Beautiful restaurant, authentic sardines, wonderful food! They gave us a sample of salted or lemon sardines and we ordered the lemon. We were in the mood for light, so we just ordered spaghetti which was good. The simple salad seemed unbelievably fresh. Topped off with the strudel Della nonna (apple, raisin), super good!! read more

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Tourist trap. Food was average or less. Seafood was gritty, clams especially so. Ragu was probably from a jar. Service was slow. Ambiance is always nice, but that's the same as anywhere else in Old Town. The owner must've changed hands because this is nothing like it was before. It's a shame to see a once family-favorite turn into this. Skip it and head to any other restaurant in Monterosso instead. read more

Great local restaurant in MonteRosso Cinque Terre. Food was fabulous. Great spot to people watch and delicious local wine! read more

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Disgusting. The pesto was bitter and disgusting. The ragu tasted like it came from a jar. We waited 10 minutes for a table and the staff were so rude. What a waste of money. Save your time and find anywhere else to eat. read more

While I enjoyed my mixed seafood antipasto, the overall experience wasn't great. First, the seafood platter was really mixed in what was good and what was not. There were clearly salads that were better than others. I liked the crudo portion the best. I also read the reviews and thought the service was fine, but we got to experience the wrath of one of our servers who had misheard the order and brought the mixed seafood when we had ordered linguine con vongole. She was PISSSSSED when corrected and kept telling my friend that she ordered wrong. Which couldn't be the case b/c my friend pretty much orders the same thing all the time so that's hard to believe. All the other places we ate were good - Belvedere, Il Moretto, etc., so this was quite the let down. The average 3 star rating of the place is pretty accurate. read more

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Please don't waste your hard earned money at this restaurant. So many better options to choose from. The food was not horrible, but I could probably re-create the dish with Rice-A-Roni and a couple of shrimp. The service was terrible and everybody that worked there seemed grumpy. Bummed that I had to spend a couple of valuable vacation hours there. read more

I just got back from Italy last night and thought I'd write this review while it's still fresh in my short term memory. We were 18 in our group who happened to chance upon this restaurant while lolly gagging at the end of the line from our Cinque Terre ferry ride at around 2 pm. The mentioned short haired lady non-chalantly gave us a welcome look and seated us. She reminded me of the nuns in my Catholic school days. They had to modify the table arrangement to seat us all and I also helped her pull the stacked metal chairs which she appreciatively acknowledged. We ordered spaghetti a la marinara, pulpo con patata, fried seafood combo to name a few. The spaghetti was served in a humongous hot pot and when the waitress plated it, she was about to take the pot away when I noticed all that wonder goodness at the bottom. I quickly asked for the baskets of bread, mopped that sauce and passed it to everyone's palate delight. That was followed by a resounding, "I've had so many spaghetti marinara and that one topped it all." The rest is history. The other dishes are equally good as well and the staff was very attentive to all our needs. The tiramisu was a curtain closer and also definitely another one to remember. To all those who didn't find the place as exciting as we did, perhaps give it another chance. Remember, when in Italy, do as what Italians do, chill. As Lydia Bastianich says, "Tutti a tabula a mangiare!" Pace! read more

We chose this due to a recommendation from a few people. We were looking for a great selection of some local seafood with a simple but large selection. Al Pozzo delivers and served us some of the best seafood of our trip. We were able to sample many items, Crawfish, Shrimp, Squid, Calamari, Sea Bass, etc etc. Every single thing was amazing. Super fresh and very tasty. The service was spot on. If you have time stop in here. We had a wonderful leisurely lunch. With drinks a few spread out appetizers and then a table side prep and serving of the catch of the day. We spent almost two hours feasting on some of my favorite sea food in Italy read more

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Best experience ever. The pesto and anchovies and everything was perfect. They feed us family style and it was awesome

Creative, elegant fishes with full spectrum of flavour and complexity. A great meal with superb service

Great great, when we come back to Rome it is we're we will eat. Everything was great and couldn't fine one thing to change. People watching was great, serving and helping us to go through the menu we are both gluten free so more questions read more

My girlfriend and I had a wonderful meal at al Pozzo. I can't say it was my favorite of the trip, but the restaurant is very charming, the staff was friendly and the food was good. They have a lot of seafood options at al Pozzo and they offer a number of seafood pasta or risotto dishes that serve 2 (and come out in big, steaming cauldrons). We started with a salad and then split a seafood pasta that had a very rich tomato sauce--almost a broth. It was good, although some of the seafood critters kind of creep me out (ie: the whole prawn with legs, tail, antennae and all). We also shared a delicious filet of swordfish. Al Pozzo's is obviously popular with the locals, it's not a tourist trap and the quality was excellent. It wasn't entirely to my taste though and I felt like it was a little expensive--but it's a solid dining option if you're staying in Monterosso al Mare and I would recommend it. Side note: we saw an amusing ad in the train station (see photo) which offers free tastings but the unfortunate English translation on the sign advertises "taste free" food. read more

Al Pozzo - Note: "taste free" food! ;) (really a free tasting) - Seafood Near Me - Monterosso al Mare, SP

The seafood is good if you like seafood that's straight from the ocean. My sister could quite handle the eyes on her shrimp... I ordered the traditional pasta of the region, trofie with pesto, but I didn't like it at all. Perhaps I just don't like the taste of trofie but it was a weird flavor combined with the pesto. The best part for me was their caprese salad which had fresh tomatoes and great mozzarella. My sister also got the boiled vegetables which was spinach that didn't look very appetizing. I'd try elsewhere while in Cinque Terre. read more

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As part of our Cinque Terre tour we ended up in Monterosso, which is where the guide let us go to find lunch. After a bit of looking around, we settled on this place. Service slow. Both ordering and receiving. The salad ordinary. Not bad, but not really good either. The Bolognese pretty good. I liked it. I probably would go with 3.5 stars, buy I can't give that on Yelp and it was better than 3 stars. I noticed our guide ate here too. :-) read more

I have spent the past 8 months scouring Yelp to find the name of this place! Did an extensive scroll through on TripAdvisor today and finally found it. Looking forward to writing this review, as this was some of the best pasta and seafood I've had in my life. The squid ink pasta with shrimp was absolutely out of this world! I've been dreaming about this meal ever since. The noodles were perfectly al dente, and the lemon garlic sauce that covered the dish was so flavorful. The shrimp was the freshest that I've had. And the grilled tomatoes! Amazing! Altogether, it was the most delicious pasta dish and one that I'll be thinking about for years to come. Our server was warm and attentive and recommended us a great white wine that paired well with the food. Overall, a wonderful dinner to end a beautiful weekend in Cinque Terre. read more

Al Pozzo - Squid ink pasta with shrimp was absolutely incredible. - Seafood Near Me - Monterosso al Mare, SP

Nope. Don't even think about it. I was warned by another American who left after about 45 minutes waiting to be seated. But I figured he was exaggerating, He was not. After asking what appeared to be a host for a table, he told me I have to ask for a table from the manager at the desk inside, which I did. The old woman who apparently runs the place told me "un momento". 5 minutes later, I was told "un momento" again. This happened again and again. She kept running back and forth to several obviously open tables, issuing orders, and kept saying "un momento". After about a half hour of momentos, we were finally seated. There we sat for another half hour without even being acknowledged by any waiter or busboy. We got up in anger and left, and I'm not even sure they noticed until quite a few momentos. The final word - the manager is apparently a control freak and completely ineffective. Avoid this place. read more

Second time eating here this week. Anchovies in lemon great, muscles great, gnocchi with pesto great, and seafood risotto! Service is great in beginning, but difficult to get it after you've eaten. Both times have left us sitting for over 20 min waiting to get the check or coffee and dessert. So only 4 stars read more

Al Pozzo - Seafood Risotto - Seafood Near Me - Monterosso al Mare, SP

Nice cozy place with very attentive service. My children enjoyed their pasta and gelato. Expect above average prices. But daughter said give it 5 stars so here I am. :) read more

The only unimpressive meal I've had in Cinque Terre. Expensive, mediocre food and bad service.

We came during the end of low season so we visited each town by train instead of the hiking trail. We found this place with the Rick Steve's book and loved it. We shared a salad to start and then had the fried seafood platter and the pesto gnocchi since this region is the birthplace of pesto and they are by the sea for fresh seafood. The fried dish was prepared with a light better, wasn't too oily, used clean oil so the color was light and not dark, and was very good. Being Americans, we wanted a side of tomato sauce for dipping like back home but no dice. It was still good. The gnocchi was also very good. They made it from scratch and they were like light, fluffy pillows and very filling too. We really enjoyed this place for lunch and always like places where other Italians eat at, too. read more

Al Pozzo - Seafood Near Me - Monterosso al Mare, SP

If you understand the language you will understand how little respect they have towards visitors who come to their restaurant. They should be more careful with their assumptions. We left so cannot comment on their food. read more

We had dinner here our second night in Monterosso al Mare. While the food was good, it was almost twice as much as our dinner the night before at Belvedere which we thought was much better. read more

Don't waste your time, chef boyardee makes a better pasta. Very disappointed with the food and the service in general

We tried the seafood antipasti and it was enormous -- it was good (not great, esp. for the price), though glad we had the chance to try different things. We also ordered the meat plate appetizer and it was huge and the prosciutto was so tasty. Between the two, it was more than enough food to get us full, but we weren't expecting such big portions (compared to other restaurants). But we had already ordered the pasta with pesto sauce and it was so good that we engorged ourselves. I'm not normally a pesto-lover but we thought we'd try it because it's so well known in the area, but I would eat it regularly if I could at Ristorante al Pozzo. read more

I really don't know how this place get such good reviews ..the service was great ..but the food was terrible ..very sloppy ..was also over priced Isn't worth it at all.save your money this place is trash don't get me started on the bathrooms yuck . read more

I feel very unfortunate to have sat down in this restaurant. My favorite dish spaghetti alle vongole was completely unrecognizable. I ate what was put in front of me, but I would never go back. The bread was also from yesterday. read more

Disgraceful restaurant promised wifi after sitting us Inside and producing expensive items mostly had minim of 2 to order items Given water and then found unable to connect to wi fi as we did not have Italian phone no. !!!!! We decided to leave but was basically accosted by the older female ??owner demanding we pay for our glass of water and started talking about us in in Italian which we were able to understand. Do yourselves a favour and go to one of the many other lovely restaurants in Monterosso! read more

Seafood antipasto was very good but only had one anchovie when we were told there would be enough for two to sample. We were trying to decide if we wanted the anchovies appetizer instead. Other dishes and wine were good but high for the price. Very crowded. read more

Ordinary. Stay away. Wine list good. Service friendly and informative. No effort in the kitchen. Plain. Swordfish "steak" was the thinnest I have ever seen. read more

This place was great. On our 13 day Italian trip no other restaurant served a better mixed seafood antipasto; it was huge, offering mostly cold delicacies, and a few fried pieces. I had it as a meal and I couldn't finish it. Yum! My husband had fresh, grilled fish, and we split the prociutto and melone, which was outstanding! Great service too. Crowded because it's so, so good. read more

My family and I ate here on our first night in Monterosso, and we found it to be fabulous. There weren't any open tables, so they put another one in the street and made room for us. The service was slow, as is to be expected at an Italian eatery in a crowded vacation hotspot. The mixed seafood salad, with octopus and clams, was fantastic. They served the bread with a very good quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The pesto is very flavorful, not too delicate, and just the right amount for the pasta. We ordered one of the "for 2 people " dishes, the spaghetti with lobster sauce. This isn't just a sauce made from lobster and poured over the pasta, it's a large steaming pot of lobster stew, with large chunks of the lobster (with shell), with garlic and tomatoes and with perfectly cooked spaghetti. It was wonderful and more than enough for 2 people. They served a nice red wine with the meal, from a local Cinque Terra vineyard. It isn't cheap, for sure, so be prepared for a larger than average bill, but the food is great. read more