Palazzo Ristorante Italiano

Upon entering the small establishment, the entire place had cooking smoke everywhere. Although our order was taken in a timely fashion, my regular house salad took 20 minutes to come out and the main dishes took over an hour. The House salad at $7.90 was at most, a leaf and a half of romaine with some strips of carrot, I slice of black olive and two tiny blocks of cheese. My guess, their cost was probably less than 40 cents. The chicken anchovy olio seemed to be missing the anchovies as I didn’t taste them at all and the shrimp with vegetables in pesto cream was ok. Portions were decent for the main dishes. Sadly, we likely wint be going back.

Food is okay. The taste wasn’t anything too extravagant. No special plating. We got there at 5:20pm and our food didn’t come out until after 6:30pm. None of the staff kept us updated.

This has to be one of the best Italian restaurants that have ever eaten in. There is plenty of hot bread and butter but EVOO to dip the bread in. The food and gravy taste homemade. They offer full or small plates on most dishes. Being raised in an Italian household with a mom who was a tremendous cook, this place is a close second. Highly recommend this out of the way place. Reservations aren't required, but on the weekends, highly recommended.

We came here for dinner in Jan26 and the food was pretty good. However the server was kinda rude to us which spoiled the meal for much of our party. It was due to a misunderstanding on the order. I had just looked at the specials menu and there were 2 veal options with shrimp, a Parmesan or a Marsala. So I ordered the Parmesan and handed the specials menu to the waitress. When my meal came it had the “wrong” sauce. I called the waitress and asked, she said it was right, I didn't say "shrimp", so that's why I got a veal Parmesan from the book menu. I didn't open the book menu so unaware. I said ok I guess I can eat it even though it wasn't what I wanted. At this point she could've smoothed it over and said oh sorry about the misunderstanding, and leave. Instead she said very loudly that “I can’t not read your mind" regarding the order! Wow. It was a really rude response after I had already accepted the food. This unpleasant and unprofessional behavior was unnecessary, and affected our experience here. We will not be back.

Took almost 45 minutes to recieve our food. Mold on the roof. Wasn’t the servers fault or anything, she was overall nice. The food looked like a microwave meal. Very messy and unorganized restaurant.

The best Italian food you will find on the entire island— just go. My family and I have been coming here for nearly a decade. Their service NEVER disappoints— they are a family owned business and they are seriously the kindest, most friendly people ever. Everything from the freshly made complimentary bread and butter, to their delicious house salad, to the many main dishes and pastas they have— are all nothing short of spectacular. I would eat here every single day if I could! I don’t like Alfredo pasta but this is the only place I’ll consider eating Alfredo pasta of any kind. It’s just THAT good! You won’t regret coming here, the best Italian food in all of Hawai’i, without a doubt. Couldn’t rave about this place enough.

I have been to this restaurant many times and it is consistently excellent in both food and service. The menu is extensive and the prices are fair. Try the osso bucco or the fish piccata made with the fresh fish of the day. If you don't see exactly what you want, ask! They are quite flexible and eager to please. Nice wine list and good dessert menu. (Zabaglione!)

Update: Palazzo’s has become our favorite restaurant! We’ve never had a bad experience, the staff is always warm and friendly, the food is always exquisite. My personal favorite is the Chicken Alla Saltimbocca, if you’re unsure of what to get I highly recommend it. We had an INCREDIBLE experience here! We all ordered something different, 4 different entrees total, and every one of us LOVED our food! You can tell it’s made from scratch, everything was perfectly seasoned and full of flavor. The sauces were rich and the meat was cooked to perfection. The prices are very reasonable, especially considering the generous amount of food you get! They also offered options for our 3 year old, we were able to order him a small plate of chicken parm, and our server even offered penne instead of fettuccini so that our son had an easier time eating it. The starter bread is literally the best bread we’ve ever had, a thin crunchy crust and a very soft inside, THE BEST. And finally, they had the friendliest staff, every single one of them was so kind and welcoming. Not just polite, but above and beyond kindness. We had our 1 year old son with us and they were all playing games with him all evening long, popping in to check on us but also to say hello to him again, and he was loving all of the attention lol All in all we give 10/10, 5 stars in all categories. Amazing. We’ll be back guaranteed.

We have been coming here for many years for family get togethers and special occasions. We recently had dinner for Father's Day. Sure it was busy, and you have to expect to wait when it's like that, so be proactive if it's busy and order a couple drinks and appetizers right away if it's a special day like that. Great effort by the staff. I love the antipasto salad, as well as the escargot and clams casino. First of all, Lot makes the best Martinis! I like Sapphire martinis. They are ALWAYS the best with little ice chips and filled to the absolute rim. We always have fun watching them carry martinis to the table without spilling a drop. I often order veal parmesan or oso bucco, but this time I had wanted old school home style Italian so I ordered Meatballs and Italian Sausage with Meat Sauce on Angel Hair Pasta. It was awesome! You can tell it had been simmered for a long time, which is the way I like it. Old school home cooking. It normally comes with spaghetti, but you can order other types of pasta like linguine, fettuccine or in my case the angel hair. To me it's the perfect balance for a sauce like that, and not too filing. Everything was excellent. Meatballs were just the right texture and the Italian sausage had wonderfully robust flavor. Umami to the max. The bread is always excellent as well and we always like to bring some home. I know a lot of people like Tiramisu, but I always have some chocolate gelato for dessert. Lot and his staff always take great care of our family. He never seems to age and he is like family when we go to Palazzo. Thanks for all the great times and memories there.

On the hunt for best Italian in Aiea, and honestly Palazzo might be it. Palazzo is a no frills, hole in the wall mom & pop shop that you really want to support, especially when the food is delish and service is on point. I called to make a 6:30pm reservation on a weekday, which probably wasn't necessary until about 7ish when more parties filled the restaurant. For food, we ordered the fried mozzarella, chicken marsala, and special of the night which was scallop & shrimp Florentine. First, softened butter and a basket of hot bread was dropped off at our table. The bread had a crispy crust and soft interior, and it was hottt with steam which I loved. The fried mozzarella comes out as a fried block of cheese and a serrated knife for you to slice it however you want. The cheese was super gooey, the coating was wonderfully crispy and well seasoned, and the marinara sauce complemented it so well. On to the sides, the chicken marsala had a distinct marsala wine flavor and the chicken had a delicious crust on it. The special of the night was on a white board at the entrance, described as "jumbo shrimp and sea scallop sautéed with garlic, olive oil, mushroom, bacon, spinach in a white wine butter sauce over linguine pasta ($26.90)". This dish was goooood, super garlicky with a good portion of seafood, bacon, mushrooms and spinach. I did ask for sub fettuccine but it came out with the advertised linguine - no biggie. I have to note that all the dishes came out STEAMING hot, meaning they were being brought out the second cooked. The servers were hustling table to table. Water was constantly refilled. Oh also the crushed red pepper was spicy, which is always a plus. Parking is ample and free first 2 hours. P.S. We were celebrating a birthday, and without even saying anything (we had a birthday gift bag on a chair), the server brought out an ice cream sundae at the end - so thoughtful and attentive! Will definitely come back!