Siena Cucina Italiana

The kitchen staff are all locals and like a family and everything is craft made from scratch by Chef!– the waiting staff are cut low for winter so they do their best to accommodate any size parties with what they have– but are very friendly and they always hire great ones come summer. The terrace has a beautiful view and the courtyard below is so relaxing. The weekends have The Nomads band play live, it’s some great classic rock and ska music. They are so much fun. They have a new server manager brought on for the summer so I’m looking forward to seeing some fresh faces :)

I am writing this review not based so much on the food but more so the service
We were seated promptly however we were told we couldn’t sit where we were originally seated, that’s fine… Next it’s windy out and we asked if they could light the patio heaters they say yes; here comes the party of 10 who are seated treated by management and given both patio heaters
We sit and wait patiently for someone to notice our lips are turning blue. Management walks past our table of five ignores me trying to get her attention and spends a quality amount of time making sure the «table» is happy. At this point I’ve already asked the server for shawls for my table and he has to ask the manager
As she approaches I point out that we did originally ask for the gas heaters to be lit but they were moved and placed next to the «party» she responds with well they’re having a party and yeah well and walks away.
WOW !!! I’ve been treated poorly before but this is outrageous I will be showing my love in this review and posting it while we still sit here shivering

The waiter was awesome he was well aware of the menu and really made sure to make us happy. Especially for our first visit. We had a surf and turf and with mash potatoes and veggies. Soooo good.

I was turned off by how completely EMPTY the restaurant was and I was very discouraged to try this place out because of their low Unilocal ratings. But, my friend and I were starving and craving some pasta so we decided to give it a try.
First off, I would like to acknowledge the common Unilocal complaints… that service is slow. Yes, this complaint is valid! There is only one worker that seems to be running the entire restaurant, they claim it is their ‘off-​season’ so that’s probably why they only have one worker serving. Anyways, service was indeed slow and the waitress definitely did not have great customer service skills. She was not bubbly or friendly at all which made the experience a lot less enjoyable.
Complimentary bread and butter, with oils on the table for you to mix. The bread was very soft. I am a bread fanatic so you can’t go wrong with me there haha. We got the fried calamari for appetizer and it was AMAZING. Perfectly battered with a nice side of marinara sauce. I ordered the linguine de mar frutte (?) I have such a horrible time remember the exact name, normally this comes with a red sauce but they had an option for a white wine sauce of which she highly recommended so I followed suit. Basically it is linguine pasta with seafood. My friend got the veal tortellini. Okay, let me back track a little, the restaurant is HUGE it spans across the entire inn. And there was only one other table occupied. Okay now back to the food. The food took what felt like centuries to come out and when it did I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted good. I like how they put the cheese to the side because I don’t generally eat cheesy or creamy stuff. I was disappointed in the lack of seafood. Only 2 shrimps and a couple of clam and calamari pieces. The veal tortellini was good… can’t really tell it is veal. Tasted like a regular ravioli but overall, decent food. She took our credit card and said that she will meet us downstairs in the lobby to pick up the card and sign the receipt. Uhhhh. really?! It should not be too hard for you to bring back the card and receipt directly to our table. We saw 2 ladies get seated and 10−15min passed by and they never got served or got their glasses of water and they just got up and left. I guess us hanging out at our seat talking was a good sign that we weren’t done with our meal so she brought our receipt to our table and we notified her that 2 customers left. She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and said ‘yea. they said they didn’t have the time to wait’ that doesn’t seem like good customer service to me given that the restaurant was NOT busy at all.
The restaurant promises a nice view of the beach if you are seated on the bridge. Honestly, the view is just okay. hahah nothing spectacular.

The place was empty as soon as I walked in. The service was awkward and interactions were forced. The waitress who I believe was also the owner provided the worst service ever and laughed about the flies attacking our food. Worst dining experience ever!

The crab cakes were fantastic! We also had a delicious Caesar salad and fried calamari was so good, dipping sauce was a little different than I’m used to but still a great meal.

Worst place ever there is only one waiter working for the whole patio area apparently she was new and the bar has one bar tender kitchen has a one chef basically this place was very short handed we had to wait 40 minutes for our drinks our food came separately long story short dnt waist your money on this place

If you are not a local don’t go. The same old bartender has been at this place for years. The food is ok along with the drinks. Its just the service is poor if she does not recognize you as a local or she might be busy talking to her friends. Needs to pay attention to her customers, we are locals.

Pros: view is amazing, service is fast and friendly, and order bruschetta.
Cons: entrees (pizza/​pasta) were average.

Worst experience I’ve ever stumbled upon. If anyone wants BAD SERVICE then go here; if NOT, I commend that you go elsewhere! If I can rate this place below 1 star, I would absolutely do so in a heart beat!
My friends & I decided to do something different for my birthday so we all booked a painting event located in NewPort Beach thinking service was going to be good etc., but it turned out to be the worst experience ever! There was only 1 waitress for a bunch of people. It took us forever to get the waitress and when we did, she screwed up our orders & overcharged us on our bill. We confronted her by trying to resolve the issue, but she ignored us because she knew she was at fault! Going back & forth trying to get things straightened out we stood there like idiots thinking she’ll be back with the right bill but NO that was not the case… our bill turned out to be more than the first bill. She had her straight face on & even said she gave us a 10% discount when in fact it was a bunch of baloney!!! She even had the nerves to lie to us stating the bar tender was the manager! At that point, we all just had about enough of the bull crap and walked out of there upset, disappointed, and irritated with the serviced they provided! No wonder there rating is horrible!
Never again, will I go to this place… the ignorance of the waitress was beyond my expectation! She could’ve apologize and made us feel as though she was taking care of the situation but nope, she gave us the cold shoulder!

Once of the worst places I’ve ever been to, the service was horrible. If I had an option, I would give this place zero star.
We were there to celebrate our friend’s birthday. We ordered a few rounds of VSOP instead of serving VSOP they gave us something else and charged us for XO shots without notifying us the difference in the prices. Instead of owning up to their mistakes and correcting the bill the rude ass waitress just walked away. We waited for over hour trying to resolve the issue and management refused to get involved. I can’t believe the type of service we received in Newport Beach. Don’t eat or drink here!

A little gem in Newport Beach. I found an upstairs dining area with spectacular sunset views. The food was incredible and our server was outstanding. So, if you’re walking by Balboa Pier, look up to find one of the best places to dine in Newport Beach.

We just had a great dinner at Siena. Food was delicious service was great. We will definitely be going back.

There is nothing to say new that Unilocalers have not said already. Service was extremely slow. We waited 40 minutes before being greeted. Another 20 minutes before drinks and orders were taken.
Food was cold. When we asked for a manager to speak about the service, we were given the run around. We were instead given a business card.
The only time the service was somewhat quick was to hand us a check and take my card.
Avoid this place. You’re better off at the BJs across the street. Or better yet, better off catching your own seafood and cooking it. That would probably be faster than the service here.

This is a review solely of their cappuccinos and espressos.
The coffee is expensive but BOY is it good!
$ 5 for a cappuccino, $ 4 for a single shot of espresso. All in all, we were out the door for a little under $ 30 for 3 espressos and 2 cappuccinos… But the quality of the coffee is great; reminded us of Italy.

This is cool little place. We opted for ocean view dining up top. It was not totally ocean view. It was obstructed by trees and the building itself. But it had a nice ocean breeze.
I chose the gnocchi with meat sauce dish and my husband had the Vitello Tortellini. Both dishes were amazing!
Service was good, but not the best. Our waitress was prompt and attentive, but really quiet. It could be taken the wrong way to other people.
Our total bill was $ 50, and not even a mint? It was delicious but not worth the price. I don’t regret eating here, but probably will never choose to come back.

They claim to be open until 10 PM most nights but when you arrive you will discover they closed at 8:30, 9 or 9:30. It’s hit and miss with this place.

I must agree with the majority of Unilocalers that the service rates a poor, although the food is acceptable, despite the cold mashed potatoes accompanying my chicken picatta and seasonal veggies ($ 18). Rather than sending the plate back to the kitchen, I asked for a new, separate dish of potatoes that did arrive much warmer; however, the server delivered them after I had consumed all but 2 bites of the remainder of my meal. My friend ordered cheese ravioli ($ 16), and we split a Caesar salad ($ 11); both tasted okay.
So what constituted poor service? When we arrived, we had trouble finding the restaurant. The inside bar, located downstairs, offers only 2 small tables in the corner. The main seating area is upstairs on a patio in the middle of the Balboa Inn hotel. When we arrived, no one greeted us. In fact, we stood around for almost 5 minutes until a server came up the stairs and instructed us to sit anywhere we wanted. We had plenty of choices since only one other couple dined. We requested water and it came nearly 10 minutes later. When a few other patrons arrived, two additional servers appeared on the patio. They walked up and down the stairs returning with a glass or a plate or two of food or nothing at all. It all seemed quite disorganized.
Our server brought us a Caesar salad to share but only one plate, so we requested a second plate. We waited probably 5 more minutes until we finally asked another server if she would bring us one. She returned with a small bread plate. And on it went…
When the check arrived, the restaurant had discounted our bill 10 percent for the cold, mashed potato mess. And when we handed him the 10-​percent-​off coupon the hotel had offered us as guests, he said it would be too confusing to honor that since he had already prepared the bill.
Coupled with a rather poor experience at the adjoining Balboa Inn, the entire experience was less than acceptable.

Oh boy where do I start? Worst service! Where is it OK to cut a birthday cake before it comes out and before we sing happy birthday! Then comes the manager. blaming everyone else. Food took 2.5 hours. water was not refilled. Terrible terrible

Nice view, nice service, nice wines. Prices high as you would expect for an upscale place in Newport Beach. But then we just stopped in for the view and a couple glasses of wine.
So my experience in a word… nice.
The owner/​manager was a little odd when we requested a table for drinks. It was around 9 and there were plenty of empty tables but he declined at first saying they weren’t serving, then when a hostess offered to seat us he demurred. Are you in business to make money?