Oliveto Cafe & Restaurant

We had overpriced, tasteless, tiny morsels of food; example - a salad of wild arugula for about $13 consisted of about 8 tiny leaves of arugula, an eyedropper of balsamic vinegar, and 3 thin slices of avacado. I KNOW what very high grade balsamic vinegar costs, but this was an utter joke. The roasted pork loin was dry, cold, and tasteless. The service was nice, but the tab was outrageous. Afterwards I was told by friends that ""no one goes there anymore."" Too bad, it was once a good restaurant. Pros: good parking Cons: , poor quality food more

I was seated immediately upon arrival. I had the melon wrapped in prosciutto; it was quite good. The melon wasn't soggy and it worked well with the prosciutto. I had the quail: the seasonings were wonderful, but I don't think I like the taste of quail (not my type of meat, perhaps). I liked the green beans; not mushy and slightly past crunchy. The dessert was outstanding: black berries in a creme anglaise sauce. Service was attentive and non-intrusive. The tables are too close together in some areas of the place, but I had a great table near the window. The noise level increased as more dinners showed up. The prices are high for what it offers. You have to ask: What am I paying for? I didn't have wine and my bill was steep. The food was great/good; I just didn't think it was ""WOW!"" Pros: Food, Service more

complaints from friends and my terrible experience at the cafe kept me away from this restaurant. however the glowing reviews of the chef from so many publications and an expense account opportunity i finally decided to try it out. you can definitely see the chez panisse influences. very fresh and seasonal ingredients. professional and courteous service. nice and intimate atmosphere. the highlight of the meal was the dessert. ricotta ice cream with crepes and fresh strawberries. OMG, amazing, delicious. unfortunately, the rest of the meal was good but not spectacular. for the very high prices, i had expected more, more complexity to the flavors, better presentation? good thing for expense account meals, i would have felt cheated if i paid on my own. Pros: easy parking, not too loud, professional service Cons: , not a good value more

To be frank, I took out-of-town guests here as I was told it was pretty good. How embarrassed I was to have fallen for that! The food they claim is Italian is far from. The service was absolutely barbaric. We had reservations and still waited way too long for our table for shameful food. Frankly, I would be too embarrassed to bring myself there again for what we paid. Horrible experience. more

I must say I am quite surprised by the negativity of the reviews here. I have dined at Oliveto several times and I believe it is far and away the best classic Italian restaurant in the East Bay. They effectively fuse traditional Italian flavors with the California style of creating food inspired and driven by fresh local ingredients. The house-made pastas are usually the best dishes, but I have never ordered something I didnt like there. Unlike many east bay restaurants in the same class, I have found the service to be consistently excellent, very attentive and helpful. The dining room is nice but the tables are a little too close together. It is also a little slow to get a table at time even with a reservation, although they have a nice downstairs bar area so its not unpleasant. Wouldnt go pretheater but reliably outstanding for any other occasion. Pros: great food, reliable service, good parking - bart Cons: , $$$$ - but worth it more

If you believe, as I do, that a well-rounded dining experience should include [at the very least] courteous service, then you do not want to try Oliveto. Okay, if there food was even somewhat good I would say that may be overlooked, but it's not worth it. There are plenty of other Italian restaurants that are far better and far more inexpensive. For what this restaurant has to offer, the stuffy atmosphere and even stuffier service and attitude is unnecessary. Go to the store, buy yourself some Bertolli products and a nice bottle of wine, get some friends together at your house and put on some nice music - trust me, it will be a far better experience. Pros: NOTHING more

On Saturady night we made a reservation for 7:30, but arrived at 7:00. Getting seated early was no problem, and the service was generally good. My wife picked the niman steak dish because they were out of rabbit. I had the Sea Bass. In a word our food was medicore at best. My Sea Bass was OK, but small and not worth the price. The beef, however, was just bad. We were expecting a nice big cut of meat for the price. Instead what we got was soemthing that looked like it was scraped off a Philly cheese steak. Thin no side dishes, and grossly undercooked( it was raw on the edges). All this with single salad 2 glasses of wine, and a dessert (the only good thing) for $100. What a rip - avoid this place like the plague. Many better restaurants for far cheaper. Pros: ambiance, location Cons: bad food, price more

We had reservations for 9 P.M., and did not get seated until 10. Furthermore, the hostess had the worst attitude ever. If you want to experience an irritating dining experience, Oliveto Cafe is for you! Pros: Food Cons: Wait, Rude Service, Scanty amount of food more

My boyfriend and I were given a gift certificate for Oliveto. We checked it out one Monday night. Over 24 years of dining, and dining with obnoxious teenager peers, I have never had a worse dining experience. A group of 20 40 something year olds were (obviously) drunk, and disrupting the entire restaurant. The manager was at their table 3 different times, as well as 2 other diners, asking them to please keep it down. Not once were they asked to leave, as they obviuolsy had quite a large tab. The food came, and was just as disappointing. Over priced, under flavored, and not worth my time. I enjoyed my tv dinner more, as I needed it to fill me up. Ironically, our friends visited it 2 weeks later and had a less than positive expereince as well. Pros: design, parking Cons: staff, food, quality of food more

The management and staff need to focus their attention on service and cuisine. The ""weekly"" menu is unimaginative and the food is overpriced. This restaurant is being run straight into the ground. Furthermore, the level of arrogance is unprecedented for such a common restaurant. I only hope this restaurant goes out of business soon, so that Alice Waters or someone of her caliber, can make use of such a prime location. more

Too bad, the place has gone way downhill in the past couple years. While there are some nice appetizers, the entrees are disappointing (sea bass, and chicken) and the place is overpriced. I won't return, and I'm not particularly picky. Pros: great parking(Bart!), great location Cons: the food, the waiter arrogance, the experience more

It was a warm afternoon when we went (6/16) so the patio table we got was perfect. I had the summer squash pizza (a special) and he had the ham and cheese sandwich with dried tomatoes. Both were good and were a good value. The ambience was especially nice on a spring afternoon. The service could have been faster but it was better than being rushed out. I would definitely like to go back for dinner. more

It must be unlucky to be famous. Just as Oliveto's fame started to grow around the country, the quality has started to go down. Sure, you can still count on basic fare like pizzas, panini sandwiches and basic pastas downstairs, but the upstairs dining room has definitely seen better days. I used to rave about this place to friends, but after one too many came back disappointed, I've stopped recommending it to people, especially for the price point. Pros: Good service Cons: Bland food more