Mangia Bene Cucina

Visiting here from San Francisco and had the most amazing dinner I’ve ever had in OC. The service was very personal Our waiter Mike was spot on with his recommendation for the pork chops. UNBELIEVABLE! He has worked there for 24 years. Come on now, any restaurant that has that kind of commitment from an employee has to be good. I’m definitely coming back next time I’m in town.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would and that would be solely based on the lousy waitress we had. This was my first time here and I couldn’t wait to try this place. Tonight was my birthday and I was looking forward to a great meal with my family. The food and service was good.
This all went down hill after we got our bill. We split the bill with our party and payed the bill. After we payed we asked one of the waiters if he had change for a $ 100 so I can use the change for a tip because the waitress grabbed the bill before we had a chance to even ask her. We found a very nice waiter that gave us change and then we had the cash at the table for the tip. A few minutes later we see the manager walking by and he came up to our table saying that the waitress went up to him and told him we didn’t give her a tip and we need to pay her.
WTF! Are you serious? The cash is sitting on the table for her in plain sight! So because she grabbed our check early and didn’t give us change she ASSUMED we didn’t leave her a tip? I couldn’t believe that someone would do that, I was shocked.
Not only are you not obligated to leave a tip, you should never be treated like that. I have never experienced anything like this ever!
I spoke to the owner after the experience and he was very nice and understanding about the situation. He agreed with us and apologized. That was nice of him but he never resolved the issue. So am I suppose to feel like a jackass because the waitress had no clue we left her cash at the end?
This was the worst birthday dinner experience I’ve ever had and I wish my husband took the cash back because she did not deserve a tip after all that.
Overall, the food was great but because of my personal experience I would not recommend this place.

If you’re visiting it’s an awesome restaurant.
If you’re hitting the bar, Katherine elevates the level of service providing excellent beverage recommendations as well as perfect barcrafting technique. If I could, I’d give it a ten! A TEN!!!

The menu has everything. There’s literally something for everyone here. The staff is friendly and the food is good. The garlic bread is amazing and so are the desserts. It can be a causal date place, or a good business lunch. Overall, there’s something for everyone here.

OWe arrived at 11:30 am on Monday. The restaurant had just opened. Once our party was sitted, I went to the restroom. Both stalls were out of toliet paper and there was no paper towels. I was perplexed by this because they just opened ten minutes ago. Don’t you have someone stock the bathrooms prior to opening? I informed a waitress on the way out of the restroom. There is a wide variety of items on the menu to choose from. I saw several things that looked good, but couldn’t decide. I asked the waitress a few questions and made my decision based on her answers. The rest of the table ordered three different pizzas. When my food came, I was disappointed to see my pasta was in a tomato based sauce… which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. I had asked the waitress, but was told they were just cut up tomatoes which would have been fine. I tried to eat the pasta dish, but it was bland and tasted like Chef Boyardee. I would have given the restaurant three stars, but the waitress took it off my bill and offered to get me something else. The pizzas all received a thumbs up. The Caesar salads were DELICIOUS. Also, first time visitors get 10% off there bill when they check in on Unilocal. I would come back to this place again, but I would get a pizza instead of pasta.

Who knew this hidden gem was in a strip mall here in South County? No wonder my friend loves coming here! The food is great! The service is great! The servers are courteous and very responsive! What’s not to love about this place?

I’ve been here a few times and the food is always good. The bread they give you is delicious as well! Our server kept our drinks full and even gave us extra bread.
My only comment would be that on our last visit the hostess — a young girl with long brown hair — was wearing dirty jeans and a tank top. As a former restaurant employee, I would’ve gotten fired if most of the customers looked nicer than I did. I would recommend to the owner that he ask the hosts to not wear clothes that make them look unprofessional.

Good garlic bread, and dinner salad. Bf got linguine and clams which he liked. I however got basic spaghetti and meatballs (I got it with marinara not meat sauce). From the moment it was put in front of me it smelled like spaghetti-o’s and tasted like it too. It was a major bummer. I couldn’t even finish it. I would maybe go back, but would not get anything with tomato sauce most likely.

Food is so awesome and the desserts are freshly made! I ordered the cannoli and it felt like it melted so smoothly… most definitely going again!

This is my favorite Italian restaurant. Laguna Niguel is not the most exciting place since it is pretty family oriented. There aren’t a lot of restaurant choices here. We usually must go to outlying cities to dine.
My husband and I love the food at Mangia Bene and the ambience. They have these cool, colorful murals on the walls, so it’s a very cheerful place. They are now under new ownership, which I think is a good thing since the owner comes around to check on things at times and is pretty friendly.
The food is fresh and tasty. We love the calamari (extra crispy), thin crust pizza (pepperoni and sausage), shrimp salad, and white layer cake with raspberries. We usually eat here once a month since we aren’t always in the mood for Italian. We really enjoy the food and ambience. One waiter recognizes us and knows our order, which I think is cool.
This place is great, but not perfect. At times, service can be slow if the restaurant is very busy. It does get busy in the evening. Also, sometimes unruly kids can be loud, but most of the time it’s pretty good. The food is generally outstanding. We did have a bad experience once, but gave them another chance. By the way, they offer huge portions, so be prepared to gorge yourself and take some food home. My husband and I always share a meal there. We order the shrimp salad, calamari, pizza, and dessert. We always have leftovers, and take them home for a snack the next day. When we go to Mangia Bene, this is our sole meal for the day since we get so much food.
We like going to this place when we are in the mood for Italian. We generally go there in the middle of the afternoon when it is less busy. We don’t like going to restaurants in the evening when there are crowds. We tend to not like the experience as much. Since the restaurant is family oriented, it can get loud when a family decides to bring their unruly children. However, most of the time, all is ok. Also, I enjoy their red Sangria. It’s pretty tasty. All and all, this is a great place to go for Italian food in South Orange County.

To be honest, I almost didn’t come here due to having other options of Italian restaurants in the area with better Unilocal reviews. A local recommended this place and I’m glad I took her advice. I came in on a Sunday evening for dinner and it wasn’t crowded. There’s bar seating, indoor seating, and outdoor seating. I opted for indoor seating since it was getting chilly outside. We got seated right away and were handed menus.
A couple minutes later, the waitress came by to take drink orders. I wish I had gotten her name because she was great! She gave a couple recommendations and was very helpful. She always refilled my water promptly and answered any questions with a smile. I got the calamari as a starter and rigatoni mangia bene, based on the waitress’ recommendation, for the entrée. I forgot what my friend ordered but he loved it. After placing our orders, we were given a plate of garlic bread.
The garlic bread was delish! It had a nice crisp, but it was not hard or crunchy. I was filling myself up with water since I just finished a hike, so I only had 1 piece of the bread. Otherwise I would have finished the plate. The calamari was perfectly crisp and came with marinara sauce on the side. It was a great start! Then the pasta, YUM! By this point, I kind of regretted drinking so much water because I was super full. I managed a couple bites of the pasta. I really enjoyed it, but I just couldn’t eat any more. I’m not a big meat eater, so I usually have a bite or two of, in this case, chicken, but something about the chicken was really good. It was thinly sliced so I wasn’t eating big chunks of it. The chicken was moist, as was the portobello, also thinly sliced. The creamy pinkish sauce was perfect for this dish. In the end, we had a bunch of food to box up. Since we were full, we got a slice of cake to-​go for later. The waitress recommended tiramisu and this raspberry cream cake, so we went with the raspberry. It was so good! I love how she presented all the cakes on a tray so that we can see all our options.
When we finished eating, I looked around the restaurant at the art on the wall, the bar area, etc. and then a nicely dressed gentleman came and refilled my water. I assume he is the owner or manager and probably thought I was looking for a refill since I drank so much. That was a nice touch, that instead of sending the waitress or busboy, he came and did it himself. Overall, great service, ambiance, and food!

10 stars +. I could tell you what to order but you’re tastes are different. The fresh food, great taste, wonderful atmosphere, and awesome service that makes this place amazing. What more could you ask for.

Great atmosphere and staff is very experienced and attentive. The garlic bread is amazing, but so filling before the meals! Dinner salad is tasty and the pasta with olive oil and garlic is such a simple dish but prepared perfectly.

This place used to be pretty good. Great garlic bread and the entrees were fresh and flavorful. We tried to dine here again a couple of weeks ago but we’re ignored for so long, we left. One strike, you’re out.
I have no tolerance for lousy service and not being acknowledged for almost ten minutes is ludicrous.
Looking at the other recent reviews, it looks like we were fortunate we left. If they do have a new owner, it looks like he specializes in microwaving frozen food. Too bad. Will never go back.

I enjoyed my lunch here today. The kids enjoyed it too. Must say that with all the garlic cheese bread they give you I was full before the main course arrived. It was just too good, lol

Very pleasantly surprised by this place. Happened to stop by with my friend, has seen it and wanted to try it. Friendly service, clean, quick on the service for folks out to lunch from the office. Amazingly delicious garlic cheese bread that’s complimentary. Definitely recommend their fettucine alfredo. Another friend got the mangia bene salad, which had a lot of chicken — they don’t skimp on the protein! Planning to try the linguine meatball next.

They serve garlic bread as a starter here, and it’s so delicious that I tend to overeat. The dinner salad comes and I love how that is made. Then the meal arrives and I can only eat a portion of it! But that’s ok because I love the left-​overs for lunch the next day.
There’s also a nice selection of wines offered; The ziti portabello is my favorite dish. Everything is so delicious!

3 stars for the honest waitress and food.
FOOD: It wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be; I agree with some Unilocalers that the food is re-​heated (even asked the waitress about our gnocchi which she admitted was pre-​made and re-​heated). Our pear gorgonzola was OK (huge chunks cut, had to cut more with my utensils), and our bruschetta had too many tomatoes on top, setting the taste ratio to tomato and garlic bread only (no herbs).
ATMOSPHERE: They have a beautiful façade and interior. The music can be a bit too loud.
SERVICE: Honest and attentive waitress and waiter. Food was served within 10 – 15 minutes… but the food is just dissatisfying for true Italian, homemade dishes!

Love this place. Came here for the first time on a Thursday night and there wasn’t any wait. This restaurant has a nice ambience and is spacious with high ceilings. The service is attentive and our waitress was very friendly and gave helpful recommendations. I ordered a seafood risotto and my fiancée ordered a grilled chicken pasta with a olive oil garlic sauce. Both were very delicious. Nice complimentary garlic bread which they kept coming. The first helping was on the more burnt side but the second plate was perfect.
I usually never crave Italian food because I feel like it’s usually on the heavy side but the food we had didn’t feel that way at all! Very nice flavors and perfectly cooked seafood. They also had very generous amounts of seafood in the risotto as well. A great dish! Lots of tomato and mushroom in this one.
The waitress said that the lasagna is very popular as well and that the pizzas are really good.
Would definitely come back again. Great spot!

Mangia Bene is a delicious Italian restaurant with an attentive staff, flavorful dishes, and the BEST garlic bread you can ask for. I’m not kidding! Came here today for Easter brunch (there was not a special menu), and I was pleased to see that it was not busy! This worked out well because we got our food in a timely manner, our water was refilled without us asking for it, and the food was hot and ready to eat!
I was so grateful to get the complimentary Garlic bread as an appetizer (did I mention how delicious the bread is?!) and it was a great start to our meal. I was equally surprised to see that there was a 10% off offer if you check-​in on Unilocal.Score!
Four stars for the win! Thank you Mangia Bene for a delicious dining experience. Great place for families or even a date too!