BRUNOS ITALIAN KITCHEN - Brea, CA

Restaurant seating

Talking about being fat. Me and slave girl went to massage at 8 and when we got out around 10 pm, we were like, sooooo hungry. We checked on yelp and the options were lacking due to the late hours. Yelp showed Brunos closes at 11 and usually we are not big on walking into a restaurant half hour before they close. But, sooooo hungry, sooooo sorry. 

Bar area

Sophia was our lovely waitress for the night. She checked on us often and even comped us a dessert at the end. Very knowledgeable and friendly, also asked us how we wanted our food to come out. We ordered an appetizer, one pasta dish and one entry. Without us saying anything, she asked the kitchen to split our meal into two plates for everything we got. Excellent service hands down. The only thing I would ask of her is to delay the checking on how the food taste when she clearly saw us taking pictures of their beautiful plated food.

Menu

Food wise, we got arancini which is not recommended. The sauce was delicious, the inside filling was good, but the risotto was bland. Ideally with food like this, a bite size would be the best way to eat it but the ball was made in large portion and I just couldn't eat the whole thing in one single bite. I wish it was 6 small balls instead of 3 giant balls.

Arancini

We got pappardelle bruno for our pasta dish, that was delicious. Tasty short rib sauce with fresh made pasta from their kitchen, what an awesome dish.

Pappardelle Bruno

We got branzino for our entry, one of the best presented dish all around. Seabass was cooked perfectly; crispy outside, soft and moist inside. Instead of lemon, they used pickled caper berry and it was wonderful when you take a bite of that with the fish. This dish is highly recommended.

Branzino

For dessert, we were just going to get panna cotta, which was light and refreshing, especially the balsamic glaze; it was excellent as it was. But Sophia also wanted us to try budino al caramello. I usually don't eat sweet but I would go back to order this again. It was rich but not overly sweet, taste of heaven.

Dessert menu

Panna Cotta

Budino al Caramello

Overall, this little gem hiding in Brea needs to be discovered. Visit them, you will be glad you did.