Fritto Misto, Hermosa Beach, CA

Fritto Misto
316 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
310-318-6098
Metered street parking which can be quite busy during the summer and any Fri/Sat.
They have another location in Santa Monica at 601 Colorado Ave.
Casual nice. Beer and wine.

Visited: Several times, Dinner, Dine-in
Most recently: August 2009


I've been to both locations, however I've eaten at the Hermosa location more often.

They start you off with a warm crusty bread and cold butter. I'm such a sucker for warm bread.

For appetizers, they have a Fried Calamari in two sizes ($6.50, $10.50). It's fine, nicely cooked, but nothing special. I wouldn't order it again.

However, the Fried Pillows ($6.00) are amazing. These little fried pasta pillows filled with ricotta and basil are served with cocktail sauce and a creamy peppery and garlic mayo. These little guys are addictive. You can also get these unfried as the basis for your pasta entree.

They also do have a Fritto Misto platter ($11.50), however due to its size, I have yet to order it. Maybe I need to go with a larger group of people. It includes fried shrimp, calamari, artichoke hearts and seasonal veggies.

While its name is Fritto Misto, it really is a pasta place. You can get almost any combination of pasta, sauce, and toppings that you could possibly want. Each component is added together to create your final dish and price. I think it's a bit pricey to do it this way, but then again, it's a custom order.

Here's an example of a plate I've created: whole wheat pasta $6.25 (it has an interesting shape that holds sauce pretty well) with pink sauce $2.25, and eggplant and wild mushrooms $3.25 for a total of $11.75 for a vegetarian dish.

They also have several dishes already devised for you, and those are pretty good too. In all, the portions are very generous.

The Cajun Seared Chicken ($10.50) has a nice kick to it. It's blackened chicken breast pieces mixed with a garlic cream sauce and tossed with a red bell pepper fettucini. Overall, it's a relatively simple dish but it packs a lot of punch.

The Pasta Pancetta ($12.00) is absolutely heavenly. It's an amazing mix of crispy pancetta, sun dried tomatoes, and sweet caramelized onions with the garlic cream sauce and tossed with tomato fettucini. The only thing is that it is a very rich dish, and about half way through, I was ready to box it up. It did make for great leftovers, though!

We've also had the Italian Sausage & Roasted Red Peppers ($10.75) which is a generous portion Italian turkey sausage, peppers, caramelized onions and marinara sauce. It comes with linguini, but we ordered the whole wheat pasta, and that was just fine.

Also pay attention to the Daily Specials. I had the beef tenderloin that was marinated in hoisin, and served over egg fettucini with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Very very tasty, and the meat was incredibly tender. With the sprinkle of fresh herbs, it tasted almost like a beef stroganoff.

In all, it's a fun place to come back to frequently because there are so many options to mix and match on the menu. They offer beer and wine, as well as have free corkage.