Locanda Ischia — Restaurant in San Jose

I’ve been here twice now, and my experience the first time was a miss (exception David the Bartender) and the second time was better, but didn’t wow me.

I’d be willing to give it a third chance, but not for awhile.

First visit: Overall, food was “just ok” for the price, $16-25 for small-ish appetizers (Could be divided by 4) and feeling like we are being rushed out by bussers while I server was missing a good chunk of the evening.

I came with friends for a going away party. David the bartender was the highlight. Our server was sort of attentive until we wanted to order and then it seemed like they were nowhere to be found and we were waiting and waiting to be able to flag them down. There was a trainee that came to check on us and we let them know we were ready.

We ordered several small plates and ended up with one of them being wrong and meat based. Not great for the vegetarian in the group, but because our server wasn’t flaggable and didn’t check on us we couldn’t really send it back. One of the other tables of 6 got a grand song by our server for the patrons birthday so we couldn’t figure out what was going on (some got excellent service and some didn’t)

The interesting part about this was there were so many bussers and they were aggressive with clearing plates to the point it was almost disruptive. At one point we had taken our last bite of food and were still chewing and they came to take our plates. We also had to let them know several times that we were still working on some of our small plates.

Second visit: Our server was present and attentive (moving Locanda from 2 stars to 3). She was great,, in fact. Although David the bartender wasn’t there, she got the drink close to what David made and I super appreciated her effort. Overall Shonte’s service was good and as the table we had appetizers (focaccia, fiori, salads) and we had standard menu fare (ravioli of sorts) and the special as well (fettuccini). Portions for the entrees were good and our dessert, tiramisu, also acceptable). The aggressive bussing was still there, but the service was better so it balanced it out a little. This visit was slightly redeeming and although we likely wont try to go back in the near future, we won’t avoid it if someone...

Highly Recommend!! We have been here a few times and decided that I needed to do a review.

Once you walk in you are greeting like you are part of the family. (Reminds me of my BIG Italian Family ❤️)

We ordered some fantastic wine. My husband the Chianti and me some Rose Bubbles. Both were great. Our two waitresses Sabrina who worked in the bar and Shannon were both VERY attentive and anticipated our needs perfectly.

We started with some Focaccina that was seasoned with Rosemary & sea salt and came with an AMAZING "secret sauce" that has notes of basil, olive oil, and other herbs. So so good.

I ordered the special a Saffron Linguini (picture included) it had fresh made egg pasta, Saffron, squash blossom, crispy pork cheeks and a potato puree sauce of sorts. Simply delicious.

My husband had the Branzino. Which was cooked perfectly. It was light and flaky. It was just the filet topped with broccolini and served on top of roasted potatoes and diced carrots. Had a light lemon flavor, my guess is due to some lemon olive oil.

For dessert I had the lemon sorbet which was served in a lemon. So refreshing! We also had another lemon dessert which was a special as well but was so light and airy! Did not disappoint!

Something I didnt eat this time, but is a MUST try is the Wrong Scarpariello. Fresh pasta with a calabrian chili for a light bite combined with a fresh sauce made from yellow and red cherry tomatoes and topped with burrata and basil.

Looking forward to...

We had such a great experience at this beautiful new restaurant! From the moment we walked in, we were impressed by the ambiance and thoughtful decor, everything feels warm, inviting, and stylish. The entire team was amazing, you could genuinely tell everyone enjoys working there. From the friendly hostess to the attentive servers and bartender, the energy was great. We were warmly welcomed by Lisa, and received excellent service from Roy, who was super knowledgeable about the menu and offered great suggestions, as you can see we ordered a lot. Alberto, the bartender, also stood out with his friendly vibe and attention to detail. We found easy parking in the back, and even though the restaurant has only been open for a month, it was already bustling! Thankfully we had a...