Okayyyy this place made SUCH a good first impression. They started us off with warm fresh bread and butter and honestly... that already had me sold. Nothing hits harder than fresh bread at the table. We ordered the calamari and it was chef's kiss. Super crispy, perfectly seasoned, not greasy at all, and the marinara tasted so fresh and homemade. Like the kind of appetizer you accidentally keep eating even when you swear you're saving room for your entrée. The Caesar salad was also so good -- perfectly dressed, fresh, crunchy, and balanced without being overly heavy. For my main, I got the Penne alla Vodka with added chicken and WOW. The sauce was rich, creamy, flavorful, and had that perfect comforting pasta energy. The chicken was juicy, the pasta was cooked perfectly, and every bite just hit. You know a pasta dish is good when the whole table goes silent for a minute. Everything tasted high quality and made with care, which honestly makes such a difference. Definitely one of those spots where you immediately start planning what you're ordering next time before you even leave. Can't wait to come back and try the rest of the menu because if this was the first impression... I already know there are more hits waiting. read more

Cara Mia - Bar area - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

This half Italian can run rather brutal in Italian restaurant reviews. This is because my recently late Momma could humiliate almost every Italian restaurant in the Inland Empire. So I adjust out of fair play. This restaurant violated one of my strict restaurant rules, that applies to all cuisines: if you walk in and don't smell any food of any kind -- if the place smells like nothing -- turn and walk out immediately. But since YELP insisted this was a go, I stayed. TIP TO THE OWNER: if I were you, just before you open each night, I'd roast some garlic and hide it in the dining room -- maybe with a small fan on it. I'm not kidding. Okay, we were greeted by Sinatra in the air and Veronica, who gave us a gracious 'Italian' welcome. This is as much a part of the experience as anything. I've recently been to a new Italian spot that flubbed this. We were nudged towards risotto balls, which I'll be honest I've never managed to try but yum they both were. As was the marinara served with them, which is more of a delicate art than people understand. Some rolls came out and they were freshly made and delightful. They weren't doused in salt and so they needed that dash of provided soft whipped butter. So good I had one more roll than I wanted. Veronica made an excellent wine recommendation and off we were awaiting our entrees. We got there at opening and so we were seated in the bar/dining side. Ambiance was pretty okay but needed tweaking. I know tablecloths can scare off budget customers, but the room needed some warmth and that would have helped. Also bright setting sunlight was pouring in and I'd recommend lovely blinds for such occasions. The door at the bar leading into the back needs some paint. My vegetarian partner in crime got the eggplant parmesan, something both the menu and Veronica particularly recommended as a house specialty. It was good, but to this half Italian, not as special as it needs to be. Proper Egg Parm must absolutely melt in your mouth. If you must chew the eggplant at all, it's 'chewy' and not authentic. Look on YouTube, find an Italian -- do what you can to fix this. Trust me. My Chicken Piccata was good too, but not great. It was off somehow. To my tastebuds it wasn't creamy. If the owners PM me, I can tell you of two places within 40s minutes that do this plate properly. I enjoyed it, finished it, but I wouldn't order it again. Each of our plates came with two carrots, two pieces of broccoli, and two wedges of roasted potato. We could have had pasta but went with these sides. THEY WERE SHOCKINGLY GOOD. Not over cooked, not over seasoned, just perfect. It's an extremely odd experience to have a great wine, great appetizer, great bread, great sides -- but merely good entrees. This ate a star, sorry. We will return and try two other entrees. If they too disappoint, we likely won't return. But understand we want you to be great, because I strolled into Brio later and it was noisy cringe. read more

The food and service was great once again. My husband and I like to sit in the bar area to listen to the live music while enjoying our meal. Today we both got a cocktail me an espresso martini & he got a Gold Rush both were good. For appetizers we got the burrata bruschetta which is always amazing (sorry no pic we devoured them) we also tried the special bacon wrapped dates. These were good served with arugula & blue cheese, I think would be a little better if the dates were stuffed with the cheese. For dinner my husband got his usual the lobster ravioli. This dish is amazing the raviolis are cooked perfectly with the right amount of lobster in them and the shrimp that's also served with the ravioli are cooked perfectly also. I ordered the tortellini genovese this was very good just the right amount of sauce and the pasta cooked perfectly. read more

Cara Mia - Lobster Ravioli - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

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Tried this restaurant in Hopes for decent Italian. The lavender martini is made with cheap vodka. When we explained to the hostess that it was not very sweet and lacking the smooth texture a martini should have said it was no problem and that she would take it off the bill. We asked if we could just substitute it with a lavender lemonade. She said no problem. The bill arrived and we were still charged $16 for a cheap and nasty martini on top of being charged for the additional lemonade. The chicken Parmesan was a dry fried slab of chicken smothered in Marinara sauce and cheese. No flavor with a poor attempt to make it taste decent by overwhelming it with cheese. The potatoes and vegetables were also bland and flavorless. I do NOT recommend this restaurant. read more

Cara Mia - Salty not very flavorful Lasagna. - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

Terrible food! Stay away from this place if you want authentic Italian food. Also, ordered a Lavender Martini worst Martini I've had. I am not sure what type of liquor the used. Tasted like cheap tequila. AND to top it off I was charged for it. STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!! read more

Ambiance galore on a Sunday!!! Singer Performer / beautiful music - fantastic food - most wonderful service and server / customer collaboration. Truly a great authentic Italian cuisine place. Thanks you for the wonderful evening !!!!! read more

Parking: Plenty available (spots also available around / to the side of the building) Ambience: Great dressed-up date night vibes--live music with dim lighting and candles. Service: Standard, could pick up dirty dishes more quickly, but overall good and no complaints! Taste: Got the burrata bruschetta--tad bit too much balsamic glaze for my preference, but overall delicious combination of flavors! Cara mia pizza was lovely and had such a creamy, rich flavor. Fettucine alfredo was unremarkable, didn't taste like much. Tiramisu was decent! read more

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If I could give it negative stars I would. Service is poor unless you order wine. Patrons are allowed to let children scream and bang things and run around disrupting others' dining experience. The pizza is a joke. The staff is not clean and uses bare hands to run through their long dirty hair and then serve food. Used to be a good restaurant. What happened? We were so embarrassed for bringing out of town guests here. We will never go back! read more

My new favorite place! The food was great and the staff was even better! They were able to accommodate a last minute party of 11 for a birthday and Esther our waitress and other staff members really made the day great. The cocktails were delicious and food was amazing. Everything was also very reasonably priced. A cute spot for a date night as well. Can't wait to go back. read more

Cara Mia - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

Another great meal. Sorry I ate before taking the pic. But the stomach wants what the stomach wants. When your stomach brain takes over your Yelp brain. Try the special. Amazing. read more

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The family decided to get together for dinner. Our original plan was to go to a buffet, however due to the long lines to get in, we opted for something local. In this we discover Cara Mia; and Italian restaurant. With five and a half empty stomachs we decided to check out this spot; and we are glad we did. We were greeted and seated immediately upon our arrival. The staff was very friendly, attentive and made us feel like part of their family. From the food to the drinks and even the live music, we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Can't wait to check this spot out again soon. read more

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For delicious food and great drinks head here. The service was excellent and since we were there on a Saturday night they had live music in the lounge where we ate. Even my daughter, who doesn't like loud music, truly enjoyed her experience here. My husband had the steak, my daughter has spaghetti and meatballs and a had a pasta with pesto and veggies. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals. The Italian Margarita was quite tasty and the panna cotta was delicious. Head here and you won't be disappointed. Unfortunately we ate to quickly and forgot to take pictures. read more

Customer service and ambiance is great. They are very pricey & to be honest the flavor is not equivalent to the cost. I've tried their food twice and I'm not impressed enough to go back. read more

Cara Mia - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

Went there on a Thursday night, Happy Hour 4-7 three dollars off alcohol and appetizers. Ordered the Cioppino, it came with pasta and was Excellent. Huge portion and had large scallops which were not even listed. Ordered bacon wrapped dates and lentil soup which were good also. Service was good. Would highly recommend! read more

Original plan was to go to Soup 'n Fresh. After seeing the very long line, we decided not to wait in line so we stumbled upon Cara Mia. Since we already parked, we decided to give this place a try. Didn't know what to expect, but the restaurant is very cozy and welcoming. We were seated right away. Water arrived shortly with our breads and butter. We were so hungry that we devoured the warm and delicious breads after it hits our table. We then proceeded to order our foods. While waiting for our foods, we were pleasantly entertained by a lady singer. Her singing was quite entertaining. Every guests there enjoyed her performance. Before you know it, our foods arrived. We were pleasantly surprised by the large portions of each dishes. The foods were delicious and since the portions were more than we expected, we ended up taking the rest home. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves and would come back again in the future. read more

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Delicious! We randomly stumbled into Cara Mia and would go back. It was a rainy night and where we originally wanted to go had too long of a wait so we continued our walk into Cara Mia and don't regret it. My 3 boys loved it. The pizza, lasagna and chicken Alfredo was 10/10. We didn't sit on the bar side and honestly didn't even know a band was playing. It's a decent size restaurant. read more

So yummy. Great staff. The bread hot and fluffy. The menu has something for everyone. The cocktails all sound good, we have to come back to try them next time. We did dessert this visit and panna cotta and creme brûlée were chef's kiss. Glad there is this little gem in the neighborhood read more

I ordered the salmon linguine and the salmon was visibly old and rancid. If you order from here to go, make sure to thoroughly check your food! read more

Cara Mia - Salmon Linguine - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

I love Cara Mia! Great authentic & freshly made Italian food! Large portions! Good food and outstanding service. The freshly made cannoli tasted delicious! Reasonably priced for their portions and quality of service. I highly recommend this place read more

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Came here with my girls for a birthday dinner. First time here. Didn't realize it's in the exact same area as soup and fresh, as I've been here many times to this lot. Cute little spot. Loved the vibe and played smooth music. It's tucked away in the corner and parking can be ROUGH due to soup and fresh. There are signs specifically stating NO SOUP AND FRESH PARKING in front. Ordered their appetizer special of chicken, potatoes and sausage. They ran out of bell peppers but there was a generation portion served. However, I gave it a 3/5 as it lacked flavor. No herbs or spices on it. Had a sangria. It's was so good!! I like sweet drinks and this was a perfect balance of me! Very happy with my drink! My pesto tortellini was good. Not too overpowering in the pesto flavor, which I don't care for. I actually had to add salt and pepper to bring the pesto taste out. Pasta was cooked to perfection ruin tho. They gave me a free slice tiramisu and sang to me for my birthday. That was cool. read more

Cara Mia - Appetizer with chicken, sausage and potatoes. They ran out of bell peppers - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

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Tasteful food and great service. The salmon was so juicy and the flan is a must for dessert read more

Cara Mia - Flan - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

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Our latest experience here was not the best. We began with a Foccaccia Roll and butter, and a Margherita Pizza as good as before. A side Caesar Salad uncharacteristically contained tomatoes, and to my disappointment the restaurant was out of anchovies. Minestrone Soup for me, and Lobster Bisque for Diane, were fine. Lobster Ravioli with good-sized shrimps on top were real good but the orange-colored sauce overpowered the ravioli, so that no lobster taste came through. Diane's Chicken Parmigiana Alfredo was wholly missing Alfredo Sauce. Then, when belated Alfredo Sauce at last arrived, it was too liquidy. Service this night was sporadic, and the ambiance was ruined by a female toddler running around the dining room with no shirt on, unrestrained by her mother. However, it was pleasurable to listen to piped in Frank Sinaftra music. XXX-1/2 stars overall this time around! read more

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The service was excellent. What was nice their happy hour was from 4pm to 7pm. We had a party of 15. Our server was just excellent. Very attentive to our needs. She helped us pick appetizers. They were very good. Drinks was delicious. All the entrees we ordered we all just loved. I had their lasagna and it was excellent. We brought cake for my husband's birthday and they cut and served it to everyone. That was kind. Nice surprise was the live music. Oh my gosh she was wonderful. She played such a wide variety of music and her voice was so good. Highly recommend this restaurant. read more

This is the first time I was in this city. I was on my way to visit relatives from Orange County and stopped for a dinner. I wanted Italian food so I compared every one in the area simply by the pictures of the dishes. Judging by the color and the consistency of the sauces, I picked this restaurant. I like the name too (my dear). We ordered Spaghetti Fresco and Cioppino. They were both excellent. The quality and the portion of the seafood were outstanding. The red wine from central valley of my choice was very good for the price (better yet: $3 off before 7PM). It was a very satisfactory meal. read more

Food, service and ambience was amazing! Wish they were open for lunch. It's a hidden gem! Prices reasonable too!

Pleasantly surprised by this little hidden gem. The food at Cara Mia was delicious. The service was great, the recommendations from our waitress were spot on, the portions were large and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. What more could you ask for? The atmosphere with live music on a Sunday evening was perfect. I am very picky, particularly when it comes to Italian food. The lasagna was just about as good as can be expected in a restaurant and my wife's baked shrimp linguine was excellent. Most importantly (in my book anyway) both dishes were served piping hot. We are looking forward to dining at Cara Mia again! read more

Cara Mia was a major letdown. My husband and I started with the calamari and bruschetta, which were mediocre at best. We had high hopes for a great dining experience, but unfortunately, it fell far short. We ordered drinks--a lemon drop and a holiday cocktail--and found them disappointing. The alcohol was barely noticeable, and other members of our large group shared similar feedback. For the main course, we chose the ribeye and vegetables. While the vegetables were decent, the portion size was small. The steak, which was supposed to be served with a Gorgonzola sauce, arrived cold, and the sauce was bland and flavorless. I will say that the bartender who had to serve our meal was friendly and helpful. read more

my new favorite italian spot. service was great and the waitress gave excellent recommendations. we came in time for happy hour, which offers $3 off drinks and appetizers. there was also complimentary bread to start off which was so good. the pizza was my favorite. the crust was perfect and it was loaded with toppings. the salmon linguine was slightly fishy but still super creamy and flavorful. overall, would come back to try other dishes. read more

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im so surprised i had never heard or been here before! the ambiance is so beautiful, the food quality so rich & they make any modifications. I sat in the bar area with David who served us & his service was great especially that it was our first time here, he gave us yummy recommendations & tasty drinks. I will definitely be back! Thank you for a lasting experience. read more

Cara Mia - Margarita Pizza with Pesto sauce & penne alla vodka pasta - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

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We came here for the first time this week because we were craving Italian. We came back today (Saturday) and brought some friends. We love the burrata bruschetta !! So good! The bread is soft but crunchy. So far everything we've order has been full of flavor. Service is amazing. Esther was our server both times and she's friendly and always gives her recommendations. Live music on Saturdays is a must! And don't skip on the panna Cotta! It's 10/10 read more

Cara Mia - PANNA COTTA - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

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BEST ITALIAN FOOD IN THE INLAND EMPIRE!!!! Cara Mia catered my baby shower of 200 people! I would show the food but it got finished in under an hour!! I ordered 3 trays of the penne Alfredo with chicken and 3 trays of their, to die for, pesto tortellini. Both pastas were absolutely amazing! Navi, the manager, helped me with my order and this has been my second time having Cara Mia/Navi cater my event. I can tell you for sure that Cara Mia will be catering my next events and you should highly consider to have them cater yours as well! Thank you so much!!!! read more

Cara Mia - Catering by Cara Mia - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

Excellent from start to finish. Relaxing, easy environment, great music excellent Italian food, great service.

"Move Over Carbone & Carmine's - Cara Mia Just Raised the Bar" I love old school heavy-hitter Italian restaurants and frequent Carbone. If Carbone and Carmine's had a love child that went to culinary finishing school, it would be Cara Mia -- but honestly, this place might be even better. Think Carbone's flair meets Carmine's comfort -- but elevated and with live music. Cocktails? Perfectly balanced, beautifully presented (the limoncello lemon drop martini alone is worth the trip). Every dish hit the table piping hot -- not just warm -- and every bite was bursting with flavor. The pasta was al dente perfection, the pesto pizza? Crispy outside, fluffy inside, and even the complimentary ciabatta sourdough bread with whipped butter was warm and crispy. Bottom line: Cara Mia is the new gold standard for Italian dining -- and the one I'll be comparing all others to. Only thing that bummed me out was that I wasn't a regular here earlier. A Must Try in Rancho! read more

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Amazing service for a family Birthday party. We had 16 and Veronica and her assistant took very good care to see that we had everything we needed! Also, the food was delicious as always. Thank you so very much for making the birthday party perfect! read more

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First time trying this long time bookmark in Rancho. First Impression.. wonderful! We came in close to the opening time. There's live music in the evenings on the bar seating side with plenty of tables for couples or families to enjoy. The banquet side looked great for private parties. Service was phenomenal. Walking in we were greeted and given this wonderful bread and whipped butter. Being newbies we were surprised by the amount of this glistening whipped cloud butter but then shortly after realized why. The bread keeps coming and it's hard to stop because it's delicious. This is the place to carbo load. After adding some salt and that Parmesan cheese with crushed red the tortellini in pesto sauce was delicious. The happy hour was a great surprise for a glass of vino. Would definitely come back to enjoy the live music while dining at this fine establishment. read more

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It was wonderful. Love it. Excellent service and tasty food. Super pretty. They have 3 restaurants in SB all of them are great.

Amazing! Can't believe we've never tried this hidden gem. We were very impressed with the ambiance, the service, and the food! We went on a Saturday night at dinner time and sat in the bar dining area. There was a live singer who was wonderful. The complimentary bread was hot and fresh served with butter. I ordered the chicken piccata and my husband ordered the carbonara. Both were so tasty and flavorful. Lastly, we finished off our meal with the tiramisu which I highly recommend. Overall, 5 stars all around. Can't wait to return! read more

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First time here since changing from Antonio's. We were seated in the bar area dining. Very nice and open. Prices were good. Especially for the portions. We will probably share something next time. Food was very good . Service was good. We will definitely be back to try something else. read more

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I came here on a whim one night and had no idea this place was here. It is a very nice restaurant with pretty decent food. My friend got the gluten free pasta that was pretty undercooked which was a shame because the sauce was very good. I got the penne alla vodka which was good but I made the mistake of adding salmon. I thought it would be a piece of salmon, but it was cubed and mixed in, which made the whole dish very fishy. Still good but not what I wanted. I would definitely come back and try other things. read more

Cara Mia - Penne alla vodka with salmon - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California

Had the lobster bisque soup and crab cake for an appetizer. The bisque was a tomato base and it had a good amount of lobster in it. read more

Cara Mia - Kids butter noodles - Italian Near Me - Rancho Cucamonga, California