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I came to Villa Sorriso for a nice dinner with my boyfriend on a Saturday night before we went to the Ice House in Pasadena.
Our reservations were at 6:30pm, but with traffic it took us an hour and a half to get to the restaurant- we called ahead to let them know we would be late and they were very gracious.
We were seated right away and I loved that we were seated at a window so we had a great view of the street and people walking by.
I ordered the the Vodka Sorriso pasta dish- it was good, the flavor of the vodka sauce was nice. My boyfriend ordered this AMAZING pesto fettuccine dish - it was really delicious, it had mushrooms, sun dried tomato's and chicken.
The bread slices and tomato brushetta they bring out before dinner was really good, a little on the garlicky side.
We both tried a drink from the Martini menu- I had the "Desperate Housewife" and my boyfriend decided on the "Marilyn Monroe". My drink was great- strawberry flavor with a sugar rim.
The bar looked trendy, the vibe at 7pm was nice and the server was knowledgeable.
Parking was valet : $10 guess that is to be expected in Pasadena
I would definitely go back here.
I've had this half-written review sitting on my Yelp account for weeks. No idea why I couldn't finish. I guess I'll just start from scratch.
This is a great place to unwind after a nice long day of shopping at Old Town. Their food isn't all that (tried a pasta dish and some clams..meh.) I do, however, really like the calamari. I've been here maybe 2 or 3 times, and the service is always good - but not great. Definitely good for drinks with some girlfriends. Prices are reasonable.
Short and sweet. :)
I've been to Villa Sorisso numerous amount of times and I loved it each time. The food is great, service, and atmosphere. What more can you ask for?
Before your meal they bring out large cruton-like with garlic salsa. Their salsa is flavorful and mouth watering.
I normally don't order salad, but they have one of the best salads. I've ordered it back to back and they always leave me satisfied.
Their pasta dishes are great. One of my favorite dished is the rossotto.
Romantic setting inside the restaurant. Beautiful and fun setting outside especially, during the evening due to the light decor and lounge sitting.
Definitely, one of my favorite restaurants in Pasadena.
I'm telling you right now... the food was WHATEVERS.
The service was quick and polite....
Anyway, I went here with my hubs for his work's annual Xmas party/dinner. This year, it happened to be at this place. I ordered the chicken parmesan and he ordered a pasta with black olives.
Well, the chicken was okay. breaded chicken with red sauce, mashed potatoes and a few veggies. The only problem I had was that my chicken size was HALF the size of everyone else's chicken! I was like, "WTFreak? Gordon Ramsay would have never let this happen!" My hubs kept saying that too... but we didn't say anything since we were with such a big group--plus, I didn't want my food to be spit on... augh.
My hubs black olive pasta was WAYYYY tooooo salty! Even for me, and I love salty foods! Oh Goodness! His coworkers agreed too and not one person finished their pasta, I believe.
OMG, BUT THEIR Tira Misu was so delicious! I've always been reluctant to eat tira misu ever since I tried Olive Garden's nasty take on the popular coffee dessert cake. But Billa SORRISO got me hooked on it again! That was the only good food experience I had at this place.... wait, the second okay experience: the bartender mixed my washington apple drink okay, and my hubs drink was too strong and nasty... bastos! HE didn't even drink it! That's saying something!!!
I had been here once before with my girlfriends for lunch, and the food had been pretty good, and a nice place to have lunch outside on a sunny afternoon. So when we were looking for somewhere to go for Italian for dinner, we thought we'd head back.
Unfortunately, we won't be likely to do this again. I ordered their seafood pasta with angelhair instead of fettucini, and my girlfriend ordered another pasta dish, without cheese but adding chicken to it.
Somehow they brought my seafood pasta with fettucini (not the switch to angelhair I had asked for) WITH CHICKEN (her chicken, I might add), and brought her pasta with cheese on it. I can't comprehend how they could have gotten it MORE wrong.
And to top it off, the waiter dropped off our meals then disappeared. We couldn't even let them know they had made a mistake (actually, many mistakes) as we couldn't find another waiter for probably twenty-five minutes.
I spent those twenty-five minutes picking chicken out of my dish to give to her, and she spent it eating three pieces of pasta and then pushing it around her plate a lot.
Won't be going back ...
Oh but I should mention the one great thing about this place - the bread they give you comes with little chopped tomatoes and it's like your own little made bruschetta. Delicious ...
I'm not one to write reviews, but my experiences at this place have been so horrible that I had to post a review. Although I don't write reviews, I often look up reviews about restaurants and I really do take people's opinions into consideration when determining whether or not I'm going to try a restaurant. That being said, I hope that you take my advice about this place and never go there!
I have been to this restaurant, both for dinner and for the nightclub. The times I have dined at this place, I was not at all impressed. I went a couple of times because I wanted to give the place the benefit of a doubt. But both times, I was thoroughly disappointed. The food was mediocre and overpriced and the service was terrible. I ordered a seafood pasta dish that hardly had any seafood and was totally bland. The server was unable to manage a party of 8, which really isn't that big. It took forever to get drink refills or even napkins and everyone got their dishes at different times. So, those that got their plates first basically ate cold food because it took about 15-20 minutes for everyone to finally get their dishes and start eating. If you are looking for really good Italian food in the area, try Mi Piace (only a couple of blocks away).
My last experience at this place was when I spent NYE at the nightclub at this restaurant. My NYE was absolutely horrible and I vow never to go to this place ever again. I agree with other reviews that the crowd is ghetto and the wife beaters underneath the collar shirts are evident. This place was so crowded that it was a fire hazard and we overheard the promoters saying that it was at capacity and they still had a huge line of individuals who had prepaid tickets waiting outside. But they still kept letting people in. It was obvious that the management and promotion company cared more about making money, rather than people's safety. To add icing on the cake, we were almost trampled on by some guys getting into a fight. And there were more fights throughout the night.
This is a tacky establishment that is poorly managed, has awful food, and attracts a bad element. I would not recommend this place to anyone, not even to my worst enemy!
Dined here with A after an evening stroll through South Pasadena. The patio is nice, loved this firepit and the music playing softly in the background.
The calamari and steamed clam appetizers were good.
I had the Alaskan Halibut-it was supposed to be pistachio crusted but I only tasted a smidge of pistachio once. It was overcooked and lacked flavor overall.
A had the blackened Ahi Tuna with saffron risottowhich was much much better.
Review based soley on the bar/lounge....
Came w/ a couple gf's for a bday, was charging $20 bux at the door, not to conceited but I don't pay, so we got passed that. The atmosphere was nice, great patio, inside was nice, had a nice feel. The crowd was mixed, you either had your really classy looking ppl or some really trashy looking people. No in between. Some guys were dressed to impress which was nice, real gentlemen like, other guys were trying to undress me on the dance floor! Which by the way was really really small. It felt awkward dancing because people were still eating in the patio area, it's like um, this is weird. Had a group of ppl standing by an older couple smoking away while they were trying to finish there meal. Kinda wrong...yeah? Anways, drinks were ok, actually switched it up here and just went with martini's all night here, pretty good I guess, not sure how much they were, didn't pay, but they did have my fav vodka...Effin....nice touch! Drinks might be on the expensive side because at one point when i went to the restroom some girls pulled a bottle out of a purse and started pouring it into empty cups like wtf??? hahahaha. To each it's own I suppose. Some creepy dudes, I was sitting at a table inside waiting for my girls to get there drinks and two older white dudes came to sit down, ordered me another round, so hey I went with it, then they asked if I was filipina and how much If I was up for sale???? Gah damn not all young filipina's are mail order brides!!! WTF??? That ended that convo real quick! hahaha. I had to get out of there for a little tho, you can get a wrist band at the door and bar hop, come back if you want which was nice. To wrap this up, yupp, I would come back here, I did have a great time.
I've been dining here for years and have consistently had good to great dinning experiences here. The food is great for those times you're in the mood for bistro-Italian but not looking for anything super heavy. It's very conveniently located at the end of the shopping stretch of Old Town Pasadena so it's perfect for grabbing a bite after a few hours of shopping.
This is also a great place to meet someone for drinks if you're looking for a place where you can actually here yourself talk. Ambiance is comfortable with white table cloths. Needless to say, probably not the best place to bring the screaming toddlers. Sorry parents~
I went on Friday for some cocktails and appetizers with my some friends and sat outside at the patio. This place is really nice, good looking people, I enjoyed myself. Drinks were good and appetizers were very good, we had calamari, garlic fries, crab cakes, all were delicious. I would come back for some dinner, maybe sooner than later.
If you're looking for a restaurant with a nice outdoor patio and excellent food, this is the place. I tried the iced tea with fresh raspberries and they brought homemade bread with fresh bruschetta for an appetizer. The Warm Shrimp Salad was perfect for lunch. Our server was very friendly and attentive.
This a great place to try while visiting Old Town.
Ok so i've only been here for lunch...
I'm giving it 4 stars because my Salmon was DELICIOUS and perfect. The service was really good, our server was helpful honest and cool.
The callamari was also really good. I guess i cant give it another star because i dont know what everything else is like.
So far two thumbs up from me, i'll def come back soon.
Good Italian food at higher than average prices but it won't break the bank. Their wine selection was decent and since we couldn't decide which bottle to try, the kind waiter allowed to try 3 different wines so we had a better idea. Very friendly service. It wasn't crowded when we went even though Old Town was bustling with people trying to get in on last minute X-mas presents...thus we had relatively quick service. Their pizzas were so tasty... definitely one of the best I've tasted and considering that pizza is my favorite food and I've tried quite a few that says something... you could tell the cheeses were fresh. Outdoor patio looked nice although it was about 40some degrees so we decided to stay indoors.
There are many nice classy females that go to this place. I was there for new years. I was so full, it was hard to just walk around. I would go back,
10/24/09
Meeting with friends for dinner.
$115 for 2 people:
Appetizers:
Chilled Spanish Sherry
Carpaccio
Dinner:
Ribeye
Frutti di Mare Pasta
Wine by the glass:
Wyndham Shiraz - Australian
Hess Sauvignon Blanc - Californian
The appetizer was not interesting for $14. However, my brother's rib-eye medium rare just melted in mouth, served with mushroom sauce. It was worth the $24. I substituted the tomato based sauce of my seafood pasta to garlic and olive oil. There were squid, mussel, clams, and a piece of scallop. All dishes were very 'orthodox' of Italian cuisine and the extensive wine menu showed some thoughts to it. The villa-style courtyard had a great atmosphere in early evening for guests want to enjoy the outdoor.
Do not be intimidated by our check, the menu offers a range of prices. It was that we purposely picked steak and seafood to try. Again, the rib-eye!! Fantastic by itself or with a glass of Shiraz.
We came on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and the menu looked just about perfect for us.
We started with the caprese, which was good, but a little small for $9 (3 slices of heirloom tomato / 3 slices of buffalo mozzarella).
I had the halibut ($16) which was fresh and nicely prepared (beurre blanc / blanched spinach / mash). My wife had the spinach salad and added chicken ($13) which was quite large and quite good. Now, two hours later, she is still pleased with her choice.
We finished with the $8 bread pudding - a little French toast-y for my taste (gooey); I wouldn't order it again.
Service was good but not great; atmosphere was nice and calm on the patio, away from busy Colorado Avenue.
We would certainly return for lunch; I'm not certain I would approve so highly of this place with a Saturday night crowd scene.
came here for a bday dinner and thought this place was ok...it's a cute space with lots of patio dining but our table was seated indoors and they were able to accommodate our large birthday party of 15 or so. was pretty impressed with the service for our group at the beginning of dinner. our head count was a bit off so they easily added on extra tables and chairs to our initial set up so that everyone had a seat and wasnt crammed all together.
ordered the calamari ($10) as an appetizer and it was good - just the run of the mill fried calamari. nothing was overly impressive about it. for my entree got the linguini georgio ($20) - basically linguini noodles in a white cream sauce with shrimp and chicken. thought it was good but the dish was pretty bland...wished the sauce had a bit more flavor.
one of service downfalls was the serving of the food - i understand we had a big party but all the food came out at different times. the birthday girl was left without her food maybe 10 minutes after the first dishes came out from the kitchen. since we're all well-mannered people we didnt start eating until everyone had food and man is it painful to have to wait to eat when you're starving haha
side note: this place does turn into a club after dinner hours and if you dine there, they'll let you stay for the club for free. i hear it's a $20 cover charge so it's def worth it to get walked in after you're done with dinner. we didnt stay long though b/c the club was too packed but it looked like a fun place? haha
my first visit was a about 2 years ago with my boyfriend. it was our first date & we're still together so it must not have been so bad. as we sat down we looked around the restaurant & remembered how nice the space is. the staff is so friendly & i asked "why don't we come here more often?' to which my boyfriend responded "i think the food was just ok"...oh yah..now i remember. first the chianti was great...my first one & the server was spot on. next caprese..good..a little salty. next surf & turf for me. filet mignon...excellent! crab legs not my thing but my boyfriend enjoyed them. he had ahi tuna & rice. it was pretty good, but tiny sad portion on his plate. on a side note they served the bread with a tomato "salsa"...weird & soggy. bill 116.00 so probably won't return :)
I would like to start with my review on Villa SORRISO; let me start with the Food, my appetizer was their Crispy calamari, and I was greatly enjoyed it was perfectly seasoned and cooked to an excellent texture, however that was perhaps where the goodness ended, since I also ordered the lasagna and I must say it was not bad, but nothing special either, it was kind of like eating a, "Stouffer's," Good but nothing special, and as for dessert, that was, ehe (Nothing Special), the tiramisus tasted like they just took it out of the freezer and put it on the plate, was okay but clearly was a frozen boxed dessert. I do not want you guys to think, that I am ragging on this place, since I really did enjoy my experience at Villa SORRISO, the staff was very friendly and knowledge of the menu, in fact I would like to go back there next weekend to try the Villa's specialty pastas, rather than making my mind up after one less then special meal, if this is a go to or just another stop by and try... also this place is one of the few places to get fairly cheap Dr. Peppers ( Disaronno and Coke) for $8 a pop and I am not talking about the soda, also pyramid for $5 not bad especially for bottle, so I have to say that the bar defiantly is a must go but still not sure about eating there, that is a check back with me in a week but yeah defiantly if you ever find yourself in Old Town Pasadena and you are over the age of 21 I suggest you check out Villa SORRISO during the weekends, it is a place to be seen and have fun and enjoy the company. Located before the 210 at the far west end of Colorado in Pasadena, So check it out for yourself, Nice atmosphere, Good drinks, Good music, Great service, Food although is key still needs a little more review, but overall I say check it out b/c Was a great, place, i went here only twice but it was a great time both times, the Servers very knowledgeable, food could have used improvement, but i primary went there for the inexpensive Cocktails and great music and also to see who of the in crowd would be stopping by... great place to unwind after work or school pending when and where you are coming from, but over all great drinks and great company just need to improve on food...
Very solidly good restaurant. Of course it didn't hurt that it was an absolutely beautiful mild December day in Pasadena and perfect weather for dining in the patio. Our group sampled appetizers, the raw oysters, fried calamari and split an ahi sandwich and dinner salad. Enjoyed a few glasses of wine, martinis, espresso and dessert. The food was very good and the service was praise worthy. Very attentive. We didn't feel rushed. I would definitely return for another midweek lunch. I understand it turns into a club later in the evening. That being the case I would avoid Villa Sorriso like the plague over the New Years Holiday. I can't even imagine the potential crowds.
I can only rate their bar/lounge area as we went to Villa Sorriso on a Friday night to dance.
Their dance floor is small, roped off, drinks prohibited (I wonder why when they were serving the drinks using a cheap-o plastic cup), but nice on a warm summer night. They project the music videos off the side of the wall on the 2nd floor. Music played is pretty much your regular hip/hop, nothing too spectacular, although it gets the job done.
Drinks are about $10-12 per "glass" (plastic cup) and it is really watered down for the money they are charging.
We came to dine and dance at this location...
Dining Review:
Probably the best calamari I've tasted! I'm a huge calamari fan so I like to try calamari everywhere I go... Some places it's too fried, other places it's too battered... I normally have to ask for a BOWL of lemons to enjoy crappy tasting calamari (I don't like to use the marinara sauce). But the calamari served at Villa Sorriso was A Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Aioli, Served with Shaved Red Onion Cucumber & Daikon Sprouts. The texture was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the dipping sauce is REALLY good. I didn't have to use a single lemon for the first time EVER. I also believe I tried the Sausage & Bell Pepper Rigatoni... I'm not a huge fan of pasta, but this pasta (my brother ordered) was pretty good. If he didn't eat it all... I would have finished it for him. And the cocktails are yummmyyyy....
Service was so-so... The guy was basically in a rush to leave because it was the end of the night... so he catered to us to make sure we buy a lot (more food+more tax=more tip) but then when the bill was to come it took like a half hour to get because the waiter went MIA.
If you want to dine without a lot of noise, I wouldn't recommend coming close to club/lounge time (9:30-10:00 pm). While we were sitting inside eating, the crowd was coming in and out... all drunk... and the music was really loud outside. Plus some weird guy walked by my friend and SNIFFED her hair and said "you're beautiful". Kinda weird while having dinner.
Club/Lounge:
I guestlisted through Padilla Entertainment and had no problem with lines or cover. (Also, if you're there early enough for dinner, you won't have to pay for cover because you're dining there anyway). The music played that night was mainly mainstream music... especially hip hop. The crowd was "cultured" and the dance floor was tiny. There were a lot of tables and two bars...
I'm the type of girl who likes to dress nice to clubs/lounges... typically I wear a dress... so you can imagine how awkward I felt when everyone there were wearing jeans and a top. Must be an LA thing.
A tip for the IMPOSSIBLE parking in downtown Pasadena:
Park on South Pasadena Avenue right across the street from Villa Sorriso. It's about $7-$10 and you don't have to walk hella far or be restricted at a meter.
So we never got a chance to try the food here, so i'm rating purely on customer service. We had wanted to potentially have our wedding reception at this restaurant and had been going back and forth with their so called "event coordinator" for a couple months trying to set up a weekend where we could meet and take a tour. We had finally gotten one set up for this past weekend on Saturday at noon. Alex emailed us and said she had something come up and could we push it to 1? that was fine.
We end up arriving around 12:50pm just to not make HER wait if she was ready and when we arrived, the hostess just told us she wasn't here and she didn't know when she would be so we should just go sit at the bar if we wanted. We went and sat at the bar and the bartender was very nice, we paid $10 for a tiny ice filled cup of jack and proceeded to wait. We waited until 1:18pm then went out and asked the hostess is she had gotten an ETA from Alex or anything. I don't think she even had tried to call Alex or find out what was going on. And i'm sorry, but it was NOT busy. So we were nice and said we'd go kill some time and went to a couple stores and returned at 1:50pm. We come back and the hostess still has nothing to say to us but.. "She's still not here." then the assistant manager says he'll go check upstairs. he leaves... comes back then says he has an email from Alex letting him know that she had a family emergency. It's almost 2 now. We drove up from san diego to meet her and wasted our afternoon waiting for her. The ASSistant manager took us around the restaurant real quickly just to show us the different rooms then awkwardly sent us on our way, didn't even walk us out.
I was pretty bummed b/c this was on the top of our list of potential reception sites. The room was appealing and i was going to try to look past this little hiccup and try to move forward with planning. I emailed Alex a day later and expressed our disappointment in not getting to meet her and her professionalism. I also did say that i understood things happen and i would still like to move forward with speaking about deposit amounts etc.
It's been 3 days now and still no response. well.. now i say, F*** you.
I will never step foot in that place again and we'll take our hard earned money elsewhere.
Dressy attire is a must in this restaurant. Came here for lunch it wasn't busy at all and it was friday. Customer service was good our waiter was very attentive. The food was good. Had their specialty pasta which the portion is some what large. Its better than olive garden lol but not the best ever. Atmosphere was calm/quite. This is a good place to take out your significant others to impress them =) plus you can just walk around old town after wards.
Went there for a friends birthday dinner/party. He had roughly 50 people going. Service was alright.... now lets get right to the food.
Had the carpacio for an appetizer and it was such a disappointment. The slices of beef were too thin and you could tell that it had already been precut and stored in the fridge. 18oz rib eye steak for entree, sad to say that the au gratin on the side tasted better. The steak was bland and the sauce that came with it as well. Had to add lots of salt and pepper. Ordered it med rare..came out almost medium!
I have to say, the drinks there are pretty good, but a bit on the pricey side.
pros: good drinks, nice atmosphere, ok service
cons: a bit pricey, food bland
We live in apartments about 2 blocks from this establishment. Been twice. First time it was a slow weeknight about 2 years ago. Martini was good, apps good. Bartender was somewhat personable. Nothing totally memorable though. I'd like to be a regular here since it's so close..I want to love it. Went again in October 2009. It was a Saturday night, but it wasn't crazy busy. Male bartender barely greeted us and there were several seats open, so it wasn't like he had a ton of people waiting in line for drinks. No personality or manners or customer service at all. We asked for a menu for maybe some appetizers. He basically threw it on the bar. After this, we still thought maybe we'll try the restaurant, perhaps we'll be treated better. We were well dressed and out on a date. The host/s, 2 men, were not busy. Totally ignored my BF as though their chitter chatter was the most important thing going on. After that, BF came back to the bar to tell me we are getting out of there. Maybe their food is good but we won't be giving them a second chance. Hint, hire a bartender with some personality, and manners..his response if he didn't hear us-was "uh?" and just plain unprofessional. Really disappointed.
We had reservations for ten this Mother's Day. I was not looking forward to having brunch anywhere on Mother's Day but I was a trooper and didn't complain. I am so glad that we came to Sorriso!
We arrived right on time, 1pm, and our table was ready for us. Our server was very nice and attentive and made sure our drinks were always filled. The food was great! There were about six or seven food stations throughout the restaurant. One of my favorites was the omelette. The sweet Italian sausages and the grilled shrimp were tasty too! I tried the cheese tortellini, baked salmon, chicken marsala, eggs benedict, crab legs, cesar salad, tiramasu and fruit tart. Everything tasted heavenly. I wanted to try the french toast and pancakes but just couldn't get myself to eat another morsel of food. I was STUFFED!
The restaurant is really pretty and huge. The service was right on and everyone was super friendly. the price was reasonable, $35 for adults. Thank you, Villa Sorriso for making my mother's Mother's day one of the best! The family will be coming back here for brunch again!
Good outdoor seating area
Service is fair
Food was a little bland
Great vibe at this location
This restaurant is one of the many Italian places where i ended up eating while satisfying my crave for Italian food. It offers excellent outdoor ambiance perfect for the date. The service is great, food is wonderful and place is upscale. i ordered sea food platter and Margaritta pizza. the thin crust pizza had coal/ wood smoke flavor which was unique and good. the sea food platter had sample size portions of all he common sea food like crab, shrimps, mussels, calamari and squid in a nice thin tomato sauce. I have been recommending this place and would suggest you to check it out as well
I stopped in for Sunday brunch. Thought I check out their menu. I ordered the Sorisso French toast with berries. It was very good and I highly recommend it. you don't even need syrup. It's also sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar. Their cream is so fresh... i licked my plate.
This place is extremely disappointing.. A few years ago, we had my sisters bridal shower here and it left me thinking it was decent.. but I am sadly mistaken..
We came here because Ruth Chris' Steakhouse was packed to the max, and Roy's was as well. I figured it wouldnt be so bad. First of all our party of six was seated next to a party of 17. They kept getting in and out of their seats, kicking our chairs, and the same goes for the servers. It took my waiter 15 minutes after the wine was brought out to get me a Diet Coke. Service was bland and unacceptable in my eyes.
The ONLY reason this place holds 2 stars for me is the mussels appetizer.. They come sizzling hot with this garlic butter concotion, and it was AMAZING!. Dip your bread in the garlic goodness... I had the Halibut and it was distgusting at best, Husband had Frute Di Mare, and it is NOT suppose to be a tomato creme, which it was here.. Brother in law and Sister had Chicke Piccata and Marsala. My father had Vongole which he commented it was way too salty and my mom had the sea bass.
I was certaintly irritated when the waiter almost sideswiped me with his tray. I was ready to go.. I didnt even want desert. But they brought mediocre deserts for my birthday...
I would never go back on a busy night. It was not my best birthday moment and hope they get their act together.
*Napoleon Complex Alert*
This restaurant has the "I'm not really in L.A., but I will treat people crappy anyway" Napoleon Complex thing going on.
The hostesses were ditsy and refused to seat us until half of the party had arrived (mind you, this is no white table cloth establishment).
The server was quite pushy, brusk, and disorganized. He forgot to take quite a few people's orders, and then did every order out of sequence. Not to mention, I do not enjoy the whiff of the busboy's pitts whisking past my nose everytime he reached over my head to serve a dish. Every server and busboy should be taught the proper direction to serve the table!
The food was ehhh as well, nothing distinctly Italian about their menu.
One of the bartenders chose to clean up instead of serve me. Customer always comes first, and you clean as you go.
The DJ was horrible, and so was the crowd of drunk, cigar smoking, wobbly-legged, middle-aged people.
To top it off at the end of the night valet was $10! For Pasadena? Why, is this parking for the Rose Bowl or something?
Give me a break, surely a city as nice as Pasadena can offer a more appealing nightlife than this?
Been avoiding partying at clubs for a while because of the the thought of long lines, overpriced drinks and lousy music just turns me off. But this place absolutely rocked the party for me. I had a blast! Alcohol or not!
First off, I had contacted Villa for information on bday parties, cover and the person who answered the phone was so informative on their guestlist, etc. I also got a very nice confirmation email back which made my day pleasant and excited to be there later on that night. When we got there for the bar, there was absolutely no problem getting in. Sangrias were free before a certain time. Maybe there was a promo that day. But that was pretty awesome.
No cover before 11pm if on the guestlist. SCORE! Free cover, no wait and GOOOOOOOD MUSIC. Don't get me wrong just cuz there was no wait didnt mean no one was there because there were lots of ppl there. it's a happening place. Drinks aren't even pricey! Man this place was AWESOME. Seats for everyone! Very friendly staff which made my night just more amazing.
I recommend people come here for some great fun with no hassle! What more could I have asked for that night.
My boyfriend and I were attracted by the tent like structures outside and decided to try the place. The food is mediocre and service is good.
If your goal is hang out and party then you might like this place but I would not recommend for food - I can't even remember what I ate there.
The food stinks, the workers have a crappy attitude and the clientele is just down right creepy. They have a dress code here, but if you look under the finer threads, you will still find a wife beater.
Save yourself the trouble and in this economy, your nickel, and just stay home and punch yourself in the face.
You'll thank me later.
It's never easy finding a place for 18 people for Mother's Day Brunch, so I'm giving this place some slack for being able to host us. That said, they're only getting two stars for their chicken and beef kebabs.
Although our party was promptly late, straggling in by twos and fours (Pasadena parking is never sweet on a Sunday), the waiter never came around to take the other half of the table's drink orders, and when we finally got our first glass of champagne, we didn't get a refill until dessert was eaten (which is when you should be getting coffee, not more mimosas).
I also hate how the serving stations are randomly scattered throughout the premise. How am I supposed to know where to get some fruit tarts? Or that their carving station is so tiny, it's tucked in the corner I passed by a dozen times? I felt like I was on a scavenger hunt, and when I finally found the booty, it wasn't very good. Though the raw oysters were fresh, and eggs benedict not bad, what shone were their freshly grilled chicken and beef kabobs. Man those things were so good, I wish I had discovered them in the very beginning of the meal. Unfortunately, everything else I ate before that fell flat (and there's really not much in the first place).
Overall, it's not the food that bugs me that much, but the service. All the waiter had to do was keep the drinks coming (the busboy wasn't even allowed to fill our water glasses). The place wasn't super busy, but I guess when your 18% gratuity is guaranteed, the waiter can just go twiddle his thumbs by the bar.
I was impressed by Villa Sorriso the moment we were greeted by the hostess. She was friendly and we were seated promptly. The waiter was really nice and told us the specials for the night, which sounded very good! Once I opened the menu, it was a complete 360! The prices aren't reasonable for the food you're paying for. I had the Penne Alla Vodka, $14, WITHOUT ANY PROTEIN. I love pasta and I'm almost always satisfied, but this wasn't the case that night. Don't get me wrong, the pasta was okay but it was nothing special. The best part of the meal was the bruschetta and bread. Save yourself a couple of bucks and skip the calamari.
Service was good in the beginning but we didn't see the waiter for a looong time after we received our entrees. After we paid our bill, we went to the bar and like the meal, had some overly priced drinks. My wallet was really sad by the end of the night. The atmosphere is nice with a firepit and heating lamps for outdoor seating. Twinkling yellow lights surround the entire place. It would be a great place to go for a first date but only if you could bring your own food and drinks.
Once upon a time we had pretty good dinners here, but the last few times I've been here it's been blah. Blah might be one of the worst things you can say about a place to eat. This is a very mediocre housewife dressed up as a high class hooker. If you go late, it's also an expensive meat market but it's actually better as a bar than it is as a restaurant.
I've been in the bar/niteclub dozens of times and it's always been a pretty good time. I stopped going because I was burnt out on the place, but it has everything a good lounge needs: decent drinks, decent music and good looking people.
If you have to come, go for the club and not the dinner. Your stomach will thank me later as will your wallet.
Food - C
Ambience - B+
Service - B
Value - C
Villa Sorriso visit was by chance. I was out alone on Saturday night since my partner went to a concert and I had finished a full day of a workshop. We were staying in Old Town Pasadena and we had previously passed the place during our walk Friday afternoon. What attracted me to the place was the film playing on the screen. Being alone, I wanted to look at something besides the food I ordered.
After going to the desk and asking for a table which was available, I sat near a party of 20 or so having a birthday or celebration dinner. At first I was facing them but turned around 'cuz I didn't want to keep seeing the same, Hellos with various groups of their friends.
I faced the entrance and the water feature because I was told after my workshop to be near water and they didn't mean a glass. So from that vantage point, a nice server came up and asked if I needed anything even though I was not her station. Commendable. I ordered a drink and the server got my waitress and she ordered the drink. Bread and tomato concoction brought with it. The bread was nice but the tomato was a little underwhelming. I would have rather they gave me two slices of bread as a bruschetta as opposed to me creating my own. Drink arrived and it was tasty and good.
Waitress told me the specials and I wind up ordering from that menu instead of the regular menu. The regular menu has something for everyone, pasta, steak, seafood etc. However, I ordered the clam chowder with bacon bits and the paella. The chowder came warm and deliciously filling. I expect the paella to be not so good but it turned out wonderful with the exception of the calamari. I have cooked paella before especially with all seafood, since calamari can get overcooked, its advisable to try to put it last to get it to just cook from the steam and heat of the whole dish. No dessert as I was doing some walking back to the hotel and thought of just getting some yogurt or something (wind up getting a marshmallow creme with nuts-yummy!!!!)
Overall, I think VS is a place for people to hang out in Pasadena, a lot of younger people enjoying drinks and a night out. I know that earlier in the evening ( I came around 8) there were tourists like me around because some were wearing shorts or windbreakers. The nighttime crowd especially after I left at about 9:00-9:30 was skewering towards twenties and thirties with a sprinkling of 40 +.
Next time I need to actually check out what movie was playing that I didn't get a chance to see based on my vantage point and seating.
Overall, I recommend it. Maybe on a quieter night like Sun-Thu.
The outdoor cabana-ish seating is nice, but the food is just ok. I came on a date and it's a great place for that ... for the ambiance. Oh and I came once with Vanessa N. (just remembered that) but we chose to eat indoors that time. I remember having the antipasto platter and carpaccio, and its not that the food was bad, but it was just mediocre. But the very worst was the creme brulee ... curdled and lumpy! It was very upsetting. I just read that someone else had the same issue with their creme brulee (Janet V. below, I feel your pain) ... is that just how they make it?! It's horrid!
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Greek
Neighborhood: Pasadena
Category: Italian
Monrovia, CA
Category: Italian
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