this charming cozy Italian restaurant is our favorite place to eat in Bethesda. The food is delicious and served in large portions. The price is reasonable and the service is great. Manager Evan runs a great operation and he is always on the floor and accessible. Five Stars every time. read more

Are you on the mood for pasta!?This is your place! Incredible pasta and the chicken Milanese is delish!I think we have tried everything from Alfredo to the sundried tomato cream sauce. The only suggestion I have is if you get the sausage with marinara sauce make sure it's hot more than once this dish was cold or warm.The staff is very nice and they offer indoor and outdoor dining. read more

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We were in town and decided to come by. The place is very cozy feeling. The staff were very tentative and made the service great. The food was amazing. I had the shrimp & crabmeat rose and it was truly delicious. The bread is freshly made and great as well. Will definitely come back when in the area. read more

Olazzo - Shrimp & Crab Rose - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Crab pasta and bread was good. Also had the grilled chicken Alfredo and sausage and Peppers penne. No complaints! Again, the crab pasta was delicious! Ordered through a delivery service. My complaint with this is that only one dish has suran wrap around the container. For food delivery, every container needs to be sealed with plastic wrap to help avoid possible tampering. read more

I came here for an early dinner on Saturday and was quickly seated. Good customer service and good food overall. Portion sizes were big. Mushroom gnocchi: doesn't come with any protein so asked for chicken. You can def taste the chicken from being charcoal grilled. Shrimp pesto: overall good but a bit oily. Wish it had a stronger pesto flavor. Shrimp & crab rose: this was my fav dish. Creamy with plenty of shrimp. read more

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The three of us went out for dinner at Olazzo tonight, and we were amazed at how awful it was. We ordered the fried calamari, shrimp pesto, chicken malanese, and clams in white wine sauce. We were really excited about all these dishes--and all three of us tried bites of each person's dish because we thought only ours might be terrible. No - all three dishes were extremely bad. Paste like bland sauce, terrible flavoring, and the clam dish tasted like ocean saltwater with sand in it. Just terrible. The fried calamari was not good either. I can say with 100% authenticity that Olive Garden is much much better than Olazzo. This place should be shut down. Extremely sad excuse for Italian food. read more

Olazzo - Terrible shrimp pesto. Only four pieces of shrimp also. - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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We've eaten there three times so far, ordering something different each time, and each time it has been excellent. The service is very good, and it's a nice and cozy atmosphere. read more

Cozy Italian restaurant with delicious complementary fluffy ciabatta bread and pasta dishes! I used to come here for lunch when I worked in the area 8 years ago. So glad I finally came back to the old stomping grounds and brought my hubby and toddler for dinner. Wish I hadn't waited so long - still as good as I remembered it!   The scrumptious pilllowy soft bread with olive oil and vinegar always hits the spot and between the 3 of us, we devoured the loaf! The house-made creamy tomato sauce in the Ravioli Rose is divine! While the cheese ravioli isn't made in-house and a bit bland, the creamy sauce really elevates the flavor and perfect for mopping up the bread! There are 6 large pieces in a serving. Some of the pastas like the gnocchi are house-made as stated on the menu while others aren't. The housemade gnocchi is loaded with a heap of mushrooms (shiitake, button, and I believe portabella). The chunky gnocchi was soft and tender, and the creamy parmesan sauce was very light and more like a soup at the bottom of the dish. The pasts dish was fun to try, but not my favorite. It was just too overloaded with mushrooms. If you enjoy mushrooms, go for it! Hubby enjoyed the Meatball Sliders and Lasagna Alla Bolognese. The meaty baked lasagna was a generous portion served in a cast-iron. The house-made Tiramisu was creamy and a bit on the sweeter side, still delicious and my tot devoured it!  It's a bummer that cappuccinos aren't available (it's an Italian restaurant, uggh!). While there is not an expresso machine, there is a full-service bar. Hubby enjoyed the Manhattan with Woodford Reserve. The restaurant does not take reservations, walk-ins only, 1st come 1st serve. Highly recommend coming here on the earlier side of dinner around 5pm. We came around 6pm and had to wait for 15 minutes for a table and just got busier even after we left. The restaurant is cozy and best for small groups up to 4, there's limited high-top booth seating and plenty of bar seating. There isn't much space for a stroller, recommend a high-chair or booster. Excited to come back and explore the other pasta dishes! read more

Olazzo - Wild Mushroom Gnocchi, hearty and full of mushrooms - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Had their calamari as an appetizer. It was definitely enough for my friend and I to munch on! It wasn't as crunchy and flavorful as I had hoped, sadly. In addition, I ended up with food poisoning the next day. I'm unsure if it is as related to the calamari, but this was the only thing I ate that day that was different than my traditional routine. read more

Olazzo - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Kind of a crazy hectic place but fun and the food is great. Terrific new independent bookstore right across the street to visit while waiting because they don't take reservations and you definitely won't get seated right away. read more

Decided to try out Olazzo last night so got some dishes delivered. Everything looked so good when the food arrived, but it definitely had to be reheated. I'm assuming the experience would be better at the restaurant so next time I would dine in! We got arancini and calamari (not pictured) as appetizers and baked penne, linguini with clams, and tortellini in rose sauce as entrees. All of the items were decent, nothing crazy, but the tortellini was definitely the best. I've been disappointed before by getting tomato cream sauce at other restaurants, but was so pleasantly surprised Olazzo's was really good! read more

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We went last night and we're definitely impressed by the food. The bread and olive oil they bring out is nice and fluffy and just very tasty. We ordered the garlic bread with mozzarella and that came with some marinara sauce. That was delicious! I kept telling myself to stop eating the bread but it was so good and the sauce perfect. I ordered the chicken cardinale because I saw on Yelp it was highly rated and I could not agree more. The chicken was juicy and the batter not overwhelming and the tomato cream sauce was really top notch. Ryan got the alfredo with grilled chicken and penne and that was a huge portion of chicken! He enjoyed the sauce. The only reason I am not rating this 5 is because of the service. It started off well and we got our food quickly but we sat with pretty empty plates for around 30 minutes before our waiter acknowledged us again to take the food and bring the check. That was not how we wanted to end the night. We'd definitely go back because the food was that good. read more

Olazzo - Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken Milanese (penne and grilled chicken) - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Soooo yummy. Had been craving good pasta lately and Olazzo delivered. Service was OK- our server was running a little behind and forgot my drink, but took it off the bill. One of the dishes was cold, but still phenomenal. The chicken cardinale is FANTASTIC. The bread is amazing. I was so stuffed. Atmosphere is cute. Free two hour parking not far from the restaurant and plenty of options for seating. Outdoor, bar, high top, and regular tables. Not too pricey, 3 of us ate for under $70 with an appetizer! Will definitely be returning. read more

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I came here for happy hour turned dinner with a friend and we had a blast. We shared a bottle of wine, Greek salad, calamari and their pasta of the day. Sitting outside was really nice and I'd recommend coming on a summer Friday when the streets are shut down and there's live music. I'll definitely be back for brunch! read more

Olazzo - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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This is a great spot for Italian food in Bethesda. All the pastas I've tried here were simple but delicious. My favorite pasta here is probably the wild mushroom gnocchi. There isn't any meat in it but it's savory and satisfying. I also enjoyed having a glass of wine with the pastas. The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating. The inside has a warm and cozy vibe. It can get busy at times, but I had a good experience here overall. read more

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Met some old friends at Olazzo for dinner on a beautiful Tuesday night. We arrived first and walked in at 6, where they happily put together a table for 8 even though we said we're 20 minutes early. Even agreed to hold the table for us while we walked around the area. Food was excellent. "Red sauce joints" like this are all about the red sauce and theirs is delicious. I ordered the little neck clams and linguine with white wine sauce which was good, but ended up finishing off the kids' linguine and penne with red sauce and couldn't get enough of the sauce. The type of sauce you keep soaking up with bread even when all the pasta is gone. Wife really enjoyed her gnocchi as well. Excellent service, excellent food. Would go back anytime. read more

Ambiance and service was amazing. But, the food had no flavor at all. I don't know if I came at a bad time but it was flavorless. I relied on the sun-dried tomatoes to provide flavor to the dish. This was the Blackened Trout. read more

Olazzo - Blackened Trout - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

Spectacular, never been done before. Our food came out quick, it's all home made and amazing. Ambiance 5/5, service 5/5, food 5/5, waiters were on top of their shit. Overall great experience, would come back. read more

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Delicious food, great homemade pastas! A consistent place with a good variety of pasta options, including some vegetarian options which is appreciated. Fair price, not cheap but good value/portion sizes read more

My wife and I live the place and the food we have been there multiple times, but never left a review until now. The reason was Danni, he was our waiter for our table, very knowledgeable about the menu, good energy and friendly, we love how passionate he was the menu. He told us a bit about the pictures on the wall and how it was a very family oriented restaurant, u can tell he love it, Honestly we appreciate his suggestion on the menu, It was spot on, Thank you Danni read more

Olazzo - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Bring back Lasagna Bolognese recipe ! Until 6 months ago this was the best lasagna in DC or MD! Now either the chef or recipe has changed and it is terrible- red sauce was terrific now it is just poured from can with no seasoning, there is hardly any meat or ricotta, just greasy mozzarella and mushy lasagne noodles. We used to always go there because that dish was great and get take out too but now we are looking for a new restaurant that has better lasagna. Sigh. read more

Food : The calamari was crispy and flavorful! One of my favorite places for calamari! The 2 pasta were very creamy and rich, however, the creaminess made me want something either spicy or pickled on the side! The shrimp pesto was good, however I wish it had a stronger pesto taste. The crab and shrimp rose was definitely better, and it had lots of crab which was great. The portion sizes are good. Also their bread is delish! Service : Everything came out pretty fast! We had leftovers and they gave us extra bread and marinara to take home! read more

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Are you ready for the 411? Here we go... Are you ready for the 411? Here we go...my coworker and I were in the area for a training and decided to try out this restaurant. The ambiance was very nice and had both outdoor/indoor seating. The food was delicious and definitely seasoned well. My reason for not giving it a 5 stars is the server was rushing us throughout the whole process...rushed us to order food and then while eating wanting to take my coworkers plate when there was still a lot of food on there, as well as when we were done. I did not see any of the other servers doing that to their customers and this actually really bothered me. Great restaurant with great food but should work on their staff training on this area. read more

Went here for HH! The appetizers were a bit disappointing. Friend and I agreed the dates were so bitter! Would skip next time. However the pasta was amazing! Vongole had so much flavor and cooked perfectly! Tiramisu and coffee to end the meal read more

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We had a great time here with friends. We came on a busy Friday evening and they staff was very accommodating. Right away we got the most delicious bread and balsamic/olive oil for dipping. We ordered the bruschetta app and the Arancini, of which the arancini is the superior option. The bruschetta flavors are somehow very muted and disappointing-- I think that came down to the lack of salt. Arancini was much better, loved the cheesiness! For mains we ordered the penne with chicken in red sauce (I forget the name), the ravioli rose, truffle and mushroom Gnocchi, and spinach/garlic tortellini. The ravioli rose and spinach/garlic tortellini were our favorites. That sauce in that ravioli is just divine -- smooth, creamy, but still light. The pieces of fresh garlic in the tortellini make the dish for sure. The penne with chicken is also very good with a sauce similar to the ravioli rose, but the chicken was over cooked. The truffle and mushroom gnocchi had beautiful, pillowy soft gnocchi but it was so overwhelming on the truffle that it was off putting even to my truffle loving family. Truffle should enhance a dish not be so strong you can't taste anything else. We had excellent service the entire meal and the majority of the dishes we ordered were great! This isn't the absolute best in the DMV or anything but it's very good for sure. read more

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Great service, went in on a Tuesday around 6pm. Party of 2 seated right away. The vibes are cozy. We got the ravioli and added chicken, and then also got the meatballs. The ravioli was delicious. The meatball dish was just okay, wouldn't order again. The bead and olive oil on the table was a nice touch and they kept it coming. We ordered a speciality cocktail which was essentially their version of an old fashion and it was so good we ordered a second round! Overall great food and experience. We both agreed we'd come again! read more

Olazzo - Menu - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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LOVE this place. Has quickly become one of my favorites in Bethesda. I am eager to try ALL of their dishes. Everything is fairly priced and the menu is so expansive that it is always SO hard to choose which dish to get. This time around, for appetizers, I got the calamari and bruschetta. The portion of calamari was so large and perfectly crispy. The bruschetta could have had a little more tomatoes, but the flavor was there and I still enjoyed it very much. There gnocchi tasted like a classic bolognese and the texture of the gnocchi was pillowy and soft-- super yummy (although the mushroom gnocchi was a little better). The littleneck clams sauce was SO amazing and yummy. It was acidic, buttery and well seasoned. The clams were a great element and added that extra punch. Who knows what I will try next but I sure am excited! read more

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Once again for the local Disabled American Veterans Friday Night Dinner for over 60 veterans from throughout the Washington Area Military hospitals which was held at the Knights of Columbus Rock Creek Mansion, Bethesda, MD - Olazzo provided an outstanding meal - Comments listed below. * The food was great, dinner was delicious! Kid friendly, Thank you! * The location, food, and friendly people here were fabulous. * The food was amazing! Thank you very, very much! Food was outstanding and the atmosphere was appreciated. Thank you. * Great food and fellowship, great atmosphere! * Food is great and a wonderful night. Thank you for a lovely evening! * Thank you for the wonderful food! The meatballs were out of this world! Thank you so very much! * Thank you for the great food and drinks. The meatballs were amazing. Hope to be able to attend again. Everything was delicious! * Great hospitality and delicious food. Thank you for such a delicious meal and for all that you do for us soldiers! Great appreciated! Thank you sponsors! * Love the food especially the meat balls and chicken. Thank you so much! * Loved the tiramisu! Thank you for the food and mug! * You all are so amazing, thank you so much for having us. The food was amazing and the hospitality was superb. Thank you so much for a great evening. * Delicious! Always a wonderful time and awesome hospitality. * Fantastic evening. Awesome dinner. Great company and food. Very well organized. Thank you! We had a great time! * 1st time at "the mansion" this is a great venue. The Italian food was amazing. Thank you so much for these events. You are very appreciated! * Thank you so much for the dinner, everything was great. * Thank you! Delicious! We appreciate the respite so, so much! * Outstanding to say the least. Thank you so much for the invite. read more

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I have visited this place with my wife multiple times and every time it has always been a blast! We love the service as the staff are very friendly. One time, I asked about some seafood that was listed outside as a promotion but the waiter said it wasn't available anymore. Later, he came up to me again saying that the chef will make it just for me. I typically order their pastas especially their Chicken Cardinale (see photo). It is one of their best dishes. It is great to share for two people. You won't go wrong with their other pastas and seafood pastas. I remember I ordered the chicken parmesan and it was also great. Parking is also very easy here since there is a garage closeby. They have indoor and outdoor seating. This is a perfect place for dates and also for families to get together. I highly recommend this and looking forward to coming back. read more

Olazzo - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

There are shrimp and pasta dish is absolutely to die for. I also think it is not too expensive and their free bread with olive oil and vinegar really hits the spot! read more

The service and ambiance was 5/5 stars but the food makes me give this place 3/5 stars. I ordered pasta with rose sauce and shrimp and crab which was $29 and it had zero flavor to me. I had to add black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt for me to even be able to eat any of it. The bread was good at least. The waiter couldnt have been nicer, I will say that again. Maybe I just ordered incorrectly. read more

This Italian restaurant is a true gem! The calamari was perfectly tender, and the garlic and mushroom tortellini was the best I've ever had. Service was attentive without being overbearing, making for a flawless dining experience. read more

This place is amazing! They garlic bread is amazing. Highly recommend! The lasagna was great as well. Very clean and friendly in here! read more

Olazzo - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Wow! Where do I start? I came here on a Wednesday night with my mom, partner, and my mom's colleague. The restaurant closed at 9:30 and we arrived around 8:45. I felt bad for arriving so close to the restaurant closing and thought we'd get mediocre service. Our experience was outstanding! Service was great, drinks were wonderful, and the food was phenomenal! I was very impressed and look forward to returning soon. read more

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Let me start this review by saying that I was not expecting the experience I got there at all. Want to know why? Wanted to try Olazzo out for a while and went there in a hurry. The place doesn't take reservations but was packed. Found a seat inside a were immediately greeted by this kind gentleman who brought freshly baked bread for us, gave us great recommendations and just had a very kind/generous smile all the time. The appetizer was obviously calamari and the portion was huge. The taste was absolutely delightful. The entrees were amazing. You can tell by the very first bite that this food is made with a lot of love. The portions are massive and you can tell that this place is not only looking for profits but they are also looking to give their customers the best taste and value for their money as well. This is a simple Italian place but the food is better than a lot of fine dines I have been to. A solid 5/5 because they deserve it. read more

The food was so so delicious salmon recommended this is the best food I've ever had in my life -Petra read more

Quick seating, polite attentive service, and a pleasant house wine and lovely desert, were somewhat undermined by actually bland food. Neither my wife's salmon on oily salad nor my chopped tomatoes and basil pasta tasted much like anything -- anything at all. This is a perfectly nice joint and, to quote the wife "a sprinkle of herbs goes a long way" towards elevating the entrees over the hot soft bread and olive oil served before. The food was fresh hot, not cheese-dependent, and somehow too plain. read more

A great Italian place with a really nice ambience and lovely service. Their menu is great and I'd love to come back here (A)

My friends and I ordered Mozzarella Neapolitan as our appetizer and ordered Fettuccine Alfredo, Chicken Cardinale, and Ravioli Rosé as our entrees to share. Mozzarella Neapolitan was very refreshing and light and the roasted red peppers were especially good. All the pasta dishes were good too but if I had to choose a favorite, it would have to be the Chicken Cardinale. I loved the creamy rosé sauce and the grilled chicken was delicioso. The only downside was that we requested to be seated outside (because the weather was amazing) and we were seated at one of the tables on the asphalt road. The round table on that side of the road was way too big for our group and the chairs were also very light and it just felt very temporary/portable. I wish the atmosphere was a little bit better, but other than that the food was great! read more

Olazzo - Mozzarella Neapolitan - Italian Near Me - Bethesda, Maryland

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Came in for a birthday dinner. There is a bit of a wait for dinner on weekend nights. The restaurant was quite busy, once called for a table we were seated right away. Complimentary ciabatta bread was brought to the table with water. Waitstaff were attentive. I ordered the Pasta alla Checca, spaghetti with diced tomatoes. My sister ordered the Linguine with Clams. Both dishes were good, but not excellent. The Pasta all Checca was a bit oily and lacked flavor. We ordered tiramisu for dessert, it was good and the right consistency. I am not sure I would try again but if you are craving basic Italian food this is a good choice. read more

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