This place was pretty goooddd. It wasn't particularly amazing or a must, but worth coming by at least once and checking it out! I came by on a Sunday at around 10:30AM for brunch. Food: 4 Of the 4 dishes we got, I would say 3 were pretty delicious and 1 was mediocre. Porchetta Hash- I don't usually like duck, but it didn't taste like duck! (That's a good thing) it was wonderfully seasoned and a good portion. Mushroom Toast- this was my least favorite. The toast itself was small (but about an inch thick and soft and chewy) with avocado and mushroom. It didn't taste all that savory and was alright. Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe- this was really delicious! The pasta itself is a bit on the thicker side, so it was a but chewy (which I liked). It has a creamy sauce and tastes like carbonara! Not too much (portion) or heavy (flavor/consistency) and you don't get tired of the taste. Bacon&Egg Rotolo- if you're looking for a good savory food, THIS IS IT. The portion was just right (enough to fill you but too not much to make you feel disgusted at yourself lol) the kale was sweet and went perfectly with the saltiness of the bacon. Egg was poached(?) to perfection. We also got 2 pastries, Bostock (chocolate&almond brioche) and Ricotta Sfogliatelle. Ricotta was small. You might share with another person but might not want to. It tasted good tho! The bostock was well worth the $4, at least 2x as big as the ricotta. Tastes a bit more savory even with the chocolate. Service: 5 Great server, never had my tiny water glass empty because he was so attentive. Came by often enough to check on us, but not to an annoying extent. Food was brought out fairly quickly! Ambiance: 5 There's a bar, some seating next to it, one large private room, and more seating in the back! Very cute wallpaper. I love the vintage-y simple look. There were only 2 other parties when we went, so fairly quiet. Clean restrooms (gender neutral) with sinks outside. Would've been 5 stars but food was slightly disappointing compared to price. Not way too expensive but a little disappointed by the mushroom toast and the pastry. read more

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Took my visiting sister here for dinner on a Sunday night. I will never go back. First, as mentioned by another patron, the drinks took ridiculously long to get to us but honestly we're both pretty chill so we didn't make a big fuss about it but I am 99% sure they just forgot to put the order in and then blamed it on it being a busy night (it wasn't that busy). Second thing I should mention is that we didn't research this place enough before going, they serve small plates at $24 each and we both really just wanted a big bowl of pasta. That was our bad, though but when they say small plates, you should know they REALLY mean small plates. The three meatballs we had were pretty good but tiny, I wish they would've at least given us some bread. The second dish we ordered was the panisse. It was like a dessert and way too sweet. We did not enjoy. The third dish we ordered was the rigatoni but they mixed up the order and served us the cavatelli. At this point, we were pretty ambivalent about the entire experience so we ate it and it was fine. Still starving we ordered the beet risotto as a last ditch effort, it was absolutely flavorless. This is when we finally threw in the towel. After taking a bite each, rather than just forcing ourselves through the $24 (lol) risotto we decided to send it back (something that I'm always apprehensive about doing) and we asked for the bill. I forgot to mention that I had ordered a second drink sometime before ordering the rigatoni and I literally watched the bartender clean the entire bar and was told that my drink would be a while because the bartender was backed up with orders. Regarding the service it was okay. No one was rude to us but the service lacked and they seemed pretty indignant about us not liking the risotto. After asking for the bill, they brought my drink and (I presume) the manager brought the bill and told me they had removed the risotto and were also going to offer my second drink on the house (I didn't ask for this but I thought it was a nice touch). After spending $100 on the meal, we were still starving so we walked around the corner to BD Riley's where, I swear I'm not being facetious, the service was excellent. read more

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I had been saving this place up as a special occasion place, but now I'm planning to make it a once-a-week neighborhood place. Everything about this place is excellent! The staff -- from Mincho the AGM to Dylan the server to the friendly host who answered the phone and told us she'd set aside a nice table for us -- is uniformly nice and professional. The space is modern yet comfortable. Best of all, the food is delicious! We had some of the best homemade mozzarella ever (and we've done some extensive tasting all across Italy). Pastas were perfectly al dente with innovative sauces, particularly the rigatoni with crunchy fried cheesy bits instead of bread crumbs or pine nuts. Genius! Tiramisu, limoncello, and various amari topped off the night. Planning to come back for happy hour, for quick dinners in the bar, and basically to haunt the place since we live about five minutes away. So happy to have an excellent neighborhood restaurant nearby! read more

Came here very hopeful to have a great meal, but was thoroughly disappointed by the quality of food presented to us. The cook was very inconsistent and at 8:30 they were out of one of their two family options. We apparently ordered the last of the other family options (fried chicken, which was $56 for 6 pieces.) I was pretty baffled that they ran out of their two main protein groups by 8:45 (still over an hour of dinner service left!) The variety of doneness on the fried chicken was almost comical, my first drumstick had delicious golden brown and beautifully cooked breading, but the chicken was a little under so it was difficult to bite off the bone, this caused the breading to separate from the meat. On the other end of the spectrum, the breast. and thigh had burned breading and overcooked meat. If I were the expeditor I would be ashamed for allowing such inconsistent doneness on something sent out of my kitchen. Normally, I would have asked for them to remake the entre, but of course we had ordered the last one, or so we were told... As we were finishing our dinner, we look into the kitchen and see them frying off some really gorgeous looking chicken, golden brown and fabulous... (I'm assuming this was dinner for the kitchen, I wish they cared as much about our food as they did about their own.) When asked how the chicken was, I said parts were burnt and pointed to the pile of burnt breading (photo attached.) We got an apology and some sorbet thrown in as a dessert, but considering that 3/4 of the chicken was burnt, they should have comped the dish instead of trying to appease us with $5 of sorbet. Fiancee had the gnocchi, I tried one and was unimpressed. I like my gnocchi pillowy, these had way too much bite for my liking (dense) I wanted to leave after they told us they were out of pork and I regret deciding to stay. I will say this, if all of the fried chicken was as good as the 1-2 well cooked pieces it would have been a fabulous dish. All that being said, I'd totally recommend this place to an enemy. Edit: bringing down to one star due to the fact that a new account started harassing my fiancée on yelp and practically told my fiancée to shove raw chicken up her bum. I thought for a moment that this could just be a passionate customer, but it's far more likely that someone from the restaurant is harassing her. Would still recommend to an enemy. Edit 2: I have been getting contacted by other yelp reviewers who were harassed by Brenda months ago, I have no question in my mind that Brenda is directly affiliated with this restaurant and it is DISGUSTING that someone from this restaurant has the audacity to attack customers after having a poor dining experience (due to your absolutely trash food, Brenda.) I will be filled with glee when this restaurant inevitably closes its' doors. If you read this review and still choose to dine at this restaurant, consider yourself a fool. Also, check their early 5 star reviews, a lot of new accounts with very few other reviews *cough* fake *cough*. They would probably have 2 stars without their fake reviews. Edit 3: adding more photos of the "completely unaffiliated" yelp reviewer who only messages people who leave bad reviews of this restaurant. This time, Brenda messaged me! Edit 4: we went to Popeyes and ordered some chicken tenders, the beautifully golden brown and juicy tenders are an example of how chicken should be cooked. Also, the tenders were $7 for 5 of them. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Burnt breading. - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

The food was amazing and everything was made fresh in house. I was actually surprised how good the food was. The service was great and the server really knew the menu and recommended some great items. Ambiance was beautiful as I set outside in saw the sunset while eating. I would highly recommend this place if your in the mood for Italian read more

this was one of the best meals i've had in awhile!!!! i love restaurants with seasonal menus and will definitely be back! great wine selection as well. everything was perfect and all of it was super affordable compared to the rest of the restaurants in austin that are of this concept. really great service too! read more

L'Oca d'Oro - pomodoro pasta and ravioli - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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The food and ambience are first rate. Caring staff who really love what they do. All of the food - from cocktail bitters to butter for the bread - is made In-house. Every bite is memorable. Do not pass up this restaurant! read more

Very interresting wine list and cocktails. However, they lean to more unusual and rare offerings. The orange wine from Georgia was fantastic. The sparkling Lambrusco not to my taste. However, they were gracious to correct and replace anything that was not enjoyed. We also had what one guest declared was the best margarita that they'd had in Austin. Food for very good but somewhat mixed. Conchiglie pasta for savory explosion of flavor, but the fresh mozzarella was sad. Green corn fritters were lovely with an interesting pickled longbean condiment. Seared peppers were yummy and the sour dough was very tasty. Chicken Milanese was generous and good but the grana padano didn't add much. Overall we would definitely come again and try another array of dishes. read more

Great service and delicious apps. The pasta entrees were tasty. The pasta style is traditional so expect al dente. Will go back to try more dishes. Loved all the veggy-forward items. read more

Pleeeeease...If you can afford to eat out at a restaurant like this, you can afford to leave a decent gratuity. Who cares if it's automatic or not? The service warrants it. The owner's respect for his employees is commendable! Imagine a community where more business owners cared for their employees like this... As for the food: Delicioso! Very fresh pasta and sauces. GREAT kids menu and super reasonable. Really impressed. The kale Caesar salad was amongst the best I've ever had. Perfectly dressed and nicely punched up with carrots and radish. read more

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Food, for the most part, was good. Most of us enjoyed our dishes. However, salt came at the end of the meal, and the meatballs were different than in the past. My daughter LOVES them but didn't even finish one. I told her that as things are seasonal, things changed. My mother asked for salt, though, and she was done eating for a while before it even came. This was the worse. Service was the big fail. We sat at 6:15 and there were maybe 4 other tables sat, certainly not even half full. It took literally 45 minutes to get drinks (besides water which we had to order). From there, after ordering, we had food on the table even before our drinks, which was missing an ice tea, which we were asked if 2 people were sharing the 1.... No, we ordered 2. We were a party of 6 with 2 ordering from the restaurant menu. Now, I have been here many times through the years as I live at Amli, so I know the service and how things come out. This time was very random, nothing like normal. They forgot the apps that came with the restaurant week meal and would have probably the dessert if one of the ladies hadn't ordered an expresso and said specifically she wanted it with it. Drink refills/re-orders were slow as well, and honestly, we were scared to even have the food boxed up, wondering how long that would take. Atmosphere - Good as always. LOVE the new painted floor, looks lovely. All in all, a bit disappointing for my brother's birthday dinner, and since it was his last night in town, I couldn't make it up to him. I told him next time I'll pick another spot, lol. I'll be back because I do love the food, but I will not sit with the same server, and I certainly will not bring out of towners! read more

I don't know why I haven't tried this restaurant sooner. I felt the need to yelp because I feel like it is under appreciated. We started with the mozzarella, the beet dip, and the wagyu beef tartare. Everything was great, but the mozzarella was perfection. For the larger plates we got the spaghetti carbonara with house pancetta and the shrimp mafaldine. They make all their pastas in house and they were both delicious. Our waitress did an amazing job at bringing both the dinner and wine menu to life. Not only was she knowledgeable she was engaging and friendly. The only small critique I have which doesn't even warrant a lower score would be that I would've liked to get our drinks sooner. Between getting seated, having water brought to us and then being checked on again to finally order took a while. Once ordered, it came out fast though. read more

Go. You are going to like this place. From the wall of windows to the compact yet adventurous menu to the servers who are as pleasant as they can be, L'Oca d'Oro (Golden Goose) is one very nice place to go. We had a Chickory Salad and an Full Italian plate for lunch, and our server - whose name I have sadly misplaced - brought us a complimentary Sweet Potato Bostock. One thing I'm getting when I go back again is the Bostock. The salad was delicious if not overly large and the plate? Well, I took my time savoring every bite of prosciutto, slab bacon, tomato and mushroom - and the most perfectly poached eggs I have ever eaten in my life. Parking is convenient and there is reasonable space on the street too, and unlike some new Austin eateries, L'Oca does not despise it's customers. Here, you will actually feel welcome. Enjoy! read more

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My best gal pals made a reservation here on a Sunday for my birthday brunch. I looked forward to brunch with the girls all week, and was delighted with the atmosphere, and the corner booth where we were seated. Unfortunately, my experience past that became more and more lack-luster (aside from the cucumber margarita which was outstanding). Although the selections looked exciting none of what we tried wowed me. I had the Full Italian. The poached eggs were runny. The dish wasn't awful, but for $15 eggs, tomatoes and toast I hoped for something more. I was disappointed, and so were the other three in my party. The main un-special part of the experience was the management of the whole operation. The wrong food was served to my table, then taken away, walked behind a wall, and served to the table next to us. I agree with not being wasteful, but this just seemed to be a ridiculous fake-out. It was mainly awkward since I'm pretty sure we all knew what happened. Additionally we were not made to feel very special even though we made it pretty clear that we were celebrating. Everyone working there seemed a little stressed out, and ready for all of us to get the heck out of there. Super sad for me since I would have loved to hang out for another round with my best buds. Oh and I felt like we were discouraged from ordering dessert! No bueno. This place can turn it around. I hope it does. With so many great new places to try it's hard to promise I will be back, but I hope to return for dinner someday. I promise to increase my rating if that's warranted. One more thing. The gratuity thing isn't very Austin-like. I know there aren't many of us left, but we don't like being charged gratuity unless we're in a larger group. I think we find it offensive. Maybe that's crazy, but based on what I've heard it's just true. We all (hopefully) tip 20% at a minimum, so just let us do that. 18% grat isn't serving your servers well I imagine. It's just another part of the slightly less-than-friendly atmosphere regardless of the sentiment. I assume the sentiment was thoughtful, and put in place in the name of reason. However, my concern is that gratuity on less than 8 is coming across as tacky. Consider a change here perhaps. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - The Full Italian! - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

Needs a lot of work. I'm hoping it's just grand opening blues... but I will not be going back any time soon. WARNING They charge EVERY table an automatic 18% gratuity. Other restaurants only do this for tables with 5/6 people or more. Ask for it to be removed if you do not agree. We were charged for a gelato we never ordered. SERVICE We waited for over 10 minutes before we flagged down a waiter and asked for assistance. Waiter had little to no personality. He took our order and we didn't see him again. The food was delivered by food runners. The front of house manager asked about the food. It was burned & salty. He brought us a complimentary gelato at the end of dinner -- but it showed up on our bill along with an automatic 18% gratuity. It took forever for him to adjust the itemized receipt and issue three different credit card slips to remove the $4 gelato and 18% gratuity. FOOD Not good. Both the eggplant parmesan and mushroom lasagna were burned. A corner of the eggplant parm was burned until it was black. The top layer of the mushroom lasagna was burnt to a crisp. Both were extremely salty with no other distinguishing flavors. The only thing I would eat again is the side order of roasted carrots which came with a smear of honey pistachio butter. MUELLER We live in the neighborhood and really wanted it to be good. Sadly, we heard the same from neighbors. One couple walked out: one dish came out cold and they never received their second entree. Oh well. read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Automatic 18% gratuity. - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

my boy Andrew did a great job managing a very difficult patron who sat next to me and complained that she couldn't "break an egg" over her carbonaro herself and had them send the food back. her behavior was not only unwarranted (food and service was amazing) but straight up distracting, annoying, and entitled. The focacia was divine and the grilled peach dish was a tour de force. read more

Was I in a bad mood? I don't think so but I'm looking for some additional explanation as to why I had such a lousy dining experience tonight. From the top: - the menu is phone only. I get why. It better supports their continually changing menu, better for the environment, etc. But when you use a menu on a phone web browser, the burden is high to make it very usable and readable. This menu had this super annoying hitch in the scroll that made it difficult to know if I was looking at all the items. I kept having to scroll up and down slowly. What made it harder is that the menu was not categorized. There was just a list of items and you didn't know what was an appetizer, primi, or secondi. - before the menu displays you are hit with a pop up of a political issue/event the restaurant is supporting. I just don't like that. It doesn't matter that I agree with this particular political issue. I don't want a dang pop-up ad before I look at the menu and I sure as heck don't want to hear about the proprietors politics. Maybe I'm old school but I just don't want to hear it - the server explained that we had to put in all of our order at once. Said that it helped space out the service. C'mon. Give me a break. It doesn't help me, it helps you. It help the restaurant turn my table. Which I also understand. I'm sure it is very hard to manage reservations when you don't know how long someone is going to stay. But when you pair this practice with the note that said something like, "we expect our reservations to last 90 minutes" then it makes me feel uncomfortable. I'm not saying I felt rush. But I just don't want to be thinking about that stuff at all. I don't want it in the back of my head - the servers all night long were very good. Attentive, friendly, pretty knowledgeable about the menu. No complaints there. - the first appetizer was polpette (meatballs). The meatballs themselves were tasty. Good texture and flavor. But the sauce they came with was incredibly sweet. I don't know if they added too much sugar or if it had so many onions that it came out sweet. Either way, just really off-putting. It was $15 for 3 meatballs. We order 4 for $20. That would be OK if the meatballs weren't pretty darn small. Maybe 1.75" in diameter. It just seemed expensive for something that small. - the focaccia was house-made and very good. The butter that came with it was made in house and was mostly good but it had sugar on it which I thought was strange and I didn't like that flavor profile - the Caesar salad was OK, not great. The anchovies and grana padano cheese gave it desperately needed flavor as the dressing was lacking in both volume and flavor. The dressing just didn't have that tang or bite that Caeser dressing should - the final appetizer, the green corn panisse, was fine. The corn fritter-type thing was crispy on the outside and creamy inside. It was accompanied with kraut, beets, and almonds which I don't think added much to the dish. They were lacking in flavor and didn't seem to complement the - before I talk about the mains, let me just say that I was pretty confused--even dumbfounded--by the menu options tonight. There was 6 primi (pasta dishes) and 1 secondi (meat dishes). I've eaten in 100's and 100's of Italian restaurants all over the world. I have never seen a single meat dish in my life. There was no chicken, no steak, no pork main dish. There were tiny, tiny bits of meat in a few of the pasta dishes, but I'll get to that later... - the bucatini was easily the highlight of the night. House-made pasta that had a wonderful chew and a flavorful sauce. It came with some very flavorful pancetta. Maybe just 4-5 small pieces of pancetta but it was enough - I can't say the same about the lumache. The thin pasta was just a tad overcooked. Or maybe it was just something about the pasta itself? I don't know but I do know that the texture was off. It was too soft and almost fell apart in your mouth. And the "sausage" noted on the menu was exactly two tiny pieces of sausage, maybe 3/8" across. For a $24 dish, I think that is just way out of line. Two pieces? C'mon. I'm not asking Buca di Beppo portion silliness but at least give me a reasonable amount - the last primi we got was cavatelli in brown butter sauce. I was good. Good texture and flavor. - a final note about the communal hand-washing sinks outside the unisex bathrooms. They tried to make a super-hip look by using retro, recycled, beat up sinks. I get where they were headed and it might have worked but they just looked old and the one on the right literally looked dirty. I'm sure it wasn't but it directly resembled the sink in a crappy off-brand gas station in the middle of nowhere. I know these places are trying hard and I saw that on the faces of the servers and managers tonight. But I try to be very fair when I write reviews and L'Oca D'Oro really missed the mark tonight. read more

Homemade pasta, delicious drinks, great staff. What else could you ask for in a restaurant? Only to open earlier for HH or lunch. A great place for a date but they also make you feel just as comfortable eating solo. On the HH menu, not all items are on special so make sure you double check with staff if you are on a budget. Great drinks, wine selection is average but food so good it isn't a deal breaker. read more

Wife and I came in to celebrate her birthday- everything was delicious. The focaccia and cacio e pepe were the standout stars of the show.

Came here for Austin restaurant week and had an absolutely wonderful time. Staff were wonderful and attentive and had great suggestions for food and drink pairings. We tried everything made available on the restaurant week menu as well as the focaccia and a salad and I would more than gladly eat any of those dishes again. read more

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I've been wanting to come here ever since I ran into the chef at Springdale Farm, who was buying some fresh local produce for the restaurant. We finally had the chance to visit last weekend for our anniversary, and I was not disappointed. All the dishes we ordered were flavorful and delicious. We started with piping hot squid ink arancini and a very nice, light crudo. We then had the campanelle (decadent and delicious with the most beautiful pasta) and casarecce (so simple but packed with fresh tomato flavor). I was so pleased with the freshly made pasta and bold, clean flavors in all the dishes. My only minor complaints were the bright sun blinding me a bit (unfortunately there are no blinds for the floor-to-ceiling windows) and the portion sizes were very tapas-style (it was all so good that I really just wanted a bit more but stopped myself from ordering another dish since it was a bit pricey). All in all, though, I enjoyed my meal and would definitely return. read more

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This place is in my hood so sad that the food wasn't more crave worthy for me to run to. Highlight was the mood of the place while sitting at the bar at night, seeing the hustle & bustle in the kitchen and the friendly service. The food was underwhelming (more saltiness then actual flavor for my tongue) and portions un-filling for the price. The meatball dish came in a small bowl with half of slice of bread. A rigatoni dish was served by itself, no bread, no salad, nada. I wasn't hungry walking in but walked out wanting to eat more. Not good post $70 bill for just two. read more

Yum, yes! Slightly loud, but when you're making the best fresh pasta, focaccia, and burrata (with the lemon), it's to be expected! Well done! The tremendous staff added to the experience. This will be a memory that might bring us back to Austin! read more

Some of the best food I've ever had. My partner and I took our moms here a while back and they still talk to us about it!

Amazing food. Customer service was so good. Love the atmosphere of this place. Make sure you make a reservation.

I've been underwhelmed with L'Oca d'Oro. I've been once for brunch and once for dinner. Nothing is bad, but nothing I've had there has made me say, "Wow!" Especially for the price you pay and the small portions, I think it's a middling option. I got a zuchinni rigatoni that was so mild in flavor and so low on zuchinni that it was pretty lackluster. But I was particularly unimpressed with the Milanesa chicken. Much of it was mostly breadcrumb coating, and it's so crispy that it almost hurts to eat. Worst of all, it just didn't have much flavor. I'm confident that if I order differently, I might have a very different experience. But so far, meh. read more

I don't really understand why there are so many mixed reviews on this place, we had an excellent experience here!! Let's get the "bad" out of the way: figure out your waiting area for guests checking in, that was a cluster. The noise was a tad elevated, but we could still hold a conversation. Now the good! The decor is simple, yet very very inviting. The subtle touches of color and attention to detail really made this place special. The kitchen was open and inviting, love being able to watch my food being crafted. The room we were in was surrounded by shelving at the ceiling level chalk full of live plants. Again, decor was simple yet inviting and almost calming. The decor does not scream Italian whatsoever, but who really cares? The food.....oh my goodness so amazing. Kudos to our server John, he was excellent and knew how to crack jokes tastefully while still enlightening us with his favorites from the menu. DO NOT SKIP THE CARROTS!! This sounds odd, but the pistachio honey butter and the way they cook and roast the carrots, best thing I've had in a long time. The meatballs were also wonderful, wish I had four instead of three, but the flavor was excellent melt in your mouth goodness. The mushroom ravioli was also very well done, a tad too many physical mushrooms, but the flavors were packed in there. It did not disappoint. Now.....maybe the best dish...the carbonara.....initially we thought it didn't have enough sauce, but a lot of it settles at the bottom. Regardless, the pasta itself was stunning and so flavorful. So many excellent things to say about this dish. Simply put, get it. We will definitely be coming back!! read more

L'Oca d'Oro - Italian Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Already fans of L'Oca d'Oro, we were excited to try the family meal offering. We picked up the mushroom ziti and zucchini parmesan, along with the homemade mozzarella. You know a meal is amazing when you and your hubby growl, cheer and give each other high fives while eating and then discuss the meal for days after. We will be ordering again soon! read more

This place was... fine. Service was nice and vibe was chill but bustling -- lots of plants everywhere and a pretty patio. But everything else was a cold, hard meh. The food was a bit too try-hard. You know, where on paper you're like, "huh... that sounds weird but maybe good" so you try it anyway because these people are highly trained chefs and I have a mere peasant palate. But like, 1) tiny portions with many dollars signs, and 2) beets and shrimp just don't belong in my deviled eggs (especially if you're only giving me 1.5. Have you ever tried mustard? I'll bring you guys some. It's wild. The saving grace was the notable wine list, and the pork loin. Because! It was simple. Grilled pork loin, peach butter, spinach. No ground shrimp and root vegetables hiding in some sort of pilaf. 2 stars is adequate for me. I've had better, but it wasn't the worst place in Austin. read more

Horrible dining experience One entree was 30 minutes later than the rest and the waiter tried to say that is why they recommend sharing dishes But when we ordered and he asked if we would be sharing entrees we told him No, each of group would have their own entree When the late ravioli finally arrived it was undercooked, contained a piece of chicken bone and not as described in the menu regarding the flavor Meatball starters were too salty, mozzarella starter served with no bread or crackers Apparently you have to order that as a separate starter Menu doesn't even label starters vs entrees so we had to ask how much in each item or if it was enough food for a full entree A glass of wine took 20 minutes to arrive Had to ask 3 times for music to be turned down in overhead speakers as I couldn't hear the waiter Etc etc etc Finally they comped us the bad entree and a couple of glasses of wine and a dessert But the bill was still $300 for 5 people and 20% was automatically added in And I normally would tip that much or more but not in this case Especially since they make a point of their Living wage A shame their training and professionalism isn't at as high a level as their wages and tips The owner and hostess were very apologetic but the overall experience was thoroughly unpleasant and sadly had been meant to be a treat for a family member No one in our party will be returning or recommending the place read more

Had a very disappointing experience at L'Oca d'Oro last night. First, the first wine pour by the Sommelier was into a dirty glass with lipstick on it. Instead of opening another bottle of wine for us to start again or giving us another equivalent pour from the bar to make up for the discarded wine, she just took the partially filled glass and left with it. The water was warm and sitting around in a bottle with others - not on ice - but in a bucket at the check in desk and without a top. Finally, the short ribs were 95% fat and not edible. I was surprised by this because we ordered take out here several months ago and everything was great. read more

I really wanted to love this place. Service was spotty and my drink was empty on more than one occasion. The 12$ pour of Prosecco was about 3 oz. As far as food goes the focaccia was amazing, and the fish dip had a good flavor. The pear salad was just okay. The snapper was so smokey and salty it kinda overpowered the actual fish. We considered the snapper but changed our minds, so when they brought the snapper, my husband just ate it due to how busy the kitchen was. I had the risotto - it had good flavor but it seemed undercooked. I know it's supposed to have some bite to it, but it could have cooked a few minutes longer. I found it strange we were required to order all of our food at once. The waiter explained that's just how the kitchen works-they want to send things out in a certain order.Not ideal for people that want to enjoy the experience, linger, then order food when they want it. $195 was a bit much for mediocre food and mediocre service. Probably won't be back. read more

Everything is just nice, my only recommendation is to make new customers feel welcome.

We made reservations to try out this restaurant upon the advice of friends. The food was good and tasty, plenty of vegetarian options, and the service was Outstanding. However, the noise level on my iPhone Decibel meter was 89, above the dangerous level for hearing damage! When I asked to have the loud rock music turned down I was told it couldn't be done. Too bad they ruined what could have been a nice, pleasant dining experience! What ever happened to having a nice, quiet conversation over dinner with friends? Now restaurants have awfully loud music playing which is really annoying and disrupts conversation. read more

In response to one of my co-diners' question, "How large is the salad?" Our waiter responded "It's not real big, it's better for sharing." It seems to me that if it is small for one person, it is certainly too small to share among 4 diners! My admittedly personal pet peeve is restaurants who advertise small sharable dishes. If a dish is small there is not enough for sharing--a sharable dish would be one that is larger than a size for a single person. And by the way, the salad was not that small. OK, enough of that. The food was all delicious, we had four initial dishes and the three what I guess you would call entrees. All of them were substantial in size. The milanese was ridiculously huge, much too big for one person to eat, especially with other courses to begin. And it comes with no vegetables or other sides. I wish it was half the portion at a slightly more modest price. Our waitress was very nice, helpful and competent. She knew the dishes and was available but not intrusive. We ate outdoors, on a sidewalk space which was pleasant. The indoor dining room looked stark and not inviting. All was not perfect, however. The espresso was terrible, far too acidic and bitter. The house-made amari and vermouth were pretty strange--the vermouth, which we were told was the bitterest of them (bitter Italian vermouth?) ended with a very picante cinnamon/clove finish that was unwelcome. Do not order a negroni made with this! Please stock a couple good Italian amari and vermouths. And finally, the wine list. They are trying hard to provide varied and unusual choices, but miss the mark. Almost all are from unrecognizable producers and are pretty pedestrian wines. We don't need inexpensive red wines from Mallorca, Canary Islands, Greece, etc. in an Italian restaurant. Not a single chianti, super Tuscan, vino nobile, pinot nero, etc. made the list. And the only brunello offered is a lesser one. The wine list seems out of sync with the upscale food. So, come for the food and sit outside for a nice evening Ciao. read more

I can't believe I haven't written a review yet! Been many times and LOVE to sit at the bar and watch the kitchen in action. Plus, most of the bartenders are really nice and helpful. Love most of the dishes I've eaten here, particularly the pasta dishes, anything cooked on the grill and the s'mores dessert. It can be pretty pricey, but you get what you pay for, including a staff that gets paid a living wage. The special celebratory meals they have on occasion, with wine pairings, are a treat not to be missed. read more

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L'Oca d'Oro is without a doubt, my girlfriend and my favorite restaurant in Texas. We discovered it on a date night where we decided to walk into a restaurant in the Mueller neighborhood at random and hope for a good evening and it has now become our go-to spot for when we want to have fun, share our meals, and interact with others who are passionate about food. While the menu changes rapidly (thus encouraging us to come explore the dishes often), we have yet to find a dish that we did not enjoy. Their take on ricotta gnocchi, focacia bread, tiramisu, pistachio gelato, olive oil cake, butternut squash risotto, pork loin, mushrooms and more always leave us satisfied and ready for our next visit. Not only that, the staff makes us feel at home. They are passionate about what they do, their craft, and creating a home where others can explore the many flavors and textures they have to offer. It's a place where we are happy to tip more than the norm. It's a place where we go because we have amazing conversations with the staff. It's a place that opens our minds and mouths to new flavors that wow the soul. It's a place we call home. read more

We first found out about this place b/c we got to sample the owner's freshly made mozzarella at Thinkery's 21+ night - best mozzarella I've ever eaten! My boyfriend and I sat at the bar where we watched our food being made. Our bartender, (I think her name started with an E) was so cool and helped make the experience. We started off with the Grilled Focaccia with the yummy honey butter. Then the green beans and the meatballs! Both killer dishes. The meatballs come in this nice, spicy, sauce served with bread..so you can dunk your little bread or meatball in the sauce. The meatballs were out of this world. My only wish is to have more than 2 in a bowl. Lastly, we split the Rigatoni dish and HOLY SMOKES, I don't think it lasted more than 5 minutes between us. The pasta was so fresh but what stole the show was the sauce. OMGGG THE SAUCE. The chef is a flipping genius!! I must have said OMG after every bite and I'm pretty sure I drank the sauce straight out of the bowl - no shame. Despite how freaking delicious every dish was, what really sealed the deal was the nice touch of customer service at the end. Our bartender brought complimentary dessert and I couldn't stop awing over the great customer service and spectacular dishes. Btw, the sorbet is phenomenal and I happen to be a gelato person over sorbet. Bottom line, I love love love this place. I love the food, the service and the vibe. Thank you guys for such a perfect night! Definitely my top 3 dining experiences! read more

Consistently one of the best restaurants in town. Great seasonal dishes every time and an approachable drink list.

I am Italian and from New York city and I was recommended this restaurant they are trying to hard I waited almost a month for a reservation and it wasn't worth the time the money or the calories. The ravioli pair was basically sliced pears in a bowl with raviolis and then we had the pasta with the sausage which was just gross the texture was nasty and we found a piece of plastic in the dish they come for dish for us which was good because it was gross and we didn't eat it read more