I've lived in Laguna Niguel for most of my life and have driven by Romeo Cucina countless times, always wanting to try it. Well, my husband finally made it happen! As newlyweds of four years, we've been making it a point to explore new restaurants around what is now our hometown. Romeo Cucina is a family-owned restaurant with plenty of seating. It's always busy with locals, which is usually a good sign. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful. We've eaten here at least four times now and have never had an issue. We absolutely love it! On our most recent visit, we started with the calamari, then ordered the Pizza Bianca and my favorite pasta, the Rigatoni Giulietta--chef's kiss! Everything we've ordered here has been delicious. You can tell the food is made with care and attention to detail. The flavors are rich, fresh, and comforting. I would highly recommend Romeo Cucina to anyone looking for great Italian food, friendly service, and a welcoming family-owned atmosphere. read more

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As a local, who just bought a home very close by I'm lucky enough to be able to walk to Romeo Cucina, and it's honestly become one of my favorite regular spots. The food is always consistently fresh, flavorful, and high quality and you can really tell they care about the ingredients and preparation. Everything I've had there has been delicious, and the atmosphere always feels warm and welcoming. A huge reason I continue coming back though is Luis. He has always gone out of his way to make me feel welcome every single time I come in. His service is genuinely exceptional, friendly, attentive, professional, and consistent. Luis is honestly the best member of staff here and a huge reason this place stands out for me. It's rare to find someone who creates such a comfortable and positive experience for customers every single visit. Would definitely recommend! read more

Great local spot! One of the best Happy Hour specials around. Wine is $7.50 per glass and many HH specials are $10. Great friendly service at the bar. read more

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Went with my family on a Thursday night. Not too busy, service was good, food was great. We liked all the dishes we got: bruschetta, pizza, calamari, veal, and the shrimp pasta. Would come back again to try more. read more

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To preface, I didn't get an opportunity to have an actual meal here. Our function was more of a happy hour social than actual lunch or dinner so I can't give a fair comparison. I'm not a fan of appetizers. I'm not a fan of small plates. I'm not a fan of shareable plates. Not when actual entrees are on offer. I just don't see the point of a group of people settling for kinda okay food, when everybody has the capacity to order exactly the dish they want. That being said, the food I did have was good to great. The wings were fantastic, as was the spicy penne pasta. The pizza was alright, but you know me--I can't judge a pizza if it doesn't have sausage and roasted/chopped garlic on it or if it isn't a white clam apizza. The service was on the ball though. Everybody checked on us several times to make sure we we were okay. And I thought the space and ambience was good too--table be damned. I'd be even tempted to raise it a rating point once I can sample dinner here. As it was, I had to grab an ultimate cheeseburger coming home because a bite here and there of many dishes I would never and maybe two or three I would just doesn't satisfy. At first I wanted to reflect that in my assessment, but that's no fault of the food joint. The fault there lies in the gathering itself. The restaurant looks to have bombass meals and someday I might actually get to taste them. read more

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Food and service were excellent. Scotty was great and very friendly. Highly recommend. Celebrated my husbands 73 rd birthday

Caprese- this was so fresh and delicious! The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and sweet, the mozzarella was creamy and high quality, and the basil was so fragrant. The balsamic drizzle tied everything together beautifully. Such a classic dish executed perfectly. They start you off with bread and olive tapenade which was such a nice touch! The bread was warm and crusty on the outside but soft inside, and the olive tapenade was rich and flavorful with great olive taste. Perfect way to begin the meal. Short Rib Tortelloni- tortelloni stuffed with short rib in pesto sauce. This was absolutely incredible! The tortelloni were perfectly cooked and the short rib filling was so tender and flavorful. The pesto sauce was fresh and herbaceous, and it paired amazingly with the rich short rib. You could taste how much care went into making this dish. Risotto de Campagna- risotto with mushrooms, asparagus, Gorgonzola, and sun dried tomatoes. This was so good! The risotto was creamy and cooked to perfection with that ideal al dente texture. The mushrooms were earthy and flavorful, the asparagus added great freshness, and the Gorgonzola gave it this amazing tangy richness. The sun dried tomatoes added perfect bursts of sweetness throughout. Tiramisu- this was the perfect ending to the meal! It was so light and airy with perfect layers of coffee-soaked ladyfingers and creamy mascarpone. The coffee flavor was rich but not overwhelming, and the texture was absolutely divine. Classic Italian dessert done right. Chocolate Gelato- this was amazing! So rich and creamy with intense chocolate flavor. You could tell it was made in-house and the texture was perfect - smooth and dense but not heavy. They have an incredible dinner menu including their salmon, and on Thursday nights they do a wine night where they have 50% off selected wine bottles from their wine list! Such a great deal and perfect for date nights or dinner with friends. The atmosphere is so warm and inviting, and you can tell they really care about authentic Italian cuisine and quality ingredients. Instagram: @hungrytamale read more

yummiest food ever, sweetest staff and welcoming environment the rigatoni giulietta is my favorite read more

Romeo Cucina - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Excellent Italian food in a very comfortable atmosphere! Luigi always takes such good care of us while dining at Romeo Cucina! We love so many dishes here, but I am obsessed with their house salad and vegetarian pizza - so delicious! Highly recommend! A+++ read more

Good customer service !!! Very charismatic and attentive !!! Recommended 100% by Rodolfo read more

High quality moderately priced food. They have a guitar vocalists on Saturday night that is so loud that you can't have a dinner conversation. Soft background music would be fine but not a singer at 90 decibels with the volume turned high read more

The food and service was great. Special thanks to Rudy! Our food came out nice and hot. Great pasta, and the tiramisu was delicious.

Update from my most recent visit: 10/2024 Food was a lot better this time. I had the special of the day: veal osso bucco. It was super tender and flavorful. My wife had the CAPELLI AGLIO, OLIO E POMODORINI. She loved how garlic-y it was. Tiramisu was light and delicious. Service was pretty leisurely. read more

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I've eaten here three times. Although my experience at all three visits was similar, this review will focus on my recent dining experience. The best part was that the environment at our 6:30 dinner was very conducive for conversation. There were enough empty tables for us to enjoy our conversations without any annoying background noise. In between "great" and "not good" was the service. For example, after being asked what we'd like to drink and asking for water for the table, our waiter responded with a harsh "That's all you're going to order?" That attitude continued. The part that was awful was the food. After my first visit I vowed never to return. Then, a few years ago, visitors wanted me to join them at this restaurant. My dinner at that time also had sub-par flavor and a flat, lifeless taste. Then again, this week, I asked my good friends to choose a restaurant and they chose this place, I think because it was so close to where we live. We were presented with a basket of stale bread while I took a long time trying to decide what might be at least close to adequate tasting Italian food. I decided that it would be hard to mess up a vegetable pizza. I was wrong. It was bland and way overly salted. In the future I will be more assertive with friends who want me to accompany them at this "McDonalds of Italian restaurants". The nice thing I am doing in this review (besides being honest) is to give a two-star rating ("Could have been better") instead of the one star it deserves. It could have been a heck of a lot better. read more

Romeo Cucina - vegetable pizza - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

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Place is great and could not have asked for a better dining experience. Thank you again Linda / Luis For going above and beyond to make sure my family and I had an amazing meal.. read more

Loved the Margherita pizza! Simple and fresh done right. Service was polite and friendly! The lasagna looked great and will have to try it next time!! read more

We have been coming here since pre-Covid. The food still is homemade!!! The sauces and meatballs are amazing. Like going home to an Italian family home. The eggplant parmigiana is so good that it is hard for us to order anywhere else. They have a built in masonry oven for making "home made" pizza which we aleays get fresh basil and oregano on. The service has always been wonderful, Phil usually takes good care of us. And always luv it when Mike's cooking the spicy wings and the eggplant. Their prices are so reasonable for the amount and quality of the food. Happy hour menu is amazing too and ends at 7pm during the week. read more

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Stellar experience tonight with Linda as my server. I've been coming here for over ten years, so I'm very surprised this is my first review. I started off with the minestrone soup. I'm not exaggerating when I say their version of this soup is my all time favorite soup. Yes it tastes as great as the photo looks. Then for my entree I ordered the lasagna. Another amazing dish that was cooked to perfection tonight. I usually order their pizzas, but I'm glad I went with the lasagna tonight. It's been awhile since I ordered one of their seafood dishes. The last time I remembered it as being very good. For dessert I asked Linda for a recommendation and I'm sure glad I went with the tiramisu. I'm a tiramisu snob, and boy they nailed this dish down. Perfect flavor, and not too sweet. I'm nearly positive they make their own. Top it off with a fresh pot of decaf. Perfect meal for this very cold night. Finally, Linda took very care of me, and kept checking up on me. In spite of the fact she was so busy, she provided me a stellar dining experience. read more

Romeo Cucina - Minestrone soup. Delicious! - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

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Sip, savor, repeat! Happy Hour at Romeo Cucina is the real deal, folks! Nestled in Laguna Niguel, this Italian Eatery & Bar is a culinary masterpiece, serving up authentic Italian flavors with a side of stunning decor! Get ready to indulge in the rich, flavorful tradition of Italian cooking right here in Orange County! And oh, the Happy Hour menu? It's an absolute delight! Brace yourselves for an amazing variety that'll make your taste buds do a happy dance! Cheers to good times and even better bites! What we shared: * INSALATA CASA ROMEO * POLPETTE DELIZIOSE * GUAZZETTO DI VONGOLE (our favorite) * TIRAMISU Btw...they have amazing Wood Fired Thin Crust Pizza! read more

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Great service. Our reservation was held for us and the table selection worked great as it made it easier to hear the music provided by Clif Miller. We hadn't been to the Cucina in quite some time but will be back. We ordered Eggplant Parmasona even though it wasn't on the menu. It was terrific! and the price was just right. Our waitress could not have done a better job of providing answers to our questions and terrific service. We came because of Clif Miller. We'll be back because of the food and service. The staff all were moving quickly through the Cucina. They all had smiles. Very enjoyable. Hope Clif is back as well. read more

We loved it! I'm very picky when it comes to eggplant Parmesan and this one is hands down one of the best I've had in a while! Pizzas are great too. Luigi is awesome! He took care of us. Excellent service! Thank you for a lovely experience Romeo Cucina! read more

Good food, spotty service. A server is paid to listen, not to be chatty and make jokes, then get the order wrong and waste your time. Something is wrong here and the ownership needs to fix it. It can start by training its servers to focus on their position description. At these prices, it's easy to move on for service that is competent. What is going on here? read more

We love their PIZZAS ! The Margarita, Meatball, Fratella ,Pepperoni are all so amazing. The crust is so good! read more

This is a great local restaurant with delicious food, lovely ambience, and great live music. It's cozy and warm on the inside which lends itself to memorable celebrations and happy times. read more

If you want to have the best authentic Italian food you've ever had even if you've been to italy. Its here in south orange county in Laguna beach and Laguna niguel. We've eaten all over Rome, Venice, Florence and every small town in Tuscany abd southern italy and this place tops it all. Also the service is spectacular. And Phil. Oh yes Phil the bartender slash best server ever is what we come for as well as the food and desserts. All homemade. No bottles or cans ever. read more

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Food is always good and the service is excellent. Wednesday half off wine or free corkage is an great deal

Many thanks to owner Ada, for emailing me that the ossobucco special was available. The pizza oven contributes to the wonderful aromas of Italian cooking taking place in the open kitchen. It was properly prepared & presented with a marrow fork to get at all the savory bone marrow. The meat was tender and perfectly complimented by the rich sauce. My partner enjoyed the complimentary fresh bread with olive tapenade and the rigatoni [large portion too]. The food came to table quickly and we accepted the generous freshly shaved parmesan too. They have a $20 corkage fee. read more

Our first time here. The food was amazing, the service was top-notch. Louis, was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable about the specials and menu (we did the specials). Definitely recommend this to everyone and we will be coming back. Heck, it's walking distance for us. read more

I've been going to Romeo Cucina's with friends for years. I have always enjoyed the meals and service has always been excellent. Highly recommend this restaurant. read more

Excellent food and great accommodating service. We keep returning as all the food is delicious. The Laguna Niguel location is very convenient, also! I'm not seeing the reservation location here. Hopefully this will serve as it'll be a reservation for two, Saturday April 18, 2026. Preferably a booth if one is available about 6:30 -7 p.m. read more

Our first time here, I'm glad we came in, very cozy place! Loved everything we ordered, delicious to the last taste, and the service was wonderful as well!! read more

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Great food and baked goods. Nice family night. Will definitely return when in the area.

Luis took care of us as if we were family. For a special occasion they treated us with Grace and the food was cooked with love. As a former New Yorker, I'm particular about my pizza but I really enjoyed this. Don't forget their desserts. read more

Romeo Cucina - Luis, We loved him, you said - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Yesterday afternoon, my friend and I went to eat at Romeo and the experience was excellent. Our server, Fredi, took amazing care of us--always attentive, friendly, and with a great attitude. The food was delicious, well served, and beautifully presented. We left very happy and really looking forward to coming back soon. Thank you for the excellent service, Fredi! read more

Had t. Been to Romeo Cucina for quite some time. The service was bad and the food was worse. I had meatballs that were very tough and salty. The Mediterranean salad was standard w very little feta. Husband's salmon and pasta were just ok. Ordered second glass of wine that never arrived. Waiter returned w another customers credit card. We won't be returning. read more

Romeo Cucina is one of my local favorite romantic Italian restaurants. Their pastas are fresh and the brick oven pizzas are mouthwatering... And if by chance you happen to be gluten-free... they've got amazing pastas completely gluten-free and fresh fish, perfectly seasoned vegetables.... I love the fact that almost every time I dine in, I see someone I know... It gives me all the feels read more

Romeo Cucina - Perfectly grilled salmon and fresh veggies... - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

Seafood was fantastic and I know good seafood. Kids enjoyed the pizza as well. Pasta was perfectly flaked and balanced.

Must try food is amazing and great service by Rudy friendly and gives great recommendations.

Romeos was excellent, food as always was fantastic but the service was exemplary , Diana was amazing and her personality was 5 star plus thanks for a great dining experience! read more

My local go to place for Italian. Great service and I love the specials.. try the seafood or pizza it is really good read more

Romeo Cucina - Shrimp pasta - Italian Near Me - Laguna Niguel, California

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