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Dining Profile Info

Ristorante Italiano

Ristorante Italiano has been a Santa Cruz area family favorite for over 20 years. Its friendly atmosphere and tasty cuisine are evident the moment you enter the restaurant's front door. Greeted with festive decorations, a welcoming staff and the kitchen's rich aromas, diners are drawn to the traditions and flavors of the Italian table.

From its opening in 1980, the Ristorante Italiano founders established the style of "Abbondanza" dining. Loosely translated, this style refers to offering great food served in substantial proportions. The menu selections cover all styles of Italian cuisine, including many traditional pasta dishes, hearty soups, main courses featuring regional veal, chicken, fish and beef recipes and Italian desserts. The restaurant's wine list includes wines from the local Santa Cruz Mountain wineries as well as Californian and Italian wineries.

Dining in the main dining room is always a pleasure, but many summer time visitors enjoy the outdoor atmosphere of the Ristorante Italiano patio. This area is shaded with towering sycamore trees and decorated with a full-wall three-story-tall mural of a typical Italian street scene. This mural and others found in the main dining room were created by famed muralist Dong Sun Kim of Carmel.

Janet Bolender, Becky Russell and Ernesto Garcia, purchased the restaurant from its founder two years ago. This trio has been connected with Ristorante Italiano for a combined 41 years, and they are dedicated to continuing the restaurant's traditions that are now a part of the Santa Cruz dining heritage. They have added a few enhancements, like the introduction of contemporary Italian style dishes to the menu and the expansion of the hours of operation, but little has changed with regard to the ambiance, service and "Abbondanza" dining that the restaurant's reputation is built on.