Gusto Handcrafted Pasta And Pizza

Read the reviews and have to say amazing… Staff was amazing and the food was absolutely delicious and then next time we visit we will definitely be back. Food was hot fresh and came very quickly the only problem is I can not give it more stars.

Gusto has been in my bookmarks for quite some time. Sadly, we only get back to Pacific Grove about once a year to visit family and I had been searching for a pizza place to take my husband too since our last visit. My husband considers himself a pizza connoisseur and can be quite picky always looking for that perfect pie. While Gusto was not what he considered perfect, it was quite delicious and I would visit this restaurant again.
This visit three of us stopped in for lunch. My husband and I each ordered a glass of montepulciano to sip while perusing the menu. We knew we wanted to split a pizza, and finally decided on the Diavola — San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, caramelized onions, spicy Calabrese salami and roasted peppers. My husband loved the crispy, slightly chewy crust, but was not a huge fan of the sauce (he said too sweet). Mom and I loved the pizza. It was packed with flavor and fresh. I found it a great value for the price as the three of us were satisfied after sharing one pizza.
The restaurant itself is a good size — plenty of tables and a deli counter of sorts to the right as you walk in with all sorts of fresh meats and cheeses. The pasta menu looked interesting as well with at least a couple options I would love to try. Service was friendly. All in all a great visit to Gusto. Next time I need to come with a bigger appetite as I would love to try the mozzarella tasting as well.

Met the owner, super nice and cultured! Only complaint I have is the gluten free pizza. I have celiac disease and suffered eating their gluten free pizza. I probably should’ve specified that no wheat flour is to be contaminated with the rice flour pizza dough. Just a fair warning to others who can’t have regular pizza!

Value for the cost alone deserves 5 stars.
This is Italian style pizza, i.e. super thin crust. If that’s what you’re expecting, you’ll be thrilled.
I had the pizza divola which was delicious but the peppers tasted like they came from a jar. I picked them all off. The crust and the rest of the pizza toppings made up for it though.
The service is good and the employees are friendly. However, they don’t seem to be very knowledgable about the food or the wine. They were out of two of the bottles we asked for and since the waiter didn’t know about the shortage, our appetizer came before the wine. He had to run back and forth to find out if they had the bottles we were asking for.
Overall: I will be back.

I love their pizza. We went with 10 people. Everyone ordered a different pizza. I had the «four cheese pizza». The best one in my opinion.

Seaside, CA
Lunch Time — Pizza
Pizza Diavolo — Solid overall, nice outer crust and outer crust flavor. Super Thin pie and the toppings slid right off.
Flimsy/​Floppy as F. I literally rolled the slice before taking a bite.
Pizza Margherita: Same as above. In all fairness, still better than the most over rated Margherita in the World… Tony’s in North Beach, SF.
Service:
— Asked if wanted refills and how things were a couple times. Plus.
— When I asked if the pizza is supposed to be Floppy AF the server said No. Immediately said he could have the pizza redone but I ate Half by then… and said not to bother.
No other reference after that. Hey, at least comp the Coke and iced tea. Minus.
Ambiance:
— Hard to feel the Italian vibe with a modern diner type setting and Soul Music in the back ground.
Note:
Special Event on 2.14 Swapping out the out of place Soul Train, Soul Jams for Live Italian Style music… Can’t help to laugh, sorry. Re: The pic.

The food honestly was exactly what the reviews claimed it to be! The pasta is definitely hand made and taste amazing! My wife had the Short Rib Ravioli & I had the Canneloni Grataniti which was mixed perfectly! Flavors were rich and satisfying. we left very happy and full but not stuffed which shows alot for italian food now a days! Only reason for the 4 star is because the waiter was very «rushed» but the food is worth it!

How can one not be impressed when you walk in and there is freshly sliced pancetta and ham to go with a hot brick oven? This place is certainly among the best I have had in the county here. We started with a calamari which was decent but slightly over-​breaded and oily. I had the special of the night which was spaghetti cabonara served with a raw egg yolk. Surprisingly it looked great but was very mediocre and over powered by the cheese blend. All the other options however with fresh pasta was excellent from the seafood linguine, spinach fettuccine and the capricciosa pizza. Service was spot on and we were never lacking for anything. I will be back to sample other things for sure

Very fresh ingredients. Homemade pasta on front of your eyes. Pizza is also cooked right in front of you. You can taste the natural ingredients that are used. Its slightly more expensive than a typical pizza place but you get the quality food. Service is also excellent and attentive.

Excellent brick oven pizza! This is the pizza place in the Monterey area. Our daughter had basic no meat spaghetti and loved it! My wife had the four cheese pizza and I had the diavala pizza. All were excellent. We finished off with a Nutella pizza.

Got the meatball sandwich for lunch which also came with a cup of soup and it was really great. The sandwich could’ve had a bit more sauce because the bread can soak up a lot of it, but really great. Great place to stop by if you’re in the Carmel & Monterey area. Really nice and spacious.
My boyfriend got the pizza and it was great as well.

Making our way down south and doing some camping in Big Sur, we needed a place to stop and get gas and eat. We were doing a general food search while on the freeway and Gusto pizza came up. Figured it couldn’t hurt to try Gusto considering it was on top of the search, and rightly so.
This restaurant is nice and spacious. They have a pretty big selection on beer and wine and the food is top notch. The pizza’s were at the right price point that both my wife and I could get our own pizza’s (because, you know, sometimes our taste buds aren’t in sync). Both pizza’s turned out to be really good and filling. I can usually down a pizza whole, but I actually felt satisfied enough to leave a few slices for later.
Service was friendly and on top of drink service, couldn’t ask for more. Even the changeover from one server to the next seemed seamless.
edit: And to answer your question — First time in Big Basin was awesome! Would definitely go again (and stop here and the way there) ;)

The food here is fantastic. My girls shared a pizza that they loved and my husband and I shared the lamb ragu pappardelle and a chopped salad. Both were terrific but the pasta was the star — perfectly toothsome and delicious.
Why the bad star rating? Absurdly crappy (is that a word?) service. Enough to ruin our night. From my girls having to fish ice cubes out of their water to put in their can of Italian soda and then to me being snarked at when I asked for a glass of house red and being told rudely and embarrassingly that I have to choose from the by the glass menu. And not to be outdone of course that I had to eat my shared meal off of a tiny bread plate that happened to be laying around because our waiter was too busy and unobservant to bring out the proper plates for people sharing.
I’m all about extending grace to someone who is busy or has had a long day and still waiting table but this guy was a grade A asshole and should consider a different career.

Horrible food, worst pizza I’ve ever had. Wasn’t even a margarita pizza, hardly anything on it. Was cold, stinky cheese or basil whatever it was, tasted like vomit. Tasted like something from the frozen food isle.
I hate to give a 1 star since i haven’t eaten the whole menu and im sure it tastes like bliss to everyone else, but I’m a food lover and i trust my taste buds when something is not right and the pizza i had was just. Not. Right.
As far as service goes, it was ok. Nothing special. Again, i hate to be the debby downer but ugh i really did not enjoy this experience lol

Finally had the chance to try the pizzas… The dough (flour) used is obviously high quality. The bottom and crust bake beautifully in the brick oven leaving a slight bite. San Manzano tomatoes are amazing with ricotta cheese…
It’s all about high quality ingredients and not cutting too many corners… Gusto’s does it beautifully.

So we were on vacation in Monterey and found this spot thanks to Unilocal.We were staying at the Embassy Suites not too far and wanted to go out for dinner. When we got there our little boy was not having a good day so we had to do a to go order. I sat down at the bar and waited a little too long to even get a menu while my wife was dealing with our son who was melting down. I get they were busy but I had made eye contact quite a few times with the server before being asked if I needed anything.
Got the menu and looked it over and decided I was going with a Tirolese pizza and my wife was going to get the short rib raviolis. I noticed my pizza came out quite a bit before hers so my pizza was kind of just hanging out. No big deal though, we got the food back to the room and I will say both were very good. I can only imagine how good it would be at the restaurant. I had food envy over those short rib raviolis. They were fantastic. The pizza was nice and rich with the salty balance from the meat and the gorgonzola. It even made good as breakfast the next day.
Wish I could come back and give this place another shot, maybe next time in in Monterey I will pay another visit. If you live in the area and want that traditional style Italian food check this place out. It’s worth it, although it is a little pricey dont let that scare you away from trying it. CHEERS!!!

In a word – Inconsistent.
First, the good. The Fettuccine Mare e Monti was delicious, both my son and I agreed. The different types of mushrooms gave the dish a meatiness I do not tend to expect from seafood pastas. 4.5 stars. Our waiter, and a man I suspected was a manager were quite attentive.
Now, the not so good. My son and I ordered a garlic bread appetizer. The appetizer arrived AFTER the entrees, but the bread itself was very tasty and there was free table bread, so I’ll forgive it. What I cannot deal with was the Quattro Formaggi Pizza. This may be my bad for not playing close enough attention to what I was ordering because the Gorgonzola absolutely ruined this for me. But what was not my fault was how incredibly greasy and salty this combination of cheese made the pizza. The layers of grease are apparent in the picture, below. Neither my son nor I could swallow this combination, so we took off most of the cheese and concentrated on the crust, which was above average.
Ultimately, I’m torn on this place and I would probably come back to taste a different pizza (since at least part of the events of today were my fault), and to get a drink and dessert. The loss of 2 points is almost entirely attributable to that pizza, and this place is very close to my home. We shall see.

Nos hospedamos no Ramada próximo ao Gusto e foi no hotel que pegamos o panfleto do restaurante. Viemos sem indicação, movidos pela fome e foi uma ótima surpresa! O ambiente é ótimo, serviço de primeira e as pizzas são uma delícia! Massa fininha e uma pizza vem com 6 fatias. Recomendo!

I was ravenously hungry and pissed off when I arrived at Gusto, so take my review with a grain of salt. Many people seem to like this place, but my hunger basically had complete control of my mood that night.
I came to Seaside for dinner after I poked my head into almost every restaurant in Carmel, only to be told that they were «booked up until *ridiculous time.*» I thought I’d left all the waiting behind in San Francisco, but apparently not. It seemed like every elderly wine aficionado was out to party in the restaurants of Carmel that night.
Anyway, we called ahead to Gusto’s and put our names down for 7 (it was 6:30). When we got there at 7, the restaurant was completely full with people waiting for seats, but we were told we had priority over walk-​ins. The hostess was very businesslike and polite, but we ended up waiting 20 minutes before we got seated. I dislike being told that my table is almost ready and then having to wait another 10 minutes on top of that, watching other people get seated, and that’s exactly what happened here.
Once we were seated, our waiter brought us a basket of bread. The dip was pretty good, some mix of olive oil and spices. Our margherita pizza had three basil leaves, which was sad, but it tasted fine. I have to admit my short-​rib ravioli was really good; the sauce was creamy and exactly what I was looking for. My boyfriend’s lasagna was tiny. It was a cube sitting in one of those wide, fancy plates that makes already small portions look smaller. Also good, but I didn’t detect anything particularly special from it.
Our waiter checked on us every couple minutes, but he failed to refill our water a couple times, which is honestly the only thing I need from a server. He tried, but the business of the restaurant probably distracted him. A good dinner with decent prices that are nowhere as outrageous as the ones in Carmel.

My husband, mother and I came to this place for a lunch break in between a morning and afternoon of errands and shopping. We were all excited to try it because of the super reviews. I honestly wasn’t super impressed.
I got the meatball sandwich, but after a few bites sent it back because of how salty it was. I can handle salt, but there seemed to be a mistake in the recipe that day. My mom, who salts everything even said it was too much! I sent it back and the manager and waiter both actually tried some of it – and then the manager came over to say that they were looking at the recipe again in the kitchen. I had a side salad that came with it – which was actually a pretty big serving size!
My husband ordered the pizza – he loved it, but it was too spicy for me! My mom ordered a hamburger sandwich – and she loved it! I tried a few bites and it was pretty good!
The service was great! The wait staff were friendly and positive. I’m not sure I have plans on visiting anytime soon, probably because a lunch meal seemed a little on the pricey side.
I can only comment on the pizza, salad, burger and salty meatball sandwich – they were good-​but not that good to make me crave it again soon!

Calamari had a good crispy exterior and seasoned well
Pizza was a little one note due to everything being quite salty, the exterior crust was good but towards the middle it was rather limp
The smoked salmon spinach fettuccine was simply too salty! Didn’t care for the dried out pieces of salmon
Tiramisu was light and refreshing but not anything to write home about
Overall Thoughts
The food could have used a few tweaks but was still edible and not a deal breaker but nothing that I had enticed me for a return visit. I rather go back to Basil, owned by the same person as Gusto