Stella — Restaurant in Burlingame

Had high hopes for our recent dinner at the restaurant, given that we had dined at their charming previous location and thought it worthy of a return visit. The interior of the new location is beautiful and stylish, if less charming, but this does not matter if you are seated in the outdoor patio area, which barely qualifies as a prison cafeteria. It’s complexly devoid of any of the design effort that went into the interior of the restaurant, and it’s way louder than a busy bar. Forget trying to have a conversation — even my four year old daughter was complaining about how loud it was. Now I know why the hostess started raving about how the patio was her favorite spot in the restaurant — no amount of lipstick was going to help this pig.

The food? It’s probably above average by suburban standards, but probably not worth mentioning to someone from the City. Their signature dish, the truffle-stuffed gnocchi, which was one of the main reasons for my visit, was sadly not available that evening. Many of their dishes are meat-centric, so vegetarians and folks looking for a lighter meal should beware.

Those with kids might want to look elsewhere unless you’re okay paying 12 bucks for a kids pasta with basic sauce like marinara or butter. Protein costs extra. The lack of any prices on the kids menu suggests that they may be a bit embarrassed by the lack of value here.

Service was generally pretty good, and the food came out quickly, which was nice for a weekday dinner out with the kids. The one positive surprise of the evening was Mario, the gentleman who bussed our table. He had a wonderful, friendly demeanor and was the hardest working staff member around. A ray of sunshine in what was otherwise a disappointing evening.

The cost of our dinner, all in, was almost $200 for a salad, a simple appetizer, two pastas, two cups of kids juice, and two simple glasses of wine. Didn’t help that they charged us $8 for bread. At that price, I’d rather eat next door at Pizzeria Delfina. The appetizers, salads, and pastas are just as good (and arguably better executed), as long as you don’t mind the smaller menu and the lack of hearty entrees. Heck, I’d even take the atmosphere at Pizzeria Delfina over the outdoor patio at Stella.

It could have all been different if we had been seated indoor in the dining room, but now...

Came here for a birthday dinner on a Tuesday night around 6pm. Reservations are highly recommended. Note that it is mostly street parking but we were able to find a parking spot in less than 10 minutes and it was good walking distance (~3-4 min walk).

Food/Drinks we ordered:

1. Sparkling water - in hindsight, won't get this next time, as tap water is sufficient

2. Stella Marina - this was delicious, loved the raspberry and hibiscus flavor, kinda reminded me of a smoothie consistency, very sweet

3. Barrel Aged Old Fashioned - this was sooo smooth, great orangey scent

4. Carpaccio All' Albese - this dish is a bundle of arugula salad sitting atop a plate of VERY thinly sliced beef filet - and the beef is RAW. I actually enjoyed the beef a lot! Filet is super soft and creamy - almost melts in your mouth. The "beef taste" is very subtle and I actually had to try it by itself to really get a taste of it, b/c when I take a bite of everything together, all I taste is parmiagiano and arugula.

5. Gnocchi di Patate "Nonna Nilla" w/ Italian sausage and Porcini ragu - I've never had gnocchi before so I wanted to try this out, I'm quite surprised at how soft the actual pasta is - it was almost a little bit mushy? The taste is mostly from the ragu since the gnocchi itself didn't have much of a flavor. It filled me up for sure and I would like to come back to try the truffle stuffed gnocchi one day.

6. Lasagna Filetto Bolognese - meaty/carby/saucey mouthful of goodness

7. Vanilla Bean Crème Brulée - one of the more thicker caramelized sugar crusts I've had and it gave more texture, but that was the only thing to note, other than that, great dessert

All in all, I had a great time, service was good, ambience is nice, I would definitely love to come back to try out the other things...

Tuesday, 2/6/23- My wife and I were in the bay area to see family so we were invited by good friends, Kathy and Bob Faenzi from Burlingame to dine at Stella Alpina Osetra. We were celebrating both my wife Angelina and Kathy's birthday, which was mentioned when Kathy made the reservation. We were seated outside, which was okay though it was kind of chilly outside. There were heaters which helped but oddly our waiter insisted on turning it down to his comfort level and when it ran out of propane, there was no offer to refill it. That's not the worst of our experience though. I wanted to surprise my friends and cover the whole bill. We ordered a couple appetizers, two orders of focaccia, 4 entrees, tea for one, a Pellegrino water, a glass of inexpensive wine, a $70 bottle of Chianti, and two desserts. The waiter charged me $405 before tip, total of $475. It wasn't until later at home that I realized the bill was much higher than it should have been. After reviewing everything, I called the next day (2/7/23) around 5:30pm, spoke to the manager explaining my findings. She indicated that they charged me for two bottles of wine, when we only ordered one. The manager indicated that they are too busy at the moment but they would fix it tomorrow and refund the overcharged amount. No mention of refunding the tip which was paid based on the overcharged amount. Checked my credit card today 2/10/23, still not corrected. I live in WA state and have since returned home. So not worth challenging the difference and dragging this on. Definitely not a good experience for us or our friends. Kathy and Angelina did receive one small complimentary scoop of ice cream to share for...