buon gusto italian restaurant & deli. buon gusto italian restaurant
the best family owned italian restaurant in orange county
written by paulette le pore motzko
http://www.carestaurantshowcase.com
4911 warner ave., suite 109, huntington beach, ca
phone: 714-846-2600
about a month ago i was fortunate to have a friend tell me how great buon gusto in huntington beach was. on my first visit i had the beef ravioli with bolognese meat sauce and was blown away by the very generous portions and reasonable prices for the amazing quality.
when i ordered a salad i was expecting an ordinary tossed green salad with a few cherry tomatoes, but instead got something very memorable: cold iceberg lettuce with radishes, tomato, shredded mozzarella and some of the best picked vegetables i ever had. the combination was unusual but very refreshing and had me wanting more.
i would also recommend trying their grilled shrimp spinach salad with roasted red peppers, toasted pine nuts sliced mushrooms and gorgonzola cheese in a balsamic vinaigrette or the mediterranean salad with feta cheese, kalamata olives, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers served with italian dressing on mixed greens.
the beef ravioli was cooked just perfectly and i had a choice of either not only the standard marinara or bolognese sauce, but all of these choices, which allow each person to "custom create" any kind of pasta they want!
pasta choices: cappellini, spaghetti, linguini, penne, fettuccini, rigatoni, whole wheat spaghetti, organic gluten free spaghetti. (also available 100% whole wheat grain brown rice); add meat or cheese ravioli or gnocchi for two dollars more; for tortellini add $3 more;
you can add chicken for $3
for shrimp add $4
for scallops add $6
for salmon or tuna add $6; sausage at $2.50; one meatball for $1.75-and they are the best meatballs i have ever eaten in a restaurant, because you can tell they are homemade!
but wait until you see the pasta combinations with the ingredients that you can sauce. i have never seen a restaurant allow the mix n match format like they do, making each person get exactly what they want.
here are just a few of the pasta combinations: meat sauce-and you can control how much the meat is cooked in the meat sauce!; marinara sauce; alfredo sauce; pesto sauce; alla buon gusto-zucchini, mushroom, fresh tomato sauce and garlic; aglio olio-kalamata garlic and olive oil; puttanesca sauce-capers, kalamata olives, spicy anchovies and tomato sauce; meatballs-with meat or marinara sauce; italian sausage-with meat or marinara; con broccoli-e pomodoro-broccoli, garlic, olive oil and fresh tomato; checca-tomatoes, basil and garlic; arriabatta-tomatoes, basil, garlic, crushed red pepper; al filanti-stewed shredded lamb sauce topped with feta cheese; alla bava-wild mushrooms in a roast garlic gorgonzola cream sauce; alla carbonara-pancetta, cream, parmesan and romano cheeses; alla dio-cubed chicken breast sautéed with broccoli and sun dried tomatoes in garlic cream sauce; quatro formaggi-a four cheese cream sauce; alla boscaiola-artichokes, asparagus, wild mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes in a pink tomato sauce; con melanzane-sauteed eggplant, garlic, evoo, onions and roma tomato with fresh mozzarella.
as i was looking at the various antipasto salads and soups, the owner peter k recommends:
i couldn't believe how reasonable the pizzas were for a large for only $10.95! i saw the kind of ingredients that go on them and the wonderful artisan style pizza crust. (someone ordered one in front of me and my mouth was watering as i saw how generous they are with the toppings!
for $1.50 each you can top the pizzas with your choice of: tomato sauce, but pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, fresh tomatoes, meatballs, fresh basil, roasted garlic, anchovy, mushrooms, salami, ham, capiccola, canadian bacon, pineapple, eggplant, red onion, black olives broccoli, feta, ricotta cheese, zucchini, jalapeno, pepperoncinis, alfredo sauce. you can also make any pizza thick crust style.
for $2.50 each you can also try shrimp, chopped clams, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, prosciutto, pesto sauce or chicken.
if you would like a calzone that will feed several people-try their large one for $8.99 with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
all in all for value, quality of ingredients, amazing portions and overall service and hospitality, buon gusto is the best italian restaurant i have ever been to in my life!
if you stop by and try one delicious thing on their menu, i guarantee you will say the same thing.
-----05 sep, 2011-----
meatball sub, buon gusto. once you try this meatball sub with homemade meatballs and mozzarella on some of the best toasted bread you ever had, you will agree that other than your italian grandmother, buon gusto in huntington beach makes the best!