Assaggio Italiano - Honolulu

Assagio is where my family would always go for celebrations, but this is my first time trying the steak in a while.The outside is well grilled and gives it a nice crunch, while the inside is soft and juicy. The sear may not be to everyone's preference, but I love the flavors and texture it imparts on the meat.Assagio bread is always the best, warm enough to steam, light, fluffy, and can keep well enough that even microwaved the next day or two, it's still wonderful. Always ask for a loaf if your group has leftovers.There may be some nostalgia talking, but it's always good when I eat here, from my usual go to of the chicken saltimbocca to the wonderfully garlicy and fishy olio.Service is attentive and they offer bread refills for free, setting it apart from macaroni grill and other places.The place is deceptively large feeling, but is on the smaller side. Good use of floor length mirrors in the decor make it feel spacious even when there are no true windows.There are some new policies that need to be highlighted. Parties cannot be above 6 without a called in reservation, and they require a deposit. I used to suggest this for parties and events, but smaller family only gatherings may be the new focus of the location.

The meals were quite ordinary, lacking flavor, and my seafood was overcooked, making it rubbery and difficult to chew. However, my wife's lasagna was delicious, so I might give that a try next time. I hope this feedback is helpful, and have a great day! Food rating: 3/5.

Our waiter delivered exceptional service, and we all enjoyed our meals. I particularly loved the pasta with mushrooms, prepared in garlic butter and wine—absolutely loaded with garlic! The vegetarian options were great, parking wasn’t a problem, and the wheelchair accessibility was excellent.

4.5 STARS Last weekend I celebrated several foodie friends' birthdays and one of them chose Assagio's at Ala Moana (AAM . For those who know me well, I'm not a big fan of Italian food but because this was the birthday girl's choice, I joined in on the celebration.Located on the 2F level of Ala Moana Center, near the escalators, fountain and koi pond going up to 3F Macy's Department Store, AAM has been here previously occupied by Bryon's II since 2000. Assagio's has expanded where there are now 6 locations on Oahu: Kailua (1991 , Mililani (1994 , Hawaii Kai (1995 , Ala Moana (2000 , Kapolei (2009 and Kahala (2009 . I've dined here at their Ala Moana location previously before I became active on Yelp and had great meals. Sowhen the venue was announced, I RSVP'd to take part in the celebration. Auntie (aka Nadine C. made reservations and we were seated in a semi-private dining room for approximately 16 people where our group of 8 took one side. We were greeted by friendly staff who took our drink orders, brought glasses of water and baskets of complimentary house baked bread, and informed us of the daily special and fish of the day. I'm a huge fan of osso bucco and rarely get to eat it so I didn't peruse the menu. Our waiter took our food orders and it didn't seem that long for the food the come as we utilized the waiting time catching up with each other. It's been quite some time since many of us last saw each other. AAM is quite lively and a great venue to have conversations during meal. The food was delivered to our hungry table of 8 and after snapping photos, it was time to dig in.THE VERDICT:My osso bucco with shrimp picante and angel hair pasta was delicious. The braised shank was tender, gelatinous and flavorful. The shrimp were large and executed well. I liked the bite from the spice that had me eat some pasta to bring my mouth to a neutral state. The house baked bread was warms and paired so well work the butter. Super happy camper. Auntie brought a cake for the birthday girl. The restaurant graciously kept it chilled when it was time for dessert. Staff brought plates and utensils for us. There was a mishap of my meal where I was sadly disappointed. I addressed this to the manager who resolved the issue where it negated my setback.Overall, a memorable dinner with great friends at AAM. Love this location as it's convenient, spacious and has lots of parking. Food was tasty and I wouldn't hesitate for a return visit.

We arrived just after opening (4:45pm) so there weren't many people in the restaurant. We were seated and given a basket of their hot, yummy bread and generous pats of butter. I hadn't been there in a very long time but my friends already knew what they were having: the pasta Alfredo with Fresh Broccoli and I had the Steak Sauce Pasta with onions mushrooms. My friends loved their dish (I had a forkful liked it) and mine was absolutely delicious! It tasted just like a steak was on my plate, juices all. For desert we had a cannoli (didn't really taste much of anything), the cappuccino gelato (yummy) and the zabaglione (was made in the kitchen, not table side) and it tasted like heaven.Even though we enjoyed our meals, the service was less than great. When our server took our order, her body language told us to speed it up, as if there were lots of tables to attend to, which there weren't. She didn't tell us about the daily special either. After we were done with our meal another server took the plates, but I had half of mine left and it sat there while our server walked past us several times and didn't even look at us. Our server eventually took our desert orders took my plate to put the leftovers in a to-go container. She was gracious when we finished and we paid the bill.