Montecatini Ristorante & Bar — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

This is an old-school Italian restaurant with a pretty wide selection of appetizers, pasta plates and main dishes.

The atmosphere is a little bit dark and looks older - but the food is pretty good, and good for a date or an evening out.

They give you complimentary bread with butter which is just ok, but if you're hungry, it will tide you over. We ordered a Caesar salad ($13) which was fine - nothing outstanding - basic romaine lettuce, cheese and dressing but I've had better. Not sure I would order the same salad again.

My husband and I ordered two dishes to share, the lasagna ($26) was excellent with a cheese & beef filling with bechamel sauce and a creamy tomato sauce. The lasagna was definitely the hit of the evening, and one of the better lasagnas I've had out. I don't normally like lasagna that has too much tomato in it as I find it acidic, and this was not anything nor the sort. I would definitely recommend. The lasagna does take about 30 min to be made / baked, so plan accordingly if you're pressed for time.

We also shared the tortellini ($26) which was a beef tortellini with prosciutto, peas, and a cream sauce. It was just ok - I didn't find the tortellini had too much beef filling and the sauce was just average.

Overall, a decent restaurant if you want more classic, old-school Italian food. The portions are decently sized and the prices are reasonable. I'd come back here for...

I was looking forward to this traditional old school Italian restaurant to meet friends for dinner. Having no details on what to expect, I was surprised with how dark and loud the space is. While we waited for our friends to arrive, I asked our waiter for gluten free options and his response of "nothing" was frustrating. Having celiac, I generally have no issue finding gluten free dishes wherever I go whether that be on the menu or by suggestions of the staff. I was told I could bring in my own GF pasta for them to cook, which was of no help already being there. When asking if any entrees could be gluten free, the waiter was hesitant but said he would ask the kitchen. Turned out just one dish would work - chicken piccata. I chose to order a salad, but our group enjoyed their dishes of pasta. As soon as we finished our meal, the dessert menu was provided. When we opted not to order dessert, the bill arrived, yet we were not finished enjoying our time. We weren't offered another drink or even water, just the bill. The lack of gluten free knowledge/offerings and poor service will not have us going back. Its unfortunate because we love old school Italian and would otherwise like...

We came to dinner with friends who highly recommended it from past years. The food was good, not great but good, although a bit overpriced. The service was very nice, but it took slightly more than an hour to receive our meals. The food service was very slow, but the drink service was very quick and efficient; hmmmm, I wonder about that. However, shortly after we were seated, a party of 8 was seated near us and from the moment they arrived it was impossible for the 4 of us to have any conversation over a small table. Even worse, we were subjected to their shouting and shrieking during the extremely long wait for our food. We certainly didn't want to wait for desert and subject ourselves to the ordeal any longer.

Granted most of the fault was with the rude partiers at that table, but some of the fault lies with the establishment. It is a very small and crowded space. Perhaps they could install some noise absorbing tiles on the ceiling or some cloth on the walls for the same purpose. At the very least, the staff might have asked the obnoxious jerks to try to yell and scream a bit more quietly. The noise made it a miserable experience and we...