Bollini’s Pizzeria Napolitana

Great food, vibe and service. We were pleasantly surprised to find our meal started with pesto bread with incredible homemade dipping sauce. A group of three of us ordered the arugula salad (probably one of the best salads we’ve had — tasty dressing!) and a large pizza. Perfect amount of food! Ron was our waiter, and had great menu recommendations and was quite friendly! Even if you’re not in the area, I would recommend for all!

Dinner date with my childhood friend, Carolyn!
She said she was in the mood for Italian and asked for a recommendation. Bollini’s!
I’ve always heard about how good it is there and wanted to try it. Seemed like I was the only one in the neighborhood who hasn’t gone there yet. Plus, I deserved to treat myself to some glucose-​unfriendly pasta & cheese.
For a Tuesday evening, the place was hopping!
It seemed to be understaffed in the dining area, but those two guys were working so hard to do their best to take care of everyone. With a smile.
Atmosphere-​wise, two things lessened my enjoyment of the visit.
1– The noise level. It was hard to have a conversation. Aw well, this couldn’t be helped.
2– Wow, it’s hot in here! That was torture for this ol’ menopausal gal.
We ordered to share:
The Cal Bianco small pizza. (my choice)
Parmesan sauce, smoked chicken, garlic, herbs, olive oil and basil.
When I have the occasional pizza, I prefer white sauce.
This was very good. A bit more cheesier than I anticipated since it was a thin crust.
Bobby C. Pasta (Carolyn’s choice)
” Bobby C «named after their best customer. Spaghetti with tomato, basil and garlic
This is a simple pasta which I liked. Carolyn wished that it was more saucy.
These two dishes, plus the pesto crust appetizer, was more than enough to fill us up.
I really shouldn’t indulge in pasta, cheese & pizza because of health issues.
All of which I truly adore and miss.
A once in a while digression can be a wonderful thing.
There were the later expected consequences, but it was sooooo worth it.
(Spank me, Dr. C!)
If I go back, I’ll try to behave and have one of those lovely salads I saw on other tables.
Oh, who am I kidding? It’ll probably be for more pasta!

Tried to go here but sign on front door says CASH ONLY. You’re kidding right? Nope. Get with the times people. I can’t think of any other pizza/​italian place that is cash only.

A friend had recommended coming to this place. Came here on a Thursday night and we had to wait. This tells you that this place is good.
Ordered a large pizza to share between 3 people with pepperoni, pineapple and sausage topping. I did not like the pizza but still ate it because I was hungry. The pizza had a thin crust and it was burnt also. Was not satisfied at all. Disappointed at the pizza.
We also tried the pasta marsala vino. This was soo good! Pasta was cooked authentic and loaded with flavor. This dish is big enough for 3 people. Really big portion.
Food took a while to get here. Service was ok. Pizza was not as good and burnt. Maybe not get thin crust next time (not sure if they had regular crust, i didn’t do the ordering).

No Seafood, Neglected Service, No Pesto Bread, And An Accusation Aimed At Us Patrons
SITREP
On balance in the past, Bollini’s has been an excellent stop when our Enforcement Officer Academy is going on in Monterey Park (3 times a year) at our Regional Office Near The California Highway Patrol Building.
So this past Thursday, February 4, 2016, I was pretty stoked to bring our trainees here. But this last experience left a bad taste in our mouths.
THE SETUP
* First off, the service from beginning to end was excruciatingly slow, and when you have to wait 15 minutes to get your orders by shouting down the server who has been ignoring you — mainly because he’s the only person on the floor of what is a packed restaurant — there are clearly scheduling & staffing issues.
* And then the gals in our group finally taking the initiative by shouting down and snapping their fingers to get the server’s attention for 20 minutes to get our check. We were at Bollini’s two (2) hours for what by any other standard experience of ours at Bollini’s on 5 – 7 different prior occasions, should have been only 50 – 60 minutes.
OUT OF THE GOOD STUFF (WHICH IS WHAT WE WERE THERE FOR)
The metrics of a restaurant establishment really show significant neglect when many different items are not properly stocked. You are a restaurant — how can you be out of so many items /​primary ingredients for your signature dishes that are literally the bread & butter of your operation? To wit:
* Our server stated that they were out of the complimentary appetizer pizza dough bread with the pesto-​drizzles that we have always enjoyed on prior occasions. And yet somehow when other people seated after us received the pesto-​bread, we would ask again, but get the same answer. [The pesto bread from a prior stop in April last year.]
* Then they were out of the specific pastas used for their signature dishes, having to substitute, for example, bowtie pasta for the penne pasta dish the gals were looking forward to.
* My disappointment was totally with the fact that they were out of ALL seafood: clams, shrimp, mussels, etc., so that their signature dish that I have always enjoyed — Frutti Di Mare Pasta — could not be made. [Here is a picture from a prior occasion in April last year, that was denied this night.]
* Nor again any other seafood Spaghetti dish made with the clam sauce, or any other seafood dish. We got told the reason that the «owner was on his way back with some seafood but it might be awhile.»
This kind of lack of primary items, and non-​attention to detail are merely symptoms what speaks to greater logistic & management problems.
THE ACCUSATION
And then when we FINALLY got our check, we ponied up the money for our $ 92 bill. But we gave the server six (6) twenties, telling him we wanted to have one $ 20 broken down into $ 1s and $ 5s.
However, 10 minutes later when he didn’t return with the change we requested, we asked him about it, and he said he only got 5 $ 20 bills. We clearly told him that was not the case, but this is an intrinsic problem with a «cash-​only» business.
The problem is with the plausible deniability that is created when a server accuses the customer of shorting the serve in a «cash-​only» environment. Which is the primary reason why it is always better to pay with a credit card because there is verification of the bill amount, that is corroborated by verification of the credit card payment and your signature (and along with the enlistment of credit card customer service representatives to aid you when an establishment decides to be «mistaken» (or downright dishonest) about how they are handling your cash.
THE LOWDOWN
Go to this establishment at your own risk. With lack of primary ingredients, insufficient staff, coupled with an accusatory & dishonest demeanor in their own devised cash-​only payment process, you don’t need this headache.

DELiCIOUS PIZZA!!! I went with my team for lunch here and it was busy. They ran out of cheese so we had to wait longer for our food since we ordered 3 pizzas. But our server kept us busy with our other orders. While that was a pain, waiting almost an hour for the pizza, it was made up with the great server and complimentary pizza for our wait. The place is very relaxed and has a friendly vibe to it.

Been here twice already
Pizza is good
But pasta has been constantly mediocre
I ordered
A large Pizza Nono was good not great but good
Pasta mushroom fettuccini was disgusting the chef poured so much black pepper i couldn’t eat it.
I will definitely not be coming again unless it’s for free !

I would like to give this place the 5 stars but their seating process is by far the worst. Here is my experience there on a Saturday night… We walk in and it’s packed, so I thought awesome this place must be very good. The hostess greets us and hands us a clip board for us to write our name and how many people are with us. I was confused and figured this was not going to be good. Sure enough after 25mins of waiting she calls our name and bam! some lady jumps up in front of us and says that’s her, they seat her and here we are explaining how that was suppose to be us. So, we wait another 15 mins for the mistake to be corrected. She was apologetic and worked quickly to seat, which I appreciated.
Once the whole seating ordeal was done with, we met our server who was pretty cool and outgoing. He definitely helped us forget about the seating issue. We ordered the Rocco pizza and it was delicious! Our server recommended dessert and OMG! I was in love!!! It was a little pear pie with mango sauce and vanilla ice cream. My husband and I will definitely come back, we just hope they fix the way they seat people.

Great place! Went on a pretty busy night, and still managed to get my Pizza in 10~15 minutes. The pizza was so delicious, my friend and I finished it during the car ride back home, so I didn’t get the chance to take a photo of a delicious large pepper, sausage and goat cheese pizza. I took a picture of the box though! :D

Always, but always delicious here! I usually build my own pizza (pesto basil sauce w/​Gorgonzola mozzarella cheese… and all their yummy veggies.) If not, the pasta del Postino or the cioppino are AMAZING! Great beers on tap & friendly staff! (Well, maybe except for one female server who always has a pissed off look on her face) lol

Complimentary pesto bread was gooooooooood.
Steak was cooked medium well and it was perfect. The sauce complimented it very well and green beans were cooked just right. My bf’s parents really liked their pizza. We weren’t a fan of the spaghetti carbonara. I’m not so sure how it’s supposed to come out like but the yoke was still raw and my bf’s dad did not like that very much. I assumed we just needed to mix it in with the hot pasta to cook it but just thought it was kinda odd.
Parking lot is really small but we were lucky enough to find parking right away.
I would definitely come back for the pizza and steak.

Was fiend in for a pie so tried this place. Legit pie folks the sauce to cheese was on spot and the crust crisp to perfection oh the star was the sausage sweet fennelishiness heaven. Kitchen made a mistake on my order wanted small sent me a large damned if I didn’t try and eat it all. Probably could have if not for the crack pesto bread YUMMINESS they give u when u r seated. Come on come all

Had some Bollini’s for takeout recently. We ordered 2 pizzas, 3 pastas and a salad. Order was phoned in and we were told it would be ready in 40 minutes. That’s a good amount of wait time for some starving folks. Saw the most likely reason why when we walked in as the oven is always occupied and holds probably 6 or so pizzas at a time. Fair enough. One of the pizzas had sausage and garlic. The other was clam and ricotta. The sausage and garlic was good. Coulda used more toppings on it. I dont expect it to be loaded as I know it’s thin crust neopolitan pizza but IMO there wasnt enough toppings on the pie. Good crust. Thin as it should be with some slightly burnt edges. I liked it. I’m sure it’s better eating when dining-​in as opposed to us having it for take-​out. Food would be hotter and fresh out the oven. I didnt get to sample the clam and ricotta pizza but it looked good.
The pastas were good too. The spaghetti carbonara was very good. Good flavor, al dente noodles and the egg flavor really shined through amongst the smokiness of the bacon and other ingredients. The pasta del postino was a good bow tie pasta dish in cream sauce. It was also real tasty. It comes with asparagus, mushrooms, peas and other tasty items in a gorgonzola cream sauce. The spaghetti and clams was just ok to me. It lacked a little on the flavor scale. Of the 3 pasta dishes we ordered, it was my least favorite.
The arugula salad was surprisingly good. Maybe it was the smoked bacon… It also has corn, mushrooms, tomatoes and goat cheese. The vinaigrette it was served in was tasty… They also gave us their crispy bread (pizza crust?) that’s drizzled in pesto sauce. That was really good. Made for a great appetizer.
CASH ONLY. They have an atm but come prepared. Limited street parking out front or in the shared lot out back.

I like their food but they’re crooks. I called in and asked for a large pizza with pepperoni and bacon. I also asked for a side of the complementary bread.
A large pizza should have been $ 10 + $ 2 for the two toppings. They charged me $ 12 plus $ 1 for a topping. Then they charged me $ 3 for the bread. For a pizza that should’ve been $ 12, they charged me $ 17. When I asked for a receipt breakdown, the hostess seemed upset that I would ask for such a thing.
They only really have one good server that I’ve had the 3 times that I’ve gone.
It’s unfortunate that their servers are not better.

Monterey Park’s local Italian gem.
Been here once years before with my boyfriend when Unilocal wasn’t popularly used by us back then, but we remembered their pizzas being delicious.
We decided to have dinner and drinks here with family for a long-​awaited meet recently. Everything we ordered turned out great!
–The complimentary garlic bread served during our wait for the pizzas were appetizing!
–We ordered large Nonna, Fungi, and Seafood pizzas: all delicious and not a slice was leftover.
–Good variety of drinks for suited preferences
–The place is cozy and dim with amiable atmosphere
Overall, it was a good time with good food, drinks, and company. *thumbs up!

I really want to love this place and their food is excellent, however, the customer service is seriously lacking. Wait staff can be inattentive, which I can deal with because like I said the food is great.
I’ve never seen a place close early so many times.
Posted on their outside door, it says that they are open for lunch from 11:30−2pm with last lunch seating at 1:45
It is approximately 1:35 and once again their doors are shut. I purposely rushed over here because last time I showed up at 1:44 and was refused service and told to get there earlier.
This is not the first time this has happened either.
The owner seems cool and the food is too notch. I just really wish they would get their act together.

Food: great thin crust pizza, yummy pasta, and love their free pesto bread. I ordered their small thin crust pizza with two different flavors and they were both very good. My favorite was the mushroom pizza. As for the pasta, I got their seafood pasta place ($ 16), I thought it was tasty, but ok. The portion is really big and is meant to be shared. I walked out feeling full and satisfied.
Service: ok. I came during a slow Thursday night for dinner and the service was quick and attentive.
Atmosphere: very hot! They have a pizza oven as soon as you walk inside, which makes the place unbearable during the summer.
** they have this home made sauce on each table and it’s just like crack! I don’t know what’s in there, but omg, I ate the sauce with everything!
I would come back here the next time I am craving for Italian food.

I came here craving the pizza bread, pizza and pasta. We got here around 9:30. It started great, we got a table and our water.
We ordered the old school and postino pasta. We got our pizza and I asked about the free bread he said that he asked them to make it but they just want to get out if here. I understood since it was late but when it happened.
The table behind us were people that came after us and they had the bread wth… I am not happy but why would he care. If dont come here weekly but definitely we come here often just no enough to make any impact.
I have to say the food was yummy yum yum
I am just disappointed with the service we got tonight. They stated to wag the floors and it was smelling like a dirty rag with bleach yucky smell…
See my photos, you’ll see the bread in the other table. Was that our pizza bread and the server gave it to them???
TIP: don’t come here after 9:00 they only want to go home, they are already cleaning and hoping no one else is coming through the door,

I’ve always wanted to come here but the wait is so ridiculous! I finally came and we got seated right away! I will say the inside is really like a big oven so I highly recommend leaving your sweaters in the car! I was sweating even though I get cold easily. You get complimentary pita bread with pesto, which was yummy. So once we sat down our waiter, Mena was very helpful and passionate about the food. He helped us pick a beer and recommended pizzas and pastas. And he was right on point! We wanted to order a few items since it was our first time. So we ordered a large half and half of Fungi E Tartufi and Porco, and the spaghetti frutta de mara. And don’t forget the homemade pepper sauce, it pairs well with the pizza and pita bread!
Pizza: very unique and packed in flavor. Pizza crust is thin and fluffy! Pizza sauce is homemade as well.
Pasta: just wow!!! No words can explain… just get it I was lost for words!
I’m so excited to reheat my pizza been thinking of it all day hehe. I seriously believe this is the best pizza and pasta I’ve had in SoCal! Service and food are 5 stars! Just a tip. cash only and parking sucks!

YUM! I have been craving this place again ever since I came here a while back. We came here for dinner on a Saturday night and it was packed. Me and my boyfriend waited for like 20 mins to get a seat. We sadly got the loner table that’s located right when you walk inside. It’s right next to the kitchen and away from the other tables on the other side. It was quite awkward since everyone that came in the restaurant would first see our table while we sit and eat our food. It was the first available seat, so whatever’s.
Their portions here are HUGE! All the meals are forsure meant to be shared, which is why it’s prolly on the pricey side. So come with a big group and share a little bit of everything,
Let me tell you that this place probably has the BEST bread and sauce I’ve ever tasted. Their bread is thin, crispy, garlicky and drenched in this delicious green pesto sauce. They give you A LOT of it too, even for 2 people. It was seriously addicting.
I got their arugula salad that comes with raw mushrooms, corn, tomatoes, bacon and goat cheese with red wine vinaigrette. I asked for no tomatoes, no bacon and no goat cheese. They let me substitute the goat cheese with Parmesan though, so I really appreciated that. The salad was pretty good, no complaints here.
I also got the wild mushroom pasta which is fettuccine noodles with mushrooms, garlic, shallots, white wine, herbs, truffle oil with a cream sauce. It didn’t have a very strong truffle oil taste, which I was super sad about because I love truffle and I kinda wish they drenched it with the truffle taste. The flavors of this pasta were good though, and they gave me a gang of mushrooms.
My boyfriend got the sausage penne pasta which he said was average, not the best pasta he’s eaten.
I’m only giving this place 4 stars for the bread, that’s how good it is. I’m craving for some right now. We will definitely share the next time we come here that’s forsure. We felt so bloated and stuffed after finishing not even half of our meal.

Facinante restaurant la comida genial sobre todo la Rapides y el servicio tan amable es un lugar para comercelo gracias