Best American Restaurants in Little Italy / University Village

You honestly cannot go wrong with any Lettuce restaurant! Absolutely stellar service, welcoming host, beautiful atmosphere, and delicious food! We shared the Costa Mesa salad and Margherita pizza and both were fantastic. Food came quickly, our server was friendly and attentive. I will be back!

Fast, friendly and delicious. Soo good thank you From Philly.

Our meal at Girl & the Goat was wonderful! The service was friendly and helpful. He knew the menu and ensured our experience delicious. We began our dinner with the naan. The dips served alongside were excellent. Next we enjoyed the chickpea fritters that we crisp with creamy inside, accented by pomegranate. We definitely wanted to try the goat empanadas, and were glad that we did. Our next course that we enjoyed were the wood-fired mussels. The broth was delicious. We ended with the roasted pig face. Our server enticed us with dessert. We finished our meal with the apple hand pie. Overall, we loved this place.

I booked this reservation a month ago for my husbands birthday. I have celiac disease so it was important to find a place that was accommodating. They went above and beyond to make it an enjoyable experience for us all! From the staff signed birthday card to the personalized menu and all staff wishing him happy birthday throughout the meal, the attention to detail was incredible. The food? Oh my goodness! They walked me through the menu and let me know what could be made safe for my needs and provided everyone else the same attention based on what they were craving. Everyone enjoyed their dinner & I had the best gluten free dinner roll from a restaurant ever! Dessert was just as good as dinner if not better! My daughter loved the cookies and cream ice cream and she’s pretty picky. My husband and I shared the espresso brûlée and loved every bite even though we were full before ordering it. You don’t leave something like that behind! Overall, such a great experience! We highly recommend!

I took my mom for a Valentine's Day lunch. We went around 3 PM, and even though my reservation was at 3:30 PM the staff were nice enough to let me in. Granted it was a low volume of people eating at the time. We were sat near the windows which added to the ambience of our visit. The music made it feel like we were in an old fancy jazz club. I had the French onion soup and the chicken sandwich while my mom had the Walnut turkey club sandwich. Both sandwiches came with well seasoned fries. The food was delicious and our waitress, Annette, was very attentive and sweet. Overall we had a great experience and would definitely go again. I would highly recommend the Walnut Room.