Lo Coco’s

Down home Italian, the very best sugo ever, super nice people, warm atmosphere, cannot be beat! This is our favorite place — we walk sometimes, we drive, we run into friends, we eat happily and too much and then we come back and do it again.

This place is so quaint. The servers are super friendly, I rarely have to wait for a table and the food is so good! My favorite, low key Italian place in the Bay Area, hands down. Everything I’ve tried on the menu is delicious but I truly love the Salmon linguine (amazing). I would definitely recommend this place.

Lo Coco’s is delicious, but do NOT go here if you have more than 4 people in your party. I had a graduation dinner for 6 people and called ahead for a reservation. We were told that Lo Coco’s does not accept ANY reservations, period. My boyfriend and I love the restaurant, and decided to come 30 minutes before our guests (at 5:45) and put our names on the list for a 6-​top, anticipating a wait.
The restaurant was half empty, but we were told that we would get a table at 6:30. Our guests arrived at 6:15, and we weren’t seated until 30 minutes later at 7 PM. I was also frustrated because a group of 8 came in an hour after us and got seated BEFORE us because they had a «reservation,» when we had been told reservations were not taken. There is literally a sign in the restaurant that says, «No Reservations.»
We were starving and although I understand that the restaurant was small, I didn’t feel that there was any acknowledgement of the fact that we waited 75 minutes for a table when the restaurant didn’t even have a wait.
Overall, the experience was extremely disappointing, especially since we went here for my graduation. I felt disrespected by the experience. It left a sour taste and I’m not sure if I’ll come back anytime soon with service like that.
The food is 5 stars, and our service was right around 1 – 2 stars. This makes me sad because I’ve only had good experiences with this restaurant.

After grocery shopping at Safeway, my partner and I wandered over looking for something homey and filling for dinner. Lo Coco’s looked like it fit the bill, and we were very pleased with the experience!
At 7pm on a Saturday night, we waited about 20 minutes to be seated. They don’t take reservations for small parties, FYI.
Our waiter was charming and sweet. We ordered two glasses of the house white, and he upgraded us for free to a half liter.
On the waiter’s recommendation, we ordered linguine with clams provencal and a small pizza, half Giovanni’s special (eggplant) and half daily special (mushroom, mozzarella, arugula). The pasta was delicious, and I seriously drank that provencal sauce with a spoon, though the provided bread was also really, really good — perfect for dipping. Between the two pizzas, the Giovanni’s special was closer to my heart, because I’m a huge fan of grilled eggplant.
We’ll be back!

This place is amazing. If you are looking for a Italian restaurant in the mid price range, look no further. It will never get better :)
I’ve been to Lo Coco’s many times over the last 4 years, and it has always been just flat awesome! My favorite dishes are the cannellonis and the pappardelle porcini.
Their tomato sauce and their bread are truly remarkable.
Ah, the house wine is also a very good deal. Feels like being in Italy :)

We had excellent service. Fun, personable, and attentive.
I have traveled a bit, so perhaps my expectations are high.
The pizza was excellent. I am extremely picky about pizza too. Great crust. Quality toppings.
We tried one with half eggplant and half margharita (I forget the name on the me menu, but it’s similar in taste). Really appreciate that you can choose two different halves. The small pizza is enough for 3 people to share 2 – 3 slices each.
I read a recent review of the pasta bolognese. This is a dish I make at home, as it’s one of my favorite Italian dishes. This is a sauce that takes hours to simmer. I was not super impressed with their version. It seemed watered down and not as hardy in texture. It was more red in color than deep reddish brown. The flavor lacked that hint of sweetness that a quality bolognese should have. The pasta however was good.
I give this place 4 solid stars, despite my disappointment for the bolognese. Would I return here? Absolutely. I like what they are doing and feel it’s worth it for the pizza and service alone.

If you are in the mood for pasta, this is the best place in the Bay Area, hands down!!! And their doughy bread is pretty great too, served with a dish of high quality olive oil for dipping!

I am a bit skeptical with white table cloth restaurants, but when I was greeted at the front for a table for one I instantly felt welcomed and comfortable in a casual «authentic» feeling Italian restaurant.
The chianti was $ 10.50 a glass, a bit expensive for what it was but the pour was very generous. I can’t remember the vineyard but I wasn’t too impressed. I heard the table behind me raving about the house wine so next time I will just order the house red. The whine selection was very small but sufficient enough because really, it’s all about the food here.
I got the pappardelle bolognese. It came out fast and hot. The noodles were good but I am curious if the pasta here is homemade because I love love love fresh homemade pasta and this didn’t quite taste homemade. But don’t get me wrong that’s just me being an Italian food snob. The bolognese was amazing, the sauce had a little too much truffle oil but it was very tasty. Just like my Italian grandma used to make (except it was always shaved truffle never truffle oil).
The portion seemed small for the price until I started eating it and it was so good and filling that I actually decided to not overstuff myself and save some to take home. Boy was I glad later that I did that!
I will be coming back with friends!

Location: There are a lot of street parking spots available in that area. The restaurant itself is pretty cramped, so don’t expect a quiet romantic dinner! We were constantly getting shoved by servers.
Service: Service is great. All of the servers are willing to help you get whatever you need and there isn’t a lot of waiting time for someone to come by.
Food:
–Calamari: ⁵⁄₅! Love that this was so so fresh! (Warning, it will take ~20 minutes b/​c they actually cut everything up and pan fry it). Lemony wine reduction sauce. Awesome.
–Bolognese: 4/​5, this was amazing but not really different from other Italian places
–Ravioli con sugo: ⁵⁄₅! There are (I think) 8 pieces of fairly large ravioli all smothered in a delicious tomato sauce.
Very delicious Italian place that we intend keep in our reportoire!

Bolognese. Just bolognese. Stop whatever you’re doing and go get anything with the bolognese. I got three cheese ravioli. With bolognese.
…
Bolognese.

3.5 out of 5!
I’ve been to Lo Coco’s for various occasions over the years, and every time I leave happy and satisfied. This location is tucked away in somewhat of a ‘plaza’ on Northside of Berkeley, and it’s a nice getaway from the main Berkeley area where you can enjoy a not-​too-​fancy dinner date or celebration (make sure to have reservations). The inside setting is dimly lit and pretty cozy, but in a good way. The bread here is oh, so good — it’s usually warm from the oven and that’s only the start to a tasty meal. I’ve tried their gnocchi con pesto, pennoni alla norma (Roma tomato, eggplant, and basil) and the chef’s salad; all of them were simple yet delicious and flavorful. I haven’t tried their pizza or meatballs yet, but they’re definitely something I want to try in the future.
The service is pretty good and I haven’t had a bad experience with unfriendly wait staff, but it’s nothing to write home about. The prices are also fair, but on the slightly pricier side. Overall, I would recommend trying out this place if you haven’t already.

I am lucky to live close to Lo Coco’s. Everything is great here, especially breads and the Porcini are my favorites.

I love the bread here. So yummy:)
The wait is pretty long on a Saturday evening ;-/​I don’t like that they don’t take reservations:(nevertheless, there’s a cute little waiting area, if you’re lucky you might get a seat otherwise you have to stand, which is no fun.
Anywho on to the meal. It was pretty good. I didn’t see anything on the menu they interested me, so I asked the waitress to create a linguine and pesto cream sauce for me, and I’m glad they’re accommodating. However, I’m not glad that they weren’t accommodating enough to allow me to add a protein to the meal :(I asked for chicken or salmon with my linguine and pesto meal, but the waitress told me that the chef doesn’t allow any protein to be added to a pesto sauce meal :(strange. But nonetheless, my meatless meal was pretty good. Love the pesto. :-)
My friend got the bolognese, which wasn’t her flavor. My other friend got Margherita pizza (add pepperoni), which she and we all loved.
I forgot to mention that we got the Sicilian meatballs for appetizer… Hmm, personally don’t like it. It had pine nuts and raisins in it. But I googled and found out that’s the authentic way to make Sicilian meatballs. I wasn’t used to it;(; but at least now I know to not order that next time I come here.
Last thing I wanted to mention was the service. We were seated between a group of older patrons and a couple on a date. I think since we are younger, we got the least attention. I wonder if the waitress and the other restaurants staff had presumed that since we’re younger, we would tip less. Maybe that’s why they paid more attention to the other groups around us?
Nonetheless, I would like to come back here sometime again…

This cute Italian restaurant is located in a little alleyway off of Shattuck. Walking in, you could tell this place has a lot of loyal returners who go there quite often. There were lots of families as well as couples. The ambience would be great for dates! The servers are very attentive and very kind.
I ordered the Fettucine Alaska and my friend ordered the Broiled Salmon. The Fettucine Alaska had an interesting flavor to it. I did think the sauce was a bit too sweet for my taste and it was hard for me to really finish it. I couldn’t really pinpoint exactly why I wasn’t that big a fan of the sauce but you could tell the dish was made very diligently. The salmon my friend got was very juicy and was really well made as well!

Great little Italian restaurant, seating is a bit of a squeeze (cozy), meatballs, salads, calamari really good. Salmon pasta, pizza, salmon, clams are all outstanding. Very friendly waitress (studying speech pathology).

Several friends and I had dinner at this amazing classic Trattoria to celebrate one of their birthdays. The food was truly extraordinary and was obviously crafted with great care by somebody who truly understood fine Sicilian cuisine. One of the endearing things about this place is that so many people involved in it are related. The chef was the brother (Or so I remember) of the maître d’ who’s sister created the desserts (her tiramisu was awesome). It’s a small place, and they don’t take reservations for less than seven so be prepared for a wait. But, it’s worth it.

Had the bolognese, the pasta was fresh and filling. The sauce was good although I would prefer more meat. The house red wine isn’t anything special. The service was friendly and welcoming. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, it’s a great place to go for a relaxing meal after a long week. Also, the bread sticks which seemed to be made from pizza crust were amazing. Definitely want to come back and try the pizzas and other dishes.

great food, but hard to get parking prevents repeat visits. we would probably frequent often, if they provided roadside service for togo orders (hint hint).

So my friend was craving Italian food and despite the fact that Italian is the least friendly cuisine for us gluten-​free diners, I said ok. So I go to Lo Coco’s, not expecting much in the way of GF options and I look at the menu and see that any pasta can be subbed for GF gnocchi. Hold. The. Phone. Did you say gluten-​free gnocchi? HELLO! Part of me expected little balls of mush because that’s what GF pasta can do when you don’t cook it well, but nuh uh, not at Lo Coco’s. They know how to make these little potato pasta pearls into bites of heaven. In short, the GF gnocchi with the mushroom cream sauce knocked my socks off. I almost wish I hadn’t found this place because now I’m craving it. Lo Coco’s, I’ll be seeing you soon…

This place is a great little gem. I’ve been here several times, and usually get the pappardelle bolognese and the breaded palermo steak… So, so, so bomb! Tonight we got the palermo steak again (had to. couldn’t resist.) and tried the puttanesca special, which was amazing with a nice little kick to it. Overall, still impressed with the food and satisfied with their service. They sure do know how to take care of their customers.

The food was absolutely great. Especially I loved the bread.

This is our usual go to place for authentic and delicious Italian. I love the ambiance and their freshly toasted bread that comes with the meal. I always get the salad with toasted pecans and currants, and the pesto ravioli for main course. They cook their pasta al dente which is perfect. They have yummy tiramisu but it’s loaded with coffee so the caffeine content is high, but it is super delicious and worth it!

Our family enjoys a special secret family recipe for meatballs and spaghetti that goes back five generations to Italy. Visiting my wife’s cousin in Berkeley, she was excited to carry us to this restaurant. We’ve rarely found a restaurant to compare favorably to our own home meatballs.
Lo Coco was outstanding. Their meatballs are meaty, tender and sweet with a touch of currants which remind us of the raisins found in our family recipe. They compare very favorably to what we have always enjoyed at home. We’re therefore prejudiced but we think the food here is outstanding. It’s amazing to travel 3000 miles cross country to enjoy home cooking.
The house salad is a masterpiece. The meatballs are exceptional. My son had the eggplant Parmesan which was prepared in a very exceptional manner with the eggplant extra crisp, fried and then baked with cheese and sauce. We had an appetizer of meatballs and then spaghetti and meatballs– they were that good.
Service was impeccable– if you are looking for a fine dining Italian meal, this is the place.

Went there on a Saturday evening with a group of seven, and all in all we were a bunch of happy campers. The service was very good, friendly waitstaff and orders out without too much of a wait. The restaurant is small, so you get that New York City kind of table to table vibe, but in a good way.
Food was excellent. We had a variety of dishes and everyone enjoyed their food immensely — I had the eggplant parm which came out as three large pieces with lots of cheese and sauce — very tasty. I didn’t get a look at the wine list as I was the last to arrive.
A great red-​sauce that is reasonably priced and will have a spot on my list for a return visit.

My absolute favorite Italian restaurant in the area. The food is completely worth it alone but the atmosphere is also amazing. The staff if very welcoming and makes you feel perfectly at ease, very Italiano .
Perfect place for romantic dates.

Was Unilocaling for a local, authentic Italian restaurant & stumbled upon Lo Coco’s.
I think this should be $$$ because dinner for two, with one soda & one dessert, our bill was 77 $
The atmosphere was very romantic and intimate, small, quaint restaurant with lots of tiny Italian décor and one large wall dedicated on advertising an Italian hotel? I think?
We got fresh bread and olive oil as we waited for our dishes. The bread was warm and toasted when it came out, which is a plus.
We ordered the Sotto Mare and the Pappardelle Bolognese. Both dishes were so delicious! The Sotto Mare came with 6 – 7 mussels, clams, octopus, and a few baby scallops. The sauce was perfect, it was a wine reduction of the seafood juices.
The Bolognese was slightly salty, but didn’t bother me much. It had great olive oil taste, and the pappardelle was cooked to perfection.
Our server was sweet & attentive. I would come back most definitely… As long as it’s pay day…

My mouth is watering just thinking about Lo Coco’s. We came here based on reviews and it did not disappoint. We shared the Lo Coco’s salad, Pappardelle Bolognese & the Fettuccine Alaska. One dish was better than the next! We were also given fresh baked bread which was to die for! Super nice and friendly waiter. We went on a Saturday night and while it was busy, we were seated right away. The area seemed a little busier, but we were able to find street parking right around the corner. I highly recommend!

Love this place. Great service and food!
The sugo and meatballs are totally legit. The seafood pasta with scallops is amazing. One of my favorite Italian places in the bay.

As much as I LOVE Italian food… I somehow don’t get out and eat it too often. Pasta, pizza, bread, olive oil, carbs, sausage, wine yummmm sooo good. But seriously, the last time I went to an Italian place (Shout out to Rosine’s Restaurant in Monterey!) was months ago prior to running a relay marathon.
Eating a large amount of carbs has now become a great tradition prior to running races and I’m glad we decided to give Lo Coco’s a try.
The restaurant was a little difficult to find and considering it’s about 4 blocks from my place, I honestly never really knew it was there. Not the best signage either, but maybe they’re going for the «diamond in the rough/​hard to find» vibe. Is that a thing?
Be prepared for a blatantly noticeable family atmosphere. Literally, every table had a toddler at it, except ours. All good, the kids were rather tame and loved to wave/​smile at us. They were all drunk off pizza and pasta.
First impressions are important and they nailed it with the bread. YES the bread + olive oil. Seemed like it just came out of the oven.
We shared a pizza called the Tricolore (fresh mozzarella, crushed tomatoes, and basil). Very simple pizza and a great way to start our meal. We also got a small variety of entrees which ranged from gnocchi, penne, and fettuccine. The tomato sauce was bomb. I wish I had some right now to soak up with their bread. Pasta was cooked perfectly. I was completely satisfied after my meal and smiling. That’s really all I can ask for!
Only heart-​breaker here was they were out of meatballs! And we were craving meatballs… but despite the meatball deficit, we had a great meal and I will definitely be going back for round two.

We found this via Unilocal,on a Sunday night when the east bay traffic was so bad we wanted to wait before going home. I wasn’t in the best of moods at first. This dinner really cheered me up.
It is a small, family run restaurant, with good service and great Sicilian food. The décor is nice, with a large picture of a small Sicilian town perched on the edge of a rocky outcropping. The tables are close together, but the atmosphere is informal and festive. There were lots of families with small children when we arrived, at 530pm on a Sunday. They were gone by the time we left, replaced by a couple of large parties of adults.
The bread that they served before dinner was baked on site, and delicious. It was served with olive oil on a plate. We asked about balsamic vinegar, but there was none to be had (not Sicilian, according to the waitress). I had the Pennoni with pancetta off the specials menu, and it was flavorful, well balanced, and mildly spicy. My wife had the Pennoni alla Napoletana, and that was even better, I thought. It disappeared before I could get more than a couple of bites. We had a Sicilian merlot, which was light and tasty. Our waitress was attentive and personable. Everything was pretty close to perfect. We will return.

Small Sicilian place right across from Safeway in the Gourmet Ghetto. The food is simply top notch — simple menu, fresh ingredients, full of Sicilian flavors. Even the simple tomato sauce is extraordinarily delicious. While the restaurant can get loud at times and the tables are cramped together, it’s the food that carries the place. Huge portions. Big plus. Friendly, prompt service is just the icing on the cake.

Really cute find at the last minute by the husband for a quick anniversary bite… on the corner of Shattuck and Rose so there is parking on either side and we had no trouble finding a spot on a Sunday evening. This little Italian gem was the perfect spot for us to share some large entrees and split an extremely delicious chocolate cannoli. It is a small establishment and it can get hot because of the proximity of the kitchen to the dining area. Of course just a minor glitch in the total operation of a beautiful restaurant with excellent service. The pizza is definitely the go-​to here, but we passed this time and opted for the entrees and pasta instead.
We started with the Emancipata Salad and shared it as an appetizer. Delicious romaine lettuce based salad with cherry tomatos, walnuts, bleu cheese and kalamata olives. We polished off our plate quick! Next we split the Scallops Sauté Sec (FYI: Palermo style is when the dish is cooked in lemon juice and pepper resulting in a thick, dark colored sauce that is oh so scrumptious!) which comes with a side of pasta and also the 3 cheese ravioli in Pesto Crème. The waitress was super helpful and insisted that we also split the ravioli because the Scallops Sauté Sec would result in a very «light» dinner because there were only 4 – 5 scallops per plate and a small side of penne with tomato sauce. BTW the tomato sauce is house made so you can expect amazing sauce here. The raviolis were great, plump with cheese and the sauce was good. There is complimentary flatbreads that come out in the beginning and additional can be ordered if desired (and yes it was with that delicious sauce!). We topped off our meal with a very good chocolate cannoli, complete with tiny chocolate chips!
Overall, very impressed and would love to come back to this cute little restaurant for the pizza!

We are from out of town from Ohio and used the Unilocal to decide on a good Italian place to eat and chose Lo Coco’s from the reviews.
I have to say this is one of the BEST Italian meals we have ever had. We had a Meatball appetizer. The meatballs were hand made with a special mix with meat, bread crumbs, pine nuts, and currents. They were amazing!!!
Dinner we had Fettuccine with ham that was without a doubt the most amazing Fettuccine I have ever had. Frank is one of the owners and he told us the noodles and sauce is made from scratch every day. You can believe it, You can’t get enough and are looking for more when it is gone.
I have to say this is a place you will not be disappointed.

Came here to celebrate my bday with some friends so the logical thing for a crowded restaurant is to make reservations. We had reservations scheduled and 4 people from my party were there but apparently their policy is that everyone must be present to be seated. This was NOT told to us when we made the reservations. I understand if its policy but at some point when making reservations they should inform you of this. So we were not seated and the hostess had the worst attitude about our whole party not being there. She told us that if a party of 7 walked in they would be given our table. So we stood and waited-​the whole time our table stayed empty.
About 10 min later the remainder of our part showed up and we asked the hostess to seat us and she pointed to our table and said its over there you can seat yourselves. When the whole time we were waiting she was walking everyone to their table. This I feel was very unprofessional of her to do.
We enjoyed our dinner for the most part, they were out of a lot of items on the menu and had only 3 drinks to choose from.
After we paid for dinner we called for the owner who happened to be our waiter for the evening and we told him the issue with the rude hostess and he just shrugged his shoulders and said it happens. He do not apologize for the way his hostess behaved and instead just acted just as arrogant as the hostess. Needless to say we will never return to this restaurant and we will make sure all our friends do the same.

Amazing food and really warm and attentive service. Had the scallop pasta and it’s was so fresh and the sauce was to die for! Definitely will be coming back!

Excellent restaurant italien traditionnel. Service soigné. Bons vins. Le serveur n’a pas hésité pas à remplir les verres de vin sans les facturer une seconde fois! J’ai beaucoup apprécié notamment les pappardelles à la bolognaise et les pizzas sont délicieuses.