Negri's Original Occidental

Fantastic food and service. We had the ravioli and chicken piccata and both were outstanding. Unpretentious and welcoming, we’re definitely coming back.

UPDATE: The main restaurant area is closed. Only the adjacent Joe's Bar is open. Still, great food, casual atmosphere. Old school Italian. Fun, casual, excellent food, plenty of parking. I love their ravioli with a side of meatballs.

Negri’s Original is the best Italian restaurant on Earth, you will blown away. I had their homemade minestrone soup and angel hair pasta with marinara, I was shocked. The very nice team members and Owner made the experience amazing. Long live Negri’s!!!!! Daniel Read IV

Cozy, warm, not-too-bright lighting. A variety of tables and setups. A curved bar with a curious assortment of backlit bottles on shelves. A variety of patrons -- families large and small, solo enjoyers, work colleagues -- some of whom are new and some of whom visit regularly. The staff is warm and courteous, service is prompt, and the whole ambiance is just fantastic. Oh, and shall I mention the food? Stellar. I had the shrimp pasta with white garlic sauce, a chardonnay, and two desserts (I couldn't resist...) that left me stuffed to the brim because I could NOT stop scarfing it down. The chocolate pots de creme was the perfect blend of light and rich, and the cinnamon roll cheesecake was dense, luxurious, and an amazing texture. The staff who I assumed were part of the family who owned it were enthusiastic and authentic, and the whole experience was just fantastic from start to finish.

Pretty good place we had the calamari, pasta with prawns and the pepperoni pizza. Calamari I wouldn’t recommend. Tasted as if they bought frozen pre-breaded calimari and fried it. Was rubbery and not fresh. The pasta was great! Subtle garlic flavor, perfectly cooked and saucy. The pizza in my opinion was 4 stars. Pretty good. But not excellent. I actually preferred the crust vs the part with the sauce, cheese and pepperoni. Other than that service was great!

Poor customer service. They won’t allow reservation unless it’s a very large group (15 or so) but when we went with a large group of 8 they said the group was too big so it would be a 45min -1 hr wait even though the restaurant was quite empty. When one of our party members went to check another restaurant, they asked if we wanted to put a name down still. We said yes as we were unsure about finding another place to eat. The response was they would not put our name down since they have space at the other location to eat instead. They did not seem to want us to stay at all. Very disappointing.

My experience was a good one. Large amount of food. Nice background music, clean area with a good atmosphere. It is pricey though and a long drive to occidental depending on where you live. If you want some good italian food, it might be worth the drive.