(310) 451-4595

1501 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401 34.012704 -118.496469

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Neighborhoods: Downtown, West LA

icugini.com

Hours:

Mon-Thu 11:30am-10pm

Fri-Sat 11:30am-11pm

Sun 10am-3pm, 4pm-10pm

Price:

$$$

Last updated 6.20.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, Discover, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Romantic Dining, Brunch, Outdoor Dining

Cuisine:

Seafood, Italian

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About I Cugini

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

In Short – The large dining room is accented by rustic chandeliers, exposed-beam ceilings and sounds of sizzling from the open kitchen. A huge glassed-in patio overlooks Ocean Avenue and Palisades Park. The menu emphasizes Italian seafood; the specialty dish is a grilled whole fish. Other items include shellfish risotto and seafood spaghetti. Desserts offer an array of sweets like sorbets, fruits and tiramisu.

Editor's Tips

Brunch:
Enjoy smooth tunes with brunch. From 10am to 3pm Sunday, the Wave 94.7 broadcasts live jazz from the restaurant. Call ahead for reservations.
The Extras:
After your meal, stroll along the Santa Monica Pier or the Third Street Promenade, which is just a couple blocks away.
Know Before You Go:
Reservations are recommended. Credit card required for party of 10 or more.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “Great view of the Santa Monica pier :) We started the evening off w/ a classic?”
  2. “the patio view is the best”
  3. “best italian regional cuisine, great service & ambiance”
  4. “Nice view of the Pacific Ocean.”
  5. “Cugini is the perfect mixture of a great location, beautiful decor and of course, delicious food!”
  6. “Fantastic atmosphere, both inside and out on the patio.”
  7. “Or perhaps it was the fantastic location with oceanside/sunset views.”
  8. “The location is great since it is right on Ocean Ave facing the ocean.”
  9. “decor, the most beautiful patio”
  10. “The ambiance is good indoors, but we did not get seated there.”
  11. “The location and the atmosphere of the place is wonderful, the service is great and the food is impeccable!”
  12. “The interior decor is a nice and tastefully decorated with wood furniture prevailing.”
  13. “This restaurant offers delicious italian seafood at a great location.”
  14. “have walked by this restaurant many times thinking it would be a lovely romantic spot to take my boyfriend, but I was sorely disappointed.”
  15. “Overall, a classy restaurant and a safe bet for consistently good food, service and atmosphere.”
  16. “VEry good food and incredible nice ambience.”
  17. “Fantastic location and food”
dessert
100.0% positive
  1. “He then sent over a delicious chocolate desert - best thing we had the entire meal.”
  2. “We all had dessert, my favorite was the pumpkin cheesecake, but of course the traditional Italian dessert tiramisu was great.”
drinks
75.0% positive
  1. “This is our favorit Italian restaurant, it never fails us with there quality of food, service, presentation and atmoshere and specialy the fresh whole fish that they offer, the wine list is wonderfull with varieties from the new and old world.”
  2. “The wine list is offers some tasty wines as well.”
  3. “The drinks we got at the bar were overpriced and tasted awful (The Peach-Tini) and the food was flavorless (blackened cod) and our waiter was never anywhere to be found!”
  4. “longest happy hour with great cocktails and appetizers”
food quality
80.95000267028809% positive
  1. “Great Italian food”
  2. “Neither of us are big seafood lovers but we thorougly enjoyed the dinner.”
  3. “Since the cooked food was so bad we said no.”
  4. “This is by far one of the best seafood restaurants I have been to.”
  5. “Attentive service + good food = success!”
  6. “Yea, real authentic Italian.”
  7. “The wine list is offers some tasty wines as well.”
  8. “i've actually recommended this restaurant to many friends already and i will definitely return in the near future so i can try out other dishes.”
  9. “The srevice is great and the food is excellent too!”
  10. “The drinks we got at the bar were overpriced and tasted awful (The Peach-Tini) and the food was flavorless (blackened cod) and our waiter was never anywhere to be found!”
  11. “Great food, Great Initial sevice.”
  12. “We felt ashamed to treat our guests from Italy to such a poor quality food.”
  13. “The food was great, I had a baked whole fish.”
  14. “The music was good with the band, but the food was not worth $49.95.”
  15. “They are lack of cheese selection, but they have nice smoked salmon and king crab; peel and ea shrimp.”
  16. “He then sent over a delicious chocolate desert - best thing we had the entire meal.”
  17. “love their seafood risotto.”
  18. “If you happen to like Italian seafood, you should know that i Cugini offers some of the finest fish-fare in all of California.”
  19. “Overall, a classy restaurant and a safe bet for consistently good food, service and atmosphere.”
  20. “PLUS: my potatoes were ice cold, and they were definitely supposed to be hot.”
  21. “have yet to find a good seafood restaurant in this entire state, and I Cugini continues that quest.”
  22. “Food is fresh”
  23. “They offer bunch of all sorts of cold salad.”
  24. “Went in early January with great expectations only to be disappointed by a very poor quality of food, in fact may have been responsible for a bout of food poison, my suspicion anyway.”
  25. “VEry good food and incredible nice ambience.”
  26. “would never go back as there are too many good restaurants in Santa Monica and our meal tasted pretty terrible.”
  27. “great food & service!”
  28. “The Sunday Brunch is the best I have been at, Jazz, the Wave and great food, uncomparable”
  29. “I've enjoyed every meal at I Cugini.”
  30. “the Caprese salad: fresh buffalo mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes, and basil (my fav) & the peppery mussels: this dish was great because the mussels weren?”
  31. “You are given the option of choosing a type of fish you like and then choosing the method and flavor of how you would like the fish cooked.”
  32. “The cod dish melts in your mouth and the sorbets are delightful!”
  33. “Cugini is the perfect mixture of a great location, beautiful decor and of course, delicious food!”
  34. “The location and the atmosphere of the place is wonderful, the service is great and the food is impeccable!”
  35. “Service was not that great and food was rather average.”
  36. “great food, friendly and professional service”
  37. “Spinach salad that was cold like it just came out of the fridge and clumped together, with nothing on it but pickled onions.”
  38. “This restaurant offers delicious italian seafood at a great location.”
  39. “best italian regional cuisine, great service & ambiance”
  40. “both the food & service from all the staff there were excellent.”
  41. “Great fresh italian seafood restaurant, my favorite italian since 16 years.”
  42. “This is our favorit Italian restaurant, it never fails us with there quality of food, service, presentation and atmoshere and specialy the fresh whole fish that they offer, the wine list is wonderfull with varieties from the new and old world.”
  43. “went to I Cugini last Saturday night for dinner and the food was pretty awful.”
  44. “The overflowing Italian food is as good as you will get at any large scale brunch -t there is just too much to eat and choose from.”
  45. “Great assortment of the traditional Sunday bruch faire as well as dishes from northern Italy.”
  46. “Fantastic location and food”
  47. “Listen, if you like Olive Garden or Red Lobster, this is definitely a step up for you, and I hope you enjoy paying steep prices for mediocre to bad food, but you probably can't tell the difference anyway and are giving this place 5 stars.”
  48. “Beautiful setting, good food”
  49. “food, quality is superb, choices are great”
menu variety
87.5% positive
  1. “This is our favorit Italian restaurant, it never fails us with there quality of food, service, presentation and atmoshere and specialy the fresh whole fish that they offer, the wine list is wonderfull with varieties from the new and old world.”
  2. “The place looked nice, then we sat down with the menus, and they looked the menu's at a ridiculous family restaurant, with illustrations and a wacky font.”
  3. “food, quality is superb, choices are great”
  4. “They are lack of cheese selection, but they have nice smoked salmon and king crab; peel and ea shrimp.”
overall
75.0% positive
  1. “Overall a really nice place, go for a special dinner or just for a treat.”
  2. “Not a good place to eat on Ocean Ave”
  3. “Our server was great and very informative, the manager even came by and talked to us about the restaurant.”
  4. “This is a great restaurant if you want to go on a date or if you are going out with a large group.”
return potential
75.0% positive
  1. “i've actually recommended this restaurant to many friends already and i will definitely return in the near future so i can try out other dishes.”
  2. “would never go back as there are too many good restaurants in Santa Monica and our meal tasted pretty terrible.”
service
87.5% positive
  1. “Our server, Jordi was one of the best servers I've had in a long time (wish there were more servers like this around).”
  2. “Attentive service + good food = success!”
  3. “The drinks we got at the bar were overpriced and tasted awful (The Peach-Tini) and the food was flavorless (blackened cod) and our waiter was never anywhere to be found!”
  4. “best italian regional cuisine, great service & ambiance”
  5. “The location and the atmosphere of the place is wonderful, the service is great and the food is impeccable!”
  6. “This is our favorit Italian restaurant, it never fails us with there quality of food, service, presentation and atmoshere and specialy the fresh whole fish that they offer, the wine list is wonderfull with varieties from the new and old world.”
  7. “The servers who 'tour' you through the restaurant to show you all the offerings are professional and very helpful.”
  8. “Our server was great and very informative, the manager even came by and talked to us about the restaurant.”
  9. “great food, friendly and professional service”
  10. “both the food & service from all the staff there were excellent.”
  11. “great food & service!”
  12. “The service was so bad with this arrogant waiter.”
  13. “Our waiter was very attentive and the dining experience as a whole was excellent.”
  14. “The manager was super friendly and felt horrible and asked if we wanted to order anything else.”
  15. “The staff is polite and helpful from the host/hostess to the servers.”
  16. “Overall, a classy restaurant and a safe bet for consistently good food, service and atmosphere.”
value
69.43999767303467% positive
  1. “The music was good with the band, but the food was not worth $49.95.”
  2. “Listen, if you like Olive Garden or Red Lobster, this is definitely a step up for you, and I hope you enjoy paying steep prices for mediocre to bad food, but you probably can't tell the difference anyway and are giving this place 5 stars.”
  3. “For what they offer, the price is pretty reasonable.”
  4. “Our entrees were great and not as expensive as I feared they'd be.”
  5. “The dining room is charming in its old school elegance, perhaps that's why I assumed that i Cugini would be outrageously expensive.”
  6. “The drinks we got at the bar were overpriced and tasted awful (The Peach-Tini) and the food was flavorless (blackened cod) and our waiter was never anywhere to be found!”
wait time
100.0% positive
  1. “Our server, Jordi was one of the best servers I've had in a long time (wish there were more servers like this around).”
1 Star Rating: Poor

01/11/10

Major disappointment

by Coops

Went in early January with great expectations only to be disappointed by a very poor quality of food, in fact may have been responsible for a bout of food poison, my suspicion anyway. Avoid.

  • Pros: ambience and location
  • Cons: food quality
1 Star Rating: Poor

04/24/09

Not a good place to eat on Ocean Ave

by DenaG

I went to I Cugini last Saturday night for dinner and the food was pretty awful. My date and I shared the grilled Calamari and it was gross. I've had grilled Calamari before and although nothing compares to it being fried, their version tasted bad. We then shared a Cesar salad and it was fine. We also split the Shirmp Risotto and it had like a sandy grit (sand maybe) in it. We sent it back. The manager was super friendly and felt horrible and asked if we wanted to order anything else. Since the cooked food was so bad we said no. He then sent over a delicious chocolate desert - best thing we had the entire meal. I would never go back as there are too many good restaurants in Santa Monica and our meal tasted pretty terrible. Interestingly the restaurant was packed.

  • Pros: The Manager was nice and wanted to fix our issue
  • Cons: tasteless food, patio was quite loud
1 Star Rating: Poor

01/12/09

sat. night visit

by taylordk

Went there Saturday night with one of the restaurant's investor's no less. The place looked nice, then we sat down with the menus, and they looked the menu's at a ridiculous family restaurant, with illustrations and a wacky font. That's fine for Applebees, but this it seems like this is trying to be a top tier restaurant, or at least, its prices scream that. Overall, it seemed like Olive Garden quality food at 5-Star restaurant prices.

I got the whole Daurade fish grilled. There is a choice of having a whole fish prepared four different ways. The waiter told me the chefs prefer to girl it so I got it that way. Just that choice in itself is so ridiculous and awful, I knew it was going to be bad news. The fish came and I had them fillet it for me and it came back in broken chunks and looked very unappetizing. It was bland, screamed for some kind of sauce. The sides were even worse. Spinach salad that was cold like it just came out of the fridge and clumped together, with nothing on it but pickled onions. It was disgusting. Oh, and garlic mashed potoatoes that weren't well mashed and tasted like water. Another at the table had the lasagna, which was way too big a portion and also didn't seem freshly made. She thought it was okay. We got the grilled calamari appetizer too. That was way too small a portion, especially for the price.

Listen, if you like Olive Garden or Red Lobster, this is definitely a step up for you, and I hope you enjoy paying steep prices for mediocre to bad food, but you probably can't tell the difference anyway and are giving this place 5 stars.

1 Star Rating: Poor

01/03/09

I Cugini - Santa Monica = worst place to eat!

by Meerkat2008

To give a star to these guys would be an extravagance..... based on today's experience. We felt ashamed to treat our guests from Italy to such a poor quality food. All was substandard ...we might as well hvae taken them to McDonald's. We all feel sick now. These guys are not seving Italian cuisine! The service was so bad with this arrogant waiter. This is not about knowing or not knowing about seafood or pizza dishes and presentation ..this is about stealing our money. I feel bad for even paying for the junk they served. Funny ..there was a Zagat survey box there .... makes me laugh!

  • Pros: Location
  • Cons: Quality
2 Star Rating: Below Average

07/24/08

Not the best

by gsabean

Obviously, no one here has ever been to the East Coast. Does anyone know real seafood in California? I have yet to find a good seafood restaurant in this entire state, and I Cugini continues that quest.

I went with a group of 10 last night, and the service and food really could have been better. I had the mussels (dry and bland), and the soft shell crab (definitely not the best I've ever had - and not worth $27). There's very little to choose from. That, and the waitress couldn't even pronounce the names of the dishes. Yea, real authentic Italian.

  • Pros: the view
  • Cons: the food

The Details on I Cugini

Place Categories:

  • great overflowing italian food
  • great service
  • great location
  • great fresh italian seafood restaurant
  • worst place
  • professional servers
  • enjoyable end culinary experience
  • mediocre quality food
  • fantastic atmosphere
  • nice patio view
  • great entrees
  • beautiful patio
  • all loved meal
  • incredible nice ambience
  • overpriced drinks
  • great heirloom tomatoes
  • like whole fish
  • cold spinach salad
  • great basil
  • great music
  • helpful staff
  • like italian seafood
  • good ambiance
  • best sunday brunch
  • favorite italian
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