Bistro Mezzaluna

Advertised as a tapas restaurant. It does not serve tapas. Food was not good. Shrimp scampi and chick parm Service was pretty good. Nice people. Strip mall atmosphere. Would not recommend because food was not good

Fantastic meal! Fresh and quality ingredients made for great dining. Lots of stand-​outs. Right away the warm bread stood out as noticeably good, as did the quality of the olive oil served for dipping. The Caprese salad balsamic reduction was done to perfection and the tomatoes stood out as really flavorful. I’ve never taken note of restaurant tomatoes before. The pasta was prepared very well and the sauces were hearty and flavorful. They offer a petite portion which worked well for me. For dessert we had a chocolate hazelnut torte. The hazelnuts on top stood out for their fresh flavor and the torte was the perfect consistency.
They did not carry my husband’s favorite wine, however the owner suggested a bottle that proved to be of exceptional flavor. The owner was friendly and helpful, the waiter prompt. A stylishly casual setting with a light, jazzy soundtrack playing made for a relaxing evening. We were informed that they have live music Wed through the weekend. For fine dining, I found the pricing very reasonable and less than other places we ate at, especially since I had a petite portion.
My husband is Italian, with grandparents immigrating from Italy, he grew up eating homemade Italian meals. We generally eat Italian when dining out in Providence and Boston. We ate the following night at Michael Anthony’s and were not as pleased with the food, selections or the atmosphere.

Not a big fan. went there with a large group (12) seated us at 2 different tables. 1^st table got food right away, 2^nd table didn’t get food until 30 min. later. Food was also not very good. Chicken parm was awful and the lasagna mushy. 1^st and last time there. don’t waste your time or money.

Came to the restaurant since we were craving some shrimp scampi. Should have gone elsewhere. The meal was bland, the shrimp undercooked and the pasta overcooked. The salad was OK for me as I got the creamy Italian dressing. However, my husband got the balsamic vinaigrette and almost choked as it was all vinegar and not enough oil. So, the salad was almost inedible. Good things about the restaurant were the bread and we had a very nice server who was very attentive.

We wanted a nice Italian dinner during our visit to HHI, and the reviews for Mezzaluna sounded like it was just what we were looking for so we decided to give it a try. They cautioned us ago make sure to make a reservation, so we got there at 6:15 on a rainy night during spring break, and the place was empty. We started with the bread, which was advertised as «famous». It was OK, but nothing terribly memorable. We had a Caesar salad, which was good, but nothing unique. The entrees were good. I had a chicken francese, which was quite tasty. Others in the group had spaghetti and meatballs and linguine bolognese. Both enjoyed them, but they didn’t appear to be anything special. In general, it was pretty good Italian food, but as for the claim about being the best Italian food south of NYC… I think that’s a bit of an overstatement.

We enjoyed the atmosphere, the food was good had veal marsala which was excellent and veal parmesan which was good. The service was excellent, very attentive and knowledgeable of the menu items. The owner was there who greeted us and introduced himself as we walked in to the restaurant, a nice touch.

Excellent food. I had the lasagna which I don’t ussually do at at Italian place but they informed us that everything was made from scratch so I went for it. We had dessert, wine, espresso. And everything was quite good.
The prices are a little high but the night we were there a live pianist was also paying so I think in total it was worth it.
The owners were there and very nice — they made recommendations on our meals and took excellent care of us. I like that the place wasn’t crowded and that we were treated so well — In all if we ever come back to hhi we will return for a good meal.

My wife and I decided to try Bistro Mezzaluna on a Thursday night. As the tourist crowds are just about gone we were ready for a change from the restaurants we normally frequent.
The décor reminded me of a few Italian places in Brooklyn. Nothing fancy, just comfortable. We were seated quickly by our waiter. Only two other tables were occupied. After more than a few minutes our water glasses were filled. We were told that bread would be out in shortly. We both decided upon veal. When the waiter returned we asked for a wine recommendation. He suggested red. No suggestion beyond the wine’s color. We were again told the bread would soon be out. We placed our order for salad, Veal Giovanni, Veal Margherita and a bottle of Barbera. We were again told the bread would be out soon. We were beginning to anticipate what would surely be a great freshly baked basket of bread.
Our salads arrived with a small bowl of seasoned olive oil. When nearly finished with our salads the basket of bread arrived. Not at all fresh but slightly warmed. The dipping oil was olive oil with black pepper.
The salads were good but rather small for the price. The House Salad was $ 5.95 and the Caesar salad $ 7.95.
The entrées were well prepared and tasted good.
With tip the meal was over $ 100. We have eaten much better meals in nicer restaurants for that price or less. I cannot see a return to Bistro Mezzaluna for us. The meal was good, not great. It was just too expensive for a regular night out and not of a caliber for a special night.

DWI = Deserves wider attention. See note on DWI at the bottom of this review.
What a pleasant night!
Hilton Head is not the easiest spot in which to find a place to eat on Sunday night. Michael Anthony’s was closed. Sage Room was closed. Alfred’s has been closed for two weeks during the slow season.
So, my wife, Susan, and I decided on Bistro Mezzaluna just hoping for an acceptable Italian meal. In fact, we were treated to an absolutely delightful experience. It reminded us of being in one of our neighborhood Italian restaurants in New Jersey again (and from us, that’s a high compliment). Even the music was familiar, with Frank Sinatra’s playing in the background.
I had lasagna, which was the special feature; Susan had pasta fagioli. We both had green salads, and thought it remarkable (and a wonderful surprise) that the mid-​winter tomato was actually ripe! We love Fresh Market, too, but saw a caprese salad in their display case yesterday, in which the tomato slices were barely transparent pink. Good work, Bistro Mezzaluna for caring enough to find good tomatoes! The wine list is compact but offered one of our favorites, and a wine not commonly seen: Avignonese Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. Superb, and only $ 38 per bottle. We finished our meal with cannoli, limoncello sorbet, and espresso.
Service by Andres was helpful when we asked for recommendations before ordering, and attentive throughout the evening. Couldn’t have been more pleased! We’ll be back.
Explanatory note:
Four-​star/​DWI reviews are, for Susan & me, a way of highlighting restaurants others may find «quirky,» but which we believe deserve far wider attention. We use this rating to highlight efforts of special note (as compared with three-​star reviews which are for perfectly wonderful restaurants, or our very limited number of five-​star reviews, for places at which we thought everything was truly extraordinary).