We have eaten at La Gastronomia a number of times and again last evening. What a special treat!…read moreOutdoor and indoor seating, lovely ambiance, great personal service, and outstanding food. Authentic Italian cooking and menu-be sure to order the zucchini blossoms while they are in season. Great for a special occasion or just a wonderful night out.

Really sweet spot. Super nice staff/owners. We had reservations for brunch on Mother's Day. Place…read morehas an open kitchen. They all are working hard, making it look easy. They have great coffee/lattes. Excellent focaccia bread served with delicious olive oil. I put cracked pepper & salt in mine. Perfecto! My husband loved his grits, with veggies & perfectly poached eggs. He says, he will have it again next time. That's how much he enjoyed it! We shared the tortellini, to my daughter & I, this was the star. She had their bass, enjoyed it. I had their eggs Benedict. Next time I will have their beet (salad). Gelato was good, outsourced. Panecota was good but too small ;) We look forward to eating here again real soon.

We had super quick service when we came in for lunch and loved how they attended to the tables so…read moreour glasses of water were never empty throughout our lunch. My partner and I shared the mushroom and short rib pizzas, and both were super rich and creamy. I found the pizzas were way more filling than the margherita pizza that I've tried here in the past. I find that this mushroom pizza is heavy on that umami mushroom taste. In my opinion, the crust was perfection. The ONLY reason that it's 4 stars instead of 5 is because the pizzas were a little too rich for me.

After walking around the plaza, I wanted some lunch before heading home, so I decided to try Boca…read morePizzeria. Unfortunately, I didn't have a great food experience. When I walked in, the host was nice and asked how many were in my party. I told him one, and he seated me in a spot where I could see the TV, which I appreciated. I ordered the short rib pizza and a salad with salmon. Sadly, the pizza didn't taste good. It had almost no flavor. I was hesitant about ordering it but decided to try something different instead of my usual pizza choice. When I took a bite, the cheese and meat slid right off, leaving me with just the bread which was really disappointing. The salmon salad was okay. It came with plenty of vegetables, which I liked, but the salmon had a strange taste. I'm a big fan of salmon, and I was expecting it to be the highlight of the salad, but it just wasn't. Maybe I'll give this place another try in the future, but overall, I left feeling pretty disappointed.

Excellent Shrimp Risotto! And the chocolate mousse cake with chocolate and raspberry sauces. As…read morealways, a very cordial staff is attentive and accessible. You can dine in any of three places: outdoors in front of the restaurant, in the outdoor back patio, or indoors. Depending on the time of day and patrons, any of these can be noisy.

Downgrading for service and limited menu…read more Last few times we came in the restaurant has been nearly empty. Yet, the hosts still try to sit us in the terribly uncomfortable hard wood chairs that feel like Medieval torture devices. Plenty of booths available yet they push the terrible seating. Also not excited about the menu. If you are not in the mood for pizza or pasta in a night there are only 5 entrees on the menu, and none of them are exciting. While they do have daily specials they just rotate daily over 7 days but rarely offer new interesting dishes into the mix. Overall they are still good. But not good enough to be a top selection for a nice night out in Novato.

Had a great meal today at Il Fornaio in Corte Madera. I sat at the bar and ordered the pasta with…read morevodka sauce, asking if they could make it a little spicy. Christian, the bartender, told me I could order it extra spicy, and it came out absolutely perfect amazing flavor and just the right amount of heat. Christian also made a really good Old Fashioned and provided excellent service from start to finish. He was friendly, helpful, and really made the experience even better. To finish, I had the Panna Cotta al Limone, and it was amazing. Great meal, great drinks, and outstanding service. I'll definitely be back.

A big letdown! We went for Mother's Day and had a waiter who rushed us to order, had such a heavy…read moreaccent I could hardly understand him, he brought me the wrong varietal and then said that I didn't order what I said I did. We had Crostini with a roasted tomato spread, and some olives, it was very underwhelming. The olives had pits in them; they were not a spread. The roasted tomatoes in olive oil were flavorless. I thought the olives would be like a tapenade to spread on the bread. We both had pear salads, which sounded wonderful, but I thought the pears would be thinly sliced perhaps crisp Asian pears, but, they were cooked with a sweet sauce and soft, and then serve served with very sweet red grapes and a sweet pomegranate dressing and sweet candied pecans, even though it was on a bed of Frisse, the salad was too sweet. It was served with a couple little tiny pieces of Gorgonzola cheese that was so soft that I couldn't divide it up to eat it with the rest of the salad, that would've been a better spread for the bread! I had grilled mixed seafood misto that had been fried very lightly.. The swordfish was overcooked and dry and flavorless.. The shrimp and scallops were cooked fine. The salmon was a tiny little piece with a lot of fat streaks in it. The wedges of Yukon gold potatoes were roasted, but were drenched with olive oil. I could only eat the scallops and shrimp. The carrots were so al dente when my husband went to cut them they slid off his plate, I had to nibble on them by hand by the green tips. For dessert, my husband ordered spumoni which was sliced ice cream and very thin slices. Kind of like a bombe. The flavor was really great, but there really wasn't enough to share. I was very disappointed with the food quality and for the price of the wine-- it was marginal. It may have been better it I was served the wine that I ordered. All of this for $200 before tip. Not worth the price. The music was loud, it was set for the staff, I think, not older patrons and families--the ambience just wasn't nice or calm or celebratory for mothers. No special flower was handed out, not a dessert, not a glass of wine, not anything special for Mom. Oh yes, my husband's "special" fillet of sole was dry and was served on the skin. Not good. I was just so disappointed, it was supposed to have been the highlight of my day since my son lives far away, it wasn't.

Excellent. This IS pizza…read more Small menu, HUGE flavor! Stumbled onto this spot while surfing GOOGLE Maps and some "teaser" came up and I clicked on it. A few words in and a glance at some pics, I was sold. Here's where my next pizza is coming from. Shot out a quick text to my buddy in SF and eagerly awaited 5:00 PM opening time. I love pizza. It's kind of the perfect food for me. I could eat it every day. I'm somewhat of a pizza stalker, (arrest me) and this is as good as it gets. We shared a MARGHERITA pizza. Tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil. My buddy had a beautiful large portion HOUSE CAESAR. Little gems, anchovy, lemon, breadcrumbs, parmigiano, reggiano. A delicious craft cocktail for me: NONNO'S CARDIGAN- bourbon, meletti, black walnut, orange zest. The rotating hazy beer for my buddy.... Dig it baby, the only thing missing was a live jazz trio. I was so pleased that I returned a couple hours later with my wife and we had a delicious mushroom pizza.. Great "speakeasy vibe" with expert, classy interior design/decorating work. Truly a jewel in downtown San Rafael which definitely needs something to sparkle. And, it is located above top-notch restaurant, Vin Antico on fourth Street. Now you have two reasons to visit downtown. If a picture is worth 1000 words, here is a mouthful. Food for thought, have a peek. "He that keeps not crust nor crum Weary of all, shall want some." (I stole that from "Willy the Shake", you know-neither a borrower nor a lender be.)

Finally Tried Oliver's Pizza -- Worth the Wait (Literally)…read more I finally checked out Oliver's Pizza in San Rafael, and it did not disappoint. Know Before You Go There are no reservations, no phone number, and no call-in orders. If you want pizza, you'll need to show up and order in person. It's a little old school--and honestly a bit inconvenient--but once you're there, it works. Also, Oliver's operates out of Vin restaurant downstairs, so your final bill comes from Vin, not Oliver's. The Wait We went on a Thursday around 7:30pm and waited about 30 minutes. Not bad. They've set up a comfortable waiting area with couches and chairs, and you can order drinks from the restaurant while you wait, which helps. The Space The dining room is small and cozy, with a few seats at the bar. It feels intimate, not crowded. The Food The margherita pizza was excellent--thin crust with the right balance of crisp and chew, and a great ratio of tomato sauce to mozzarella. The Caesar salad, on the other hand, was a bit heavy. Slightly overdressed and on the salty side. I'd recommend asking for it lightly dressed. Overall Despite a few quirks in how they operate, this place delivers where it counts--the pizza. Definitely worth trying, and it feels like one of those spots that will only get better as they fine-tune things. A cozy addition to downtown San Rafael.

5 star service and food in a cute place in a shopping mall strip across from a park. Super friendly…read moreservice and we appreciated the recommendations. We ordered breakfast sandwiches, coffee and chai lattes before heading to the softball field across the street. Everything was fresh and tasty. We were happy to wait while it was made to order.

Not impressed with the food. Restaurant seems unorganized and the vibe is just not there. I think…read morewill a bit more effort, they could be better.

Sweet, casual, cute Italian restaurant downtown Larkspur! So…read moreglad we decided to eat here. Service was amazing! Their wine by the glass, delicious! Food was very good! Their purple cabbage slaw & focaccia were the best to me, and the wine of course! We had: focaccia, branzino, calamari, cappuccino, ravioli, smoked trout, sausage pizza, fried chicken & coconut sorbet! Whew, yep only 3 of us! I will be back for the staff; ambiance, focaccia, glass of red & the purple cabbage slaw

Such a cute little spot tucked away in the redwoods of Larkspur. I am in love with this area, it…read morefeels like I'm back in summer camp with the towering trees and the ease of stargazing in the night sky, there's little light pollution in the. My husband and I decided to give this spot a try after getting many rave reviews not only on yelp but on Eater SF (or maybe it was SFGate?). Anyway, we arrived around an hour before close, most places in this area close at 9pm btw. We were greeted by the host who walked in from near the kitchen area. We decided to sit outdoors since the weather was pleasant. We found a table for two near the projector showing a muted black and white film on the brick wall. The chairs had blankets over them just in case it gets chilly at night. It was very thoughtful. I decided to order their special 3 course meal including a white wine ($45!). It was like they had their own restaurant week specials like SF but I don't believe that exists in Marin. The 3 course meal included a beet salad, pasta (it was the screw shaped kind) with Bolognese and a tiramisu which was my fav of all 3. The white wine was a bit on the sweet side. My husband had the pappardelle pasta with oxtail. That was a treat! I liked his dish more than mine but all of it was so much we had to take half home! The complimentary focaccia really pushed us over the edge. I would definitely come back to try their pizzas!

Great atmosphere always a nice staff, friendly, efficient and the best pizza in the Bay Area…read more Delicious vegetarian lasagna and great veggie soup with a wide selection of exotic beers and a good wine list. All the employees from the cashier to the kitchen staff are always friendly, in a good mood, and charming. Very good music list - eclectic, good jazz and more ! Clever names of the pizzas such as Bitches Brew (a nod to Miles Davis) , or Peter Paul, and Pesto. @A whiter shade of pale" I believe that was the Moody Blues record? What else could you ask for? How 'bout a new pizza named "Maybe I'm Amazed"? Make it at least a weekly event!! A good reason to cross the bridge.......

We were in the area after a run and found this gem on Yelp. I was surprised to find so many vegan…read moreoptions! We ordered the Young At Heart vegan pizza and added the macadamia nut ricotta (a must try!). The service was quick & friendly, the food was perfect! The restaurant had a casual and relaxing vibe. We'll be stopping by again!