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Nicolino's Garden Cafe - CLOSED
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
72 reviews for Nicolino's Garden Cafe
Review Highlights
"appy's - sausage bread (great."
(in 11 reviews)
"Hubby had the Steak Diane and I had the cioppino."
(in 6 reviews)
"I always get the prime rib (med."
(in 11 reviews)
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72 reviews in English
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Review from Gemma G.
Santa Clara, CA
3/6/2009
Nicolino's is a small, quiet, and romantic Italian place that is perfect for a lovely, quiet dinner for a small group, or best - a date.
The wait staff is impeccably dressed and serves you ultra-attentively, and you never are wanting for anything for too long, as they check up on you at what always seems to be the perfect time. You're treated to a small show if you've ordered certain appetizers or desserts as they're prepared fresh, right in front of you (hint: any of the appetizer salads or the cherries flambe, post-dinner).
Prime rib is a main-stay of Nicolino's that is executed well every time, and their dessert menu is great! Their tiramisu, cherries flambe, and creme brulee are delightful.
If you're looking for a great surrounding atmosphere outside of the restaurant, Nicolino's isn't the place for you, but if you're planning on good food, great service, and musical entertainment, visit Sunnyvale's Nicolino's. -
Review from Mercy B.
Milpitas, CA
1/30/2008
OMG - I can't believe that this place is still around!
I've been patronizing Nicolino's for years - and the decor hasn't changed in more years than I have fingers to count.
S and I went here on a coupon date one evening. The service and food was as good as I remembered it. They're very generous in their portions. Our bellies were fat and full that we really didn't have room for dessert - but then again, there's always room for one itsy bitsy bite of tiramisu, right?
I love the campiness of this place.
They have various entertainers that roam the dining room during the evening hours. They will sing, play the violin, joke around with you, take music and song requests. I think that the entertainment is part of the atmosphere and definitely what makes Nicolino's a unique experience.
We took home doggie bags because we could not fit anymore into our bellies and had to undo the top button of our pants
Now - we'll have to spend extra time on the elliptical or run an extra mile to burn off that spoonful to tiramisu.Listed in: Have defibrillator - will…
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Review from kim n.
7/19/2006
I've been here for plenty of lunches but never for dinner. I guess from what I can tell dinner is a very different experience (somtimes with live entertaionment) and maybe one of these days I'll check that out.
It's a bit upscale as lunches go and there seem to be a lot of tech people/biz lunches going on during the weekdays. The decor is somewhat 70s-80s Italian and the ambiance is fairly pleasant. Wait staff are dressed up and the service is formal but friendly.
I believe the family who runs and owns it is related to the Frankie, Johnny, Luigi and the New York Style Sausage Co. Because of the latter they have this great sausage bread appetizer where the meat is rolled into the dough and then baked. Quite tasty. When I was last there they had a great special for $18.95 which gave you:
Bowl of clam chowder
Monkfish Siracusa - Pan seared monkfish with an olive, caper, tomato, parsley, lemon sauce.
Side of rice pilaf and spinach.
Monkfish is one ugly damn fish but man is it tasty. Akin to the taste and texture of lobster but not as sweet and crisp. They did an excellent job with it here and I didn't feel so bad about paying $25 for lunch.
It's a bit out of the way and on occasion can be slow, but if you like a good solid Italian American meal in a slightly upscale atmosphere it's worth a visit. -
Review from Herman N.
Mountain View, CA
5/3/2008
I give this place 3 stars overall. Here's why:
4 stars (Normal Italian Restaurant - in comparison to something like Pasta Pomodoro)
2 stars (Nice Italian Restaurant - in comparison to something fancy in SF like A16)
I feel like this place doesn't know what they want to be. The place/decor looks nice on some days and looks crappy on others (it might have something to do with how the sun enters indoors). Lunch is expensive, but dinner is actually well-priced. I think their pastas are decent and especially love their sausage bread. Desserts here are quite good as well, great Tiramisu with a very heavy rum base. Other than that, I'm never truly impressed here. If anything, I'm always happy with ordering take-out here and enjoying my meal in the comforts of my home. -
Review from Foodlovadiva M.
San Jose, CA
10/22/2006
One of the most unique restaurants I know of, however, there are certain dont's, like I sent the filet mignon back twice in the same night because I couldn't stand the sear, the whole meat tasted and smelled of charcol.
The Steak Diane is the steak to order, never was disappointed with that.
On my must have list is the warm spinach salad prepared by Jose, who's so much fun and deserving of 5 Stars for that.
Highly recommend the strawberry dessert and the Unico pasta is to die for. This place has real character and is a total different dining experience since they have life music also. Violist and piano, December season Italian opera, even for non Opera fans it's entertaining and funny.
I always make reservations because this place is always packed when I went on Friday or Saturday nights. -
Review from Kathleen M.
San Jose, CA
10/12/2006
I've had almost two full sports bottles of water since I ate here a couple hours ago. I'm guessing my pizza was salty, though I didn't notice it at the time.
I only ate the pizza at Nicolino's. And an entire small loaf of bread. Did I mention the bread was good? It was. It was hot and fresh and came with an herbed garlic butter spread, too.
The pizza? Well, given the upscale nature of the restaurant I expected better. The crust was thin underneath, and thick in the back. I guess that makes it the mullet of pizzas. I had the New Yorker which consisted of sausage and mushrooms. It was actually on the bland side (despite my theories on saltiness now), but I made it better with some chili flakes. -
Review from Sydney M.
San Jose, CA
2/19/2009
Not Nicolino's too! Sheesh, have you noticed in the last 10 years or so, many of the really decent restaurants in San Jose went bye bye?
Mr. Steak, Mike's Original (the last place on earth you got soup AND salad w/o extra charge), Lou's Village and now Nicolino's. I am so bummed. I was looking forward to sitting down to some shrimp or crab bisque this Sat for the wife's B-day. When we called to make reservations they say they are closed. It says they are expanding their sausage company in a new location. No mention of a lost lease. The recording also mentions their sister restaurants. Sorry, but Giorgio's sucks. That had to be the worst, toughest, over-cooked, swimming in oil calimari that I ever had. Frankie, Johnny and Luigi is ok... I am so bummed they are just going to hang it up. Good bye great veal, Mother's day Sunday brunch, fireplace, piano, happy hour free food, good bye funny smell... Sigh...
Now I will have to settle for By-th-bucket. -
Review from Resa W.
9/15/2006
My prom group went here for dinner and it wasn't really anything special. Service was just okay, and my salmon tasted like soap. Two stars because of the singer/band on Saturday nights and the cute couples out on the dance floor.
They did sing us Phantom of the Opera on request though. Oh, prom. Haha.Listed in: Ugh, I Should've Yelped It
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Review from Yuan W.
Santa Clara, CA
3/27/2008
This place has been around forever. I first came here over 13 years ago when I worked for a company that no longer existed.
Had the penne with Italian sausage. The noodles were cooked well with plenty of sausage chunks. The tomato basil sauce was good as well. Tastier than I expected.
Service was fast and friendly.
However, I just can't give it higher than 3 stars. The inside is very outdated but hasn't reached the 'classic' look like OJ's. Give it a few more years and I will update my rating to 4... -
Review from Tracey Lee D.
San Jose, CA
4/7/2007
I've been here a number of time for meetings with my boss, as it is essentially the only sit-down place very close by. It gets our business by default. I've had a number of their salads and pizza, and they are all just fine. Nothing amazing, but certainly not bad. We usually always sit in the bar, as we can just walk in and sit down, and not have to wait to be seated. We went on Friday, and while we were some of the first people to sit down, the service took a lot longer than usual. However, this was the first time that there was a full room of people.
Had the Caesar salad and their waffle fries. The salad was tasty and the fries were really good (the first time I had had them). But for whatever reason, I still just think "eh" when I think of this place. -
Review from Margo G.
2/5/2008
Gone during lunch with coworkers on many occassions.
The food is ok. Not the best Italian but definitely not the worst. There are some dishes that I like more than others.
Really enjoyed the sausage bread, brushcetta and calamari. The sausage bread comes with marinara sauce and it's warm. Bruchetta had good toasty bread topped with tomatoes and other good stuff. The calamari was not oily at all.
I've had some of the pastas:
Gamberi Fiori con Cappellini $13.95
Fresh Prawns And Shrimp, Sauted With Slivered Garlic, White Wine, Fresh Basil And Tomatoes, Served On A Bed Of Angel Hair Pasta
-This is good with lots of prawns and shrimp. Could only eat half of it.
Linguini With Clams Or Mussels $11.95
Tender Fresh And Baby Clams Or Blue Mussels, Simmered In A Delicate Light Cream Sauce, Or With A Fresh Tomato And Herb Sauce, Served Over Linguini
- This is my favorite and I get it with the light cream sauce. You can even get a mix of clams and mussels if you can't decide what you want. Again, could only eat half.
Fettucine Carbonara $9.50
A Luscious Cream Sauce Of Onion, Bacon, Peas, Garlic, Parmigiana Reggiano, Fresh Cream And Farm Fresh Egg, Tossed With Fettucine
- I am not a fan of this. They didn't incorporate the egg and cheese well and I had raw egg whites in my pasta. I didn't want to eat the rest.
All food comes with a bread basket with garlic butter and pesto for dipping. -
Review from Oliver C.
San Jose, CA
4/26/2007
Good place for a business lunch. Even better for a business lunch on the company dime!
This was the first time we actually required reservations since we were expecting a large party. But our group is terrible at making it out to lunch, so we actually had 4 less than the initial head count. The wait staff were totally accomodating and didn't give us any attitude.
The food is pretty good here. Heavy on the carbs of course. But I usually get the grilled steak sandwich on foccacia bread. It's more buttery and a lot more bread than I like (at least in relative proportion to the steak) and their waffle fries are perfectly seasoned. (Don't get the veggies - as my sucker friends did.. they're boiled peas!) The service is usually pretty good, and they'll refill your water, but you might need to ask for more bread while you're waiting.
Not a bad place overall. Keep it in mind for business lunches. -
Review from Pachi C.
San Jose, CA
7/12/2008
Food: Very good
Service: Good
Price: Reasonable
I first had Nicolino's when it was catered in for a work party. Man, was it delish! I've been back twice since and it does not disappoint. My only warning is that it is a little on the expensive side for lunch (average $10-$12 menu items), but still well worth the price in my mind.
We returned last night with some friends and I thorougly enjoyed my "Bistecca ai Ferri", aka 14oz NY Steak with cognac sauce and croquettes and spinach. What they fail to mention is you get this really cute half-cut tomato as a side too, topped with a yummy crusted parmesan cheese concoction. Hubby got the Cioppino Nicolino (seafood stew). Delicious! Fresh, large cuts of crap and shrimp and clams in a delicious broth. I'm getting that next time!
Both entrees were $24.50.
I forgot to mention the ambiance. Friday nights you get live entertainment (violinist and pianist). The violinist, in my opinion, can be slightly obnoxious with his "personality", but you can't criticize his music. At least he's good at tailoring music to his "target" audience! (played us some old school chinese songs that we recognized from our parents tapes)!
The only issue I had for dinner was that it seemed that our food was slow in coming. The fresh bread came relatively quickly, but I felt like I was sitting around for the entrees. We were pretty shocked to come out 2 hours after we arrived. So allocate time for this meal! -
Review from Jason G.
Sunnyvale, CA
10/23/2006
One of the worst dining experiences to date - hands down. I can't really decide if the food was worse than the service... but I think I'm going to have to go with the service. After asking twice and waiting 15 minutes, we finally had to ask a busboy to get us some water! And waiting for the check? That took another 20 minutes (even after asking).
Perhaps it was the atmosphere though. After all, my wife and I were the only people in the restaurant under 50. So maybe the staff is used to customers staying 3 hours for dinner, but we had places to go still that night.
The food was definately not worth the price at all either. The pasta was cooked well, but the sauce tasted like something from a can - without originality or real flavor.
Definately won't be dining here again. -
Review from Keoni B.
Union City, CA
1/5/2007
I was pretty apprehensive coming here reading the reviews, but I went anyways....
I must have come on a good day or something, because the service that I recieved was probably the best that I have ever gotten at any restaurant. Reading the other complaints about the service, my experience was the exact opposite. I made reservations (although it was a monday) and it didn't take long to be seated. My only weird vibe was that the manager stared at us for a good deal as if we didn't belong there. I mean, I may look young, but come on.......
The atmosphere is very "Godfather" like, and has a mixture of tables and round booths throughout the place. There was a grand piano towards the front with someone playing music to add to the ambience. This is a pretty nice place to take someone out on a date. The place was not crowded at all, but later in the evening more and more people started to file in. The crowd had a good mix; there were a few families, a group of programers/engineers (you can tell by the polo shirts), and a few couples younger than us (under 26). The place is said to be frequented by plenty of high powered execs from companies around the area, and I've heard that the eBay CEO eats there a lot as well, but it shouldn't discourage you from going. It looked pretty fancy from the outside, but we were extremely comfortable after we were seated.
Our waiter's name was Jesus, and by far, was the best waiter that I have encountered. He never rushed us, got our drinks right away, and even said "Happy New Year" before he took our orders. The food was very good. I ordered the shrimp bisque to start, and the Unico for dinner and was stuffed. The dishes were pretty rich, although the pasta may have been overcooked just slightly. But it was creamy, and considering the cold windy weather outside, the warmth of the soup was a definite welcome to my stomach. My girlfriend had the fettucine carbonara, which was ok. It was much lighter than other fettucine, and was not drenched with olive oil and cheese.
The food pricing is from the moderate to high side, so I'd be prepared to shell out anywhere from 40 to 60 bucks (for 2 people) depending on what you order. Also, as said in one of the previous reviews, there are no free refills on soda, and they charge everytime you fill up.
Overall, it was a great experience (with the exception of being stared at). I would definitely make reservations, especially if you plan to go there more torwards the end of the week. A great place for a date, or if you just want to have a nice meal with some wine at the end of the day. Also, this restaraunt is related to the Frankie, Johnny, & Luigi chain. -
Review from Bob H.
Cupertino, CA
9/11/2008
This place has been hyped up to me for over a year now ... I have no idea why.
I have now been there twice and both times it was a complete disappointment.
First time I went for lunch and had the Chicken Parmigiana ... it was ok..if that. But I figured it was due to the lunch crowd and it was busy - so I gave them another shot.
Second time I had the Prime Rib as I was told it was awesome. I ordered it rare and it came out an unheard of Med-well done. On the side were some string beans that were cold and a twice baked potato that might have been made in July. Our service was slow but tolerable as I had good company.
There will not be a third time - it is expensive and the quality is just plain poor. -
Review from Kat D.
5/2/2007
How do they get the shells off those little bay shrimp?
This place is alright. I especially like coming here when work pays the tab...otherwise, it's a bit overpriced for a lunch place.
I've been here for dinner one time as well. It wasn't on a show night so I can't say much for the experience. Perhaps my rating of this place will change if I see one of their shows. Maybe then will the fare be worth it. -
Review from Ben H L.
4/11/2008
Went here for lunch today for a work function and our choices were to choose three things from their menu. We selected lasagna, chicken sandwich, or caprese sandwich. I got the caprese which I really liked the flavors: pesto spread, spinach greens, with tomatoes, red peppers, and mozzarella. The chicken sandwich tasted very dry and bland; however, the lasagna was a surprise. It wasn't one of those square chunks from a larger pan. This lasagna came in its own dish and it came out piping hot...as in straight from the oven to your table. All items were large in portion size and 1/2 an entree/sandwich should satisfy the average hungry diner.
Few stars are deducted as well for the shabby decor. I've read that the inside layout was dated and old fashioned but it was almost a time warp when you enter in there. All that was missing, a disco ball on the ceiling!
Service was great...drinks and bread refilled quickly, checked on our table pretty often to make sure we were doing fine. Definitely worth trying at least once if you are a South Bay Italian food fan. -
Review from Tetsu N.
Dublin, CA
6/6/2008
This place oozes Italy. Almost overly so, like the themed restaurants in Las Vegas that are authentic, but just seem a tad over the top. And who knows, maybe it is authentic, but from the seating to the arrangements to the furniture/decor, paintings, and the live strolling violinist, it almost seems like it's trying too hard. It has an old school feel rather than a modern and trendy feel. But that's okay. I like it enough that I there once or twice a year.
The Menu is pretty big, with such a wide variety of food that it's hard to choose, and the portions are built for two, so be careful what you order. That's the real draw, in fact. When you want to go somewhere to eat and have a large party of hungry folks, Nicolino's is hard to beat in terms of cost effective eating in a fun atmosphere.
The food quality certainly isn't bad, but I wouldn't call it great. Still, if you are a die-hard italian food lover and volume is just a tad more important than quality, this place fits the bill nicely. Plus, for being a restaurant of not-bad quality, this place is a little out of the way, and with a decent sized parking lot, not having to wait is a big plus. -
Review from Chris C.
Union City, CA
12/10/2007
My fiance's father was in town and decided that Nicolino's would be a nice spot for our families to meet.
Nicolino's Garden Cafe is an old school upper Italian Restaurant located a couple blocks away from Great America. When we got here, I was impressed. They really went all out for Christmas with lights everywhere and decorations. They even had someone playing the piano there too. All the wait staff is dressed up with ties (including the waitresses & bus boys).
We were shown our booth and given our menu. Prices at Nicolino's are pretty good especially considering what you get in return. Antipasta (such as brushetta, oysters, sausage bread, portobello) and salads are priced between $5 - $13. Main dishes are well priced too. You're looking at around $15 - $25 for most of your pasta dishes, Cannelloni, Tortellini, Spaghetti, etc and most of your main dishes such as Veal and Seafood. Desserts you're looking around $7. Also while they have a "small" vegetarian menu, it's actually much larger because aside from the Cannelloni, all of their pastas can be made vegetarian.
I ended up ordering the Wedding Soup and the Cannelloni and my fiance got the House Salad and the vegetarian Tortellini. We were in a section of the room and were able to speak while the piano played. The piano playing added a nice little extra to dinner. The wait took a little longer than hoped for but there was this really nice fresh baked bread to eat while we waited. My guess is what took so long was my soup since it's made fresh. Well out came the waitresses with the soup being simmered in the pot (nice touch) and the salads. It was a nice big bowl with plenty of stuff inside. The only negative was that it was a bit bland. Everyone that ordered salads seemed to enjoy their food especially the wedge salad.
After we finished the waitresses were there on the spot to clean everything up. After we chatted some more, we got our meals. I have to say, portion size is a plus here. I got two big Cannelloni's filled to the maxed. It also came with a red, white, and, green sauce made to look like the Italian Flag. The sauces were excellent and went well with the Cannelloni. I tried a bit of my fiance's Tortellini and here's was cooked just right. I had a bit of my father's veal and it was nice and tender and so was my mom's brizolos were excellent. Everyone was really happy with there meals and there was plenty to take home. The bust boy was quick and nice about packaging everything for us.
We decided to stay for dessert and got the Bananas and Strawberries Flambe. The waitress came out and asked if we could wait 10 minutes. We said yes and the chef came and did it for us. Again a nice touch and a fun table side entertainment. The chef was happy and chatty as he did the Bananas and Strawberries Flambe. Both of them turned out really good though everyone thought the Bananas Flambe was better than the Strawberries.
In the end of the night everyone left very stuff with leftovers and had an extremely positive dinner. The night cost around $220 for dinner for 5 and a bottle of wine. Service was very nice, friendly, and prompt especially considering they were holding a Lockheed party here too. They didn't even skip a beat and give Nicolino's staff and management credit for that. The food here was generous and very good. Overall, just an extremely positive dinner at Nicolino's Garden Cafe and would highly recommend coming here and will definitely come back the next time I'm in the mood for Italian. A well earned and solid 4 star rating. -
Review from M G.
Palo Alto, CA
1/4/2009
It's kind of old school- the sort of place where your grandparents might like to go especially if they were offering an Early Bird deal. The bathroom was especially reflective of this, with the mid-'70's decor (groovy wallpaper, dark wood panelled doors, etc.) and smelling of a mothball/mildew combo, which, frankly, beats the smell of doodoo any day. Speaking of the bathroom, there are a lot of signs around the establishment, including in the crapper, reminding you to hide your valuables from "vandal's" (note: Grammar Police Advisory- vandals should not have an apostrophe, oh, signmakers for Nicolino's, unless you are showing possession). It made me a little nervous, wondering for the security of my hot rod Honda out in the parking lot. I am guessing maybe they have a problem being so close to the train?
I have to say from the get-go, they have live music and it is ear-splittingly, loud to the point where I wanted to puncture my eardrums with a rusty butterknife. If you go on a night when they have music, I would ask for a table as far away as possible- like maybe on the planet Mars. It made conversation very difficult and there were ongoing issues with the sound system where there were sudden bursts of cilia-curling static/fuzz. Maybe not such a good place to go for those diners with PTSD,
On to the food. The hostess of our party ordered calamari and a pizza-y looking thing for appetizers. The pizza thing had bruschetta topping on what resembled a Boboli. I have no idea how the calamari was but the bread disc was decent. Nice fresh basil and less pinky-out-of season looking tomatoes would have helped. There was also bread on the table and a limp-tasting olive oil with flakes of something green in it- perhaps parsley- not too flavorful. There was also a dish of herbed butter- not sure how that was either. The bread was nice though.
There was almost nothing vegan there and a few veggie dishes. I got a house salad which had the interesting additional of daikon radish in it. Not esp. Italian but good enough. They had no vinaigrette dressing so I was stuck with that flavorless olive oil again for my salad. For my entree, I ordered a meat dish minus the meat that was salty even for a salt fiend and it was smothered in what tasted like the jarred chopped garlic. I say, spring for the fresh- it makes a huge difference.
The service was adequate. There were about 12 or so of us and there were a few people waiting on us. Nothing memorable but drinks were refilled and plates were removed in pretty short order.
I probably wouldn't go back here again due to the shortage of vegan options (note: they do have one vegan dish that sounded unappetizing to me) and the fact that the place wasn't my kind of scene but it was a nice enough place for the party and the food was edible. -
Review from Zakk D.
San Jose, CA
7/6/2007
We were looking to hire A Beautiful Violin who play here on Fridays, so my fiancee and I made a date of it.
Our reservation was for 6:30, and were promptly seated by a nice young man who was very polite. Break and water came quickly and Enrique, our server, followed a few minutes later.
The one bad thing about Enrique was he kept reaching in front of me. I'm left handed, so move around the table a bit. Don't put your arm right across my plate to set down a drink. But Enrique was very attentive without being annoying.
We has the bruschetta e mozzarella what was very good, to start and a split of Chandon for her and a merlot for me. The wine list was decent, not a lot of top end offerings but a nice array.
She ordered a salad special (the name I didn't catch) but was not very happy with it. She said it lacked overall flavor and execution. It seemed and tasted very basic.
The review of my 12 oz. prime rib was the same. The twice backed potato was mashed potato scooped into a shell. The best part of the meal was the green beans which were amazing. Best vegetable I have ever eaten after the mushrooms at La Foret.
For the price, the food was not up to par, but the staff, music, and old time feel of the place was enjoyable. -
Review from Payal D.
11/8/2007
so both times i went here - it was forced. once, it was some friends' get together and the second time it was a work related luncheon-good bye for a co-worker
I don't get why this place is so awkwardly overpriced? its not good italian, its not even good americanized italian. I cook better pasta at home - its not horribe food its just bland food...not enough seasoning /spice even the second time around when i actually requested it
it gets a lot of work business as is the only fancy restaurant nearby all of cisco and other IT campuses - my word of advice would be don't go there if you do have to. -
Review from Ashley R.
Berkeley, CA
5/13/2008
Unless you're a South Bay guido like myself I don't think you can really appreciate all that is Nicolinos. Its got a totally cheesy decor and presentation, but its also got a lot of heart. I've been here for so many family or associated events throughout my life. I always forget about this place and we drive up and I remember that reception/event/funeral/rehearsal dinner/whatever that was held here that I went to.
We went here for mother's day brunch and it was a great experience. It was full of big Italian families. The waiter was extremely friendly and accommodating. The place was packed and my grandpa was in a wheelchair and a little embarrassed to be in the way. The waiter assured my grandpa that he was in no way inconveniencing anyone and that they would do whatever they needed to make him comfortable.
The brunch was a buffet and very reasonably priced for the quality of food. There was an amazing selection of breakfast and lunch food (Italian and American). And may I add...unlimited champagne and mimosas. Its not Dom Perignon but it was UNLIMITED. 5 glasses later and it may have been the best brunch I ever ate... -
Review from Rev. Dr. Christopher J. G.
Mountain View, CA
9/25/2008
Loving you isn't the right thing to do...
I've got a soft spot in my heart of Nicolino's, possibly because I've been there so many times over the years. The Steak sammich is, without question, the best you can get anywhere in the Bay Area. It's delicious and it's the only thing I've ordered the last few times I've gone.
There's always parking, even when you're fighting with two weddings at the same time, and there's seldom much of a wait.
Now, over than the Steak Sammich, they really seem to have problems with the doneness of steaks. I expect my steak sammich to be Medium to medium-well, but that seems to be the default for Prime Rib, even ordered Medium-Rare will et you Medium-Well. I don't get it, whcih is why I stick to the steak sammich. -
Review from Mishee D.
San Jose, CA
10/14/2006
One of my fave Italian restaurant! I've been going here since 1999 and have always loved their food and service. I love the garlic pesto butter with he warn bread. Their appetizers are always good bet - my fave is the Calamari Fritti, and their sampler appetizer plate. I've ordered their Pollo Penne Pesto, Barese, the Seafood Pasta, Chicken Carbonara, and love each dish! The portions are in the bigger side, but that's good cause you can always take them home. I did not find their dishes to be expensive, but rather appropriate for the amount that you actually get.
Service has always been attentive and great. My ice tea never ran out. They've also always took care to ask if my lil boy needed anything. The desserts are pretty good, my fave is the cream brulee and panna cota. They also have desserts made to order and prepared tableside.
A small suggestion is perhaps a slight updating of the interior decor. Otherwise this place is awesome! -
Review from Sarpreet G.
San Jose, CA
4/21/2007
I was here for a work dinner. I was SO surprised when this restaurant actually had great vegetarian options.
The food was great and the ambience was good as well - this has become a great default italian restaurant for me :) -
Review from eric k.
Dublin, CA
11/3/2007
This place was..... o k.
Went there for lunch with a bunch of co-workers, and it's packed with other valley-people as well. Service was pretty good... it has that older-darker kinda ambiance which I frankly think is a little creepy. I had a salad, which was actually not bad at all. I'm just not sure that this is the kind of place that I'll be frequenting on a regular basis. -
Review from tien d.
San Jose, CA
2/19/2008
My friends and I decided to go out to eat and a coworker suggested Nicolino's. The service is spectacular. Everything was on hit. We picked Valentine's day weekend to go out which why I am taking any stars or hitting the service because it was extremely busy and forgetting a soda and butter is nothing to fret about. The food was excelent. We shared some apps, sea scollaps was tasty (abit buttery for me, but good nonetheless), and the table side hot spinach salad (screaming!!! I would go back just for that). For entree, I had the surf and turf (lobster tail and mignon)! Tasted soo good and the large portions were more then I could handle. I wanted to eat it all, but I couldn't do that last bite cause I was about to blow.
Wine list is decent. Very good place for a nice romantic evening with your girl. They have live music (not sure on a regular since it was v.day weekend and all) and the atmosphere speaks for itself. Very Sopranos like, but sometimes you just need to feel a bit mafioiso...
Going to go back... -
Review from Layla R.
Dublin, CA
1/31/2009
It's a cheesy, brooklyn-style white table cloth restuarant that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is. And for what it is... it is VERY good.
The sausage is fabulous. The red clam sauce is wonderful. The caesar (made table side) is great, and the cherries flame is fabulous. Lasagne is good too, BTW.
We've been here for lunch, we've been here during (really bad) opera, we've been here on quiet nights and busy ones.
Frankly, the prices are good, the portions large, the service usually on top things, and the food dependablely yummy!
This place isn't TRYING TO be a five star fabulous ground breaking place. It's a nice neighborhood restuarant with good italian food that doesn't take itself too seriously. -
Review from Michael C.
San Jose, CA
2/15/2007
Flavorless dishes and entrees. Drive a little, and taste a lot better food at either Pasta Pomodoro or Macaroni Grill.
Recommendations: N/A -
Review from nick t.
Sunnyvale, CA
12/19/2007
I have never been for lunch... only for dinner. I like it here. The food is good, a little pricey, but you get a big portion so I don't mind. I always leave here stuffed. The decor is not my style, but appropriate for the old world italian food.
appy's - sausage bread (great... very different), calamari, bruscetta, moz cheese w tomato and fresh basil leaves... all good
entres - tried a few... but my favs are the ciopino (seafood stew) and the osso bucco.
one of my fav restaurants for a special occasion in the area. i love that it is convenient... easy parking (plenty of room) and never too crowded. they have live music there... sometimes piano and singer and sometimes tableside violin/singer... which is kinda nice, but I don't really like having them coming to the table and then having to tip them. they must get tired of playing the same handful of songs over and over.
overall enjoyable experience. -
Review from Isabelle K.
Austin, TX
4/13/2008
One of my coworker recommended this restaurant to me. She said it's very romantic.
So I went there by myself to check it out. It's very old and classic design inside. All lamps are like antique. There was a guy playing piano whole night long. There are flowers on every table. I guess that made the restaurant romantic.
I ordered Dungeness cab cocktail for appetizer and shrimp as entre. The Dungeness crab tastes fresh and good.
The shrimp entree (Gamberi Fiore con Cappellini ) is terrible. First, there wasn't enough shrimps, totally 5 of them. All medium size too. Second, shrimps are so bland. The chef must use nothing to cook it. I guess the chef forgot to marinate the shrimps too. The inside of shrimps are totally tasteless. I hate it. Third, they even didn't cook it per menu. It said "Served On A Bed Of Angel Hair Pasta". I didn't see any pasta on plate, but rice.
There are several couples came for dinner. All of them ordered fancy dessert. Fried banana or fried strawberry on ice cream. The chef brought a cart with all kinds of liquor on it. And gave a fried fruit show. Fires flying with liquor next to me and fruits tossed in the air. Interesting.
But still my shrimp entree was so bad for $18.5 and the waitress is super slow. I tried to chase her to get my dishes and bill whole night long. Several times she passed my table and totally ignored me. -
Review from Joe L.
Madera, CA
1/15/2011
Oh well.......that's a shame. I loved the food and service. Gino would always take such good care of me and my dining guests. Always giving us comp apps, table-side ceasar salads, steak Dianne, and bananas Foster. Once, he kept the restaurant open for us so we could take my business partner's mom there after seeing Phantom of the Opera in SF. He even kept the pianist after hours so we had music. If you were willing to pay for it (and I'm not talking menu prices) Gino made sure that your dining experience was memorable. Was gonna do dinner there before the Ozzy Osbourne concert. Looks like plan B
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Review from jp o.
CA
3/1/2007
If you are thinking of having a wedding reception here - I STRONGLY recommend against it. This is where I had my reception, a choice I still regret five years later.
I was reminded (sadly) of this restaurant when reading the negative review of a yelper who was a guest at a reception here. Then I realized it was my duty to warn engaged couples about choosing Nicolino's as a reception venue. Here are some of the bad things that happened to me that should never happen to a bride:
-The "event coordinator" changed 2 times during the less than a year while we were planning the wedding (so, 3 coordinators in total). Each time I had to reexplain many things. It didn't seem like any of these coordinators had professional experience organizing events.
-Although we selected the seating configuration from Nicolino's book of available layouts, we were later told by our parents that many guests were pressed up against the walls because there wasn't really adequate room for all the tables. It would have been one thing if we had insisted on a custom layout, but it was THEIR layout. There was one pair of (male) guests sitting in chairs backing to each other who got kind of riled up over chairs touching one another....
-We choose to do a buffet. The food was mediocre, from what I can remember. But the thing was - they were supposed to give my Mother-in-Law all leftovers to take home. Apparently they decided not to give her any of the meat dishes. Several guests had not shown up, so there was a good amount of leftovers in general. I don't know what they did with the meat dishes, but I'm guessing we probably paid for the wait staff to take them home or something.
-The DAY BEFORE MY WEDDING, when I went with some friends to set up the table flowers in Nicolino's lily vases (as previously agreed with the coordinators) coordinator #3 tells me that I cannot use the vases because they've had a problem with people stealing them. I had to leave my credit card number to reimburse them for any stolen vases before she would let me use them. Then, the next day at the reception, the wait staff took the vases off the tables when only a few guests started leaving. It was so tacky, on top of them sticking people against the walls.
When I think of my reception now, I just feel embarrassed to have brought guests here for my wedding. That's not how people should feel about their wedding receptions... -
Review from Will G.
San Jose, CA
7/14/2006
I went here a couple of times for business lunches. The service was decent, food ok but pricy. I still remember the one thing that really bugged me: Ordered coke and 1 glass of coke was $5 , and I finished it in 1 gulp. The glass was like a cup size and full of ice, topped off with a cherry (but who cares). Felt like being cheated big time.
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Review from deb n.
Palo Alto, CA
9/10/2006 10 photos
4/12/08 update:
Arrived at 7pm on Saturday, the parking lot was getting full and was worried they wouldn't be able to take us. Host said, no problem. We waited for our third party and sat in the bar for an hour and was seated around 7:45pm. Got a booth away from the piano and singer so we would talk. The main dining room was pretty full, the small one in the back near the restrooms were not being used. Alfredo, our waiter was very attentive and even served us our calamari appy's. My friends were impressed. Ordered the sampler with oysters rockafeller, scallops, salad, piaciotto with cantaloupe, portabello on bagette. The scallops were a bit overdone, the portabello, great flavor but too salty. Calamari were done perfectly with cocktail sauce, tabasco and lemon. Friends ordered filet and chicken with puff, both good. With 3 alchy drinks, $136
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9/27/06 Dinner update:
Went again with friends and enjoyed dinner yet again. I had the Steak Diane again, cooked again to med. rare perfection at tableside by Jose. The 14oz NY with cognac and peppercorn was ordered, a little too spicy and peppary for my friend but I was given a taster bite and it was excellent. He ordered the shrimp bisque and loved that but couldn't finish his steak. Another friend ordered the the 18oz prime rib, done to medium, perfection, moist, not dried out, came with the au jue over a warming candle and it wasn't even needed. To me, too much fat but he said it tendorized the meat. They ordered the flaming Bananas Francesa over vanilla ice cream (min. order for 2), none of us love bananas but this was sooooo good. I had the tiramisu with the yummiest anglaise sauce. With just the alcohol from the desserts, I felt the asian red face come on...I am such a lightweight! With non alcohol drinks, dinner came to $150 for 3. Everyone so enjoyed their MEAT meal.
I made a 6pm reservation and changed it to 5:30pm, glad I did, the place was full by 7pm on a Wednesday night, looked like mostly business travelers who could afford the prices on business expenses. Our server Doris was very attentive checking on our meal and refilling our drinks. Jose prepared my steak Diane tableside and the General Manager Luno prepared our banana's Francesca since Jose was so busy that night.
Arrived early and went to the bar to enjoy the free appetizers, a yummy, thickly covered pepperoni pizza, crudite and very ripe melons. Loved the free appy's before dinner, gave us a few minutes to settle and unwind from the workday!
Note: Sodas are charged per refill, Ice tea's are free refills.
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Old world charm is how I would explain this place on a Friday night. White linen, crystal, white china, black napkins, mirror and dark woods. A lounge off the entrance then the dining room with a small dance floor. I was worried when we arrived at 6pm when the hostess asked if we had reservations, we didn't but it seem pretty empty, they found us a table in the center, bummed we couldn't have a padded booth on the sides of the room. I felt a little under dressed but was still treated well. Seems to be a party place for large groups, three were there from groups of 10-20. There is a happy hour on T-F from 5-7pm, free hot appetizers and live lounge music. Also the violin player that plays in the dining room.
The bread was warm but I don't think freshly baked on the premises, they offer a garlic infused oil and an herb butter. The oil is the bomb, so garlicky, cleared up my stuffy nose! Had the maytag blue cheese dressing over the wedge of iceberg, was just ok but the lobster bisque was excellent, not too heavy, still light but creamy. Order the Osso Buco, veal shank with onions and carrots over couscous with broccolini and the Steak Diane with Couvassier, red wine and the gravy made with garlic, wine and mushroom., twice baked cheese potato and al dente green beans. All excellent. My Steak Diane was impressive because it was made tableside and was rare, just the way I love my medallions of filet mignon. Two large pieces, easily 4 oz each. The Osso buca was tender, another excellent meat.
Didn't have room for desserts but they offered three that were flaming that are prepared tableside which was another show in itself, Jose the flaming dinner and dessert guy was busy making his rounds all night with Steak Diane's, a flaming Cherries Jubilees, Bananas Francesca and Strawberries with sour cream. Jose was even preparing flaming after dinner coffees. The only down side was how busy it got, so our waiter acted rushed around us and trying to track him down for the bill and our drinks weren't replenished. Our dinner, with non alcholly drinks, soup, salad and entrees were $80. Worth the quality of the meat and Jose preparing all of those flaming dining and dessert shows.
Definitely going back, want to try the prime rib and any other meat dishes since ours were excellent. My filet melted in my mouth with the yumm -
Review from Rosiella I.
San Jose, CA
7/21/2007
Hubby took me here to celebrate my birthday. We started with tableside caesar salad. The "captain" was very friendly. Hubby asked for extra anchovies and he gladly gave it. The caesar was good. Fresh greens and the dressing was tasty (maybe a little too salty...for my taste) but we finished it all. Hubby had the Steak Diane and I had the cioppino. The Steak Diane was 2 filet's. It was cooked to perfection; we asked for medium rare. It tasted good but I didn't like the brown gravy they spooned over... it was a little too cornstarchy. Maybe less of that next time... The cioppino was very good. It had king crab, large prawns, bay shrimp, clams, mussels and fish. The broth was thick and so good to sop up with the grilled bread. For dessert we decided on the strawberries cooked tableside. Very very good and very entertaining to watch. I loved it when he throws cinnamon into the flame and it sparks!
Overall, we spent $123 for 2 people, salad, 2 main dishes, dessert and 2 glasses of wine and tip. I think it was worth it. They had a pianist and a vocalist... the food was good, the service was excellent and we had fun while dining. -
Review from Elise D.
San Jose, CA
4/24/2005
One of the BEST dining experience I ever had ... Even without a reservation for dinner, we were given 5-star treatment. Our server was excellent and gave us just enough attention without being a pest. Food was great, too! Try the seafood linguine!
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Review from Jeff W.
4/27/2006 1 photo
hearty Italian fare. so good that if you could pick this restaurant up and drop it into the middle of North Beach, you wouldn't miss a beat. check out this lunch for the meaning of hearty: sausage bread appetizer (house made sausage baked inside of a cheese bread mini loaf), minestrone soup with tortellini pasta and Nicolini's famous meatballs, and Linguine Cacciucco with
Fresh Clams, Prawns, Calamari, Shrimp, And White Fish Simmered In Their Natural Juices In A Light Tomato Broth
Served Over Linguine. add a touch of chilli flakes for a wonderful pasta.
just wheel me out on a cart.
abundanza!
