Il Cielo

Recommends

Timothy R.

Joined 1 year ago

The food was good.... This place is really cute. We had reservations made about a month in advance and got there pretty early but we still had to wait about 15-20 mins and the lower level is really small and packed, so there isn't much room where to wait. The food was good and so was the wine.

Recommends

Kevin C.

Joined 2 years ago

great steaks. Great food, great wine, great atmosphere. The quality and freshness of the food is excellent, the steaks are unbelievable.

Doesn't Recommend

ina dan

Joined 3 years ago

is mostly just a name. My husband took me to this restaurant for our aniversary, we were so excited.

The ambiance was nice. The menu, we were expecting to have a wide variety of choices, as they showed in their webpage, sadly when we show up, they gave us sort of special menu with only a few choices. The waiter was not offered us the drink, the wine and no dessert. We had to asked for all this.

The service was very rushed, it seems that they wanted to get rid of us, to fill another table. the reservation was for 9:00 pm! It was the worst anniversary

Pro: Romantic

Cons: Not a great variety to choose from, snoobish waiter.

Recommends

leahg11

Joined 4 years ago

Wowie, amazing. i read all sorts of reviews, and saw a lot of mixed opinions.... still, i was determined to try this restaurant.... well can i say, WOW!!!, it totally surpassed anything that i was expecting! the atmosphere is so pretty (get the patio!), the service was the best in LA(waiters are not stuffy or pretentious, can be really formal, or super chill, very good at reading the table and what you want), and the food was delish! i would love more wines by the glass, but the 1/2 bottle option kinda forced us to have that extra glass, that actually ends up making the last part of dinner that much more fun, ha.

i will SO be back here, this is exactly what you want when you are craving a really warm, rich experience. loved it!!

Doesn't Recommend

fdlvr09

Joined 4 years ago

Ruined our Valentine's Day. My husband took me to this restaurant for our First Valentine's Day as newly weds, we were so excited. The ambiance was nice. The menu, we were expecting to have a wide variety of choices, as they showed in their webpage, sadly when we show up, they gave us sort of special menu with only a few choices.

The Food: There was a baby lobster, that actually looked more like a shrimp, because of its size. They served a very simple and expensive pasta, I guess it was just to fill the space in our stomach.The mushroom was under cook. We were expecting a lot more for what we paid (almost $300)

The service was very rushed, it seems that they wanted to get rid of us, to fill another table.

Advice, if you go for Valentine's be prepare to pay a lot for little.

This was the worst Valentine's day Memory, that I'm trying to forget.

Recommends

msdukeblue

Joined 4 years ago

Romantic as romantic gets. My date took me to Il Cielo. Props for picking such a incredible place. Absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately, my date's appeal ended in picking great spots. :)

What's not to like? Great food, to die for patio and perfect drinks.

Now I just need another date.

Doesn't Recommend

Michelle17230

Joined 4 years ago

Romantic atmosphere but not much else. My fiance and I were looking to have dinner in the area since we were in LA getting our wedding bands. I looked online for a nice Italian restaurant to try out since we were there for the evening. This restaurant had a beautiful garden atmosphere! However, our service and everything else about the experience were just awful which ruined the experience. I ordered a glass of white wine- pino grigio that came out to $12 dollars. We both ordered our own entrees and shared a salad. When we got the bill there was a charge that we split a salad even though we ordered our own entrees which was so ridicoulus! We both ate light and the bill came out to $100. Our service there was very poor. Our reservations were at 7:30 and we didnt get out food till way after 9 (we waited forever for the food there) and we finished our meal by 10 after we waited for the bill from the waiter for over 30 min. He never came by our table! It was very strange. We kept thinking is the waiter going to bring the bill by, we were kinda laughing to ourselves because it seemed very empty ourside for them to just forget about us. Yes, the place was very pretty outside, I loved it. However the treatment and the serice were very poor for the high price we paid. I think there are other places that are just as romantic, for the prices and the better service we should have went to Mortons. Anyway just thought I would warn other people about this place. Our experience there was not good at all.

Recommends

FernandoR3

Joined 4 years ago

Romantic Restaurant. After 8 years I decided to propose to my girlfriend. I was confused on what restaurant to choose from. I read good reviews for il Cielo, but i was concerned over the last bad reviews that were recently posted. Without knowing what to expect I made reservations on 2/16/09 at 6pm. It was a 45 min drive from orange county. As we entered the restaurant we were greeted and we sat by the entrance in the patio. We ordered our dinner and it was served in a short time. Following our delicious dinner we ordered our desserts and that's when I proposed. I asked the question of a lifetime and she said YES. After that before we left I asked if we could take pictures and Thomas Scalfaro, manager, took a few pictures of us. Once he knew I had proposed he felt bad that we didn't mention it earlier. He invited us to toast to end the best night of our lives. Overall the food was great, the service was great, the environment was great, and my only regret was not mentioning it was my engagement dinner.

Doesn't Recommend

Magzilla

Joined 7 years ago

I am still offended.... Wow. Il Cielo would not confirm my reservations for Valentine's dinner until I filled out a credit card authorization for the cost of dinner, tax and a 20% gratuity. The contract stated that if we were late, we would lose our reservation but be charged anyway.

It boggles my mind that if an emergency were to make us late, we would be required to pay for a dinner we did not receive and tip 20% for service not provided. I can't believe they would assume I would not pay, tip appropriately or call if I am running late. Is this the type of clientele this restaurant attracts? I can't believe that businesses can operate this way. I guess I should be glad to learn how they operate before stepping foot inside the restaurant.

I chose Inn of the Seventh Ray as a romantic alternative.

Recommends

GwenPenny

Joined 5 years ago

Only OK.... My boyfriend and I chose Il Cielo for our anniversary after reading rave reviews about it being the best romance/anniv. place. The outer area is under a tent canopy, decorated with strings of xmas lights all across the top (Many viewers claimed it was like looking up at the stars-It is not-you could do it at home yourself). They also had lamps/candles around rendering the place much brighter than a 'romantic' place should be. It was uncomfortable.

The service was alright, but we had to push for it. We went on a Tuesday night at an early time (8pm) and had made reservations a week prior to avoid any seating/waiting complications. There were tons of open tables all around the area, but we were seated between two tables filled with old men in suits having a loud/good time. The tables are set up in rows with potted plants and vines as barriers, so one table of loud men was lass than 2 feet away from us with no sort of privacy since the potted plants are placed a meter apart from one another-I bumped elbows with our neighbors accidentally a few times.

Due to the bright lights, and the close proximity of surrounding tables/lack of privacy, we felt very exposed, not comfortable whatsoever.(booth and corner lovers will know what I mean) It was very, very far from romantic.

We asked to be reseated (since all tables around us were all available), and they did so immediately and apologetically. Our waiter was in-training, and very polite/customer oriented (we had to ask for silverware, etc...). It makes me wonder why they seated us in such an undesirable location in the first place-We had stressed it was for an anniversary occasion when we arrived. The new seat, though still bright, and next to the front door, was at least away from the gangs of old, loud suits.

The food was not anything to write home about -I've made better pasta cabernera at home (it was too heavy) and the seafood paella was average. The price/food/service was all average for the area.