Baci Ristorante Lounge

Went here for my bday dinner with the fam a week before the restaurant closed and I am sad to see it go. The restaurant had a lot of potential as there are very few nice sit down restaurants in the area. But as soon as we walked in, we were a little skeptical about the place because it was cold as a cave, WTF!!! They said their heater system was out and they had a couple of those heat dishes around the restaurant. Little did we know, they were going to close down for good in a week, so that pretty much explains why there main heating system in the building was not fixed. It was really sad as there were not much patrons in there as well. But other than that, the servers were great. They were very accommodating and informative and the food was great. I ordered the Ravioli and I must say, it’s the best Ravioli I’ve had so far. Also their gelato was really good.
As least I was able to give this place a try. Good luck to who ever takes over this spot, as it is a pretty good location, right next to the Empress Theater.

Oh my gosh, I had no idea!
Still can’t believe it.

I am sad to say the Baci’s in no longer… closed it’s doors as on 1÷1÷09
They will be missed in the area!!!

RIP, Baci. The «Cuban» restaurant that took its place is forgettable.
–Original Review–
I love Baci – the food is usually a perfect balance of taste and texture and the drinks strong and exquisite. The staff is usually attentive, though on an exceptionally busy night it can be a little frazzled (but who can’t?). The grand bar is beautiful and owner Alice and her mom created the decorations and the restaurant’s huge curtains by hand.

It would seem that third time’s a charm and I finally am poised to review Baci. My wife and I first heard of this place when we were living in Southern California and my mother-​in-​law sent us a review from the Contra Costa Times. We’ve always seen the huge potential for revival and gentrification in Vallejo so we were pleased to see this new upscale restaurant sprouting downtown. I remain optimistic that we’ll have our own mini-​version of a gourmet ghetto in Vallejo sometime by 2015… Only time will tell.
In any case, we first dined here around my birthday this year and we consumed way too many drinks at the bar prior to dinner. The bartender made me a «Chocolate Cake», an awesome drink that’s served like a shot and, while clear in consistency, tastes exactly like a liquid form of a chocolate cake. We’ve had the opportunity to imbibe a few times here at Baci and I can assure you that the bartender has always been fabulous. This is a great place to unwind for Happy Hour!
Now to the dinner review: my wife and I just had dinner here last night and I ordered the rack of lamb, which was delectable. Served medium rare with a beautifully colorful presentation, the meat was accompanied by a yummy polenta and some fresh roasted vegetables. My wife had the rigatoni which she said were fabulous even though she wasn’t very hungry and ended up taking most home in a to-​go box. All in all, Baci is a very welcome addition to Vallejo and the few times that we’ve come here we’ve always left in joyful mood.
Baci from Vallejo,
David O
PS: Baci means kisses in Italian

This place has definitely got to be the most elegant dining Vallejo has to offer by far. It’s decent. The food was delicious and the presentation, beautiful.
I had their spinach salad with pears, walnuts, gorgonzola, and dried cranberries. It was great. I also ordered their ravioli with filled with cheese and veggies with a brown butter and sage sauce, walnuts, and spinach on top. Yum. I had enough to take home and I think the raviolis were almost better the second day! The raspberry Italian soda I had was good.
The price is decent and fair for the food and portions.
It’s decorated cute and I’d love to get coffee in the café next door some day. It look cozy with the couches and all homemade pastries.
They are losing 2 stars for a couple of things… The area makes me scurrrred! State streets of Vallejo. Eep! Watch your back.
Also, the service was good, but incredibly SLOW. I don’t blame the waitress… I think they just need to hire more people. She was serving most of the restaurant herself.
And, last, but not least. The live jazz. I LOVE me some live jazz. Unfortunately, I like GOOD jazz. The upright bass was awesome as was the guitarist. Unfortunately, the drummer was horrible — couldn’t keep a steady beat and didn’t play the right style to go with the (recognizable) songs. (You can thank my drummer husband for making me picky. Both of us were squirming through each set thanks to the drummer).
I’d go back again. And I really want to try the other restaurant owned by the same guy — China Wok across the street. How random is that? Italian and Chinese food by the same owner… Ha!

I had my birthday brunch with family here on a Sunday. Though they didn’t have my reservation on the books, it didn’t make a difference because it was completely empty. But that’s ok, my family tends to be a tad loud anyway (ha).
Our server was great. Entertaining and helpful, he made the dining experience so enjoyable that I cannot wait to go back.
It’s a classy little spot with good food, good service, and an overall gem of a place for Vallejo.

A friend and I came here for brunch on Sunday… and it was completely empty! It actually was really nice since we didn’t have to talk over anybody/​anything, but I hope it isn’t empty that often. I wouldn’t want one of the only Vallejo (which has officially been ruled bankrupt recently… score!) restaurants worth going to to close!
They offer mini scones and muffins, and they were great. I wish we each could’ve gotten more than one. It was funny trying to order off the menu (
) since everything is pretty much in Italian. I felt like ordering by numbers like I do at every Vietnamese/​Chinese/​Thai restaurant I usually go to. We had the Caesar Insulata and Calamari for appetizers. We were almost full by that time. I had the Eggs Benedict and my friend had the Spinach Omelet. Both were good, but she said mine was better =P If we knew there was going to be that much food, I think we would’ve stuck with just ordering entrees. However, mo’ food, mo’ betta, so I’m not complaining!
We ordered coffee after. The coffee wasn’t bad, but her latte wasn’t anything impressive. Other than that, it was a great experience, and I’m happy to tack on another star to my previous review.

Who would have though that such a nice and classy place could be found in the heart of Vallejo’s heritage district? Well, the hubby and I went here twice for some Italian, and though I was not too impressed with the pasta dishes, I did however enjoy the desserts especially the presentation and the calamari appetizer which we both thought was pretty darn good, especially the sauces for dipping them. Later we discovered this little italian gem is owned by the same folks who run our favorite Chinese place, China Wok, I mean what a coincidence really? Overall it’s a nice romantic spot to go for dinner with a date, or just grab some dessert and drinks at the bar while enjoying some free jazz on the weekend nights.

woowee! FINE italian dining without the cheap-​o faux tuscan décor and so-​so non-​authentic quality served up by the olive garden! i don’t venture out into the vtown too much, so i actually got my entire family lost while getting there (despite the GPS system in my family’s car, yes). but for future reference, it’s right next door to the empress theatre.
my family dined at baci for the first time last night to celebrate father’s day. it was amazing! who knew there was such a gem in the bankrupt glory of vallejo?!
to start, we ordered the fried calamari, fettunta (3 thick slices of a nice, soft rustic bread) with gorgonzola and proscuitto, and the cozze trifolati (mussels). the warm-​up bread they served was pretty good. thick, hearty, and rustic. served with oil and balsamic vinegar. i had the insalata caprese as my entrée. the family ordered the ravioli, gnocchi, risotto (special), pork spare ribs, jumbo shrimp skewers, and a bottle of some nice italian wine. everyone loved everything! oooooh, yummola! seriously, if reading the menu on baci’s website does not prompt you to start drooling straightaway, then don’t even bother going because it’s too good for you.
the service was spot-​on.
it was a father’s day dinner with a force to be reckoned with!

I feel like i’m being a little generous but I’m so damn happy to find a place like this in downtown Vallejo that I’ll give it them happy bump to four stars.
It’s a nice airy room with good high ceilings so that it feels like a big space I’ve gone with my partner and our 3-​year-​old and we’ve always gotten great service. The full bar does a good job with the standard cocktails. And the food is very good.
But the menu. Well, it just isn’t all that interesting. I mean the dishes are solid standbys but it doesn’t really feel like there is anything on that is trying to surprise or delight. It’s okay with me to have an off-​dish if that dish is trying to be something. This menu lacks the dish that is trying to lift above standard, sturdy Italian fare.
Parking is good (it’s downtown Vallejo, for the love of God, that’s a little like saying «water’s wet») and, now that the Empress has reopened, it has the making of a sweet little date night restaurant.

I’ve been to Baci twice and I enjoyed both visits.
FIRST VISIT:
After a day of pampering in Calistoga, my friends and I went there for more drinks after closing down the bar at the Front Room :-D The bartenders were friendly, awesome and knew their drinks — alcoholics and non-​alcoholics.
Chris made me a couple of drinks that I’ve never had before. Since it was my birthday, he gave me a Birthday Cake shot and it was sooooo good! I didn’t know which martini I was in the mood for that night so he just gave me any martinis and they were all awesome.
Plenty of parking across the street — not well lit, but it’s parking. The bar area was kept clean and the glasses, etc. were very clean as well.
SECOND VISIT:
I took my oldest sister to Baci for brunch and we both enjoyed it! Corey (?) was professional, attentive and knowledgeable of everything on the menu.
We started off with coffee and mimosas, blueberry and morning glory muffins and calamari. We’re both coffee drinkers and the only bad thing about his visit is that Corey had to keep coming back to refill our coffee and we would’ve preferred that he left the whole pot at our table :-)
For our entrees, we had the Frittata di Salsiccia e Peperone Arrosto and the Crespelle con Banana, Nocciole e Cioccolato. They were generous with their servings and both entrees were delicious and very well presented.
This time we parked right in front and we beat the rush because after we arrived, the crowd started pouring in.
I love this place and for the snob that I am as far as fine dining experiences, I never expected to have a local place to come pretty close to my taste.

Sunday brunch in Vallejo… yes, it does exist. In this very desolate and under-​developed, old town — side of Vallejo, exists a very cute, warm, and charming restaurant with a caffe attached to it.
Sadly, when we walked in at 11:30am, the only other patrons were a couple, who seemed very delighted by their meal and after they left, I think only one other person straggled in for Sunday Brunch… which by the way I think is Stupendous!
Yes, my glass of water had lipstick still on it as did my fiancé’s coffee cup, and the server was a bit on the slow side, given we were the only one’s in the restuaurant… but everything that came out of that kitchen was great!
We started off with the calamari which was accompanied with a marinara sauce and also some fried pickled italian veggies (i.e. carrots, peppers) and that was great~!!
I had their eggs benedict which had a slight twist on it, with the smoked salmon instead of canadian bacon. The biscuit it was on was a bit too dense for my taste, so I just cut it in half. The frittattas were on point, my sister and fiancé had the spinach/​gorgonzola and my brother in law had the italian sausage.
Our Grand mimosas were «grand» indeed! What made them grand was some Grand Marnier which made our bubbly even more delicious! The bloody mary, was spicy, had a great vodka kick, but the presentation was lackluster. Geez, I mean at least put a celery stalk in it!
Dessert, yes, we had room for dessert, and our chocolate soufflé was totally on point. Their sorbets were delicious! The pear basil was light and refreshing…
I do recommend sharing as their portions are huge! I hope more people frequent this restaurant, because their Sunday brunch seemed pretty dead…

I’m giving Baci 4 Stars because it’s the nicest place I’ve ever been to in Vallejo. It was a nice little surprise downtown. Service was very friendly, but the restaurant was under staffed for dinner. Food was plated beautifully and while some aspects of dishes were great, most of it was mediocre.
We came on a Monday night and I assume with the way business is in Downtown Vallejo, management didn’t feel a need to be fully staffed. Still, there was only 3 people (a server, busser, and bartender) and 1 manager on staff, which was definitely not enough to entertain the house. Our server had 7 tables and one table of 20 in a private room so she was stretched really thin. Our busser was very helpful when our server was no where to be found.
We started with the Trinita di Bruschetta. The parmesan white bean purée was absolutely delicious, while the other two bruschettas were merely okay. This was served by the FOH manager, who was very nice.
My husband had the Spaghetti con Polpette e Pomodoro. Aside from the pasta being cooked perfectly, there wasn’t much else special about this dish. It was a fairly straight forward traditional spagetti and meatballs.
My dish — the Ravioli di Porcini — was unique. When I read the description I didn’t figure it would have so much broth. It was kinda like a ravioli soup with a crapload of parmesan. The server went to town on my plate with the parmesan. I enjoyed it even though it wasn’t what I expected.
We didn’t have enough room for dessert since we filled up on bread during the long period of time between our appetizer and dinner. By the way, the bread is awesome here! I did see a few that looked very interesting. I’ll come back to try dessert another day.

Unilocal saves the day again. I Never, ever would have found this Vallejo jewel without Unilocal.My husband and I went Saturday night and we were in love from the moment we walked in. Wonderful, airy space, just elegant enough to feel like a «night out», but not too high end. I wore jeans and heels and a nice sweater and was dressed perfectly.
Everything we ate, from bruschetta to salad (really excellent Spinach and Gorgonzola salad. Super, super dressing.) to pastas to dessert was so delicious.
Great service, too. My husband ordered the Orechiette, and it was very well made, but it was a bit too spicy for him. Our server was so gracious, got him another dish very quickly and wasn’t even nasty about it. The owner also came to our table to apologize for the dish, which he absolutely did NOT need to do because the dish was well-​made, but the gesture was so appreciated.
We are going to go again soon and I recommend other Unilocalers do, too. Vallejo doesn’t have enough nice, quality places to eat. Let’s do what we can to help those owners who are trying to bring some life back to downtown.

I decided to write a review on Baci Ristorante after visiting several times as I would hate to write a «biased» review just by going there once. Below are my «findings»:
The location of Baci is conveniently located in Downtown Vallejo, right next to the Empress Theatre. Finding parking is definitely not a problem. (1 star)
Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable; I asked questions like how was the food prepared, what was so special about the «daily special», comparison of different entrees, etc. Our servers were able to answer my questions without the slighest hesitation. (1 star)
Food was truly delicious and yummy. I’ve had steak and duck breast and a few other entrees in the past and EVERY entrée was delicately prepared and nicely presented. I was so impressed by the quality of food! The dessert, Flan Frangelico (something like that) is my favorite dessert and I JUST LOVE IT!!! (1 star)
For fine dining, the price is definitely reasonable for the quality of food you get. (1 star)
The owners of Baci make you feel at home. (1 star)
Overall, I think it is getting more and more difficult to find a restaurant that comprises of all of the above that I just mentioned. Baci Ristorante is definitely THE ONE and that’s why it deserves a 5 star rating by me!

PROS: Good food, great location (parking lot across the street and theater next door), great interior, great service, decent prices.
CONS: Not blown away by the food — but 95% of the menu still untasted.

This place is awesome! Vallejo has needed this type of place for a long time. Located in downtown Vallejo, Baci has a large open dining room that is comfortable even when all of the tables are filled. The menu has great variety, from pasta dishes, to duck, to fish, and the food is excellent from appetizer to dessert! The wine list is quite impressive and had many options from around the globe.
This is the place to go for a great evening meal in Vallejo. You no longer have to leave the city (to Napa, SF, or any other direction) to go out for a nice evening.
They have a smaller café next door that looks great, which I still need to check out.

Thank you to the owners! The owners, by the way, are great… the service alone is worth five stars. They actually — wait for it — care about their customers! The waiter was really sweet — even when my someone was being a total pain but even she could only find three things to complain about 1-​the furniture smelled new 2-​she was not digging the plaza décor 3-​the wine list sucked but she is kind of a wine snob (note nothing about food or service because there is nothing to complain about)
Just go and see what I mean… its worth it! And the bar is so cute…
Just go and you will see what I mean.
Do I sound like a broken record? Well that’s because I don’t want a really great restaurant not surviving in Vallejo because it went unrecognized! Sorry I get carried away sometimes…

It’s about time! A «nice» restaurant in Vallejo!
I have eaten here once for lunch and once for dinner and both times I have enjoyed Baci very much. Both times, I dined with a group of 5 and everyone raved about their meal. The service was also wonderful both times and the owner stopped by to check on us as well.
Maybe Baci is more expensive than the average restaurant in Vallejo, but at least you are getting what you pay for.
Baci is the only place in Vallejo I would take an out of town guest or choose as a special occasion dining experience.