Janetha5543 - 07/10/2008

My sister took me and my cousin to that restaurant once...

   Kuuipo222222008 - 07/01/2008

And the food was just so out of this world. I love their food and sure wouldn't mind returning to that restaurant to have dinner. I also like the the view because you can see the water right there. As a matter of fact, the restaurant is basically on the water and at night, it's just such a beautiful sight to see.

reasonable and great food.

   brentgrab - 05/12/2007

this place is fantastic. amazing service, friendly people, live entertainment after 8pm! (piano, jazz, keyboard, singer) so fun here. great place for a date, great place for a business meeting early on the evening, excellent place to meet a single after 8 on fridays and saturdays. food is very good and price is even better. 5 stars for this great italian joint. (coming from the east coast, italian is hard to find, but villa nova sure does a wonderful job) a+

Great food and beautiful view.

   ubersecretagent - 01/09/2007

After checking out Villa Nova's reviews on cityguide, my boyfriend and I first ate here for our 4 year anniversary and loved it! When we arrived, we were promptly seated right next to the window. I was very impressed by this and was further impressed by the delicious food and beautiful view! The meals were somewhat pricey, but well worth it. Our server was wonderful in helping us choose wine (we are newbies and needed help badly!), and he even brought out plenty of different wines for us to taste and see which we preferred. The food came out exactly as I had anticipated, and I enjoyed a lovely anniversary with my boyfriend that night. To top things off, you get live entertainment and free valet parking. How awesome is that? A downside, however, is that the music and talking from other people can get a little loud. Try calling in and reserving to save yourself a long wait, and also, ask for a booth by the window as well.

A disappointment

   grazioso83 - 05/08/2006

My girlfriend and I went to Villa Nova for our one year anniversary, and we arrived with high hopes and left disappointed. 1st things 1st, we were seated at 8, we were never greeted, brought glasses of water, or otherwise noticed until 8:30, I checked my watch. It wasn't even our waiter, another waiter saw the desperation on our faces and asked if our waiter had visited us yet... Our waiter (who wasn't very busy, it looked like he had two other tables to serve) seemed indifferent to us... For the wonderful atmosphere we expected more than the "drop and go" service which we received. We saw our waiter three times, once when we ordered, once when he brought our food, and once when he left us the bill. We were waiting to order dessert, and 15 minutes after getting the dessert menu, my girlfriend went to the bathroom and saw our waiter leaning against a wall chatting with another employee...We decided to skip the dessert and just head home. The food was OK, the restaurant was hyped a little bit so I think I expected more. Villa has the potential for being a great fine dining restaurant, great atmosphere and scenery. If you get a nice waiter who cares about the customers (like the one serving the table next to ours....not the one we had), it might be fun....I can think of more authentic italian restaurants, try Francoli in fashion Island.

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   joncryman - 02/01/2005

The ambiance was WONDERFUL, however the pasta lacked flavor. I had to add table salt to my dish. There was no hint of garlic or other flavors to my meal. I was highly disappointed. The wine was excellent as well as the service.

When in Rome...

   lisaghorne61 - 03/25/2000

The most authentic Italian restaurant around O.C. My husband and I ordered a bottle of Ferrari-Carrano Chardonnay, which they didn't have.. The waiter was very upset that they had sold out of it, and he excused himself for a moment. 5 minutes later, he came back to our table, a little sweaty, with the bottle in his hand. Apparently, he jogged down the street to a goumet wine store, bought it himself, and brought it to us! Order any pasta you want or any sauce you want, and they will make it for you. I recently ordered a Carbonara Pasta but wanted Scampi on it. No problem, and it was fantastic! Their wine selection is extensive, and their food is delicious! This is a very romantic restaurant, as the location is on the water facing Newport Beach. The atmosphere feels like you are in old Italy. This is my favorite restaurant, and we go every anniversary to celebrate. It can be expensive- it's ala carte, and the wine selections are all first rate. Average dinner with one bottle of wine would be about 125.00$. But it's worth it!