O Sole Mio — Restaurant in Millbrae

Excellent food and service for a decent price.

Good: food, service, portions Bad: a little slow, only standard veg Italian options

Service: Initial drop off of water/bread was inattentive, both for us and for a table next to us. Simply dropped off the items and walked away. The lady at the table next to us wanted to ask a question, but the man dropping off the water just turned his back and walked away. One of the servers had no idea which table was which, and our waitress was shaking her head in amusement as he wandered from table to table trying to deliver a salad to its owner.

Our waitress, however, was quite good. Friendly, attentive, and perhaps extra generous with the wine; 1/2 litre ordered, supposedly 3 glasses worth in it... easily 4+ glasses out of it, though. Didn't catch her name, otherwise I'd toss it up here so people know who to look for.

Food: My mom ordered prawns with spaghetti and was generally pleased, except for wanted more/bigger prawns. My dad ordered lasagna and, while he was originally wondering why they would include ham inside it, he was also generally pleased. His only complaint was that there was too much cheese; I think specifically too much ricotta inside. I ordered linguini alla marinara and thought it was excellent. Very simple, very tasty. The house pinot grigio was fairly crisp and delightful as well.

My only complaint, and this is a general one with Italian restaurants, is the number of available vegetarian options. This restaurant was a tad worse because there weren't any veg ravioli options; most restaurants I've been to have at least one. I'd really like to see a novel vegetarian Italian option one of these days.

Atmosphere: Very simple, nice environment; could work for a quiet, romantic night out. Nothing special, but no overly negative...

So I have been coming here for YEARS. Last night was a night that might change that. Every SINGLE time we have eaten here they have brought butter with the bread. Last night we didn't get it and were told they no longer provide it. Not even upon request. Had they just owned the fact that they need to cut corners and can no longer afford butter then I would empathize. Instead the RUDE waitor decided to tell us that nobody comes to an Italian restaurant and eats butter with bread. And kept telling us that the oil and balsamic vinegar were just fine. Genuinely no offense intended but I have ALWAYS hated oil and vinegar with bread and have never heard of a restaurant suddenly refusing to provide butter with bread. And I DEFINITELY don't expect my waiter to tell me how to enjoy my damn meal and tell ME what's fine and what's not.

Then I ordered the chicken piccata and was given 3 small piece of chicken that equalled 2 chicken breasts not cutlets because whoever was cooking didn't pound the chicken flat (which is kind of an important step in making the dish). One chicken breast also had a hole in the middle probably because they cut it to check if it was cooked in the middle. And while I love capers, the plate was SWIMMING in them.

Dessert was lovely, and the coffee good, but I don't know of limoncello cake and coffee are enough to keep me coming back with bad service and poorly made food. Especially when the cake comes from a distributor...

Had been there about a year ago, and frankly had no strong recollection, good or bad. So this week we were looking for a nearby Italian Restaurant and decided to try O Sole Mio again. It was a mild disappointment.

The restaurant is spread across two store fronts, making it a bit bigger than it seems when first looking in. There's a quirky charm about it. Slightly over the top. Jukeboxes at every table contrast with Italy-inspired decor. The ambiance is not fabulous, but for a low-key neighborhood restaurant it's cute.

The service is the other positive aspect. They are friendly and attentive.

But the food just wasn't good. My pizza was tasteless. The dough was like cardboard and there was hardly any sauce on it, though strangely the toppings were plentiful. My wife's eggplant parmigiana was also bland. In retrospect we wished we had cooked at home.

I feel for local businesses that have to absorb ever higher cost for rent and labor, and whose ability to pass these increases on to customers is limited. But to me, an Italian restaurant lives and dies by the quality of its food. And a great, flavorful tomato sauce really does not cost that...