Barolo Cafe

Carpaccio is thinly sliced raw beef topped with grana cheese, capers, and olive oil. It is the perfect marriage of the sweet raw beef, salty cheese, briny capers, and just a smidgen of lemon juice. You don’t need to eat all of the capers, just add some to your liking. Rating: ⁴⁄₅
Calamari Fritti is a very generous portion. It is very lightly breaded like tempura so the outside gets crispy but not golden brown. The calamari is so tender. The sauce has a robust kick and works really well with the calamari. Rating: 4.5÷5
Veal Marsala is thinly sliced veal in Marsala wine sauce with mushrooms. The veal is very tender and has a very light beef flavor. The Marsala has a luscious consistency and coats the meat and mushrooms just right. Mushrooms are fresh, spongy, and have an earthy flavor. The sautéed vegetables are a great accompaniment with bright, fresh-​picked flavor. Rating: ⁴⁄₅
Fettuccine con Scampi e Fungi is shrimp, mushrooms, and fettucine tossed in a tomato cream sauce. The sauce really makes this dish pop with just the right amount of seasoning to bring the shrimp, mushrooms, and fettucine together in a harmonious dance of flavors. The mushrooms add a rustic, earthy component. The shrimp are perfectly cooked and plump with a nice snap. It is a very healthy portion with enough to take home for another meal. Rating: 4.5÷5
Cannoli is handmade and filled to order. The cannoli shell is crispy and not too hard like a good cannoli should be. The creamy mascarpone cheese is not super sweet. The chocolate chips and the fresh fruit add a decadent layer of flavor — sweet chocolate and sweet, tart berries. Rating: ⁵⁄₅

Best Italian restaurant!!! The food is amazing the pasta is perfectly cooked, the sea food is fresh great variety of wines and also Italian beers. The customer service and cheff Giuseppe makes you feel like you are eating in a traditional Italian kitchen defenatly it’s a must evrytime I’m near the OC !!!

We just love this place! Matthew is always so pleasant and the food is spectacular!

I went here for the first time and the first thing u noticed in the restaurant was that it was very crowded. I ordered the calamari for my daughter and the linguine with calamari for myself. The dishes did not have a lot flavor at all so it tasted like bland pasta. The service was good but it’s a bit overpriced for the quality of the food. The service was good, but they did not give much information about the food. I would not recommend eating here.

good italian food and the serving size is so huge. i liked the place. it’s rustic and the servers are fantastic.

Just got takeout from here. Some things were really GREAT (chicken picatta, bruschetta), and some were horrible (caesar salad that came with a wayyyy-​too-​strong mustard dressing of all odd choices, and the side of dry, boring, uncooked rigatoni that came as a side with the chicken.) We had not eaten here in many years because the pasta used to be severely boring. This was the first time we tried it since then. Not sure if we will eat here again but if we do we will definitely avoid pastas and the caesar. :(((

Looking at the Unilocal reviews and pictures, I had to try it because of every one raving about the home made tiramisu, and authintic mom and pops Italian. But I’m sorry to say the pasta was flavor less. The seafood pasta with clams didn’t even have that nice clam juice flavor in the sauce…
The tiramisu was not homemade either… just tasted bought from somewhere.
I’m not of fan of places that serve cheap parmesan power on the table at a place that charges a high price.
Service was ok, very awkward.
I really wanted to like this place but did not live up to my expectations of authentic rustic italian.

Like always dinner was amazing. Egg & spinach soup, caesar salad and rigatoni with sausage all delicious. Service as great, only one complaint the dessert. We ordered the mango cheese cake, it was dry, gritty and tasted like sweet cardboard. Come to find out they do no make their own desserts. Then it made sense, how can you make such amazing food and yet suck with desserts. Go eat the food, stay away from the desserts.

Oh my goodness, this place is such a hidden gem. I found it while searching for an Italian restaurant on Unilocal and I am so glad that I did! I came with my boyfriend and we both loved our meals. He got just plain spaghetti and I got a shrimp, pesto, and olive oil pasta. We also each ordered a salad. Nothing special, but it was a nice way to start off our dinners :) I am excited to go back (once I end my

Came here for lunch the other day when it was raining cats and dogs. Never been here before but the place has good reviews. Ordered the lasagna, which tasted pretty authentic, entrée also comes with a small salad and bread. The place does not have a lot of tables but didn’t need a reservation for lunch since there were plenty of open tables. Not sure how this place is during dinner but it has a nice mom and pop feel to it. Worth a try if your in the area.

Had the Pescatore Linguini. Wow. It was a big tasty bowl of seafood. A LOT of seafood. Highly recommend. Service was very friendly and the focaccia bread tastes home made.

This place is amazing! When you walk in the tables are set up very nicely and there are paintings of Italian landscape on the walls to set the ambiance. It’s cozy and the staff are warm and friendly– happy to make suggestions. The restaurant quickly filled up and the chef came out to personally greet some patrons that were clearly regular faces– loved! They bring out bread and water to start you off and their oil/​balsamic bottles are beautiful and add such a nice touch! They have a nice selection of specials which my friend ordered from and I ordered the veal sorrento* (spelling). Salads came with our orders (use your salad fork!) and then a very generous dinner was served! The veal was immense but delicious! I got pasta with it and the sauce was a bot creamy and exquisite! My friend thorough enjoyed his tuna!
To drink I got the cava and my friend took a white wine suggestion that he really liked!
For dessert we spilt the chocolate truffle and it was delicious and the perfect way to top of the meal. Recommend!

Delicious. and Authentic. After a full day of fun at Discovery Cube OC our kids were starving and craving some Italian food. We went to this small family owned restaurant for the first time, and was so impressed. Being married into an Italian family, it is hard to come across Italian food in a restaurant that is as authentic as my husbands family — but this place has it.
The restaurant is small, and every table was full. The kids enjoyed watching the chef cook in the open kitchen at the bar while we waiting for our food. The service was fantastic, and the food far exceeded my expectations.
My husband (who is picky with Italian food in restaurants) loved the sauce. It was spot on. My kids loved the gnocchi so much that they asked if we could come back tomorrow for more.
The desserts. the desserts! We savored every bite of the handmade cannoli and tiramisu.
Overall — best Italian food in OC. I guarantee that it’ll become your new favorite place & the staff will send you home feeling like a part of their family.

This is your hole in the wall/​mom & pop Italian restaurant. Went there to celebrate a friend’s bday. Make sure to make reservation before you go since it’s crowded and small room. You can see one and only chef cooking your food and yelling at his waiters. The servers are friendly but very busy. The food was amazing. The free bread was so good we got more bread for 2^nd time. They give you free salad. Fried calamari and bruschetta was good. Pastas are home made!!!
Parking can be hard to find at night.

Today we enjoyed this great family owned restaurant. Amazing food and service! Even spotted the Anaheim Mighty Ducks there a few times now, which was pretty cool! We had delicious wine and every dish we’ve had there has been great. Worth the drive!

So if you are looking for authentic Italian food, the kind you would actually find in Italy, this place is the ultimate hidden secret. The chef, Giuseppe, is from Italy and cooks some of the most amazing dishes.
In addition to all the standard Italian fare, there are specials each week which are always unique and top-​notch. They make all of their own pasta on site an the sauces are authentic and delicious. Nothing from a jar here. You simply will not find any other restaurant with genuine, authentic Italian like this place.
There are also many, many regulars here who are from Italy itself and make special requests. For example, one of them went hunting for wild boar and brought some to the restaurant. Guess what the special was that week? It was great. There are many home-​style and gourmet dishes that you can’t find anywhere else.
Highly recommended. The food is great!

It’s amazing how some places in a plaza get overshadowed due to their location. This is place is definitely one of them. The place is located in the same plaza as Gen, so many people tend to go there. But I definitely recommend going here instead. The place is a bit cozy. We went here for lunch and there was plenty of seating. If you’re looking for a bigger party, you might want to call ahead and let them know so they can set it up for you. We were graciously welcomed by the chef’s wife and handed us the menu. The décor of this place was definitely Italian, and they had some nice looking bronze pans hanging next to the kitchen area. You’ll have to get through the kitchen area to get to the restroom.
The food here was amazing. The chef’s wife recommended I get this special, which included scallops, crab, shrimp, clams, oysters, and various types of fish. I figured why not? It was the best choice I made that day. There were so much seafood on my plate I thought they forgot to put the pasta! There were probably four different kinds of fish on there. Everything tasted fresh and sauce that was on there complimented the seafood. The portions of the seafood and the pasta were huge. I could not not finish my plate.
The service here was top notch. The food arrived fresh and the cook and his wife really made you feel like you were at home. They also gave us a complimentary piece of cake that was really soft and sweet. I really enjoyed my experience here and I recommend anyone that is in the area to try this place over Gen.