Great food Very friendly staff and fast service…read morePlace looks small from outside but has enough space for large groups Definitely recommend

Food was good, nothing super special but all tasty and cooked well. Our table of 8 ordered 3 of the…read moredaily specials (spaghetti di mare, long cod and short ribs) which were all fresh and enjoyed. Staples like the chicken Marsala and linguine vongole were good as well. Prices were also very reasonable which is much appreciated these days! Best part was the service - Roberto and the bussers were lovely and attentive. Good Italian food is hit or miss on the East Bay corridor so we are happy to find a place halfway for everyone coming from Berkeley and Cupertino to have a good meal together.

Complimentary focaccia bread and spread - delicious. Love the spread…read more Beef Carpaccio- it was alright. Pasta Bolognese- our friend loved it. Butternut squash ravioli with brown butter sage - our vegetarian friend loved it. Fruiti Di Mare - a brothy noodle dish, reminded me of Bouillabaisse. I like it but my husband prefers a thicker sauce. It contained mostly mollusks, squids and shrimps I didn't see any fishes at all. The shrimps and squids were overcooked, dried and tough. It's a no no for me. Desserts: Cheesecake- not bad Chocolate Lava cake - not bad Bread pudding with Rum and Raisin - too dense and no traces of rum or raisin whatsoever. Probably our least favorite Tiramisu- delicious!!! The sauce on top was outstanding. I would return just for this.

Came here at around 6pm on Sunday no reservations and got seated right away with a party of 5. The…read morecomplementary bread was fresh and delicious my kids enjoyed it. The crab cakes were ok. Didn't really hit the spot for me. I didn't taste any crab but it wasn't bad. My kids really enjoyed the calamari. Sauces were very good as well. Everyone enjoyed their food, it came out quick and fresh . Dessert was my favorite by far. The cannoli was so fresh and creamy. Nice way to end the day for sure. $230 later we had enough left overs for tomorrow. Tip was automatically included with a party of 5. Portions are big and kid approved. Service was good and friendly. Recommend trying this place if you're in the area. Plenty of parking in downtown Hayward. Location is on a one way street, pretty easy to find. I've been driving by this place for years and it didn't disappoint.

This is a true hidden jewel sitting right here in Hayward. We ended up coming here for an…read moreafter-party dinner with our new in-laws, and the experience was top-notch. I have held several of my company Christmas Dinner parties here....excellent. If you are looking for nice dinner...or need an event venue, then can provide the entire restaurant for a party etc. Check them out. The owner/manager, Fide, is an absolute charm. She went above and beyond, ensuring there were flowers on the table and even bringing out a special tray of desserts to celebrate. As for the food, it was excellent--clean, hot, and authentic. We had the Chicken Parmesan, a fantastic Seafood Pasta, and the Eggplant, along with Bruschetta and Calamari for appetizers. The service is incredibly friendly and the prices are very fair. If you love quality Italian food, do not miss this gem."

Best Italian spot in Hayward! I love this place their food is always hot n fresh and you'll always…read morereceive the best service. The style of the restaurant is open with lots of seating I personally love sitting closes to the window. All their pastas are incredible! The Bruschetta was super fresh and they include the perfect amount of balsamic vinegar on it! Keep note there's only street parking.

I have been waiting years to visit Paradiso. From its previous location to the current one, it just…read morenever seemed to happen. But this birthday, it was absolutely meant to be! Not only did I find rock-star parking right in front, but we also had a reserved table by the window. It could not have been a more perfect birthday lunch. Parking is on the street, and spaces can be tight in that area. If you find one, snag it and be happy you did! Paradiso has a lovely menu, but I chose the $55 prix fixe lunch, which included an appetizer, entrée, and dessert. I ordered the mussels, chicken piccata, and tiramisu. The mussels were absolutely delicious. This was my first time having them in a red sauce, so I was trying to be careful because I did not want to get it all over my birthday outfit! The broth was rich, flavorful, and so good that I wished I had more bread for dipping. But I made it do what it do! The chicken piccata was also delicious, especially with all those capers. My only criticism was that the chicken breast had not been pounded thin enough. The center was very thick and reminded me more of a chicken breast prepared for a sandwich. I left that thicker portion, but the thinner, properly pounded part was amazing. I received a special birthday dessert, which I shared with my companion, so I took the tiramisu home along with my leftover chicken. Let me tell you, that tiramisu was absolutely delicious. I would return just to order it for takeout! Our table also shared the crab and avocado salad appetizer. It was beautifully presented and delicious, but at approximately $27, I did not feel it was worth the price. Then again, Paradiso is not necessarily where you go when you are overly concerned about the cost, so keep that in mind. I was also underwhelmed by the focaccia. Four pieces cost $4, and I did not think it was worth it. With a prix fixe meal, I feel the bread should have been included. One thing to be aware of is that ordering the prix fixe lunch results in a 20% automatic gratuity being added to the entire bill. This was not clearly explained beforehand. It was not a major issue, but it was important to know when it came time to determine whether an additional tip was expected. The service was excellent. Our server knew it was my birthday and was attentive, accommodating, and never made us feel rushed. Each course arrived only after we had finished the previous one, so we were able to relax and enjoy the experience. The ambience was curious. It was an open space and is very loud. Other conversations were easily overheard so probably not a good place to go if you want a quiet meal. Overall, I give Paradiso 4.5 out of 5 stars. I am so glad I finally had the opportunity to visit, and I would definitely return.

We've heard good things about Paradiso and finally got to try it ourselves. First impressions was…read morethis place was pretty big and busy on a Friday evening. We did get seated right away at a high top table, which we didn't mind too much but it was in an area a bit more secluded. We ordered an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert and the bill did come out to be on par with a nicer restaurant. However, we didn't appreciate that the tip suggestions were based on the after tax total rather than the subtotal. * Focaccia - 3/5 as it was a bit dry and was plain even though the menu listed rosemary & herb. * Paradiso's Chicken Picatta with Linguini - 3.5/5 Pasta was a tad overcooked and kept breaking which made it hard to eat. Chicken was big and mostly juicy except for one thinner end that got a little dry. I did really like the lemony sauce. * Braised Short Ribs with Mash Potatoes - 4/5 Good portion short ribs, the sauce was great and meat was very tender. Only con was that some of the carrots were on the raw side. * Bananas Foster Bread Pudding with Vanilla Gelato 4/5 Good dessert, but pecans didn't taste candied and would have liked the bread pudding to be warmer than it was. We'd give it a 3.5 overall and would give it another try sometime. However for the price, we thought it fell a bit short of expectations.

This restaurant is located in this small complex by Starbucks and the old closed down Lucky's (I…read morebelieve). There aren't many businesses in this complex so there's always plenty of parking. I inside of the restaurant was small but had plenty of tables. It was a slow day on that weekday early dinner time. We asked to order our items for take out. We waited not too long as I remember. How was the food? Fried Calamari- for only being a couple minutes away I wonder why the calamari was already almost cold when we ate it. It was pretty disappointing. Maybe they just had it in the box while they waited for the rest of our order. I don't know. Flavor was good. Pizza Primavera - It was good, I was okay with it. The pizza dough wasn't my favorite but it was fine. White Pasta - I honestly don't remember what the name was but it was an item my bf ordered. This was terrible. Like there was too much roux to make the bechamel. It tasted of flour. Not much salt, not much of other flavors. Not enough milk and cheese and butter. He took a bite and put it down. Overall, glad we tried it but we might not be coming back. With the economy now, it's disappointing when the food is terrible for how much we pay for.

It seems like this place may have changed ownership recently since what we got was not at all…read moresimilar to the other photos on Yelp. Came here on a weekday for dinner and it was mostly empty. We got the chicken parm and the margherita pizza. With the margherita pizza, the dough was obviously bought premade and frozen. It was dry and hard as expected from a premade frozen pizza dough. Not sure if the whole thing was bought frozen. There was generous amounts of cheese with one sad basil leaf of each quarter. One positive thing I can add about the pizza is that the cheese does have a satisfying flavor, giving me a nostalgic flashback to school lunch pizza. As for the pasta, the chicken has a strange taste (maybe too strong on a vodka marinade?). There was way too much sauce for the amount of pasta, and it had a very light and bright flavor, not terrible but definitely lacking depth and any nuances of aromatics or herbs. The chicken was not breaded and instead grilled. Servers were attentive, but seemed to have a lot of staff mostly standing around.

I stopped in this past Friday evening December 12th at about 6:15 and the food and service were…read moregreat! I specify the time because I did not ask the staff their names. So, if the manager or corporate pay attention to this page, I hope they see this review. The food was seasoned and cooked perfectly. The front of the house staff were very helpful and curtious. ( They had great attitudes)! I will definitely be back and tell other people about my experience!

Just drove by and they are permanently closed. Sign is down for the building and no cars in the…read moreparking lot

No exaggeration - I had the best cocktail of my life here. I ordered a strawberry lavender gimlet…read moreand oh my. It was such a layered drink. I'm usually a two drink gal but I only needed one this day because I enjoyed sipping on this so much. I went during the day so it was pretty empty but the vibe was still right. They played good music and the bartender was friendly. I'll definitely be back.

I came here like 12 years ago and felt it had a lot of potential but still had some room for…read moreimprovement, mainly around drink selections. I just went here over the weekend and now can say the place is great! The cocktail menu is pretty diverse (I had a sour which I enjoyed) and I like the wide assortment of beers (they also offer pitchers, which you don't find often outside of sports bars, which this isn't). It has plenty of space inside and some outdoor seating. What really made it fun for me was that even though it was quite busy inside, you could still sit at the bar and have a normal tone of conversation, even with the music and other conversations in the bar going on. Not sure how they pulled that off, but it was really cool. The parking is tight; a lot of it is either 15 minute or 2 hours; and some is designated for the restaurant/liquor store nearby. However, if you're patient enough, you should be able to find free street parking. There's an extremely limited food menu but they do offer BYOF (bring your own food), even though there's not much around to pick up on your way in (obviously DoorDash will offer more opportunities). It's a pretty classy place, so I think would be great for a night out with friends or even a date. I'll certainly be back to try the other libations.

The Calabrian steak and shrimp had a lot of sauce which I liked and was tasty overall. I just wish…read moreit was spicier but my spice tolerance is high. Spaghetti and meatballs is hard to mess up so it was good, that's my favorite type of noodle dish in general. Minestrone soup was delicious but had a lot of beans in it. It'd be twice tastier with meat but it specifically states it's a vegetarian dish. The chicken gnocchi soup was my favorite soup though, very flavorful and not too soupy/creamy. I was getting full so I didn't eat as much of the gnocchi but they were a nice addition. Fettuccine with fried shrimp fritters and meatballs sauce - the noodles and meat sauce was good but the fried shrimp fritters, I wouldn't get again. The fried part was easily coming off and when I mixed the noodles, only the shrimp part was left. Cocktails were yummy and not expensive. Our waitress was very nice and she provided a lot of everything we requested: napkins, butter, utensils. And at the end, she gave us a bunch of chocolates to take home. Overall a fun experience, I wish it were closer to my home in Oakland. I'd go a lot more

Came here on a Sunday afternoon. It was pretty packed, lots of people waiting in line. We needed a…read moretable for two and were seated in about 15 mins. I ordered the Calabrian shrimp and steak pasta. It was pretty tasty but as you can see from the photos, the sauce to pasta ratio was off. I wish they provided more noodles in my dish. The steak and shrimp were well cooked. I have a pretty high tolerance so the dish was only mildly spicy to me. My partner ordered the endless pasta with meatballs and spaghetti. The portions for his dish was huge. Meat sauce was good. Also ordered the pasta e fagoli and minestrone soup. Satisfied with both soups

Absolutely wonderful experience here for a last-minute birthday dinner…read more We didn't have a reservation for a Saturday night, but did not have to wait around 5:45pm for a party of 2. There is plenty of seating inside, by the bar, and outside in a heated patio. I ordered the spaghetti del Trabocco, as I love seafood and pasta, but have food intolerance to onion and garlic, which has always been challenging for me when going to Italian restaurants. However, the waiter informed me that this dish has no onions or garlic at all! I have never yet encountered a pasta dish with no garlic/onion and was beyond exhilarated that I would be able to order this dish. My husband got the lasagna, and we both ordered drinks. The drinks came out within a few minutes, along with yummy bread, vinegar and olive oil. The entrees took about 10 minutes to come out but they were well worth the wait. The scallops in the spaghetti were so soft, the shrimp were large, and the pasta was cooked to perfection. One of the clams was slightly salty but it did not ruin the dish. My husband enjoyed his lasagna as well, noting it was fulfilling. The best part of the night, was when I asked for a tiramisu to celebrate my birthday. Having tiramisu cake on my birthday holds personal sentimental value to me. Apparently, when the cook isn't busy, he'll come out and sing Happy Birthday to you! The cook was busy when my cake came out about 10 minutes after we finished our main dishes, but the waiter came to sing instead and he was wonderful, topping off the night to say the cake was complimentary. I was almost brought to tears by the gesture. The tiramisu was delicious, devoured too quick, even my husband approved, and I have been thinking of it ever since. I am so appreciative of how they made my birthday dinner a wonderful experience, the service, and the delicious food. Would definitely recommend and come again.

So I have held off doing a review for a long time because I was conflicted and just recently sort…read moreof figured out why. We have popped in here a lot over the years. Drinks and appetizers are great at the bar. Bartenders are nice. I think I had a cioppino or sea food stew once that was also really good. All the food coming out of the kitchen looks great. But here's the rub I finally figured out after talking about this place with my partner multiple times. There is tension in the air, a lot of it. Walking in you can feel it. Not sure where it's coming from since the owner, Gino I think, seems like a pretty nice and chill guy and interactions with him are always good and I see him interact with the staff in a positive way. So why the tension? Where is that coming from? Regardless, I don't need that tension and anxiety on my resume or in my tequila. For some reason I really wanted this place to be sort of a nice hang out and place to always go. Just hasn't panned out that way. We'll still go back at times and test the waters. Just not going to be one of our regular haunts. People seem to love it more than I currently do so there must be something there. Rounding up to 4.

An iconic old style Italian Market & Deli that's makes up some tasty sandwiches. Located on "the…read moreBoulevard" in Castro Valley, this long time deli is our go-to place when visiting my wife's home town. Thr inside is one big market containing whatever Italian food item you might possibly want. Only a couple of small table inside to eat at and none outside makes Luca's an order and take out place, but their sandwiches are definitely worth it!

If you're looking for comforting, generous portions of classic Italian staples right in Castro…read moreValley, Lucas is a solid local go-to. Lasagna: The highlight of the meal. It arrives rich, heavy, and properly layered with plenty of meat, ricotta, and melted cheese. The marinara sauce hits the right balance--savory with just enough acidity to cut through the richness. Total comfort food that easily leaves you with leftovers for the next day. Eggplant Parmesan: A very close second. The eggplant is sliced well and cooked until tender without getting soggy, which is always the real test for an eggplant parm. The breading holds up nicely under a heavy blanket of melted mozzarella and sauce.