Paesano Ristorante Italiano (Manoa Marketplace 2752 Woodlawn Dr.)

I stopped by without a reservation at 6pm to have dinner while waiting for traffic to die down. They seated me, no problem. Very pleasant host and the waitress who served me was awesome. I tried the fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli, and had them give me the smaller portion. It was perfect. The pasta was cooked el dente and the taste was fabulous. Lovely bread, too. I rate a restaurant partially on whether or not their cooking is better than mine. :) Paesano does that, along with a great atmosphere, too.

It's my go to Italian restaurant. Great food. Great service.

Very good Italian cuisine in a cozy setting at the Manoa Market Place. Everything on the menu is good. My go toos include the Osso Bucco, Ribeye steak, Chicken olio and Carbonara. The Canolli and Spumoni are also great dessert choices.

Went on 20 Jan for dinner and it was the first time visiting in about 4-5 years. There was plenty of parking and service was great as usual. Out dinner party consisted of 7 people. We started off with several appetizers including calamari, crab cakes, caprisi salad and bruschetta. The calamari was the favorite appetizer. The breading was well seasoned and the squid was cooked to tender perfection. The crab cakes on the other hand were a dissatisfying. The cakes themselves were mealy and lacked any lumps of crab meat. It did have crab flavor, but lacked the texture of crab meat in the dish. The caprisi salad was nice, but the slices of mozzarella cheese were almost half an inch thick. I was able to stand the cheese up on its side and was able to cut the slices in half and that made the salad much better. The pesto sauce or dressing was almost fantastic. The parmesan cheese was noted up front, but the taste of basil never made its presence known. The bruschetta was tasty and tasted like it may have had a bit of white balsamic glaze mixed in with the tomato topping. My main course was their special for the night, shrimp and clams in a red sauce with garlic, capers and a bit of chilli peppers. The shrimp were large, plump and well cooked. The sauce was well rounded and flavorful, but there was only one bite that hinted at any chili peppers in the sauce. My fiance had the mushroom spaghetti with red sauce and her comment regarding it was it totally lacked salt. All in all, it was a pleasant dining experience but could have been better. Rhe atmosphere and service were the stars rather than the food as food items were really hit and miss.

This is one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. My usual choice is the carbonara but I opted for the scallops with linguini instead. I went with the small, but it almost looked like the large. I recommend making a reservation as they tend to fill up fast. We didn't make one but the host was kind enough to squeeze us in. We'll definitely be back again.

Amazing Italian dishes, would definitely recommend trying out Paesano!

Celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary with the family. Dinner was delizioso! Osso Bucco, Lasagna, Fresh Clam Linguine, Chicken Sorrento, Veal Parmegiana, Bruchetta, Calamari. Caprese Salad. Dessert Tiramisu and Gelato

This italian restaurant was a great experience. The food was much better than expected, and the decor was very nice. For the food... The table bread was warm and delicious, light crust and fluffy inside. I ordered the sausage and meatball with rigatoni; The red sauce was outstanding, the pasta was perfect, and the meatball was alright, but the sausage left me a little disappointed. I never seem to like restaurant meatballs, no one will ever live up to my Nana's cooking so I'll let that slide. Also I'm not a fan of sweet sausage as it is, but it was just bleh for me either way. The grated cheese added a lot to the flavor of my meal, I'd suggest having them heap it on. As for the restaurant itself... The telephone at the front door was constantly ringing at a high volume for the duration of my visit. I understand that they need to take orders and reservations over the phone, but it doesn't need to be on high volume when someone should be there watching the door anyway. My servers however, were very cheerful and attentive. It definitely improved my experience. I'd definitely visit this place again when I'm looking for moderately priced Italian in a higher class atmosphere.

Dinner was excellent as always. I ordered the something different than my usual Sicilian chicken and tried the new york steak. I was sad to find out that they don't have the cold potato and leek soup anymore as that one of my favorites there. Everyone enjoyed the food we've been going there for over twenty years.

Love the Italian food here. They do have dining in from 5pm to 8pm. Check with them for additional hours as COVID restrictions decrease. We ordered ahead for take out.