Celestino

Food was very tasty and services was not good. It could be a fourstar if they improve the services.

Top classic Italian restaurant. The ambience is cozy and the food is prepared with passion. I’ve been here a number of times, both alone and with friends. I have been impressed by the personal attention by both bartenders and waiters. Their suggestions for the food and beverage have been perfect.
I enjoyed the stuffed calamari. It was a nice beginning. The Ravioli stuffed with fillet was an excellent main course. Risotto fixed «anyway you like» is a nice touch. According to the waiter, they can make it over 100 ways. For the dessert the Panna Cota was light and great with a cup of coffee.
An enjoyable experience to be repeated soon.

The waiter speaks Italian but the food is not authentic at all. One of the waiter is very rude, we were sitting on patio, the rude waiter use his legs kick the door very hard every time he come in and out.

OMG! Best Italian food in my book! Been here many times and the owner is an Italian man that is passionate about his restaurant. Celestino has been here for along time and many locals know this is the real deal!!! Food is aways the best in season and staff is on point with service and care. Everything is wonderful from the olive oil on the table to the fish and pasta that you will say WOW that was amazing! Don’t forget to try the osso buco and panna cotta both my fav!

Great food greater service. If you’re in an Italian cuisine mood, I highly recommend this place. We went in just for dinner and they didn’t let us leave without having dessert. We got to try 3 different desserts and they didn’t even charge us. Their coffee is amazing too perfect pairing with dessert. The ambiance is very European. Loved it! Diego was amazing also the other guy that was keep bringing us the desserts. Funny and super friendly staff. Got to chit chat in German and Italian. Thank you for the great service. Will be visiting soon again. Celestino on Lake Avenue in Pasadena CA. Grazie mille!

Absolutely LOVE the gnocchi. Always a positive experience — both
the food and service are great!

Kind of a reasonable effort classy– not stifling, but easy to walk in and have a nice meal.
Service is pretty decent, they have parking, and there’s a somewhat more casual outdoor area setup for large groups too, which is ideal for adult parties and families with a stroller or two.
What really drives the rating is the food; the lamb chops are excellent as is the bread, but the rest wasn’t quite as memorable as hoped. Seafood salad was huge but my friend still had room to devour the lamb chops in addition (!), and no one said a word about their pastas or desserts except for the sorbet, which wasn’t to everyone’s liking (yet some others did enjoy it).

Probably one of the most authentic Italian restaurants I have been to. The food is great and service is good. I personally liked the rabbit with a seafood pasta. Oh and you can BYOW!

Extraordinary disappointed. We had come here a few years ago and it was delightful. However, tonight we came and had one of our worst dining experiences to date.
The service was completely negligent and uncoordinated. Our waiter disappeared completely for a significant period of time.
Eventually we were able to flag down another waiter who took our orders. My dish came with the wrong sauce. Upon asking about it I was unapologetically told that they were out of the sauce. So they just replaced it with a completely different one?! Without first asking me how I felt about that?!
To add insult to injury, my wine was never brought.
They were minimally apologetic about the entire experience and mostly made excuses. If this was the experience I had given a patron I would have completely comped the meal, but no.

Let me start out by saying the food tastes great! However, I’ve been here numerous times now and there has been issues every time.
First, there were 3 kids running through the restaurant and when we mentioned it to the waiter, he said it was the owners grandkids and shrugged it off.
Then the Italian waiter rattles off 14 different specials and uses his thick accent makes everything sound better. It actually does but he was very pushy and didn’t want to hear what we wanted but more what he wanted to sell us. Like the Calamari that he talked us into that we really didn’t want.
I ended up ordering a risotto special ($ 19.50) and an extra link of Italian sausage on the side. When we got the bill the sausage was $ 22.00!!! When I mentioned something to him (because I thought it had to be a mistake) he said that that was the only size and if he had cut it in half he couldn’t serve the other half to anyone else. Huh?!? How was a side order more that my whole meal? Anyway, he basically said «oh well» and stared at me.
So he thought to make things better he smugly brought me a tiramisu as if to shut me up. They make those things in large trays every three days and have to get rid of them if they don’t get eaten so they were really just getting rid of it by giving it to me.
To go along with ridiculously priced drinks ($ 14.00 Well Vodkas). What are we at a downtown club?!?
Bottom line is the delicious food isn’t worth all bad service and extreme high prices.

Awful ambience, terrible service, decent food. Without question the worst restaurant experience I’ve had in at least 10 years. AVOID AVOID AVOID.
Considering this restaurant is owned by Celestino Drago, one of the finest Italian restauranteurs in the LA area, I went in with high expectations. We have dined at Drago Centro many times, and each time we are thrilled with the attentive service and superb food.
We showed up on time for our reservation, but were asked to wait for «our table» to vacate. The restaurant was half full… there were plenty of other four tops available. Considering we did not see the restaurant fill up during our meal, the delay was unnecessary.
Our party of three sat down and they provided us with only two menus. When a server, who did not introduce himself, showed up I began to ask him for a third menu, but he robotically began reciting the litany of specials. When he was done with his soliloquoy, he simply walked away without another word. We sat for a few minutes more, sharing a menu, waiting for someone to offer us something to drink.
A busboy poured us water. The first gesture of hospitality for the evening. Also one of the last. Another server showed up and said, «have you ordered yet?»
I told him we hadn’t — no one had asked us if we even wanted a drink. He did not apologize. He just said, «OK, are you ready to order?»
I said, «we need a third menu — you only gave us two. And do you have a wine list?»
He said yes, and went away. We had three menus and a wine list. I looked through the wine list as quickly as I could to find the wines by the glass menu. It did not exist. I asked him, when he returned, if he had wines by the glass. He said, «Yes!» and then began to rattle of a bunch of grape types. He did not show me a menu for this. It became clear that, for wines by the glass, I was going to trust that he was going to pour something. I didn’t get to choose, or see the label. I have NEVER been to a restaurant that does this in this day and age. Even the most pedestrian chain restaurant gives you a by the glass menu. I was completely dumbfounded.
At this point, my wife and I tacitly agreed we needed to get this over with as soon as possible. The three of us ordered entrees, no starters. I figured that the food had to be decent. It was Drago after all.
In that regard, the food did not disappoint. The osso buco was delicious, the saffron risotto a little runny, but otherwise a fine dish. My wife had a pasta dish that we both enjoyed. My daughter also had a pasta dish that she liked.
Had that been all, I would have figured they were having an off night, perhaps, but then the theatrics began. An employee, who seemed like a manager, as he was everywhere — behind the line, seating people, shaking hands, pouring wine — spent much of his time chatting with what clearly were regular patrons. This place had an establish «neighborhood gem» vibe, and with each bite of food, I could imagine why some folks would enjoy coming there regularly.
But then this guy comes out of the kitchen holding two plates and begins yelling at one of the servers. And I mean YELLING. They had a huge argument that spanned the better part of our ENTIRE meal. Yelling at each other from across the room. It was tacky and pathetic.
If you want a quiet plate a pasta with some nice wine in a cozy booth, the kid of place for a date, or even a special occasion dinner (it was my daughter’s 18^th birthday) — by all means GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. If you want to feel like you’re on the set of a terrible Italian movie or living a Billy Joel song, then Celestino is your place. The food is pretty good. I would love to explore the menu. But I will never sit down in that dining room again.

My first time here was dinner for a bachelorette party. They have a cute little patio in the back kind of looks like a green room. Very hidden you wouldn’t even know they had it unless you past it on your way to the restroom.
Since then I’ve been here for lunch and dinner since its so close to my work. I love that it is walking distance so I just leave my car at work. There is however parking in the back for others.
Their service here is really good. Very friendly and attentive people. Both times we booked the private room which seats 14 comfortably in one big table. They have other private rooms that can seat multiple tables/​people as well.
The food is absolutely good. As well as their deserts. The waiter said whatever you want I can make it. I didn’t know if I should believed him so I played it safe and just ordered from the menu. Their portions are really good. I managed to finish my dish and didn’t feel the need to take it home which is good.
This would be a good place to take someone out on a date as the ambiance of the place seems fitting for it. And you have a gorgeous view of Pasadena.

Unilocal Challenge 2015. ²⁸²⁄₃₆₅
Portion sizes certainly don’t match the prices for our weekend dinner at this tiny Pasadena Italian Restaurant. Ambience gave the illusion that it is fine dining, but don’t break out your fancy attire. It was very casual here.
I was hoping for a bigger meal because I left super hungry. When the plate was set in front of me, I thought to myself, oh-​em-​gee Is this all Im getting? Is something missing? Might as well eat all the bread you can because you will not get full off this plate.
Taste wise… my angel hair pasta was infused with a massive amount of garlic and that is perfectly fine with me. The more garlic the better. It was topped with sautéed tomatoes, basil and more garlic. I asked for a massive helping of fresh parmasean cheese. Just keep on grating that cheese sir. The pasta seemed to be a little undercooked for my liking. I wasn’t sure if it was just me, but my husband said my pasta I make is better. The dish was good but not as good as I expected. And. Yea… here comes the AND there was no meat with it. I am a big meat eater. I am sure they had some sort of meat to appeal to my carnivore ways but the menu was very difficult to navigate with no a la carte sausage, meatball, chicken in sight. The dish would easily been 4 stars with grilled chicken or sausage.
The lasagna was also small in the size department. It had a meat sauce but I didnt see any meat. For a hungry male it was no where near enough. I felt bad for my husband. A $ 10 bowl of soup and s $ 7.00 side salad is a must to satisfy your belly.
Service was very bland. Nothing overly attentive. Server did the best he could to provide service to our party of 8. His humor was kind of cheesy. I wasn’t sure if I was suppose to laugh or not. My water cup was always empty, with nobody around to fill it promptly. Our food seemed to take a while. Strangely our meal was ordered later, than the others yet we were first to be fed. We had to ask for parmasean cheese. However, they are very attentive to their tip. In fact they add it to the bill for you.
Complimentary petite Birthday Penna Cotta with strawberries and a little jingle was provided to the Birthday boy and Birthday girl. This thing was really good. Light and flavorful with just the right amount of strawberries.
Parking seems to be hit or miss. If you enter the front lot you have to pay $ 4.00 to self park or vallet. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. I read there is free parking if you enter through the back but we never saw it. There is street parking but good luck with that.
My party did enjoy themselves here. Great company and good conversations. I guess that is what eating is all about. Reservations are recommended for larger parties.
#758

Normally I’m not one to give a bad rating. On top of that, I’ve based very few, if any, ratings on bad service. But I took my girlfriend to Celestino for her birthday the other night, and I have to say that our experience was less than stellar, to say the least.
(quick background: I’ve been to Celestino maybe 6 – 7 times for various occasions, mostly birthday parties and special moments, and I haven’t experienced anything that was overtly unpleasant with the establishment)
I’ll begin where most stories start, at the beginning. We had a 7pm reservation, and showed up a minute or two after that. I spoke with the hostess and she assured me that a table on the patio was being prepared (I had specified a patio table because the indoor seating gets very loud). She said it would be a few minutes, so me and my boo went out front to wait. In hindsight I would have elected to stay indoors so that they would recognize we were waiting for a table.
After a few minutes of waiting I noticed a couple being seated at a table of four. A few more minutes and no word so I went back in to check. At this point the hostess is a bit busy, helping one couple leave the restaurant and a family of four to their table. In her stead, a man in a blue collared shirt (who appears to be someone of importance) proceeds to help out. Now there is an elderly couple who cuts in front of me, even though I was plainly standing in a line. He then seats them at the table they were preparing out on the patio. When he returns, I tell him he may need to re-​seat them, he asks why and I explain that the table was being set up for myself and my date. He apologizes and I say «Well you might want to communicate with the hostess so you two are on the same page.»
We get seated at 7:30. Our server is nowhere to be found. After repeated attempts to get him over to our table I waltz back inside to find my blue-​shirted friend. I explain that we still haven’t ordered, so he comes out to take our orders. In the meantime we are each given one small piece of bruschetta, a sort of consolation for treating us so poorly.
When we finally order it is 7:45. I inform the waiter that it is my date’s bday after the meal is served. But by that point the first part of the evening is tainted. It was simply frustrating to have been put on the back burner so many times. I really wanted to give Celestino a higher rating cause I’ve had other great experiences there, but this one just didn’t cut it.
I would also add that parking in the back is a cinch, and overall it has a good romantic atmosphere.

Pretty nice Italian food for a higher price. I think that they have a nice atmosphere for a party or intimate dinner and plenty parking in the rear (enter from the street behind).
The free fresh bread was just okay, but their balsamic vinegar was great– and came in a cool dispenser (+1 for that!). We got the squid ink pasta (great initially, but the flavor started to get flat over the course of eating the whole plate). What struck out as great was their Pappardelle (both their special duck one, and their Mushroom one on the menu). The shrimp and salad appetizer was also good as well.
Would have rated this place higher if the price was more appropriate for the food quality, and if a dish really stood out, but overall was still a good experience.

Had a really good time here for a friend’s birthday night out.
Service +++++
Their service was one of the best– servers were nice, friendly, and really funny. They were personable and actually helpful in terms of making recommendation for wine selection.
Food ++++
Their food was pretty good. Calamari was crispy and of good portion. The mushroom soufflé was interesting but not my favorite. Black and white taglioloni was creamy and not too much, which was rare and perfect for me. Flavor was pretty strong with the scallop taste though so you need to like seafood to like it (otherwise it might be too much and too fishy for you). Their squid ink risotto was just ok.
Parking+++++
Free parking in the back! Free parking and outside patio seating! Good date night spot!
I really wanted to give them a big 5 for their service and parking! However, overall a 4.5 for everything including food.

When we came in at 7 pm, they had lost our reservation. But, we were seated anyway because they were so empty, which became clear why in just a bit.
We noticed it was DineLA, so we asked for the special menu, which came with an odd reply of «only for lunch or dinner.» Confused, we said it’s 7, so it is dinner time… which then he just walked away. Then, another server came by and we asked again, so we got the menu finally, and noticed it costs the same, if not more, than the regular menu. So, we ended up ordering from the regular menu. Results? Baby food, chef boyardee, and instant pasta.

Went here for the first time and enjoyed a very nice birthday dinner for my best friend in their private back patio. Good call on the secluded area away from the restaurant as we can be a loud bunch. The setting was perfect. From the table setting, to the strung up lights, the food and the service. It was a really nice time had by all at dinner.
It was a prix fixe menu for us and for starters we had a salad of baby mixed lettuce with roasted peppers, eggplant and goat cheese. It was very good. It was a nice starter to dinner. I cant forget the complimentary bread that they serve which was slightly crunchy on the outside but soft inside. The olive oil & vinegar dispenser they have was awesome. I wanted to take it home. Why I didnt ask where to purchase one for myself, I do not know. HA!
The next course was a sampling of their pasta dishes. The risotto with porcini mushroom was delicious. I dont eat a lot of risotto so this was a treat. I would order it for sure. The penne pasta in vodka sauce with prosciutto was also tasty and the pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. The pumpkin stuffed tortelloni with cream, butter and sage sauce was delicious and I could eat a whole plate of the stuff. So much creamy flavor. Yumm. They were all good but the risotto and the tortelloni really shined IMO.
For the main course we had to choose from the filet mignon with barolo wine sauce, grilled salmon with vegetables or the chicken breast with marsala wine sauce. I went with the filet of course and it came sliced and I ordered it medium rare. It was good but I was expecting more in terms of both flavor and quantity. It still tasted good but not quite what I expected.
For dessert we had panna cotta and it was silky smooth. Great texture and good flavor. You could see the flecks of vanilla bean in it and it was served on a bed of strawberries and sauce. Good stuff.
Service was very good. The older Italian head waiter had to corral us and sit us down to announce the menu and the ordering process of the main entrée so that was funny. He was a good sport and so were all of the rest of the waiters. I would go back again for sure for a more intimate dinner and wouldnt hesitate to recommend this restaurant. My best friend picked this place as it’s very familiar to her group at work as they eat there regularly when the time permits for a longer more relaxed lunch and I see why they like it. Celestino’s is doing Italian right on South Lake.

I’ve been to Celestino twice and it was pretty much the same experience both times. The pasta is good, the appetizers are passable, the service is italian, and the ambiance is on the loud side.
FOOD:
I’ve tried two pastas here… the black and white with scallops and the spiral (green, long spiral pasta… not your standard spiral) with sausage. Pastas are made in house and both of these were good.
SERVICE:
The waiters here basically speak italian with some english so it may be hard to understand for some… especially if you have problems hearing (not uncommon as it was quite loud here both times I visited). They are generally friendly here though and provide adequate service.
AMBIANCE:
It can get loud here. This is a place i’d go to with friends. You probably wouldn’t want to come here for first date or if you are trying to impress.
EXTRAS:
On both visits, my bread dish was dirty. There appeared to be some oil on it already and it looked like some crumbs? Strangely, on both visits, my setting was missing silverware. Dirty bread dish, napkin, but no silverware…
PARKING:
There is a large lot behind the restaurant. Parking wasn’t an issue for me but i’ve only been here for dinner so I have no idea what the parking situation is like during other hours.

RABBIT, SQUID INK, BOTTARGA, FOEI GRAS!!!
ADVENTUROUS FOODS:
#Bottarga pasta (off menu): semi-​affordable luxury. My favourite.
Bottarga is a Mediterranean delicacy of salted, cured fish roe (fish eggs), typically from grey mullet or tuna. Similar like karasumi from Japan. Sometimes called the caviar of the South, bottarga is usually used sliced thinly or grated. Cost about: $ 89-​$ 128/​pound.
#Rabbit steak: tastes like chicken, just a bit chewy. I like this.
#Squid ink risotto: tastes like dense sauce, edible.
#Foei Gras (off menu): goose liver, bigger portion than other place. Well executed. Melted in your mouth, soft, creamy.
#Potato dumplings: soaking up in the gravy. Round and firm. Tastes good. One of my favourite.
NORMAL FOODS:
#Fried calamari: the calamari sauce is very sour, lack of sweetness.
#Marinara pasta: well done. We love this.
#Steak: average.
#Pappardelle con fagiano e morelle: average.
FREE breads basket.
FREE parking on the street after 6pm.
Minus 1 star for sour marinara on the calamari and service: super S-​L-​O-​W although they’re not busy. The server also was not very knowledgeable about the menu when we were asking questions. The manager came over to greet us by giving a touch of his dry humor. We didn’t really understand if he’s joking or serious. After he was laughing, we were also laughing politely. Awkward moment! Appreciate he came over though.
dineLA menu selection didn’t really interesting for us, so we opt to more adventurous selections.
Great for tasting irregular selection of meals!
For pasta lover: pasta here just average taste!