Vina Enoteca — Restaurant in Palo Alto

Best Italian in the Bay Area, Best Atmosphere and Staff in the Bay Area

This is a long overdue review of what’s become our go-to restaurant (across all cuisines), a homey dining room away from our home’s dining room, a place so special that we only bring along our most cherished friends and family. We started coming here 18 months ago, and despite being home cooks who don’t go out to eat often, there’s no other restaurant we’d rather celebrate life’s moments in, both big and small.

THE FOOD Antipasti: The seasonal soups are always unique, complex, and unexpected (we’ve tried the zuppa di funghi and the previous season’s cauliflower soup and both were unbelievable). Next among the must-haves are the fresh focaccia with slightly spicy nduja butter and the straciatella e prosciutto with gnocco fritto (the straciatella will make you forget about burrata real quick).

Pizza: Despite not being a dedicated pizzeria, we think Vina makes the best Neapolitan pizza in the Bay Area. The crust is bubbly and charred, and the core is perfectly thin and light. We like all the pizzas but our favorites by far are the Salamino (which has an incredible contrast between the spicy salamino and the perfectly acidic and sweet tomato sauce) and the Margherita (with its buffalo mozzarella, a rarity here in the Bay Area).

Pasta: All the pasta is made on site, and they’re all exquisite, to such a degree that we’ve never actually ordered a main dish because we always order multiple pastas. The Cacio e Pepe is probably our favorite, a dish that is so simple in its composition but rich and memorable in flavor, and also plated beautifully. The Lasagne Verde, Bolognese, and Amatriciana are also excellent and we always order a few of these along with the Cacio e Pepe. Coming to Vina made us forget about other Italian places in the area (Terun, Che Fico, Delfina, Doppio Zero), and I think it's way better priced, given the extremely high quality of the food. Even when we went to Italy for three weeks last year, Vina was the barometer for comparison at all the restaurants we tried in culinary destinations like Rome and Naples, and rarely did we have a meal there that came to close to Vina’s level.

THE ATMOSPHERE Vina’s close proximity to Stanford University’s arboretum and welcome distance from the busier parts of Palo Alto, along with the beautiful and historic architecture of the Stanford Barn it’s located in, make it feel like a peaceful and serene sanctuary. The dining room and bar have a rare balance of rustic and contemporary decor, and the terrace (our favorite) is beautiful with the view of this historic building, the plants, lighting, and Italian music. This terrace is even enjoyable year round thanks to the wind shields and roof covers installed in the colder months (we sit in the terrace year round with our dog who loves coming here and is always greeted and spoiled by the lovely staff). Vina also has a market where you can source your favorite hard-to-find Italian goodies (e.g., guanciale for your carbonara/amatriciana/gricia, wines, etc.). Thanks to all these amenities, we can pretend to live our very own Dolce Vita lifestyle while in the busy Silicon Valley.

THE STAFF The best for last. Rocco and his staff (including Marisa, Carol, Alberto and everyone else we’ve interacted with) are genuinely warm, friendly, and welcoming. We are always overjoyed by everyone’s kindness and good nature, it feels like you’re having a family meal at home, but in a world-class restaurant.

I never thought I’d be one of those people who would have “a place” they’d always go to for years and years, but I feel so lucky and grateful to have found that in...

This has been one of the best dining experience that I have had since moving to the valley. First, the location is very central and easy to get to with great parking (great that it's adjacent to high quality shopping and the Stanford Shopping Center, too!). Second, the staff is wonderfully attentive, and the space warm, open, and tastefully designed. The wait staff was kind and delightful.

We came here because we were craving wonderfully prepared homemade pasta, and Vina Enoteca did not disappoint. Upon entering, to the left is a giant picture window of the prep kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare all the pasta and many other components in the dishes. It's a great touch, and reinforces the quality of the products.

We started with a beet and goat cheese salad that was unreal and unlike any other beet salad I have ever had. The goat cheese was the texture of a wonderful mousse, the greens were hand-picked, fresh, and cleaned perfectly, and the beets were slightly pickled and cut into bite-sized strips (instead of typical chunks of beets).

We followed that with pasta dishes-- I had linguine with mussels and clams; my wife had a pasta primavera. You have not had pasta primavera until you've had this. Forget a chunky tomato sauce with over-cooked veggies. This primavera sauce was the perfect mix of olive oil, pea shoots, fava beans, peas, and more. The pasta was a wonderful ring shape that was cooked perfectly. It was an excellent dish. The linguine was perfectly al dente, and the sauce was just slightly spicy and rich with a touch of seafood broth and garlic. The mussels and clams wonderfully prepared and added to the dish.

We finished the meal with a strawberry and chocolate cake dessert with a wonderfully fresh strawberry sauce. A delight.

The wine selection is great, though a glass is a little pricey ($12-15). The chardonnay is fantastic-- grassy and citrusy.

We loved the staff, the space, the food, and we...

I went to Vina Enoteca for my birthday dinner and was excited to try it. We arrived a bit early and thought we’d grab a drink while waiting, but to my surprise, they seated us right away, another party arrived at the same time. The restaurant wasn’t very busy, which was promising.

However, after being seated, it took 20–25 minutes of trying to make eye contact with staff before our server finally came over. The party that arrived at the same time as us and another party that arrived after us had drinks in hand. Once server noticed us, we ordered espresso martinis, which were absolutely delicious! Anticipating delays, I also ordered an appetizer at the same time. The grilled octopus was phenomenal—perfectly cooked and paired beautifully with citrus fruit. I highly recommend it.

After finishing our appetizer, we had to flag down the server again to place our main order. We chose the Margherita and mushroom pizzas. Both were fantastic, but I especially loved the Margherita—it’s rare to find a simple, classic version done so well. We also ordered scallops for our main course, and they were incredible! The sauce and potatoes that accompanied them were outstanding.

Throughout the meal, though, the service continued to disappoint. I had to flag the server down again to order a second cocktail. After we finished our food, the dessert menu was eventually brought to us, but by then we had decided against ordering dessert. Even then, it took about 20 minutes or more before the server returned to check in if we had any questions on dessert menu.

To sum up: the food here is excellent—everything we tried was cooked to perfection. But the service was a major letdown. It seemed like our server might have been new, as I noticed other tables being attended to much more efficiently. If the service improves, this would easily be a...