Sosta Cucina

Small restaurant up the hill from Hermosa Beach.

The moment you walk into Sosta, you feel like you are entering someone's home kitchen, and feel like part of their family. The fact that they speak Italian adds to the feel of authenticity and the waitstaff was on point the whole night. The dim lighting with the real wax candles, adds a intimate touch.

The food started with a simple Hamachi Crudo, which was simple and elegant. The warm bread that accompanied it is a nice and appreciated surprise at the beginning of the meal.

Next up was the octopus, which was served warm, and was not rubbery or chewy at all.

The eggplant Parmesan was a little bit on the colder side, but taste wise very sweet, tender, and you could tell each portion was made lovingly.

The gnocchi was soft, creamy, rich, and decadent, and the sauce was equally rich and a great pairing. When you were only served five pieces of gnocchi, somehow you feel more appreciative of each bite and that was certainly the case here. You probably wouldn't want to eat a whole bowl of the stuff as it was extremely rich and luxuriously creamy.

The last dish was the tiramisu which had a strong coffee flavor. Everything about the night was wonderful and I would highly recommend trying it out!

Dear Yelp Community,

First time visiting yesterday! Wonderful, because of the simple beautiful, coffee venue (in the morning) by the beach; then turns into a restaurant later. I only experienced the coffee component.

The owner, Luca, is Italian (from Italy), and I appreciated meeting him.

Thank you, Chris, for the coffee!

Sincerely,

Anna

We went for the special Memorial Day menu during the Hermosa Fiesta festival.
We had two tramezzini soft sandwiches. One with egg and asparagus (like an egg salad) and one with prosciutto. Both were absolutely delicious! Almost like tea sandwiches.
We had two panini sandwiches. One with a salsa Rosa (almost like a grilled cheese) and another just prosciutto. So good!
We also got the tuna tartare and crudo (I can't remember if it was yellowtail or something else)
I highly recommend the ahi tuna tartare.
My friends got aperol spritz and a white wine (recommended when she asked for a Sauvignon Blanc or a Sancerre, we aren't sure what kind but it was an Italian white wine)
We finished off with the chocolate and tobacco gelato- which I would go back solely for! And a decadent tiramisu.

The ambiance was lovely- we sat outside and the sun finally came out!
The service was great, they made us feel welcome and recommended a few dishes. I highly recommend giving this restaurant a try!

Sosta Cucina is an unassumingly delicious gem of a spot, tucked away in Hermosa Beach, CA. In a city full of copy/paste beach bar/burger joints, Sosta is a breath of fresh Venetian seaside air. The plain dark painted walls & frosted windows are contrasted by fresh stark white linen topped tables with flickering candle light, creating an ambience that facilitates the perfect environment to talk, drink, eat, and drink some more.

Prices are competitive for any beach city restaurant, but if you're a big eater, prepare yourself in advance for "European portions". Take comfort knowing their A+ staff will be around often with offerings of warm fresh bread & more wine!

My absolute FAVORITE Italian restaurant in ALL of Los Angeles. Hands down. This establishment is an absolute gem. You can start your day off with a delicious hand crafted latte paired with the most immaculate cornetto I have ever tasted. The dinner experience is its own breed of magic. I can't get enough of the tuna tartare--it's buttery, fresh and melts in your mouth. The Gorgonzola gnocchi, the filet, the lamb, crudo, literally anything on the menu--won't cease to disappoint!! But the best part is the incredible chef, manager, and waitstaff. Truly an outstanding eatery that leaves you feeling 110% satisfied. If I could give 10 stars I would!

ALSO: any and EVERY negative review is because of the pricing--clearly none of those people have experienced homemade fine dining. Maybe they should stick to cheap Italian chain restaurants.....

How does this place have so many 5 star reviews? Have these people not had good Italian food in their lives? Serious question here

I dined here outside about a month ago, and i pretty much felt ripped off

The place itself is nice, i'll give it that

But to charge $45 for an entree with boxed linguini, and only about a handful i might add, with about a 3rd of a lobster claw, in a oil sauce with basil, is just plain ridiculous . Any boxed pasta dish priced over $30
Is highway robbery, i could make better at home....

The entrees here are very small, if they make this pasta fresh, they are not doing it right.

Save your money, stick with fritto misto or even better, go to Aliotta's in torrance, great authentic italian food and great ambiance, much better portions and prices...

Holy Moses, where to start on this review. It might be a long one, just warning you.

My husband and I had just got back from eloping in Santa Barbara where we spent six days eating and drinking.

We live in Hermosa Beach. We thought we would have our last meal in our home town before getting back to reality from our wedding weekend.

We live down the street and have been wanting to come to Sosta for a long time. (We frequent the Sosta caffe in the morning, strongly recommend going! Shout out to Hugo and Victor!!)

We came last Monday night so the restaurant was quiet which we expected. It was nice since it felt like we had the restaurant to ourselves. It's such a vibe at this restaurant. We ate inside.

Our server, Giorgio was absolutely fantastic! We mentioned we were finishing off our food tour from our wedding weekend, and they treated us with extra excitement and kindness, which was not expected but always nice.

They have a smaller menu but we were surprised to find they had a whole truffle menu and a side of specials. We were already having a tough time choosing from the regular menu! So many incredible options.

We ended up getting:

-bottle of Nebbiolo that our server picked - one of the best wines I've had.
- crudo yellow tail
-gnocchi Gorgonzola (ordered another after because it was so good) My husband hates Gorgonzola but tried these and it changed his life, he can't stop talking about them!
-a pasta from the specials list that was a light fettuccine with slow cooked baby back rib meat
- we asked the chef to surprise us with the New York strip or Prime Ribeye - we got the ribeye!! Cooked to perfection.
-tiramisu

Just some side notes:

-They bring you fresh bread and drop it on the table with olive oil, I just loved that!
-Giorgio switched the music to all Sade - I'm a big Sade fan. It was such a vibe the whole night.
-We took our sweet time ordering one dish after the next.
-Yes, at first glance food looks pricey when reading the menu but the food justifies this price. So sit back relax and enjoy it all. That's what we did!

Overall, ambiance - perfection, staff - hospitable and kind, food - melting in my mouth with every bite. Chef Luca's menu is perfectly on point! Go give this restaurant all your love.

We are counting down the days to go back.

Thank you!!!!!!

Started our morning stroll with some fabulous coffees from this cute little place. The ladies were very helpful so I got something special and just to my taste! Saw on the sign that they turned into an authentic Italian restaurant at night and the girls raves about the homemade pastas. So headed back for dinner later in the evening! Loved the ambiance change! The manager and our waiter were both from Italy and helped my friend and I make some selections to share. The carpaccio was simply prepared and a nice start to the meal. The gnocchi was such beautiful soft pillows with a mellow Gorgonzola sauce. And the carbonara was cooked perfectly al dente with just the right amount of pancetta. The wine pairing was on point as well! The setting was really cozy and we got hugs as we left from the manager and waiter! Made us feel like family! We will definitely go back!

My husband and I have determined this is our #1 favorite restaurant in the world!! We don't know why they don't have any Michelin stars. We have dined at a few Michelin star places in our time and Sosta Cucina is definitely there with them. Our favorite ways to dine here are getting hosted by Christian & Simon (the twin brothers who work with Sosta for many, many years since when the restaurant was at a different location and called La Sosta). They are both incredibly passionate about the food they serve and always talk us into trying something different. And we have never been disappointed. In fact, we are always beyond amazed with the experience. Best wine recommendations here as well. We love coming here for special occasions and when we want to feel happy

I love this place!!! I've been here a few times. Tonight we sat inside and it was particularly HOT! Maybe a tan would be nice to circulate the air. But OMG! What a delicious dinner. The first wine we picked, we didn't really care for. I never send anything back. But we let them know we didn't like the wine. They were so gracious and accommodating and found us a PHENOMENAL bottle of wine.
I love this! It's what prompted my review.
The food, ambiance and service were 5 stars!