Barolo Restaurant

User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I'm really surprised the this place is still in business. It must have good food, but NEVER go for a special occasion. We went for Valentines Day, and the first red flag was the small print at the top of the reduced menu that said, "$50 min per person". No it was not a set menu where they're going to offer you 5 fixed courses, we were expected to spend $50 per person, or else! What the @#$! kind a requirement is that? I saw at least 4 groups walk out when they saw that and many other throw a big stink (including us). The cocktails we started our meal out were very tasty, and it's a good thing we had them because we need to them to get through the evening. It started out with ordering a salad and antipasta. The salad was okay, (pricey at $12 for a small place of lettuce), and the eggplant looked great until the first fork-full unearthed two hairs. After waiting 15+mins for the waitress to come back around to send it back, we sent it back and though it was hairless the next plate was about half the size of the first, but we asked for more bread and used it to sop up the tasty gravy. 20-30 minutes after finishing out 1st course, the waitress comes around to tell us there was a problem with the computer, and it will be another 15minutes for our dinner. I looked at my watch and it had been close to two hours since we arrived (luckily we had the babysitter until 10pm, we arrived at 6pm). The dinner came and so did another hair, this time in my partners meal, but we were so hungry we pulled it out and pretended like it was ours. The food was okay, my heart shaped lobster was a little more al dente then I prefer and it was the fishest lobster I had ever tasted. The chicken my partner ordered was good, but nothing to write home about (a little dry if you ask me). I would like to blame it on the fact that it was super busy , but having so many people walk out of a small venue, there were plenty of empty tables.

On other note, unless you like having sharp objects (swords and knives) point down toward you while you're eating, I would high suggest that you STAY AWAY FROM THE WINDOW SEATS and the whole front room. In earthquake county it doesn't seem wise to have daggers directed at your diners. No to mention it's has to be horrible feng shui.

Would I go back again? Maybe, but just because my partner really wants to dine while there's a piano player. Plus there were several regulars that we overheard talking with the waitress about their disappointment of the reduced menu because they were looking forward to their favorite dish. Personally I would prefer to head across the street to the always great Cafe Sparrow.

Oh, and with drinks we did spend over $100 that was required of us.

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

A wonderful incredible but a bit on the pricey side. A five star experience for sure. It is hard to find this style of Italian outside of Manhattan's Little Italy district or even in the finer restaurants in Italy. We had to go back twice in one week. It is located in the 1st floor of an incredible looking 1870 hotel. The décor is totally amazing.
The first visit we started with minestrone soup. It was a chicken bean based soup. A very nice way to start off the meal. My better half had the chicken parmesan and I had the linguini with fresh seafood. Everything was cooked perfectly. The linguini was cooked perfectly al-Dante and the spicy red sauce was to die for. My better half rarely finishes her meals, but not that night. I tasted her chicken parmesan and her fresh spinach side. Just plain yummy.

So we had to go back again but it was because we saw what the pizza looked like. Well they only sever the pizza Thursday through Sunday so my better half had the pan fried beef filet. I do not think you could find a more tender beef because it cannot get tenderer. You could almost look at it and it would cut itself. I had the clam chowder which has to be the world’s best and the veal with sun dried tomatoes, Prosciutto and mozzarella cheese in a white wine sauce. All I can say is wow.

We meet the owners who are very nice people. She is Portuguese from the Azores Islands and he is from Italy. Really nice people

I would highly recommend Barolo. A wonderful experience.

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User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

We got seated in a cold porch-type room adorned with daggers and swords perched amongst the tackiest stained glass "art" sadly dangling in front of the windows while having to listen to the cheesiest French music...in an Italian restaurant even. Then looking around a little more, the ceiling above us had a huge bare spot with a sizeable chunk of something ready to fall. We also noticed the room next to us was empty, quaint, and had a nice fireplace...hmmm. The bread wasn't good which was paired with a flavorless sauce that was equally mediocre. The food was very overpriced and very bad. Expect to drop $75 for two dinners and a couple drinks. My wife had ravioli which was a bit harder than adente (undercooked.) When served my linguini with seafood, I almost gagged from the smell when it arrived. I was brave to eat some (the mussels where the smelliest so I didn't eat those) but later regret that after being nauseous for the rest of the night. Please do yourself a favor and steer clear of this place. After explaining our poor meal to our waiter, the owner (who we could hear in the other room) got word and gave us a coupon for another miserable yet expensive experience. We gave the coupon back needless to say. We would have expected much more for what they charged. The quality of everything we had was quite low and at premium prices...something we experience all too often in the Santa Cruz area. Restaurante Borolo definitely made us more cautious when trying new places.

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