Cafe Calamari — Restaurant in Livermore

TL;DR: overpriced, poor-average service, not kid friendly. Food tasty but would not return.

Went for dinner during Tri-Valley special. Service was not great. Only 2 tables were occupied when we came in, and only one server for the whole restaurant. Clearly 1 of the tables was friends with the server, since he sat us down then went to chat with his friends while ignoring us. The other table was mid way thru their meal already.

Had to wait for water, didn’t get to order for a while since the server had sat himself down at a table, chatting with his back to us, so didn’t see that we were ready to order. Never had water refilled, had to ask multiple times to get water for our toddler. Not kid-friendly at all, they have high chairs but that’s it. We had to keep requesting stuff for our child that’s normally just given, even after food arrived: plate (he grabbed a plate from the next table), utensils (came out with plastic to-go utensils), water (asked multiple times before he finally brought it. It came in one of those disposable coffee to-go cups, which is fine for us but heads up.)

This restaurant seems to not know its target audience or vibe. It tries to be upscale date-night with its lack of child-friendliness and high prices, but the decor of two toned bright walls, giant TV and cheap feeling tables/chairs (our table wobbled nonstop) gives low-mid range fast food.

And the weirdest part is there didn’t seem to be a bathroom unless you walk into the back/via the kitchen area. Since the only available wait staff seemed disinterested in us, I didn’t want to bother asking where the bathroom was.

Food tasty but way too expensive for the portion size. Even with the 20% off deal it felt overpriced. And for the service,...

We stumbled across this gem on a recent Saturday night while looking for a different restaurant. The owner was very ingratiating from the get go. We debated several appetizers settling on what we were told were their two “signature “ starters: fried calamari and the char grilled octopus. While we were waiting the owner also brought us the sampler platter on the house. (Roasted beets, eggplant, and an artichoke heart) These were tasty, but nothing compared to the octopus. We agreed this was the hands down favorite! To start with I was expecting it to be severed cold, but it came to us warm. The flavors were smoky with a seasoning that was complimentary without being overwhelming. While other octopus I’ve had was tough, this was quite tender. I look forward to ordering this again. For main dishes I had the “char grilled meat patty” while the name was generic, the patties were not. I received 4 oval patties of combined beef and lamb with a Turkish cacik sauce which is the Turkish version of Taziki. The dish came with homemade pilaf rich with butter, and garlic roasted veggies. Heavy on the garlic. Perfect! I would definitely order this again. One of our party had the black pepper fettuccine. He said that the seafood was tasty but he found the pasta dry and a bit plain. He had been anticipating an Alfredo, but that was likely an assumption on his part. Another member of our group had the Kofte burger which, like my patties, were a combo of beef and lamb. He throughly enjoyed it. Overall we rated the food 4.7/5 We would definitely recommend...

Smaller restaurant with vibrant decor and fresh flowers on each table. I went on a Tuesday night and was the only person for most of the evening. I know Tuesdays are slow but was still surprised especially after the flavorful dinning experience I had. I highly recommend Cafe Calamari!

Complimentary bread served with Mediterranean olive oil and herb dip that was packed with flavor

Appetizer combo:

1. eggplant delish - was flavorful and gave a ratatouille vibe. I appreciated the eggplant texture that was soft but still held up without being mushy. It was served cold, but I wished it were hot.
2. red Beets- paired nicely with the yogurt sauce. 3)Stuffed artichoke heart- carrots and potatoe were finely minced. The lemon sauce at the bottom would have been great served over the fish.

Char-grilled Branzino with lemon sauce and arugula salad: they offered bone in whole fish or de-boned filet. I opted for the filet. It was two full sized pieces of fish with beautiful grill marks. It was perfectly cooked with crispy skin and flaky, juicy meat. My only wish is that there was more of the lemon sauce. The arugula salad was light and fresh with thinly sliced red onion and tomatoes seasoned with cracked black pepper and lemon. It was a great pairing...