North Italia - Santa Monica

Absolutely delicious! We ordered the mushroom pizza, and it was fantastic. I also tried the pesto pasta with pine nuts, which was amazing as well! The atmosphere was great too. I highly recommend this place, and it's just a 12-minute walk from the pier!

We dined at this restaurant for dinner about three hours before closing, and it was quite an experience. We waited around 25 to 30 minutes for a table, and after being seated, it took about 15 minutes for our order to be taken. We chose to sit outside on the patio, which was quite comfortable. Our party consisted of four people, including myself. Unfortunately, things became frustrating at this point. We waited an hour for our entrées to arrive. When they finally did arrive, the waitress dropped two of them onto the table as carelessly as if they were just sheets of paper! It felt incredibly disrespectful, and she simply walked away after we awkwardly thanked her. This left us with only about 45 minutes to enjoy our meal. One member of our group ordered a pepperoni pizza, and we were informed it would take longer than usual due to their baking method. That was understandable. However, when the pizza finally came, it was burnt. We tried to cut it with a fork and knife, and to our astonishment, it was ROCK HARD. I’ve uploaded photos of the pizza for reference. We brought this issue to the waiter’s attention, and she didn't seem pleased with us. She grabbed the pizza pan and walked away without any resolution. The situation became tense enough that we had to call over the manager. It was disappointing because we had issues like no water refills, one entrée missing a side, and another entrée incomplete. Unfortunately, the manager wasn’t very helpful either. There is absolutely no excuse for a staff member to carelessly drop entrées on the table, causing sauces to spill everywhere. The service we experienced was quite absurd. I ordered a premium dish, only for it to be drenched in lemon juice, making it overwhelmingly acidic and difficult to enjoy. I also tried their Old Fashioned cocktail made with Japanese whiskey, but it was so harsh that I left the restaurant with a sore throat—an unpleasant mix of acidity and dryness. As a small consolation, we were offered both desserts on the house due to the poor service. Overall, it was a disappointing dining experience.

1. On my most recent visit, I had to wait 9 minutes outside because I arrived 5 minutes early for my reservation, even though more than half of the tables were empty. Ultimately, we were seated after our scheduled time. Additionally, when I asked my server for the check, I waited over 10 minutes without receiving it, so I ended up walking to the kitchen near the bathroom to hand my credit card directly to a server who was chatting with the other staff. 2. During my second visit in May, the meatball pasta I ordered was served more than 20 minutes later than the other dishes. When I inquired about the delay, the server apologized and explained that my order had been missed.

North Italia is a great place for pizza or any Italian dish. The food, all of it, is just great. It is so popular it can get crowded. We did not feel like waiting so we did take away and it was amazing. It was still warm when we got home. We had Lasagna and pizza along with an amazing salad. It was all great. The pizza had the best crust and the pepperoni is perfectly crisped. The lasagna was in the best red sauce filled with meat and cheese. Our salad was big enough to share and we enjoyed every bite. The service was super nice. It is an adorable place to eat and next time we will go during off hours and dine there. Have a great time in Santa Monica.

The best Italian food we have had in a while. This place was amazing! Went on a Friday night and the place was pretty packed (make a reservation ahead of time, to avoid having to wait). We got an outdoor table, which was nice. The waitstaff taking care of our table (Gloria) was the best! I can't speak highly enough of her. She was super patient with us asking all the questions, always had a smile on her face, and would come and check in often. Her recommendations were fantastic too. I got the Smoky Sunset cocktail, which I asked to make a little sweet it was perfectly. Then we got the simple salad, the spicy rigatoni vodka, and the daily pizza (eggplant parmesan). Everything tasted yummy the rigatoni was our favorite. We finished with the Hazelnut Torta. I'd told the wife that I don't feel like dessert, but after I ate a spoonful of the Torta (comes with ice cream on top), I couldn't stop. It was so so good. Highly recommend this place. For now, our favorite place in Santa Monica.