I don't like eggplant. In fact, I'll go so far and state that I hate eggplant. While I was in the bathroom my wife ordered eggplant parmigiana hero. She asked if I wanted to try her sandwich. I tried it, not knowing what it was. It was delicious! Needless to say I ate half the sandwich. I don't know if it was how they prepared it, or the tomato sauce or the tasty bread (or all of the above) but it was damn good! I'm looking forward to my next visit! read more

Lombardi's - Interior of the restaurant - Italian Near Me - Cambria, California

Went for lunch. Not busy at all on a Friday from noon to 1:00. The best: food was hot (temperature) and that is always nice. It seems prepared fresh. Soup was good, on par with the OG national chain. The bread, lasagna, salad, dressing, were all worse. If you aren't as good as the chain...you are just average, three stars. A little uneven seasoning, salty soup vs. needs salt red sauce. Just average place to get food, it is Italian, so it's not bad. read more

Delicious!! Awesome garlic bread, wonderful minestrone - Very sweet staff. Seems family run. It was a delicious dinner - Highly recommend! read more

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SHORT: Expensive Really OK Food DETAIL: Walked in after driving down from the Bay for a week in SLO. There were a number of people sitting down inside so looked like a good bet. Service was a bit slow but wasn't terrible. Food came out as it was ready. Water refilled once (at the end of the meal) and we were never provided extra plates, utensils, napkins even when sharing bread / salad. ORDER: Gnocci (house special), Eggplant Parm, 2 glasses of Pinot Grigio PRICE: $80-90 OPINION: Looked and tasted like a Safeway frozen meal. Safeway frozen meals are fine, but not for almost $100. read more

The WORSE food I have ever had in my life. The pizza was disgusting, tortellini was obviously frozen, sauce was so oily, chicken parmigiana was gross. And it was EXPENSIVE!! I would give zero stars but the staff was as very nice read more

We had ordered an array of pizza and pasta dishes. The dishes were decent though I could tell the pasta was not authentic tasting, but it was excusable. We had ordered the Jumbo Pasta Shells as one of the options. The dish on the menu said it was giant jumbo shells with ricotta mixed with basil in marinara sauce. The ricotta filling was very suspicious, it tasted like it was mixed with some sort of blue cheese or goat cheese. It did not taste good at all. We asked the main lady, possibly the owner of the restaurant, why there was blue or goat cheese. She kept arguing with us that there wasn't any of that and that it was solely ricotta, so we are thinking maybe the ricotta was spoiled as it tasted very bad. Regardless, we asked if we could take that off and order a new dish because it really was not edible to us. She said of course and we ordered another dish but when the bill came, we realized the dish was still on there. The staff then changed their attitude towards us -- the main lady had told us that their policy here is the minute you touch a dish, it can't be returned (there was no writing of such policy). We said how can we know it's not good if we don't eat it. She claimed we had eaten already much of it when we showed her how on our plates it was barely eaten. Overall bad experience. read more

I would not go here! Food is about a 4. We had 6 ppl at our table and they literally brought 4 pieces of bread to the table! Also 3 parties complained about being overcharged and sure enough we were overcharged! They also charged 3.50 for canned soda saying they have no gas for tap soda WTH?! read more

If I was rating the food alone, I would give Lombardi's only 2 stars. I am giving it 3 because of good service and the homey, cozy ambience of the restaurant. The woman serving us was extremely kind and attentive. But the pasta was dry and the whole dish had practically no flavor or salt. It was extremely expensive (as are most restaurants in Cambria, it seems) for small portions. For the price of the food I would expect to take home leftovers, but we were still a little hungry when we were done eating. In my opinion, you are better off going to a cheap pizza place. read more

Lombardi's - Baked ziti - Italian Near Me - Cambria, California

My husband, daughter and I spend a weekend in Cambria every November. We have our routines there and favorite places to eat. Lombardi's is our Friday night place! Wouldn't change a thing about our experience. We order the seafood ravioli special which we have drooled thinking about all the way from Thousand Oaks! The side salad with the beets and Caesar dressing is yummy too. You do a fabulous job across the board. Love you guys! See you in a couple of months. read more

Really great experience for the family. Food was excellent. We had lasagna, cheese ravioli and the chicken pesto sandwich. All were delicious. Service was also excellent. Nice family lunch in a small restaurant. read more

We came for lunch and had a pizza and shrimp Alfredo and it was delicious!! Staff was great also. Will be back.

Literally the most bussin food ever. would recommend to everyone and very friendly. 10/10 would totally go again.

Had a fantastic lunch of rigatoni with a meatball and a sausage in a meat sauce. Rigatoni was perfectly aldente. Sauce had the perfect amount of herb's and spices with just a touch of sweetness. Meatball was delicious and tender. Sausage as well. The starter of the meal was the ministrone soup. Like a hug from the inside on a chilly coastal day Will gladly return. read more

What happens when you don't check yelp? 1st you get crappy food! Why do I say this because look at the pic that is burnt eggplant in the sandwich! 2nd you get stomach upset. This makes a fun holiday weekend miserable. While service was decent I could not in any wSy recommend the food. The man had Pesto and it was extremely heavy on the garlic snd overpowered the other flavors and honestly something tasted off about it besides. I was afraid to taste more than I did soo couldn't nail down was was off about it. As you can see by my lousy pic the eggplant was burnt and over cooked. The sandwich was heavy on sauce and the crusty roll also was over toasted. It also fell apart while eating and needed to cut with a knife and eaten with a fork. Thirdly I don't want to cut my sandwich with a knife and eat it with a fork. I want to Bread to hold up to the fillings. It's difficult to find quality places to eat on the central coast unless you want Mexican food but seriously there is a world of other good food why be so limited. In conclusion do yourself a favor and read online reviews before eating it could save your some frustration. read more

Lombardi's - Italian Near Me - Cambria, California

Food was authentic and very tasty. Would definitely go back. The whole family enjoyed the meal. Give this place a try!

Chicken Diablo Spaghetti was delicious. The employees were very kind. My kids ordered the spaghetti, ravioli and the pepperoni pizza bread. All three kids absolutely loved there dinner. My wife ordered the manicotti and she was very pleased as well. Thank you for a great authentic dinner. read more

Lombardi's - Chicken Diablo Spaghetti - Italian Near Me - Cambria, California

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The food is old style Italian and is wonderful! We had the lunch special of Rigatoni pasta in a creamy sauce with chicken and mushrooms. It came with garlic bread and salad, and it was all wonderful. read more

Will & I just had a wonderful dinner at this cute little place in Cambria. We both opted for the special: Rigatoni, with mushrooms and chicken, baked with a delicious creamy marinara sauce. This is something I'd love to see on the menu, it was that good. As with the food, the service was very nice. The Italian decor might be a bit kitschy, but it was very comfortable. PS Try the spumoni for dessert - it's wonderful! read more

First let me state that the wait staff was wonderful. Delightful to be exact. All was good until the pizza arrived. I would say this was a store bought crust with tomato paste, slices of fresh tomato, basil and pre sliced globs of mozzarella. Not cooked in a pizza oven for sure, but likely warmed in a convection oven/warmer. The cheese was not melted, simply warmed. The crust was thin, hard through and through. Basically broke when bit into. Not my idea of a well made pizza nor was it worth the near $20 charge. Expected more from a restaurant with a name like Lombardi's. Bummer. read more

Food was prepared well and was good. seafood ravioli was tasty, chicken parmigiana was ok. very casual and austere surroundings. server had every table but she was very polite but also very busy read more

Was heading to another place but so glad we saw this place. The pizza and meatball sandwich was excellent!! Great service and good priced.

Recently enjoyed an absolutely perfect meal at Lombardi's. We were promptly greeted and seated. Tonight was the fullest I've seen it, with only a handful of empty tables. Despite the larger than usual crowd, service was excellent. We were brought cups of ice water, which was a nice change. Last time we were here they charged .75 for water, which was extremely petty. We started with an antipasto salad topped with their homemade creamy Italian dressing, lasagna and fettuccine Alfredo. Everything was fresh and perfectly seasoned. I am so glad to see that they've changed the staff, this visit was much more pleasant than our last. read more

Was in vacation and asked the local business where to get good Italian food and they suggested Lombardi's. Went in for a late lunch early dinner and ordered off the lunch menu. The portions were very large. I had the spaghetti with meat sauce and Italian sausage it also comes with garlic bread which is delicious. For starters we shared the antipasto salad which is severed with the creamy Italian dressing which was the best dressing I ever had. Used the left over to dip my bread. The inside is nothing fancy but everyone is so nice. I recommend you give this place a try. read more

Loved Lombardi's! We were on vacation visiting Hearst Castle, and happened upon this restaurant. We totally enjoyed their pizza lunch special. The crust was yummy, and the sauce was even better! Our waitress was so kind and was "johnny on the spot" with anything we needed. I don't know why the reviews for Lombardi's are so low because I would most definetly disagree with all of them. read more

It's one of those places where it's either going to be great or really terrible. And it was really terrible. My husband got the Alfredo Lombardis- no flavor & the mushrooms & artichokes are clearly from a can- and not even of good quality. I ordered a soup and salad. The creamy Italian dressing is so thick and taste exactly like garlic paste. The soup had over cooked vegetables and zero flavor. My kids shared a spaghetti & meat sauce with a meatball. I'm shocked. Who doesn't mix the ground meat with the sauce?! I have never seen that in my thirty years of life. The meatball is so dry. Overall they need a new chef. They clearly don't know what they're doing. Good Italian food isn't hard to master, it's really simple. I'm honestly shocked that this business is open. Do yourself a favor and get anything else. $20 for a plate of spaghetti that has one dry meatball & meat sauce that isn't mixed is atrocious. PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY. read more

We had a choice of a few places but decided to give the kids their choice which just so happens to be our new family after my wive's half sister did an Ancestry DNA test. Cool story but not here for that. Lombardi's in my opinion is getting a bad rap on Yelp. Not to say the one star opinions didn't have a bad experience just not our experience and according to our sister and brother en-law their experience has always been 5 star. We arrived for a late lunch early dinner. The lunch specials was still on the board however they were taken them down shortly after we were seated. The restaurant is fairly small and very cute on the inside. From what I can gather this is a family own business that puts their heart in what the serve to their customers. We started off with an antipasto salad and bruschetta to share with 4 adults and 2 teenagers that can eat like adults. The antipasto salad was really good and plenty big enough to share with the table. It had the usual stuff with mixed green salad and served with a dressing of your choice. The bruschetta was awesome. The typical garlic tomato mixture on top of a french loaf. It I would give any pointers would be don't let the bread get that toasted. Maybe just a light toast. The menu has 2 sides with plenty of choices everything from pasta to pizza to chicken. They usually offer a couple of specials as I mention they were just taken down the lunch special which had a portabella mushroom dish that caught my eye. Which is what I ended up ordering. The dish was pipping hot and super flavorful, with chunks of mushrooms throughout the dish and served with a really tasty white cream sauce. This also came with a choice of soup or salad and garlic bread. The soup was minestrone which is was I went for and was actually very good. It had a homemade taste with nice chunks for veggie's that were cooked perfectly. All in all this was an excellent experience and when we return to Cambria this will on the list to visit again. read more

When I think of this place it reminds me of the fresh roasted garlic with melting butter on soft bread. Mamamia! Yes, The carpet needs to be changed and interiors needs some work but based on food and customer service this place is 5 and a half stars. If you're in Cambria. This is a must visit. read more

OMLord what's happened?? Use to be good Now their wine comes from a conscience station, Stella Rosa??? Are you serious? Beer list very disappointing While I realize not all enjoy an adult beverage, if you do, this is not the place for you. I pray the food is good, as we are awaiting our dinner. Be safe read more

We got to Cambria around 630pm because of road closure (Highway 1). The staff at the hotel gave us some recommendations. We picked Lombardi because we wanted something filling after aong drive. Food came and we were very disappointed with the quality. Please see comments on photos. Needless to say, we're not coming back and would not recommend this place. We also ordered wine and they gave us juice glass instead of wine glass. Go figure! read more

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My husband and I stopped by for lunch with our daughter. We ordered a lasagna and spaghetti and meat sauce with a meatball. The lasagna was delicious and had plenty of flavor. The only negative is that my glass of water was given to me not cleaned. It had black things inside it. read more

Lombardi's - Lasagna - Italian Near Me - Cambria, California

Really low key Italian restaurant. Spaghetti and Meatball and Meat Sauce. I had enough to eat dinner and save the rest for lunch the next day. Not fancy. And not expensive. I think the spaghetti was $19 for dinner. Great for your basic pasta dishes. Not sure how more elaborate dishes would be prepared. YMMV. read more

What to say about Lombardi's? When we discovered this place 3-4 years ago during a family vacation to the Central Coast, seemed like a cool old school Italian place. And then we came back, and some of dishes were...a little wierd. Way too much garlic in the pesto. Skinless and unbreaded chicken parmigiana? The marinara sauce lacks some freshnes. All the chicken is skinless and unbreaded, like someone from Weight Watchers took over the place. So if you're looking for traditional Italian, this isn't the place. But I kind of like it anway. Service is always friendly, and if you check your expectations for Italian food at the door, they serve some good dishes. Garlic bread is done well. And the tiramisu dessert is above average. Service is always friendly and the interior is sufficiently interesting. Not the best place in Cambria, but you could do worse. read more

Great experience from the moment we walked in the door. The staff was very friendly and the food was excellent. Their marinara tastes bright and fresh. Pasta was cooked just right. Garlic bread . . . more please! While waiting for our meal we chatted with our server who shared how much business had slowed down in Cambria last year and how the business community rallied together to keep things going. The next time you're visiting the charming town of Cambria, make sure you eat at this family friendly restaurant. read more

loved it! I got the lasagna, which was delicious. Vegan son got an olive oil pasta that he loved. husband got spaghetti w meatsauce and sausage and he said it was good but sauce was too sweet. We shared a salad and they split it for us without even having to ask. Service was great. Recommend! read more

Delicious tomato sauce. Loved their manicotti and pizza. Eggplant parmigiana delicious. Always friendly service.

Excellent homemade Italian dressing, garlic bread, & sauces! Felt like eating with family. Delicious, quaint, & cozy.

this place is what taco bell is to a authentic mexican place.This is California right? We had some fresh lettuce in our salads and that was it. Canned beets really The garlic bread was a loaf of something day old from albertsons with some unknown spread definitely not olive oil and a healthy dose of garlic powder. Rule # 1 pasta is always al dente. My partners clam sauce and pasta was obviously way over cooked, mushy if you will and clams from a can harkened me back to my college dorm days. My riggatonni was just as bad and the cheap canned,sugary sauce was ultra blah. Am I still in California? Do they make all kinds of great wine in this state? I would have to think it was impossible to put this junk in a glass and have the nerve to charge 12 bucks a glass,yukski. The music even was conflicting,Perry Como in the front of the house, and a mariachi band in the back. The ONLY reason this place gets two stars was our great server read more

I feel bad giving a low review for a local place, but people need to know to not spend their money here. Our waitress was really nice and gave quick and friendly service. The restaurant has a cozy vibe and the place is welcoming, but that's where its charm stops. We got a gluten free pepperoni pizza and the chicken Alfredo pasta with gluten free penne. The pizza tasted like frozen pizza with some extra cheese added to the top before it was put in the oven. The chicken on the pasta certainly wasn't fresh-it was definitely from frozen cubed chicken that was heated up. It tasted like tuna. The "Alfredo sauce" was nothing of the sort. We did get gluten free noodles, but the toppings were the same as the other pasta. We were shocked to have spent $65 on this meal. We left hungry and dissatisfied. I would have rather eaten a lean cuisine at home. Listen to all of the other poor reviews-they are right. read more

Would not eat here again...did not eat here this time. From my previous experience here, I strongly suggest a drive down Main St. until you see the 'MEZZO' sign. Their Lasagna is phenomenal! These women take pride in their offerings...straight up, that 'pride' I speak of...well, to put it nicely...was somewhat lacking at Lombardi's when I dined there. *two stars for service only. read more

Very disappointing. We came on a Monday night and there was no one else there. The service was fine but the food had no taste. We ordered the baked rigatoni and the meat special pasta. The baked rigatoni was very simple and the meat special pasta had a lot of sauce but no real flavor. The biggest letdown of the meal was the garlic bread. It looked and tasted like frozen bread. No flavor, no garlic. read more