Nicolino's Garden Cafe

03/13/2008 Posted by RF400

Nic's pies are heavy and fully loaded. There sausage is really good and fresh since its made in there New York sausage Co located behind Nic's. I've been coming hear for many years now and have never had a bad pizza. Try a Tina's too much, YUM. There staff is great as well. Try Nic's for the best pizza around.

04/04/2007 Posted by kevrin

We had a horrible experience here. Yes it was a Friday night but they weren't packed. It started by being treated rudely by the young, attitude filled kid at the front and went downhill from there. We were ignored for 10 minutes (no water, silverware, bread or server) and when the bread finally came it was warm on the outside and COLD inside, like it just came out of the freezer. Another couple of minutes before a server came and she acted like we were completely ruining her day be being there. The oysters came 20 minutes later and were washed -a big no-no. Another 30 minutes after that our entree finally came and one was quite good and the other just horrible. It was a pasta dish with "filet mignon" which was gristly, chewy and quite possibly boiled before being thrown in at the last minute. No one bothered to ask how our dinner was, we truly saw very little of the server all night. Add up the time and you see that we were there nearly an hour before dinner which would have been acceptable for a good meal and ambience but the food was bad and the whole place needs a serious upgrade.

Pros: strolling, goofy but fun violinist

Cons: terrible service and less than par food

01/17/2007 Posted by cissy3637

I brought my family, parents, aunt, uncle, and children. The food was wonderful, there was something on the menu for everyone. The service was friendly and efficient, we were NOT treated differently becaus we had our children with us. This is a wonderful Italian restaurant and the closest thing you get to REAL ITALIAN in the Santa Clara Valley. The tableside cooking was a real plus, it's been years since I had a Caesar salad prepared at the table, this alone made it a MUST fotr future dining. Everyone was very polite and the owner was attentive to every table, HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU EXPERIENCED THIS! They have a FANTASTIC Valentine's Day Menu in effect and we will certainly be there!

08/07/2006 Posted by domenicod

I have been going there since I work at Auspex in the mid 1990's. The food was the reason you went. Great italian food. Sauage bread was to die for. I took many a customer and date to Nicolino's and although the atmosphere as kinda of dark and stuffy, the food ruled. I went there with my family last week and it seems the bad atmosphere is still there but the good food was gone. Every single dish we ordered was bad. The Raviolis were bland and tastless and the sauce was too salty. The service was horrible. Very slow and they were ticked off because I brought my children. Never again. Done.

07/08/2006 Posted by putty12

My husband and I were excited to try this restaurant for our anniversay after hearing so many good reviews but our visit did not live up to the hype. The restaurant is billed as the last great romantic restaurant in Silicon Valley but, in reality, needs a lot of work to live up to the claim. The decor fell into the cheesy and campy category and the sitting in the center section with all the tables so close together made us feel like we were packed in a can of sardines. The pianiist was okay but the singer was pretty bad. The service was slow which would have been fine if the restaurant did have a nice atmosphere and the food was good. But in the absence of that, the slow service was an annoyance. My husband's dish was mediocre (pasta with shrimp that looked like it came from the frozen food section of the supermarket) and mine was worse (linguini with clams that were sandy because they were not cleaned properly). I could have sent the food back but didn't because I feared a new dish would have taken too long and might not have been much better. We also had a coupon so the bad meal was free anyway. I don't consider myself a picky eater - I have had far better dining experiences at Coco's (where we stopped for a pie on the way home). To give the restaurant some credit, there were other tables that seemed to get far better service and better looking dishes. We might have gotten a bad waiter and chosen the wrong entrees. But, I am not about to go back and give them another shot.

03/26/2006 Posted by athenaswish

Love this place! So, the service was slow, but who cares when you got that great, Friday night violinist to watch? Ask for a booth and play footsie under the long table cloth. Food was good, if not great, and the service was good, if a bit slow. Fun, old-fashioned place to take a date.

Pros: Ambiance, Value, Parking

Cons: Slow service

02/14/2006 Posted by huitse

I used to like dining at Nicolino's because the food is decent, but that all changed today. It was Valentine's Day, so the service was slow and the waiter had not smiled once during my 2 hours lunch at the restaurant. At the end when I was about to pay for my meal, the waiter denied my Entertainment book coupon due to it being the holiday (Valentine's day) even though I had called ahead to confirm that the use of coupon will be honored. When I asked for the manager, she came and wondered if I was crazy trying to use the coupon on Valentine's Day. I was devastated, and I will never go back again!

Pros: decent food

Cons: terrible service

12/21/2005 Posted by palhaco

I would like to say that the dinning experience becomes enhanced when the waiter is knolageable, we were lucky to seat on Boris station and he was so kind, friedly and very knolageable about the wines and foods. The Restaurant somehow makes me feel like if I was in Europe, the food was execelent, I ordered the Monk Fish as my main course and had the Creme Brule for dessert, food and service 100% I can't wait to be back. Thanks Boris.

Pros: Very Nice

08/04/2005 Posted by cpapa53

Party of 4 seated next to us arrived 20 minutes after us. They were already eating their salad when I had to remind the waitress that we hadn't even received ours.Had to wait 20 minutse for a drink, which I also had to remind our waitress that we hadn't received.

Pros: fair prices

Cons: poor servive, slow service

08/14/2002 Posted by oooh_yummy

Of course the food is good too, but I simply LOVE the tiramisu here. Light, creamy, moist, YUM! A very cozy and romantic spot. Be sure to go on a Saturday night when they have live opera singing to entertain you as you eat. Just a wonderful experience.