09/24/09

great soups

by daaku6

Soup and bread.. yumm..

04/30/09

Excellent Italian too many choices!

by gretchm

My boss and I had an excellent lunch today and left very full and satisfied! Every entree we had was delicious , the service was excellent and the place was very clean and inviting! The mushroom appetizer, chopped salad and chicken parm - highly reccomended! I would suggest this restaurant anytime to anyone! I am sure their pizza is amazing as well. Great place to dine for large parties as well. They also have 4 other locations!!

• Pros: Mushroom app - to die for! Excellent Chopped Salad

12/11/08

Decent

by TommyAnthony

This place is decent, not great. I really like the pizza but would not go out of my way for it. The pastas are pretty good but a little heavy on the garlic.

• Pros: Pizzas
• Cons: Pasta

11/21/07

LOUSY service, OVERPRICED - large serving size - go somewhere else

by rnadir

LOUSY service and a rude waiter ruined the good food and generous serving size. For the high prices charged, one should expect at least moderately good service. There are so many good restaurants in the area. Another waiter/worker cleaned the neighboring table brushing the crumbs aggressively as to allow some of the crumbs to fly on/over my table and startling my child. Could it have been intentional? Over half the tables were empty at that time. Waiter appeared to be encouraging turnover(more tip$ instead of bigger tip$), frequently asking, are you done? when plates obviously still have plenty of food on them. I suggest trying others such as Pasta Pomodoro which has better food, better service, warmer ambience and lower prices.

• Pros: large serving size, lots of parking
• Cons: poor service, overpriced

07/31/07

Good bet for the price

by sionnan

This is a good Italian restaurant. if you are looknig for well done pasta's and Italian-American staples, this is it for Mountain View. As far as middle of the road Italian goes, Mountain View is loaded with over-priced and unimpressive places to go. However, if you want good pasta, and you don't have too much cash, its worth venturing off Castro.(don't bother with Pasta?)

I went here for my cousin's 18th birthday and had a lovely time. They have a great room for large parties, and were excellently attentive. Its nothing fancy, but it leaves you feeling good. Get some appetizers, and maybe a pizza, and enjoy. It is a family atmosphere, very relaxed and welcoming.

• Pros: great value, friendly atmosphere
• Cons: Food is nothing fancy

07/20/07

If service and good pasta are important to you, then this isnt the place!

by agent210

Took my mom FJL on Saturday afternoon (14th) for her birthday. It was not that crowded nor busy. The back section of the restaurant had no people sitting in it. Had a waitress who seemed nice.,However, after she took our orders, we never saw her again; Never checked on us, filled our drinks etc. After about 20-25 minutes I got up to find someone then another person came over. We then had a male waiter who apparently was the only server in the front section of the restaurant. He was running in many directions without any help. THe pasta was bland and no flavor. MY mom liked her dish, which I am glad. In the past, I always ordered their pizza and was happy with it. I never ate in the restaurant before. A clue could have been that their take out employees have nasty attitudes but I didnt care because I wasnt eating there. Given all my experiences I wont go back. IF service is low on your priority list then you will not be disappointed. Tony and Albas along with Chicago Pizza have awesome pizza and NEVER HAD BAD SERVICE AT EITHER!

• Pros: my mother liked her veal dish
• Cons: service, bland pasta, did I mention the poor service

05/17/07

ok italain food but not my momma's pasta

by wmreyn

Good atmosphere. Service can be inconsistant. Sauces tend to be strong and over spiced, not my momma's pasta. Everyone was pleased but not excited about the food. Pizza was loaded with a lot of "stuff"on it but has no balance, no quality and looses the meaning of a true italian pizza. Wine list was clearly an after thought. I will be sending my friends to Palo Alto for great Italain food.

• Pros: atmosphere, service with the right person
• Cons: pizza, wine list, parking

04/03/07

Worth the wait

by mishdahlin

I have been coming here all my life and been getting the same dish since I was about 5 years old. Pollo a la cuore, a simple linguine dish with crisp, tasty vegetables and sauteed chicken, delicious with parmesan cheese. It is my absolute favorite. Anyone new whom I bring and wonders what to get loves this recommendation. The complimentary bread is delicious as well. Their spinach salad and caprese are very good too. So's the pizza but I just get pollo a la cuore every time! One time I overheard some New Yorkers saying that everytime they come to get the Stromboli pizza...must be pretty dang good.

• Pros: Price, variety, quality
• Cons: Parking, long wait

08/19/06

Very poor customer service

by eni1orac

My family often went here and has had good experiences. However, this early evening the four of us dined there with a coupon (buy one entree, get one entree free of up to $15 value). My father ordered a leg of lamb (approx. $15), my brother a pasta dish (approx. $14), my mother an appetizer of mussels ($9), and myself a house salad ($4.50), which was, unfortunately, wilted, bathed in dressing, and a sincere disappointment.

Upon receiving the check from our server (who was fine, albeit slow), we presented the coupon, expecting my brother's pasta dish to be deducted. When we received the adjusted tab, my mother's appetizer was deducted from the total instead. (The mussels were clearly listed under the "Antipasto" section of the menu.) We notified our server of what we felt was an incorrect deduction, she informed us the manager had adjusted the tab and offered to fix it. We agreed and waited.

The assistant manager finally sidles up to our table and asks what seems to be the matter. My mother tells him her mussels were listed as an appetizer, not an entree; he argues that she ate it as an entree, therefore it was now considered an entree. I piped up and said that I had eaten my salad as an entree, so was it therefore also an entree upon my consumption as such? He (challengingly) asked me if I'd like my salad to be deducted from the bill instead; I maintained a smile and said, "No, but I believe you should deduct the appropriate entree." After some hemming and hawing, he announced that he'd deduct the pasta "this time" so that we know "next time" to order "an entree for dinner." We waited another ten minutes before receiving our final bill.

The management clearly is not concerned with customer service. The assistant manager was rude, spoke too matter-of-factly, and sneered. A lot. Food? O-K. Service? Emphatic N-O.

• Pros: Overall good food, nice porch dining area.
• Cons: Very slow service (which may explain the "help wanted" sign), and awful customer service at the management level (which may help further explain the "help wanted" sign).

02/14/06

Food was ok, good service

by midelahaye

After hearing so many good reviews about this place, we had to check it out. A big disappointment. The food was just ok, I've had better italian food at Safeway than this restaurant. The service was very good but that definitely did not make up for the food. Pretty expensive for what it is. Don't think I'll go back

• Pros: service
• Cons: food, expensive