Let me start by saying I'm Italian. I know good authentic Italian food... and this place is it! We…read morehappened to stumble across this on the RESY app. Parking on fourth street is an issue, yes! But don't let that stop you. It's totally worth checking this place out. I was impressed by the Parklet seating in addition to the inside front. We were walked to the back and seated in the outside garden area. Tables are on small rocks, plants are pretty to look at -- it was a delightful ambience. There was one waiter serving ALL the tables, and to my surprise, he did a great job with such attention to detail. Overall, he was a delightful, professional waiter. The additional servers were so efficient, polite and on top of their game. We started with the flat bread: Wonderful crust, incredible roasted garlic paste with a habanero cheese that was not overpowering. Such a nice balance of flavor. The two of us devoured it. Enjoyed my peach Prosecco which appeared to be a Prosecco with peach nectar, perhaps? Not sure exactly, but it was very refreshing and not too sweet. The cioppino was out of this world! It's so hard to find a good cioppino in Long Beach. It had so much depth of flavor with a little hint of spice and the seafood was fresh! My partner wiped his bowl clean. My dish was the parpadelle in a lobster sauce. The pasta tasted homemade, the bits of lobster (about 6oz) were carried throughout the dish where I experienced a wonderful creamy lobster flavor in every bite. I usually take home what I don't finish, but I couldn't stop eating it. Lastly, Chocolate Spumoni ice cream bomb is a must to try. Priced well at $10. Great quality in this dessert all around. The Parmesan cheese wheel dish looked incredible as it was prepared table side next to us. That's going to be my go to when I return. This restaurant is a treasure for Italian food in Long Beach.

I had been wanting to visit Tarantella for quite some time and the opportunity presented itself a…read morecouple of Saturdays ago when I found myself all dressed up with no where to go after attending a networking event. I decided to check the Resy app to try somewhere new besides the 3 restaurants across the street from me, and surprisingly found an opening at 7:45pm on a Saturday night! I walked there from my house so thankfully did not have to worry about parking. I felt completely comfortable from the moment I sat down. The atmosphere is warm and casual, there was live music and a lively group of people on the covered outdoor backyard. My server was lovely as well, attentive, but never felt rushed. Everything I ordered was delicious and perfectly paced. I started with the fried artichokes which I had never had before, but I love artichokes thanks to my Italian grandmother. So light and crispy. Then I had the caprese, what a stunning salad this is! The avocado was a bit random to me as I have never seen one with a caprese before and it was hard as a rock, but still ate the whole thing. I ordered the pasta alla routa Cacio E Pepe which I did not realize was $65 upon the time of ordering, but that's on me for not looking that closely. They told me ahead of time when it was coming out so I could video it being made inside the cheese wheel if I wanted since they couldn't come to me being that the backyard is covered in rocks. Thought this was nice since I paid so much for it, may as well be able to share the experience with others. I enjoyed two glasses of sangria with my dinner and finished with some pistachio gelato. All in all a great experience, I just wish the pasta was like $20 cheaper but lesson learned. I don't know that I would come here often since I spent $190 on dinner for myself, but I would come back for date night, or an anniversary, or a special occasion, and have already recommended since going.

10 out of 5 stars! Our family has been coming here for years- pretty much since they opened about…read more20 years ago. My parents came here at least once a week- they live in Long Beach, I don't- so it is a treat for my wife and I to join my parents when we come. They always treated my parents with kindness and generosity. We recently lost my Mom, so it was the perfect place to have her celebration of life. Wow!- Stefano and Austin created an incredible meal for those who joined us in celebrating my mother. The usual superb quality of the meals, and perfect setting for our event combined with great service in a comfortable environment. I highly recommend to everyone to experience this wonderful restaurant- Thank you Stefano, Austin and the rest of the staff!

The SERVICE was top shelf. The DECOR and ambiance is CLASSY, retrospective, appropriate, and 100%…read moreon-point. Lastly, the FOOD is beyond superb! I HIGHLY recommend the Lasagna and/or Paccheri Crema di Scampi. I also recommend the Cesare (with chicken) because it was truly delicious. I shall return!

We decided to explore more of Long Beach and picked Ellie's randomly with no expectation. Left so…read morehappy and satisfied! It was not busy as we were there for an early dinner. Despite how simple the food might look, everything was intentional, flavorful, fresh, and delicious! The shrimp and melon salad was a personal favorite - enjoying it outside on a beautiful day, it felt as if I was on a summer vacation in Europe. If we're ever back in town, we would love to try their handmade pasta and pizzas. The only downside is that parking is a little tricky in this area, so come a little earlier than your reservation time. But overall, we were happy with the food, service, and ambience. Thank you, Ellie's!

Came here with 2 other friends for a (late) Saturday lunch and we were seated immediately! We opted…read moreto sit outside in the patio area as the server said indoor seating was warmer, which was nicely shaded with umbrellas and a cool breeze. The only thing was that flies kept bothering us (my goodness were they hungry), but the waiter graciously gave us a spinning fly deterrent fan (which somewhat worked)... I suppose that's to be expected when you sit outside. We ordered 6 oysters to share ($5.50 each with 6 minimum oyster order) and the tagliatelle for each of us. The oysters were delicious and paired well with the provided seasonings. The tagliatelle was creamy and savory with the shrimp and scallops, but I was expecting the pork ragu and bone marrow butter to shine more in the dish- couldn't really taste them. Service was standard, parking is on the street but was not difficult to find. Overall this was a cute corner brunch/lunch spot

What an amazing experience I had last night. We have…read morevisited this establishment many times in the past, but yesterday was great and a bit bad. My wife and I ordered a pizza to start. Well asked for it to be welcome and perfectly it came out. Our main was Pappardelle with short rib and the lemon chicken. Unfortunately the mains were pretty cold. Small blame on the kitchen. Here is how my experience became a WOW. My server NASTASSIA was the reason my night was perfect. She was so understanding and empathetic about the cold food. She immediately asked what she could do to make it better. She requested a new dish to be fired up. New pappardelle came out perfect with another side of mashed potatoes. She once again asked blue the food was and if we're were happy. She also informed the manager of our experience. She came over and also apologized and offered my wife and I dessert. My wife picked the bread pudding. Overall I am a BIG believer that employees are the reason for the success of a business. More employees in the world need to be more like Natassia. THANK YOU

2nd time here First time was great end of night not many…read morepeople so service was great I would give that 5 stars But tonight ... Tonight I had reservation at 830 got here 840ish We got sat down at almost 9. We still had to wait , female working reception was not very kind/ welcoming As soon as I sat down at my table I sat in a puddle of water on my seat The floor was dirty and wet and getting muddy as my shoes were being placed in the wet floor It took taking awhile to get service or offered water or anyone to approach us I had to sit on a napkin to help dry myself off. Yes pants down to my boxers were wet. This is a fine dining establishment We ordered pizza Pasta salad and mixto mix A mocktail for daughter Wine glass and a cocktail Salad was amazing mixto was great Total was $200 with tip This is not a cheap restaurant but it felt cheap with the service and cleaningness and experience Total contrast from when I went almost a year ago And reason it takes a some time in between is because distance to get to restaurant and price Not sure if short staffed but on a Saturday night And reservations done usually the service and wait time can be way better and reservation was done with notes requesting patio outside because w have our pet. A table should be prepped and cleaned The table near us was dirty too and there was food scraps left on floor from prior party I do recommend this place for anyone to go it's amazing place and food is amazing and authentic but they really dropped the ball this evening I hate doing this review but I looked and service complaints were brought up previously by other guest and paying for a. Meal this level . Service needs to be immaculate Yes the table and chair issue was brought up to employee but I don't need to name anyone here personally

The oldest restaurant in long beach! They have been open since 1954,…read more The food was fantastic , and the server Giselly was so kind and friendly! She even gave us the Tiramisu on the house ..! The interior was cute and cozy Anytime I am in socal I'll be sure to drop by!

I so wanted to like this place, but it simply wasn't up to snuff. I got a chicken Parmesan and it…read morewas fine, like cafeteria food. The Margaretta pizza was unusual. It was closer to a cheese pizza with some tomato. No real flavor. The tiramisu was strange, heavy on texture and lacking coffee flavor. The mozzarella sticks were logs and way too big. French onion soup was extremely salty. Really not palatable. We got 8 dishes and the best one was "meh" Maybe it's because it was takeout? Service was wonderful in our brief interactions. They theee in two free tiramisu, but they weren't really worth eating.

The location is beautiful and intimately lit, perfect for a date night. Few restaurants in Long…read moreBeach or even LA can boast of such a beautiful venue. I had the filet mignon and my fiancee had the Lombardi, both were so, so good. I am typically very critical of steaks while out, but this one was beyond reproach. Perfectly cooked and delicious. The servers and the host were all incredibly polite and helpful. Lastly the wine selection and deserts were delicious. We will definitely be returning in the future

I'll start this off with. The exterior is beautiful. It's a…read morereally nice looking place. Upon walking in we were greeted immediately. Confirmed our reservations. It was a party of 4 adults and 1 child. We orders the salmon, ravioli, steak, meatballs and fettuccini Alfredo do with chicken. Salmon. This was basically the star of the show. Display was good. Cooked correctly and not overdone. However... I can't say the same for the rest. Let's move on. Ravioli. Far too rich in flavor. Because... it's hiding something. Restaurants get by thinking they can get away with shortcuts. Until they meet yelpers, food critics and chefs like myself. This ravioli IS made in house yes. However once made it's obvious it's frozen and re heated. Such a shame. Because I can guarantee you if it was fresh? Probably some of the best ravioli you'd ever have. Steak. Asked for medium rare. It came out like beef jerky. Burned and overcooked beyond edible. We told our server and they made another. The next one brought was spot on, medium rare. However lacking seasoning. This was the food our child had. And he's use to good steak. Nobu, Flemings etc. he was not happy with the lack of seasoning. Meatballs. Well you can't screw that up right? Wrong. Again previously froze. Now I'm sure they make the meat mixture in house. I'll give them that. But why are you guys freezing and re hearing? Fettuccini Alfredo with chicken. An American Italian staple. Pasta was actually cooked perfectly. I'll give them That. Pasta itself tastes it was made in house. However the chicken, overcooked, under seasoned again. Alfredo sauce WAY too rich again. The manager actually came over eventually. Asked how it was. I told her about the overcooked steak and the frozen ravioli/meatballs. She didn't even deny anything and said ok. Took the steak off the bill. It upsets me that this beautiful exterior and interior restaurant is like this. And the staff was pretty solid in the front of the house. However the food is severely lacking. I have this place a 3 star based upon the cleanliness, staff and exterior/interior. I wouldn't return for the food. Only for the ambience.

My first time dining at Marlena to celebrate a friend's birthday. We had a party of seven and had…read morereservations for a weekday evening. It was a Tuesday and the restaurant was quite busy. We sat on the patio where the ambiance was idea since they have a motorized patio louver system that they can control the dining atmosphere. We started off with a bottle of chardonnay and ordered appetizers of crispy fried cauliflower, spicy salami pizza made in their wood fired oven and bufala ricotta toast. We followed with salad with anchovies and three different in pasta entrees, a 32 oz dry aged tomahawk and a 14 oz prime ribeye. The tomahawk included an arugula salad and fingering potatoes. We dined family style and everything was delicious. We ended with desserts of chocolate olive cake, burnt Basque cheesecake and vanilla soft serve gelato. Service was exceptional from the entire staff. I definitely recommend Marlena for your special event or for a wonderful dining experience.

My wife and I went to celebrate our anniversary. This place has a great local vibe and was very…read morebusy. We had a reservation and were seated right away. The service was very good and the food for the most part was excellent. We had the olives and blanco bread as an appetizer. The bread was fresh made and came out hot straight out of the oven. The olives were marinade in fennel pollen and orange. I couldn't get enough of them. We shared a beat salad that was very tasty and my wife had the rack of lamb which was delicious. I will say that I did not enjoy my main course of Porchetta. I felt like it had good flavor, but it wasn't cooked well and the center where the pork belly was supposed to be tender and melting was very tough, chewy and inedible to me. Despite this one dish I really liked the restaurant and I am eager to go back and try something different.

Very late late review now that's it's closed unfortunately but I was just talking to someone that…read morethis place was named one of the best pizzas in the entire country yes the country so I had to check it out and man it was banging Was it thee best? I mean it was really good and I enjoyed it and it had it all Service was good and the day I went it was rainy but still busy and happening I wish it was still open as I am now craving a pizza and a beer

I don't think I've ever really been wined and dined before, but my fiancé wanted to take me…read moreout--and she chose Michael's on Naples. It's classy, the kind of place you'd see in a late-90s/early-00s romcom date scene. The staff was attentive and kind, though we asked for coffee at the end and it never came--we had a show to get to, so unfortunately had to leave without it. We started with the melanzane pizza. It was tasty, but I just realized later it was missing the nduja sausage listed on the menu. For my entrée, I had the paccheri pasta with braised short rib. The beef itself was rich, tender, and full of flavor--reminded me of an Italian birria, which I loved. But the rigatoni tasted undercooked, which was disappointing. My fiancé ordered the tagliata, and wow--she definitely picked the better dish. The steak was perfectly seasoned, cooked to a beautiful medium rare, and paired with a silky potato purée that was absolutely delicious. Overall, it's a romantic spot with some standout flavors, but the small misses kept it from being a perfect experience.

We're splitting the baby and landing at 3 stars. My breakfast was not good, but my friend really…read moreenjoyed his meal. Let's start with the win: the burger was "the best he's had in a long time"--which says a lot. Kudos on the burger! The banana smoothie also got a thumbs-up. Everything else? Meh. The pancake was okay. The scrambled eggs were... weird. Tiny little egg bits that had me wondering, are these real eggs? I asked for crispy bacon; it wasn't, so I couldn't eat it. The breakfast potatoes tasted reheated--no crisp, not much flavor, no joy. And the London Fog? Don't expect Starbucks loveliness. The plain black coffee was better. I also had the grapefruit juice, it was bitter, but tasted fresh squeezed, which I appreciate. Service was good. My server saw that I didn't eat my food and tried to make it better. The venue is nice, but if you're coming for great food--burger aside--we didn't find it here. The velvet chairs are comfortable and beautiful, but the stains and spills were evident. I was worried when I sat down about what was on the chairs getting on my dress. Overall, it's a place we'd only return to if we were craving that burger, everything else was a fail. I left hungry. Last morning here at the Fairmont. Tried breakfast at Nettuno again... disappointed and leaving hungry again. This time we had oatmeal (needed to add water, so dry we stuck the spoon in it and it stood straight up and didn't fall over), fruit (good), boiled eggs (took 20 minutes), and the avocado toast with a fried egg. It was not good. The menu says it comes with kale, but I received mixed greens with it, not kale and the flavor was bad. It's hard to make bad avocado toast, but they did. Disappointing. Plus, service was very slow today. Our order came out incomplete and out of order. The atmosphere is beautiful, but this restaurant has a lot to work on to be worthy of its prices and the Fairmont brand. Second fail.

Disappointed that the upper restaurant was closed on a Monday which led me to nettuno…read more Service was impeccable. Wine recommendation was outstanding. The food was fine. Salmon w broccolini was delicious and was devoured. The calamari appetizer was disappointing as it was flavorless without the spicy tomato sauce and the zucchini were soggy and limp. From a 4 star meal down to 3.5. Servers, bussers, etc. were all prompt but didn't make me feel rushed. Hostess was friendly. Hospitality piece of the experience was flawless. Ambiance is cozy, upscale and classy. Dimly lit with plenty of space between tables for privacy. Saw a couple celebrating their anniversary here along with business travelers dining during their stay. Would dinner again but the upper restaurant will remain my first choice.

My wife has an appointment at Lather this afternoon so we decided to have lunch at Italian homemade…read morecompany near Lather. We had a great time to find some new hand care products @Lather and went to discover an authentic italian restaurant which lots of Yelpers mentioned. My wife said, we have to order at the front, then they bring the foods to the table but the owner took our orders, and brought the foods so fast just like other Italian restaurant. We love meat lasagna, pasta w bolonese sauce, and some flat breads like appetizer pizza. We ordered 3, lasagna, tagliatelle bolonese, flat bread sandwich called Cassone w sausage, bell pepper, onions. I had some italian red wine per glass ($14). First, I loved so much my lasagna and kept eating until finish my entire portion. I give 10 stars. My wife's pasta, she said pasta is too thick, might be on purpose? She likes soft, thin texture handmade tagliatelle. For the first time, we ordered flat bread sandwich. The sandwich flavor was good, but not the dough for flat bread. Well, we tried here for the 1st time after shopping. Today was almost 81 this afternoon. Hot and humid.....unluckily AC was broken so he opened the entrance door. One big fly bothered a lot annoying us eating the foods. And so hot inside restaurant. Overall, I liked my lasagna a lot, not really tagliatelle bolonese, nor the flat bread sandwich. If AC was working during lunch time. We felt much comfortable to enjoy our foods. One thing, I loved the red wine but the portion was not enough for $14. Even my wife said, not much for this price. I got 2 glasses of italian red wine, not enough. The view was great ocean side from the patio. This is a strong point eating here for the view. My wife saw the live pasta cooking show, a chef made the pasta, stretching the pasta dough in the kitchen....great show! Fun! Hopefully AC runs well especially hot summer season, the portions of pastas and wines might be more generous for the future.

A very pleasant lunch! Was at 2nd and PCH attending a YEE and found Italian Homemade afterwards…read more Service is top notch. The staff are welcoming and kind. The owner or manager? chatted w/us. He mentioned that many customers come in for a quick bite and the portions of the lunch special seem adequate for that. Hubby got chose the meat lasagna that comes with a side salad. I wanted something plant based that day so vegetable lasagna and side salad was for me. Buonissimo which is very delicious in Italian! From my photos, you can see that they have various items for sale such as wine, oils, ground coffee, pasta and more. They also offer pasta classes Delightful Italian food for sure. You can find them by the marina side on the main level. Grazie, Italian Homemade!