Whether we want to admit it or not, many of us are prone to having an addictive personality. Let’s face it, we’re always hooked on something: let it be booze, chocolate, the significant other, music, sex, or food among others. If you’re hooked on food and you’re craving some Italian food, but Olive Garden is just not an option, then you must head over to Tustin and crash “Roma D’Italia” for some scrumptious pasta and other Italian delicacies. Even though it might seem like it’s in the middle of nowhere, you’ll find out that indeed, todos los caminos llevan a Roma, o en este caso a “Roma D’Italia”, a quaint and very homey joint that will fight for the top spot among your fave Italian food restaurants… it’s that good… y lo mejor de todo, the food is affordable.
En familia
“Roma D’Italia” is your typical hole-in-the-wall joint: it’s extremely easy to miss, it’s small and cozy, it has a kitschy decoration that’s extremely reminiscent of the love scene in “The Lady and The Tramp”- they have the emblematic picnic-like red-and-white-checkers tablecloths and actual family pictures on the walls. Plus, it’s sickeningly friendly AND so family-centric it’s not even funny.
If you’re planning on having a quiet romantic dinner with a date o con tu peor es nada, this is not the place. This joint can be best enjoyed cuando lo visitas con un grupo de amigos or with your familia. Since its family-friendly, it tends to get a bit loud and even annoying depending on the amount of little kids whining and complaining at the time.
Nevertheless, “Roma D’Italia” serves some deelish home-made Italian food like no other joint in the area.
Non-stop eating
Desde que llegas a “Roma D’Italia” hasta que te vas, it’s all eating non-stop. If there are no tables available and there’s a waiting time, they have garlic bread pieces for you to munch on while you wait.
As soon as you’re finally seated, the server brings over a basket with freshly baked rolls and some butter. The rolls are a great way to start the meal, and an awesome prelude of what’s to come: they’re fresh, crunchy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside- definitely a bread lover’s dream come true.
If you’re having a hard time choosing what to have for dinner, don’t waste precious time and start off by ordering an appetizer: no hay pierde con el fried calamari and marinara sauce. The calamari is lightly breaded and fried; it’s not too greasy and not chewy whatsoever, what makes it even yummier it’s the marinara sauce it comes with: simply deelish.
La comida
There’s so much to choose from, and so little room in our stomachs to go bananas and order everything from the menu. However, when going to a Italian food restaurant for the first time, if you want to know how good and consistent their food is, you can judge the joint by ordering some spaghetti and meatballs- one of the simplest Italian dishes ever yet one of the hardest ones to make memorable… so if a place screws up spaghetti and meatballs, ask for the check, run for your life, and never ever come back.
Fortunately, that’s not the case with “Roma D’Italia”, sino todo lo contrario. The spaghetti is al dente and the sauce is simply fantastic. This particular dish is baked, served hot with ricotta baked inside and provolone melted and crispy on the outside, which almost makes it seem like the bastard child of lasagna and spaghetti. Con este platillo te enamorarás de “Roma D’Italia” de seguro, plus… you’ll re-live that love scene from “La Dama y el Vagabundo”.
Another dish que está como para chuparse los dedos es el “Penne Amore”: a savory pasta dish with a luscious creamy marsala sauce.
Ahora que si quieres algo aún más “saludable”, go for the “sausage and greens”: so good you’ll enjoy the greens like never before.
Unlike other joints, “Roma D’Italia” does not serve super-size me portions. Instead, they serve smaller yet generous portions que te dejarán satisfecho without making you feel you’re about to blow up.
With that in mind, most likely you’ll have a huequito for dessert. Probably the best choice in the menu are the cannolis: dulces pero no empalagozos.
“Roma D’Italia” is a great joint to spend a Saturday or Sunday con la familia… now if you don’t want to deal with crowds and stuff, you can always order take out.
Roma D’Italia611 El Camino Real
Tustin, CA 92780
714.544.0273
