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Molo, Newport Beach, CA

Molo

4.6
4.6
234 Reviews
$31 to $50
Italian

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 24 times today
  • Neighborhood gem
  • Great for outdoor dining
  • Good for special occasions
Coming Soon!

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    Italian
  • Hours of operation
    Tue–Sun 11:00 am–9:30 pm
  • Phone number
    (949) 723-0621
  • Dress code
    Business Casual

What 234 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.6
4.6 based on recent ratings
  • 4.7Food
  • 4.5Service
  • 4.5Ambience
  • 4.4Value

NoiseModerate

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
Molo is a vibrant Italian gem in Newport Beach, offering "delicious food" and an inviting ambiance reminiscent of coastal Italy. Known for its authentic dishes like Cacio e Pepe, patrons rave about the "great service" and "wonderful atmosphere." The outdoor patio dining is particularly praised, making it a "great spot" to savor Italian cuisine. While some guests mention noise and service inconsistencies, many highlight the "amazing" and "authentic" Italian flavors and friendly staff, ensuring a memorable dining experience.

234 Reviews
  1. Gautam

    Chicago

    1 review

    4.0

    1 review

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 3
    The food was actually excellent, the Affogato was delicious! Service was very much lacking. We brought a special bottle of wine,  our server  looked at it, annoyingly, left and took 10 minutes before he came back. Then he opened the bottle of wine and left it there without bringing any wine glasses we had to flag him down and ask for glasses. The food was good, and over the course of the remainder of the dinner, he came by once or twice very ambivalently. It’s unfortunate because the food was really good, but the service makes a difference.

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  2. BRIAN

    VIP

    Orange County

    13 reviews

    1.0

    13 reviews

    Dined 3 days ago

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3
    A terrible experience overall. After waiting an hour for entrees to arrive and our wait person absent, I had to leave our table to get some attention. I was told the "kitchen lost your order." Within a minute, one entree arrived. A second entree arrived a few minutes later cold. I canceled the third entree, however, it still arrived five minutes later. I sent it back. I suspect the wait person never gave the kitchen our order. No one from wait staff to the manager seemed very interested in how diners were doing by ever visiting or monitoring the tables in the dining during this visit. On reaching the door to exit, the manager stated that my terrible experience was my fault because I didn't complain sooner. Insulting. Clearly, the popularity of this eatery has created complacency on the owners' part who never offered to comp any part of this ruined dinner. Be careful and be aware of poor service and bad attitudes. We all know what it looks like, and when it is happening.

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  3. Victoria

    Palm Springs

    1 review

    2.0

    1 review

    Dined 6 days ago

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 5
    We were super excited to celebrate a special birthday at Molo. We had been loyal customers of the previous restaurant at this location, Sabatino’s. The restaurant was very busy for a Tuesday, but expected since it’s the holiday season. Was pleased to see the sausage platter offered, delicious as always. However, the rest of the food was fairly pedestrian, just average. We ordered ravioli with sausage, truffle risotto, spaghetti with meatballs, seafood pasta, chicken parm and eggplant parm. We also had the Caesar salad and the Mediterranean salad. I wish we could say the service was good but it was extremely poor. For a party of 6, we were crammed into a very small table. Our server was extremely inattentive and disengaged. For a bill that came to just shy of $400 for average food and extremely poor service, we won’t be returning.

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  4. Brenda

    VIP

    Los Angeles

    32 reviews

    5.0

    32 reviews

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent food, as always - we travel to Italy twice a year (mainly for the food ;-), and as on our first visit, this was up there on par with excellent food in Italy. The Arancini were perfect - I thought they were slightly too large to be perfect, but they were perfect... Rucola e carciofi salad wonderful and very Italian. Mom loved her risotto al mare (I don't think any seafood here can begin to compete with Italian, but that's more a source problem - her risotto & scampi were cooked perfectly al dente and creamy, I wasn't as enamored of the mussels - they just aren't the same here - no one's fault). My teeny assistant ate her entire bowl of cacao e pepé and three pieces of garlic bread, so that says it all. My gnocchi al gamberi was absolutely perfection. The shrimp were fine, but the gnocchi in pink sauce sublime. No room for dessert but mom took home the Nutella Bread pudding and said it was perfect. Service was generally good, the owner went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable, but there was a large party in the next room and they were spread a bit thin. And they were very sweet to let me speak my fractured Italian to them the whole time.

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  5. Christine

    Orange County

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined 7 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    The food was delicious and our waiter delightful and attentive!! We had taken a special guest there and were pleased that she so enjoyed the meal and the thoughtfulness of the waiter.

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  6. Sierra

    Los Angeles

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 15, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Wonderful food and welcoming staff. 10/10 recommend! Also, be sure to make a reservation, because wait times can be long.

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  7. ThomasV

    VIP

    Los Angeles

    19 reviews

    5.0

    19 reviews

    Dined on December 14, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Love this place!! Outstanding cuisine, very friendly staff, relaxing location, good parking. It is a real gem.

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  8. Phil

    VIP

    Hawaii

    1 review

    5.0

    1 review

    Dined on December 13, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Very authentic Italian food! Service is outstanding! It can get noisy inside. But still great evening out!!!

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  9. Hampton

    VIP

    Orange County

    38 reviews

    2.0

    38 reviews

    Dined on December 8, 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 2
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    The food is not good enough especially for the high prices. Also so noisy inside you can't have a conversation without yelling. I miss Sabatinos.

    2 people found this helpful

  10. Uri

    VIP

    Los Angeles

    27 reviews

    5.0

    27 reviews

    Dined on December 7, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    Excellent Food, great presentation, reasonable price for the quality.

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FAQs

Molo is rated 4.6 stars by 234 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 24 times today
Google Map for Molo

251 Shipyard Way, Newport Beach, CA 92663

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Neighborhood
    Newport Beach
  • Hours of operation
    Tue–Sun 11:00 am–9:30 pm
  • Price
    $31 to $50
  • Cuisines
    Italian
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Business Casual
  • Parking details
    None
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