Cafe Firenze

563 W Los Angeles Ave, Moorpark, CA 93021, USA

Address:	563 W Los Angeles Ave, Moorpark, CA 93021, USA
Phone:	+1 805-532-0048
Site:	cafefirenze.net
Rating:	4.1
Working:	Closed 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 11:30AM–3PM 10:30AM–3PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

Linda Jones

This was our first. and will be our last and only visit to this restaurant. Obviously they must be doing something right because the place was packed. Positives - the server was great. Negatives - it took forever to get anything, even the drinks, and the food was horrible. We were celebrating my mothers 79th birthday and we were prepared to enjoy the evening - cost was no factor. Two people in our party of five ordered specials offered that night and were later told they were out of them. It took 45 minutes to get an order of calamari. It was good, but not worth the wait. After more than hour and a half and no sign of our dinners I asked to speak to the manager. She did her job, apologized profusely, and said she would get our food to us asap. The food finally arrived and was horrible! It was obvious things had been thrown together just to get plates on the table. The sauce on what was supposed to be the Osso Buco was the same sauce that was on what was supposed to be the short ribs - the sauce was thick reddish brown slop similar to bbq sauce. The filet of fish (one of the specials they did have) was literally covered with the arugula type salad. The pork chop was rare, not just pink, but actually bloody rare. Needless to say none of the meals were edible. We asked to see the manager again and expressed our dissatisfaction. Again, she did her job, apologized profusely, and stated that we would not be charged for anything. She then brought out a piece of some type of dessert with a candle in it in attempt to salvage the birthday celebration. The dessert, which we did not recognize from the menu, was on par with the rest of the meal and after a small taste was left uneaten. Since we had not eaten and it was too late to visit another restaurant by the time we left we stopped on our way home and picked up burgers. This is not definitely what I had planned for mom’s birthday dinner. If the reviews are to be believed, the food is supposed to be very good. The server was great, the food was horrible. The manager handled the situation as she should have. We will not be back and will share our experience with friends and family and encourage them to avoid this restaurant in the future. Lesson learned – stick with restaurants you know when you want a celebration dinner to be a success.

A Private User

This past weekend, I flew out from Chicago to see my aunt (who lives in Moorpark). Since were both fans of Top Chef, we thought we would give Cafe Firenze a try. We had reservations for two at 7:00p on Sunday night (Feb. 16). When we arrived, our table was not ready and we waited 15 minutes before we were seated. When we were seated, we were seated directly beneath a large screen television tuned to the Food Network that cast an odd flashing glow throughout the evening. It felt as if they had placed formal tables in a bar--quite disappointing. After we were seated, it took another 15 minutes before our wait person arrived to even talk to us. We ordered the crab cakes, chicken piccata and gnocchi. A few minutes later, our wait person came back and informed us they were out of crab cakes, so we ordered the roasted yellow bell pepper soup instead. The soup came out and was quite good. The entrees also came out and were tasty, although the gnocchi serving size is quite sparse, the smallest I have ever had at any Italian restaurant throughout the country. After dinner we were offered dessert and decided to try the special chocolate red wine cake. The cake was horrible. It was dry and you could not taste red wine or chocolate. I do not know what was wrong, but it was worth sending back. The only positive was that it was served with a Grand Marnier-soaked, chocolate-covered strawberry. Upon telling the wait person our disappointment with the cake, she brought us out another strawberry--an appreciated touch. I will probably not be going back and if Fabio wins Top Chef, I would recommend he takes the money and makes some serious improvement to the entire restaurant atmosphere. Good food can only get you so far; if I am paying that high of prices to eat in the Conejo Valley, the ambiance needs to be A LOT better.

Benjamin Winokur

Extremely Disappointed. Brought my wife and mother here for Brunch expecting the same quality that Ive come to expect. Sticky buns with Nutella were great; however, everything quickly devolved from there. The items we ordered barely met their descriptions from the menu, I guess thats the benefit of having a super vague menu with no details. The flavors of the dishes themselves were unbalanced and just didnt mesh. Breakfast skillet and crab cake Benedict were the most disappointing. The eggs were undercooked with very water whites, the Chipotle hollondaise was was far too emphasized on the spicy and failed to jive with the fishiness from the crab cakes (which shouldnt have been fishy in the first place). The breakfast skillet was supposed to be a "potato hash" but instead was basically chunks of potatoes with a scrambled egg on top with a piece of meat on top of that. The menu didnt mention what kind of meat it was or anything else. The flavor was bland and lackluster. I doubt Ill be back here by my own accord anytime soon. To the restaurants credit, they offered to bring us some free dessert or to remake the dishes, but after how unappetizing everything was, I didnt want to bother.

A Private User

The long drive out to Moorpark was worth it for Cafe Firenze! Positive: -Ambience: Excellent - not stuffy at all, but still beautiful inside -Food: All of the food was better than average. We started with melon wrapped with prosciutto, which was good, but not amazing. I had the 12 oz NY steak with butternut squash mashed potatoes - the mashed potatoes were sensational and the steak was cooked properly. My date had the braised short rib ravioli, which was also delicious. For dessert, our server brought out a flourless chocolate cake, on the house since we were celebrating an anniversary! -Service: Very attentive without being annoying. The manager also came around to wish us a happy anniversary, which was a nice touch. Overall, the staff were all very helpful. Negative: -Our table was a little small and cramped, next to the kitchen area. It wasnt too bad, but was a little annoying at first. Luckily the wait staff were attentive and cleared space for us quickly as needed. Its too far (LA/OC area) to make a regular event out of, but well probably try to make it back once a year or so.

Tony Duran

I was initially disappointed to not find lasagna on the menu. So I ordered the meatloaf as a consolation. OMG, it was the BEST meatloaf I have ever experienced! Moist with an incredible sauce. I can now understand how and why these guys and gals reap the notoriety that do for their cooking expertise. I still would love to try his recipe for lasagna. I guess lll have to make it myself from his cook book. Im sure it wont even come close... :-( The ambiance is perfect and the ability to watch the chefs at work is a special treat. Ok, I just stopped in for a "to go" order (this is one week since the review i wrote above) and was told the wonderful meatloaf I wrote about is only available for lunch. The chef was nearby and said he could make a meatloaf for me!! Is this great service or what? !?! I give them 5 stars even without the lasagna. Though, again, the chef offered to make me something like a lasagna with ravioli. I turned it down but appreciated the offer.