A-OKAY! This spot has been bookmarked forever. Last night I was craving Italian food, since it was right down the road we ordered take out and ate at home. It's a bit pricey, we paid almost $40 for two dishes, but the portions are LARGE and pretty tasty for the most part. For a quick/fast Italian food type of place I would have gave more stars if the prices were more reasonable. Also the ingredients aren't all fresh, they used canned mushrooms and the chicken tasted pre cooked. Chicken saltimbocca with spaghetti: they give two huge pieces of chicken breast covered in cheese and prosciutto. I could tell right away they used canned mushrooms, I was kinda sad because this is my favorite part of my pasta. The flavor was yummy but a little lacking, I added fresh Parmesan and crushed red pepper. Overall I enjoyed this dish. Shrimp scampi linguine: the shrimp were large and fresh! They gave a ton of linguine and it was not lacking in garlic at all. I wish it had more sauce because it was on the dry side. With other good restaurants around for the same price this won't be my go to for Italian anytime soon, but it's a yummy, FAST, convenient option. read more

Win-Spuntino - Chicken saltimbocca with spaghetti - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Nice hole in the wall for dinner. Everything was good. We enjoyed our dinner. Clams, meat balls and olio delicious l. read more

Huge parking lot, easy to find place upstairs near Foodland & Hakuyosha. This place really reminds me of the Italian place we eat at downtown near my office, Catania. Go up the small stairwell near the posted menus downstairs. There were about 4 other groups and two people waiting for takeout, plus the food delivery company came to pick up while we were there. We ordered the bacon garlic cheese bread (SO GOOD!) and a small chicken curry salad to share (huge for a small!) and we got the chicken anchovy olio & the clam linguine. The chicken anchovy olio has a yummy garlicky sauce with healthier white meat sliced chicken instead of the usual fried with skin thighs served at other places (that are tastier, but more unhealthy) and the clam linguine has a really generous portion of chopped clams but no real taste. I would've liked more garlic & olive oil instead of the watery sauce it was in. I added lemon and a lot of parmesan and it was a little better. Entree portions are HUGE--we took home at least half of everything, and 3/4 of the salad! All in all, a good value, easy parking & access, no waiting, but I wouldn't go back unless I wanted a cheap meal or that spectacular bacon garlic bread. read more

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This place is just disrespectful to Italian food. I ordered the eggplant parm. Undercooked eggplant with no flavor. The sauce was definitely from a can, probably prego and you know what you can make canned sauce taste good if your just season it. Let me tell you this sauce was NOT seasoned. I'm from the East coast... my family is very diverse but Italian was big in our meals. Also I cook a lot of Italian myself. I couldn't even taste any garlic... very disappointed. I will NEVER come back to this gross place. Please get new cooks. Italian food is supposed to be a love family comfort food not trashy canned crap. read more

Win-Spuntino - Eggplant parm - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Great food. Great price. This place is amazing. We often get an assortment of dishes; our typical go-tos are chicken piccata, lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs (my fav), chicken alfredo and an appetizer/salad. This is more than enough to feed 6-7 adults and have leftovers. read more

This places food and service are great. It was packed when I was there. You should make reservations for sure. going with a group of friends is fun read more

Have you ever had a place you just love to eat at but you are torn to write a good review as it is a hole in the wall kind of place and you don't want it to get crowded because you like being able to eat there whenever you want to? Well this is one of those places for me. In fact I have come here a number of times and I didn't even check in so as not to draw more attention. So maybe I should give it a negative review and say how bad the service is and that the food is horrible but I would be lying. Win - Spuntino is a win win in my book. This is a small place that can hold about 34 people. It is Italian at its finest with a casual twist and without spending an arm and a leg. Another thing I shouldn't say but I'm going to is that this place is BYOB so bring that nice bottle of wine or whatever type of spirits you like as there is no corkage fee. Everything tastes so fresh and reminds me of home cooking made with love. Some of the things that we ate and we truly love is the chicken and sausage basil ($17.99), rib eye pasta (big time winner $29), shrimp and scallop diablo($19.99) ... I could list more dishes but I might just write the whole menu as we have never had a bad meal here. Now let's get down to dessert. They make some of the best darn cheesecake I have ever tasted. I have even ordered take out so I could enjoy a piece or two at home while I unwind from a hard day of work. They have a wide selection of cheesecake (around 12) but they might not have them all as they sell out fast. For only $5.50 a slice, it is truly a winner if you like cheesecake. This place can get crowded so you might want to call and make a reservation. Their hours are: Mon - Sat 10:30am - 9pm Sunday 12pm - 9pm Now I have a Jedi mind trick for you, this isn't the place you want to eat at. You want to go somewhere else and eat Italian food. Or maybe I need to get the Men In Black defib Eliezer and blank your mind so you don't remember this review. read more

This is small hole in the wall italian place hidden next to Foodland upstairs on the 2nd floor. There is a small cozy eating area and good selection menu to choose from. I had the f lavor and italian spices, much better than Assagio. The portions are a pretty good size Chicken Anchovy Olio which had a lot of flavor and generous portion for the price you pay. There was a line when i went so it can get busy but you can order online or call it in. I want to go back and try the lasagne as i heard it is under $10. The staff and owners are really friendly which can make a difference also. Definitely going back there in the future. read more

My family and I have been coming here for years! It's our favorite place to get pasta. The owner has always been super nice and helpful every time we dined in. The portions are also very generous! We always end up taking food home. We also don't feel tired after eating here which is a huge plus! Highly recommend! read more

Small but delicious restaurant! The owner was really nice and the one serving us. He was cooking, cleaning and serving us. It might be just me but it was a little warm, they have an AC and fans but I think because of the big windows the sun comes in. That shouldn't be a reason not to come though! read more

We were so disappointed after dining at this 4-1/2 rated restaurant. How is that rating possible? Yes, the service was decent and Yes, the portions were huge. BUT the food quality was not good. Chowder was salty yet watered down. Garlic bread was so-so. My fish pasta had a 3"×3" piece of fish accompanied by a huge amount of watery, tasteless pasta and it was not cheap. I guess if you are a fan of quantity over quality you would like your meal. But we will not be coming by again. read more

STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO GET ITALIAN FOOD !!! Win-Spuntino is TRULY A HIDDEN GEM !!! I've been here several times and the food here is not just excellent ... it's been consistently excellent. My favorites are the clam sauce linguine with marinara sauce, clams casino, garlic bread and the tossed dinner salad. Service has always been friendly and efficient !!! read more

Win-Spuntino used to be my favorite casual place to grab a bite of pasta, but recently I've been left feeling unsatisfied. Service was alright, the food was just okay. All of our sauces (tomato and cream) were watery and not as flavorful as I remember. My eggplant parm had a bit of a strange taste that's hard to describe. Perhaps this was the result of them rushing through a relatively busy dinner hour? Not sure. Would still come back to give them another try, but as of currently, I'm not as impressed. Hope this was just a fluke as I used to really love Win-Spuntino. read more

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Visited: Spring 2018 Ordered: -Shrimp Scampi -Chicken Alfredo -Spaghetti Vegetable Thoughts: I was super excited to visit this Italian restaurant, but unfortunately, my experience wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. First off, finding the place was a huge struggle for us. Second, we got there near closing so ended up getting take-out and by the time we ate the food, the pasta was very dry. However, the small amount of pasta that was coated in sauce was delicious. read more

Win-Spuntino - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Small business, but big taste! Price is great for the portion you get. Owner is very friendly. Garlic bread is to die for. Dining area is a bit small and cozy. Food is served in a Styrofoam container so its easy to take home what you don't eat. Wife and I like to order salad, garlic bread, and an entree to share. We started coming here when they first opened, and always remained patrons! There are many reasons why. Food: Although there is only one chef cooking the food, it IS worth the wait! He is the owner, very friendly, and will come personally to ask how your meal is while you are dining. That is awesome service on top of the delicious food. read more

I found this place on Yelp a little over a year ago and I really like it! First off, its BYOB!! The portions are pretty big and the prices are reasonable at $15-20. They have just a vast selection that we all take a moment to decide! Ha! Can I say my favorite dish is the chicken anchovy olio @ $14.99! BUT, I really do enjoy all that I have tried so far. There Yelp photos does not have updated menu and I'm sorry that I didnt take photo to share. If you enjoy pasta, definitely worth a visit!! read more

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Had this restaurant on my radar for a while but never had the opportunity to try it until now. Located in the Market City Shopping Center at the gateway to Kapahulu, where parking is always a challenge, we braved it on Saturday evening. We found parking! Yay! This restaurant is above Thai Issan, which is next to Foodland. It has expanded from the little take out place that it used to be. There are now about 10 tables of 4 in the restaurant. It' tight, but comfortable. And the restaurant was full! The staff is friendly and attentive. And Ken, one of the owners, stopped by our table to greet us and explain the specials to us. I had the lamb and pasta special. There were 4 medium rare chops in a burgundy onion sauce with a large helping of pasta smothered in a tomato onion sauce. It was a generous helping, though the taste wasn't distinct between the lamb and the pasta. Nevertheless, I polished my plate! My significant other had the opah, which was overcooked. Lots of pasta, but not too much fish. Finished my meal with black sesame gelato. Yum! read more

Prices have gone up since their opening but portions still remain reasonable. They also installed an a/c and it was super cold. They knocked down the little alcove that used to be a phone store and added more tables. Still BYOB. I ordered the spaghetti with anchovies w extra anchovies ($2). I was sorely disappointed as the garlic and anchovies tasted bitter and burnt. The two other dishes my family had had the sauce very runny (as if they didn't drain the pasta well enough) and sausage was pink in the middle. Service was good and efficient but I did knock down a star rating for quality. I'll still come back, but not a 1st choice. read more

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A hidden byob Italian spot run by a handful of dudes. Its located up the stairs next to the Thai restaurant near foodland, and it's got a neat kitche atmosphere. There was plenty of seating when I went, close to 8pm. The food was generous portions for me, saved half for next days breakfast!! We got the cheesy garlic bread, (cant go wrong) Italian salad, clam garlic sauce pasta and the chicken masala pasta. The service was excellent, even though it was only three guys our server made sure we had everything in order. Next time, i really wanna save room for a cheesecake. :) read more

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Our office ordered lunch from this eatery and I decided to try their chicken and anchovies olio. Whoa it's a knockout. Somewhat heavy on the garlic but the chicken is moist and the pasta al dente, despite the long drive back to the office. The serving is huge! Much more than I can eat in one sitting. The garlic bread is pretty much what I expected. All in all, a very pleasant first experience. I'll be back to try their other popular dishes for sure read more

Win-Spuntino - Chicken Anchovy Olio - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

I really love this Italian restaurant. Their foods are yummy and authentic. They don't have fancy tables if decorations but they have the great quality pasta. Their portion is perfect so I don't usually need to order appetizers or desserts. read more

Win-Spuntino - Seafood combo - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Parking can be a pain here cause it's shared with foodland and some other businesses. I guess if you go during some random hour which is who knows what there, then Parkin is easy. Otherwise park far, very very far! Well its prob a 5 min walk but then you have to walk up a bunch of stairs to get to this place! The restaurant is randomly shared with a cell phone shop. I believe they own both. It's a family owned business and service here is very friendly. The first thing you'd see other than cell phones is the bar! They have an assortment of salads and when I went they graciously made me a plate of each salad to try. I felt bad cause I had to eat it there and I'm super picky and don't eat a lot of things. I forced myself to eat it all anyway. The portions are huge and the prices are usually under 10$ one time they had some kind of rib eye special and it was really good! read more

Found Win-Spuntino on Dining Rewards Network/Yelp Cash Back search. Found a lot of excellent reviews from familiar Yeeps, so I was very intrigued to have a good Italian restaurant so close by at Market City. Coincidently, received a call from my mother asking if I wanted to meet with them there for dinner. Opportunity + desire = execution! Called and made a reservation, and then it was Thunderbirds go! We made our way upstairs and were led to an open table. WS has a very cramped layout, maybe 8-10 2-4 person tables total. A very minimal staff of three were very busy handling everything including cooking, preparing, cleaning, serving, and billing. No alcohol, but BYOB. Don't quote me, but I don't think we were charged a corkage fee. We were handed menus and ordered our entrees as well as the garlic cheese bread for an appetizer. The cheese bread soon arrived, 4 pieces with a side of red sauce- wonderfully cheesy, crunchy, with a great umami mouthfeel, delicious! Our entries soon arrived after, again the great thing about family or group dinner is being able to sample several dishes: Chicken Casino: My favorite dish and usually the one I order if available. I would like to say there's a reason for doing so, like to compare how different restaurants prepare it. Although there is that, the reality is that I really enjoy that mix of chicken, bacon, vegetables, and pasta in a white wine/butter sauce. WS's version is a winner especially when the creaminess of the sauce is combined with savory nature of the bacon. Lasagna: Probably the biggest dish we ordered, I think my mom ate about a quarter or third of it before she was full. Flavors of a very rich ricotta, ground beef, cheese, and tomato sauce all combined into a very savory and filling dish. I like how WS takes the basic red sauce and modifies it for all of their tomato sauce-based dishes. Spaghetti with sausage & meatballs: Surprised at how tasty a classic dish was! Homemade meatballs and a very different tasting sausage (in a good way)! Chicken Parmigiana and pasta: Another classic dish mixing the crispy chicken cutlet with the pasta & tomato sauce into a very wonderful whole. All the plates were very generous- even after stuffing ourselves there was a good amount to take home for leftovers. Most of the dishes were in the under $22 range. If you do have room, try some of their assorted cheesecakes for dessert! Win-Spuntino isn't fine dining but a really great neighbor restaurant- a Honolulu version of a hole in the wall trattoria that you can find in Philadelphia, New York City, or Little Italy's in other cities. A reminder: as of 5 Sep 18, they are no longer a member of the Rewards Dining Network nor Yelp Cash Back. Nevertheless do yourself a favor and check them out! Definitely recommend and will repeat! read more

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My wife and I we're looking for Italian food. We hadn't been to Win-Spuntino for over 3 years and had enjoyed the food before. We had the Spaghetti with Vegetables and Garlic Sauce, Chicken Picatta, Sautéed Vegetables with Garlic and Garlic bread. All were prepared well as we remembered from our last experience. The prices have gone up but we understand increasing food costs do have an impact on prices. However, we were a bit disappointed with the Garlic Bread at $5 had only 4 pieces that were approximately 2" by 3" each piece. Seemed a bit pricey. The wait staff were friendly and helpful. Love the BYOB! The prices points were the great selling point in 2015 and that had changed. Win-Spuntino is on our short list for Italian food. read more

This used to be my go to place for Italian food when I worked in Honolulu. Today I picked up food to celebrate my mom's birthday because she loves Italian food. I ordered calamari vegetable with garlic sauce, shrimp vegetable with garlic sauce, shrimp and scallop Diablo, spaghetti and meatballs, and garlic bread. My garlic bread was missing from my order (they refunded it). The Diablo was the shining star of the whole order. Despite ordering the calamari vegetable and the shrimp vegetable with garlic sauce, it had completely different sauces even though it was supposed to be garlic sauce. The calamari vegetable's sauce was correct and tasted good. The shrimp vegetable was brown and tasted completely different. I have no idea what it was. Overall todays order and food taste was a complete disappointment. I highly doubt that I'll return to this establishment. read more

Support local! After 4+ years and a pandemic, this place is still AMAZING and HITS DA SPOT. We had an amazing caprese salad, bacon cheese bread, shrimp and scallop bechamel and chicken picatta, with amaretto cheesecake for dessert. Portions were still delicious, generous and filling. Service was top notch. Highly recommend!!! We will definitely be back again. Oh and it's still BYOB! read more

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This place is definitely a hole in the wall as it's upstairs near a barber shop. It was a Friday night and pretty busy, all of the other seats were filled. It might feel a bit cramped with so many full seats and the plastic tables & chairs might be off putting to some, but I love a humble setting. This place is also BYOB and there were a bunch of other parties that had brought in their own bottles of wine! The prices are average for Italian food in Hawaii but the portions are big! I shared a chicken parm with one other friend. I prefer the pasta to be more al dente but the flavor was great and overall it was a pretty solid chicken parm. read more

Win-Spuntino - Chicken parm - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

You might miss it from the outside, but in the time of COVID this is the friendliest service I have had! Owner and staff are so kind and offer the perfect balance of prompt service without being overbearing; really a lovely spot for a relaxing meal. Went during lunch + grabbed some beers from the downstairs Foodland Had the spaghetti and meatballs ! If you dine in be prepared to feel warm and fuzzy like at a mom And pop shop read more

The for here is a-ok. The portions are massive, and it's a tiny tucked away spot above some other shops in market city shopping center. Good for a quick casual Italian bite. The staff is friendly and the prices are pretty good considering the quantity of food you get. read more

There's really no reason I can think of to not give this place 5 stars. Flavor: good. Tasty. Satisfying. Portion: i'm a big eater. One order is good for two meals. This is a key selling point for them because it's the reason I keep going back. Complaints: really no complaints. Today the chicken was a bit dry but not enough for me to not enjoy the meal. read more

Win-Spuntino - Chicken Alfredo - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Chicken Picatta was good but it comes with spaghetti noodle order it with Linguine if you care about that. Chicken was soft and moist. Portion size enough for two servings. Garlic bread was 4 pieces for $5 a little overpriced and wasn't spectacular. Overall i would order it again through Bite Squad. read more

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Love the food and customer service! We almost always come here when we want Italian. My only dislike is the cheesy bread portion which is equivalent to two hoagie buns cut in half. I don't think 4 cute pieces of bread is worth the price. read more

My friends and I met for dinner at an Italian restaurant (whose name will not be mentioned) and it was a subpar experience. To make up for it, we decided to meet at Win-Spuntino and attempt to erase the memory of that disappointing meal. We were successful because this establishment contains it all: excellent service, a bright and spacious environment, delicious food, reasonable prices and generous portions! Located at Market City, park in the free lot (corner of Harding Avenue and Kapiolani Boulevard) in front of a group of shops which include Foodland. (If that parking lot is full, go to the lower level with Ben Franklin Crafts, across from Kaimuki School.) Find the stairwell by the Thai restaurant next to Foodland, go upstairs, and turn left... you'll find an L-shaped restaurant with the clean and organized counter in the front, and the pleasant dining area to the left. This was actually my second time here. The first time, a friend and I shared a chicken dish and a salad - both were quite tasty. This time, I had Scallops and Shrimp Ala bolla and it was superb! The snow peas were cooked just right so that they stayed crisp, and the sauce was not heavy because it was a garlic butter type instead of a creamy white sauce. There were two shrimps and several large scallops which were all nicely firm and seasoned well! I wasn't able to finish the pasta because the quantity was so large and I wanted to save room for the cheesecake... That evening, there were only seven types of cheesecake to choose from. I got the Lilikoi one, instead of the Oreo flavor. However, when I tasted Ku'uipo's Pumpkin Cheesecake I had wished that I ordered that flavor instead. I had a hard time returning her plate to her! Shucks! Now I have to go back and get my own serving of Pumpkin Cheesecake!!! It was that good! On the other hand, the Lilikoi flavor was just right - not too sweet and not too tart! The texture was light and moistly delicious! Special note: The Service. Two thumbs up to one of the owners/brothers who explained everything in detail to our group of ten. He was so patient and knowledgeable! He asked how we were doing and if anything could be improved. This showed concern for the customer and open-mindedness! I really respect him for listening and being a conscientious business owner! Best wishes for this restaurant always!! Thanks to Terry & Darcie for sharing their salad - The Sampler was an assortment of 5 different varieties - wow! So yummy! Mahalo to Ku'uipo & Alan for sharing their calamari appetizer - mmm! So crunchy and ono! Thank you to Terry for making a reservation for us and suggesting that we dine here! Good choice! It's really beneficial to dine in a group because we get to try each others' dishes and have fun and educational conversations! Let's go again!! Where are we going next??? read more

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It was a dark and stormy night.... We invited our visiting relatives to a fairly late (after 7:00PM, VERY late for us) dinner. Luckily, they agreed upon low-key dining but we all agreed to stay in town or near Waikiki since it was pouring rain. Both relatives are true oenophiles, er, wine connoisseurs so our thoughts of taking them to a Chinese restaurant was out. I turned to my trusty Yelp App for a recommendation and noted that a good number of my fellow Yelp friends had recently dined at Win-Sputino. Bonus, they are a BYOB establishment.... We all braved the crazy parking situation at the Market City complex and dashed into the restaurant. It was rainy Monday night and we expected the restaurant to be empty, which it fortunately was. The restaurant is clean and bright. We were greeted by a very friendly young man who explained and described the dishes off their appetizer, main menu and dessert menu. All of the items are house made so even more so, I was "licking my chops". It took us a few minutes to decide on what we wanted to order as their menu is quite extensive. Our server was friendly and attentive as allowed us ample time to decide, checked on us throughout the meal and gave us recommendations on their popular items. We ordered a lot of food that paired well with a bottle of red wine. - Appetizers: Fried calamari with marinara sauce, Caprese salad and garlic bread. - Entrées: a. Chicken Sorrentino: tender chicken breast topped with eggplant and Mozzarella cheese served with sautéed mushrooms in butter and Marsala wine $13.99 b. Chicken Anchovy Olio: spaghetti served with chicken sautéed with anchovies, garlic and olive oil $11.99 c. Shrimp Scampi: spaghetti served with sautéed shrimp with garlic, butter and white wine $14.50 d. Monday Night Special: 10 oz rib-eye steak with grilled onions served with spaghetti sautéed garlic in butter and olive oil $21.99 - Dessert: House made Lilikoi (Passion fruit) cheesecake $4.95 (don't worry...we SHARED) What we came away with was a laid-back experience with huge tasty portions. The food is priced well as it offers good value for the amount of food that you get. If we return, we'll have to make sure that our appetites will be up for the challenge...I don't like to have to doggie-bag. Again, the service was very good and it was really sweet of our server to chase us down to return my umbrella. Ciao on the chow, we did! #471 read more

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This is an Italian place that is owned and operated by a really super nice Chinese family. Their food is plentiful and fresh. That is not where my issue with this place lies. I've been here a couple times and while I do absolutely love the pricing and quantity of food provided, there are some important characteristics that I'd like to see incorporated. I've tried: 1) Garlic cheese bread 2) 5-choice salad 3) Scallop Capri 4) Scallop and Shrimp Degallo - Garlic amount added is plentiful. When too overly browned or just-pressed raw, whatever it is added to becomes so bitter that it can be just too difficult to enjoy. In my case, the garlic in both pasta dishes were too bitter for me to enjoy completely. Must gently sauté garlic. - (Real browned) Butter and olive oil are utter Italian necessities which if incorporated into the preparation would make it all perfectly done. Without the real browned butter and olive oil, Italian food will taste a lot like Chinese kine noodles. Which is what these pasta dishes feel more like to me: Kinda Chinese. [I have a Chinese ma-ma so for real that I do know what this taste is like ;) ] That said, please add more olive oil and browned butter (and maybe coarse black pepper and rock salt) to the sauces. - Pastas, Al dente. Noodle products should be just-cooked (rather than totally cooked) so that they have a nice, satisfying chew. - Pastas, variety. I like that they use different pastas. Pastas add different textures and personality to sauces. - Then, therein lies another point. The topping portion should not be a topping but should be mixed in well with the pasta so that the oodles of whatever noodles used, are allowed to soak in the goodness of the creamy browned butter and olive oil (or whatever sauce flavors are used) sauces. Sauces should be allowed to coat, enter, and wallow in the pasta noodles and tubes they have been neatly sitting on here lately. Let the goodness flow all over, all around, completely beneath, and all through them! Hehe :) - The salads. I love the variety and they even use tuna as a healthier alternative! Initially tastes refreshing and good then after awhile somehow feels like they do not actually meld well together, idk what happens!? Perhaps add olive oil for salads/dressings, coarse black pepper (not white), and some legit rock salt to round out and add to the taste of any necessary Iodized salt. - I absolutely love the garlic cheese bread. With a passion. It's perfect. Please don't change anything about it. - Scallops are nice and fresh. In pasta dishes, should be just-cooked rather than practically raw. Well, it doesn't really work as a sashimi dish. - Chinese Peas. Um, as expensive as Chinese peas are in our Hawaii markets, are Chinese peas a usual part of Italian cuisine? Somehow I'm just more accustomed to spinach, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, and garlic (what am I missing?! Mushrooms! Olives! Basil! Potatoes! Artichokes!) in my Italian dishes but I do understand the necessity of utilizing whatever is in season and available in the area one lives. Comes down to it, it's that dang Chinese mindset of mine that takes over and convinces me to think that I'm really kinda just eating Chinese (when I know it's supposed to be Italian). To the manager guy who asked me how everything was: So sorry I did not tell you the above earlier. I was dining in with different groups and just didn't want to hold everyone up from eating. You were quick to fill our orders, were always courteous, constantly filled our waters, and fulfilled our every requested need. Thank you for being so helpful and personable, and for coming by to check on whatever group I've been there with! :) In conclusion and all in all, if you can just make these aforementioned changes, I'm sure I'll be convinced that you are in fact a true green, white, and red kind of Italian :D read more

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Yes, this place is hard to find. Yes, the owners/staff is extremely nice, welcoming, and hospitable. Yes, the portions are ridiculously huge. But NO the food did not appeal to me or my wife. The lack of use of fresh ingredients does not make for a satisfying meal. I had the clam linguine. I would say if you were to buy a box of dry linguine from the store their portion is about half the box, that big. The sauce was simply made with butter, garlic and olive oil. So far so good right? Now comes the bad part.... they threw what seemed to be a whole can of chopped clams in there. Gross. After a few minutes of eating the sauce broke (or they didn't drain the pasta well) and it turned to liquid. It puddled at the bottom of the plastic container. The mission of the this place may be to serve quantity at super reasonable prices. If thats ok with you, this place is right up your alley. You can definitely serve a family of 5 for $20 at this place. Sorry that does not work for me. read more

Win-Spuntino - Calamari Parmesan - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Came across this business on the Yelp.com page (New Businesses section). I don't think places like this would make it without Yelp's help since the location is not easily visible from the parking lot and they don't advertise. They are located in Market City Shopping Center, to the right of Foodland. To the right of the Thai restaurant next to Foodland is an entrance to the stairwell. Proceed up the stairs and turn left. They have a couple of small tables that overlook the parking lot, but no waiter service. There isn't much of an ambiance so you're probably better off getting take out and eating it in the comforts of your own home. On my way to the restaurant, I called to place my take out order. One chicken and shrimp casino. It's not on the menu but I read about it in other Yelp reviews. By the time I arrived, it was ready to go. I was in and out in a flash, just the way it should be. The dish itself was just ok. Yes they give large portions, but for my particular dish, it was 90% pasta, 10% shrimp and chicken. For $13 I expected more protein. 3 small pieces of shrimp and a few strips of chicken breast. What I did get a lot of is garlic and pasta. As with many pasta dishes, it tasted even better when I ate it as leftovers the next day. I will probably return to try another dish. Maybe there are other entrees that come with more protein. read more

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Win-Spuntino. Literal meaning in Italian: light meal. But when you look at the food portions here, I'm not so sure about that... I'll admit I'm not much of an Italian fan as I don't really care for pasta. As a small child I never really cared for spaghetti, lasagna or other pasta dishes. Just not my cup of tea. However, when I kept on seeing pics and more pics of the food here posted they looked so damn good that I just had to try it. I've been here a handful of times and have left satisfied each occasion and brought along new friends to try this place. Located on the second floor just above Thai Issan, which is next door to Foodland at Market City Shopping Center, this small restaurant shares the space with a cellular phone kiosk. Seems that the owners (Chinese brothers) operate both businesses as I've seen the behind the counter of both establishments. This is a really small restaurant. Several tables available for dine-in and seats perhaps 16-18 peeps. Seems that most people take-out but each time I've opted to dine-in. Each time I check out the salad bar as they have a large selection to choose from. I've always enjoyed beets so each time I order that, as well as their pea salad - - soooooo good! The salad is served on the side and you choose from either small or regular portion. I've tried a handful of pasta dishes and here are my thoughts: 1) Clam Linguine (3/5) This plate is HUGE. I mean GINORMOUS. Portions are really large and you can easily make 2 meals out of an order. They use canned clams and it was good but nothing special. I've also had it served in Alfredo sauce and it was very good but perhaps too rich. After several bites I had to stop. 2) Chicken Piccata (5/5) This is a MUST dish for me. Executed so well. But for the very first time I ate here it was too salty for my taste. Perhaps the capers made it too salty for me so the next time I asked the cook to go easy on the salt and it was just right. Not many places use white meat and it was such a pleasant surprise. Chicken was cooked very well. Juicy and flavorful. 3) Chicken Marsala (4/5) Once again, white meat chicken is used and it was juicy. Served with the sliced mushrooms, the Marsala wine was very faint. I do enjoy bold flavors but found this dish just a bit lacking. Served on a bed of pasta, this can feed two easily. 4) Chicken and Shrimp Alfredo (3/5) My friend both ordered this dish and had mixed reviews. One liked it and the other didn't really care for it. As for me, the dish was good. Some broccoli came along with the meal but it wasn't enough to break down the richness. It was seasoned well and very creamy but too heavy in my opinion. 5) Garlic Bread (5/5) This is served as a side-dish and it was really good. Made-to-order, it came fresh out of the oven and piping HOT HOT HOT. Crusty bread with butter, garlic and cheese.......YUMMEH!!! This restaurant is BYOB so feel free to bring bottles of wine. Very reasonable prices and good food. I was impressed with one of the brothers stopping by each table checking up on us. Dessert is also available here. Each time they had an assortment of various cheesecakes and each time I shared dessert. The cheesecakes are not made in-house but sure hits the spot at the end of the meal. For dine-in, table service is provided and your meal is served in the same styrofoam box. However, each time the service was NOT that great. The waitress didn't really follow-up on our table with water refills or to see if we got our food. Once the my order was incorrect so I sent it back to the kitchen. On the positive note, she was friendly and would smile. Parking is ample here but the layout and traffic direction here at Market City Shopping Center is confusing. Or is it just me who is confusing? :P Overall, a great place to have a delicious meal that won't leave a dent in your wallet. read more

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First thing is to find this secret hideaway. It's located on the second floor above the Thai place next to Foodland in Mkt Center. Once we arrived the greeting was outstanding and the air conditioning works well. We ordered several fresh salads to try, all were yummy. Then moved on to the Italian food. Pretty good and nicely presented. BYOB Great Service.. Low Prices.. read more

Win-Spuntino - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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win-win??? It seems I am the very last from my dining group to write a review for this establishment. To be brutally honest, the thought of even making time to compose a review never crossed my mind. Not even for a split second. I just didn't think I needed to sacrifice any of my time to even write anything. I did not find one aspect about this restaurant that would compel me to ever return, even to order take out. But, as I have always been told by my mother and other wise Yelpers, there are two sides to a story. And so, let us delve into the positive and negatives of my recent dinner visit. NOTE: 1. BYOB 2. Parking available within the Market City Shopping Center. 3. Restaurant is on the 2nd floor. Didn't notice any elevator nearby, but then again I wasn't looking for one. 4. Restaurant is "dine-in" or "take out". Very limited seating for those wanting/choosing to "dine-in". POSITIVE: 1. The Great Company. It was extremely excellent!! 2. Ample parking. Albeit, it was quite busy the night we dined there as it was during the week leading up to Christmas. 3. Diverse menu selection. There were various pastas, salads, seafood entrees, meat entrees, etc. available. 4. BYOB. We brought several bottles of wine to share amongst our group of five, and the restaurant also provided glasses. 5. Cheesecake was one of their dessert selections. We chose the two slices, lilikoi and green tea respectively, for our group to share. 6. Service was good. We all felt very welcome and well attended to. 7. My food was just ok. I ordered the penne ricotta. Again, it was ok. Although it seemed I could probably order a similar dish from Sbarro for a lesser price. Portion size was decent. NEGATIVE: 1. The very limited seating was uncomfortable and the tables too close together. It felt slightly claustrophobic to me. 2. My dining companions were not very satisfied with their food. One had chosen steak, and it was not prepared as requested. The chef kindly offered to place the steak back on the grill, but she politely declined as she wanted to eat along with us. Another had to ask for a knife to cut through her veal, which apparently was very tough when it should have been tender. My dining companion who sat across from me didn't care for the excessive sweetness in the tomato sauce that was served with his lasagna (incidentally, the lasagna was supposed to be one of their more popular dishes). 3. Diverse menu selection. There were various pastas, salads, seafood entrees, meat entrees, etc. available. Perhaps the menu is too diverse. I honestly felt very overwhelmed when I began to peruse the menu, and it took me a while to make a choice. The menu is double-sided with their more popular dishes listed with pictures, while the flip siide lists their many, many other menu items, sans photos. 4. My food was just ok. I ordered the penne ricotta. Again, it was ok. Although it seemed I could probably order a similar dish from Sbarro for a lesser price. Portion size was decent. BOTTOM LINE: The staff and management make a strong effort to put out a decent product and make diners/customer feel welcome. However, as I've already stated, I do not feel compelled to return to this restaurant in the near future. read more

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