Amazing pastrami sandwich and Arriabiata. Went for the tiramisu which was good, too, but a little soft (it was free, can't complain!)
Jane S.
I love everything. From the owners, to the service, to the food. Super great! My fiancé and I absolutely love it! Never ever been disappointed!
Alyssa B.
BEST italian food in town and its always open for seating?!how are people not packing this place up?! Just don't pack it up on Sunday nights because that's when we go in lol thanks to all who make this place SO DANG GOOD. Ingredients, recipes, setting, plating, all satisfactory to its fullest!
Caroline L
Our server just was not good. She was slow to greet us, left dirty plates on the table for the entire meal, promised bread twice that never came, and forgot to bring the check when we asked. We talked to the owner, who was willing to listen, but he told us they were too busy to take up room in the oven for bread that night and didn’t even say he’d talk to the server about the other issues. The food was OK but a bit bland. We will try another place next time.
Blandon Granger
Food is fantastic and deserving of five stars but unfortunately the service was horrible. Sat for a very long time before anyone acknowledged us and then after we ordered we never received the hot bread we were promised, never even received our soup and salad. The waitress walked up about 35-40 minutes later with our main dishes when I informed her we never received any of our starters. She acted dumbfounded even though she was the one that had clearly forgotten. Brought our soup and salad out after our pasta and we never did get any bread despite asking a second time for it. My beer was gone for a very long time but she never came to our table to check in. She finally asked me if I wanted another beer when we were ready for the check. No thanks. We live on Nieto and frequent Dominicos a lot but decided to try this place tonight. Luckily the food was so tasty we will probably frequent again but the service will definitely make us second guess when deciding where we want to get Italian food on Second St. in the future.
Barbiee C.
The staff is rude the food is mediocre and tasteless no class in this restaurant don't come here
Alysia Villasenor
Nice family Italian restaurant it was very pleasant the food was delicious the pizza has great flavor they make pasta from scratch it's small and adorable. We will definitely be enjoying this place again.
Shawnda Bauer
Best fettucini (spiced) alfredo ever! Love the bread and chicken parm, too! (Started with fried ravioli)
C.Q. The Great
Didn't try the pasta, but the pizza left some things to be desired. Too much cheese, not enough sauce, and dried out toppings. Plus a 20 minute wait from the time we finished our appetizer to the pizza arriving. Service could use some work as well. We spent half the time there without any utensils and when we finally asked for some (since they never got around to it even after bringing our appetizer and some small plates) they brought one set. That would be understandable if everybody else already had a set. But nobody did.
The food was delicious! my momhad the shrimp scampi and I had the breakfast pizza. The warm bread was delicious! and the mimosas were great too. We really appreciated the warm and inviting service and looking forward to the next time we dine here.
Manny B.
I don't know about you, but I definitely have sweet dreams about food. So after dreaming about brunch, I took a trip down to Buona Gente on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore. Here's what went down. : If you want sweet for brunch, this dish is definitely it. You get four pieces of thick, fluffy, bouncy French Toast stuffed with their house-made rich, smooth, creamy Cannoli filling. Then it gets topped with chocolate chips, powdered sugar, a chocolate drizzle, and blueberries. Two words to describe it: pure decadence. : This one's for all the savory seekers at brunch. It starts with everything bagel crusted dough, then gets topped with mozzarella, four eggs, bacon, and chives. It's the perfect union of breakfast & pizza. This pie is an absolute must have when you visit Buona Gente for brunch. You won't go wrong with either of these dishes. Add bottomless Mimosas to quench that thirst, too. Get on down there and bring your brunch dreams to life!!! Check out @eaterlbc on Instagram & TikTok for a Behind the Scenes video from my visit. Give a Like while you're there and Follow for more awesome Long Beach food spots!
Katie H.
This place quickly became our go-to Italian place in LB. Their pasta and pizza is super authentic...we are non-meat eaters and they have plenty of options for us. 2x a week they have 1/2 off wine...you can't beat that! Prices are good and portions are generous...we always have leftover for the next day. The owner is almost always there and he really cares for his customers!
Alicia Y.
Unfortunately I wish I could give a better rating. Gluten free pasta was brought to table undercooked (not edible) and we had to send back. The Alfredo sauce was lackluster; not much flavor but my gymnast son was absolutely starving and could not wait for the server to come back and make it right. We had to ask and then wait for bread to be placed on the table and per my friend, who is a local, and the server, instead of being offered a complimentary salad or soup, everything now is up charged. My friend was absolutely starving as well and she had to order a salad while waiting for her pasta to be replaced. The owner was alerted to our issues. Although I'm sympathetic to the fact that his cook was off this evening I can honestly say the only things that tasted good were the Minestrone soup and the caprese; both of which are difficult to under/over season or cook. The owner sent complimentary tiramisu (large piece) and cappuccino to the table at the end of the meal which was appreciated. However, it didn't offset the poor performance by the kitchen this evening. Of course the server was tipped well - he was not to blame and was very engaging throughput the meal. Hopefully the owner of this establishment can take some of the suggestions back to the kitchen. My friend has stated she dines here frequently and has never had an issue w the meals or service.
Rj S.
My experience was mixed. I came here for a coworkers birthday with a party of 8. We ordered every appetizer and for dinner I had the veal. The sauce used in the mushroom appetizer and the veal are the same sauce. It's a strong flavor that I will say is probably very subjective not taste but I didn't care for it. The giant ravioli appetizer was good. My veal came (in the same sauce mentioned above) with spaghetti with marinara on the other side of my plate. I liked the spaghetti with marinara but it didn't pair well with the veal and its sauce. Service was slow but waiter was friendly. I would probably bhave to try this place again to either verify my rating or improve upont it.
Amazing pastrami sandwich and Arriabiata. Went for the tiramisu which was good, too, but a little soft (it was free, can't complain!)
I love everything. From the owners, to the service, to the food. Super great! My fiancé and I absolutely love it! Never ever been disappointed!
BEST italian food in town and its always open for seating?!how are people not packing this place up?! Just don't pack it up on Sunday nights because that's when we go in lol thanks to all who make this place SO DANG GOOD. Ingredients, recipes, setting, plating, all satisfactory to its fullest!
Our server just was not good. She was slow to greet us, left dirty plates on the table for the entire meal, promised bread twice that never came, and forgot to bring the check when we asked. We talked to the owner, who was willing to listen, but he told us they were too busy to take up room in the oven for bread that night and didn’t even say he’d talk to the server about the other issues. The food was OK but a bit bland. We will try another place next time.
Food is fantastic and deserving of five stars but unfortunately the service was horrible. Sat for a very long time before anyone acknowledged us and then after we ordered we never received the hot bread we were promised, never even received our soup and salad. The waitress walked up about 35-40 minutes later with our main dishes when I informed her we never received any of our starters. She acted dumbfounded even though she was the one that had clearly forgotten. Brought our soup and salad out after our pasta and we never did get any bread despite asking a second time for it. My beer was gone for a very long time but she never came to our table to check in. She finally asked me if I wanted another beer when we were ready for the check. No thanks. We live on Nieto and frequent Dominicos a lot but decided to try this place tonight. Luckily the food was so tasty we will probably frequent again but the service will definitely make us second guess when deciding where we want to get Italian food on Second St. in the future.
The staff is rude the food is mediocre and tasteless no class in this restaurant don't come here
Nice family Italian restaurant it was very pleasant the food was delicious the pizza has great flavor they make pasta from scratch it's small and adorable. We will definitely be enjoying this place again.
Best fettucini (spiced) alfredo ever! Love the bread and chicken parm, too! (Started with fried ravioli)
Didn't try the pasta, but the pizza left some things to be desired. Too much cheese, not enough sauce, and dried out toppings. Plus a 20 minute wait from the time we finished our appetizer to the pizza arriving. Service could use some work as well. We spent half the time there without any utensils and when we finally asked for some (since they never got around to it even after bringing our appetizer and some small plates) they brought one set. That would be understandable if everybody else already had a set. But nobody did.
Sizeable portions. Tasty food. Casual vibes. Friendly service. They stay busy.
Restaurantji Recommends
The food was delicious! my momhad the shrimp scampi and I had the breakfast pizza. The warm bread was delicious! and the mimosas were great too. We really appreciated the warm and inviting service and looking forward to the next time we dine here.
I don't know about you, but I definitely have sweet dreams about food. So after dreaming about brunch, I took a trip down to Buona Gente on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore. Here's what went down. : If you want sweet for brunch, this dish is definitely it. You get four pieces of thick, fluffy, bouncy French Toast stuffed with their house-made rich, smooth, creamy Cannoli filling. Then it gets topped with chocolate chips, powdered sugar, a chocolate drizzle, and blueberries. Two words to describe it: pure decadence. : This one's for all the savory seekers at brunch. It starts with everything bagel crusted dough, then gets topped with mozzarella, four eggs, bacon, and chives. It's the perfect union of breakfast & pizza. This pie is an absolute must have when you visit Buona Gente for brunch. You won't go wrong with either of these dishes. Add bottomless Mimosas to quench that thirst, too. Get on down there and bring your brunch dreams to life!!! Check out @eaterlbc on Instagram & TikTok for a Behind the Scenes video from my visit. Give a Like while you're there and Follow for more awesome Long Beach food spots!
This place quickly became our go-to Italian place in LB. Their pasta and pizza is super authentic...we are non-meat eaters and they have plenty of options for us. 2x a week they have 1/2 off wine...you can't beat that! Prices are good and portions are generous...we always have leftover for the next day. The owner is almost always there and he really cares for his customers!
Unfortunately I wish I could give a better rating. Gluten free pasta was brought to table undercooked (not edible) and we had to send back. The Alfredo sauce was lackluster; not much flavor but my gymnast son was absolutely starving and could not wait for the server to come back and make it right. We had to ask and then wait for bread to be placed on the table and per my friend, who is a local, and the server, instead of being offered a complimentary salad or soup, everything now is up charged. My friend was absolutely starving as well and she had to order a salad while waiting for her pasta to be replaced. The owner was alerted to our issues. Although I'm sympathetic to the fact that his cook was off this evening I can honestly say the only things that tasted good were the Minestrone soup and the caprese; both of which are difficult to under/over season or cook. The owner sent complimentary tiramisu (large piece) and cappuccino to the table at the end of the meal which was appreciated. However, it didn't offset the poor performance by the kitchen this evening. Of course the server was tipped well - he was not to blame and was very engaging throughput the meal. Hopefully the owner of this establishment can take some of the suggestions back to the kitchen. My friend has stated she dines here frequently and has never had an issue w the meals or service.
My experience was mixed. I came here for a coworkers birthday with a party of 8. We ordered every appetizer and for dinner I had the veal. The sauce used in the mushroom appetizer and the veal are the same sauce. It's a strong flavor that I will say is probably very subjective not taste but I didn't care for it. The giant ravioli appetizer was good. My veal came (in the same sauce mentioned above) with spaghetti with marinara on the other side of my plate. I liked the spaghetti with marinara but it didn't pair well with the veal and its sauce. Service was slow but waiter was friendly. I would probably bhave to try this place again to either verify my rating or improve upont it.