Paesanos

Treated my friends here tonight and I wasn’t blown away. Initially I thought the entrées were not that expensive, somewhere in the 12 – 14 dollar range, but then you get your plate of food and the portions are pretty small. The food was tasty though, and I enjoyed my creole pasta.
Service was not very good. The server seemed like he wanted to be some place else and wasn’t very friendly. I was a little put off, but the kicker was at one point the server reached across the table, in front of my friends face to put down a drink. He could have taken two steps to his right, but couldn’t possibly be troubled (which lends itself to his initial attitude). Poor service seems to be common here from the reviews. Not reaching like that is service 101. The drink could have very easily been knocked out of his hands when my friend went to wipe his mouth.
Overall I would say this place has slightly above average food at above average prices. Service is definitely below average. For me this place teeters on the 2 or 3 star line. I’ll go with 3 for now.

Pros: Great food, friendly staff.
Cons: kind of chaotic when it’s busy, and the food is a little overpriced for what it is

Paesanos is one of the best restaurants in Davis, and is a great place to go for a special occasion. The restaurant has a great ambience, and delicious complimentary bread at dinner! Definitely try the spicy creole or the fettuccine arrostiti

Great place to go to for a fancy dinner. Never heard of it before but came here on a Sunday night for a friend’s birthday. Vibe and atmosphere reminded me of a mixture of BJ’s Brewery and Buca. Fancy but still casual if that makes any sense lol. Server was attentive and sweet. She made sure our water was always refilled and asked us periodically if we needed anything.
I ordered a spicy creole which was a tomato based sauce with linguine that had shrimp and chicken mixed in served alongside a garlic butter bread. Portion was decent but got really full halfway through my dish because at each table comes with complimentary bread. To kill time I was just munching on it and they give you free refills when you’re out. Got full off of that! Pasta was delicious, and the spiciness was at a good level. Overall I would come back and try out their other dishes if I return to Davis!

Everything I’ve tried so far has been delicious, albeit covered in oil. Even their salads are oily!
My main grievance with this spot is their collective attitude. In the past, I had very good experiences with one server, I want to say his name was Angel, perhaps. I don’t know if that jaded me, but every other server I have had since has just been the epitome of mediocrity. Service is slow. The servers consistently forget to bring the foccacia, even though other tables get bread almost instantly.
I’m almost positive they are age (& possibly race) biased here. As a young (24-year-old)person, they will seat me at the worst table in the room, take their leisurely time with my order and «forget» the complimentary bread! A server once carded my 26-​year-​old asian-​american roommate by almost-​mockingly saying, «we check ID here» and a caucasian american, maybe not older than 28-​year-​old woman was carded next to us and I overheard the same server say, «oh, it’s just a formality, sorry!»
Long story short, don’t expect amazing service here. It’s quite sad too, because I feel as if I’d go more often if I didn’t feel so marginalized going here. But for a place that serves $ 13 and up entrées, I expect to be treated much better than I get treated at the gas station Chinese food place (spoiler alert: they’re infinitely nicer and have less oily food to boot!)

I enjoyed this place very much first of all the service was great, not to mention the waiter had patience to explain with detail the menu and provide suggestions. He suggested the fettuccine arrostiti and it was quite impressive how much flavor there is on this pasta. The calzone was freshly made and was also great.
Decided to have a drink and have to say the Jalisco Hound was the best! Tequila and a citrus blend was just right. Hands down to this drink and to this great restaurant. Will definitely come back once I return to Davis!

We went to Paesanos early Saturday evening. Sadly, I was disappointed. If you are looking for good really good pizza, this is not the place. Don’t get me wrong, the food was not bad, just mediocre. I don’t write bad reviews unless I experience several problems with either the food or service. If you read my other reviews you will see I’m not super picky or a snob.
We ordered the fried ravioli as an appetizer. I clearly told our server we would like to start with that. Our salad was brought to the table, then the appetizer halfway through the salad. As an afterthought, our server remembered our wine and brought it. My partner’s Pinot Grigio tasted like the bottle had been opened for a long time. My Barbera was good, but way to warm. The pizza was good, but had way too much sauce for my taste. All the food was under seasoned, and tasted on the flat side.
Yes, I know this place is not exactly fine dining, but it’s not exactly fast food either. The place was not busy yet, so there was really no reason for some of the issues. I will keep searching for better pizza.

Three stars is fair for alright food, alright experience, alright service, alright errthang. After three years of living here I finally tried it out tonight and I think it’s just okay. It’s definitely one of the nicer restaurants in Davis but not college budget friendly at all. This is a place where you take your parents for sure.
There was a thirty minute wait for dinner on a Wednesday night. This placed was packed with people and I’m not sure why. We ordered the polenta fries right away since that seems to be such a hit on Unilocal.I will say they were good but not amazing. I liked the sauces that came with it but I just thought they were okay. The fries were pretty bland tasting to me and desperately needed the sauce. Also shared the insalata salad and they drench the salad in dressing. Not appetizing at all but I appreciate their crisp lettuce? I guess.
For my main dish I ordered the gemelli spinaci (sp? Idk how to spell it or pronounce it) Simple garlic cream pasta with onions, bacon, spinach, other stuff, and I added chicken since he offered. The chicken was an additional $ 3. The pasts was really tasty, although the noodles seemed hard which could be because of the type of pasta it was. Overall, my favorite of the night. It was really simple but yummy. How can you go wrong with bacon and garlic? The garlic bread was also cool.
Dessert was a fail. The waiter said the brownie would be hot but it was cold and dry and disappointing. Wouldn’t recommend.
I wouldn’t come back unless someone invited me or if my parents wanted to grab a nice dinner. Not horrible and since Italian food is limited in Davis, paesanos will have to do.

Alright so it took me a while to try this place because I’ve heard meh things about it.
However I tried a sample of their pork fusilli and I HAD TO COME BACK!
Fusilli pasta with a delicious pulled pork sauce. The sauce is sweet and savory and there is a ton of pork included. They put a dollop of sour cream I think or something but the best part is the habanero pesto on top! It adds a great kick and I ask for an extra side of it.
I also tried their polento fries and it honestly tastes like unsweetened corn bread. It was just whatever. I’m not sure if all of their food is good but the pork fusilli is worth the visit! It’s not as expensive as you think it would be for Italian and the portion is pretty good.

Decent Italian dining in Davis that’s slightly above average but honestly I’d prefer Olive Garden. This place has super slow service (every meal takes at least 1.5−2 hrs) and is not really worth a simple pasta or pizza dish.
The pasta here is well seasoned and there is a lot of salt. I’ve tried the scampi and the creole pasta, and both were good but heavy on the salt. The scampi was slightly lighter but still substantial on the sodium. The creole had a fair share of meat but was also just loaded with salt. Most of the pasta comes with a nice crisp piece of garlic bread. I also tried a piece of the mushroom pizza and it was really good– the cheese had a great melted and oozing texture and it was only slightly too oily and salty.
For a more cozey Italian experience I’d suggest Caffe Italia, but sadly for upscale this is one of the few places in Davis.

Ok came into this place because the Unilocal pictures looked really good. I called my order in to make it convenient for myself and I was told it would be ready in 15 minutes. 20 minutes later I get a parking place in front and I went in to get my food. The hostess brought me to the bar and rung me up. To my shock, the bill came out to $ 43 and some change. In my mind I was like «man that sure is expensive for two salads.» She then told me it will be ready in a few minutes. So I waited at the bar area looking over my bill. I know I ordered extra steak in my salad but they charged me another $ 7.95 for the extra steak. I also noticed there was another charge of $ 5 just for substituting the chicken to steak in the other salad order. I was not happy at this point and I just wanted to leave.
The hostess returned with my order but it was for only one salad. At this point, from the time I called my order until I got my salad, it was about 40 minutes. I told her «this one salad cost $ 43? I ordered two salads.» She went back and the manager came up to me and said she will check up on my other salad. She came back immediately and handed it to me without bagging up my order and with no utensils. So I asked her for those items and she returned and took care of bagging it up and included the utensils. I left after that as I just couldn’t muster up anymore energy to dispute the charge for these two salads.
When I got home my salad didn’t look like I had ordered extra steak. My wife’s salad looked like it had the same amount of steak I did. Bottom line is I was over charged and wasn’t given what I asked for. After receiving this type of service, the actual food I received to what I ordered/​paid for and the overall cost, I would not be returning to Paesano’s. I was better off going to Pluto’s and would still have money left over to actually go there twice.

Been here a few times with family, it’s the local Italian place to go in Davis. You walk in and usually greeted by the hostess right away and seated. It’s modern, dark wood, wood bench booths, very Italian décor and art. The ambiance is laid back, noise level is moderate.
We get seated and right away they always bring us water and gives us a little time to look over the menu as well as letting us know the evening specials. Ive had the Pineapple Mojito & Blood Orange Margarita to drink there, the Fried Ravioli, Calamari Fritti & Polenta fries are our favorite appetizers. I’ve had the Butternut Risotto and Leeks & Asparagus risotto which is usually seasonal & Paesanos ‘Stromboli’ w/​Chips is really good for meat lovers. Hubbys has BBQ blue pizza there and a mod Italian Chop salad minus Turkey, Salami and Cheeses & add Chicken & Shrimp.
We usually get really good service here with no issues and the server usually checks in on us to get us anything we need and refills.

Recently visited Paesanos with friends for my friend’s graduation celebration lunch. The environment is pretty solid with some nice decorations.
Service is pretty slow. While we were a party of 13, we had to track down our server to order our appetizers and had to wait another 15 minutes before we could get his attention again to order. He was also pretty terse with us and was barely meeting the minimum level of politeness.
I ended up ordering the Penne Roma. It was pretty bland and runny, and one of the kalamata olives in my dish had a pit in it. I think it was in the $ 10 range, but even then was too expensive for what I ordered.
The people I was with really made the experience, and the food and service was not ideal. I don’t plan on coming back, and for sure wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone else.

This is a really great place if you’re craving pasta. I’ve tried a few different ones on the menu and they were all good. The one that I enjoy the most and get most often is the Fettuccine Arrostini… blackened chicken, bell peppers in a creamy sauce with grilled buttery bread on the side. It has great flavor and the perfect amount of kick/​spice.
The service is pretty good and the wait time to be seated is almost non existent (I realized this sounded nuts after I typed it so maybe I went during off peak hours). The prices are also pretty decent. I will definitely be back again.

Absolutely everything about this place is great, the ambiance, the service, the food, the alcohol.
What a lovely evening at Paesanos. I have eaten here lots of time for lunch. And when Jeremy and I were in Woodland after our Costco shopping trip, late on a rainy Sunday evening, we were looking for something good to eat. Sorry to say, Woodland doesn’t have much in the way of decent food, a few Mexican places have four stars but that is all. So I was looking at where we could go in Davis since it’s only a 15 minute drive from Woodland. I saw Paesanos and suggested we give it a try for dinner. Jeremy wasn’t to sure about going to Davis but he decided we could do it after seeing some vegetarian choices on the menu.
We were both incredibly happy. Here it was Sunday night at almost 8 p.m. and the placed was seriously packed. The party of 8 in front of us were having to wait because every table was full. Thankfully there was a small table at the front of the restaurant, overlooking the street where we could sit and have a romantic dinner.
The food was absolutely amazing. I love a spicy pasta dish and that is exactly what I got. The fettuccine arrosititi with the pasilla chilies really warmed up my mouth and my spirit. As a matter of fact I’m eating the left overs right now while typing this the next day. Just a delicious plate of food.
Jeremy had the spaghetti squash primavera and he finished the whole plate, he said it was delicious, with lots of fresh vegetables.
I hope we have reason to be in Davis again and enjy this lovely restaurant. You shoul give it a try, you won’t be disappointed one bit. Great place for a date night.

The food was good but the service is what brought this place down. There were literally two or three couples there beside my boyfriend and me. The guy who sat us took his sweet time to take our orders even when we closed our menu and looked at him. Took him about 10 minutes to get back to us once he gave us water. It was only him and another server who walked around with a really unpleasant face which brought down the environment. She kind of stomped around everywhere. As a customer, especially one who just took her final, I want to enter a happy environment with kind servers. Not including that there weren’t many customers to begin with.
Back to the guy who waited us, he was in the bar area doing stuff and I guess that explains why he forgot about us. I’m not sure if it’s because we look young or not but the servers did not seem to take us seriously when we reached out for them. He didn’t care for our table and kept standing at the bar area. In my mind I’m thinking he should clean or do whatever in the bar but give us a waiter who is going to serve us properly. The food took quite a while around 20 minutes and we did not receive the complimentary bread and olive oil with balsamic vinegar.
Once our food came out they just left us alone for the most part. I was ok with that because their attitude and lack of customer service was unwanted. We wait an extra 10 minutes to just get our check and our things to go. It was ridiculous. The food is what made this place 3 stars but with my most recent experience I would give it 1 star.
They need to train their staff members to be more attentive to their customers whether it is a slow day or busy day. I’ve been here more than just this one time and This was the most inattentive one ever. I hope they reevaluate their staff members and go through a better customer service system.

I would not order here for takeout.
I arrived on the later end of my estimated time, gave my name to a waiter who had no problem running my card, but conveniently didn’t bother checking to see if my order was ready.
So after waiting an additional 15 minutes and asking if something was holding up my order, I find out the 3 items I saw sitting on the counter from the time of my arrival were in fact mine.
Thanks guy, I enjoy paying $ 10 – 15 a dish for cold food.
On top of lukewarm/​cold food, the spaghetti carbonara had so much butter in it that I couldn’t finish it. Lifted the pasta out of the takeout container to find a 1/​8″ thick layer of solidifying butter on the bottom. So bad I was compelled to take and share the photos below. I want my money back.

+ THE FOOD
I ordered the spicy creole pasta and it was so delicious! The garlic bread that came with the pasta was very flavorful. The pasta itself had the perfect amount of spiciness. The meats in the pasta was the winning point for me. The chicken was very juicy and well seasoned. There was also shrimp and sausage which complemented the dish nicely. I definitely would come back just for this dish alone!
+ THE ENVIRONMENT
A pretty fancy place more geared for a «upscale» dining experience. Plenty of seating but this place can get pretty crowded, even on weeknights. I definitely love the outdoor area with cute string lights above!

The food is good and somewhat fancy at a decent price. But I don’t know if it was the day, but we had really bad customer service. I’ve been here before and do not remember it being that bad.
We were seated right away, but was left there for quite a long time before even getting any water. We had to ask the hostess for our water because we noticed that people who came after us got their water and alcohol drinks. They said sorry and that the waiter will be coming.
Our waitress came a few minutes later. It was funny because she was the one waiting some tables around us (one table that came after us), looked directly at us, and looked away when we wanted to speak to someone. Anyways, we got our orders in.
They brought us a good amount of free bread and balsamic vinegar/​oil mixture. LOVE! So good. The bread is so light and flavorful and the balsamic give it another taste.
What I tried:
MODENA DI BALSAMICO. Angel haired pasta soaked in balsamic vinegar. It was pretty good. I really liked the sun dried tomatoes, but the chicken was pretty dry.
SPICY CREOLE. This pasta was my least favorite. It was spicy with some flavor. But it didn’t stand out. Maybe I just don’t like the creole sauce.
PORK FUSSILI. The BEST one of the night. I would definitely recommend this dish. It’s basically broken up pork with pasta. The pork was very tender and had so much flavor with a hint of spicy-​ness. It was seasoned perfectly. After eating my dish (since this was my friends) I had to take a small bite of this dish just so I could end my meal with the taste of it in my mouth. That’s how good it was.
During our meal, no one checked on us. No refilled water. Only until after some of us were done with our meal they took our plates and we had to ask them for water.
We got the check and realized that we were charged for wine. We didn’t order wine. This just topped off the customer service. I understand that people make mistakes, but they just kept on coming.
So, to sum up this trip. The food is 4 stars. Definitely good portions for a decent price. The service was 2 stars. Hopefully you come one a better day

Celebration continued…
In my family it has been a tradition to celebrate our Mother’s Day (and Father’s Day) on a Monday, the day after. It has been like that for many years for us. This year we decided to meet here. Party of five and we were seated immediately (this is one of the reasons we celebrate a day late (less crowded restaurants).
Included in their menu are choices of salads, pastas, pizzas, sandwiches, and calzones. They also offer seasonal specials (smoked salmon, asparagus risotto, prosciutto pizza, baby kale & prawn salad). I had the Baked Pasta and came with garlic bread. One word — Delicious! Rigatoni baked with Parmesan, cream, and bolognese sauce… simple ingredients but a flavor sensation in every bite! Our server was nice and friendly and was patient with our questions. The inside is not that big but has patio seating on nice warmer days.
Overall nice first time experience for five happy mothers. Good food and good company.