Aurora Ristorante Italiano — Restaurant in Novato

During one of our weekend drives to Novato, we wanted to try a new place to eat and decided on Aurora, which seemed like a good nearby option. As we made our way there, I began to doubt whether I had the correct address, as the area we were passing through appeared to be a business district with most of the offices closed and up for rent. I couldn't believe there would be a restaurant open for business there! However, I was mistaken. When we turned onto Commercial Blvd, I saw cars parked in front of the restaurant. They even had their own parking lot, so we parked there and walked inside.

Once inside, we were immediately greeted by the hostess, a pleasant young lady with a big smile. We asked to be seated outside so our little furry companion could join us. When we were seated, someone brought our puppy a bowl of water and handed us the menus.

We started with a caprese salad, which I accompanied with a glass of Pinot Grigio. The salad was fresh and delicious, and the olive oil was fantastic! For our main dishes, I ordered Linguine alla Pescatora, and my companion had Fettuccine alla Carbonara. Both dishes were exquisite.

While we enjoyed our meal and the ambiance, the hostess and the rest of the staff checked on us regularly to ensure everything was satisfactory.

After we finished our meal, the crew surprised my companion with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" and presented a Tiramisu with a candle on it. We had a wonderful time, appreciating the surroundings, enjoying delicious food, and experiencing the crew's excellent...

Review update for 2020: Things are constantly changing with dining regulations, and Aurora has adapted very well. Business has been much slower though. There are a handful of tables outdoors under a tent covering, which will be closed for at least a month due to restrictions. Take out orders are packaged mostly in paper boxes. We miss the dining experience with great customer service, but quality of food is still up to their usual standards so we still order pick up for special occasions. Tip: call I'm the order instead of ordering online to avoid the extra service charge.

Pros: fast takeout, tasty food, adapts to covid restrictions well, friendly service Cons: box is flimsy for items with lots of liquid (we transferred the risotto right after getting home); hot food condensates so texture isn't great for some crispy items even if the taste is great Great for a Valentine's date! Soup of the day was lobster, which went well with the sourdough bread. (Tip: you can request bread warmed in the oven for a crispier crust.) The seafood linguine had so much seafood. In trying to pick up pasta, I kept on grabbing squid or salmon. The salmon was impressively well-done but not overcooked. Chicken prosciutto mozzarella was also cooked very well. Looking forward to coming back on another...

This is a tough one for me. I love this place, the food is always awesome. However, for not having a lot of people visiting there they always mess up when I order out. Covid is a trying time and so I order from there a lot, but every single time it's not ready, and they haven't even started it when I arrive, I even started waiting a little longer before heading over to give them time to see it, I think I should call to make sure from now on that they "saw" the order. So I have to sit and wait. Tonight, no different. However, this time they gave me the total WRONG order, sorry Katherine, I got your order. Julia was very nice as always, but I can't just go back as I stop there after work and don't live nearby. I already waited an hour for our food so no I don't want to wait and drive again 20 min each way. She did refund me. And I will go back but gotta get it together. Cause I love your food! So that alone is why I give a 3 star for service and 5...