Assaggio Italian Restaurant

It seems that there’d always be a wait, especially at this location. However, me and a buddy popped in at around 7 last night, and were seated within 10 minutes, without a reservation. There were also quite a few people also waiting.
Within 5 minutes of being seated, our waters and complimentary bread were brought. Their bread was always amazing, but it seems to have gotten softer, which I like. I didn’t care for the previous crispy crust that it had, which is why this new, soft crust was a big improvement!
Our server was Bernice. She seemed a bit flustered, and because I guess we weren’t dressed in the appropriate manner for the ambience (we had decided to go last-​minute, when trying to figure out what to do for dinner, especially since I needed a pick-​me-​up from an outpatient surgery that I had yesterday), she decided we weren’t worth her time. She was attentive and all, she just seemed as if we were a bother to her. We ended up asking other servers or the busser for things we needed towards the end of our meal. Our busser was great, though. I’ve been trying to finish my meals with green tea lately, and when he brought me the hot water and lemon, he even presented me with a beautiful wooden box, where I could choose the tea I wanted! Very impressive!
We ordered the mozzarella in carrozza to start. It was perfectly crispy and delicious, especially with the marinara sauce! Biting into it, it was wonderfully piping hot and stringy! Delicious, and a great way to start off!
For our entrees, my friend got the linguine with white clam sauce (which he said was delicious), and I got the linguine with marinara sauce. Now THIS is not just your average pasta with marinara sauce! THIS is marinara sauce that I really, really like!!! Flavorful, not too tangy, but not too bland. With a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan cheese? Perfect!!!
For dessert, we could not skip out on the light, fluffy tiramisu! They make one of my favorites; not too sweet, just a tinge of brandy (not too overwhelming), and amazingly fluffy! It feels like you’re eating a cloud!
Overall, 5 stars for the food, and service received from everyone else. I guess maybe our server was at the end of her shift, and wanted to be cut already?

Ahh how I yearn for the days of working 9 – 5. I remember a time when I simply showed up for work, tapped on a keyboard, made jokes, and went home. My schedule has gotten increasingly busy since being promoted (YAY for me! Boo for my life) and my schedule just doesn’t allow me to make amazing meals EVERY night. We received a gift certificate to Assaggio’s from friends and like a good little Unilocaler I quickly devoured reviews while on a potty break (just an example of how well I multitask.) The mixed reviews made me a little uneasy– but there was no way I was making dinner. We opted for take-​out so I could eat while in my pajamas (is there anything better than a fine dinning experience while wearing pajamas? Me thinks not.) I opted for Veal Cutlet Alla Saltimbocca Romana Style (veal cutlet lightly breaded pan fried in olive oil, topped with spinach, melted mozzarella cheese, prosciutto ham, in a mushroom white wine butter sauce) and the hubs got a rare Pepper Steak with peppers and onions, and a side of scallops scampi (I have no idea where/​how he ordered it because it isn’t on the menu?!)
When I got home the husband was opening everything up and OMG the house smelled amazing. The plastic containers were even really nice. AND complimentary mini loaf of Italian bread already sliced and ready for dipping accompanied the meal.
My Veal WAS AWESOME! Super tender, moist, great flavor, and the pasta was outta this world good. El dente without being chalky in the middle, like totally true Giada de Laurentiis el dente. The white wine sauce was a perfect compliment to the dish– not heavy at all! Saltimbocca literally means «jump in the mouth» and the dish did just that.
Hub’s steak was cooked perfectly to his liking (a feat I sometimes struggle with) and the vegetables tasted super fresh. Steak wasn’t overly salted or peppered, it was simply perfecto. The scallops (again, I have no idea how he ordered it, maybe a special?) were DIVINE. Cooked to perfection then rolled around in a garlic buttery goodness. We devoured our dinner and then soaked up everything with bread. Yeah, it was a pretty fantastic way to end a busy day.
The take-​out seemed to go pretty quickly too, about 25 minutes? We’ll be back for sure! Sorry no pictures, I was too hangry and it was too good to stop eating!

If I could give it less than one star, I would. My husband and I ordered Carbonara and the assaggio style with julienned chicken, respectively. When the pasta finally came out, both dishes were drenched in oil, smelled terrible, and tasted worse. The chicken was thigh meat, and cut into huge pieces rather than julienned.
When we talked to a manager about it, his response was, «These are very popular dishes, everyone else likes them. Maybe you just don’t like them.»
Eye roll.
Save yourself the ~$ 20 per dish and eat somewhere else.

This place is being run by very young girls. I have been here twice in two weeks, once without a reservation and once with. Both times the restaurant had numerous empty tables (more than half empty) but they couldn’t set me for 15 to 20 minutes. The tables were still empty when I left after dinner??? so whats the deal? The manager /​owner needs to put adults in charge who know how to run a restaurant and seat patrons. I am not a fly by tourist but a kailua native but you wont see me at this place until they get their act together.

Yummy Yummy Authentic Italian food in my tummy! That’s how good and happy I was after eating at this place! I wish the location was bigger in Kailua, but the food is so delicious, I made a «special request» and they were more than happy to modify the order for me. From the bread to the service this place it’s really good! My Veal Milanese was just Delicious, and the portions are so big.

Came here for my birthday dinner and had a great time! The place is nice and relaxing. Our waiter was extremely friendly and helpful. Lots of options of the menu. My mom, husband and I all loved our food. For all the food we got (appetizer, salads, entrée, dessert) the price was very fair. I’d definitely recommend!

I’ve been coming here since they first opened, and I am always satisfied with their great food and service. I’ve tried several menu items, and have never been disappointed. My favorite item is their Chicken garlic anchovy olio on linguini. They keep the hot bread coming to sop up the delicious garlic and anchovy olio sauce. Portions are generous so you will leave satisfied. I highly recommend this restaurant for satisfying your Italian cravings.

I’ve been eating at this restaurant for the last 20 years or so every time we visit the islands. Depending on how long we’re staying in Kailua, we’ll eat here the night we get here then again on the night we leave. I ALWAYS get the Chicken Anchovy Olio.
The pasta is cooked to perfection and the garlic roasted to a golden brown. Along with 5 boneless chicken thighs pan fried and crispy, you won’t go away hungry…

If your looking for a great Italian dinner, look no further. The pasta was great, the seafood was fresh and the service great. the desserts are awesome. It authentic style New York cuisine.
The plate sizes are half size and full size. I wish I ate less during the day so I could have eaten more.

YUM!!! First time for dinner at this location on Friday night and I must say… I had such a good dinner. We ordered their Caesar Salad and it was sooooo good, make sure you love garlic though because it is really garlicky! I also ordered the Chicken Saltimbocca which was DDDDD licios! My husband had the Clams Casino (of course his fav). I would highly recommend Assagio :)
I took one star off because we waited forever for our food to come out. I’d say we waited nearly an hour for our food to come out.

We were excited to see so many easy to prepare pasta and choose sauce and proteins but the resulting meal wasn’t as good as the ten page menu suggested. As vegans, we hope to find an Italian restaurant that doesn’t put cheese in everything and normally we can ask for something to be taken off but their red sauce has cheese in it. Every single one. Ugh. I guess it should have been a clue that it wouldn’t be vegan friendly since they have veal on the menu.
We didn’t know the sauce had cheese in it when we ordered until our waitress came back and so we had to quickly change our order before everyone’s food came out. We got an oil and garlic dish and they fried the garlic to a brown crisp! It was nearly burned! A bit overdone for my taste. The garlic and broccoli was the same way.
Dishes come in either small or large and we were able to split a large pasta dish without vegetables or protein for two people and they split it in the back (and charged $ 1 – 2 extra for this) but it was helpful.
But it just wasn’t the vegans who were unhappy with their dinner. The marinara was too plain, the pesto was bland and one item wasn’t made «because it was the last item on the ticket and was overlooked» so that was unfortunate. Also, it was really chilly inside nearly 65 degrees or below and one of the kids in our group had to go back outside to warm up!
It also took us a long time to find parking even though there is a covered public parking but we didn’t have any change for the meter. It was too much trouble getting there and the food wasn’t even that good for the price we paid.

My favorite restaurant.
YES, it is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. at least I do. I take-​out from this location once every 1 – 2 weeks. Sometimes, when I call to order, the hostess/​waitress who takes my order addresses me by name or my fiancé’s name (I guess they saved us to their caller ID). If you like it as much as I do, then you will pay.
I have been ordering the same thing for the past 10 years. I order the linguine with meatballs (original, I know). There is something about the meatballs and sauce that I just love. They always give a good portion of noodles, and the sauce is never overkill. Yes, there are only two meatballs, but they are huge. Always ask for parmesan cheese if you are a cheese lover, it is always fresh and very flavorful. They even give it to you when you do take-​out orders.
I recently tried their gluten-​free pasta — which is a rigatoni, and it is really good! They give a good amount. There is a fee for it, but that is understandable.
I also order the Caesar salad, which I just love! Sometimes, they do go a little heavy on the tabasco sauce (dressing-​wise), and I am sensitive to spice, but I will still eat it! If you order 2 orders and eat in, they will prepare it table-​side. It really is a neat thing, because they wheel out this cart, prepare the dressing, and toss the salad in front of you. They add all ingredients to it right there!
The fried mozzarella is also very good. They serve it over a bed of lettuce with marinara sauce on the side. If I’m really REALLY hungry, I will get these as an appetizer.
I have tried the chicken parmesan, and many other dishes (steak and potato dishes), and they are all very tasteful. However, I will definitely stick to my favorite.
One thing I really liked about this restaurant is that they really are nice people. It was raining and I had my infant daughter in the car and had ordered a lot of food. The hostess brought the food out to me when I pulled in front of their restaurant. I tipped her (of COURSE!), but I really thought that was a nice gesture. I know that they don’t have to do those kinds of things… or it could be a liability to them, etc., but she did it out of goodwill. I don’t remember her name, but I wish I did just so her actions reflect on this review.

Ok guys this is my very first time going there and eating at assagios period!!! I gotta say the setup there is just amazing!!! The customer service is awesome! On top of that there is always someone around to help you, refill your drinks or take your finished plates away!!! I went there with my boyfriend and his family and they loved it as well!!! The food was fast and was served HOT! I had the chef special and it was to die for!!! I totally recommend this place and I can say this is totally not gonna be last!!!

This was the first time I’ve been to this location… I’d say the portions are huge, just like the other locations and Paesano’s in Manoa, which I found out are the same owners! Great food, However the menu reads like a phone book so that can take awhile to decide. The attentive service is a plus, I would just update the decore a little bit but that won’t kill my vibe! :)

I have had dinner here several times and each time I have been impressed and very satisfied. The food is great, service is on point, Andre atmosphere is relaxing. They have street parking, they also have a outdoor lanai seating on the makai side of the building. They offer take out. I love practically everything on their menu, although my favorite is the Chicken Anchovy Olio and the Chicken Putanesca. If your looking for a great Italian restaurant on the windward side I highly recommend Assaggio.

During our meal I actually had a great time. The wait staff was pretty unattentive, but that’s not a big deal for me. What was annoying about that whole experience was the interactions I had with our particular waitress and the manager after our meal was over.
Prior to ordering our food, I had a somewhat lengthy discussion with our waitress regarding the pasta’s mushroom sauce and the size of the dish itself. I asked her the difference in sizes and made it very clear I wanted the small dish.
After the meal arrived, I asked again saying, «This is the small? Wow. It’s really big.» and she simply chuckled and said «Yep. I know right?» Then I immediately followed with, «Well, I’m glad I got the small then.» She didn’t correct me or anything, she just laughed and wandered off on her merry way.
Time passes. I eat about half of it, because it was humongous, and I see the bill. I’ve been charged for the large one. I go up to the front and attempt to talk to my waitress saying, «Do you remember that conversation we had? I asked for the small one.» She denied the conversation ever happened and said, «Oh, I must have thought you meant the regular, which is our large.» When I asked her to take the difference off the bill, she said «Well, you ordered the regular.» I assured her AGAIN that we had a conversation just a few minutes prior about the size difference, again which she simply did not believe transpired. Neat.
So she said, «Let me talk to my manager.» then wandered off into the back. She disappears for an inappropriate amount of time. The manager never shows his/​her face to me to discuss the matter, then says, «You have the food, so we’re not going to change it.»
Just be warned. They’re shysters and they’ll overcharge you. I did not tip and they will not get my business again. Go to the restaurant next door. Save yourself the hassle. They’re better anyway.

Both times we have eaten here the wait staff service has been quite poor. While there are many choices the food is sadly bland and uninspired.
With so many wonderful choices all over Kailua I recommend that you don’t waste your time or money here.

We’ve been to this location a few times and the food has always been delicious. The service is average with the wait staff checking in minimally. The food has always arrived in a decent amount of time. However we were never offered refills on our drinks even though it comes with one free refill. After our meal we were never offered a dessert menu. It is a bit pricey compared to other restaurants with the same caliber of food. There was nothing special that would draw us back here– we are probably more inclined to try someplace new just to see if there is better service and a better deal.

I am so disappointed that after my experience today and the way the rude manager handled it I will no longer be going to Assagios after years of being a loyal customer. Their prices continue to go up to the point its ridiculous.
Let us just put it this way. Bacis Bistro who has better food, is $ 16 for Chicken Picatte. Assagios is now approaching $ 30!!!
Tonight we went to order takeout and the prices were $ 2 more for everything than what was on the menu online. I called the manager to ask why and they said the prices changed 6 months ago. I told him that I understand the need to up prices but this is like the 3^rd or 4^th time and the last time was already too much. I told him we were disappointed that this keeps happening and he was very rude. He kept telling me its a deal for the type of food that its fine dining (it is not fine dining) and that I can’t expect the prices to be cheap because they have to pay employees, that its the price of doing business.
First of all if they are so high caliber why cant’ they keep their online menus updated?
Secondly there are other restaurants on the windward side who are managing just fine at half the cost. Something is very wrong there. This is not price of doing business its a rip off.
My family has been eating at Assagios for as long as I can remember. We used to eat there weekly.
As a small business owner and also coming from a family in the business, I completely understand the struggles and when price changes are appropriate and necessary.
But 2 people to have 2 meals and appetizer and drink at over $ 100, that is completely absurd. There are way better values to be had. You can have Lobster for a family of 4 for $ 100.
And the manager is very rude and made the whole thing worse. When I remarked that he clearly wasn’t going to listen to my concerns he was like «OKAAYYY anything else?» I said no thank you, I guess you can afford to lose customers and we just wont eat there anymore. His response was a sarcastic «Yes Ok have a nice day.»
Far from a fine dining customer service experience. But I guess with those price increases they can afford to lose their longtime regular customers.

I only went to this Assaggio’s once to celebrate a close friend’s birthday. We had dinner around 6 p.m., and we had a large party – I think there was about 10 people – and I remember we were seated at a super long table. Fortunately, the restaurant was super accommodating for our large group and it didn’t take an extreme amount of time to get all of our orders taken and for our food to come out.
Since this was the only time I visited this Kailua Assaggio – and that was a few years ago – I can’t remember much about the entire dining experience, except for the fact that the food was AMAZING. This location was definitely less busy than the Ala Moana location that I usually go to (if I’m dining at Assaggio), so if you live east-​side, I would go to this Kailua location instead.
Here’s what I would recommend:
«Fettucini Alfredo»: This is the more traditional entrée that I got for dinner that night. It includes broccoli and a cream and cheese sauce. The noodles were buttery and positively drenched with that creamy, cheesy sauce, which was ideal for a cheese lover like me!
«Lasagna»: Lasagna is definitely one of my favorite Italian dishes to date, and I don’t really get to eat it very often (it’s hard to make a whole pan of lasagna at home when you live alone!). But this Assaggio’s version includes hearty tomato meat sauce with ricotta and melted mozzarella cheeses. I haven’t tried this version yet, but my dad ordered it once (he’s a fellow lasagna lover like me) and really enjoyed it. I would definitely want to try the Assaggio’s lasagna one day, but I would probably just have to order it with light tomato meat sauce and extra cheese.
«Garlic Bread Pesto»: I don’t recall ordering any apps during our Assaggio visits, but this garlic bread would be at the top of my list if we did. It features garlic bread topped with pesto and sundried tomatoes. I could do without the tomatoes, but I’m sure to love the combo since pesto’s one of my favorite spreads.
«Crispy Roasted Potatoes»: This almost sounds like the Italian version of American potato skins … at least, on paper. But I do want to try these potatoes roasted in olive oil one day.
«Carbonara»: I’ve already established this carbonara as my favorite dish. I still believe it’s the best carbonara I’ve had from any Italian eatery. It features bacon and ham pan-​fried in olive oil and mixed with onions, egg and parmesan cheese. I always get my carbonara sans the onions, but everything else results in a savory medley when combined. The bacon and ham are tasty – they always provide a good amount of bacon – and I love the buttery flavor of the garlic and olive oil as well.
«Pesto Sauce»: Because I love pesto, I’m sure I would love this creamy, green-​hued sauce spread all over my pasta dish.
«Pork Sausage»: I recently discovered my love for pork sausage – I now probably like sausage almost as much as I like bacon – so I would be so down to get my pasta with this preferred meat. I bet it tastes super savory and it’s bursting with flavor.
«Alla Parmigiana Style»: My cousin loves chicken parmesan, so he often goes for this entrée. It features boneless chicken breast that’s lightly breaded and pan fried then topped with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. The chicken breast is served over a bed of fresh linguine. My cousin’s dish always looks appetizing, and one day I’ll just have to deviate from my favorite order to try it.
«Milanese Style»: I want to get this entrée one day because it features some of my favorite ingredients — chicken breast that’s pan fried in olive oil, garlic and fresh basil, and served over a bed of linguine. I really do like linguine-​style pasta, and I prefer cream sauce/​olive oil instead of marinara or tomato sauce.
«Alla Scampi»: If I’m ever craving a seafood dish, this would be one of my top choices. It entails lightly floured jumbo shrimp that’s pan fried in olive oil and garlic and served with in a white wine butter sauce. This concoction sounds garlicky, buttery and savory all at the same time. I want in!
«Alla Francese»: This entrée differs slightly from the one above it that I want to try because you get your choice of jumbo shrimp or boneless chicken pan fried in egg batter, garlic and lemon and served in a white wine butter sauce. I guess the only thing that’s really different is if I opt for the egg batter-​fried chicken, which sounds just as tempting as that garlicky shrimp.