little better next time. read more

Fantastic food. Lovely atmosphere. A little fancy so a great special occasion kind of place. Small groups recommended. The space is small and cozy but can feel a little cramped. Dim lighting, soft music. By the water with the sun setting. Stunning. Decadent lamb shank. Rich pasta. Warm bread. The price is reasonable for the standard of dining. read more

@ Kat We did not know anything of the open sign being off. We just happen to be around the area and wanted to try a new restaurant we hadn't tried before and thought maybe it was a good spot since there was an hour left before closing. We were also not even told your restaurant stopped seating upon our arrival or else how would we even still be seated? You only told us the kitchen was going to close soon and we would have to get our orders in. But now we know this was the biggest mistake we made. STOP LIEING TO THE PUBLIC and just own up to the low quality customer care your restaurant provided. We were trying so hard to not just walk out and leave but we wanted to make the best of the rude experience and handle the situation later through our yelp review. If your restaurant intends to rush their customers, and plans to be extremely rude due to your business hours ending earlier than publicized online then, maybe your restaurant needs to reevaluate making changes to the publicized times and edit it to be earlier than the hours of operations that is publicized everywhere.The only thing you had told us was your kitchen was going to close soon so we were going to have to decide on what to order soon as well. You did not say our entire dinner was going to be rushed. read more

Best Resturant in West Seattle in my opinion. The Clam, mussel, calamari and shrimp linguini takes me back to Italy. Simply amazing! read more

La Rustica - Seafood linguini and Gorgonzola steak. Both are a must order. - Italian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

We live nearby and this place and it was actually on our home's brochure from the realtor as one of the selling points! We originally laughed at the notion that a restaurant could be a selling feature, but changed our minds once we went to La Rustica. We love, love, love, LOVE this place! I would say it is easily the best Italian restaurant in the city. The ambiance is cozy and intimate in the winter, and lively in the summer. It is right on the beach in the middle of a residential neighborhood that borders a park that overlooks the Olympic Mountains. The views are stunning on a clear day. The wine list is extensive, and the food is superb (My favorite is the gorgonzola pasta). They give your fantastic fresh-baked, right-out-of-the-oven bread along with really good seasonal salads with every entre. The wait staff is also awesome. They are all super knowledgeable and super professional. The best! If you have a big date coming up, go here. If you have a special celebration coming up, treat yourself and go here. If you just got back from Italy and want to reminisce, go here. If you just need a good fix of carbs after a cold, dark and rainy week, go here! If you don't fall into any of these categories, but just want to try something new that you know you'll like....go here! read more

Short on vegetarian options which should not be not the case for any Italian restaurant. No pasta primavera or verdura griglia. Relies on meats, pizza, and pasta. High price tags. The menu felt more Americanized and formulaic than Italian. No options to really customize anything. Basic sauces. The foccacia at the table was flawless, however not enough to bring me back. read more

The location is perfect. It's not on the strip of Alki.. and is tucked away in a neighborhood. I was skeptical at first because the place looked rather small, but people were lined up outside so I figured the food had to be decent. Parking wasn't the best, but besides that and the wait.. I would say this is one of my new favorite Italian restaurants. I ordered their special of salmon which came with spaghetti.. DELICIOUS. The bread they give you is also very scrumptious. My boyfriend ordered some seafood combo which wasn't bad. All this came with a salad and the bread. The beer we tried was very tasteful, too. The waiter was so helpful and polite. I would definitely go back and recommend this if you like authentic Italian food. read more

I came with 4 of my best friends for drinks and appetizers. We came on the hottest day so far for Seattle, so there was plenty of seating inside. Everyone was really nice, in fact there came to our table at least 7 times. It was a little much, there was plenty of seating so we didn't feel a need to be ushered out so fast, but clearly they keep bugging. SMH read more

I liked everything I ate at this place. Great Ceasar salad, pasta special had perfectly cooked pappardelle, and the bread was amazing. As a former food server, I totally appreciated how the wait staff worked as a team. That is always a huge plus as far as I'm concerned! read more

Small place, got there at 5:15 on a Saturday and it was filling up. By the time we left, there was a line out the door. House wines were great! Had the Sangiovese and the Cab. Waiter brought out a warm garlic bread that was outstanding. I had the Gnocchi with Italian sausage. It was a pretty big portion with a lot of flavor. GF had the short ribs, according to the menu a house specialty. They were very tender and flavorful and came on top of polenta. Had a cannoli for dessert and we were on our way. Service was great. We ate indoors, it seemed a little chilly on the patio. Great spot in West Seattle!! read more

La Rustica is one of the great dining gems of Seattle. The service is always friendly and in 15 years I've never had a bad meal here. It is a delight to bring guests here. This is one of the very best Italian restaurants in the city, if not THE best. read more

A solid 4 stars. Their entree pastas are delicious and they are very accommodating to vegetarians. Cute and cozy location (by cozy I mean that we actually like small, intimate restaurants). Family owned, long time West Seattle establishment. Why not 5? The salads had a few slimy greens in them and honestly, the service was....ehhh. Not bad, but arriving early on a Thursday so that we could enjoy our anniversary dinner and the owner acted like he wanted us in and out before the later rush came. The servers were pleasant and the food was delicious but, ok this may sound like a weird complaint, but the food came out really fast. Again, like we were being rushed through. Although it was all delicious (except for the sad greens in the salad). read more

Molto bene ma non perfezioni. I highly recommend La Rustica - despite the cramped seating, high noise, and plastic trees separating the middle tables (hey, they're better than the short hedges they replaced!). Since they don't take reservations, taking a date can be a bit risky but ... not really. They offer patio seating in the summer and (last I knew) would sit you in a back grotto-esque room where you can order a glass of wine and wait for a table - very handy when it rains. Arriving later works well, especially in the summer when the sun sets around 9:30. Service is friendly, good, but rarely great, with the wine service being below average (iffy recommendations for $50 bottles). I've seen the owner and Italian friends sitting at the large table in a semi-stereo-typical-Soprano setting, which adds to the atmosphere. The plastic grapes, trees, brick walls complete with faux water-spout can be a bit fakey so make sure you don't care about that stuff, or bring an interesting date. The food will satisfy you, their specials are special (super-tasty chingiale!) and this place can be more romantic than you might expect. read more

Another neighborhood gem of an Italian restaurant, this time in West Seattle across the street from the Sound with beautiful, unobstructed views. As with many small, good Italian restaurants, the smells were delectable. We met friends for dinner here last week and it was fantastic, family style Italian food. Absolutely delicious. We ordered a carafe of house red and were given choices of three or four different varieties! That's relatively rare. Service was slow, but so what - the company was great and the atmosphere in the restaurant was very nice. If you want to eat with a view, ask for an outside table. In nice weather, you won't be disappointed. We loved it and will be back when we're in West Seattle and are craving Italian! read more

Visited on a Tue night with five adults, two kids. Instantly loved the atmosphere and the inspirational writing on the walls! (My fave, paraphrased: "I believe if life hands you lemons make lemonade. Then find someone whose life gave them vodka and have a party!" We had the clams appetizer and several variations of pizza: fennel one, the prociutto one and even the kids pepperoni did not disappoint! Great crust, perfectly done and a fresh sauce to top. Five stars on food and atmosphere, four stars on service. Nothing too notable to improve upon, just could have been more ahead in anticipating our needs. Excellent option for dinner in west Seattle. read more

Had our birthday dinner here last week and it was beyond amazing..loot just the food but new owner and wait staff were wonderful

I've been to La Rustica probably 7 or 8 times over the past four years. Up until the last two times I had a good dining experience, not because of any shortcoming in the service, but in the lower quality of the Italian food served. I ordered risotto which came out very creamy, as if it had been cooked with cream or the like. It was not right texture for risotto. Another dish, one of their consistent dishes on special, the lamb shank, was tasty enough, except for the fact that it came served with salad and spaghetti on the same plate. Although this is not traditionally done in Italy, I still found it overwhelming. Perhaps the owners felt obliged to cram in a lot of food on one main dish to make up for the rather high prices of the dishes on the menu. The location is cute and charming enough; however for the quality and pricing of the dishes, there are other better more authentic Italian experiences to be had in Seattle. read more

Great local spot with ambiance. Recommend for a first date. We were there for a birthday party. Great wine selection and food choices! Definitely come again. read more

La Rustica - Looking out the front door - Italian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I tried to take my wife out for her birthday Saturday. We've been there before, the food is good, but not so spectacular that it is our go to place for special events. I called to get reservations, however they don't take reservations for two. The person on the phone assured me it wouldn't be a problem and we'd be seated quickly. When we walked in there was not an open table, so we put our name on the list and decided to wait for the half hour. The guy who took our name asked us to leave the dining area, and go wait outside. His tone was impatient, rude, and really put us off. This is is December, not July or August. No we aren't going to go wait outside, not when we could have made reservations at Phoenicia and walked over or driven to many of the other good restaurants in the area. This was a disappointing experience. Fortunately w/ Yelp and OpenTable it is really easy to make reservations elsewhere and have a nice evening out. read more

By far, my favourite Italian restaurant in Washington (perhaps the world). Cozy, beautiful decor, friendly staff, great GREAT food. Very romantic, perfect for a couple (maybe too romantic for a first date). Gives a great family feel instead of a romantic feel if you go with a small party. My favourite dishes are the Gnocchi con Salsiccia Nostra and the Gnocchi Romana con Spezzatino di Pecora. The Gnocchi melts my heart, more than a boyfriend (ha!). Parking is easy, on the street to the left, to the right, across, if you must, a block down, but never further than that. read more

Love the decor & atmosphere! Tends to be very crowded and seating is tight, but well worth it. Food is wonderful, service has been good to OK. Owner will come to your table if he is there, and even offer a free dessert since I was dining alone. Very romantic setting, and the outdoor tables are perfect in the summer. read more

We have ate at La Rustica several times and have been impressed with the depth of the menu, wine list and service. The last time I ate at La Rustica, I got the Paella special, which was quite good. The saffron and overall flavors were quite good. I cook a lot of Italian food myself and I was impressed by the skill of the chef and the recipes (and there are many many items on the menu). I also enjoyed the knowledgeable staff, when it came to recommending wines to pair with the dishes. Being a lover of fine wine, I appreciate good wine service. The place is cramped in and the inability to make reservations for parties less than 4, do detract slightly from an otherwise perfect experience. The lack of reservations and certainly prevented us from spur of the moment trips. Overall, per my pallete, I have found La Rustica to be the best Italian food in West Seattle. read more

A lovely staff greets and serves you at this gem of a spot on Beach Road in West Seattle. I can't wait to stroll the beach and then head in for a yummy dinner and view of the sunset. We started with a portobella mushroom bruschetta that was really flavorful and a great portion size. My friend ordered the Carbonara and spoke highly of it's taste. I had the Fettucini with mussels, cream sauce and caviar. Delectable and the pasta was perfect. Their creme brulee was good if not great - needed a flavor, I think. (Hint hint: lavender!!!) My mate hade a beautiful tiramisu which he complimented. My compliments to the chef and owners! I'll be sure to take Bill there as he's a big fan of carbonara. read more

this place is adorable and the food is great. I also experienced great service here. It's not near my house and it's not within my price range for a normal meal out but it's wonderful for special occasions. If you love seafood they have many dishes which incorporate that. My meal was great - I have no complaints. Can't wait to go back! If you have a large group it's best to call ahead and make a reservation. This place is very small! read more

My wife and I drove out from Auburn to try something different. Loved this place, really not fancy, you get a family feel when your there. Food was really good, however the Cannoli is INCREDIBLE!!! Go check it out, enjoy the meal and the weather if it's a nice day and relax. read more

This place is a located in a small corner house on Alki. It gets busy so definitely expect to wait at least 30 minutes for a table - no reservations for small parties. The warm garlic bread is probably some of the best I've had but appetizer and entrees items are okay, nothing to go crazy over. I think the bar is lacking slightly but there isn't really have a bar/drinking vibe anyway. I would compare the quality to Volterra but it's no Carmine's. read more

We couldn't have been more pleased and can't wait to go again. Be sure to call well in advance for reservations, most particularly at the Holidays. The atmosphere is three star, but cuisine, service, and value are 5-star plus! A real neighborhood treasure and a rising star. So tutti a tavolo! Call today. read more

This is the only restaurant that's within a 5 minute walk of our apartment. As echoed in many other reviews, it's a cute, tiny, little place decorated with the old world plaster walls, grape clusters, paintings of the European countryside and old fashioned multipane windows. You'll end up jogging elbows with the wait staff as they maneuver around the tables, but you won't mind because they're all very friendly. This would be an ideal place to take a date. They open as the sun is setting and the lighting is intimate. Yet you don't feel pressured to dress up unless you want to. On weekends, I could see that the street parking might be tough to get up close to the entrance. They have a surprisingly large covered outdoor seating area and a counter at the far end where you can order beer or wine while you wait for table. This restaurant is hopping on the weekends so you can expect to wait. I believe it was perhaps 15 - 20 minutes before they called us but they have benches out front and a nice open public space across the street which happens to have a dedicated crosswalk where you can look at the ocean. I can't speak for the quality of the wines since my date doesn't drink and I prefer to sip wine socially dining out but they will bring as many baskets of garlic bread as you'd like. It's good when served warm. They use olive oil, garlic, salt and perhaps parsley on a flat bread, slashed for easy tearing. We ordered the bruschetta al pomodoro and the lasagna di nonna marcello. The bruschetta came really quickly: five small garlic toasts with a pile of diced tomatoes, olive oil, cracked black pepper and basil in the middle. This one wasn't soaked in vinegar, which I liked. It was a bit longer wait for the lasagna, which we split. They serve their dishes with a different regional twist, peas and cut up hard boiled eggs which I found interesting. This dish also had mushrooms. It was pretty good. All of this came to about $37 without a tip. We would have tried the tiramisu but the waiter said for some reason they just happened not to have any that day. Oh well. Maybe next time. read more

La Rustica has adorable Italian food with a water view. It has all sorts of pasta with different tasty sauces. The best mint lamb meatball and Tiramisu for sure! read more

La Rustica - Italian Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Not an easy restaurant to get seated, went on a weekday night and still had to wait a half hour to be seated. It's a small place, seating around 40 with the tables set close together. The food was probably 3.5 stars, the salads were nothing special, but the entrees made up for it, my date and I had lamb and boar and both were very flavorful. The boar was seasoned with anise? It tasted like Thailand meets Italy, which I didn't expect. The service put them over the top to 4 stars, though, they were attentative without being overbearing, and made the evening very enjoyable. This place is very charming and I look forward to visiting again. read more

We have been coming to this establishment for over 10 years. We love the food but the service is awful. They try to be great but somehow always seem like it's hard to do what's right for the customers. When we ordered the "special " which has been the special for over 10 years. We ordered the lamb shank braised in balsamic, it was so thick that the pasta was black and drenched in balsamic. We asked for a fresh bit of pasta and they refused because the kitchen had closed. I'm sorry but if a customer of mine had ordered the special and it came out unsatisfactory then I'd make the kitchen staff remake the dish no matter what! Again just recently we gave them another chance ,after a few years, because we like the food. We spent $120 and expected the service to be excellent and it wasn't. The most unprofessional comment ever heard by a waitress was, "My understanding is, because you got your salads out after your main course, you want the tiramisu for free?" Our reply, "well , we've been customers here for 10 years and we don't understand why the service isn't met to our standards." With extreme attitude the waitress gave , she was deeply disturbed by our unsatisfied experience. There was no general manager to report to, in which this case might've been necessary. We do not understand why or how hard it is to get the order of a meal out correctly, especially when the place isn't even busy. There were staff walking around patting their legs like they were waiting for us to leave and wanted us the hurry. Comments about other customers were heard, and were surprised they didn't hear the staff talking about them. Absolutely the worst service for a so called nice restaurant. This should be called La Rustica Bistro neighborhood dining. Not any kind of nice or even casual dining experience. Can't wait til it's taken over by owners who care about customer service. Not just making money for the same special for 10 years, how is that even a special? Gordon Ramsay would be astonished!!! In response to the reply of the owner of La Rustica: Groped? Arm on a shoulder is groping? (Wow only in a world this sad...) We were being friendly and understanding to the mistake. The server even made a comment that this is going to be a yelp review after her service was so bad! Wtf (We simply said that perhaps dessert should be comped for the mistakes & that didn't go over well) Not to mention We do not appreciate the attempt at the deformation of character attack. SUPER LOW!! DIRTY, and the worst possible answer to criticism. We have met & been given hugs & salutations by the previous staff many times. We never called that groping... Glad you did your research of who you think we are. But you got it wrong once again. You don't know your ass from a hole in the ground. The first part of the review was from a few months ago and that was clearly stated.The other part was just recently experienced. The gentlemen would never grope a server and therefore that is a HUGE LIE on your part!!!!!!! Clearly, there is no understanding of a customer service experience being important. Again, unbelievable customer service , horrible response, and lies!!!! Never would've expected someone to take constructive criticism to this level of lies!!! Boo hoo. You can always tell the true character of a business when excuses are given instead of apologies. read more

Cute, quaint little place with great views and awesome food! The staff is excellent and knowledgable too. Always leave here full and content, would highly recommend anytime! read more

*chefs kiss* everything was perfect. So thankful their patio is open. I will be thinking about the rigatoni with filet minon the rest of my life. Just finished it for breakfast and am so sad it's gone. read more

Very nice quaint restaurant on beach drive. Our server was very attentive and knowledgeable. Food was very good and it was a great experience all around. Will recommend to our friends! read more

Solid 4 star: great food, great location, good service, not over priced. I will go there more times for sure. read more

My absolute favorite place in all of Seattle....Italian food that's just as good (if not better) than what you would find in Italy. Incredible view, incredible food. read more

La Rustica is very small so be sure to plan ahead. We got there right after they opened and were able to get seated without a wait. The bread is AMAZING! We had the calamari appetizer, chicken parmigiana and gnocchi. The entrees come with salad and veggies. We were so stuffed. I wish we would have skipped the appetizer so we could have saved room for dessert! read more