Vittorio’s Italian Restaurant

Amazing Food! Great atmosphere and friendly staff. Love coming here! Full bar and tv which makes it a great hang out space. Great for dates as well.

This our go to for Italian food, the food is is still 5 stars.
Love the atmosphere, the 1970’s Italian restaurant feel.
The service, well that a leaves a little more to be desired. This is the second time that the service we’ve had is subpar (The only reason they are getting 2 stars)
We will still will come here but, they might step up their game with the caliber of servers they employee.

I love the atmosphere, nice red booths with fresh red roses on each table. The best part was the atmosphere, The food was good. I definitely would come back to try the lasagna which I heard is amazing. Our waitress Channel was so friendly and helpful and it was her birthday so we gave her a generous tip. :)

Ambiance was excellent, service was good and the food was mind blowing. Mind blowing, because it requires a great deal of effort to screw up Italian food, but they did. A can of Ragu would have got them at least three stars. My wife had chicken parmesean and it was OK. I say OK, because i had a taste of it after i ate the Fettuccine Vittorio with Pink Sauce and i needed something to kill the vile taste that i was just subjected to. My first bite of this culinary catastrophe was like a wet burp. I thought no way did i just taste that? So i had another, yep! I was correct, they nailed it! They got the taste of vomit perfect. The worst part though, was i had several more bites hoping it would get better, it didn’t, In fact i needed to leave in a hurry because something horrible was happening in my lower intestine and it needed to be released at once. I hate to admit it, but I’m actually writing this review while posted up on the porcelain bowl. Save yourself the pain and agony and get a TV dinner instead. By the way, I won’t go into how bad spoiled cream tasted in the teramisiou, I’ll save that post for later.

Ok, I start this review by saying the owner of this place was very charming and nice, which is the reason we gave it a second chance. We had come here before for drinks and appetizers and were a little disappointed with the appetizers, but decided to try again. The ambiance is exactly the Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin style red booth Italian restaurant that I had been looking for, and the entertainment was great, we sat in the piano bar. Now, the food, it pains me to say this because I had such high hopes for this place, And I don’t like to give bad reviews. I ordered the chicken Parmesan, because I figured that’s a hard one to screw up right, wrong!!! It was ok but tasted as if it had been covered in a canned pizza sauce, the crust on the chicken was burnt in some areas, but alas, I was the lucky one, my poor husband was subjected to a shrimp dish in a pink sauce that resembled barf, and apparently tasted that way too, like rotten milk. He said the chicken Parmesan was a welcome way to get the taste of his meal out of his mouth. I hate to say thatI’ve had better Italian food from a can of chef boyardee, but it’s true. Since our main dishes were so disappointing and we were still hungry and enjoying the entertainment we decided erroneously to have dessert, my husband had the cannoli which he said was good, I had the tiramisu, oh boy! I bit into the cake expecting the sweet taste of mascarpone cheese, sweet cream and expresso, NOPE, I was shocked to find my tiramisu to taste like a coffee that had a four month old cream found in the back of the fridge in a frat house poured into it. I thought is this possible? So I had my poor unsuspecting husband have a taste, going against my conscience and not warning him… yep, rotten milk, judging by the combined look of horror and nausea on his face, BINGO! I love the ambiance and entertainment and owner here, but from now on I’ll just stick to the drinks and hope they change the chef.

Save your money for another restaurant. We went here on Christmas Eve hoping to have a nice Italian dinner. We loved the ambiance, and there were enough customers to feel comfortable. We thought maybe the wait staff was taking a really long time because it was a holiday, but as the night went on our opinion of that situation changed. We were very optimistic until the food came. Nothing made sense. One person ordered chicken marsala with pasta. Simple, they have it everywhere, you know what to expect. WRONG! To start it came on a plate that was too small for all the food to stay on. The real kicker is they put the chicken marsala and the sauce on top of pasta with marinara sauce… Who does that? they are completely competing flavors. The rest of the food was just okay. The plates were on fire, but the food was lukewarm at best.

Last night was a New Year’s Eve dinner in the dark (an accident caused the street ‘s electricity to go out for the evening). Despite the inherent difficulties, the show went on and the six of us enjoyed our delicious 5 course meal by candlelight with the aid of our cell phones and a very devoted staff. They deserve kudos for making the night work!!! Thank you for your efforts and to the pianist for providing an excellent accompaniment in the background. We’ll be back again!

Went there last night for the first time in many years. Used to go often years back. But with ownership changes the place did not play as well. Had an excellent meal last night. Wife loved her Pasta Primavera noting the veggies were so fresh and my Chicken Parmigiana was very good. We heard good music coming from the back and had a glass of wine watching Rick Bagby who was excellent on the piano.

I felt compelled to write a reveiw for this restaurant after the owner (Frank) added several drinks to my bar tab that I DID NOT ORDER! Make sure you check in «my photo’s» to see that he will add drinks to your tab «IF HE IS UNDER THE IMPRESSION» that you want additional drinks on your tab! FRANK, let me make this REALLY easy for you to understand, if I want others people’s drinks charged to my credit card, I WILL TELL YOU SO! YOU WON’T HAVE TO GUESS! When my GF sent you a text to correct YOUR mistake you wanted to debate us. Hey Frank, in this country that is called «Thievery»! You also went on to rip me off AGAIN by adding another BUDLIGHT to my tab that I DID NOT ORDER! You then stated in your text message, «from now will Handel charges diff.». You bet your ass we will Frank! No longer will I hand my credit card to a thief to keep my bar tab open! Vittorio’s customers… BUYER BEWARE! Check your bar tabs! Frank might be «under the impression» you want to buy a round for the house! It’s «handle» Frank, not Handel.

My friend & I had the pleasure of dining in the Piano Room Saturday, September 6^th. We chose to dine at Vittorio’s because they feature Live Music, and Jennifer Hart in particular.
Our food was excellent and Jennifer Hart is THE consummate entertainer. She totally engaged the near capacity crowd with her lovely voice, while accompanying herself on the piano, clever banter and even had the crowd singing along with her. We’ll definitely visit Vittorio’s again if Jennifer Hart is there entertaining.
I would have given 5* except that we felt somewhat rushed by our server, although she was very pleasant and our food served promptly.

Very disappointed. I got a bad vibe but was super hungry. Paying $ 20 I assumed I get the right order. The soup was tomato basil. That was good, but I ordered minestrone. This was a to go order. Bread was stale, chicken parmigiana was not so good. Pasta was ok. All in all the place was empty, and it was 6:45 on a Tuesday. I should of waited, but I was starving. My stomach is aching and I’m praying the kitchen was clean. I have a very sensitive immune system. Pass on this place if possible. Please tell me if you had a different experience. I’m not one for writing bad reviews. Truth be known, I don’t think the owners care.

Delicious! Our family has been going here since the 70’s. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is great. Classic Italian food in a beautiful atmosphere. A perfect place for families or to have a date night. I recommend to all of my friends and family!

Food has never been great. When you see an empty or near empty restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night, that should give you a hint. Went there a few weeks ago to watch their entertainment in piano room. People were upset that food orders were taking as long as an hour to be served. The salad story from a previous review reminds me of the same thing that happened to me. No apologies. They took away and brought another. No adjustment on bill either.
Ashamed that such a nicely, cozy atmosphere of a place, be so disappointing. They must buy their food frozen and that’s why it’s not authentic tasting recipes. If you want authentic, try Sunset Pizza &Pasta in Sunset Beach. It’s worth the drive.
This place can’t be helped without change of ownership. It’s on a steady decline. Bartender can be unfriendly too.

We arrived (party of four) for dinner on a Tuesday evening around 7:00pm and the place was empty except for the bar. The place was neat and clean, looked very nice inside.
Chatted with the owner for a couple of minutes.
Ordered our food, no appetizers, just our meals. Salads came out first. First thing I noticed was the cucumbers had been frozen then defrosted and looked unappealing. As I was getting ready to take a bite my daughter noticed a long black pube looking hair on one of her cucumbers. It was pretty repulsive. In fact it really kind of grossed us all out so much we just sent all the salads back. Now we were wondering if this is why such a nice looking restaurant was empty. .. the food sucks maybe? The waiter was very apologetic but what can you really do other than apologize.
Our meals arrived. I had the baked lasagna and thought it was delicious. My vegan daughter ordered a pizza without any cheese, look less than appealing but she ate most of it. My wife and other daughter ordered linguini with white sauce. Daughter didn’t like it, wife said it was so so.
One other annoying issue was our table was constantly buzzed by these little fruit flies of some other little flies.
Lastly we ordered one cheesecake to share, vegan daughter excepted. Must have been frozen because when we got to eating it there were slightly frozen bites and warm bites like they just microwaved it.
Bill came to $ 88.00 which included 3 beers. Gave the waiter a $ 15.00 tip. Received no compensation for the nasty hair which was disappointing, not even a free piece of cheesecake.
I’ve lived in Huntington Beach for the last 35 years and seen this place many times and never went in and to be quite honest, I will never go back.
My daughter Kristen E. also reviewed this restaurant, her post is a couple down from mine.

The food is ok, we started with bread and fried cheese. The first batch of bread wasn’t fresh and the corners were burnt and it took about 20 minutes for them to bring in out. We mentioned the bread was old and they brought us out a fresh batch … Another 20 minutes later after I asked for it 3 times. The fried cheese came out fairly quickly and was surprisingly good. I ordered the lobster ravioli with an Alfredo sauce and it wasn’t bad. A little fishy. My father ordered the spaghetti and meatballs with no complaints. My sister ordered the shrimp and pasta scampi and didn’t like it at all. I tried it and she was right it was like the shrimp had almost zero flavor to it. We sent it back and had it removed from the bill. Now let’s talk about the service. Completely understaffed, they had two servers working, one at the bar and one tending to the tables. She forgot our drinks several times and we had to repetitively remind her. And it wasn’t just us, one of the other guests was wandering around with an empty cup a couple times trying to find someone to fill it, which in my opinion you shouldn’t have to get up for a refill. I asked for lemons for my iced tea that I never received. And when I asked for the bread, the man at the bar replied «we’re trying not to fill you up before you get your food» LOL ummmm not to be rude but your opinion doesn’t matter, I asked for bread therefore you should bring bread. Am I wrong? I will most likely not be coming back here anytime. I should’ve checked the reviews before I came which was my mistake. But I must say no matter how many times I complained or asked for something our server was never rude and she always apologized which I do appreciate. I wouldn’t recommend eating here. Maybe the bar was better I don’t know.

The lobster tail was very over cooked. It was burnt very chewy. We ordered a bottle but they charged us for glasses. The customer service was very nice.

If you want to experience old world Italian elegance, then Vittorio’s is the place to visit. Opened in 1969, Vittorio’s has been a favorite among Huntington Beach locals craving tradtional American-​Italian cuisine.
A throw back to godfather dining, tufted red leather booths populate the main interior dining room. Victorian-​style glass chandeliers hang in the dining patio among a generous abundance of layered drapery & faux marble pillars.
Upon entering Vittorio’s, we were cheerfully greeted by bar patrons enjoying pre-​meal cocktails. We were immediately sitted in the newly added enclosed patio area so we could enjoy the musical entertainment provided by Lee Ferrell– the actor Will Ferrell’s father. Mr. Ferrell is an excellent musician & singer with a long history as a keyboardist and saxophonist with the Rightgeous Brothers’ band.
Everyone at our table enjoyed their meals. The onion soup, chicken parmesan & lasangas were exceptionally delicious.
For dessert we shared a canoli and slice of chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was a bit dry & disappointing, but the canoli made up for the cake’s poor performance.
The wait staff was friendly. The manager checked on us shortly after arriving and then again during the course of our visit.
Our entire group enjoyed our experience at Vittorio’s and look forward to our next visit.
Bravo, Vittorio’s!

We were a party of 4. We arrived at 7 and waited 15 minutes, yet restaurant had multiple empty tables. We should have followed our instincts, but wanted to give Vittorio’s a chance to redeem themselves. Waited another 15 min at table for water and menus. Noticed multiple tables languishing and this is a Sat night. Poor service, apathetic servers who walked by. Food mediocre, atmosphere pleasant but totally neglectful service. We had to ask 3 times for water refills, which came after we left the table. Skip V’s and go west to Buon Gusto.

I really like this place. The food is very great. I ordered a pizza and it was not too expensive and it tasted great. The waitress was really friendly and the live music was really nice.
This place looks really fancy inside, and we were not dressed very fancy. I felt kind of embarrassed at first and expected some dirty looks. But no, everybody was really nice.

The bf made reservations here for Valentine’s Day & I’m so so glad he chose this place! The restaurant was dimly lit with candles and composed of red booths and old-​fashioned glass windows which set the romantic ambiance perfectly. Not to mention, the whole place was super decked out in cute Valentine’s decorations. It was a little cheesy but I’m a huge cheese ball so I friggin ADORED it. It was the perfect spot for Vday.
FOOD: Naturally there was a special menu for the night (regular menu was offered as well). Filet mignon was my choice but I guess by the time we got there, the kitchen had run out and replaced it with a ribeye instead, which was fine cause I love me some ribeye.
Every entrée came prefixed with bruschetta, house salad, and lobster bisque, and all of the above were absolutely divine. I don’t love bruschetta but theirs were so flavorful and the bread was a perfect crunch… my bf & I wiped the plate clean haha. The salad was also great; it came with a house Italian dressing that was soo creamy which complimented wonderfully with the garbanzo beans in the salad (big plus, b/​c I love garbanzo beans!) The lobster bisque was definitely the star of the night. To put simply, it was AMAZING.
The ribeye was pretty good. It wasn’t the best ribeye I’d ever had, lacking in a little flavor, (nothing beats my momma’s) but I was still happy with it. My bf got the combo ribeye + lobster tail. I tried the lobster and wasn’t a fan. It was a little chewy and I could kinda taste the ocean water if you get what I mean; however I’m not too big on seafood anyway. The only real complaint here was that, on the menu, both of our entrees said it came with garlic mashed potatoes and when it came out, both did not. Maybe they ran out of that too? I didn’t mind since I was already pretty full by the time the steak came out, but still… it woulda been nice to get what was stated on the menu.
PRICE: I thought the price was really great for all the food we got. The ribeye (or formerly filet mignon) was priced at $ 29 and the combo w/​lobster tail was $ 34, which included all of the appetizers previously stated. Most other restaurants, we usually pay extra to get soup/​salad and that’s just on a regular night. This was Vday night so I was expecting pretty boosted prices but nope not at all!
SERVICE: This is where they were lacking. Our server was actually very friendly but she didn’t seem to pay much attention to us. Granted it was Vday and the place was completely filled but it woulda been nice to get some attention other than when we were being served our food, like to get refills or whatnot. I was going to flag her down to ask where the missing mashed potatoes were but she was nowhere to be found for awhile so I gave up lol.
Overall, minus 1 star for missing food & eh service. Other than that, I really had a wonderful time here with my love. It was just soo romantic! Not sure what their regular menu is like but after this experience, I wouldn’t mind coming back again to try it out. :)