Osteria Toscana — Restaurant in Palo Alto

I just left this restaurant moments ago so this review is hot off the press!

I came here for my 9 year anniversary with the old ball and chain. The heavy set old school guy tells me that he gave my table away as soon as I walk in. Granted, I was a little on the late side because parking downtown Palo Alto is horrible. He makes up for it by getting us a table smack dab in the middle. Cool, I’ll give him some points there. Mind you, these points will be taken away at the end of this story.

Or servers name was Violet. I only know because this is what our receipt had printed on this not because she built any rapport with us and introduced herself. She didn’t even acknowledged that we were there. After a few trips to the tables surrounded us, she came up to our table to take our order. No introduction, no “any drinks for the table?” spiel, nothing. She whipped out her dinner notepad like something you would see at a diner and said “You ready?” I knew from this moment is was all downhill. It was impossible trying to wave her down to get another Pinot Grigio. Our appetizer and salads came out in a timely manner but we waited over an hour to get our main pasta dishes. It felt like we were invisible. Other tables were getting their food way before us and they sat down way after us. I knew I was getting absolutely smoked on my 9 year anniversary.

I gave the old school guy a shot in the front. He looked like the owner/manager on duty based on the way he held himself. We cracked some jokes about how my table was give. away and how my pasta was taking over an hour. I jokingly said “Hey man we’re STARVING over here!” I thought maybe he would take care of us. Our pasta finally came out, the waitress saw me escalate the issue to the head honcho. Suddenly, she was hovering around our table giving us some extra TLC. Or so I thought…

She asked us if our food was ok and if everything was fine two times. She didn’t really care before I escalated the issue. She knew her goose was cooked. I go up to the big boss in front and told him about our experience. He said and I quote “Don’t worry about it I’ll take care of you.” I got the receipt back with nothing being taken care of. I paid the bill in full.

This place thinks the world revolves around them because they have a corner spot in Downtown Palo Alto and they get some good foot traffic. Pasta was whatever and service was hot garbage.

TLDR; I got smoked on my 9 year anniversary. I was invisible to the restaurant. My pasta came out 1 hour and 13 minutes late. I was told we were going to get taken care of and received $0.00 when the bill was due. Never...

TL;DR: Awful experience! Do not dine in here unless you want to have an improper order, undercooked pasta, or being treated as if you're stupid. My wife wanted to have a basic tomato sauce pasta without any parsley on top. The initial serving came with parsley although we specifically said not to add any. The server took it back and brought another plate a while later. As they were rushing to bring us a proper order, this time the pasta was so undercooked that it was sticking to your teeth. So they took it back to bring another properly cooked plate. By this time I was already done with my food and my wife was still waiting to have her order. When the third plate came, it had pieces of mussels in it. Luckily, we didn't have any allergies but still not okay for something like this to happen. When we pointed that out, the server took it to the chef who insisted that it was a piece of garlic. I don't know what kind of a chef cannot understand the difference between a piece of seafood and garlic but clearly this place has one! Mistakes can happen and all we wanted was an acknowledgement of their mistake but they chose to imply that we were lying which is unacceptable. Food was mediocre and expensive and the treatment was awful. I don't recommend this place to anyone. There are plenty of other places in Palo Alto with much better food and hospitality....

Tasty pasta served fresh in downtown PA. Come here for a casual dinner in a cute and cozy atmosphere.

I really enjoyed my meal here this past Monday for an early dinner and was lucky that there was not much of a wait. I've seen a buzzing crowd gather here later in the night. The restaurant is cute and cozy -- didn't seem very fancy. The tables are close together so I can imagine it being noisy when full of patrons. I'd suggest making reservations unless you dine at an off-hour.

I loved the FETTUCCINE CON PORCINI E TARTUFI (fresh pasta with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil). The pasta had great texture and was cooked perfectly. The tomato based sauce was also delicious.

My friend was craving shrimp and ordered the TAGLIARINI VERDI CON GAMBERETTI (thin spinach pasta with shrimp, garlic,and cream). I only had a little bite but it was tasty and looked amazing. The shrimps were small but the portion was generous.

Our meal was delicious and not too pricey. The bill came to ~$30 including tax and we both took leftovers home. Servers were attentive but not overbearing. I'll definitely be back again soon to sample some of their other dishes!

Note: they do serve complimentary bread which is nothing special. However, it did seem fresh and they provided slices of butter. I wish they offered olive oil and balsamic...