Locanda Positano

We had a reservation for 4 and they had lost the reservation. It happens. They graciously did get us a table. We had good service and we were happy with the food. One dish was very salty so do be careful if you have a sodium sensitivity. I would call and confirm reservations in the future.

Food was amazing. I ordered a special which was the Salmon. Could have been the best Salmon I’ve ever had.
Desert was an apple pie with vanilla Gelato. Mmmmmmm.
Can’t wait to go back.

I love the ambiance of this restaurant. It feels very Italian and the menu items all sound so good it was hard to decide. I ended up getting the Canneloni and i loved it. The glass of Chianti went well with the steak that was cooked perfectly. The host, Enzo was excellent. To finish the dinner i would recommend the tiramisu. Excellent.

We have been going there for a while
, although we have not really tried a lot of items on the menu, but rather stuck to those that we really liked, as we eat a lot of Italian food at home.
I am a BIG fan of their pizzas, in particular the San Daniele (with prosciutto and arugula). Their crust is just perfect!
My husband always gets the Strozzapreti pasta with sausage, peas and mushrooms. I tried to recreate it at home, but have to admit that theirs is better!

I freaking love this place. They have somehow managed to balance a modern hip Italian ristorante with homestyle Italian food with thoughtful twist at a reasonable price. I knew I was going to have great meal the moment I was greeted by a stellar server with a heavy Italian accent who clearly knew his stuff. The manager also came around to ensure everything was up to standard.
Calamari was crispy without being over breaded or oily, lets the ingredients speak for itself, superb and a rare quality. Kale salad was decent but a bit of a miss. The Fuji apples with raisins made it too sweet for my taste and to needs some vinaigrette for balance. Lasagna, Sofia Loren pizza and tiramisu were all amazing in their own way. The brick oven stove is used very well here and it shows. I will make it a point to come back next time I am around the area, it is truly my kind of place

Consistently delicious with great seasonal and local offerings. A great place to meet friends for dinner and cocktails.

A very good Italian restaurant, with great service and a well rounded menu.
What else do you need to know really?
Minus a star because the pizza my partner in crime got, seemed to have been sliced before the toppings were put on, which made for very awkward eating.

I came to Locanda for a belated birthday dinner. We arrived at 5 – 5:30 ish and beat the rush. We ordered the Daniele pizza + prosciutto on GF crust (one of us is gluten sensitive) to share as an appetizer, a bottle of the Barbera, and I had the lasagna with bolognese. That combination was perfect! In addition to the complimentary bread (with pretty damn good roasted garlic tapenade) the GF crust was also one of the better ones I’ve had– still chewy with an outer crunch and the additional seasonings are chili oil and red pepper flakes. The lasagna is huuuuuuuuge and that sauce, MMmMmmmmh. I was too full to finish because it’s a big slice. I totally finished it 2 hours later after I got home. Rounding up the meal with a slice of tiramisu and coffee was a good ending.
Service is very attentive, generous, and polite. Ambiance is ideal for dates, it’s a little dim.

That pizza crust! Must. Try. Nutella Calzone.

I pray for Italy that this isn’t what authentic pizza is supposed to taste like. If it is, give me the fake stuff anytime. I ordered the plainest possible one (Margherita) and it was the most salty/​sour pizza that’s ever come in contact with my tongue. Totally mediocre and ordinary in every other way, except price of course ($ 16 after tax/​tip — and that’s just for lunch). I boxed the 2/​3rds I couldn’t stand to eat and gave away the slices to random people in my office; their opinions mirrored mine.
I’m giving a second star on the assumption that something here is edible.

Indulgence with pizza, ingredients feel and taste fresh and everything we ordered was delicious.
We came here for lunch; Expect to spend $ 20 p.p. without wine and a great place to have lunch or even dinner.

Good food, & such a great welcoming family environment. The staff are all so nice. I’ll be back!

Great experience, delicious food, exceptional service.
Some reviewers seem miffed about the wait to get your dinner. No, they don’t have food sitting under a heat lamp, so don’t be surprised if your fresh, amazing meal takes a while. (If you can’t wait for fresh, great-​quality food, then maybe try Pasta Pomodoro?)
We ordered appetizers, so we weren’t hungry waiting for dinner, and the staff apologized a few times for the waiting time for our entrees. It wasn’t a problem at all. Everything was delicious, and I highly recommend this place. The sea salted caramel gelato was even amazing.

A veggie presto pasta is great! Dessert very tasty too. Haven’t been to San Carlos for some time and really good feel of the downtown streets.

I enjoyed our whole meal here. This place is super super cute and up my alley with bright décor and lots of carbs. The food doesn’t seem incredibly different or unique from other restaurants with similar themes but I would be happy to come back here and enjoy more pizza and wine on their patio!

Went for a work lunch with my team.
On the pricy side for lunch, but the food quality was pretty good.
I had the seafood risotto, well cooked.
The nutella-​donuts-​style dessert was pretty heavy, but I kind of asked for it I guess.
Overall a pretty nice experience.

Look, the food here is great, but the time it takes to get to you is so slow.
We came here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon and there were only 3 tables occupied. My wife and I ordered the tripe as an appetizer and the sciatelli as the main entrée.
15 minutes after we ordered, they tell us they’re out if tripe. No big deal, we get the salad instead. After eating our salad, we waited another solid 20 minutes before asking the waiter where our food was. Took another 10 for the food to come out.
If it takes this long to serve three tables, I can’t imagine how long it takes on a busy night.

I would not recommend for a group/​corporate outing. Rude waitress, very slow service… terrible impression.
I’m embarrassed that I even suggested this place. I know what happened wasn’t my fault, but if Doc Brown were here right now I’d go back in time and pick a different spot for our team lunch. The blonde waitress snapped at my BOSS — Locanda Positano is lucky that I’m not the boss because if I were, I would’ve grabbed my team and hightailed it right out of there.
I called days ahead of time to reserve a mid-​weekday lunch for 12 people, specifically asking the girl on the phone if they could accommodate 12 and she said it was «no problem».
There were literally four people in the restaurant not part of our party, place wasn’t busy at all. We ordered calamari as an appetizer, 3 for the group. About 15 minutes after taking our orders the waitress comes by and tells the people who ordered the the steak off the menu that they are out of that cut, and that it was replaced with ribeye. She also said that she understood if anybody wanted to revisit the menu. Most people were like yea whatever just gimme my steak, however my boss wanted to change her order and super politely said «I’d like to take a second look at the menu please». I WISH I was kidding but the waitress ROLLED HER EYES and said «Really?» and stomped off to get one. Like why’d you even ask then? It was SO rude, the second she walked away half of us turned to my boss and was like OMG I cannot believe she treated you like that! Probably one of the sweetest women you will ever meet, my boss ended up not changing her order due to this little snafu.
We waited for about 40 minutes for the calamari to come out. We were surprised at how long it took but were trying to stay positive/​upbeat because unlike the waitress, we are nice people. Another 20 minutes later our entrees still had not arrived, so a member of our party asked the waitress when the food would be out and she abruptly said, «ITS COMING» and walked away. I was appalled. Another 20 minutes after that all of our dishes came and here’s the nice part — food was very very good, and good on its own, not just because we were waiting for it for almost an hour and a half. Oh, and the tapenade is excellent as well.
Usually on our group outings every person orders dessert, but with the rude waitress and a one and a half hour wait with no updates from the waitress just some attitude, we grabbed dessert from SusieCakes next door and didn’t even bother ordering from the restaurant.
I am still so disappointed. I waited a month to write this because I wanted to cool down, but writing it I am just so bewildered that we were treated this way. If you have somebody to impress, don’t bring them to Locanda Positano because they will embarrass you.

3 stars for the food. 4+ stars for the wait staff. I round down due to the weighting I give to the food.
The food was okay, but I think I might try this again because other parts of the dining experience were very strong.
I had the Spaghetti Carbonara, and I have had better. I will admit my standards for this dish are a little high after being recently in Italy for 2 weeks, but the bacon they used did not work for me, and the overall flavor was just okay. The fried egg on top was a little surprising, but I assume they do this to be a little creative/​unique (which I like). My wife had the Sofia Loren pizza and while i thought it was pretty good she was not too wild about it. The free Tiramisu (thank you Unilocal check-​in) was decent.
The wait staff were great. Two of the waiters from Italy were very warm, hospitable, and enthusiastic. It would be hard to ask for more.

**SOLID ITALIAN EXPERIENCE IN SAN CARLOS**
Good place to meet 5 girlfriends here for a lovely Italian dinner.
Enzo, the owner from Naples, took care of us graciously.
AMBIANCE
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Sleek space with contemporary furnishings.
Not overly upscale, but arrive dressy.
Good mix of older couples, families, and dates.
Even when it’s half full, it’s very noisy.
FOOD
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MARGHERITA PIZZA
Surprisingly good with high quality Mozzarella cheese and a soft crust. The quality shows. Having been to Italy, I thought it was above-​average, but not mind blowing.
RATING: ⁴⁄₅
SPAGHETTI CARBONARA
Bit too lumpy for me. Like curdled eggs.
I’m not a purist so I like a splash of cream.
RATING: 3.5÷5
TIRAMISU
A bit of a downer because some people raved about this dessert.
Lacked flavor. Almost too light and bland.
RATING: ³⁄₅
BEVERAGE
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SPRITZ
They did this right with Aperol. Perfect on a hot day.
RATING: ⁵⁄₅
PRO TIP
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Unilocal check-​in for free tiramisu dessert!
OVERALL
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Liked the owner and the Italian staff. Friendly vibes and the food was decent.
No bad for San Carlos.
RECOMMEND Italian dining in San Carlos.