Cafe Barolo offers the finest menu of Italian food my family has ever had. My grandparents came to this country by way of Ellis island in the early 1900's and even my grandparents would have been impressed with the cuisine. Seafood, pasta, lamb, and beef dishes are nicely served with homemade pasta dishes and a wonderful wine selection. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the service is amazing.
Needs to be gatekept but this is the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten. The seafood pasta is amazing, their red wine is amazing. Tiramisu was light and beautiful. Chef/owner is the real deal- he’s playing with fire in the kitchen. Sound level is perfect. Go with great company and you will have the best evening.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Bill Lin
Barolo Italian Cafe is a low profile but authentic Italian restaurant here at Tustin area. Their cooking style is like a passionate artist, you feel the different layers of taste they're trying to deliver to me, even the side 🥗 Salad, simple but flavorful.
For main course, ordered their seafood spaghetti, or should I say seafood soup with noodles; at my first bite, the tasty sauce (soup) amazed me, at my 2nd bite, was surprised to find out that except salmon, they put in cod, which is very rarely found; as I put in the house chili oil, this spaghetti immediately won my 5 star, as the chili oil brought out all the essentials of seafood.
Strongly recommend this place!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Trent
Had an incredible time here, can’t wait to go back the staff was super nice and the food was amazing. Bravo!
It is just not tasty. Any other Italian place in OC I have been to served way better food than this place. I put bunch of cheese on my pasta but it didn’t help. Protein was overcooked and pasta was tasteless.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Sebastian Krol
Family-like atmosphere complete with the occasional and highly entertaining kitchen arguments! Giuseppe is bar-none when it comes to food and style. Dinner and a show. You'll enjoy amazing portions, incredible quality, and most folks in attendance have a love and affinity for the place like it was their own. The absolute go-to place for Italian food in OC
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike Brisson
Great sea bass! Authentic Italian food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Linguini, Halibut, Ravioli Alla Vodka
Aly Arce
Great experience! We didn’t have a reservation and they looked busy but luckily we were seated right away. I had the ravioli a la vodka which was 10/10!! My husband’s dish was also delicious. Wine and dessert are a must! First time here and it didn’t disappoint.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Shmiley C
Lowkey Italian spot in Tustin. Same parking lot as Kean's Coffee and Gen KBBQ. It's a big parking lot, but it's almost always full.
I was actually trying to eat at OkiDoki, but the wait was two hours on a Saturday. We walked across the parking lot to Barolo to get Italian instead. We were pleasantly surprised. I saw the olive oil/balsamic vinegar bottles on each table, and I was so amused. It's a great invention.
Our server was chatty but mindful. The menu was extensive; it was hard to choose. I like that the pasta and main dishes are served with a salad, which tasted so good!
They gave us a big basket of bread, which was super toasty and almost hard. It tasted so good, I was eating like 4-5 pieces before the main dishes came out.
I got the veal sorrento. It was delicious. The pasta that came with it was also tasty. It was a big portion for $27.95.
Indoor + outdoor seating available. Credit card/Apple Pay accepted. Bathroom is past the kitchen. No Wifi.
We really enjoyed ourselves tonight. My husband and I were sorely in need of a date night...so we took to Google. We wanted to go somewhere with great flavor and Barolo looked promising, based on reviews. Plus, we like to support local businesses.
Marco took excellent care of us. He was friendly without being intrusive. We enjoyed the conversation with each other and with him. He spoke knowledgeably about the food and the restaurant (including its history) and provided helpful recommendations.
While some music would have been nice (we sat outside), we were pleased that we didn't have to yell to hear one another.
They already give you foccacia and salad with the entrees, so we ordered caprese instead of bruschetta (though they have many appetizer options). I suspect the bruschetta would have had more flavor than the caprese, but that was easily fixed with some balsamic vinegar and salt. I don't typically eat lots of bread, but the focaccia was delicious and cut into manageable, toasty strips with onion baked into the top.
I ordered the mushroom tortellini and my husband ordered the osso bucco - both specials. His was super tender. No knife required, and the tomato sauce pleasantly surprised me (I usually prefer cream sauces). The tortellini was good, too, but something in it tasted a bit bitter - more than I prefer. I suspect it was one of the mushroom varieties. I noticed it less and less as I ate. I wish the tortellini were a bit more consistently filled, but that's a nitpicky observation.
We finished with cannoli and profiteroles. The latter was a little too rich for me, but the cannoli were awesome. Even my ricotta-disliking husband enjoyed them!
Overall, tonight hit the spot, and we are grateful to have found Barolo! This was a good reminder to break out of routines and look for hidden gem restaurants. Definitely give them a shot! 😀
Joe Bedell
Worth it
Don Whisnant
I worked in Italy over a 10-year period and never found a bad restaurant. I never found a resturant in the USA that matched the quality of food found in Italy...until now. Borolo Cafe is a wonderful find, as their food, atmosphere and service is the best I have found since my time in Italy. If you want to sample real Italian food, this is the place.
Cafe Barolo offers the finest menu of Italian food my family has ever had. My grandparents came to this country by way of Ellis island in the early 1900's and even my grandparents would have been impressed with the cuisine. Seafood, pasta, lamb, and beef dishes are nicely served with homemade pasta dishes and a wonderful wine selection. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the service is amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Linguini, Veal Sorrento, Salads, Halibut, Veal Marsala, Ravioli Alla Vodka, Bruschetta
Needs to be gatekept but this is the best Italian food I’ve ever eaten. The seafood pasta is amazing, their red wine is amazing. Tiramisu was light and beautiful.
Chef/owner is the real deal- he’s playing with fire in the kitchen.
Sound level is perfect.
Go with great company and you will have the best evening.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Barolo Italian Cafe is a low profile but authentic Italian restaurant here at Tustin area. Their cooking style is like a passionate artist, you feel the different layers of taste they're trying to deliver to me, even the side 🥗 Salad, simple but flavorful.
For main course, ordered their seafood spaghetti, or should I say seafood soup with noodles; at my first bite, the tasty sauce (soup) amazed me, at my 2nd bite, was surprised to find out that except salmon, they put in cod, which is very rarely found; as I put in the house chili oil, this spaghetti immediately won my 5 star, as the chili oil brought out all the essentials of seafood.
Strongly recommend this place!!!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Had an incredible time here, can’t wait to go back the staff was super nice and the food was amazing. Bravo!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Barolo, Lasagna, Salads, Linguini Cardinale
It is just not tasty. Any other Italian place in OC I have been to served way better food than this place. I put bunch of cheese on my pasta but it didn’t help. Protein was overcooked and pasta was tasteless.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 5
Family-like atmosphere complete with the occasional and highly entertaining kitchen arguments! Giuseppe is bar-none when it comes to food and style. Dinner and a show. You'll enjoy amazing portions, incredible quality, and most folks in attendance have a love and affinity for the place like it was their own. The absolute go-to place for Italian food in OC
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great sea bass! Authentic Italian food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Seafood Linguini, Halibut, Ravioli Alla Vodka
Great experience! We didn’t have a reservation and they looked busy but luckily we were seated right away. I had the ravioli a la vodka which was 10/10!! My husband’s dish was also delicious. Wine and dessert are a must! First time here and it didn’t disappoint.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Lowkey Italian spot in Tustin. Same parking lot as Kean's Coffee and Gen KBBQ. It's a big parking lot, but it's almost always full.
I was actually trying to eat at OkiDoki, but the wait was two hours on a Saturday. We walked across the parking lot to Barolo to get Italian instead. We were pleasantly surprised. I saw the olive oil/balsamic vinegar bottles on each table, and I was so amused. It's a great invention.
Our server was chatty but mindful. The menu was extensive; it was hard to choose. I like that the pasta and main dishes are served with a salad, which tasted so good!
They gave us a big basket of bread, which was super toasty and almost hard. It tasted so good, I was eating like 4-5 pieces before the main dishes came out.
I got the veal sorrento. It was delicious. The pasta that came with it was also tasty. It was a big portion for $27.95.
Indoor + outdoor seating available.
Credit card/Apple Pay accepted.
Bathroom is past the kitchen.
No Wifi.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Had the chicken parmesan excellent 👍
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Service is great and so is the food.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
We really enjoyed ourselves tonight. My husband and I were sorely in need of a date night...so we took to Google. We wanted to go somewhere with great flavor and Barolo looked promising, based on reviews. Plus, we like to support local businesses.
Marco took excellent care of us. He was friendly without being intrusive. We enjoyed the conversation with each other and with him. He spoke knowledgeably about the food and the restaurant (including its history) and provided helpful recommendations.
While some music would have been nice (we sat outside), we were pleased that we didn't have to yell to hear one another.
They already give you foccacia and salad with the entrees, so we ordered caprese instead of bruschetta (though they have many appetizer options). I suspect the bruschetta would have had more flavor than the caprese, but that was easily fixed with some balsamic vinegar and salt. I don't typically eat lots of bread, but the focaccia was delicious and cut into manageable, toasty strips with onion baked into the top.
I ordered the mushroom tortellini and my husband ordered the osso bucco - both specials. His was super tender. No knife required, and the tomato sauce pleasantly surprised me (I usually prefer cream sauces). The tortellini was good, too, but something in it tasted a bit bitter - more than I prefer. I suspect it was one of the mushroom varieties. I noticed it less and less as I ate. I wish the tortellini were a bit more consistently filled, but that's a nitpicky observation.
We finished with cannoli and profiteroles. The latter was a little too rich for me, but the cannoli were awesome. Even my ricotta-disliking husband enjoyed them!
Overall, tonight hit the spot, and we are grateful to have found Barolo! This was a good reminder to break out of routines and look for hidden gem restaurants. Definitely give them a shot! 😀
Worth it
I worked in Italy over a 10-year period and never found a bad restaurant. I never found a resturant in the USA that matched the quality of food found in Italy...until now. Borolo Cafe is a wonderful find, as their food, atmosphere and service is the best I have found since my time in Italy. If you want to sample real Italian food, this is the place.
March 2025: The outdoor / patio dining IS BACK!
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