Paesano Ristorante

First time here. I love Italian cuisine. The bread is to die for! I tried the Fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli and requested add on scallops.
1. Scallop size, texture and taste is superb!
2. Could use more fettucine.
3. Sauce a bit watery but sufficed.
Waitress was friendly and attentive.
Prices average.
Ambience great!

Delicious dishes. Ordered the Saturday special… lobster, shrimp clam dish with the lobster bisque sauce, which was an absolute delight. We also had the osso bucco… very tender, perfectly seasoned sauce was not too tomatoey. Service was excellent. Good wine selection although I didn’t find a Pinot noir that I liked. Server recommended an Italian Merlot (forgot the name) it was a smooth floral wine which I really enjoyed. I will definitely bring my family back again for dinner.

I have been to the Manoa Paesano a few times and have always left unhappy. The food their was so-​so and the staff was always rude and unfriendly. The Aiea Paesano is a complete 180 from Manoa. They are polite, prompt and courteous. I was with a party of 10 and the service was spectacular. Meals arrived together on time and there were no complaints across the table. I will visit the Aiea location again. The Manoa location? Negative ghost rider.

This one of my favorite Italian places on the island. I love to have a meal with friends here. It’s quiet. The food is great. It’s easy to get to and has great parking. I really don’t understand the negative reviews as I have been here multiple times and never had a bad experience. Highly recommend.

Went for an early dinner last night and the experience there was most pleasant. Greeted warmly by the hostess and friendly conversation exchanged. We also got a very good vibe from the wait staff from start to finish; they were attentive and personable. The restaurant interior is quite nice.
The warm, soft bread that is served with butter was a great way to start. The wife had a small portion chicken Marsala, still was a lot of food. Taste was spot on, chicken crispy and the Marsala sauce very good. The pasta cooked to a perfect al dente was buttery with ono mushrooms. I opted for the seafood special and was very happy with this dish. It consisted of lobster, large sized shrimp, with fresh clams in a lobster sauce; topped with fresh spinach, onions and tomatoes. The shrimp and clams were terrific, only negative if any was that the lobster did not have much of that «lobster taste». Perhaps grilling the lobster first would help. The seafood portions were very generous. Pasta again perfectly done. This is a great place for Italian food in the Aiea/​Pearl City area. So much better quality and service wise than Bravo at Pearlridge.

Overall impression:
Everything is done very well here. Classy ambience even though you can wear casual if you like. Food is delicious. Large portions, good value. Service is fast and waiters are personable. Free parking. I like it here.
Average price:
Small portions $ 17 – 30 (enough for a 1 – 1.5 meals)
Regular portion-​$ 22 – 40 (enough for 2 – 3 meals)
What you should get:
I dunno, everything is pretty good. The veal looks especially good although never had it yet.
Positives:
–it has a very clean and classy feel even though you don’t feel bad coming in a t-​shirt and shorts, if you want
–food tastes good
–large portions, good value for the price
–service is great
–free parking
–usually just busy enough but not so bad that you have to wait
Negatives:
–to be honest, I couldn’t find anything blatant
Ambience:
Already talked about it. They use real candles, real roses for table décor. Waiters dress really nicely. Bathroom is clean. It feels very Italian even though it seems to be run by Asians
Food:
All of it so far has been delicious. They have real, grated Parmesan cheese to put on everything. Their bread is really fresh and hot, too.
Service:
They pack up the food for you if you want. Food comes really fast (almost too fast, somehow). They’re always checking up on you. Waiters appear to be pretty knowledgeable about the menu items.
I thought they do everything very well here. I would say 4.5, but since they have no real deficiencies, I’ll just give em a 5.

The good — I had the shrimp and scallop scampi. Very tasty with a generous portion (see my pic). The only change to the dish I would make would be to sear the scallops. They were well cooked but too soft without a sear to give a little texture.
The bad — nothing bad.
The ugly — the bread comes out hot and smells good but ends up tasting like 2 day old bread. The butter is also rock hard. Need the soft butter or garlic butter to accompany the bread (which should be served fresh).

Plain on the outside, classy on the inside.
I wasn’t expecting much going into this restaurant for lunch one day, but I’m glad I did because it was a pleasant surprise!
The service was awesome, they did everything with such precision: fast seating, accurate order taking, prompt food deliverance, and steady check-​ins.
The ambiance is very nice, clean, quiet, well lit, and the employees are all well dressed. It is indeed a real pleasant and relaxing atmosphere, good for a simple date night, business meeting, or a night out with some family and friends. The restaurant also has a full bar for those weekend warriors.
Now the important part, the FOOD. it is quite good. not great. The bread and pasta dishes were good, especially the shrimp scampi. Not a big fan of their ribeye though, it was very fatty and had little to no seasoning. I do wish that they expand their menu a bit as it seems limited.
You stay classy Paesano.

This place is really neat, i really like the classy atmosphere and romantic for a date night. The food is excellent, my boyfriend and i ordered the chicken and shrimp alfredo and the chicken linguine pesto and we are speechless on how good it is. Service is excellent, we even asked if they can take a picture of us, i forgot her name but she is really cool. I highly recommend this place!

This place is a find!
It is a large restaurant with a full bar. Note, the location is tucked away at the end of the shopping center, so make sure you don’t miss it!
Hot, fresh bread to start and a full menu of Italian dishes.
We had sausages in pasta, the fresh soup of the day and carbonara. All was hot, fresh, and delicious.
The food is a decent value (size) for the price, and of very good quality. Note, this is not a cheap restaurant, with dishes ranging from $ 12 for pasta to $ 30s for steak and seafood.
Good food and friendly service. and oh that hot bread!!!

Everything was perfect. Was greeted warmly and quickly. The server was personable and accommodating. Only thing they were not able to provide was my request for non-​alcoholic beer, had ginger ale instead.
The fresh made Caesar salad dressing was really good with lots of flavor. I ordered the surf and turf special. It is a boneless ribeye with onions and portobello mushrooms and shrimp scampi with the thin pasta noodles. Three good sized shrimp and cooked just right and topped with snap peas.
Dessert I had the tiramisu and that was good too.
Will definitely go back there again.

I rarely ever give 5 stars at a restaurant, but I couldn’t think of a single reason not to. What do restaurants usually get graded on? Service, cleanliness, price, taste, and environment???
Well, service was impeccable. It’s was hot and extremely humid that day, which is why we decided to go out to eat. Our water glasses were always full. Our order was taken the second we knew what we wanted. Food came out hot and there wasn’t a long wait. Check was immediate. We were in and out… And it was a Saturday Night.
I have an 8 month old, so going out to eat and having her at the table is usually iffy. The table was clean, along with everything on it, so I had no issues clipping her chair to the table.
Crab cakes $ 15, but pretty decent size. 14 oz prime rib special $ 44 (kinda pricy but tasted amazing). Small portion chicken parmigiana, which was not so small, $ 17. Glass of wine $ 9.50.
All tasted great.
My only suggestion would be to turn the lights down a bit. I like the fresh rose on the table though.

So we came here a couple days ago for lunch for our anniversary.
We ordered our salad & entrees & we were served some bread. Let me tell you that the bread tasted like it was old & they just warmed it up. We asked for another batch & it was a little better but still didn’t taste fresh. We waited quite long for our salad even though it wasn’t that busy. Our entrees was just ok as I didn’t care for the sauce that was drenched on my New York steak.
The service was not bad except for that long wait for our salads. Thankfully our waters were refilled throughout our lunch. Not a bad experience overall.

Experience was not satisfying. Food was not appetizing. Very overly priced for the quality. Waiters and waitresses were nice but the owner (this dark old tall Asian guy) was not welcoming at all. He judged our group of party right when we walked in. Over heard him talking shit about our party and other customers.
Very horrible «Italian» restaurant run by Asians. Never going there again. Highly recommend others going to CPK/​bravos, which is way better than this place.

Came here with the girlfriend and had reservations at 7. Got seated right away. Service was very good. Waters were always full and the wine was poured for us. We ordered the calamari for an appetizer which couldve easily fed 4. I ordered the veal and shrimp coriander which was excellent. The gf ordered chicken alla saltimbocca. She could barely eat half since there was so much food. I’d choose this place over assagios.

The cuisine here is good. The atmosphere is comfortable. The parking lot is convenient. However, if you’re looking for a dining spot to linger and socialize, beware! There is a 3 hour time limit on parking. This had always been my go-​to restaurant to catch up with friends, but not anymore after Pro Park wrote up a citation against my vehicle.

We recently hosted a dinner party for 24 here, why here? It was the only place we could get that number in a semi-​private room on short notice that wasn’t Chinese.
The interior was nice, cool, quiet, all of which made for a great beginning. The staff was on the top of their game and promptly had water and bread on the tables. The specials were given with the menus and we ordered wine and drinks around. I appreciated that we were given time to peruse the menus and talk amongst ourselves before they returned to take our orders and deposit more bread and butter.
Orders of appetizers and salads were taken and we asked and were given until after we ate them to return for entrée orders. The carpaccio was very good, the clams… off the charts, most likely the best I have had in 808. Salads were well received by everyone with the only comment by one that there was too much garlic on the Caesar.
On to the entrees. Orders from Veal Saltimbuca to the fish special to pastas and huge plates of Lasgna. Only one complaint, again too much garlic. When asked what he ordered… Garlic Chicken! Lol, the same person with the same issue on the Caesar Salad. The specials were ordered by several and everyone enjoyed what they had and shared bites across and side to side. There was a copious amount of food and we were not rushed in any way. Many bottles of wine ordered and consumed. Not a glass remained empty until we said «no mas»!
Deserts were offered but declined. We were all deliriously stuffed. We will be back with a much smaller group but even with a large party there was no lacking in service. Parking is a non-​issue as it is in the Waimalu Shopping Center.

3-​stars for town, but in Aiea/​Pearl City that probably translates to 4-​stars. I came here for a surprise baby shower and we actually had a difficult time figuring out where it was. If you end up as confused as we were, it’s in the Waimalu Shopping Plaza across the parking lot from Safeway. On the outside it doesn’t look like much, but inside its a lovely little spot. There’s a small bar in the middle, lots of seating and a twenty person party room in the back. Great spot for a date night or dinner with the family.
THE GOOD: First off, service at Paesano is really great! They were so good at taking our orders, checking in on us, filling out waters, etc. Our waiter recommended an affordable Cabernet to me and it was indeed good! If you’re into fancier wines they actually have a decent wine list. Whoever is training their staff deserves 5-​stars and a raise! The bread here is excellent as well! It’s that crusty on the outside but soft on the inside and butter begs to melt into it. I could probably eat two loaves by myself. The private room is perfect for a small group function. Not always easy to find these days!
CONS: I had the linguine with meat sauce, minestrone soup and the toss salad. Meat sauce was too sweet for me, but my daughter liked it. Don’t order the minestrone, it’s way too salty and most likely from a can. I unfortunately forgot to ask for dressing on the side which meant my salad was drenched in dressing. All the vegetables in my salad except for the lettuce we’re pickled and it just didn’t work. I just want untouched veggies, is that too much to ask for? They charge $ 2 extra for split entrees and $ 1 extra for split salads, angel hair pasta. I get why they do this from a financial perspective, but as a customer this feels really weird.
My aunt leaned over to pick up her napkin and she continued to fall over. I at first thought she was having a stroke but we figured out her chair leg broke. Awkward, yet funny, and I’m glad she is healthy.
Great place to carbo load and eat with the family. I didn’t adore the food, but maybe I needed to order something fancier? My belief though is that your meat sauce should rock my socks off!

As a family, we always go out to dinner after our Saturday evening mass. One Saturday we decided to go to Paesano. This place looks bland on the outside, however, its beautiful on the inside! It looks like a classy 5-​star restaurant in my book, but without costing you an arm and a leg!
We made reservations for 7:00, but we arrived 20 minutes early (hey, we were hungry) and they seated us right away! We were surprised since it was pretty busy. However… it took about 20 minutes for a server to actually come to us and take our drink orders. Maybe thats what we get since we were early for our reservations?
I ordered the small portion chicken picatta. I know it’s called «small» portion for a reason, but if I can finish my dish, then it really is a small portion! At Palazzo, their small portion is cheaper and I never EVER finish their small portion!
This place is okay… Food is good and the atmosphere is nice for date night or family dinners. But service and portion size is lacking which is why I give them three stars.

It’s been a long while, a very long while, since I’ve had good Italian food. The next time I feel like having Italian, I’ll know to go to Paesano. The interior is very nice, there are glass partitions and a fresh single rose on each table. The customer service is very good at Paesano. They’re very attentive and quick to refill your water.
Their complimentary house bread is great. I’m not sure why I like it so much, there’s nothing that special about it except that it’s served warm and the crust is a bit crispy and the bread itself is soft. They provide butter with the bread but I usually ask for olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sometimes, I ask for minced garlic and olive oil to spread on the bread.
The pasta is delicious-​my favorite is the seafood combination. It comes with shrimp, mussels, calamari and clams with either garlic sauce or tomato sauce on linguine. They don’t skimp on the seafood, they give a pretty good portion and actually a little more seafood than pasta. Their calamari is a really nice surprise because it’s cooked very well, it’s not hard or rubbery at all.
There’s lots of parking available in front of the restaurant. Some of the dishes are a bit pricey but I say the food is worth it. It’s hard to find good pasta that comes with great service. I’m definitely a fan of Paesano and suggest a trip here if you’re craving Italian food.