Osteria

Great Lunch

by Kingrich at Citysearch

This is one of my favorite lunch stops. The food is great and priced well. The staff operates like a well oiled machine. Getting the lunch rush feed well, taken care of and off to finish the day.

Highly recommended for busy Palo Alto.

Good neighborhod Italian option

by Jeff Rapp at Citysearch

I'm finally at the end of my California posts, and it finishes with our first meal: Friday lunch in Palo Alto at Osteria. It was the four of us grabbing lunch before driving into city. Osteria is a small, neighborhood, Italian spot in down town PA. We had a very nice meal, complete with fresh pasta, salads and bubbly.

Erica and I split a very good Caesar salad. The greens were california fresh, the croutons made in-house, and the dressing did not overwhelm. It was a very nice salad, plenty large to share.

The pastas were also made in-house, and it showed. The noodles were tender and fresh, very well made. My complaint though wasn't with the pasta, it was with the sauces on both dishes. Erica ordered a pesto pasta and I choose a marinara with pork. The first issue was quantity, there wasn't enough sauce for all the delicious noodles on the plate. But more sauce would not have changed the fact that neither dish's sauce contained enough flavor. Alyssa ordered a a fried calamari steak that was probably the best dish at the table. I've never seen a fried calamari steak before.

All in all it was a nice lunch and a good way to start our weekend. The champagne was tasty and we loved our salads. The fresh pasta was great, but the sauces need some work. It's a bit fancy and I think pricey, but a fun location and good vibe for a neighborhood Italian spot.

my blog: jjrappeats.blogspot dot com

Order pasta for satisfaction

by PaloAltan at Citysearch

The gnoccis here are unbeatable. Order pasta. I'd rate the rest of the food only one or two stars. I haven't seen the drunk owner in a year or two but he was always nice to us and our young children. The wait staff is quick-moving (don't expect warm/fuzzy). This is more of a quick eats restaurant than a stay-and-chat-for-awhile or party place. It is such a small restaurant that no doubt, they prefer the tables to turnover quickly. Must make a reservation a week in advance or they'll be booked.

• Pros: Gnoccis are the best
• Cons: Small restaurant, not good for big parties (more than 6)

Deal of the Century

by bebes at Citysearch

Went here for the first time this weekend with my husband and seven-year old son. Was initially put-off when no one greeted us and our first interraction with the host was a hand-in-the-face as he walked past us to sit a regular who entered after us. All was forgiven, however. The host, perhaps knowing his faux pas, was extremely gracious thereafter. Our server was wonderful -- after admitting our ignorance of Italian wines, he didn't talk down to us but recommended a wonderful bottle that paired perfectly with our meal. And our meal!!!! Everything was delicious!!! We started with the artichoke bottoms with shrimp and a glass of presecco -- palatte pleasing to the extreme!. Next, the melon and prociutto was simple and perfect. My husband had the spinach pasta with bay shrimp, I had the spinach pasta with chicken and my son had a half-order of the tortellini with prociutto, peas and cream. We were all fighting over who's was best. We were drooling over the carpaccio delivered to our neighbor and have promised to order that next time. We sat towards the back of the restaurant in warm/cozy table. It was a fabulous family meal. We couldn't believe our tab when the check came!!! It was the deal of the century. We will most definitely return and cannot wait until our next meal at Osteria.

• Pros: Fabulous Food at Fair Prices for the Whole Family
• Cons: Can't think of any

Here's the deal: Horrible, rude, drunk owner but great food

by toby777 at Citysearch

Reviews of Osteria fall into one of two categories-either they loved the food or they hated the terrible service. And that's the thing about Osteria, both are right. The owner, a short man with curly hair, is horrible. He is drunk a lot of the time and is mean and rude to customers on a regular basis. So, while his staff are generally not bad, they know that if they're rude, whatever they dish out won't be nearly as bad as what the owner will say to you. The customer doesn't have any recourse and everyone knows it. You want to speak to the manager or owner? Good luck. Case in point. We were there about a week ago and the two guys next to us complained that there was a hair in one of the dishes (a gray hair, this guy had brown hair). The waiter apologized and took the dish away to replace it. A few minutes later though, the owner came wandering over saying that "he could order anything he wanted as long as it's not the same dish". When the customer said that he really liked what he originally ordered, the owner, I kid you not, said "why are you being such an a**h*le?". The guy was STUNNED(and so were we)but held it together pretty well. They went back and forth for a few minutes in which time the owner also called him a d*ck. Finally, and without apology, the owner wandered off and started randomly talking to people and picking up their kids. It was WEIRD. The waiter tried to apologize saying "you know, Italian temper" but clearly the staff have no control over him. We knew this guy had a reputation but it was like nothing I've ever seen before. He was also answering the phones and since he was so clearly drunk, that would explain the lost reservations in past reviews.

Regardless, the place is packed every night. The food IS good so, apparently at the end of the day, he can treat people any way he likes and he still packs them in.

• Pros: Good food - try the carpacio, linguine w/shrimp
• Cons: Horrible owner - rude to customer daily