Zugo’s Cafe

Tonight we decided to try the new Zugos, since we were such a fan prior to the new ownership. We ordered the salmon and ravioli with no meat. Somehow the salmon order wasn’t heard probably because of kid noise in the background. The order was made quickly while I waited. Then, I came home and there was in fact meat on the ravioli dish. Called to let them know and hand delivered the replacement. It was absolutely delicious. Thanks for correcting the issue. We appreciate it!

We’ve been to Zugo’s in the past and was unimpressed. After hearing they had a revamped menu we decided to give them a try again. Shame on us for not going to a chain restaurant like Cheesecake or CPK because it would have been a lot more satisfying. As for the visit it was a weekday at about 7 pm. We were quickly seated and provided menu’s but that was the extent of the attentive service. It took us about 6 – 8 minutes to receive our water. It took another 5 minutes to receive what tasted like stale bread. It took an extra 5 minutes to receive prepackaged butter that you unfold. It took an extra 5 – 7 minutes to finally order the food. Now, I could understand if this place was slammed but they were not. There were two waiters and one person behind the bar cleaning the glassware. Patron wise there were about 6 tables being used.
After being at the restaurant for 40 minutes… the entrees finally rolled out. The lobster ravioli was reminiscent of Trader Joe’s. They were average. Not good and not bad. They were advertised to come with mushrooms and asparagus. There was one or maybe two thinly sliced asparagus’ and perhaps a diced mushroom. Luckily there were 6 – 7 ravioli to hold me over. The other entrée was garlic cream fettuccine with chicken. Honestly it was bad. There was no flavor whatsoever. I debated not even taking home half portion I had left over. It was equal to the Kroger frozen fettuccine you would find at the market. I asked for parmesan cheese and had to wait about 5 – 7 minutes to receive that. The bill for the 2 entrees was a little over $ 40. They could have knocked off another $ 20 and I still would not have satisfied.
As the old saying goes. Fool me once shame on you… fool me twice and shame on me. Sorry to say I wont be back to Zugo’s and that’s unfortunate since I live in the area.

I wanted to love Zugos. In fact I posted a FB check-​in saying how great it was and that we’d be back. Note to self, never post anything until the entire meal is over. They started strong. Cute place, friendly welcome from Ricky, perfect reserved window table for our anniversary that I had set with them a few weeks ahead. Bonus it was last Wed of the month and they do wine tastings of 6 wines at your table. Love it. That’s when I posted the great review. Then it all went south.
Nice waitress. She was a bit busy, but eventually took our orders for a burrata salad to share, pork chop with bacon/​green beans for my hubby and the lasagna for me. She forgot our bread but that was just the start. At least 30 mins went by and she brought out our dinners. Um, what about the appetizer? She said she forgot and was apologetic. Hubby’s dinner was pork chop but no bacon, no green beans, and a sloppy salad, nothing like it was advertised in the menu. We called Ricky, not sure if he’s the owner, but he was very nice. He said, «sorry the waitress should have told you we ran out of the ingredients to make that», uh no. He said, sorry she’s only been here a week.
Then I tasted mine. It was so messily presented, looked like the lasagna had thrown up on itself and the plate. Bonus, it was cold. I waited 5 mins until I could get anyone’s attention and sent it back. I’m not kidding it took 10 – 15 mins to get it back. So on our anniversary dinner, my hubby ate alone while I stared at him and his pork chop (which was good) and then he stared at me eating when I got mine later. They did take the pork chop off the bill, but that was little consolation. We sat for 10 mins with dirty dinner plates and no one offered dessert. Mind you this is a very small place, it’s not like they can’t see everyone at once. We left and went to Baskin Robbins for anniversary sundaes and had a blast. I highly recommend the icing ice cream.
Zugo’s only gets a 2 because they started strong. Otherwise it’s a solid 1 and they have some serious work to do at this place.

My girl friends and I had gone there for lunch today and we had a great time
. The ambiance was beautiful and the theme music from godfather was playing when we walked in. Josh, our sever was extreme my attentive. The food was good. We ordered two salads that were good and garlic potatoes wedges. For the main course we ordered risotto, lasagna, and flat bread pizza with pesto. The risotto and the pizza was to die for. On our way out we met the owner who was really nice. He invited us to complimentary wine tasting on the last Wednesday of the month. He mentioned that you did not need to stay in to order dinner if you don’t want to. We had a great experience and plan on going back with our husbands especially for the wine tasting. I highly recommend the place

This place is a cool little restaurant for Italian food. Its pretty modern and classy. The waiter is very nice and explains every question we had for our food. Its vegetarian friendly which is a big plus for me. The food is pretty tasty. I ordered the butternut squash ravioli and the aroma of my food was amazing. The taste matched up to the way it looks. I would recommend this place to vegetarians and non vegetarians if you’re up for good service and good Italian food.

Randomly walked in for Mothers Day, and it was awesome. Each week they rotate to a different bottomless drink for only $ 8 (ours were Mimosas). Great French toast, great breakfast, great atmosphere. We will return to this little oasis for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I had the veggie panini for lunch yesterday. It came with some nice French fries and a simple green salad, but the sandwich itself was rather bland. The wait staff was polite and friendly.

Came to Zugos on a Sat morning for breakfast. Had my mind on something sweet so I had the chocolate and strawberry french toast. It was delicious. I decided to add on a side of bacon ($ 3 for 3 small pieces) and eggs as well. Everything was good but my only complaint was that most breakfast meals were a la carte. My decently priced french toast that started at $ 8 added up to $ 14 after adding my sides. Not a terrible price but I wish you would get at least 1 side with your plate. On a positive note you can add on bottomless mimosas to your meal for a decent price. That’s a plus for future Sunday brunch :)
In addition, they are dog friendly and the server was awesome. He was very attentive and polite.
We will be back to try lunch or dinner soon.

So far, so good.
My first time here.
Just moved to Sierra Madre and trying to find yummy places to eat within walking distance.
Appetizer
Calamari = yummy
Entrée
Chicken Picatta = yummy
Garlic Creamy Fettuccine w/​shrimp = yummy
Pinot Noir = yummy
Will definitely be back to try more things or just eat the same thing :)

Incredibly mediocre. My wife and I were very disappointed after reading the rave reviews. I’ve had better Italian dinners at the Olive Garden, which is saying something. Either it was an off night or people don’t know what good Italian food is.
Regardless, my wife and I will not be coming back.

Love, love, love this place. Just moved to Sierra Madre from Pasadena and this place has become my new found spot. Not only is the service great, but the food is amazingly delicious. If you love Italian food and/​or wines, you have to try this place. The wine selection is great! They even gave us a free tiramisu slice just because they are very appreciative of every customer. I’m definitely coming back every weekend! Truly a hidden gem.

The new Zugo’s! The butternut squash ravioli is mouthwatering and the service is great! I highly recommend you go!

I was here the same night another person gave this restaurant 1 star. The service was slow but the owner was extremely apologetic and explanatory (even giving us complementary champagne glasses), and because of their graciousness and good food, I will definitely give Zugo’s another try with the hope of that evening being a fluke. The food and wine prices are VERY reasonable. My husband had the pesto salmon, I had the butternut squash ravioli, and we split a bottle of Chianti (don’t judge; it was a Saturday night and we walked here) and the burrata appetizer. All was very good. We sat outside, next to the heat lamp and because we were not in a rush, we truly enjoyed our time.
The one addition I would like is for their to be bread baskets for the table.

Linen napkins, classical music, sparkling glasses, a great view of the boulevard, outdoor seating, and friendly staff at the reopened Zugos. Manager/​owner Rickey is hands on and can be found even in the kitchen but usually schmoozing with patrons. Speaking of customers, I noted that the lunch service is consistently big. This portends well for the future. The community seems to be embracing this little place. The menu is recently improved with many good italian pasta dishes and a new breakfast menu with bottomless mimosas. The wine selection is good and love the french rose.
The new Zugos is off to a good start.

New ownership, new ideas… but some old favorites too. Ricky, the owner, made an effort to greet every customer. We immediately noticed the high quality of ingredients (fresh tomatoes, burrata instead of plain buffalo mozzarella, really good bread and tapenade). The pasta was al dente, the salmon cooked perfectly. The french fries-​a staple of a real french bistro-​were obviously handmade and quite delicious as well. We’ll miss the old owners-​but this guy clearly has big plans for the place. A++

New Zugo’s? More like new me! Burger: yum. Pasta with meatballs: delicious. Ravioli: don’t get me started. At first I walked in fearful that my favorite Sierra Madre restaurant had gone corporate, but alas this home away from home is still the bomb. Can’t wait to come back and order the burger again! Sierra Madre always kicks the new tastey restaurants out cause everyone is old and often times bitter, but we can’t let this happen to Zugo’s!

What happened to Zugo’s? Is it really that tough to make it in the restaurant business these days? The sign out front said closed for remodeling… and we kept hoping it would reopen.
Sorry to see it go.

Good service, excellent main dishes (all of us took pasta dishes) and amazing bread! The rosa pasta and bolognese were tasty, had lots of flavor and the pasta itself was cooked to perfection.
However, the appetizers were a bit small and not too special. I ate there yesterday and cant even remember what we ordered…

I actually had that place bookmarked because it looked charming on one of my late night walks in downtown Sierra Madre. Brick walls, candle light, clinking of wine glasses, Italian food — very romantic…
Well, this is not what we got! We opted out for lunch (and maybe that was our mistake). With over 80 degrees outside, the place didn’t have AC on, and was empty inside, so we took the outside table. They must had just one server, who never came; so we had to go and fetch him. Our menus were literally four printed out and stapled together pages — pretty embarrassing! I ordered a lasagna and my partner wanted to try their sandwich. Not a super complicated order, I must say. We waited for it over 30 minutes. In the end, my lasagna was cold and his sandwich was stale. Disappointment.
You can do better, Zugos’ Café!

Trivia: years ago, this restaurant actually operated under the name «Ugo’s», but they were apparently forced the change their business name to «Zugo’s», apparently due to legal threats by another restaurant that was also called «Ugo’s». (Thanks for harassing yet another small business owner, Lionel Hutz).
I’ve been here many an instance over the years. The food here is very tasty, and I cannot help but note that Zugo’s uses *conspicuously* high quality ingredients. One cannot help but admire a restaurant that doesn’t try to cut corners in this area, yet is still able to keep their prices at largely reasonable and affordable levels.
They actually use only first-​rate DARK greens in their side salads … Zugo’s has never stiffed me with the cheap and barely edible iceberg lettuce that one unfortunately seems to encounter in most restaurants. Despite being a self-​professed veggiephobe in general, I will state that I *love* the salad here.
I’m very fond of the polpette and manzo arrosto sandwiches, you really cannot go wrong with either. Zugo’s uses very high-​end bread in their panini/​sandwiches. They are a great option if you want something light and/​or to-​go.
If you’re craving something a bit heavier, I’ve had great experiences with their various pizzas and pastas — in particular, their «Sausage Pepperoni» pizza, and their Fettuccini Bolognese.
Their calamari fritti is first-​rate, and I highly recommend that appetizer as well.
The interior décor of the restaurant is extremely clean, classy, and appealing to the eye, the owner has very good taste and judgement in that regard.
I’ve never stopped in here for dinner, always for lunch. The service was always very good when I went. They seem to have recently had a change in staff not too long ago, so as of yet, I cannot comment on the service of the new lunch server (s) here (nor on the evening staff).
I’ve seen the owner wandering about during most of my visits, and to be honest … he doesn’t seem like a very friendly guy. Since he’s not the one serving me, I suppose it’s not a big deal. (Still, if you’ve ever met Omar from Omar’s Pizzeria on Huntington Drive, just picture the exact bizzaro-​land opposite of Omar as far as his disposition towards his customers … yeah, it’s like that.)
The restroom is kept extremely clean and nice smelling.
Parking can be easily obtained in the free public parking lot behind the restaurant, or one of the curb-​side spots in front.