Good food and calm atmosphere, had a birthday lunch there which was fantastic. I ordered the pizza and bolognese.

This restaurant is one of the best Italian restaurants we visited! The atmosphere is amazing, the ambience is wonderful, the service is so great that you can always count to feel welcome here, and the food… OMG! This is the best Italian food you can find! I love Fettuccini Alfredo chicken. It sounds really simple, but you will be surprised how difficult it is to find good Fettuccini Alfredo. Stella’s has it. Anything you order here is delicious. Collection of vines is exquisite. Oh, and the live music! You cannot find any better place to have a romantic dinner with your husband! Beautiful and very polite hostesses, chick waiters and extremely kind owner. Thank you for a great dinner, delicious food and nice memory!

Just came to Dana Point for a quick walk and luckily also found this cozy Italian restaurant with live music and delicious meal. Homemade tiramissu was a grand finale. All made to perfection. Definitely will come back to try their lasagna! Grazie!

Ok! Haven't eaten out much in the last year but I'm glad I chose Stella's to host my return to dining out. Great service from the attentive staff, delicious food and vibrant (but Dana Point chill) atmosphere. I wolfed down the Gambari al Limon (Lemon Shrimp) appetizer ... delicious ... followed by a generous Rack of Lamb with brussel sprouts & mashed potatoes. I highly recommend Stella's.

Really good food/little mix up by waiter maybe because it was a busy Friday night but overall great place

+6

First time at Stella's, great atmosphere great music the saxophone sounded delightful. Best of all my Mojito!! I will definitely be back!

Just a great place. Family feel, servers are excellent and a fantastic happy hour. Food is really authentic tasting, live music is fun What's that's this place apart though is how well the staff treats you. You walk in feeling like you're going to a family dinner. Excellent service, happy to recommend coming here for a nice night out

we love this restaurant，delicious foods

Excellent Food and Atmosphere!. The Saxophone player was great, and Ocean View seating 🙌🏼

We had a great night at Stella tonight The atmosphere is amazing and Sean who takes care of our table was awesome. He was very friendly, kind and professional with a best service for our birthday celebration . Highly recommended.

Sandy Jaramillo

Wonderful dinner. There Filet of Sole was SPECTACULAR! Excellent service and a gorgeous view of the sunset!

Elena Lyutik

Best Italian pizza I have ever had! The place is perfect for quiet weekend lunch , with ocean view. Try any wine from their “special list” - it is delicious and reach. Will come back definitely to try all their menu and wine. Love!

Wayne Kimball, Jr.

We went off of a recommendation and weren't disappointed. They have a small dining area near the bar and way more seating in a tented area in the back. We shared the crab cake with an arugula salad and was off to a great start! The crab cake wasn't all breading and had good flavor. My wife had the lasagna with the split red and white sauce and she really enjoyed it. I had a spicy scallop pasta and was happy with the dish but it could always be spicier. For dessert we enjoyed the pistachio cheesecake and a chocolate pie. Both were good. We definitely finished strong. As far as the drinks, we brought in one of our favorite wines and was just charged a $20 corking fee. We chatted with the owner, Riccardo briefly and he has worked hard to produce and authentic and delicious product. The serving staff was also great. You can tell there are regulars and no surprise they keep coming back.

Designing Women of Orange County

Such a great place! Good food and wine selection. Reminded us of our trip to Italy! Very quaint, relaxing and upscale feeling without upper end pricing. Also has a great happy hour from 3-7! Definitely catch them when they have musicians. Tommy Benson Duo was great tonight!

Dave Eats

This pleace overlooks the oceans. The servers are nice attentive and very knowledgeable of their food. They have daily specials that range from gourmet pastas to seafood soups that will blow your mind. I had the seafood stew "Cioppino" it was the special of the day. However this place is a bit pricey and great date night spot so be ready to throw a few hundos around for this amazing place. It's worth it. Cozy seats with pillows and full bar inside for those who like that setting

E Garcia

Was craving Italian and found Stella's on my Google search as we were driving down Crown Valley toward the beach. Never heard of it before and was pleasantly surprised how classy and comfortable it was for an evening dinner. We had a nice corner spot in the patio, jazzy guitarist play, ocean view and sunset outside, and a waiter that looked like Hugh Jackman serving us (coincidentally named Jack). He recommended some great dishes us first timers...definitely do the beautiful meatball appetizer with a nice chianti, pasta and seafood dishes were deliziosos, then top it off with a nice dessert. Most importantly, don't forget the salad...next time Jack! ;)...buon appetito!

Anthony Sansone

We were really happy that we came to Stella’s during our short trip to the area. The ambiance was great with a great view of the ocean. Service was wonderful. And they had a live sax player playing music, which was nice entertainment. We ordered bruschetta and calamari to start. The lobster and shrimp ravioli was amazing (this was a special). We also got the chicken Parmesan, and the chicken was so tender. We were staying at the Ritz-Carlton down the street, and we honestly received more attentive service and had a better experience here then at the Ritz. Thanks Stella’s ☺️

Red Brown

Great place with ocean breezes and views. Live Jazz band on Thursdays with a great guitar and bass duo! Best smelling restaurant ever! Super friendly positive vibe from owner and staff.

Kai Y

great italian restaurant in dana point with lots of free parking. great service and ocean views. only thing was ravioli was mostly sauce.

Sofia Anabel

As soon as my family and I entered the place, I immediately felt welcome. The environment was wonderful, the music was amazing, the service was outstanding, and the food was so good, I can’t even find a word to describe it. This restaurant has definitely become one of my favorites, and I will for sure be returning in the future. (The pasta was called “ fettuccine Del Mar”)

Michelangelo Magdaleno

Good food and calm atmosphere, had a birthday lunch there which was fantastic. I ordered the pizza and bolognese.

great italian restaurant in dana point with lots of free parking. great service and ocean views. only thing was ravioli was mostly sauce.

Great place with ocean breezes and views. Live Jazz band on Thursdays with a great guitar and bass duo! Best smelling restaurant ever! Super friendly positive vibe from owner and staff.

+1

We were really happy that we came to Stella’s during our short trip to the area. The ambiance was great with a great view of the ocean. Service was wonderful. And they had a live sax player playing music, which was nice entertainment. We ordered bruschetta and calamari to start. The lobster and shrimp ravioli was amazing (this was a special). We also got the chicken Parmesan, and the chicken was so tender. We were staying at the Ritz-Carlton down the street, and we honestly received more attentive service and had a better experience here then at the Ritz. Thanks Stella’s ☺️

Was craving Italian and found Stella's on my Google search as we were driving down Crown Valley toward the beach. Never heard of it before and was pleasantly surprised how classy and comfortable it was for an evening dinner. We had a nice corner spot in the patio, jazzy guitarist play, ocean view and sunset outside, and a waiter that looked like Hugh Jackman serving us (coincidentally named Jack). He recommended some great dishes us first timers...definitely do the beautiful meatball appetizer with a nice chianti, pasta and seafood dishes were deliziosos, then top it off with a nice dessert. Most importantly, don't forget the salad...next time Jack! ;)...buon appetito!

This pleace overlooks the oceans. The servers are nice attentive and very knowledgeable of their food. They have daily specials that range from gourmet pastas to seafood soups that will blow your mind. I had the seafood stew "Cioppino" it was the special of the day. However this place is a bit pricey and great date night spot so be ready to throw a few hundos around for this amazing place. It's worth it. Cozy seats with pillows and full bar inside for those who like that setting

Best Italian pizza I have ever had! The place is perfect for quiet weekend lunch , with ocean view. Try any wine from their “special list” - it is delicious and reach. Will come back definitely to try all their menu and wine. Love!

Such a great place! Good food and wine selection. Reminded us of our trip to Italy! Very quaint, relaxing and upscale feeling without upper end pricing. Also has a great happy hour from 3-7! Definitely catch them when they have musicians. Tommy Benson Duo was great tonight!

We went off of a recommendation and weren't disappointed. They have a small dining area near the bar and way more seating in a tented area in the back. We shared the crab cake with an arugula salad and was off to a great start! The crab cake wasn't all breading and had good flavor. My wife had the lasagna with the split red and white sauce and she really enjoyed it. I had a spicy scallop pasta and was happy with the dish but it could always be spicier. For dessert we enjoyed the pistachio cheesecake and a chocolate pie. Both were good. We definitely finished strong. As far as the drinks, we brought in one of our favorite wines and was just charged a $20 corking fee. We chatted with the owner, Riccardo briefly and he has worked hard to produce and authentic and delicious product. The serving staff was also great. You can tell there are regulars and no surprise they keep coming back.

Wonderful dinner. There Filet of Sole was SPECTACULAR! Excellent service and a gorgeous view of the sunset!

We love Stella's!! We enjoy a cocktail and s light bite every week before error fo our grocery shopping. Jamison is great, the entire team is delightful. The Happy Hour meatball is amazing!

The food was AMAZING!! And Miss Amanda that answered the phone was 10 out of 10. She gave great recommendations and even helped me figuring out a way that I could get a house special through the Uber eats app 😋

What a lovely place to dine—largely thanks to Mario! He was a wonderful server who took exceptional care of us as we enjoyed several items from the menu. Mario was professional yet genuinely warm and friendly, and he took the time to explain the menu thoroughly, which made the experience even more enjoyable. (Thanks for the tip on the Carpaccio Mario. Loved it!) The live saxophone entertainment added such a charming touch, and the prices were very reasonable. Everything was clean, comfortable, and well cared for. We truly had a fantastic experience.

Very kind staff, beautiful view, and excellent food. They are willing to adjust menu items to make them vegetarian. It is not inexpensive but totally worth it for a special occasion. Thank you!

Anne H

The food was AMAZING!! And Miss Amanda that answered the phone was 10 out of 10. She gave great recommendations and even helped me figuring out a way that I could get a house special through the Uber eats app 😋

Christal Williams

We love Stella's!! We enjoy a cocktail and s light bite every week before error fo our grocery shopping. Jamison is great, the entire team is delightful. The Happy Hour meatball is amazing!

A nice Father's Day dinner at Stella's. We ordered a bottle of Austin Hope to start with the eggplant appetizer and bread. My wife had a tequilla and club soda with limes. Jameson our waiter was very professional and listed the specials as well. I had a wonderful pasta dish with grilled chicken and my wife had the swordfish special. Such a delight. We finished the evening with coffee and pistachio cheesecake with vanilla bean gelato...oh so good. The musician is amazing and plays the saxophone all night and takes requests. Highly recommended

The ravioli was excellent. Probably should have read the garlic bread description. It's more of a flat bread. Great staff.

Food was very good, but not great. The service, though, was great. It's located in a strip mall, which takes away from the ambience. Definitely have a pizza and the pasta. The salads are lack luster. Drinks are solid. Saxophonist made the night complete.

Very quiet place for a Thursday afternoon. Walked in and got seated right away. Upscale kinda place. Felt bad dressing casual but I guess it was fine. Our server was super nice and attentive. He recommended the calamari which was delicious. I ordered the portabello pizza and my boyfriend got the pasta with chicken. Both were good but I enjoyed my pizza so much more. It was yummy. The right amount of cheese. Onions and mushrooms. Delicious. I gave it 4 stars for the simple fact that they only give you a wine list. I'm sure all we had to do was ask what else they had to drink but that just seems like a lot. But other than that it's a really good place to eat

Megan Madeo

Stella's has a great spot in Dana Point with oceans views and a nice patio area. It can feel like a green house in the back room when the sun is coming in through the windows but when the weather is nice it's a great spot. Our servers here have always been very nice and knowledgable about the menus and daily specials. The calamari here is solid and it comes with a tartar sauce as well as marinara. The Ceasar salad was pretty good thought I thought they could've eased up a bit on the cheese. The chicken parmegiana was a hefty portion and the chicken was high quality. My friends were impressed with their pasta dishes and chopped salad as well. The prices were reasonable too even with inflation. It's definitely a spot worth checking out and coming back to.

john m.

Nice n cozy ambiance in backroom having chicken parmesan entree with salad & garlic pizza. Meat had been beaten allowing its tenderness to soak up the delicious red sauce flavors. Even next day leftovers tasted great.

George U.

A nice Father's Day dinner at Stella's. We ordered a bottle of Austin Hope to start with the eggplant appetizer and bread. My wife had a tequilla and club soda with limes. Jameson our waiter was very professional and listed the specials as well. I had a wonderful pasta dish with grilled chicken and my wife had the swordfish special. Such a delight. We finished the evening with coffee and pistachio cheesecake with vanilla bean gelato...oh so good. The musician is amazing and plays the saxophone all night and takes requests. Highly recommended

Nice n cozy ambiance in backroom having chicken parmesan entree with salad & garlic pizza. Meat had been beaten allowing its tenderness to soak up the delicious red sauce flavors. Even next day leftovers tasted great.

Stella's has a great spot in Dana Point with oceans views and a nice patio area. It can feel like a green house in the back room when the sun is coming in through the windows but when the weather is nice it's a great spot. Our servers here have always been very nice and knowledgable about the menus and daily specials. The calamari here is solid and it comes with a tartar sauce as well as marinara. The Ceasar salad was pretty good thought I thought they could've eased up a bit on the cheese. The chicken parmegiana was a hefty portion and the chicken was high quality. My friends were impressed with their pasta dishes and chopped salad as well. The prices were reasonable too even with inflation. It's definitely a spot worth checking out and coming back to.

+1

Jennifer Currie

The ravioli was excellent. Probably should have read the garlic bread description. It's more of a flat bread. Great staff.

We were a party of 6 celebrating my husband's birthday. We were seated by the fireplace with live sax musician. Everything was so perfect.... then a dog came in and sat at the table next to ours. Our bill was around $400 and we had to eat with a dog staring at us the entire time. He had a smell that did not pair well with our dinner. Really, for 1 hour at $400 we couldn't have an experience without an animal. It was disrespectful and we won't be back.

"Neighborhood" white tablecloth Italian. Service was good. Food was just okay. Chicken Picada was overcooked and "lightly breaded sole" was more like a heavily breaded piece of fried fish. Atmosphere on patio was okay, but chilly. Prices were fair.

While the food, itself was good... the service was horrible. I sat down to a dirty bread plate and when I showed it to our waiter, Neal, he just looked at it. No apology, no "let me get you a clean plate"... nothing. Which pretty much illustrated his attitude the whole night. The wine we chose off the menu was not available. He never shared any of the specials... which we overheard shared with an ajoining table by a different, more attentive, waiter to his guests. We ended up with a different bottle of wine, that we chose on our own... with no suggestion from our friend Neal. And we ended up pouring it ourselves the whole night because Neal was nowhere to be found. Did I mention that Neal looked like he just rolled out of bed, complete with a stained shirt and a binder clip for a tie clasp... yes, a literal binder clip. It was our anniversary. But when Neal brought out the less than stellar "Happy Anniversary" cannoli plate, once again, he "wowed us" with his underwhelming personality. The dude is either the owner's son... or he just doesn't want to be there. Either way, he needs to go. On a brighter note, the sax music by Gary King was wonderful and never too loud to enjoy dinner conversation in a small space. Oh, and the "ocean view" was like the State Farm commercial... ocean "adjacent". The patio overlooks the parking lot and trash bins.... with the ocean in the background. All in all, a completely underwhelming dining ecperience.

Jeanne Costello

While the food, itself was good... the service was horrible. I sat down to a dirty bread plate and when I showed it to our waiter, Neal, he just looked at it. No apology, no "let me get you a clean plate"... nothing. Which pretty much illustrated his attitude the whole night. The wine we chose off the menu was not available. He never shared any of the specials... which we overheard shared with an ajoining table by a different, more attentive, waiter to his guests. We ended up with a different bottle of wine, that we chose on our own... with no suggestion from our friend Neal. And we ended up pouring it ourselves the whole night because Neal was nowhere to be found. Did I mention that Neal looked like he just rolled out of bed, complete with a stained shirt and a binder clip for a tie clasp... yes, a literal binder clip. It was our anniversary. But when Neal brought out the less than stellar "Happy Anniversary" cannoli plate, once again, he "wowed us" with his underwhelming personality. The dude is either the owner's son... or he just doesn't want to be there. Either way, he needs to go. On a brighter note, the sax music by Gary King was wonderful and never too loud to enjoy dinner conversation in a small space. Oh, and the "ocean view" was like the State Farm commercial... ocean "adjacent". The patio overlooks the parking lot and trash bins.... with the ocean in the background. All in all, a completely underwhelming dining ecperience.

Stood there for a about 10 minutes while no one greeted me or my wife ...still standing there I was hoping a waiter of a server would notice me but they just ignored us ...then after about 10 minutes I walked up to the front and told them we had reservations and the female told me to sit here while I would've preferred to sit by the window it's got a beautiful view but she said specifically " no you can sit here " so I got my wife and we split to the ramen sushi place next door...it was Valentine's Day mind you... Eh Stella's you should greet everyone that comes through that door ..we may not look the same but our money is green and we want the same service you provide to your locals ..just a bit of advice..your service really needs some touching up...

Food was good, our waiter was great. Only one big complaint. We were there for my mom's 82nd bday. We made reservations at 4pm to beat the rush and also to get a good table with a view. The restaurant was pretty much empty when we showed up and we were given a table in the bar area by the front door. My mom didn't like it and asked for another in the other room that has an ocean view. The manager told my mom if we didn't like the table we were given we could dine elsewhere. Totally blown away by that response and total lack of customer service skills, what a way to respond to such a simple request on a special occasion. So many better ways that could have been handled. We won't be back any time soon.

I had ordered a DoorDash order today went to pick it up a man was standing at the host table I greeted him he just stared at me and walked away I was not greeted walking in I just felt this was not professional of him at all this needs to be fixed asap a young lady came saw what happened from a far and helped me greeted me warmly and picked up my food

Horrible Experience. Specifically order for a set time. Confirmed time three times. Arrived and food was not ready. Worst service ever!!!!

Our Valentine's Day experience at Stella's was extremely disappointing. Before our visit, the host called twice to confirm our reservation and specifically stated that it would be an ocean front view, which was the main reason we chose this restaurant for such a special occasion. When we arrived, that arrangement was suddenly changed at the last minute with no clear explanation or real effort to honor what had already been confirmed. Although our assigned server was sweet and attentive and did their best, the rest of the service was very unprofessional. One of the other servers who is bald behaved in a way that was completely inappropriate and made the environment uncomfortable, especially for Valentine's Day and in a restaurant setting. Between the reservation issue and the overall lack of professionalism, the experience was frustrating and far from what we expected. Aside from our server's kindness, nothing stood out positively, and this is not a place I would recommend, especially for a special occasion.

Stay away from this place! Bartenders are rude & nasty! Especially one of them has major issues with comments that he makes, he needs help! Pasta is a like a soup and pizza slushy! I’LL NEVER GO BACK AGAIN!

All around not great. We had reservations on a Saturday night. We arrived about 20 minutes before our reservation, however 2 of our party of 4 wee arriving a little later. However we checked in and were told our table was on the sidewalk outside of the dentists office next door and we could sit down. We waited a few minutes for the other 2 in our party to show up, but decided to sit when they texted us and told us they were less than 5 minutes away. The hostess then walks out and brings us 1 menu and 1 wine list. I expected her to come out with the additional 3 menus when the rest of our party arrived, but she never did. Our server, who seemed as if he had just woken up from a nap arrived and takes our order. But had to come back to the table on at least 2 occasions to confirm our order. Our food arrives, and it was very sub-par. 2 of us got the spaghetti bolognese, and it was TERRIBLE. The meatballs were obviously non homemade.... They were clearly purchased frozen and were like 2 hard little golf balls sitting on my pasta. The sauce tasted very bland. The lasagna had burned pasta noodles in the bottom and seemed to have the consistency of something that was cooked previously and then Frozen and then reheated in a microwave Really a nice looking restaurant from what we saw from outside the dentists office, but the food and service was just awful!

The ambiance was great. Saxophone player and all. They sat the 2 of us for a reservation on time on a Friday nite. They gave us 1 menu. After that no one showed up. Tables around us were getting service. No one paid us any attention. We tried to catch the eyes of couple of servers. Didn’t work. 25 minutes and we left. Not even a glass of water. Pathetic. We should have brought food from home and eaten there. 😆

Sofia Castrejon

I had ordered a DoorDash order today went to pick it up a man was standing at the host table I greeted him he just stared at me and walked away I was not greeted walking in I just felt this was not professional of him at all this needs to be fixed asap a young lady came saw what happened from a far and helped me greeted me warmly and picked up my food

Jack L

All around not great. We had reservations on a Saturday night. We arrived about 20 minutes before our reservation, however 2 of our party of 4 wee arriving a little later. However we checked in and were told our table was on the sidewalk outside of the dentists office next door and we could sit down. We waited a few minutes for the other 2 in our party to show up, but decided to sit when they texted us and told us they were less than 5 minutes away. The hostess then walks out and brings us 1 menu and 1 wine list. I expected her to come out with the additional 3 menus when the rest of our party arrived, but she never did. Our server, who seemed as if he had just woken up from a nap arrived and takes our order. But had to come back to the table on at least 2 occasions to confirm our order. Our food arrives, and it was very sub-par. 2 of us got the spaghetti bolognese, and it was TERRIBLE. The meatballs were obviously non homemade.... They were clearly purchased frozen and were like 2 hard little golf balls sitting on my pasta. The sauce tasted very bland. The lasagna had burned pasta noodles in the bottom and seemed to have the consistency of something that was cooked previously and then Frozen and then reheated in a microwave Really a nice looking restaurant from what we saw from outside the dentists office, but the food and service was just awful!