I was not sure how busy they would be so I called ahead and made reservations. When we got there it was empty so we were sat and quickly attended to. Our server was nice and genuinely interested in our dinning experience, which is always nice. Not to mention he had awesome hair! The decor is totally Italy with wine grape motif, all the fixtures, and the stylistic painting and booths. It was a quaint Italian restaurant.
I wanted to have a beer, since I don't regularly drink during our date night i was going to go light and asked if they had Birra Morretti, one of the better Italian beers. Unfortunately they did not. But they did have another beer which I had never tried. When our server came out he said it was the last one. The beer he brought out was "Oro di Milano" roughly translated to "Gold of Milan". Coincidently, Milan was one of the few cities that Natalie and I did not go to while we traveled around Italy, so I'm not exactly sure to the authenticity of the label's claim. The beer was a rich golden wheat color and was fresh and crisp. I drank it straight from the bottle and I found that it was complimentary to the rest of my food. Since I was not planning on having several drinks, the fact that they only had one Oro di Milano was a good things because I could have ordered a few more. It went down easy and the price was right $3.75.
I ordered an Italian Sausage pasta with thick rottini noodles and mushrooms and Natalie ordered the Spaghetti and Meatballs. We also got an appetizer of fried mozzarella with marinara sauce. It was very good and came out looking familiar to crab cakes, large and flat. We gobbled them up! Our dinner was set down right as we finished. The food was so filling that we took home lots of leftovers which turned into a big mess. The leftovers were put into flimsy to-go boxes and leaked oil all over the car mat. Natalie was bummed out and told me her car smelled like an Italian kitchen for a few days.
Let's get down to the ratings!
Value: Overall, pretty darn good. Great vibe, very Italian with good food and a pleasant staff. We also got to meet the owner, and that is such a great quality of a local restaurant. Good price for a hearty amount of food. 4 Stars!
Food Quality: The food was good quality and seemed to be made with care and fresh ingredients. The mozzarella was really good, but the main courses were pretty bland and lacked pizzaz. Good price point and really quickly prepared. 6 Seconds.
Category: This is your classic Italian Restaurant. 'Nuff said! 10 out of 10!
Summary:
Value: 4 Stars (out of 5)
FQ: 6 Seconds (Out of 10). Bland food. . .
Category: 10 (out of 10) Italian Sheek!
Verdict. . . Worth the trip, take a date and cuddle up in the booth!
Cheers!
Troy@BonVivant
Nino's Italian Restaurant
3853 Atlantic Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90807-3505
(562) 427-1003
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