Buona Gente

Ok, parking is a problem with any of the businesses on 2^nd Street, but the food here is very good, with decent proportions (we always have food left over). Hostesses are always friendly, and aim to please. Love the bread!

Excellent! Ate here last night on a whim since one of their specials sounded good. I had mushroom ravioli with pink sauce, which was phenomenal! My husband got the gnocchi and meatballs, also delicious. Service was great, atmosphere perfect. We will be back!

My wife and just discovered this jewel by accident and were pleasantly surprised. The food is absolutely delicious, service was impeccable and prices were very reasonable. I chose the Pasta Marinara and added the meatballs, and glad I did! Probably the best tasting meatballs I’ve ever had. My wife had the Turkey lunch sandwich, and loved it. This place is Belmont Shores best kept little secret!

This is one of the few places that is always good. My wife and I are both food critics and are extremely picky. We live a few blocks away and eat at Buona Gente frequently. We had a rough day today and a good meal was welcomed. The service, like the food was impeccable. This place is truly a hidden treasure. If you are tired of going out for spaghetti with tomato sauce and want a real Italian dinner, try this place out.

Came here for dinner last weekend, accidentally left my wallet. Called and returned within 15 minutes. Was so thankful they had it, just made sure I still saw my ID, cash and credit cards,
Went to deposit the cash today only to discover that $ 60 is missing. I know there is no way I can prove this, but I called to let the restaurant know. The manager who answered was apparently the same one who worked that night and said that me leaving my wallet or losing money is «not our responsibility. Don’t know what to tell you.» Just a totally rude and apathetic tone.
He admitted he was not the one to bring it to the back safe, but assured me he was there that night, and the hostess was the one to put it away… Okay? No concern whatsoever. Thanks — never going back WHICH I’m sure they could care less about.

My friend and I LOVE this place. We visit everytime we go down to 2^nd St. You seat yourself and they treat you to some fresh bread (with olive oil and balsamic vinegar… Delicious.) The restaurant has just a lil lighting with a couple candles here and there. Opera music is usually playing, but there’s a little tv usually playing sports on low in the corner. Wait staff is friendly and fills cups & orders at the right time, but is not all over you at every second. And even though it’s a relatively small restaurant it’s not usually crowded, so it makes for a pleasant dining experience.
I usually order the Cheese Manicotti and Margherita Pizza, split it with my friend, and we take home a little leftovers for the next day. I haven’t tried their dessert, because we usually go down the street for gelato, but I’m sure it’s tasty too! It’s not too pricey, either.
The only downside, as is the same for the rest of the businesses on 2^nd St, is the lack of parking. I take the bus down there, so it’s never an issue for me, but there’s your heads up! If you enjoy using your feet as transportation, the beach is just a stroll away, so it would make for a pleasant little date, too. :)

Was going back to LA from Huntington Beach, and stopped w/​the pup in LB for dinner. Naturally, we were seated on the small patio, and not 5 minutes later it starts raining. POURING. At an angle, so there was no possibility of staying dry under the awning. The hostess actually asked the people directly inside the sliding glass door if they could move, opened the door, & seated me there so I was technically still seated outside. And the waitress brought Morbo a bowl of water on the «outside» area. THAT is customer service.
As for the food, I had the eggplant parmesan, which was excellent and a very decent portion size. I even had some leftover (which I held out on for about 20 min after getting home before polishing off).
Alas, even with the staff’s best efforts, it was still pouring after we were done and we got a good soaking getting back to the car. Poor Morbo.

Great little place in the midst of 2^nd in Long Beach. Absolutely great service, clean, and most of all — -GREAT food. Had eggplant parmesan and pizza and caprese salad and everything was verrry good. Nice management team who is present during dinner. Would highly recommend.

I’ve been going here for years because it’s reliably good, non-​fussy, non-​trendy, just good solid Italian cuisine. The wait staff is attentive and competent, the wine list is good and reasonably priced (I like the Italian wines with Italian food, and these wines are very well-​chosen.). I judge a restaurant by the attention paid to side dishes and vegetables; Buona Gente does not slack off in this regard. Last time I was there, I ordered linguine with eggplant and it was great. My companion had the chicken marsala, which came with pasta and seasonable vegetables that were cooked perfectly — just slightly al dente, still retaining their color, seasoned just right. Oh, and the chicken marsala was good too. We shared a tiramisu afterward, and it too was just right. Plus, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Unpretentious, and well worth the visit.

What a great hidden gem! If you are looing for a top Italian cozy spot to eat, this is your spot. I had the Pasta Bolognese and my husband had the Fresh Linguine de Mare which he asked to have angel hair pasta and use the Bolognese sauce instead of the marinara sauce. This was divine! This would be a great spot to host an event as well if they allow it. Great atmosphere and great service. The bread was piping hot and I loved that! We considered Olive Garden or Buca de Beppo but wanted something different and took a drive and a walk in hopes to find something new. This is the spot! It’s clean and the service is surprisingly very good. And if you live in the area, they have pizza delivery after 6:00 PM!

This is lovely restaurant to enjoy a nice, romantic, quiet meal. With no particular cravings, the BF and I decided to take a stroll on 2^nd to find a place to eat. It was a beautiful cool day, so we wanted to sit outside. We walked by a few restaurants, but they all seemed too crowded. We finally decided to eat at this place, mainly because it had plenty of sidewalk seating. We started with the minestrone soup, which was ok and a salad, also ok. What pushed this review to 4 stars was the salmon… boy, was it good! It comes in a pink sauce, accompanied by marinara pasta and veggies. We paired our meal with a nice bottle of red zin (can’t remember which one). This place turned out to be a wonderful (unplanned) date-​night restaurant. We look forward to going back, this time with our own bottle of wine, especially since the corkage fee is only $ 9!

2 stars for cute and dainty hole in the wall.
Never heard of this place. Only went here because a friend recommended for their chicken bbq pizza… So I expected a little something something. Tbh, I’ll stick with Pieology and Dominos. MUCH cheaper and tastier.
The pizza was like every other chicken bbq pizza. Nothing amaze balls about it; we got a medium and it was $ 17. Shoot me now.
Now let’s talk about service… service SUCKED! On a Sunday night, you’d think they’d have at least 4 servers. Only 1 I saw was doing everything for about 10 tables. Boy, that ain’t enough. Didn’t even bother waiving her down for our order and then an hr later for our check. Shoot me now. I was screaming in my head. There was another waitress but she just grabbed some dishes and dashed back to the kitchen for idk what T_​T. So bad. Forgot to get their names…
Horrible service for such a busy area on 2^nd street ruined the meal for sure.
Ugh, first and last time here. Cheers.

three stars seems fitting for a very average place. It didn’t impress but it wasn’t horrible either. inside it’s a bit tight, but not the smallest restaurant I’ve been too. the food was disappointing to be honest. I had eggplant parm, the eggplant was overdone and mushy. the salad it came with was a plate of lettuce with a few tomato slices. the server was nice and on point so that gets a star. overall, meh.

Grab a handful or two of the candies at the hostess stand on the way out! They’re delightful!
One of my friends lives in the neighborhood, and a group of us decided to take a walk down the street and grab dinner. We found this quaint little gem, grabbed a menu to check the prices, and saw they were decent.
Interior is nicely set up. It’s small but not congested. The service and quality of food here are awesome. I ordered the Cheese Ravioli with marinara sauce ($ 13.95). It’s perfect. The cheese is soft and smooth. The pasta isn’t too thick or heavy. The marinara has the right consistency. I’ve tried marinara sauce elsewhere that has been too watery, but not in this dish. I would definitely order it again. Complimentary bread is a pleasant surprise. You can really taste the dough.
As for staff, they are prompt and make sure our water glasses are always full.
I do, however, have some complaints about my first time here. It gets super hot in here! Granted, I came on a summer evening in July but the weather outside was cool enough at this point so I’m wondering why it felt like a sauna inside. Also — my fork had residue on it. Gross and annoying.
Again, food and service are awesome. I’d come back again for the authentic Italian food that isn’t Olive Garden.

Best Italian food in Long Beach. enough said… nice décor and great staff. Servings is a good amount and couldn’t finish food. wished they delivered but I can’t stop thinking how delicious the food was. Try the Chicken Catin!

The food here is amazing! Authentic Italian! I have to agree with other Unilocaler’s, the service could use improvement. We did sit for sometime with no forks or napkins. And our drinks barely got a refill but the delicious cuisine made up for it.

Our service was terrible. Waited 30 minutes for our check and we were the only customers there. I ordered Pasta Carbonara and it was extremely greasy. Bread was pita chips. Please avoid this place.

Looking for Italian on Belmont Shore? Here around 4? AVOID THIS PLACE.
You’re better off at La Strada and Dominco
Bland food. Terrible service. And we were the only customers there!
Here’s what happened:
Came here a few minutes before 4 and the waitress didn’t even want to give me the it happy hour menu. Um. ok… she didn’t allow me to peak at the menu. Sister and I ordered their lunch menu, she had a regular spaghetti and I had the alfredo.
Eventually the time came and she handed me the happy hr menu which was nothing extraordinary. I had a bad feeling about this place when I asked what she recommended for wine with the dish I ordered. Now I know how to pair my wine but it’s good to see other people’s suggestion. She said she didn’t know and any wine should do. Huge red flag. The waitress just didn’t care about serving us and so I ordered a sangria to enjoy as I wait for our food.
Complimentary bread was tasty.
Eventually our food came and presentation was not there. I took a bite of my Lil sis spaghetti and it was ok. Something I too could whip up at home. Took a bite of mine and o dear it was terrible. I took a few more bites to see if I missed the flavors. Sister took a bite and said it was bland and was like wth did they forget to add cheese. Waitress came back asked if we needed anything, told her we needed parmasean cheese. Couldn’t fix that mess, so I wanted to send it back so the cook knows his cooking isn’t up to par. Waited for her to come but she literally disappeared to the back for well over 15 minutes, and didn’t come out until another couple came in. That’s when I told her what was wrong and she was appalled that I didn’t like her food. What made it worse was when I could hear her telling the check in a condescending tone that I didn’t like the food. I was going to order something else in return because I wanted to like this place. Off she went not asking if I wanted to order something else instead. This is becoming frustrating because I’m still hungry and I want to eat something other than bread and butter. She came and asked after 10 minutes if I wanted to replace my meal but hey I can no longer order off the lunch menu. Um ok. seriously? I didn’t plan on to anyways but thanks for that bitch attitude. Looked over the menu, nothing appealed and the service that I had just received ruined my appetite.
Check came. Got charged lunch price. Just fyi those dishes were also on happy hour menu.
Will I ever come back… no. Not unless this experience is addressed. I wanted a fun outing with my little sister and that didn’t work out. I attempted to try a new restaurant on this street because it’s all small business. I think I’ll stick to my usual from now on.
Suggestions of restaurants on this strip;
La Creperie, George’s, Simmyz– great beer selection

This restaurant is quaint, with very fine, authentic traditional style Italian food. If you’re looking for faux Italian, a la California styles thrown in, this is not the place.
The table staff is young, enthusiastic, and friendly. On Fridays and Saturdays, it does get a bit hectic and crowded, but that’s because people appreciate good Italia food that is reasonably priced. I love the eggplant parm.

Our first time here… The place is quite quaint, with a small sidewalk dining area (though we sat inside).
Service was decent as was the food. I mean, it (the food), sure didn’t rock our worlds but I, (we), didn’t leave anything on our plates either!!!
I had the meatball sandwich. The sauce was tasty, the meatballs were tender and delicious and the food was served promptly.
Only issue we had was my daughter’s personal pizza was served so hot, she actually burned and blistered two of her fingers while grabbing cheese /​chicken on the darn thing. So be forewarned… That $hit is served hot and fresh!!!
Worthy of another visit for sure.