Aliotta’s Via Firenze

I think I have found my happy place… Incredible wine list, friendly and knowledgeable staff and food made with pride. I am looking forward to making this my regular haunt!

I lived in Torrance in walking distance of this restaurant and use to go about once a month. You get greeted like your family and catered to like a very important guest! The food is simply divine! I believe it stated right on the menu as well, if you have a taste for something not on the menu let them know the chef could make it! I haven’t lived in Torrance for some time but I do remember Aliotta’s fondly as a for sure spot to hit when I go back to visit some time. It was a place you could easily pass by without a second look from the outside but inside it was like you were sitting in a restaurant in Italy. Don’t miss out on this jewel, if your able to go DO GO! You will not be disappointed!

I had dinner here on New Year’s Eve.
I had always enjoyed the food and service here until my dinner last week. The breadstick had an enormous hair that I discovered as I bit into it. I had to pull it out in front of the waiter. I watched as he showed the owner but other than getting a fresh set of breadsticks, no one comped me anything, not even a glass of wine, nor did anyone come over to apologize.
This was followed by the busby pouring regular tap water into the glass of distilled water that came from the distilled water bottle I had purchased. I told him what he had just done but he didn’t apologize or show any emotion really. Although the glass was ¾ full the busboy didn’t offer to replace the bottle of distilled water. Instead he emptied the remainder of the bottle I had purchased into my glass. I had to tell him that he needs to replace the water we lost when he added the tap water to the glass of distilled water. He still didn’t bother to replace the bottle. He only came back with another glass of what he claimed was distilled water.
I realize the hair in the food was an accident but this is the fault of the restaurant. I took no pleasure in tasting and having to reel out of my moth the enormously long hair that likely belonged to one of the kitchen staff. We’re I the owner of a restaurant and this happened I would comp the entire meal to show that I value my customer and that this sort of error is unacceptable. I was offered nothing for my unpleasant experience.
I will not be returning to this restaurant.
Andrew

Excellent service and food! I made a reservation and asked to be seated on the side of the dining room since I have 2 small children. We arrived 10 minutes early and were greeted with an open door and showed right to our table which was setup on the side of the dining hall as requested as well as the high chair was ready to go. Excellent service throughout the meal, and you can order anything you want — even pastas that aren’t on the menu. Fantastic atmosphere and friendly service. HIGHLY recommended!!!

I have to learn that you can’t judge a book by its cover. THIS Place Is THAT place. Wow. So glad I came here. Good stuff. Their pollo toscano is money. Delightful. Their shrimp pasta is an excellent choice to get here. you actually get a good amount of shrimp and the sauce is goooooooood. Their foccaia is delish. I ate the whole bread basket in 5 minutes. Come grub.

Lovely restaurant with great ambiance in Torrance. You cant go wrong with any of the pasta dishes, and the little bread balls are just the thing you need to sop up your sauce. The restaurant even holds cooking classes as well!

was pretty impressed. The outside looks VERY unassuming. And if you look at a picture of it on a smartphone it’s offputting. At least I did… I thought «looks sports barsy» because it’s in a shopping center and it had an old awning…
But once you’re inside it looks very pretty and upscale. The inside totally doesn’t match the outside…
And the food was spectacular. I haven’t had such a robust sauce since the east coast. It’s definitely a hidden gem and there’s definitely talent in the kitchen.
I had the chicken parm and just thinking about it right now has me yearning for some!
I definitely recommend this place.

Great service, great food. We had our son’s First Communion party there. We had a great time.

Can’t believe I haven’t shared my review of Aliotta’s. This place is a bit pricey — but it could be that we tend to order more expensive menu items (or the specials) and usually can go through two bottles of wine. No complaints really, just sharing so you’re aware.
We’ve been dining at Via Firenze for years — before Michael bought the place. Food has always been very good. We’d come so often I even had a dish named after me. Seems we started inventing in our own kitchen so our visits were less and less but every once in a while we’ll visit and enjoy an evening of Mike’s specials.
On our last visit, we selected the Veal Osso Buco, stuffed salmon with lobster sauce and cannelloni. He mentioned though it was tasty, the veal was a bit stringy and somewhat chewy, which made the meal not very pleasing. I very much enjoyed the salmon — that lobster sauce was so good I would have liked to slop it onto bread or pasta or heck, ice cream! It was that good. We all liked the cannelloni — a regularly ordered item… we all seem to gravitate toward the «regulars».
Too full for dessert, though he ordered some kind of sweet crêpe… the 2 girls didn’t even have a taste, just too full. He seemed to enjoy it though.
See you soon.

Another local gem, hidden in a crappy strip plaza at the corner of Anza and Torrance.
Nice interior décor, vey Italian
Went there with kids, great for groups, nice selection of meats, pastas, fish, and dessert selection
Ordered bone-​in ribeye
Rack of Lamb
Meat Lasagna
Finished off with a Tiramisu
Great service
Great food
Will bring rest of family next visit
Graci!!!

You would never guess that the interior of this place is interesting with it’s Italian themed wall murals. From the outside, it’s just blah. I came here for a work lunch. The food is delicious and the service good. I think it’s a bit on the pricier side. I could imagine it would be a good date place for dinner.

Another GREAT dinner after a long hiatus of 7 years that satisfied my ‘7 year itch’ for Italian food ;-)
Lobster ravioli, Salmon, Arugula salad,…all looked good as well as tasted delizioso, matching the ristorante’s lush romantic ambience. Yes this place’s location is not the best, tucked away inside a nondescript plaza (next to Thai Rama) on Torrance & Anza Blvd. It reminds me of my last journey through Italy; the many seemingly rundown, derelict chiesas and palazzi hid behind their unassuming façades masterpieces by Donatello, Bellini and Titian. (e.g. Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice).
Bravissimo ancora!

I’ve decided to rate this restaurant primarily on the food quality and service rather than 2 aspects that I find subpar. 1. The price points are way too high. For dinner 2 pax, we had two fish entrees, one Caprese salad to share, one side dish of Fetuccini, dessert and coffee. Our bill ran to 101 $. I’ve had equally great food for half that much at Eatalian or other Italian restaurants. 2. The place is waaay too cramped, with your conversation co-​mingling with the next table, and the place almost looks dingy. I do not get how it can be romantic.
Beyond that, the coffee was perfect, the food was delicious and came out quick and hot, and the service was very pleasant and professional. Dessert was so so but it was a great complement to the coffee. Maybe worth another foray in the future. But come packing with enough dollar ammo.

I enjoyed my dinner here, after the family with the really LOUD kids left. Its great to find a server knowledgible in wine pairing, knows when u need something, and knows when to leave you alone so you can eat. Service 5.
Calimari was really good, I’ve had better, and had much much worse. 4.5
Linguini clams was also very good, Id say 8.5 out of 10.
Price is a little steep, but you’re paying for a non ghetto location, top notch service, and a well deserved tip.

2 stars just for the great service and fantastic moscato.
I don’t mind it being pricey as long it’s filling. The calamari is too bland. The marsala is okay. I think this would be just a one time thing.
So glad we didn’t held our wedding reception here.

I dined at this restaurant while on a business trip with 5 other colleagues.
The food was reasonable, as was the service.
My negative experience was related to being overcharged on the appetizers.
The server who attended to us recommended their «sampler trio». I assumed that it was similar to what other restaurants do, which was to combine 3 types of appetizers into 1 portion.
To my surprise, 3 full appetizer portions arrived. The bill specifically showed «Calamari for 6», «Scampi for 6», and «Burrata for 6». This clearly showed that instead of being a sampler, they charged me full portions. The bill just for the appetizer came out to $ 113.00 without tax.
So, be sure to check on all prices of their recommendations first.

I’m so disappointed with this restaurant. We planned our company dinner here and it was not a memorable one in a good way.
Things we were promised when booking and putting in our deposit were not delivered on the night of our dinner. We were supposed to have a curtain closed to provide privacy, but the owner got greedy and fit another large party in right behind us so it was all open. We couldn’t order dessert from the dessert cart after our meals, rather the guests had to order the desserts when they ordered their entrée. The wine was horrible and moldy tasting so had to send it back. It was replaced with wine that I thought tasted worse.
The food was disappointing, I had only a few bites and could not eat it. The appetizers were too salty. For now those are the things I can recall off hand.
There are way too many great Italian restaurants in LA for me to come back here.

Summary: A nice cozy authentic Italian restaurant. If you are expecting eating a lot, you might need spend some money. But if you are here to enjoy wine and conversations with food, you might be happy with your lightly filled stomach.
It is not easy find good Italian restaurants in Los Angeles beside those filled with olive oil and way too soft pasta everywhere.
Confession: I have never been to Italy, if I say authentic, don’t take my word for it.
-# Food #-
I love their house made bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. In general, their food has small portion, (I some how remember that their portion size was bigger before. but maybe wrong) The seasoning is light and settle. but not blunt. This is the difference you have to pay attention (especially all restaurants out there season their food way too salty and kill the flavor of ingredients))
-# Service #-
I love their service! Very personal and energetic. You will be happy.
-# Atmosphere #-
A nice cozy but nicely finished atmosphere. You can come for your dates, business meetings, dinners with your family and friends. but the place maybe be bit quite for kids or loud groups. This place is not for loud kids.
-# Parking #-
The mall has a good amount of parking spaces. You should be able to find a spot. But the mall and the parking lot is dark at night. You should watch where you are going carefully.

I found Aliotta’s on Opentable though I was unfamiliar with it. I took a few co-​workers here for a celebratory work lunch and I purposely chose this restaurant for the occasion. I could have taken them to Outback Steakhouse, but I was aiming for something that said that I had put some thought into the meal. Luckily, Aliotta’s definitely stood out as a classy Italian restaurant with carefully prepared dishes.
Although it is in an easy-​to-​miss plaza, the restaurant is very unique. When you walk in, you see a welcoming an cozy interior. There is chandelier and scenery painted on the walls. It was a quiet and quaint meal. From the bread to dessert, everything was delicious and tasted like it was prepared with care. The portions were fair and the fish that I ordered tasted fresh and was cooked to perfection. There wasn’t anything that our table didn’t enjoy and service was on-​point! If you come, definitely order the tiramisu. We got one for there and one to go!
No complaints and I will definitely eat at this wonderful Torrance restaurant again.

I came to Aliotta’s with my family for dinner. It’s located in a plaza off of Torrance Blvd. I was surprised to find such a delicious, Italian restaurant in Torrance. This place is a really good place for a date night if you want Italian food. This is probably one of the nicer Italian restaurants in the South Bay.
/​/​SERVICE /​/​
The service here was great! They were very attentive and gave good suggestions. They constantly came by to refill drinks and give us extra bread.
/​/​FOOD /​/​
Complimentary bread: A great starter before your actually meal. The bread is delicious and it goes well with the oil and balsamic vinegar.
Scallop and shrimp pasta: The scallops and shrimps were cooked perfectly! I thought the dish could have used a little more seasoning and flavor, but the freshness of the seafood still made this dish perfect!
Lasagna: This lasagna was pretty good. A pretty good sized portion which comes out covered in sauce which I appreciated. I hate it when a dish doesn’t have enough sauce on it.
Overall, I really liked the food and ambiance at Aliotta’s. I wouldn’t come here too often since it is pretty pricey, but I feel like they use quality ingredients. You should definitely come check this place out if you are on a date or celebrating an event!