Assaggio Italian Restaurant

Was actually gross. Paid $90 for 3 small plates: Cheese Ravioli and meat sauce, Fresh Clam Casino w/ Linguine, Sausages and Pepper with Potato w/ Linguine. For them being simple meals you would think they would come out good. Nope. Super dry. No seasoning on anything whatsoever. On the clam meal, it was so dry so I added the lemon they included.. dried it out even more. Tried adding the Parmesan cheese, made it worse. Even the bread and butter (complimentary?) was so dry and bland. Don’t recommend wasting money here! (-:

Horrible experience. I ordered the Veal Saltimbocca, "Saltimbocca" means "jumps in the mouth" in Italian. The sage is what makes the "jump", It is simple: veal, butter, sage, prosciutto, some EVOO, sale e pepe. Assaggio's "taste" lacked the sage, and added some kind of pasty cheese, breaded the veal [sic]. Yuck. I made it clear to the server is was unacceptable. Response: "The local version." Then don't call it "alla Romano." Call it "tasteless, breaded veal Kailua".

I've been to this restaurant a dozen times in the past and have always had a decent experience. I took my family and mother-in-law on December 30th, however, and it was pretty miserable. Among the issues we encountered: * For two of the items we ordered off the menu, the server came back to our table to explain that the kitchen was "too busy" and as a result these items were not available. Neither was a complicated dish, they were simple appetizers. I've never heard this excuse at any restaurant before. What was especially annoying was that these were the two items ordered by my kids, both of whom are picky eaters on top of dietary restrictions, and therefore had limited options to begin with. * The menu says that substitutions are possible for a $3 charge. For a restaurant this expensive that's a little obnoxious, but fine, I was happy to pay it. Here again, we were told that the kitchen was "too busy" so they couldn't do any substitutions. That included the ridiculously simple request of putting a steak's sauce on the side rather than on top of the steak. I'm paying $55 for a 12-ounce steak and wanted to pay an additional $3 so that they didn't smother it in a sauce that my kid couldn't eat, but that was too much to ask, apparently. I ordered a steak for myself and asked if I could substitute a different vegetable, but this request got the same response: "too busy". I was even willing to pay the full cost of that vegetable as a side dish, but they were unwilling to accommodate. * When our steaks did arrive, my son's was literally almost raw. (In fairness, mine was a perfect medium rare.) I like rare steaks but this was ordered medium rare and was not even warm all the way through. It probably would be considered "blue rare" by standard definitions. * My wife paid $32 for the "scallops and shrimp" entree. It came with 3 scallops and 2 shrimp. Seriously? How is that a meal, much less a $32 meal? * We ordered three drinks (two glasses of wine and one cocktail). After 20 minutes of waiting, none had arrived. We needed to go up to the bar to order them there instead. * I very politely asked to speak to a manager so that I could explain our experience. I have restaurant industry experience and figured they needed to know about all of this. I was promised that a manager would call me within 2-3 days. It has been 10 days and I have not received a call. Needless to say, I'm not holding my breath. I won't ever be going back to Assaggio.

The food was delicious and service was perfect. It has a nice well lit dining area!

Great food and service. The fresh bread is always great! A touch let down by the anchovy pasta. Don't get me wrong it was still delicious. But I would call the dish fried garlic pasta with a hint of anchovy.

The food (especially Crab cakes with wonderful "white" sauce) was great. The service was also fairly good, but the drinks left a little too be desired. For a fine dining experience, I felt like the tables were too close together (we were crammed in a corner and if I had brought my elderly grandparents or anyone who was not "slim", it may have been uncomfortable). It also had somewhat of a "cheap" feel with the walls being lacquered plywood... But the food and service were worth going back.

The restaurant offers a great Italian dining experience, featuring an extensive variety of pastas and specialty dishes. The service is outstanding, with attentive and friendly staff. Our choices, including the Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and Chicken Alla Parmigiana, were delectable – the fettuccine was wonderfully creamy with juicy meat, and the parmigiana was deliciously well-seasoned. The dining experience was completed with a delightful Chocolate Cake.

Dinner was really good! Our server David was very warm and friendly. Throughout the restaurant there are beautiful paintings adding to the experience. If you visit make sure to try the coconut crème brûlée!

The food is still amazing, the service not so much. Got their early with no reservation, the place was empty and the hostess made a huge deal about squeezing us (there were only 3 occupied tables). Finally got seated, our orders got taken but we waited a long time for water. Our salads were made and our entree was brought out immediately after. They used to allow time in between. Our bill was wrong (they added the next tables food on it. When we left there were maybe 5 occupied tables and a lot of servers standing around.

This was a great Assaggio's! The food was delicious with pretty sizeable portions. I definitely recommend trying it what's on the daily specials if you have a chance. They change every so often, and it's always nice to try something different. My wife finally didn't complain about how the steak was prepared (yes, she's VERY picky)! The service was top notch! Our server David was very friendly and helpful. When an ingredient from the bar want available for a drink, the bartender was nice enough to come to it table, explain the situation and offer an alternative. All-in-all, a great experience if you're around the area. Parking can be a bit challenging, but it'll give you an excuse to walk around and explore the area.