Ristorante Al Mare

After our original venue cancelled on us on a Wednesday, Oscar, manager at Ristorante Al Mare, was able to help us successfully book and hold a graduation party on Saturday. Himself and his staff were professional and organized, and they allowed us to have our 39 guests enjoy an entire section of the restaurant as well as the patio. We were also able to coordinate décor and were able to bring our own cake to serve as an addition to their delicious crème brûlée and gelato. The 4 course meal was delicious and every guest raved about the delicious appetizers and the 4 entrée options. The quality of the food was top notch and the vegetables and fruits used were incredibly fresh– you could taste it! The fact that we were able to coordinate this party for 39 guests only 3 days before the event is incredible. Oscar is extremely professional and accommodating and I am very happy with the result this past Saturday. Do not hesitate to contact Oscar for any reservations, you will
not regret it!

This is an amazing restaurant! The rooftop bar is absolutely wonderful, the server was excellent and our food was delicious! We had the octopus appetizer, it was so tender and good. We each had the The black ink pasta with seafood. The seafood was exceptionally fresh and very good. We go here every time we’re in Santa Monica.

Really fun rooftop bar… nice happy hour… the best part was our server Raymundo who was the best! So kind, helpful above and beyond. Would come back based on the service alone!

I can’t give zero stars… so 1 will have to do.
The food here looks good – but it sucks BIG TIME!
The food had no flavor at all! My husband ordered a chicken and pasta plate (sorry no picture), and sent it back because he said it was «horrible». You should know that my husband NEVER sends food back, even if it’s not that good.
Our server was terrible. The drinks would be empty before he would come to refill. One time he came to refill my daughters lemonade but didn’t refill my empty water glass.
I was very disappointed with my overall experience here.

I’ll start by saying that this is my moms favorite restaurant! Every time we are in Santa Monica we stop by and this place never disappoints. Beautiful views & delicious food & incredible service! What more can a person ask for? The lasagna & a pasta with a spicy twist is my family’s favorite! Can’t wait to come back! On rare occasions we drive from Palm Springs just to come have dinner here. It’s worth the drive!

Came here for Valentine’s Day with the BF and had an awesome time. We didn’t have any reservations. Totally winged it, and managed to score a window seat. This restaurant is right on the Pier. The seat has a great view for people watching and the sun setting of course. It was a pretty romantic spot. Food was surprisingly good. Their home made bread butter is divine. Great texture and flavor. We had some appetizer that had grilled octopus with some potatoes that had olives. Maybe he and I were both bias since we both don’t like olives, but we could have done without the potatoes on that appetizer. Entrée I had squid ink pasta fruitti di mare (shrimp, squid, clams, mussels) and the BF had some rigatoni with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. We both loved the squid ink pasta. He was not so into his entrée. Definitely will recommend this place for a date night.

We had a great time here last weekend. We got there in time for happy hour deals on wine, which was great.
Our calamari was delicious, and the bread rolls with pesto they brought us were awesome. I wanted to order the salmon, but they had run out.
However, I loved the halibut special I got instead, and my fiancé liked her sea bass lot, but didn’t love it.
The only real down side was that it took a LONG time to get our check back, like 20 minutes after the waiter had set it down.
Actually, to think about it, we didn’t see much of him all evening.

The rooftop bar is a hidden gem. Salvador is a great bartender and there are not too may! He’s attentive, proficient and charming. Food is fine. Love this place.

We stopped in here to get out of the sun this past weekend while walking around the Santa Monica pier. The staff is very friendly and attentive. While the place is on the nicer side they didn’t treat us any different walking in in shorts and t-​shirts. I just had a blueberry/​raspberry lemon drop and it was pretty good. But the wife ordered octopus and it was truly great. It wasn’t chewy or tough. They serve it on a bed of mashed potatoes with pesto and olives however. That to me was a little different, but it wasn’t bad. I’m just a mashed potatoes and gravy guy. I thought this place was really good and the other tables around us that were ordering entire meals all looked really amazing. Like we would go back here for dinner and make a special trip from San Diego like amazing.

Service from the beginning was bad. Never got our water refilled and the food was ok but over priced. Save your money.

If you are looking for some really good Italian food with a great view of the beach, go no futher! This place is AWESOME. My friend and I were wandering the Santa Monica pier trying to decide what to eat on our last day here before we head back home to Chicago. That being said, we Chicagoans know good Italian food! We wandered in around 1pm, and it was during a lull, so we got excellent seats on the rooftop over looking the beach.
Our hostess and server were very polite, and we had menus and drinks in our hands within 5 minutes. My friend ordered a bud light, but I went with the mango cocktail. If you like mango, this cocktail is a MUST. Trust me, you will not regret it.
For appetizers, we tried the bruchetta and the homemade butter. The brushetta had a bit to much tomato for my taste, but my friend loved it. The homemade butter (served with 3 pieces of grilled bread) was delicious. I absolutely recommend getting it if you are as into bread and butter as I am, and for the price, less than $ 2, it’s a great deal.
For our main courses, I had the spaghetti carbonara, which was delicious. My friend got the pasta tricolor, and could not stop raving about it. She finished it all within 10 minutes! During this time I also tried the raspberry cocktail, which tastes similar to a swedish fish candy, very delicious.
Needless to say, this place is great. Friendly staff, delicious food, and a great view. Go there if you have a hankering for some awesome Italian food!!!

Enjoyed dinner and a sunset here. The ambiance was beautiful as we had a rooftop view of the pier, beach and sunset. The food was average. The best food of the night was my daughters pepperoni pizza.
They offer a very affordable assortment of $ 5 wine. I had the Rose which was not too bad. The calamari was nice and would recommend ordering it. My husband had the Branzino. It was okay and said the fish could have been better. My meal was the cioppino. It was a bit on the fishy side for me especially the clams. I didn’t have tomatoes or scallops in my dish which was disappointing. I enjoyed the squid.

I base my stars on service, food and effort. This place gets 2 stars because nor the service or the food met my expectations. First off, the service is absolute crap. I was under the impression that is was going to be a fine dining experience due to the prices, but I was wrong. My sister was sceptical of this place because it was quite empty. The hostess told my husband that it was empty because of the Independent film event going on, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Food looks good, but looks can be deceiving.
The only item that was good was the carpaccio appetizer. All of our dishes were bland. It’s a rarity for me to add salt to my food and both my sister and I had to add salt. I ordered the lamb dish, my sister the Cioppini, my husband the house squid ink seafood pasta. I never complain about how much a plate costs, but in this case, my plate was not worth what I paid. My sisters was $ 28.00 and we felt ripped off. No flavours that stood out. I ordered the Crème Brûlée for dessert and it was by far the worse I’ve had. It was sticky instead of curdy and soft.
The waiters were terrible! They were slow and didn’t really come and check on us until towards the end. They didn’t even greet us. No manners, no etiquette.
Bottom line: overpriced bland food and unpleasant waiters. The only thing it has going on for itself is the roof top and the decent décor. They didn’t even have music playing! We were on the 2^nd floor.
Dear owner, have you noticed that your restaurant is not as full as the other ones on the strip? Yeah, these are the reasons. This place has potential because of its location, but someone needs to step it up a few notches.
Sincerely, an unhappy customer.

It was my boyfriend’s birthday and I wanted to take him to a place with a nice view, after looking up many places and reading Unilocal reviews I decided to come to Al Mare. We went on a Sunday 2÷21÷16, I had reservations at 5:00pm, but didn’t get there until 5:30 (OMG THE TRAFFIC IS INSANE WITH ALL THE CONSTRUCTION) I told the lady that I knew I was late, but if we could get a table with a view of the ocean that would be great and lucky us, there was a table with a perfect view.
We started of with the home-​made butter that everyone speaks of, loveddddddd it, it’s a must try. I got a pizza, Pesto e Prosciutto, which was really good! And my boyfriend got the lasagna which my boyfriend LOVED. We got there in time for the happy hour ($ 5 beers) I’m not a big fan of alcohol, but hey it was my boyfriend’s birthday so I order him a Budweiser, 10 minutes went by, we got our food, but no drink, I decided to cancel it, like I said, I’m not a big alcohol person and believe that people can enjoy themselves without having to have a drink. Well the waiter came and apologized to us and told us the drink was on the house, which was really nice of him. It’s also not that pricey, I was expecting a $ 80 bill or something and it wasn’t even $ 50. Great food and a great view for a great price? Count me in! We will be back!
PS: We parked at the mall which is kind of a walk away, but we ended up paying $ 1 instead of the $ 17 we would have been paying if we parked near the beach.

Good view of the Pacific Ocean. My opinion is that this restaurant has more potential. The host is pretty but not too enthusiastic or hospitable. The sign on the walls are handwritten for restrooms. A beautiful location but service is a 2 stars. The food is great! I order take out from here al the time and my food is always made to order and accommodating to my special requests. I have had my orders pocketed and never put in my distracted bartender or Host. If the food wasn’t good, I would not come here. That and it’s the only Italian restaurant on the pier. I think that the place is memorable but the service does not match the menu.

Sitting in the main dining room is OK. But sitting on their roof top is amazing. One of the best view of the mountains and ocean.
Food and service is average.
Very reasonably priced.
The place is on the Santa Monica pier.

Went as a group lunch for work requested table with view. When we got there we were the 1^st ones they took us upstairs and seated 90% of the group with our backs facing the stairway window and parking lot 2 had a slight ocean view.
Food was average nothing that wows you.

Only negative is that the waiter was not nearly attentive enough. We kept asking the busboy for things. The food kept the rating high.
We had the pleasure of dining here on Friday evening just after sunset. We made reservations online and we’re given rooftop seating. Spectacular views.
The bar made wonderful drinks with and without alcohol.
We had the homemade butter as an appetizer, amazing!
A couple of us ordered salads (huge portions) and four of us shared them with some to spare.
Then dinner arrived. OMG! While the lasagna looked like a small portion, it was good but wasn’t finished. One had pizza — again, huge portion, perhaps 16−18″; one had pasta with shrimp and loved it; the other two of us had chicken parmesan. Oh my was it divine although a bit odd to have it served on mashed potatoes.
We were all stuffed before dinner arrived and had our leftovers packaged to go.
On the way out, we realized, because of where we were staying and our schedule the next day, that we would not be able to eat the leftovers so we gave them to some homeless men who were ever so grateful to us. The food was still warm.

I was hesitant coming here because it was a restaurant at the pier — never had good experiences before but this place blew my expectations outta the water! The pasta dishes were cooked to perfection, seasoning was on point, and the prices are appropriate for the quality. I will come back for their squid ink pasta. Love that they dot skimp on the seafood.

Coming here was purely on circumstances. I was at LAX dropping off my girlfriend for her trip & instead of sitting in traffic for 80 minutes, her parents and I decided to enjoy a beautiful view and come to Ristorante Al Mare. Located on the Santa Monica Pier, this establishment is the first restaurant on the left side. It has a 3 tier outside seating & the third level holds a outdoor bar. of course, we headed up to the third level to enjoy happy hour drinks and a breathtaking view.
Since the place was known for small-​medium sized dishes, we decided to share the Caesar Salad, Capricciosa, and the Prosciutto e Rucola. We also had to try the homemade butter!
Our Drinks came really quick and the atmosphere was very calming, despite being on the Santa Monica Pier and all that foot traffic. The Caesar Salad or Insalata di Cesare was crafted well. The romaine lettuce had a nice snap with every bite that i enjoyed. The croutons were seasoned well. The salad is priced pretty steep. At $ 9, I was expecting a larger portion size, especially since the salad had no protein in it.
The Capricciosa pizza had a great thin baked dough that provided a nice crunch in every bite. The topping for me worked well, except the Artichokes. The weird thing was the ham slices were all located in the center of the pizza. They were poorly placed and most of the bites were left empty.
Prosciutto e Rucola had the same dough and sauce. It was very tasty & huge portions of Prosciutto were given. i would recommend slicing the Prosciutto into long pieces. The Prosciutto felt like a blanket on the pizza and created a mess when trying to separate each slice. The homemade butter was really good. whipped butter has always been my favorite and I love the addition of rock salt. It give a nice salty compliment to the butter on the english muffin bread they give.
I believe this place is a solid 4 out of 5. The food tasted around average in comparison to Italian restaurants with similar price points. the homemade butter was a game changer & a nice surprise. Wish I can buy a tub of that butter. I will come back and experiment with some of their other Pizzas.