Capellini

Never again… Came here for Mother’s Day and very disappointed. They get 2 stars because waiter was nice other than that 1 star. Started off good with drinks but then fell apart from there. Was waiting and waiting for our dinner. Somehow they lost our order. So we waited and waited even longer. Manager came over apologized and said desert and second round of drinks were on them. Food FINALLY came out. My big noodle and meat sauce was very bland. Daughters chicken Parmesan not so good. Got food to go. Got check and we were charged for desert. They said they only meant second round of drinks not other. Was not worth the headache. Already there 2 hours. I’m sure others opinions might be better but this is ours from our first and last time

First off, I’m not really a fan of Italian in the first place, I’m ridiculously picky when it comes to sauces and my taste buds lean to the sweet side. Anyway, I used to come here all the time with my ex and I’d get the same thing — salmon with couscous. But its a new year, time for change and so I got brave and ordered the tortelloni al prosciutto. I probably shouldn’t have done that. Maybe it was the peas that just didn’t do it for me, or maybe it’s because the pasta had a weird consistency, but I wasn’t really too thrilled about it.
The champagne was really good though. Had a glass of Taittinger. Cant go wrong with that

Sometimes you’re just happy you didn’t get diarrhea…
I gave 2 stars because it wasn’t total garbage, but not my cup of tea. They did have a decent wine list.
The Food: items here were overly prepped in advance. I got my entrée with side potatoes that were completely dry. I couldn’t event eat them, they were just gross… kinda like I was eating the leather from an old boot.
The Ambiance: This place has old school charm. Its dark, and kinda romantic. Lots of older couples around us, like in their 50’s and over. Not a young happening spot.
The Service: Dated.
The Prices: Too high for what you get.
I get it, sometime people like the old school charm, the low lights, the waiter named Vinny at an Italian restaurant that pronounces everything in Italian the right way. But the food just sucks… so don’t bother.

Disappointing Italian experience. Hadn’t been here in about 5+ years. Was eager to visit this place again after a good initial experience years ago.
Linguine con vongole (1 stars, $ 18.95) — Pasta was terribly mushy. And the «linguine» was thick and more like fettucine — when I asked if they had made a mistake, they said that this was the thinnest their pasta machine can make. Sauce was lacking flavor. Complete bomb.
Capellini al pomodoro (3.75 stars, $ 13.95) — the capellini was pretty good with a very tasty and simple sauce. But pricey for a very simple pasta.
Service was nice enough, nothing memorable.
Bottom line: Maybe I happened to pick the worst thing off the menu, but I won’t be back. If you call something «linguine», please actually offer real linguine and not try to pass something else for it. And it’s a disgrace if you are an Italian place and so horribly overcook your pasta.

This is a good, solid place, a classic. I have a feeling it will be here long after all the newer, triender Italian joints (Osteria Coppa, Vespucci) have gone. Food is so much better than Coppa, I really wonder why people go there. Still, the best things on Capellini’s menu still tend to be the pizzas.
I would say that their pastas are good, solid, hearty affairs, but not exceptional. The service, ambiance, and presentation are all consistently excellent.

Definitely not the same restaurant I remember. Years ago this was a solid place
to eat. I usually started off with the bruschetta, then get the veal and finish off with some tiramisu. But now… the quality and service are just disappointing. My last experience was just very unpleasant. Not coming back.

This place was pretty good. Went here for a business lunch on a Monday. It’s nicely decorated and lots of windows. We were seated by the open kitchen which I actually enjoyed. The wait staff was friendly and efficient. Now on to the food.
We ordered several appetizers which were quite interesting. The first was the calamari. It was cooked nicely on the inside, just wasn’t expecting it to be in a tempura batter, still, it was ok. The sauce it came with lacked flavor, however. We also ordered the carpaccio. It was slice super thin like I liked it but again, lacked a little flavor. I’m not sure of the cut of beef they used but it was a little paler (is that a word?) than I was expecting. It came with a horseradish mustard, capers and shallots but the capers provided no flavor, which is weird to say about capers. The same goes for the shallots. The mustard was good so it sort of made up for it.
For my entrée, I had the sole. It was eh. I was dipped in egg wash and sautéed. To me, all I could taste was egg, which was not what the flavor I was hoping for. The lemon butter sauce again lacked flavor. The green beans however rocked out loud.
Overall, this place is ok. Not somewhere I would drive all the way from the east bay for but not a bad choice if I was really hungry.

Maybe 5 – 10 years ago I would have given this restaurant 4 or 5 stars. Their veal and steak dishes were just excellent and my family would have huge gatherings and events downstairs at this restaurant several times a year. Pricing was a little expensive, but reasonable for quality of food and portions.
Recently I came on a whim (I haven’t been back since leaving for college), and service, food went down and pricing went up. I won’t be returning even though I have fond memories at this place. Used to be my favorite italian place, but there are much better options for better prices in the area.
Disappointing.

Came here for a late dinner after work. I’ve been wanting to try this place since I’ve been craving some really good lasagna and I heard their calamari was insanely good. Upon walking in, there was a curtain blocking the entrance… I guess it’s to set the atmosphere for more privacy. Honestly, the curtain kind of scared me… I thought the restaurant was closed or they were going under renovations. We were seated and we ordered. Our server was very nice and suggested this beautiful wine pairing. At first I was skeptical since it was a red wine and we were having clam linguine and lasagna, but it paired fairly well (:
Pear salad: this blew my mind. everything harmonized so well together and I just wanted more of it. I’m completely anti-​bleu cheese… but interestingly enough, the one they used for this salad was so creamy and tasty! ⁵⁄₅
The calamari: thickest fattest cut I’ve ever seen, very light and tasty batter ⁵⁄₅
Clam Linguine: tasted on point although I thought it was a bit on the lukewarm side, portions are smaller than I imagined ⁴⁄₅
Lasagna: Pretty darn good except I had higher expectations. I didn’t end up finishing it, and the next morning when I ate it cold… it tasted even better… awkward but a nice surprise. haha 3.5÷5
Panna Cotta: ³⁄₅ Typical
Zabaglione: ⁵⁄₅ First time trying this dessert. I don’t have any other experience to compare it to but I definitely liked this a lot!!! I didn’t want to drink any more wine after because I didn’t want to ruin the taste in my mouth
**I really wanted to try their crème brûlée… unfortunately, they were out):

I came here for an alumni event that was held downstairs. The had a veggie/​cheese/​meats plate, bruschetta, and this amazing cheese flatbread. The bruschetta was okay– the bread was a little too crispy and not as chewy for my liking, but still yummy. I, along with everyone else there, couldn’t get over how delicious the flatbread was! It tasted like ricotta and mozzarella (probably some other cheeses too) and was reallly good.
Would I come back? I’d probably go check out their lunches some day, or just go there for alumni events! :)

We mainly came because they had a reservation available for 7 on the same evening, which I did appreciate. All the food was fine, but nothing was outstanding. I had the lasagna which was heavy but tasty — I ended up bringing half home. The ravioli was ok as well. However, I did end up liking the strawberry shortcake dessert quite a bit — it was described as having black pepper in it, but it was barely noticeable (for better or worse). When everything was added up, it ended up being more expensive than I had anticipated, which was disappointing. Not bad, but we’ll try other places.

I have eaten here a few times, and been satisfied every time.
Several times have been for work events, where they have had to deal with large groups coming in, and getting everyones meals exact and on time. They have been very good in paying attention to details and everyone has been satisfied.
I have also come in and ate at the bar, had drinks, and chatted. I have found the environment to be warm and inviting, the food to be generous in portions, and the bartender to be friendly. While the wine list is a little lacking, I can’t complain too much, as it’s not the first thing I come in here for. If you are looking for a unique place in San Mateo that is reasonably priced, has a quaint environment, and you can relax and enjoy a decent Italian meal in – this could be it.

ok, maybe it was an off night. Went here for New Years dinner. The service was AMAZING! Great, Great, Great… from the hostess to the waiter, the servers, wow wow wow. But the food??? I ordered duck with pasta, some fancy Italian name. It was a small bowl and tasted like something I threw together at home in 15 minutes when I am too tired to cook. The pasta, was wide noodles, that were kind of sticky, with what tasted like a duck (?) suasage and some tomatoe sauce thrown in.
I ordered a drink which was very well made. Seems like there are other very good evaluations, so I might go back.
Nice ambiance.

The restaurant is pretty unique, the décor is different.
Parking is street parking not to hard to find and the walk is nice to this place. It’s really close to Tpumps.
I decided to take my friend here for his birthday. The host in the front was really sweet. Although I could have been sneakier I asked her if they did anything for birthday and yes they do. It’s not very big gesture but it was something. It’s a very light and fluffy cake. They just put a candle on it. You do have to pay for the cake though. The host did remember to tell the waiter and so I didn’t have to remind them. They prepped everything and knew when to bring it to the table. Very prepared.
The waiter was nice and was able to give us some recommendations. We ordered the smoked salmon pizza and that was super good. It was light to the palate. Not too salty either. We also ordered the lasagna which he said was what many people ordered. It’s was full of favors and super tasty! Baked and came out hot so you know it had to be made. They also brought cheese and sprinkled it on top. Also gave us chilly flakes on the side. That was in a bowl and not a shaker which I liked.
Overall this a nice place for big groups to a date. Like pizza come and try this place!
Noise level was good. We did go during lunch so not as filled as it would be for dinner.

My girlfriend and I were starving and decided to give this restaurant a try for take out. We got two orders of the tortellini al prosciutto. We were a little surprised to see that the total for 2 pasta dishes was $ 40, but at that point it didn’t really matter so we paid and took the food home.
There were literally 10 pieces of tortellini in each dish, and on top of that the restaurant charges a 10% «packaging charge» for takeout. I e-​mailed the manager and received no response. It’s a shame how some business fail from start to finish.
I took a picture of the pathetic looking takeout dish, which is somewhere among the rest of the pictures for this restaurant.

So one of the interns at my company grew up in this area and used to work here. Ive walked by it tons of times but never made it in. One day while trying to go to another restaurant which was closed, we headed in here. Not many places open on Monday around these parts but Capellini was packed at at 8pm we had to wait 15 min. We were seated in the back under the upstairs dining room. Holy cow this place is big. When I went to the restroom I found they had a huge downstairs too. This might be one of the largest restaurants I’d been to.
After perusing the menu we decided to hit up two of the housemade pastas, the spaghetti&meatballs and ravioli. We also shared the antipasto platter to start. My first problem here was the antipasto platter is assembled beforehand and left on a plate plastic wrapped in the fridge. It comes out stone cold and some of the wrap was still clinging to the bottom. The quality of the meats and cheeses were fine it was just served at the wrong temp and basically killed the taste. For $ 16+ dollars that’s a buzzkill. The pastas were fairly solid. The meatball however was super dense, also probably pre formed way ahead of time and over worked. The staff were decently friendly and I believe they mean well but I think of all the Italian places to be had up and down the peninsula, they could be doing a lot more things a la minute that would make the quality a lot higher.

I love Ristorante Capellini. Really, what’s not to love? The service is always excellent, the food fresh, the wine list unique and the atmosphere romantic. Hubby and I sit at the cooking bar (not to be confused with the alcohol bar) and watch the masters at work. Whatever is ordered is made in the view of anyone who cares to watch the cooks. I like that.
Although every dish we’ve had here has been good, the stand-​out are the calzones. If there is an Italian food heaven on earth, it lives inside these calzones. From the crusty dough outside to the blend of herbs, spices, sauce, cheese and meat on the inside, their calzones are to die for. Love, love, love them!!!
For a few casual appies, try the bruschetta, carpaccio or the caprese. Okay, so it’s the usual, generic appies for an Italian restaurant, but they taste good, so why not?
TIP: Park over at the train station and have a nice stroll up the street before and after dinner. It’s a good way to burn those calories!

This is our family’s «go to» Italian restaurant.
Cesear salad is good.
LAMB CHOP is good, expensive at $ 40.
everything else is just okay, nothing SUPER impressive except the two above. note — if you are used to SF style Italian restaurants, this is not as «done up» how the food is served. It’s not divey at all, just simple.

Came here for a surprise Bday party. I believe the owner (she was super nice) of the restaurant greeted us and seated us as well. We were seated on the top floor overlooking the main floor of the restaurant. It was a nice spot, but gets a little warm. This place is huge! There are 3 floors in all. Nice décor, great looking bar, open kitchen, tall ceilings from the main floor.
We ordered bruschetta (big portions), Fried Calamari (nice twist with lemon zest in the batter — but a little too much batter). I ordered up the Gnocchi Bolognese (meat sauce was nice, and gnocchi was fresh /​hand made). My wife ordered up the calamari steaks (nice and tender). The kids shared a nice thin crust sausage and mushroom pizza. The salmon, and racks of lamb seemed popular for the rest of our party… Service was very friendly, but the food was very slow coming out of the kitchen…
My only complaint was the pace that the food came to the table (kind of ruined it for us). Although, we had a large party, the main floor didn’t seem too crowded to cause such delays. I would think twice about coming back, even though the service was friendly… Perhaps it would be better for smaller tables on the main floor?

I really like the atmosphere here. When I walked in, it reminder me of a warm and friendly old style restaurant. There were lots of wood, panels and carved, lots of chandeliers, very high ceiling and an old fashion wooden bar.
I was greeted promptly and seated. Water and bread were brought to the table right away. The bread seemed a little stale, but the virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar did the trick.
I ordered their pear salad and the chicken pizza. The salad was excellent, the greens were fresh, the pear was just ripe and they had put in just the right amount of dressing!
Besides the grilled chicken, the pizza also came with mushroom, artichoke hearts and onions. Even though our waiter said it only came in one small size, it was actually quite big and it was cut up into 6 decent slices. The crust was thin and crunchy, the toppings were tasty (btw, this is a non-​tomato sauce pizza) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Have to come back and try their pasta.