Best Italian Restaurant in Irvine for a date

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usctrojanman29_IHB

usctrojanman29_IHB

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I have a date on Tuesday and the lady loves Italian food so I'd like to take her to a nice, romantic Italian restaurant in Irvine. I've heard good things about Tuscany off Main and Lucca's over here in Quail Hill. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
why irvine only? If it is a special date, take a look at Ti Amo at Laguna? Make a reservation and request a table upstair for sunset. Their food is excellent.
 
Get out of Irvine if you want quality and/or authentic food. Take her to Pina's Bistro in Tustin. It's not super romantic, but if she really knows her Italian food, then she will think you are the sh*t when mama Pina makes her some of the best food outside of Italy or New York.
 
irvine123 said:
why irvine only? If it is a special date, take a look at Ti Amo at Laguna? Make a reservation and request a table upstair for sunset. Their food is excellent.
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Kinda wanted to stay close to home, but I guess I'm gonna have to reconsider that.
 
Forget the restaurant talk for a second. So, is it your first date together? How'd you meet her? Are you going to bring her to Dinner A'Fare so she can meet "the family"? We promise not to embarrass you. LOL
 
SoCal78 said:
Forget the restaurant talk for a second. So, is it your first date together? How'd you meet her? Are you going to bring her to Dinner A'Fare so she can meet "the family"? We promise not to embarrass you. LOL
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HAHA I met her through a mutual friend and we've chatted on the phone a few times and so it's time for us to break the ice with the first date. If things go well then I'll see if she wants to join me over at A'Fare since I know you guys will be gentle. lol
 
Hehe. Good for you. Well I would suggest wherever you go, to try lunch instead of dinner. It feels more casual and takes some of the pressure off for a "romantic" date for the first time you are meeting. Hope this helps.
 
SoCal78 said:
Hehe. Good for you. Well I would suggest wherever you go, to try lunch instead of dinner. It feels more casual and takes some of the pressure off for a "romantic" date for the first time you are meeting. Hope this helps.
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I hear ya, but the way our schedules line up lunch doesn't work for either of us. She works as a hairstylist during the weekend days and of course I work during the week. So it's dinner or nothing.
 
Take her to Mama D's on the Balboa Peninsula; absolutely the BEST service you will ever experience; the food is great also. Talk about being treated like family… Good luck SC! Keep us posted...
 
Sabatino's down on Lido. It's sicilian regional italian. They make their own sausage and it's incredible.

Do you know if she likes a specific regional food, Italian seafood or American Italian?
 
Forget italian - take her to Mastro's in Newport - it goes without saying the steaks are great, but the sides are insane.
 
My idea might not be doable on short notice, but it's usually more fun to do things together on a date than to just sit across the table and stare when you run out of things to say. Try signing up with local culinary school for an Italian cooking class for 2, so you can cook together then eat. Also, since you already pre-paid the class, there's no question on who pays or splits the bill.

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Might I suggest having drinks up on the terrace of Orange Hill, out next to a fire pit, after dinner. I can speak from experience that the view is...um...intoxicating. And very romantic. ;-)

And I second Pina's. I knew I was special when Graph took me there and introduced me to the staff. :-)
 
usctrojanman29 said:
I have a date on Tuesday and the lady loves Italian food so I'd like to take her to a nice, romantic Italian restaurant in Irvine. I've heard good things about Tuscany off Main and Lucca's over here in Quail Hill. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Lucca's...Lucca's...is that a spanish restaurant?
 
usctrojanman29 said:
irvine123 said:
why irvine only? If it is a special date, take a look at Ti Amo at Laguna? Make a reservation and request a table upstair for sunset. Their food is excellent.
Click to expand...
Kinda wanted to stay close to home, but I guess I'm gonna have to reconsider that.
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See Cayci's comment if you really want a second date. Pina's is some of the best unknown Italian food in OC. In fact, I hate promoting it here, because I don't want to see your ugly mugs filling the place up when I need a table. If she doesn't appreciate Pina's, then you know she isn't second date worthy, so instead of Orange Hill, just take her to the Swinging Door around the corner. If she wants a second date after that... well... just have some fun with it, and stop giving a crap about the restaurant.

Tenmagnet! Where the hell are you? Help me out, our boy needs some schooling! Man... did he really go to SC?
 
I'm a big fan of Mascarpones and Arnone's, both in hole-in-the-wallish family-operated places in Orange. Neither are necessarily romantic or glitzy, but pretty much the complete opposite of those Irvine restaurants you mentioned. Mascarpones for a very authentic Italian, home-style experience. The owner and his family shut the restaurant down for a month each year while they go back to Italy. Listening to him just read the menu makes my mouth water.
 
irvine123 said:
why irvine only? If it is a special date, take a look at Ti Amo at Laguna? Make a reservation and request a table upstair for sunset. Their food is excellent.
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I'm late, but I second Ti Amo.
 
I like Pina's too, but it's often super crowded and the last two times I tried to go, I couldn't get a table. And it's not super cheap. It's worth the wait, but not the place to go for a quick bite.

Lately I've been eating at Taste of Sicily on Tustin in the old Pepino's location. Vs Pepinios, the food is much improved and the pricing is insanely cheap. IMO they have the best pizza in Orange. The service is mixed, but they are new and they are trying. If I thought they didn’t give a shit I’d toss them under the bus.

Neither of these places I would go for a romantic dinner.
 
acpme said:
I'm a big fan of Mascarpones and Arnone's, both in hole-in-the-wallish family-operated places in Orange.
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You know, I have never ate at Mascapones, and I used to eat at Arnone's a lot. We quit going there and I have no idea why. There wasn't a reason good or bad........we just stopped.

I need to go back.
 
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