Buona Tavola — Restaurant in Paso Robles

Experiencing the Buona Tavola Italian Restaurant in Paso Robles, California, felt like a real Italian adventure. For a year and a half, I’ve driven past that restaurant, fantasizing about its food, wine, and ambiance. Evening photos of this restaurant are strikingly beautiful and captivating. Seeing them in person is delightful during the holiday season. I found the online reservation system quick, easy, and worthwhile. The restaurant was so popular with locals and visitors that a long line formed at 5:30PM when it opened for dinner. I got my table in under 5 minutes thanks to my reservation. Our dining experience began with Christmas carols and sparkling water. I quickly ordered the restaurant’s special Italian bread with their homemade Buona Tavola’s Olivata spread. I decided to pair my meal with a glass of Italian white wine, specifically Pinot Grigio from Bollini, Veneto, Italy, along with a delicious appetizer called Bruschetta al pomodoro fresco e basilico. Which is grilled garlic bread, roma tomatoes, basil, and extra virgin olive oil and goat cheese. I wanted to try two entrees for dinner, so I skipped the salad and went straight to the Risotto del Cusio, made with Carnaroli rice, freshwater shrimp, porcini mushrooms, organic herbs, white wine, and chicken broth. Then, I ordered the Capellini al filetto di pomodoro e basilico—a delicious angel hair pasta dish with tomato, garlic, basil, and extra virgin olive oil. I enjoyed a bottle of Brunello Di Montalcino Silvio Nardi, a 2018 Italian red wine, with my dinner. The red wine complemented the Italian entrees perfectly at dinner. Naturally, I indulged in the renowned Italian ice cream dessert on the menu, Gelato Misto, featuring three sea sonal homemade gelato flavors accompanied by warm chocolate sauce or basil syrup. I loved dinner and plan to return during the holidays. Kudos to the chefs, staff, and...

A friend and I had lunch today at Buona Tavola. This was the fourth time I've eaten there and each time it was a disappointment. We each order a ceasar salad that came out drowning in a watery chopped tomato topping that one could only assume was left over bruschetta from the day before. I ordered the special which included shrimp and "Alaska crab" in a creamy tomato sauce and my friend ordered the scampi ravioli. I specifically asked if I had to shell the crab and was told it was delicious, from the claw and no it came shelled. What arrived was an oddly mushy sauce with a few shrimp on pasta. I asked if there was crab in my dish and was told yes... what made the sauce mushy ... I can only guess... was the crab but it was unidentifiable. The dish was bland and unpleasantly textured. My friend's ravioli was mushy and could have been stuffed with anything. The gelato was delicious.

As stated.. this was the fourth visit. I kept thinking I must be ordering the wrong thing but now I'm convinced that there is nothing worth ordering on the menu.

And the service was disappointing. One could argue that it was a Monday.. after a very busy weekend but shouldn't the food and service be great everyday? I had to go over to our waitperson, who was just chatting with another employee, and ask for more ice tea for my friend... then go over again at the end of the meal to ask for our check.

As one reviewer noted... there are way better eateries in Paso. I would suggest you not waste your time or money...

This is one of our go-to restaurants whenever we are in Paso. The dining room has a cool open-kitchen atmosphere and it always has a busy vibe and great service. There are also a few outdoor tables and the temperature was perfect for Al fresco dining, but we chose to enjoy the ambiance of the interior. The menu offers plenty of great pasta primis and protein-centric secondis, along with antis and salads. I started with the tasty beef carpaccio and my friend had an excellent porcini-and-other-mushroom soup. On our first visit, one delicious and creative dish inspired my own take on it for my Chef’s Apprentice YouTube channel (my lobster and prosciutto ravioli Soubice, the inspiration for which I credited to BT). Unfortunately, they didn’t have it on our second visit. There was a similar agnolotti with scampi, which was very good, but I like the lobster version more. The sauce also seemed a little heavier this time but I have no complaints. For carnivores who can’t decide, there was a tagliatelle with a delicious braised chicken, beef, pork, and duck ragout, which had little pick-outable pieces to savor individually and guess which one they were. I particularly liked the way the wine list is organized, which made easy pickins (we chose a local wine, an Austin Hope, but Italy is also well represented if you want to pair Italian wine with Italian food). ...