Colombo’s Italian Steakhouse & Jazz Club

Everyone has an off night now and then. This was Colombo’s off night.
Chicken in the chicken parm was a big dry piece of fried chicken breast.
Service was slow and inattentive.
Lots of room for improvement next time.

The ambiance was very romantic and perfect for my girlfriend. She loved the live music and entertainment. The server Jesus was awesome and hooked it up.
The food was amazing and plentiful. We even had left overs to take home.
We ordered crab cakes, shrimp scampi, Spahgetti with sausage, House Chardonnay and two deserts (star chocolate gelato and tiramisu).
Definitely coming back and thanks to Jesus who hooked it up.

There is much to like about Colombo’s, but it has its shortcomings. We’ve been there at least 7 or 8 times over the last 3 years. On the positive side, when the food is good… it is VERY good. The prices are reasonable and the service can be excellent. On the minus end… both the food and the service can be ‘spotty’. Recently, we were in a group of 5 people… my wife and I both ordered the Rack of Lamb and requested ‘medium rare’ but after waiting a long time, when hers came out it was still RAW! The waitress was appropriately solicitous, but then it took so long to get a replacement that we finally cancelled the order. That was not the first time that we had a problem with either the food or the service. We’ve now given up on Colombo’s for good. There are a lot of better restaurants available in the area.

okay, been eating here for awhile. it’s consistent, the vibe is perfect in the main room, can’t argue with it. don’t bother.
the only problem i have is this. there is a picture in the party room that is clearly of Gabriel Byrne. everyone in the place thinks it’s al pacino. shit, probably even the owners think it’s Pacino but surprise, folks. it’s GB.
TTFN.

The food here is fine to very good. The dishes are mostly Italian American standards. The atmosphere is retro great! They often have music which creates a big plus to the dinning experience.

It was a busy Friday night. The atmosphere was more on the classy side but not fancy. The crowd was from a big age range but mostly a bit more older. My bf and I sipped on red wind at the bar while waiting to be seated. Servers were friendly. Food here was simple and pretty good. The lasagne was interestingly wrapped like rolls instead of a layered block. A cover band started playing some classic pop songs and brought a really lively vibe to the space. Def not the hipster style but it was fun. People were really into it — some people even started dancing. It was a great Friday night dinner not only because of the food but the vibe.

Gr8 place for dinner or just a casual place to hangout. Our bartender Frank was amazing and very knowledgeable of drinks. Food was excellent. We spent $ 80 between all of us, not bad at all. Service was gr8 and fast. Well worth the trip from San Diego.

Five stars for the server with the big bun, she was so attentive and understanding, it was a busy night but she still made sure that we were well taken care of, I believe her name was Brie? The food was good and came out in a timely fashion, but I will be coming for the great service she gave us ! :D

Been here twice already and we enjoy it every time we come. Great, great food. Always a pleasure

Horrible service, mediocre food and overpriced.
I should have read/​listened to the reviews closer but I try to form opinions off my own experiences and support local longstanding businesses.
Brought my parents and siblings here for Mother’s Day. I totally understand that it’s a busy night but there’s no excuse for poor service. Water and drink orders shouldn’t be taken after 15 minutes of waiting when the kitchen is 50 ft away.
To the waitress who came leisurely every 15 – 20 minutes, I’m sorry you couldn’t be with your mom for dinner on Mother’s Day, that shouldn’t be an excuse for you to «provide» less than mediocre service to mine. I hope your mom had a better dining experience wherever she ate.

Jesus Christ… why does it take forever to get your food here? It’s been an hour and still nothing. Unless they’re out back butchering a steak and catching lobsters this is totally inexcusable.

My mom and I specifically went there for the Jazz as there’s not enough jazz clubs in LA. The entertainment was great. The food — mediocre Italian food. I ordered the ravioli which was good but nothing special. My mom ordered. Salad which she liked but ultimately can’t be messed up too badly.
The interior made me feel as if I had just walked back into the 1960s. Pretty sure nothing in the restaurant has been replaced since then.

Nostalgic for the feel of yester year? Colombo’s is awesome, total old school vibe, the red leather booths, live music, Italian comfort food. Regulars at the bar.
Great for family dinner or for groups celebrating Birthdays. It’s entertainment overload.
Bravo my friends, Bravo!

Came here with a friend and was told they were booked. The restaurant did not even look crowded nor was there jazz music playing at the time.
It was a Saturday evening around 7pm and the board showed a band was supposed to be on until 9pm. I did not see band set up or life going on.
Clearly seemed under either new management and/​or new staff. Whatever the case, management was not very accommodating to their customers and very poorly staffed. Disappointing…

It’s unfortunate that I’m compelled to write this review tonight. We’ve been coming here for a few years without reservations and have never had a problem being seated within an hour. Tonight, a totally different story.
We were greeted by the hostesses as usual, and informed them we had no reservations. The hostesses were kind enough to make attempts to accommodate by looking in the book. Kenny, the manager, on his own will without even looking in the reservation book, says he was unable to seat us. He didn’t even bother giving us a time frame whatsoever. Nor did he even offer to seat us outside. Incredibly, the worse service from a Manager.
I hope all other reviewers read this know that the other reviews who have recently complained about customer service is most likely 100% valid.
Well, I’m happy to say, I’m currently typing this review at another restaurant who told us it was an hour wait, but was seated within 10 minutes!!!
Bye bye Colombo’s!!!

The hubs and I came here a few weeks back to celebrate our 10^th anniversary, and Colombo’s is now our new favorite neighborhood haunt. I don’t know how we put it off for so long, but we will not make that mistake again! Dark and cozy with nightly live jazz and a loyal crowd of regulars, many of whom have likely been coming here since they opened in 1954. The food was good, but I was pretty starving and drunk by the time I was shoving my face full of delicious bruschetta and spinach and goat cheese lasagna. They pour a real stiff drink here. I was three sheets to the wind before I finished my second old fashioned! TV’s in the lounge, piano man on the floor, maybe some dancing as the night goes on. Highly recommend coming here for low-​key dinner, drinks, and entertainment!

For what it was… For a Monday night wehad an excellent time. Music, solid food, stiff drinks, the only slip was so so service. 4.5 as I had very good company and liked the restaurant and Our server seemed apologetic for his slip up.
That said, I love anywhere named after a detective with good eats on a late Monday night. Seems like people have had more issues on weekends so perhaps come in on Monday– it was busy but joy packed and lots of local music talent.
You walk into a small dining room with big red old school booths. Tables in the middle likely serve larger parties but as I am a big girl we got a table… if you bigger person and its a busy night, I would recommend a Call ahead so you aren’t squished into a 1970’s U shaped booth. Jazz trio or whomever joins them to jam in the front, darker bar to the side.
I was reconnecting with an old friend and she lives in nearby Montecito heights. We both don’t mind eating late so we got there around 9pm. She felt like steak and I am not usually a steak girl but I was game.
She ordered a martini– I had a cocktail. Full bar but no fancy cocktail menu or specialties. So basically come with your own cocktail in mind. Tiny martini glasses come with a pour it yourself shaker that she fancied. My grapefruit and gin wasn’t that great but it’s my own fault do not asking for some orange bitters. Some places use a sweet grapefruit, this one uses a more tart type.
We shared the hand rolled goat cheese & spinach lasagna with a porterhouse medium rare was a perfect share for two people. The server forgot to bring our bread which he mentioned he would bring which was his major slip up but we got it with the entrée. The only issue with that you need something to counter the martini on an empty stomach. Their bred isn’t that special like c&o’s garlic knots but it’s old school fine, he was sincere in his error. The next time I would probably share a steak and the lobster ravoli… just to try something different.
We finished by sharing a chocolate mousse that was very dense and rich. as a mousse should be :) all their other desserts had gelato or ice cream which isn’t my thing.
Memories and fun were had. We really enjoyed the music. The band changed like 3 or 4 times because musicians came in to eat and then joined their friends to play so it became this cool elder jazz jam session that was great.

Old school restaurant since 1954. We went on a Saturday night, the place was busy but we were seated immediately. Nice and friendly wait staff and our order was taken quickly and our food came out quickly too. They had a jazz musician playing the classics, it was a bit loud but we could still here each other talk. I would recommend you dress up a bit for the weekend crowd, as you will look under dressed if you show up in a tshirt or jeans.

This was my second time dining here, brought my family. The first time was a bit better, but overall I enjoyed myself at both visits.
Majority of the restaurant is dimly lit with several huge booths.
They have live music every night. During my first visit there was a lovely jazz singer playing the piano. Second visit was a band that had a southern feel, the music was a bit too loud and took away from the loungy vibe.
Onto the food: Yummy garlic bread. Decent calamari. Delicious eggplant Parmesan.
The pastas are good as well. I’ve tried a shrimp ravioli and the shrimp with a white wine sauce. My fiancé had the lobster and said it was nothing to rave about. He went on to say that next time he’ll stick to steak or pasta.
Overall this is a lovely restaurant, great for dates or family dinners. I would say pastas are their specialty.

As a restaurant, Colombo’s earns a three, but it’s probably like a four for the music. My husband and I met my parents here on a Friday night to hear the band that was playing. We didn’t have reservations so we waited about 15 minutes for a table.
Most of us had eaten already so we got the antipasti salad (provolone cheese, mortadella, roasted red peppers, pepperoni, olives, and lettuce with a sweet dressing) and the sauteed mushrooms. The salad was okay in terms of ingredients but the quality of the food was pretty average. It also wasn’t the most flavorful salad. The mushrooms were equally average and lacking in flavor,
The spumoni ice cream cake was pretty tasty; it had layers of ice cream (definitely pistachio, but I can’t recall the other layers), whipped cream, cherries, on top of a crust (which I loved). In fact, I wish I had some spumoni right now.
The live music is entertaining and the staff move some of the tables so that there’s a small area for dancing. All in all we enjoyed ourselves and I’d return for the music and maybe some dessert or wine.