Was recommended this place, so my friends and I decided to give it a try and it was GOOD. The restaurant is really nice, clean and had attentive servers--also since it's in downtown los altos, parking was not an issue! For food we ordered: Tuna Crudités (I think... It was the special of the day): this one was really good! It had tuna, mango, and olive tapenade and everything works so well together. My only wish was that there was more of it! New Zealand Ora King Salmon Pizza: This one was really good! I was expecting a cooked salmon on top, but it's actually more of a smoked salmon. I never had any pizza like this before and I'm not sure why because it's SO GOOD. Forest Mushroom Risotto: This one smelled really good (the truffle?) but I couldn't really taste the truffle. That didn't stop it from being good though. Although it wasn't as flavorful as some of the other dishes, I really like how it wasn't over seasoned, and the consistency of the risotto was really good! Cappelletti Filled with Truffle Polenta: Another dish where I was slightly disappointed to not taste the truffle, but it was still (nonetheless) really good! The cappelletti was very well cooked and the sauce was nice and zesty. Foothill Collins: This was good! I could really taste the blueberry and basil and the alcohol wasn't too overpowering! Overall, really liked this place and would definitely come again. I do think it is a fancier place and on the pricier side, but it's still a great place to grab dinner with friends or to celebrate a special event! read more

See all

Food and service were very good. Every one enjoyed their meals. The only exception was the crab cakes which unfortunately were terrible and tasted like they had been sitting around for a week. read more

First time to this place. I have to say i really liked it! The atmosphere is wonderful, not loud but not dead silent either. Some of the notable food was the persimmon with buratta cheese and the octopus were awesome! Octopus wasnt overcooked and the persimmons went surprisingly well with the cheese. I also ordered the duo lamb for dinner and it was good. The lamb cheek was tender and the chops were cooked well, but the cut itself wasnt the greatest. Also loved the dessert!!! Chocolate fondant was cooked through a d very soft, the inside had a great consistency and the a la mode was a smooth consistency! The service was wonderful and very attentive and accommodating. Side note that the moscow mule was made very well and served properly =D read more

Cetrella - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

Top notch food. Service is amazing and quite accommodating. Will happily be back! If coming with younger children be aware that the atmosphere is a bit on the quieter side. Having said that - our six year old fit in just fine and really enjoyed the food. Our 13 year old absolutely devoured her ravioli. While I don't think there's a dedicated kids' menu - there's a variety to choose from that kids enjoy. The Fritto Misto is the best we've had in recent memory! read more

Love this restaurant. Food is consistently good. I enjoy eating here with my wife or bringing friends. I also enjoy bringing colleagues for business meals. Nice wine list. Great choices at reasonable prices. See photo of beautiful meal I ate at the bar while talking to my friend M'hamed. I always feel welcome here. Very nice people. Great service. read more

Cetrella - Crab cake Kale salad Bottle of meursault - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

Just went to Cetrella for a milestone birthday. The ambiance is lovely and simple. Seats were comfortable and all the tables feel almost like they're private. Three of us had the filet mignon and said it was one of the best cuts we've ever had--the potatoes that were with it were delicious. Our vegetarian family were also able to get the pasta verde and said it was delicious. The starters and desserts were gorgeous, too. The service was brilliant with just enough attention paid to the table and recommendations on the wine were perfect. read more

Have just visited the fabulous 3rd location of this storied restaurant and love it. Consistent over the years, you can expect warm greetings from owner M'hamed Bahet, a stylish and convivial decor, and delicious offerings from the talented kitchen staff. Bonus points for delightful French music during our seating. We felt like we were back in the south of France. Los Altos is so lucky to have kept Cetrella. read more

Great ambiance and food! All the servers were welcoming and friendly. We got a variety of apps and main dishes, and all of them were delicious and great to share with the party. read more

Cetrella - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

We've been coming to Citrella for years, to their old Los Altos location and their current Los Altos location. Food is consistently pleasing, and the service is professional and competent: a winning combination. Give it a try, I expect you'll be pleased. . read more

Had Thanksgiving dinner with the family. Won't repeat; will just cater from Whole Foods if we don't feel like cooking. The food was excellent, the butternut squash soup was excellent, bread fresh, nice selection of wine. I'd return for a nice dinner, just not on a holiday. The service and treatment a bit stingy and ridged. Plenty of turkey for the meat eaters but a melon ball serving of stuffing and mashed potatoes. No extra sides of stuffing or mashed potatoes. We had to ask for extra gravy. There were 11 of us and we were served two butters for the entire table; we had to ask for an additional serving of butter. Someone in the group brought an after dinner alcoholic drink to share with the family which is not permitted by licensing; it was the way in which the manager explained this to us and then "checked" on us three times to make sure we weren't drinking it, even going as far to put it into one of our bags without asking. The average age of our group was 70, not 21. read more

Cetrella - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

Cetrella is like home to us. It's the first date night restaurant we frequented when we moved to the Bay Area in 2015 just a family of two with our first baby on the way. We enjoyed the ambiance, the delectable options, and the fact that they always remember us, which we appreciate. 9 years and 3 kids later, and we've celebrated many occasions there- from Birthdays and double dates, to Mother's Day brunches, Anniversaries, job promotions, and even getting take out during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. Why do we keep coming back? We always feel so "taken care of". They remember our favorite appetizers, drinks, and desserts. We check in on each other and share family updates. It's the place where we truly feel a genuine sense of home and community. Thank you to M'hamed and his wonderful team- We are forever Cetrella fans! read more

The service was excellent and our waiter was very attentive. Our water glasses were always refilled. We ordered two appetizers which were delivered shortly before our entree; the wait was exceptionally long. The three crab cakes were tiny and tasted like canned crab; for $21.00 I would have expected fresh crab. The presentation of the glazed short ribs was beautiful, but the ribs hardly seemed glazed and they tasted bland. The sliver of Basque cheesecake wasn't enough for three bites and was also bland. We liked the Ambrosian tarte the best. The acoustics were terrible and it was difficult to carry on a normal conversation. read more

Great service and ambiance. The proprietor is very accommodating. The food is consistently good and the cocktails are great. The staff are friendly and attentive. This is all around a high quality restaurant that I visit often. read more

cetrellas was not good tbh. i went with my friend and the food took long and it was cold kinda. the waiter was like not really around when we needed stuff and the music was weird. we got some pasta and it was kinda soggy or something. also i think the chairs were uncomfortable or maybe just my back idk. wouldnt really go again maybe. 2/5 i guess. read more

The new space is absolutely beautiful and the service was exceptional! Cetrella cocktail is tart and delicious and I can't get enough of their kale salad. read more

Easy to get a table and great food and attentive after service with personal follow up.

Sat at the bar with a friend on Friday drinks and dinner. Wine selection was good. Service was friendly but not very attentive, especially considering there was only one other person sitting at the bar. It was the food that made the whole evening go south. Humus appetizer was bland and came with 3 small toast crackers which seemed insufficient. We ordered spinach and ricotta ravioli w/pesto sauce but instead was served butternut squash ravioli. No one seemed to be aware of the menu change. Worse was the flavor - butternut squash with pesto sauce is not a tasty combo. The owner apologized and offered to replace with something else. I ordered the pomegranate salad which was fine. My friend changed to the lobster rigatoni - lobster was super salty. Best part of that entree was the tempura asparagus on top which would make a good appetizer on its own. They gave us cheesecake on the house. The hazelnut crunch that came with it was delicious. $5 for bread they say is made in house had no texture or flavor and didn't even come with butter. All in all a disappointing evening. It was a Friday night and the restaurant was about 1/3 full. I was hoping the new location would make this a neighborhood gem, but sadly it will not. read more

Honestly just skip this place. The food is nothing special. PARKING: street or there's a lot across the place SERVICE: very friendly. There were a few mix ups in the order but we were here with a large party. FOOD: very forgettable. The octopus appetizer was probably the best thing with avocado purée and fingerling potatoes. However the scallop risotto only had 3 scallops for a very pricy item, and mushy risotto that tasted almost cold. Dessert was panna cotta or chocolate cake--the chocolate cake was velvety and very rich. The cake was good! However the food is not really worth the price in my opinion. Skip this place read more

elegant modern decor friendly service by Elizabeth and team and host. delicious food we got caesar salad, French onion soup, crab cakes risotto was generous and hearty with mushrooms chicken was perfectly crisp and seasoned, spinach was cooked with onions to salmon came with healthy corn short rib was yum! take it up a level of delicious fun non-alcoholic drinks to improve: desserts were unremarkable (nothing different) so didn't order no bread? 20% gratuity on party of 8 read more

Great ambiance, service and food! Always have a great experience here. Awesome wine selection and beautiful presentation with dishes. read more

Loved the new location. Staff is very friendly and professional. Food was delicious. We shared tapas. Artichokes were very tender. The chicken was delicious. Will definitely go back. read more

The food was delicious, the service was excellent (and though we weren't aware they closed at 9 pm, they graciously allowed us to stay until 9:30...!!!), and the restaurant is both elegant and comfortable. In addition, the owner is always warm and welcoming, and this is one of my favorite restaurants. Highly recommend. read more

My wife and daughter went to this place to celebrate her new job. We were extremely eager to try out this place since we have read great reviews about it. We had dinner here on a Friday evening and sat in the outdoor area. The place was not that crowded yet, so we expected an even better service. Unfortunately, both the service and the food could have been much better. Food: We started off with some appetizers and cocktails: Scarborough Farms Baby Beets and Belfiore Hand Dipped Ricotta Lamb Meatballs House Margarita Gin cocktail (cannot remember the exact name) The beets salad and lamb meatballs were the delicious and best part of our evening. The meatballs were juicy and tender and were served at the perfect temperature. The beets salad was very refreshing and they were cooked perfectly. My margarita tasted more like water and lime than anything else. I could not taste the tequila at all and my wife tried as well and shared my opinion. She said her drink was okay, but it could have been better. For our entrees, we ordered the following: Roasted Pitman Farms Mary's Half-Chicken Grilled Whole Branzini Artichoke and Spinach Agnolotti My chicken was okay; some parts were overcooked and the meat was not juicy at all. On the other hand, the farro was perfectly cooked and delicious. My wife ordered the Branzini and it was perfectly cooked and nicely presented. I tried the Agnolotti and it was undercooked. I thought perhaps it was just myself, but my wife tried as well and it was way undercooked. So, we did not eat it. Service: Throughout our whole stay, our server checked on us one time only. First of all, these types of restaurants bring out fresh bread with olive oil; we did not get any. I had to ask our server to get some bread and olive oil. We were trying to flag him down to let him know the Agnolotti was undercooked, but he did not see us. When he finally noticed us and we told him about the dish, he simply said "that's how it's cooked", and did not even bother to ask if we would like another dish or apologized about it. He just grabbed the plate and took off with a little bit of an attitude. A few minutes later, he came back and said the kitchen was preparing the Agnolotti for us. At this point, our dining experience had already been so disappointing and we let the server know we did not want the dish anymore. Again, he just walked away. We asked for the check and paid. At no point, did neither the manager nor the server come to our table and apologized. Perhaps, the server was having a bad day and/or the kitchen staff was busy with the indoor guests (we did not go inside the restaurant, so we do not know if they were busy or not), but we expected to have a much more friendly experience at Cetrella. We might give it another try some other time and hopefully, our experience is better then. read more

Again our foot was delicious and the service was Michelin-level. The tapas and fresh pastas were amazing and we loved the wine selection and cocktails. Mamet remains the anchor of Los Altos local gem. read more

Had a great dinner here on Saturday night. We had a reservation and were seated after a short wait. We started with a glass of white wine and a cocktail and selected the octopus as starter. It was good and came with some purée and quinoa. It was tender, but not too soft. As entrees we had the risotto and the lamb duo with a side of truffle fries. The lamb was great, two chops and a bit of shoulder. Was cooked to the point and came with same beans that were also really good. To be the honest the truffle fries were the highlight of the course for me. Thought they were amazing. As desert we had the chocolate trio which was nice. Really liked the atmosphere of the restaurant. Low noise level, nice interior, attentive staff that provided everything we needed. Would definitely return here. read more

See all

I was here for dinner with another couple and it was an OK experience. They had a section cordoned off where they had live jazz, we wished we were there with them instead of the main restaurant. The food and service were pretty average. I cracked up when we asked our waiter what was in the heirloom tomatoes special and he just "tomatoes" and I don't think he was being funny. He appeared disinterested and rushed. The beets and the chocolate cake were the best part of the meal. The tuna crudo was fishy and the filet mignon was tough. I don't see us coming back here. read more

Visited for a company private party so didn't get to check the whole menu but whatever I tried was best piece of food one could hope when visiting a nice restaurant. We started with kale salad and it was perfect. For main course I had salmon with lentil. Salmon was good , lentils were ok and I would have preferred other veggies with it. But the highlight of the dinner was pistachio penna cotta. It was 10 out of 10. Service was very good and highly recommend if u live in Palo Alto area read more

Cetrella - Kale salad - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

See all

Really great experience. There was plenty of seating (both indoor and heated outdoor) and the service was fantastic. The food came out quickly and at the appropriate times, and the drinks were great as well. The soup and the risotto were the two highlights, although everything tasted great. The risotto especially was the right consistency and had a lot of flavor. Definitely recommend! There was also great parking nearby. read more

See all

Good was outstanding! Service was exceptional: friendly, prompt, professional. Ambiance was welcoming, elevated casual, fun, and exciting! I highly recommend Cetrella!! read more

Excellent service and food. I was seated immediately for a business lunch at a well-appointed outside table. We ordered the kale salad, pizza, and risotto. All were excellent. read more

I highly recommend this place. There is not much vegan food on the menu but if you ask the chef, he'll make something off the menu that is out of this world. Thank you Abdul for making my dinner so tasty, hard to get as a vegan. I will be back. read more

Cetrella - Quinoa sushi - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

Great food although the menu doesn't change often. Cocktails are yummy and good wine selection. For apps, I recommend the frito misto, octopus and crab cakes. Try the capellati, short rib, branzino, and filet mignon. The whole branzino was even better when they grilled it whole and brought the whole thing to the table. Now they fillet it. We used to order one ribeye and one branzino to split between me and my SO. Small selection of dessert, all good. read more

Love this place. Amazing food. The Tuna Crudo is creative, yummy and healthy! Great wine selection (by the glass or bottle) and reasonably priced. Entrees are high quality, tasty and interesting! Family owned so you get the extra personal touch with employees that enjoy working there and treat you like family! We love walking down here and enjoying this Los Altos gem. read more

Awful service. Don't go, and don't waste your time. We came back from the restaurant. I ordered fillet minion, and I forgot to mention I'm pregnant and want it to be well done, and they didn't ask me either. After 15 minutes, I remembered that, and I mentioned, please make it well done. After 1 hour and 45 minutes, they didn't bring my order, and they said it would take a few minutes. Are you serious? And nobody apologized to me. They are the worst restaurant ever. I wish I could give them 0 stars. read more

I had my weirdest dinner experience at this place. There are two important things to share about my dinner at this place- 1) Food was meh! and more importantly (2) a crazy lady sat next to us and started abusing us. for no reason. Let's first talk about the crazy lady. We got seating at the bar counter and started off with some drinks, appetizer and ordered entrée. We were done with our appetizers and were having our meal, and this lady comes next to us to order a drink. She says rudely to the bartender "don't pour my wine in the decanter because it is insulting". Then she sat next to my friend and started some small talk. About food first, like why are you here, why this restaurant and then do you have a lot of money etc etc. and then she started abusing us, like literally all the foul language. We asked bartender for another seating location, we went to the manager to request seating us at a different table or so. We explained it to the manager and the front desk girl, and they empathized and said yeah she is a crazy woman (which kinda makes me think she is a regular there). Anyway, the manager offered to buy us another round of drink but we already had our mood spoiled so we decided to leave. The manager did waive one drink off our check. Food was kinda not upto the mark. Looked good but tasted mediocre. We got mussels for appetizer and one third of those were un-opened. They shouldn't have served those. My friend got swordfish which was also meh. I got short ribs with fingerling potatoes substitued for polenta. I dislike polenta.. haha.. Short rib was ok. I have had much better ones. Anyway, this place is off the cards for good. read more

Cetrella - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

I love this restaurant. Spacious for an intimate conversational dinner with friends. Service impeccable and food delicious each course served with unrushed pacing. Absolutely worth going to! Owner remembers us even it has been awhile. Very fresh ingredients including they make their own pasta! read more

Great ambience and service! Food was average. We tried 1. garden vegetables pizza : average pizza, too sour 2. Mary chicken: didn't have any flavor. Potatoes that came with it were tasteless too. 3.fries : this is the only item I liked from our order. They were crispy and made fresh. read more

Wow. Simply wow. Even though they had a large bday party; I didn't feel left out. Order was served fast. Food was delish and wine pours were generous. Overall amazing experience! Rose with pana-cota was just amazing. And spicy lamb sausages with crispy fries were perfection. read more

Cetrella - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Los Altos, California

Our wedding guests loved this place. We had a rehearsal dinner for 35 people and both the food and service were excellent! People couldn't stop talking about the short rib. A great wine list with a range of selections. M'Hamed and his team were attentive and responsive. Highly recommend for a group event or just dinner. read more

By far ..best food in the area!!! We had crab cakes, paella and steak. The ingredients are fresh, the plates full of flavor and the service is awesome. The manager is excellent. The ambience is sophisticated and the wine options are incredible. read more