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My Family Night Favorite in South Bay: Piccini Italian Takeout

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If you’re in the South Bay part of Los Angeles and planning an at home family night or even a daytime playground picnic, you’ve got to check out Piccini Italian Takeout in Torrance, CA.

Owners Vince and Giordana Guilano invited my daughter Marie and I over for a pizza-making party and a behind the scenes tour of their restaurant, along with their sons Luca and Nico.

This was Marie’s first time joining me for a professional kitchen tour and she won’t stop talking about.

Check out the Instagram Reel below.

Marie made her pizza with no sauce, lots of cheese, red bell peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni. Although I feel she should’ve added a little marinara (I feel bad criticizing a tiny chef but…) I am impressed with the sit-down restaurant quality of the pizza. Vince also owns Gaetano’s Restaurant, a local Italian restaurant in Torrance, since 1993 with his family, so he brought a solid knowledge of ingredient sourcing to Piccini.

All the toppings were fresh and full of flavor, but having a thick crust was refreshing. Thinner pizzas seem to rule the Culver City area where I live and I realized how much I missed a doughier but still crisp slice. For those of you who love to dip your pizza crust in marinara, salad dressings or melted butter, this pizza is a must-taste for you.

Piccini is set up for take-away and deliveries, so Marie and I went to a nearby playground and split some bites of the Zucchini Cacio e Pepe, spaghetti with roasted zucchini, a parm sauce and black pepper. I love that it was a little lighter on the black pepper, this way Marie could enjoy a bite. My take-away order came with a coloring pack and crayons too, so if you are ordering for the family, make sure to request that.

Zucchini Cacio e Pepe

I also took home the Fettuccini Brasado, fettuccini pasta with a 6 hour braised beef and crimini mushrooms in a pink sauce. I love any pasta dishes with pink sauce and a tender beef, so this totally hit the spot.

Fettuccini Brasado

Whether you’re having a family pizza night in or a pasta picnic in the park, Piccini has you and the kiddos covered.

If you stop by, please comment on this post and let me know what you thought!

Special thanks to PressPlayLA for coordinating the pizza making party.

Julianne

Actress and Founder of Girls on Food: I was born and raised in the suburbs of Sacramento, California. I grew up a typical “McDonald’s kid”. I was very picky about what I ate and refused to try new foods. No fun, I know. My Mom started taking me on trips to Europe when I was a teenager and that’s when my palate for finer foods began to develop. Some of my most memorable favorite meals include Veal Bolognese in Rome, Gyros in Athens, Paella in Lisbon and Duck L’Orange in Paris. While this helped me grow out of a fast food phase, I still eat out quite a bit. I know I should be at home cooking, but I love dining out. I started working in restaurants in various front of the house positions at age 15. Since my start, I’ve worked in every casual restaurant setting you can think of: a teriyaki stand, brewery, sushi nightclub, trendy Mexican, family-style Italian, American diner, pizza parlor and even a BLT themed food truck. I can't help but notice that many of the LA food bloggers don't have any sort of background working in a restaurant. A lot of my perspective on food and dining out comes from my years of experience in the biz. Since starting this blog, I have shot appearances on a couple of cooking competition shows as a taster (including MasterChef Junior and another upcoming show). We have also started producing a Youtube Channel. IMDb page here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2023647/ For this site I contribute content from all over Los Angeles (and the world) to showcase my favorite fine-dining spots, steakhouses, exclusive supper clubs, Hollywood nightlife and our very own #GOFx events, which I plan and coordinate.

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