Italian restaurants and pizza in Laguna Beach

Pasta, pies and where they sit

Italian food in Laguna Beach falls into two groups. Downtown, the pasta kitchens cluster along Forest Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Broadway: Alessa, Piatti and Romeo Cucina. Pizza spreads out along Coast Highway: Truly Pizza on the north side, Gina’s in the HIP District on South Coast Highway, and Neapolitan Pizzeria & Birreria down in South Laguna. Rumari, farther down South Coast Highway in Woods Cove, mixes Italian with Greek.

Choosing by what is on the menu

Piatti makes pasta by hand through the day at stations the dining room can see, and runs a fresh pasta retail program for takeaway. Romeo Cucina lists housemade pasta and Rumari lists fresh pasta, and Romeo’s menu changes with the seasons. For pizza, Romeo Cucina and Neapolitan Pizzeria & Birreria both list wood-fired pizza, while Truly Pizza lists round and square pies alongside focaccia sandwiches. Gina’s covers pizza and pasta together. Alessa describes traditional Italian cooking with locally sourced ingredients, and its site also lists takeout and delivery. Rumari’s Greek side shows in its lamb chops, its skewers with tzatziki and the Naxos Island salad.

For a seated dinner with a longer menu, fine dining includes Romeo Cucina, and casual eats covers quicker stops.

Reservations

Alessa’s site welcomes reservations and walk-ins, Romeo Cucina has a reserve button, and Rumari links to reservations. Piatti and Truly Pizza also link reservation pages from their sites. For Gina’s and Neapolitan Pizzeria & Birreria, call ahead. Hours are not printed here because they change, and a seasonal menu such as Romeo Cucina’s can shift, so check a venue’s own site before you plan around a particular dish.

Parking and the trolley

Downtown, parking means meters and city lots. The parking guide explains how they work, and Piatti’s site places it a short walk from Main Beach. The free Coastal Route trolley runs on Coast Highway from the North Laguna stop at Heisler Park through downtown to South Laguna, so it serves Truly Pizza in the north and the restaurants along South Coast Highway. The getting around guide has the routes.

Plan a meal into a day

If you are building a day around a meal, one day in Laguna shows how the beaches, galleries and dining areas connect. For every restaurant in the downtown blocks, see restaurants in the Village; for the far end of Coast Highway, restaurants in South Laguna.