Buona Vita

I have been coming here for over a decade… had many birthday parties here… Over the years, I’ve gotten to know the owner, his son, and a veteran Gustavo there… They are 5 stars ALL the way. I took my family there last weekend, and they stopped at NOTHING to make SURE we had an incredible time… Including, ABOVE and beyond details that you simply must go to know what I mean! .And, the Food… just fabulous! From the bottom of my heart… I just can’t THANK YOU enough!!! We will forever be your BIGGEST fans! THANK YOU!!! :)
Massage by Michelle Marie, Manhattan Beach

Mr dino i want to thank you for all your life & mood changing food we always leave with a smile, salad with walnuts feta, the pink sauce on & on, the homemade desserts, every birthday we have had there is always spectacular, everyone is a gentleman & true kindness not appeasement, thank you.

Just yuck. My pasta dish looked like dog food and didn’t taste much better. My daughter ordered a chicken Caesar salad. The chicken was hard and inedible. She was sick later that night. As an apology, they brought out a comp dessert. There was a hair in it. Not one good thing to say about our experience.

Went to this restaurant on Saturday night and was extremely disappointed in the service and food.
Have tried Buona Vita for dinner on numerous occasions and seem to be always regretting it.
Will not make this mistake again.

My experience at Buona Vita was pretty close to perfect, which is surprising given all the negative reviews. Before going, I made sure to note the most common complaints and determine for myself if they were justified.
First complaint: poor and slow service. On the contrary, I found the servers to be very friendly, helpful and accommodating. When my friends and I walked in on a Sunday evening, we were immediately greeted with a warm welcome and shown to our table (with no reservations). Our waiter showed up seconds later with menus, followed by the busboy who provided us with water. The food and drinks came out in a timely manner and our waiter checked on us just enough, but not too much. The entire wait staff was delightful, actually!
Second complaint: average food. Really? I thought the food was excellent and the portions were just right. I ordered the gnocchi with pesto, which had incredible flavor and reminded me of the gnocchi I had in Rome. The fresh bread and accompanying olive oil was also delicious. For dessert, the tiramisu was perfectly presented and tasted heavenly. The only bummer was the fact that they didn’t have espresso, only regular coffee.
Third complaint: surprise corkage fee. My friends and I brought 2 bottles of wine and they didn’t charge a corkage fee.
Fourth complaint: high prices. Ok, I’ll agree, the prices are pretty high, but no more expensive than any other restaurant in the area.
Fifth complaint: extremely noisy. I can’t vouch for that because I came on a Sunday evening when it was pretty empty, but I can see how a small venue like this could fill up and get pretty loud.
To conclude, I would highly recommend Buona Vita, especially for an intimate gathering. I will definitely be coming back!

Good food, but frustratingly slow service. We were there for 2 hours and had to flag down our waiter anytime we needed something. He never checked-​in on us on his own. 3 stars for bad service.

Extremely poor customer service. Tried to make a reservation ahead of time and was told they do not take them. When I arrived at the resraraunt I was immediately asked if I made a reservation, indicating they do take reservations. Had to wait 20 minutes for a table and was not offered any explanation as to what the reservation policy is. After dinner I asked about a hidden charge on the bill and the manager was rude and called me cheap. Food was good but the manager needs to take a course or two on customer service before I would ever think about coming back.

Food was good. Service was poor. When I asked about non-​descrip charges on the bill I was told I was cheap by the manager. That is the first time that has ever happened to me in my life.

When the bill came I asked about an unexpected charge (turned out to be corkage fee), the manager accused me of being cheap and told me to «go back to New Jersey». One star.

I’m shocked at the low ratings for this restaurant. Not only is this a Hermosa Beach staple (been open for at least 30 years), but the food is delicious. The prices are very reasonable and portions are fair. Great quality food. The service can be slow sometimes, but no biggie. That’s typical Italian style anyhow. They really enjoy their experience with food. We Americans just stuff our faces and leave.
Anyhow, take my word for it, this place is great and authentic Italian. I’m a South Bay local. I’ve lived here my whole life. I highly doubt this other person on here claiming she is a local, was actually born and raised here. If she was, then shame on her for her review over some stupid corkage fee. Fifty dollars split between 14 people is like $ 3 per person. Come on, chill the eff out.

We stopped in Hermosa Beach on our way home from a day in LA. We have never been here and were a bit skeptical of this place due to recent reviews… but honestly… the food was really, really good. We all agreed that the alfredo sauce was one of the best we’ve had and the chicken parm was fabulous. I had butternut squash ravioli and it was tender and well stuffed. We didn’t get apps or salads or desserts or wine so I can’t comment on that. We didn’t have any issues with service but the server we had was very young and not the typical italian restaurant attentive server I am used to getting in this type of restaurant… that said, I don’t really care about that when the food arrives fairly quickly and fresh, hot and yummy.

I and my friend were here about 30 mins ago. We got out of there because there were so many bugs inside of the balsamic. We understand that there could be bugs inside as we sat by the window which was opening. HOWEVER, THE SERVER NEVER APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. He said we could leave if you guys want to instead of saying sorry. Terrible experience :(

Sat nite, love this restaurant great ambience and good food. The wild salmon, chicken piccatta and shrimp pharmgiana off the charts
Service is laid back but spot on, really feel welcomed here with raoul and dino and everyone else that works there. Oh love the no corkage fee also is great

We came here with 14 Hermosa beach locals (have been doing so for the the past 5 years). It was my birthday and the bill came and apparently there was corkage fee policy that recently changed. The revised policy was never mentioned to us verbally or listed within the menu as we opened several bottles.
Apparently the New policy is: first bottle is free, any additional is $ 7 per bottle. We voiced that this new policy was never communicated, nor was the wine menu that mentions this corkage fee provided to us. Long story short: they rather lose 14 local customers then absorb the $ 50 fee that was never made aware to us this first time around.

Great dinner at Buona Vita! Had their famous Penne Nastari and their delicious meat Lasagna mmmmmhh! Finger licking food indeed, and the service was just as amazing, Gus was out server and he took the time to explain the menu and recommended a delicious happy ending to our dinner… Homemade chocolate mousse! Yum yum yum!

My husband and I had our first date here 10 years ago.
We returned for our 10 year anniversary.
They gave us the same table.
Food is good — simple delicious Italian.
Healthy options available.
Wine available or BYOB!

Great Italiano Restaurant with great food and great service.
We came here for a friend’s birthday on a Monday night. They have free corkage which is AWESOME! While we waited for everyone to arrive, the waiter opened a bottle and brought us bread. He was apparently serving the entire restaurant so he was pretty busy and a little stressed. But he was always friendly and super helpful.
I had the longest naming salad — the Insalata di Pollo di Formaggio something something. It was hard to order but delicious! A few others got the chicken and shrimp picatta, which was yummy.
We asked the waiter if he had candles to put on the cupcakes we brought and he happily obliged. He also put on some crazy music when he brought out the cupcakes. Overall a great dining/​wine experience.
The waiter also gave us reminders about our meter which was really nice!

Came here for my birthday dinner… very intimate setting with beautiful lighting (which later gets a bit too dim for some after sunset). My husband made a reservation for 8 and the table was all set for us near the window right on time. I was surprised by how busy they were on a Tuesday night! They came out with delicious warm bread with oil & vinegar while we looked at the menu and waited for everyone to arrive.
We ordered the Calamari Fritte as an appetizer and it wasn’t the best, but pretty darn good with the sauces. Hubby ran across the street to Uncorked because we forgot to bring wine and guess what?! NO CORKAGE FEE at BV. Yippee!
The service is good, but the food takes a LOOOONG time to arrive. With good company and plenty of bread and wine though, we were fine. Everyone really enjoyed their meals… ranging from the Di Aragosta (squid ink lobster ravioli), Grilled Salmon, Chicken Parmiggiana, and I got some filet mignon pasta special… which was DELICIOUS.
They play a special LOUD Italian song to celebrate birthdays and the servers really get into it. They gave us a BIG cookie with a candle on it too which is always nice =)

Came here for a friend’s birthday party/​going away dinner around the summer time. Unfortunately in my opinion, the beach setting is the only appealing thing about the restaurant.
We came with a large group and they did accommodate us very well. The service was good but someone in our party also knew the staff so that always makes things easier. But overall is was a very nice environment.
The food however was terrible. I ordered the Bolognese Firenze and I could not shake the taste of dog food out of my mouth. The mushy texture and strong biting flavor of the bolognese was so off that I could only eat about ¼th of the dish (I really did give it a good try). I couldn’t even take my leftovers home after dinner (and if you know me you know that’s serious stuff). Maybe I ordered the wrong thing and got super unlucky. Most everyone else in the party ordered the chicken parmesan and was happy with their dish. But in my opinion when you’re at a fancy Italian place paying the prices we were paying, something as simple as chicken parm should not be the best item on the menu.
I’m usually up for giving places a second chance but that likely won’t happen here any time soon.

Update. I found a dish that I’ve never had here and it is one of those 3am «must have that!»
They do an ap that is a grilled mozzarella with prosciutto and tomatoes. It is unreal and crispy!
The rest of the menu rocks as always.