CUCINA enoteca Newport Beach

Their wine dinners are incredible!

Loved the Pizza and wine selection. Interesting how they mark up their wine much less than other restaurants. Service was really good and the outdoor area was very nice.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Pizza

If you haven't been here you're truly missing something special, the food is amazing the desserts were great and our service was exemplary, I usually go to the one in Irvine Spectrum but I went to the one in Fashion Island and it was just as amazing

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

That's my first time to have dinner at Cucina. Our waiter was super nice. Menu shows many Italian. So he helped us figure out the ideal food. It turns out that he made perfect suggestions. My son finish the whole plate pasta. That's the first time that he finishes his meal in restaurant. Wagyu steak is also good, tender and juice. We really enjoyed this place. One thing is not very convenient though, the menu is hard to read at night.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I was pretty disappointed at my experience at Cucina Enoteca Newport a couple of days ago. We’ve been to the Irvine location a few times and enjoyed the food and experiences so when my daughter asked to have her birthday at the Newport location, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. Food was overall ok but the experience leaves a lot to be desired.

1. We arrived at 6:10 for a 6PM reservation and the table was not set up yet. My daughter and friends had to stand in the middle of the restaurant to wait for the set up.
2. My wife and I wanted to find a table for two somewhere else in the restaurant so it will be easy for us to pay for the group at the end. It took the two young ladies greeting us 15 mins to figure something out, even when there are quite a few tables available. There are also quite a few people waiting in the front and we were all wondering what the greeters were doing. They don’t appear to be trained for the role and were not very efficient. Also a little bit of smile would have been great.
3. The two waiters we had were nice. However, the restaurant charged us $3 per person for cutting and serving a $40 cake, so that’s another $30 which seems quite excessive. Also restaurants have started making 20% the default minimum for tipping. That’s what we would have done anyways since the waiters were nice, but being forced to do doesn’t feel good.
4. There’s a pool of water under the urinal in the men’s room, which I’ve not seen in any decent restaurants.

My daughter had a good time overall but this experience really fell short of my expectations for Cucina.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 3

Had a drink and some fries. Massive wine selection. Decided to pass on a meal, felt too pricey.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Short rib mafaldine, squid ink pasta , and salmon are really good.
Also, Tricolore with sea bass is one of the best foods in this restaurant.

It has a high ceiling and has a spacious place to eat.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Mushroom Goat Cheese Pizza, Shrimp and Clam Squid Ink Pasta

The experience was beyond expectation. We started with squash blossom. (Crispy and creamy) i had the cucumber drink ? it was sublime. I had 2.
The Brussels sprout was also crispy and spiced to perfection. My husband had the chicken thender and tasty. I had the octopus it was delicious. I was so happy with everything ib will come back

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Terrible! I waited patiently 20 minutes for a server. Got so impatient I left . Not what I’d expect from this restaurant.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food quality is very good, but some taste good some taste just alright. Service is alright. Environment is good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Good home felt Italian restaurant, easy access from fashion island.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Very friendly staff, super clean, well designed, and the food quality was great. Even though its an Italian restaurant, my husband ordered the hamburger which was amazing. Its very baby friendly as it is spacious and they offer accommodations to people with babies.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Good ?

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Luke was a phenomenal server. His knowledge and passion for food and wine was refreshing and made our experience extra special. The clam and squid ink linguine and bucatini were both delicious. Great spot and highly recommend.

We celebrated a birthday tonight and they had the private area set up for us. We had privacy and comfortably moved around to visit each other. We had selected a pre set menu and had 4-5 main courses to choose from. For starter they brought us Caesar salad with romaine lettuce that was really fresh and garlic hummus topped with sumac and delicious think crackers. Most of us had the delicious salmon but the chicken was devine too. I had Lavedar 75 cocktail which was so beautiful and a perfect mix of Prosecco, Gin, Lavender and lemon. I highly recommend this restaurant and will return soon. Nima was who we dealt with to organize our large party dinner and kudos to him for job well done.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5