Verbano Italiano Ristorante

Went for late dinner. The crowd seems like loyal regulars who've been coming here for years. It seems a couple runs the place; they may have assistance earlier in the evening, perhaps when it's busier, but it was just the two of them running the place at 8 PM. The Mrs. was really friendly, and handled all the tables single-handedly with great customer service, and pretty quickly considering she was by herself.We we had a calamari appetizer, we shared a side of Caesar salad. For the price, we expected the calamari appetizer, serving to be a little larger. The taste was really good, although a little on the chewier side. There's Caesar salad is a winner!For the main course, I had the Rigatoni Arrabiata, spicy. I am usually a spice-wimp, but the spicy option wasn't too spicy and I could add pepper flakes to make it nice and spicy. The noodles were cooked nicely al dente and the meat sauce was very flavorful, though the bacon seemed a little scarce. It was nicely crisp though.My son had the seafood ravioli with tomato-based sauce, although he ate it all up, he commented that in the future, he would choose the cream based sauce because the tomato overpowered the seafood inside the ravioli. They brought a bowl of Parmesan cheese, and another bowl of pepper flakes, both with spoons inside so we could help ourselves, that was really nice.We shared one slice of a triple layer, ice cream cake, which was really good . They have great vegetarian options and will be back next time we want Italian food in the neighborhood.

- Over priced: they give a decent amount of noodles but hardly any toppings. Chicken Marsala had hardly any chicken, 2 tiny pieces. Seafood pasta had scallops cut so thin that there was probably less than one scallop in the entire dish. - Overcooked egg in carbonara: first of all, I have never had carbonara that had an over easy egg on top instead of mixed into the noodles. The egg white was fully cooked and the yolk was partially cooked leaving very little egg yolk to mix into the noodles. I couldn't believe I had to mix it in myself. - Dry noodles: The noodles in the pollo casino were dry and didn't have enough sauce on it. Barely had flavor so had to add a lot of Parmesan cheese to it (which by the way was Kraft type Parmesan, not the aged freshly grated type)- Bread was dry and hard

Service was fantastic and everyone in our 8 person group loved their food. They were also great about accommodating adjustments to dishes for allergies and preferences. We will be back!

Five stars for service, but two stars for food. The family that runs Verbano is so nice, and the service was wonderful. Like, if every restaurant had service like this, there would be few complaints. The aunty and uncle are super friendly! Sadly, the food is pretty mediocre. The sausage was hard, and the peppers were not even cooked. My 2nd generation Italian friend said the puttanesca was not puttanesca, but the chicken was cooked well and was moist. My chicken lasagna was good, but nothing to write home about. We were grateful that Verbano has gluten-free pasta (penne), which is why we went there for my friend who is severely allergic to gluten. Italian food is often super expensive, but Verbano is typically under $20/entree. Prob still a bit high for the quality of the food. The space was clean, so no complaints there. Parking is either in a paid private lot or on the street.

have been going to this restaurant for years. it is not fancy but has a special charm, and the people who run it are very nice. we go there two or three times a month.

It's local run but, it's not worth the $. Sadly. The wine glass I got was still dirty. Also, they were limited on their wine selection listed on the menu. My go to is chicken saltimbocca. Theirs was horrible! Soooo skimpy on everything. I will not suggest this place to my friends nor loved ones. Just my frenemies. The atmosphere was not much. Def not a place to celebrate or to bring a date.

Reading the reviews my son and I decided we needed to try this place as we've been looking for some good Italian food close by. We started off with a Caesar salad with the homemade dressing and we loved it! Then I had read the Marsala was good but they had a chicken special almost like Marsala but made with spinach and a white wine sauce - I was torn! And they said "wait we'll make the special with Marsala sauce". Bonus! I had Chicken Marsala with fresh spinach - it was so unbelievable. My son had spaghetti and even cheesecake afterwards. I had my wine and he a beer and my desert was a chocolate martini. We could have walked but we chose to drive as we'd had a busy day and wow it's in a convenient location in Kaimuki with a great parking lot. It was not at all busy, which is surprising given the overall experience that we had was great! Can't wait for the next time to try something else!

This is a hidden gem. This was my first time ordering from Verbano's on Uber Eats and I was pleasantly surprised! The food I ordered was delicious!!!! The bruschetta was perfection, exploding with flavor and generous toppings. I love balsamic vinegar so this was right up my alley.As for the Pollo Verdure Linguini - I received a heaping portion loaded with fresh mushrooms, julienned zucchini and carrots, as well as chicken chunks. I chose pesto sauce and I am very glad I did! The flavor was on point. I can tell there was fresh garlic in it, which is a must in everything I eat. This dish was so good!I cannot wait to order again from Verbano's!

I was surprised and delighted that the Italian food here was actually very good. The bruschetta was excellent, tasting fresh and with the right ratio of its ingredients. The new Verbano salad was equally good with a very nice dressing. I had the seafood linguine which included shrimp and some very small scallops (my only complaint) but was delicious. Dessert: get the Spumoni pie or Spumoni ice cream. But as with many other reviews the portions are smaller but I was satisfied and not overly stuffed which I am fine with now. Service excellent, attentive, water glasses always filled, and was checked on at least 3 times. My recommendation: eat food there and resist take out. Give this place a try.

Ambience is plain & the feel is "struggling". We got paper napkins & cheap flatware. Few service staff were available & it seemed owner, who was pleasant, ended up waiting on our table. Bread was sparse & we had to continually ask for refills. Pasta carbs were abundant but main proteins, chicken, seafood, etc, were skimpy. Taste was uneventful. Price was economical but no need to go back.