Fritto Misto

We stumbled here on a recommendation and it was a great evening. The menu has a large variety of choices, lots of pasta choices/sauces/entrees....I had the chili pasta, spicy sauce and chicken, my wife had the 'pillows'. All of it was amazingly good and fairly priced. The service was excellent as well. I highly recommend this place if you want a nice Italian meal. Pros: Lots of variety, good service Cons: crowded more

To be honest I can't really compare this place to any other Italian restaurant in Santa Monica because I don't even want to try the others. This place has such great food, friendly service, and reasonable prices that I keep coming back for more. Try the raviolis, yummmm. Pros: Great food, friendly service, reasonable prices more

I just moved to Santa Monica and this place is down the street from my apartment. I could not be more excited to have a restaurant near by. The food was fabulous and our waitress was so attentive. I wasn't sure which wine I would prefer and she allowed a small taste-test. Everyone at our table had an excellent dish, and our waitress brought us a complementary dessert at the end of our meal. more

I went here a couple of times for lunch. Both times were average at best. I recently had the sausage with whole wheat pasta. It was so bland. A good sauce has to be bold but here it was just there on my plate. However I have to give them credits for the portion. I also ordered the calamari which I was very satisfied with. It has to be by far one of the best I have eaten in awhile. Too bad their pasta could not be the same. Pros: Size of dish, calamari Cons: Bland sauce more

I've ordered many things from the menu, and every dish has been flavorful and cooked perfectly. There are so many choices on the menu that everyone in your party is bound to be happy, including vegetarians and children (can create your own pasta & sauce combo). Servers don't return to your table enough, but they've always been nice. On busy nights, calling ahead for take-out works well. more

The food is consistently tasty. I have never been disappointed by anything I have ordered. The callamari is fresh and their pasta is always a winning choice. I usually go for the vegetarian lasagna or the pasta puttanesca. The portions are very generous. Their lunch menu is sensibly priced. Now here the bad news. The place is usually packed so make reservations. Because the restaurant is popular the service in the evening is bit rushed. Parking in the back is inadequate and street parking can be somewhat challenging. Also the tables are placed close together this is not the restaurant to go to if you need some privacy. I do not recommend large groups for two reasons. First they typically put large groups in the back room and second they tend to rush the service for large groups. Pros: Food Cons: Over crowded more

I love this restaurant and anytime I'm in that part of town I use it as an excuse to eat here. My favorite dish is their sweet potato ravioli is garlic cream sauce - yum! \r \r The best deal is to get the lunch special (before 5pm I think) which is a half portion of the different pasta of the day dishes and have salad or soup. Be aware the salads are HUGE! Two people can split a small salad and both eat a lot! I love the Greens and Gorgonzola and the Misto Salad. The soups are usually very good as well. \r \r Casual atmosphere and they also do catering. Pros: great food, great lunch prices, friendly service Cons: limited parking more

For anyone who says that it is impossible to find a good, cheap pasta place on the Westside, Fritto Misto proves them wrong. I've heard people complain about long waits but I have to assume that this is only on the weekends because the restaurant was practically empty for us on a Wednesday night. My friend and I arrived at Fritto Misto after an extremely long day at our respective offices, wanting only comfort food and red wine to mellow out a bit and catch up. The atmosphere was perfect and we weren't rushed at all - in fact, our waitress came over and gave us her recommendations for our first visit and chatted with us about the upcoming Super Bowl. Altogether a very friendly place and very attentive, personal service. For our food, I chose the ""Pillows Pesto"" and my friend opted for the ""Pillows Checca"". When they arrived, these ""Pillows"" looked like thick, deep-ridged, ricotta-filled ravioli and they tasted amazing! The portions were huge and we both ended up with leftovers (which lasted through lunch the next day for me!). We also helped ourselves to plenty of good, warm bread and had a glass of Chianti each. And the best part was that we left with a bill that was under $30! I can't wait to go back and try all the rest of their incredible pasta dishes! more

You can't beat this for a crowd pleaser -- lots of choices and tasty dishes. The mix-and-match pasta dishes means even the pickiest in your group will find something they like. The wait can be killer. Pros: Selection, Value Cons: Wait more

I love Fritto Misto. The greens and gorgonzola salad is to die for. They do many creative things with pasta without sacrificing taste. They also have lo carb and lo cal alternatives. The service is always great and the bread is hot out of the oven. It is a relaxed atmosphere. A nice place to meet many friends for good food and good conversation. My sister drives all the way from Las Vegas at least once a month to eat with us there. That is how good it is. She loves the Pumpkin Ravioli when it is available. I always look for an excuse to go, birthdays, mother's day, father's day, stubbed my toe and need to feel better day, etc... Pros: Best food for the money Cons: Longer waits at night but well worth it! more

Every now and then you hear about a place that is real good - and it is! The food was very delicious - I had a very good salad (the kind you devour) and soup (split pea). Their pasta list is also quite impressive. The menu was very fairly priced, and the setting nice and informal. Basically you will lick your plates clean and the bill won't upset you later that day. Parking is easy and they have spaces behind the restaurant. We will be back here for sure! more

I have seen this restaurant for many years and never went in because, to be truthful, it does not look appetizing from the outside. Then two people recommended it to me and I decided to give it a shot. My boyfriend and I sat outside because the inside of the restaurant is so loud. They have little acoustic control. The restaurant is very plain and does not look Italian at all. The calamari was good. It was not fantastic, but it was good. The sweet potato ravioli was quite tasty with an interesting mix of flavors. The lemon bar was disgusting. I hated it, but my boyfriend really like it. The service was great and the manager, or who I assumed to be the manager, was super nice. Pros: good calmari, tasty pumpkin ravioli, nice service and staff Cons: super noisy inside, plain ambience more

This is my number one Italian place. The food is simply amazing. Plus they have a lot of really good cheap bottles of wine. The place gets packed, so plan ahead. Also be careful of things marked spicy. They mean it. My girlfriend got a spicy dish and it was too much, and pretty much in-eatable. Besides that A+! Pros: Low cost, VERY good, cheap wine Cons: Spicy is SPICY, long wait if in a group. more

Fritto Misto is an excellent Italian restaurant with great food and wonderful service. The servers are very nice and helpful. No matter what day of the week it is there is always a line and if you try it for yourself you'll know why. Its worth the wait. You can also bring your own wine for a minimal corking fee. Great for large groups! more

I stumbled upon this place one night and have been back 3 or 4 times since. It's so nice to find a ""normal"" restaurant in LA. It's not trendy. The food has always been very tasty. The prices are very reasonable (particularly in LA). The portions generous. And you can get a drink for less than $10 (another LA miracle). I would highly recommend this place. I've been with friends and dates and they have all liked it. Pros: Great food, great service, great value more

Had heard good things about this place so I took an out-of-town friend for an early dinner on a Saturday evening. Fairly empty around 6pm when we showed up, but I noticed the waitstaff maintained a high level of attentiveness at both our and other tables as the place picked up within the hour. We ordered the fritto misto appetizer, which is a rather daunting but delicious pile of deep-fried calamari, shrimp, artichoke hearts & other veg, along with the pasta puttanesca to split between us. Even as two champion slow-eaters, we never felt rushed even as the restaurant got busier, and we were very satisfied by the bold flavors and fresh pasta in our entree. Like another reviewer, we were also treated to the first-timer's complimentary slice of flourless chocolate cake, so now I'm tempted to try out the other desserts the next time I go back... Pros: Lots of menu options, great-tasting food, attentive waitstaff, homey atmosphere more

The place has almost a deli feel to it. It's good food but not pretentious or anything; the sort of place you could eat dinner in a tshirt and shorts. They make their own pasta and their choose-your-own pasta selections are awesome! more

This part of Santa Monica needs more restaurants, so I'm happy to have Fritto Misto. The pasta is good (they have their own house specialties and you can ""create you own pasta"" too. Plus they have nice salads). But that being said, I wish this place had a little more style, it's kind of plain. And I know other reviewers have said this place is cheap but I actually think it's a little overpriced for pasta. $10-15 for pasta seems high to me. But check it out and decide for yourself. more

Had never been before but had heard good things...was not disappointed. Great little casual spot with extensive menu....lots of choices! Italian sausage and pepper linguini and garlic shrimp pasta were delicious (make sure you get that with the garlic cream sauce...AMAZING). The hostess was extremely accomodating and the waitstaff, speedy, attentive and very knowledgeable. Our waiter brought us a complimentary portion of their flourless chocolate cake (heavenly) ""since it was my first time""...nice touch. Will definitely be back. more

My GF and I tried this restaurant on a Sunday afternoon; we got there before the 6pm rush; I have never seen a room fill up so fast!! The small Green & Gorgonzola salad was a perfect start which the two of us shared, trust me the small is enough to share. Our server was great and on top of everything. I was surprised to see how well he managed the whole room by himself, he checked on us often even though he had around 5-6 other tables with 4+ guest at each. The New Orleans Pasta was great and so was the Vegetarian Lasagna(large portions, well priced). The only thing I would change would be the rude and snooty hostess, maybe she was having a bad day; however the server and quality of food made up for her poor attitude!! Pros: Food, Portions, Server & Service Cons: Hostess!!! more