My husband and I wanted to try this place since it is around the corner from my house and we love Italian food. However, the food was terrible. The food looked like it was microwaved. We ordered a chicken cannelloni and the middle of it was cold. The noodles was hard as a rock. I honestly couldn't finish the food. I left almost all of it. The soda machine was broken, therefore they were serving drinks out of a can. Sooooo if you are thirsty and want a refill ain't gonna happen for free.I don't like to give negative reviews as this is someone's livelihood, but honestly I had to say something as it was that bad. Save your money... I love to support small businesses, but not coming here EVER again.
Nancy Sims
Real nice u can bring ur own bottle of liquior. Restaurant service 100. The food was real good.
Aurora Carreto
Leo is awasome this is one of my favorite places, for me is authentic Italian flavor! I’ve been in Italy, lived in San Francisco and this food is the best so far. I’m surprised of the bad reviews may be they have to develop taste for good food.
David Aguilar
The girl behind the counter is not pleasant, not that I blamed her. The overall vibe is quite depressing and while I was waiting, I was noticing that the areas that I could see were pretty dirty. Ordered to-go. Had I dined in, I would have asked for a refund at first bite. The whole place was empty aside from me and the 2 employees.
Sheri
I love this small, quaint restaurant. The food is out of this world delicious and the service is great! I love that I can bring my favorite bottle of wine to enjoy with my meal.
von Wolffe
The good reviews are either fake or people are clueless about good food. The food was actually horrible. Everything tasted and looked frozen. The calamari was disgusting and I love calamari. And the service was about as lacking as it gets. Will not be returning. However, we went there to compare to our favorite Italian restaurant, also called Italian Cafe where the food and service is amazing. On Kuykendahl. Seriously great food. We went there for dessert.
Lia
We ordered the vegetarian linguini and chicken pesto pasta. Aside from the differences in veggies, our dishes tasted the same- like olive oil. I had to add salt, black pepper, and some spice to add some flavor to it. Presentation looked okay but taste was bland. Maybe I'll try the pizza if I decide to go here again.
Julie Overstreet
Best pizza, pasta and byob. Staff is great - atmosphere is very family oriented.
Ray Rodriguez
What a nice find! Online looking for dinner for my sweetie and I. We had the best dinner. From the Veal to dessert. Delizioso!
Andrew H.
TL/DR version: Save your time and money and heat up a frozen Marie Callender entree in your microwave. Believe it or not, you can get good Italian food from a restaurant in a strip mall. But not this one. It's BYO alcohol with a minimal corkage fee to cover the use of their glassware. That's the positive that earned a 2nd star. I recommend drinking your first bottle of wine very quickly so that you don't notice how excruciatingly bad the food is. The side house salad was so overdressed that it was impossible to eat a single bite without dripping the watery dressing all over the table. The snapper piccata had no redeeming features at all. The "fresh" snapper was obviously a frozen portion. The piccata sauce was extremely bitter and astringent due to the cheap white wine (I saw the box of Franzia in the kitchen) not being reduced enough, and way too thin due to the aforementioned lack of reduction combined with not having nearly enough butter mounted into the wine reduction. The side of pasta with tomato sauce had no flavor, likely due to the fact that the sauce came straight out of a can combined with the pasta not being properly drained before plating, resulting in a watery mess on the plate. The sautéed spinach was okay once it got some seasoning; no part of the meal seemed to have been subjected to any kind of salt or pepper, which in retrospect probably explains the nearly empty salt and pepper grinders on the table. Pretty safe to say I won't be returning.
Calazone was large but had a great deal (too much) of pastry, not filler. The dipping sauce was bland. The flavor of carbonara was ok, but more noodles than sauce. Somewhat dry, or was not quite freshly made.
Toni Moncivais
The chicken tetrazzini is my favorite, and I love their garlic bread!We've only gotten sub-par food once, and I believe it was because they were running late, they used regular alfredo sauce instead of the creamy buttery tetrazzini sauce. Other than that, great food, great customer service
Nicole L.
Ehhhh...I've cooked better Italian food. I ordered the family special and the noodles weren't cooked properly, the salad was thrown together, and the bread was probably the best out of it all. The cashier just expected payment, without even showing the order. She was more engaged on her cellphone, quite like the cook in the back too. I ordered for pick up and if I were an inspector, they probably would've gotten a violation.Fettuccini Chicken Alfredo was bland, good thing I asked for crush pepper and Parmesan.
Tim Phan
Although it seems small, it is a very cosy and nice restaurant. The service was great, the music is comforting, and the food was absolutely delicious! Support local and try out this hidden diamond in the rough!
My husband and I wanted to try this place since it is around the corner from my house and we love Italian food. However, the food was terrible. The food looked like it was microwaved. We ordered a chicken cannelloni and the middle of it was cold. The noodles was hard as a rock. I honestly couldn't finish the food. I left almost all of it. The soda machine was broken, therefore they were serving drinks out of a can. Sooooo if you are thirsty and want a refill ain't gonna happen for free.I don't like to give negative reviews as this is someone's livelihood, but honestly I had to say something as it was that bad. Save your money... I love to support small businesses, but not coming here EVER again.
Real nice u can bring ur own bottle of liquior. Restaurant service 100. The food was real good.
Leo is awasome this is one of my favorite places, for me is authentic Italian flavor! I’ve been in Italy, lived in San Francisco and this food is the best so far. I’m surprised of the bad reviews may be they have to develop taste for good food.
The girl behind the counter is not pleasant, not that I blamed her. The overall vibe is quite depressing and while I was waiting, I was noticing that the areas that I could see were pretty dirty. Ordered to-go. Had I dined in, I would have asked for a refund at first bite. The whole place was empty aside from me and the 2 employees.
I love this small, quaint restaurant. The food is out of this world delicious and the service is great! I love that I can bring my favorite bottle of wine to enjoy with my meal.
The good reviews are either fake or people are clueless about good food. The food was actually horrible. Everything tasted and looked frozen. The calamari was disgusting and I love calamari. And the service was about as lacking as it gets. Will not be returning. However, we went there to compare to our favorite Italian restaurant, also called Italian Cafe where the food and service is amazing. On Kuykendahl. Seriously great food. We went there for dessert.
We ordered the vegetarian linguini and chicken pesto pasta. Aside from the differences in veggies, our dishes tasted the same- like olive oil. I had to add salt, black pepper, and some spice to add some flavor to it. Presentation looked okay but taste was bland. Maybe I'll try the pizza if I decide to go here again.
Best pizza, pasta and byob. Staff is great - atmosphere is very family oriented.
What a nice find! Online looking for dinner for my sweetie and I. We had the best dinner. From the Veal to dessert. Delizioso!
TL/DR version: Save your time and money and heat up a frozen Marie Callender entree in your microwave. Believe it or not, you can get good Italian food from a restaurant in a strip mall. But not this one. It's BYO alcohol with a minimal corkage fee to cover the use of their glassware. That's the positive that earned a 2nd star. I recommend drinking your first bottle of wine very quickly so that you don't notice how excruciatingly bad the food is. The side house salad was so overdressed that it was impossible to eat a single bite without dripping the watery dressing all over the table. The snapper piccata had no redeeming features at all. The "fresh" snapper was obviously a frozen portion. The piccata sauce was extremely bitter and astringent due to the cheap white wine (I saw the box of Franzia in the kitchen) not being reduced enough, and way too thin due to the aforementioned lack of reduction combined with not having nearly enough butter mounted into the wine reduction. The side of pasta with tomato sauce had no flavor, likely due to the fact that the sauce came straight out of a can combined with the pasta not being properly drained before plating, resulting in a watery mess on the plate. The sautéed spinach was okay once it got some seasoning; no part of the meal seemed to have been subjected to any kind of salt or pepper, which in retrospect probably explains the nearly empty salt and pepper grinders on the table. Pretty safe to say I won't be returning.
Restaurantji Recommends
Calazone was large but had a great deal (too much) of pastry, not filler. The dipping sauce was bland. The flavor of carbonara was ok, but more noodles than sauce. Somewhat dry, or was not quite freshly made.
The chicken tetrazzini is my favorite, and I love their garlic bread!We've only gotten sub-par food once, and I believe it was because they were running late, they used regular alfredo sauce instead of the creamy buttery tetrazzini sauce. Other than that, great food, great customer service
Ehhhh...I've cooked better Italian food. I ordered the family special and the noodles weren't cooked properly, the salad was thrown together, and the bread was probably the best out of it all. The cashier just expected payment, without even showing the order. She was more engaged on her cellphone, quite like the cook in the back too. I ordered for pick up and if I were an inspector, they probably would've gotten a violation.Fettuccini Chicken Alfredo was bland, good thing I asked for crush pepper and Parmesan.
Although it seems small, it is a very cosy and nice restaurant. The service was great, the music is comforting, and the food was absolutely delicious! Support local and try out this hidden diamond in the rough!
Cool place, you can bring your own wine.