North Italia

Had a great lunch at North Italia the other day with a business client. First time here, I was running a little late so I decided to order with my group while on the road to save time.We started with a Chef's board Farmers market dish, which consisted of glazed chioggia beet & fuji apple, roasted butternut squash, heirloom carrot, brussels sprout, grilled asparagus, broccolini, hazelnut, hearth bread, basil pesto. Loved it, I had to order another side of the hearth bread basil pesto, could not get enough of it.I ordered the Tuscan half chicken, which I did not realize was a dinner item, while looking online, my mistake. But they were excellent and accommodated my request, amazing service from our server and the kitchen being willing to make this dish. This brings customers back.The Tuscan half chicken was amazing, loved every aspect of it, the chicken itself was juicy, but crispy on the outside, this is a butterflied half chicken, mostly deboned. Excellent flavor, seasoned perfectly. This dish comes with roasted butternut squash, broccolini, piquillo pepper, cipollini, polenta. Perfectly paired with the chicken, flavors tied together well, texture of the polenta and butternut squash was great.The restaurant inside is beautiful, clean lines, bright and airy. They have a full bar and a wine area as well, something for everyone.Enjoy!

Food, service, environment. Server was awesome.Negative. Lasagna Bianca was pretty tasty but looked ugly on the dish.Meatballs for appetizer the bread and the dessert were awesome.

This place is so cute but the service takes forever. Truffle bread so good but damn so they burn it every. single. time. Food 7/10Service 6/10Ambiance 9/10And I hate when my appetizers come during my meal. But 3 stars cause we eat here a bunch.

Cerritos location recently opened in my area. I received a $10 off coupon when "signing up". Ordered takeout online. The process was fast and easy. The food was ready when I arrived. The restaurant looks beautiful; I will be back to dine inside. The quality and taste of the Bolognese was good. It was a nice portion amount for the price I paid with the coupon.

First time trying this restaurant and it was amazing. The decor is beautiful and simple but made for a great date night.Had the grilled bread and bruschetta to start and both were great. Loved the grilled bread with olive oil and balsamic.For my main I ordered the LUMACHE ALLA NORCINA, and the pasta was cooked perfectly. The sauce was delicious and I loved how the fennel came through.For dessert we had the seasonal butter-cake. It was great, my only wish was it be served warm. The cake is slightly dense so the warmth would've softened it up. Bit and also added to the vibes of the bourbon apple caramel topping it was served with.Service was excellent. Never a moment of needing something and not having help available. They were on it.

My friend and I came here after a coworker of hers recommended this place and we were impressed.The staff were super friendly, and attentive. They made suggestions when we didn't know what to order, and were prompt in their serviceI ordered the spicy rigatoni vodka, and it was delicious. We'll definitely come back to enjoy the ambience and menu selections

We went back for lunch and tried the Truffle Garlic Bread which in my opinion is a better choice versus the Bread and Good Olive Oil, but you need to be ready to scare vampires for the rest of the day if you get the garlic bread.We also ordered the Hot Honey pizza, the Italian farm salad and an order of parmesan rigatoni which isn't on the menu but should be available as a side as far as we are concerned. The pizza was good, but the shining star here is the pasta, so if it's between a pasta and a pizza I would definitely go for the pasta. The salad was delicious as always, but gets soggy quick so you better stop chatting and start chewing. The service was a little slow, which was sad because there were only 4 tables with people in them. We waited a very long time between salad and pasta time as well as for the check. The restaurant is clean and beautiful, I love their decor. I'm sure we will be back and will try a Stromboli!

North Italia, Cerritos is a newer location adjacent to the Cerritos Mall. I've been to some of the other locations and wanted to try out this one. Came here with some colleagues on a Saturday and didn't need a reservation as we were seated within 5 mins tops. Patio seating was nice but the cushions needed cleaning (e.g. dirt, staining) and I had to use the dinner cloth to sit on. Our server was nice (can't think of his name right now) brought all the things in a timely manner:ProseccoWhite Truffle Garlic Bread Chicken Parm Spicy BroccoliniSpicy Rigatoni Vodka Pasta Lasagna Bianca Everything was so good we didn't think to take pics! I will definitely be returning.

This place is special, nothing I would expect from a restaurant in a mall. Its ambiance is so quaint. The hostess was so welcoming and the staff are so friendly. We ordered a margarita pizza and shrimp scampi for the table and it was outstanding. The crust on that pizza was the best ever and we had it "Bomba" style a must have. The shrimp scampi had so much flavor, the shrimp was so juicy and the roasted garlic was so spreadable for the grilled slices of toast that it came with. My table ordered the lasagna, which was made with a béchamel sauce and a meat sauce along with the house homemade noodles. So good we also had the pasta Bolognese, with again homemade noodles, Delicious. I ordered the seared scallops on roasted butternut squash risotto. It was matched with crispy scallions, and pancetta bitts and brussel sprouts. The contrast in textures was amazing. The risotto was creamy and the scallops seared to perfection. This was an amazing meal topped off with a very knowledgeable waiter. Doug thanks for making our first time so memorable, we will be back. And I will be back with my family.

North Italia is a restaurant chain that can be found at nicer malls all over southern California. They advertise that their pizzas and pastas are made by hand. When it comes to the rating, I'm somewhere between a 2/5 and a 3/5 as I feel that some of the food was pretty good, but our experience could have been a little better as well.What went well:1) Ambiance is nicer than it was when CPK operated the same space2) Server was nice and friendly3) Handmade Pastas were pretty good. I really enjoyed the Spicy Rigatoni Vodka. 4) White Truffle Garlic Bread was a flavor bomb and a crowd pleaser.5) Tuscan Half Chicken was pretty impressive as it was juicy, flavorful, and completely deboned. The tuscan chicken was plated over a creamy polenta and chicken au jus. I'd recommend it.What could have been better:1) Service was disorganized- the salad and wine bottle came after well after our entrees were served, which undoubtedly impacts the experience. 2) Salad (arugula and avocado) was underdressed. It was basically just arugula and avocado with a splash of olive oil - At $16 for a smaller sized portion, I have a hard time justifying this.3) Pizza was disappointing. A good margherita pizza has only a handful of ingredients. Though I liked the sauce, cheese, and pesto, I was underwhelmed by the texture of the dough.4) Wine menu felt priced too high. Though the wine we chose was fine, the cheapest option for a bottle was ~$75 and what we ordered generally goes for $30 at a retail store, off the shelf. I understand that wines are marked up at restaurants, but I didn't perceive great value. Conclusion:It is without question that North Italia serves (some) dishes that are well above the level of Italian food in malls. There were also service errors that detracted from our experience and the menu was hit and miss. I do think that the cost for their menu items is pretty high when you factor portion sizes of some of their items. If I were to stick with only appetizers and pastas, then I could probably have a decent experience here; however, I do feel that there are plenty of great local, alternative options for handmade pastas and pizzas.