Al Dente is one of those small neighborhood spots where the food feels much more ambitious than the…read morespace. The pasta is all handmade, and you can genuinely taste the difference in both quality and flavor. The noodles have that fresh, slightly chewy texture that packaged pasta just does not have, and everything tastes carefully made rather than mass produced. The bolognese is spectacular: deep, rich, meaty, and comforting without feeling overwhelmingly heavy. It is the kind of dish that makes you slow down because every bite is worth paying attention to. The salads are also surprisingly substantial. The chopped salad, in particular, is a generous portion and packed with flavor, so it feels like a real part of the meal instead of an afterthought. Save room for the tiramisu, which is very good: creamy, balanced, and a great finish after the richer pasta. The only downside is the ambiance. The interior is tiny, so when it gets busy it can feel hectic and cramped. Still, the service is amazing, friendly, attentive, and impressively efficient despite the limited space inside.

We ordered the Bucatini Carbonara, and my boyfriend ordered the eggplant pasta dish. The pasta…read moretexture was very good, and we absolutely loved the eggplant dish! The only thing I didn't understand was the Carbonara. It tasted very different from other carbonaras we've tried, it was greasy oily and bitter! . I noticed other people who ordered it before and after us seemed to enjoy theirs, but I couldn't even finish mine. I'm not sure if there was something off only with my dish or if the flavor just wasn't for us. Other than that, it's a very nice restaurant with excellent service.

The food was amazing!!! The staff is insanely friendly, constantly check up on how you're doing…read more The ambiance was great as well. Super friendly/homey vibe and I love it. I love Italian food, and this has already become one of my favorite places! I wholeheartedly recommend, and I'm definitely coming back! (I'd add a photo but I ate the food too fast)

Got four gelatos for free! Had my friends get dissed for liking Alfredo sauce. 10/10 experience,…read morewould recommend.

This place is a great spot for Japanese Italian food. I got the uni & scallop pasta which was full…read moreof garlic and the pasta was al dente. It was very delicious and flavorful. The staff was very nice and attentive. The decor was dark and a nice touch to the atmosphere of the Japanese restaurant.

We are a simple group, we see Japanese and Italian fusion pasta and we go. The parking was a bit of…read morea nightmare, so if you manage to find it, this place is a must-try so you don't the opportunity. Luckily our group had about 6-8 people so we were able to try quite a bit of the food. Glapponese - Ground pork, garlic, bacon, soy sauce for pasta. Very strong umami in this. It's for when you'd like a simple pasta with meat and nothing too overpowering. Tarako - Cod roe and nori. This is another simple pasta when you'd like something with a strong salty flavor but want to mostly enjoy the texture of the pasta, which was soft and chewy btw. If you want a familiar Japanese flavor, this is the one to order Carbonara - A very familiar pasta in case you want to stay on the safe side. They still make it very delicious and creamy if you're in a simple mood for an Italian style pasta Keema Curry - This is where you start going for a more complex taste for your pasta. If you can't decide if you want an Italian or Japanese pasta, combine the tastes with pasta in curry Service I feel can be a bit more attentive. When they sat 6 of us down first, there were only 5 settings, so it seemed pretty natural to bring us a sixth set of utensils. But when we realized they missed it, we ended asked them. Not a big deal. But when our remaining two friends came, they sat them with us and brought out only 1 set of utensils, so we had to ask for it again. Just a small detail that had me a bit confused during the experience, but the food itself was great and we'd love to come back when they reopen

A DREAM shop. Unassuming, piccolino mio--but don't be fooled. Behind that modest exterior lies a…read morewonderland of the most delightful, high-quality ingredients, specialty goods, and handmade fresh pasta sold by the pound like it's no big deal. And a personal breakthrough: I used to schlep all the way to Larchmont Cheese & Wine or Bay Cities before beach days for a proper sandwich. Not anymore. I have sandwich geniuses living right down the street. The bread? Exceptional. The cheeses? Dangerous. The meats? I may never recover. And then there's the lemon Italian ice. My daughter and I have been here three times in the last week, shamelessly returning like two neighborhood raccoons with excellent taste. It is the perfect antidote to a scorching Altadena afternoon. This place is an absolute gem. Go for the pasta, stay for the sandwich, leave with three things you didn't know you needed and a strong desire to become Italian.

The sandwiches were awful. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea but they're overpriced and taste major…read moremeh. Service was great and the girl at the counter was lovely but the price of everything was way too steep and it didn't deliver at all. We ordered the mortadella and the artichoke. We didn't even finish our sandwiches. Ended up going to a different restaurant for food.

This spot is tucked away in the back of the farmers market, and if I'm craving Italian, this has…read morebecome my go-to. The noodles were cooked perfectly--great texture and bite--and the carbonara-style dish was really well balanced. The bacon adds just the right amount of saltiness without overpowering the dish, and the flavors come together really well. I've also tried their shrimp scampi, and it had some really bold, flavorful notes. And I almost forgot about the meatballs! The meatball pasta was another standout--the meatball was incredibly soft, tender, and packed with flavor. There's something about finding a great little spot inside a farmers market that makes it even better. If you're walking through and looking for Italian, definitely give this place a try.

I ordered the Cacio e Pepe--perfectly done. So simple, yet not easy to get right…read more I'd love to come back and try the Bolognese next time--the one at the next table looked amazing! I went on a Thursday at lunchtime, and there was still a line and all the tables were full. But I was able to get a table for myself. It has a mostly family-friendly vibe.

Wonderful service! Sweetest staff most caring and helpful. The food is delicious and worth the…read moreprice. This place deserves so much love!!

Thanks a lot to our server Francisco and the kitchen staff for the delicious food at Pasta Amore!…read moreHighly recommend and definitely will be coming back.

Been here a couple of times, and this place never disappoints! Everything we tried was really good…read more The restaurant is on the smaller side and can get pretty loud. They have TVs playing K-pop music videos, so if you're looking for somewhere quiet and intimate, this probably isn't the place. This place is very lively and loud just like the name (in a good way). That being said, all the staff were super friendly and attentive. They kept checking in on us to make sure everything was good and that we had enough water. We had the kimchi carbonara, Korean fried chicken, mentaiko pasta, and uni pasta. Out of all the pastas, my favorite was definitely the kimchi bacon udon carbonara. The uni and mentaiko pastas were also good, although I remember them being a little salty. My friend got the corn cheese for $16, which is lowkey expensive for what it is, and honestly, it tasted like any other corn cheese. The stir-fried baby octopus with pork belly was another standout and one of our favorites! They also have a seafood boil, which we definitely want to try next time we're in town. They're open pretty late too, so I highly recommend checking this place out! Just a heads-up: parking is valet, and there can sometimes be a wait on weekends.

I was on a trip recently and went here after a concert with my friend since this place stays open…read morelate. It was around 12:19am when we got seated and there was still a good amount of people dining inside. Anyways, we got the Mexican Influenced Tacos (Cheese Booldak & Kimchi Steak) for the tacos and also a Shrimp Rose Pasta. The pasta dish was my fave! It was very flavorful and I liked how thick the noodles are, while the tacos were good too and I liked being able to choose the tacos we wanted. For the tacos, there were a bunch of other meat options, which all sounded good too. I'd recommend this place! I love how this is an actually restaurant with indoor dining options and the food was good too. I also liked how large the menu is here since it actually had entrees which were filling too.

Love the pasta there! The restaurant was wonderful and they have great options of pasta. The menu…read morewas excellent and so many great quality of food to choose from. The Mentai Pasta and Squid Ink pasta were really good and so delicious. It was so creamy and nice quality of noodles. I really enjoyed the pasta with wines, it taste so fantastic. Lovely place with great ambiance.

This has become one of my favorite restaurants since we discovered it during our LA visit last year…read moreso of course, it was on my "must-go" list this time! Just like before, they did not disappoint. I ordered the Tarako Spaghetti this time and it was so good! It really reminds me of the pasta I can get in Japan, which is probably one of the reasons I love this place so much. If this restaurant were in my area, I would go there all the time! Hopefully, we'll get to visit again when we're back in LA next year.

Pasta e Pasta is one of my favorite restaurants in Cerritos! It's a Japanese fusion pasta spot and…read moreevery time I've come, I'm mind blown by how delicious all the food is. They have a variety of different pastas on the menu, but me and my husband's go to's are the uni pasta and the mentai cream pasta. If you're a spicy food lover like me, do yourself a favor and drizzle on some of the chili oil that they have on the table. Each pasta also comes with bread and a side salad, which is a nice touch as well. I've always come here for weekend dinners and the wait hasn't been more than 10 minutes. Service is friendly and attentive. It is located in a strip mall with plenty of parking.

A small Japanese/Italian fusion establishment with little seating, but big flavor…read more We ordered 4 pasta dishes for the night, and while I didn't get to sample everything, what I did try was delicious. Each table has a chili oil that I strongly recommend you add, especially to the uni pasta as I found it heavily under-seasoned. All the noodles were al dente, and the dishes were served with bread and a small house salad. Our waiter did the best he could, but for some reason, the weekday we chose was a pretty busy day with a crowd outside the door. My biggest qualm with my experience was the portion size and the seasoning. Our party was still a bit hungry (or, at least I was) after the meal, and we found each dish to be a bit flat,, though the chili oil helped with that. Looking forward to my next visit, and will definitely order something different.

One of our absolute favorite restaurants -- we honestly look forward to coming to LA just to eat at…read moreMaccheroni Republic. The Ravioli Di Zucca and Rigatoni Pom'Amore are phenomenal -- easily some of the best pasta we've ever had. The Lasagna di Carne is delicious too, although the rich meat sauce is so generous that you don't get to appreciate their incredible pasta quite as much. Small, quaint indoor dining + a cute patio that somehow doesn't feel like you're in the heart of LA. The restaurant is first come, first served, and there's often a wait. Come early or grab a cocktail across the street at Grayson while you wait. It's worth the wait. Every. Single. Time.

I came here last year for my birthday as well! I love how their delicious pastas are made fresh…read moredaily! I already knew that I wanted! I knew I wanted the bone marrow (again! We also ordered frtto misti (fried calamari and fried shrimp) as an additional appetizer which was deliciously light and crunchy! I've never had osso bucco before, so l presumably I thought they'd be using veal shank, but it was beef shank. The flavors tasted are of those that have been simmering cohesively on a low flame for several hours! It was what I'd expect in an Italian stew! Accompanied by a side of perfectly orchestrated I also had their squid ink risotto. Very distinctive flavor mixed within this squid ink plate. Bay scallops mixed within the squid ink and risotto. I just wish it was a little softer. I thought it could've used perhaps 5 additional minutes! Topped off with 2 perfectly cooked diver scallops! To end my birthday meal, I had a frozen creamy treat of affogato! Yay!! Happy 55 to me! I'm blessed to have enjoyed another delicious birthday dinner at Maccheroni Republic