The sopressata Pizza, pastas and fried olives were really good!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Sally
A16 was something of a disappointment. It had been years since I had been there. The started, asparagas, was excellent but the 2 pasta dishes were just so-so. Mine,with lingunie and msuhrooms was bland and the other two with crab was too spicy, and had too little crab. Wine was fine but awfully expensive. Not sure A16 is a great value.
Our waitress was great, but the restaurant had plenty of open tables the whole time we were there, but we were seated at the corner of the counter and had to push in our chairs about 50 times so people could pass. We had a reservation (obviously, given this is an Open Table review) so this is especially not cool. Definitely decided we were not worthy of decent seating and they would save it for someone else. No other people were seated at the counter, which had about 10 seats, all of which were better than our edge corner seats.
CAM123
My worst Italian dining experience in the Bay Area! The salumi appetizer plate was probably made hours ahead of time - the apple slices were brown and soggy. The mushroom pasta was slimy and the orecchiette with crab resulted in three days of severe gastroenteritis. I would stick to pizza or go somewhere else. Truly awful!
Eric Crump
Service was good and the and the ambience was nice. The food was underwhelming. The pasta was not good at all. We couldn’t finish more than a few bites. The pizza was ok but the crust needed to be cooked a little bit more. I did enjoy the espresso.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
ernieb
Great mix of classic southern Italian cuisine with the high energy of a neighborhood bar. Service is attentive but not intrusive. Perfect date night for first, second, or 33rd date. It was very life affirming to see this place fill up to capacity on a Thursday evening. They allowed us to occupy a nice window seat overlooking College Avenue for over two and a half hours . Can't wait to visit again.
CapA
Food was great, but the Valentine's Day service ruined it. We didn't get our first course until an HOUR after being seated. We had to ask two waiters to get our food. We saw at least three parties leave before their first service because the wait was so long. We got all our courses out of order and the same waiter tried to serve us the same course multiple times. I heard other parties having the same issue too. Of course, at the end of the night, it took 10 minutes to get the check after requesting it, and another 15 to even get the card picked up. Of course, even after the manager apologized for our wait and said she "would do something to make it right," we got fully charged for our experience. They couldn't even bother to comp my $6 iced tea. I will never go back.
Diner
Absolutely dreadful. Every dish on the tasting menu was inedibly salty. It was so bad I took one bite of our main course (which didn't even come until two hours into the meal) and I gave up. We just asked for the check and left. The worst $300+ I've ever spent at a restaurant and it ruined our Valentine's Day.
Had a reservation to celebrate Valentine's Day. The service was really poor. After being seated, no one acknowledged us for 20 minutes. After taking our order, no one came to check on us other than to drop off food. We had to ask multiple times throughout the meal even to get water refills - we'd ask someone, they'd say yes, then they'd just forget it without bringing anything. It was super busy, so I don't know how indicative my experience was of a normal dinner here. I didn't like how everyone was packed in to the max - we were basically sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the people on either side of us. Maybe some people like that kind of feel, but to us it just felt like they were trying to pack in as many people as possible, provide a minimum of service, and extract as much money as they could. I wouldn't recommend this at all for a romantic date. The food was pretty good, but I also felt like the prices were way above what quality was being provided. Not good value for money. Overall I really regret coming here. I hope it was just a temporary failure and their normal service is a lot better.
RichardAlexander
Most enjoyed Clara's friendly arrival greeting. Congrats to you for being open on Monday night. Highly appreciated. Milo provided exceptional sommelier service and added delightfully to dinner. The prime rib was exceptional and I strongly recommended it. And whatever Milo recommends drink it!
We came on Super Bowl Sunday, so we were one of only a few tables. When we've been there before, it was much livelier and noisier. The food is good, although not outstanding, and the wine list is pricey with few bottles in mid-range. The service was very good (and has been when it's crowded, too), so for service, location and good (though not great) food, I'd recommend it.
MartinL
We ordered a fungi pizza and a fungi linguini, expecting at least an essence of mushroom flavor. Not so. Best to be said is that it was almost tasty-ish. Suggest that diners query wait staff as to your expectations and make careful selections.
Will Holt
Top notch in every way. Will definitely go again. Nicer than average for sure, but still kid friendly and only one step up from casual dress.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Britt
Our first time here, it was DELICIOUS!!! Would definitely recommend. The service was great. The atmosphere is lively but not loud. Very cozy inside. We ordered the chicory salad, the orecchiette with Dungeness crab, the McFarland Springs trout, coffee gelato, fresh fig sorbet (OH MY GOSH YUM), and cocktails. All absolutely delightful. Great portion sizes too. Will definitely be back.
Pooch
Went there to celebrate our 39 anniversary and we're glad we did. Excellent prompt service from wait staff, food came in hot and delicious. Thinking of going there for our 40th.
The sopressata Pizza, pastas and fried olives were really good!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
A16 was something of a disappointment. It had been years since I had been there. The started, asparagas, was excellent but the 2 pasta dishes were just so-so. Mine,with lingunie and msuhrooms was bland and the other two with crab was too spicy, and had too little crab. Wine was fine but awfully expensive. Not sure A16 is a great value.
Our waitress was great, but the restaurant had plenty of open tables the whole time we were there, but we were seated at the corner of the counter and had to push in our chairs about 50 times so people could pass. We had a reservation (obviously, given this is an Open Table review) so this is especially not cool. Definitely decided we were not worthy of decent seating and they would save it for someone else. No other people were seated at the counter, which had about 10 seats, all of which were better than our edge corner seats.
My worst Italian dining experience in the Bay Area! The salumi appetizer plate was probably made hours ahead of time - the apple slices were brown and soggy. The mushroom pasta was slimy and the orecchiette with crab resulted in three days of severe gastroenteritis. I would stick to pizza or go somewhere else. Truly awful!
Service was good and the and the ambience was nice. The food was underwhelming. The pasta was not good at all. We couldn’t finish more than a few bites. The pizza was ok but the crust needed to be cooked a little bit more. I did enjoy the espresso.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Great mix of classic southern Italian cuisine with the high energy of a neighborhood bar. Service is attentive but not intrusive. Perfect date night for first, second, or 33rd date. It was very life affirming to see this place fill up to capacity on a Thursday evening. They allowed us to occupy a nice window seat overlooking College Avenue for over two and a half hours . Can't wait to visit again.
Food was great, but the Valentine's Day service ruined it. We didn't get our first course until an HOUR after being seated. We had to ask two waiters to get our food. We saw at least three parties leave before their first service because the wait was so long. We got all our courses out of order and the same waiter tried to serve us the same course multiple times. I heard other parties having the same issue too. Of course, at the end of the night, it took 10 minutes to get the check after requesting it, and another 15 to even get the card picked up. Of course, even after the manager apologized for our wait and said she "would do something to make it right," we got fully charged for our experience. They couldn't even bother to comp my $6 iced tea. I will never go back.
Absolutely dreadful. Every dish on the tasting menu was inedibly salty. It was so bad I took one bite of our main course (which didn't even come until two hours into the meal) and I gave up. We just asked for the check and left. The worst $300+ I've ever spent at a restaurant and it ruined our Valentine's Day.
Had a reservation to celebrate Valentine's Day. The service was really poor. After being seated, no one acknowledged us for 20 minutes. After taking our order, no one came to check on us other than to drop off food. We had to ask multiple times throughout the meal even to get water refills - we'd ask someone, they'd say yes, then they'd just forget it without bringing anything. It was super busy, so I don't know how indicative my experience was of a normal dinner here. I didn't like how everyone was packed in to the max - we were basically sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the people on either side of us. Maybe some people like that kind of feel, but to us it just felt like they were trying to pack in as many people as possible, provide a minimum of service, and extract as much money as they could. I wouldn't recommend this at all for a romantic date. The food was pretty good, but I also felt like the prices were way above what quality was being provided. Not good value for money. Overall I really regret coming here. I hope it was just a temporary failure and their normal service is a lot better.
Most enjoyed Clara's friendly arrival greeting. Congrats to you for being open on Monday night. Highly appreciated. Milo provided exceptional sommelier service and added delightfully to dinner. The prime rib was exceptional and I strongly recommended it. And whatever Milo recommends drink it!
Restaurantji Recommends
We came on Super Bowl Sunday, so we were one of only a few tables. When we've been there before, it was much livelier and noisier. The food is good, although not outstanding, and the wine list is pricey with few bottles in mid-range. The service was very good (and has been when it's crowded, too), so for service, location and good (though not great) food, I'd recommend it.
We ordered a fungi pizza and a fungi linguini, expecting at least an essence of mushroom flavor. Not so. Best to be said is that it was almost tasty-ish. Suggest that diners query wait staff as to your expectations and make careful selections.
Top notch in every way. Will definitely go again. Nicer than average for sure, but still kid friendly and only one step up from casual dress.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Our first time here, it was DELICIOUS!!! Would definitely recommend. The service was great. The atmosphere is lively but not loud. Very cozy inside. We ordered the chicory salad, the orecchiette with Dungeness crab, the McFarland Springs trout, coffee gelato, fresh fig sorbet (OH MY GOSH YUM), and cocktails. All absolutely delightful. Great portion sizes too. Will definitely be back.
Went there to celebrate our 39 anniversary and we're glad we did. Excellent prompt service from wait staff, food came in hot and delicious. Thinking of going there for our 40th.