Paradiso Restaurant

There are two things I love from Paradiso. If you are there during the correct season the crab and avocado salad (usually on the appetizer or starters menu) is deliciously refreshing and filling. I will order that alone for my meal! It comes out of the kitchen with the gorgeous green from the avocado, white/​pink crab meat, and then gorgeous slices of citrus (grapefruit/orange)…oh my goodness it is phenomenal. No, I do not share this plate when I order it… so do not ask. Ok, if you love brunch you need to go in on a Sunday. My favorite brunch item is the lobster egg’s Benedict. I’m sure any of the egg’s Benedict variations are great… but this one is one step above the rest. I actually split it with my sister (paradiso played it equally onto two plates and put fresh fruit on the side). What a pleasant Sunday brunch experience it was! Yum, cannot wait to go back for more!

I’ve been here 4 times over the past few years. Each time the food has been wonderful and the service has been very good.
I’ve had the baked chicken, the scallops (twice), and this braised beef dinner that was amazing.
The chicken was flavorful throughout, and I believe my sides were roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes– what I remember was the flavor of the veggies and potatoes. super flavorful, cooked perfectly– not mushy, not crisp. and all around wonderful.
The scallop meal was amazing. 6 LARGE scallops, roasted potatoes and asparagus. The scallops were fresh and slightly sweet as they should be– straight from the ocean. They were cooked perfectly– NO rubbery scallops here!
The braised beef is the most recent meal I had here. OMG, it was a nice generous portion and it was fall apart tender with a wonderful dark gravy. Not a lot of gravy, but just enough to dip the meat in and add to the already flavorful meat. If you like tender beef, as if it were in a stew, get this dish. You will not be disappointed.
The ambiance here is definitely slightly upscale. I dress in a nice casual outfit and I feel comfortable. It’s not hoity-toity.just really nice w/​a neat casualness about it. I’d have no problem wearing jeans and a nice sweater to this place.
If you can. try to sit in the back near the wall of wine. it’s near the bar area and the room is warm, woody, and has a great vibe to it.

What a great brunch spot. I can’t say anything other than this us some of the best that San Leandro has to offer.
Bloody Mary? Meh. Food? Exceptional.

Great atmosphere and the lamb shank is to die for. Melts in your mouth. Love this spot and it’s in my neighborhood.

Sat in the back wine bar area and loved the ambiance back there. Started off with some wine since they’ve got a great selection going on and had the mushroom risotto for dinner. Super delicious and also he a bite of the pizza which was great. They have a brick oven that makes awesome thin crust.

After seeing the reviews and photos we had to go
Atmosphere very la /​nyc
We sat at the bar and watched our diner being prepared
Both the short ribs and lamb shank were excellent,~$ 30, and a nice wine selection ‚$ 15/​glass. All in we spent $ 120 for two entries and 4 glasses of wine
Yes it’s expensive got the area, but it’s very good

For the record, food gets 3 – 4 stars but service/​host gets 1 star.
We had a 7:30pm dinner reservation here a few days before xmas, for a party of four, arrived at 7:15, early and (as expected) were told by the hostess it would be a few minutes wait.
The restaurant was pretty busy and there were two parties of varying sizes waiting before us. So we waited.
A few more parties came in, same size as us, one did not have a reservation but seemed to know the hostess and lo and behold, go seated before us, all while winking at each other (for knowing the hostess and being bumped to priority, perhaps?)
Every single party that came in after us were seated first. Maybe they all had earlier reservations and were late? Or maybe the restaurant had overbooked themselves?
Our reservation time came and went, with zero interaction from the hostess. We had our 4 yr old daughter with us as well as myself, being 8 months pregnant at the time. The hostess neither offered us anything to drink, nor a seat for me, and basically ignored us after the first ‘it will be a few minutes’ interaction.
At this point it’s almost 8pm, so 30 mins past our reservation time, we’ve been waiting 45 mins. I flag the hostess down who says they’ll be ready in a minute. Absolutely zero apology for the wait, completely inconsiderate demeanour, not someone you want at the front of the house if that’s how they treat patrons.
We were finally seated at 8:05pm and the waitress was fine, albeit fairly brusque, just average on service.
Food was pretty good, overpriced for what it is, a typical old school style of food but tasty. Having moved from SF recently, it’s tough to find similar quality of food and service and this might be the closest thing to us within a few miles. I was expecting more, but found this whole experience lacklustre and disappointing.
Uncertain if we will give this a try again.

We love this place. Food and service is amazing. Our only suggestion is that they should pay more attention to cleaning more thoroughly. For example, picture frames behind us we dusty, vents were dusty and touching up the paint should be a daily if not weekly chore.

Oh boy!
This place gets a rare 5 star rating. I think the location (away from the buzz) and its chex-​mix community helped it to create that winning recipe of great food, great ambiance, attention to detail, patience and all with a heavy serving of wholesome simplicity. From the min you walk in the door, you feel relaxed, ready to «dive-​in» and most importantly, you feel at home:
What’s to love:
1. Atmosphere: You instantly feel like you are in a place where everyone is proud to work there and keenly interested in actually providing great service. You won’t get that shiny «Welcome to Food Joint X» greeting here. You get the feel that everyone working here are part owners…
2. The Visuals: Upon sitting at the bar and watching the dish preparation, you are quickly encouraged to drop the typical «order-​eat-​leave» mentality. Instead one wants to «browse and behold». Every time I think I’ve zeroed in on my dish, I’m quickly lured away by the next heart-​warming dish zipping by. Its dizzying really… pizza prep, searing steak, the roasting rabbit, the fresh sliced bread… and on and on it goes. Here one can easily be guided by the clear menu and visual + olfactory clues versus pretentious adjectives
3. The Wait Staff: Well look around the joint and you’ll be (really) hard pressed to find a Portlandia wanna-be’s. The ladies and gents working here remind me of the life-​long service professional one meets when dining in Europe. These folks are glad to see you come in and they seem to instinctively tie your happiness to their personal success (as it should be) and they appear genuinely aimed to please. Who knew…“old world charm” in San Leandro!
4. The Portions: Well well well. How should I put this. The prices are similar to prices at Oakland’s but you’ll likely need to box up a few morsels. I ordered the roasted rabbit and at 6’4″, 240lbs, I had to will myself to finish the generous portions. By contrast, I typically leave Oakland restaurants needing a «snack» later on. Feel free to share an entrée!
5. The food: Granted, good atmosphere, big portions and proper waitresses can’t overcome a culinary «hang-​nail» when it comes to the taste/​quality of the food. And on this subject I can honestly say, that I am impressed. The food is fresh, simply prepared and well presented.
I ride my bike past this place 5-​night a week and every night it’s absolutely packed (no joke). I absolutely recommend you make the drive to San Leandro and I strongly recommend a reservation at the bar on a romantic window seat.
Enjoy!

Food was good, but I give it 3/​5, only reason I gave 3 was because they are such small portions plus it took a long time to bring food
Seating ²⁄₅ u literally sit next to the next table with no separation, u literally can hear others conversations, don’t like that, annoying, etc
Parking ³⁄₅ not bad, u can find places down street if lot full
Overall I’ve experienced better for less money, more privacy when seating and bigger portions.

This place is visually delightful. It has been years since I have been, but I still remember the quality and care put into the food, ambiance, and service. Right when you walk in, you know that this is going to be a unique and good experience.
This restaurant’s look itself is rustic warm, and inviting. There is a lovely open kitchen in the front and you can see the fire oven going. Although it has been years. I remember having the calamari steak that was prepared picata style with a slight breading, a delicious creamy sauce, and capers. It was cooked and tasted good. The green beans on the side were cooked al dente.
Although it’s been years, I look forward to returning with my significant other because this is a lovely little date spot.

Needing a semi-​nice-​ish place to eat in San Leandro, we decided upon Paradiso. The ambiance here is nice and the staff very polite, patient and helpful.
The food leans heavily Italian here. Among our group, we had a wide variety of things from the menu. Everyone thought their food was okay but no one thought anything was remarkably good. I wasn’t necessarily disappointed but wasn’t wowed either. The portions are more than fair generally speaking.
Overall, I wouldn’t mind eating here again but we are rarely in San Leandro so I don’t expect to eat here often.

Very good!
Had the rack of lamb… excellent!
Two lobster tails… bomb!
They added a little strawberry to the basil martini cocktail for me and it was delicious.
Apple cobbler with vanilla Gelato was very good as well. Server Kevin was great too. Definitely will be back to try the brunch.

Was such a delightful dining experience. The Crab Salad was amazing for a light dish as well as the Calamari. Each dish was well presented and thd Steak and Pork Chop were impressed by not being overly cooked. The staff was friendly and patience with our big party. Overall a great experience and will return in the near future.

The food here is really good. I have tried both their brunch and dinner. I’ve tried their soufflé pancake and dungeness crab omelette for brunch, and their NY strip steak. All were really good. I loved how fluffy the soufflé pancake was and the generous amount of crab meat in the omelette. It does take some time for them to make the food, and it comes out nice and hot. This place is a little bit on the pricey side but it is great for date nights, birthday celebrations, and brunch.
Minus one star for charging a cake cutting fee. I had came here for a friends birthday one time, and they were going to charge us for a cake cutting fee and I had brought in little bundtlets from Nothin’ Bundt cakes that are self served. I thought it was a pretty ridiculous, but they ended up waiving the fee since it took a while to seat is even when we had reservations.

We had a gathering with our neighbors and the food and service were very good and we all had a great time. They served us each a blueberry scone which was delicious. Some of the items we ordered were salmon benedict, soufflé pancake, prime rib sandwich, kobe burger, breakfast pizza and shortrib hash with eggs. All were very hearty and tasty.

I don’t often dine in the San Leandro area, but what a nice restaurant. The restaurant is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Nice ambiance and a really good feel. I only had the pepperoni and crimini wood fired pizza, but the thin crust pizza was delicious. They have a pretty extensive menu, i.e., starters, salads, pastas, burgers/​paninis, and a bunch of entrees to choose from (pan-​seared sea scallops, fresh salmon, ahi tuna, grilled or wood roasted chicken breast, pork scallopini, chicken piccata and even lobster tail.
Based on the service, ambiance and the quality of my pizza, I will definitely be back to try the other items on the menu.

Came for the first time on a Sunday and happened upon the brunch menu. Might have preferred to order off the regular menu since I read some reviews with some good recommendations for that menu, but brunch it was that day!
Pretty spacious inside, good spacing between tables. Not sure how to characterize the atmosphere inside. It’s like the interior design people couldn’t decide if they wanted to go for fancy or casual and they ended up with something in-​between.
Here’s what we tried:
+ CRAB AVOCADO APPETIZER (⁵⁄₅) — Crab and avocado is such a winning combination. Love this stacked appetizer, with the avocado base, and the fresh crab meat in the middle and some salad greens on top.
+ MARGHERITA PIZZA (³⁄₅) — Wasn’t a standout for me. Just standard, nothing to rave about, but nothing to complain about. Mediocrity is a dangerous zone to be for a pizza maker, since nowadays there is so much good pizza being made out there.
+ SHORT RIB HASH (⁵⁄₅) — This was my wife’s dish, but I ended up eating most of it. Very good. Comes with 2 poached eggs on top of a very tasty braised hash of short ribs. Perfect brunch food.
This place is definitely worth your try, especially if you live in the area. Again, I’d like to come again on a day where I can order off the dinner menu, as opposed to the brunch version.

We came here for brunch. They have complimentary scones while you wait. We we’re close by and this one popped up on Unilocal.
It s a pretty spacious restaurant and even without a reservation we were able to be seated shortly. We might have been just lucky.
There is so much food after you order had to take some home.
Everything here is really tasty.
The Rib Eye Hash was awesome. I would just come back for this alone.
Chicken Panini was good. A very tasty sandwhich. Chile Enchiladas Verde was also good if your craving give this a try.
The soufflé pancake was so good. I don’t know many places that make this either so here is another reason to come back.
This place deserves the good reviews for the food.

What I ate: Portobello tempura, calamari, flat iron steak with fries, baby kale caesar salad, tortellini, Moscow mule, tiramisu.
Visit date: March 5, 2015
First time? Yes.
What a feast! My friend knows some of the staff and has been here a few times, so we decided to head out to her neck of the woods to taste for ourselves. We ordered so much food — portobello tempura, calamari, Caesar salad, tortellini, and flat iron steak to start. Then tiramisu and various wines to top off the evening.
The portobello tempura is served with a chipotle aioli. Crisp outside and juicy, salty mushroom inside. The chipotle aioli had a light spice and the creaminess complimented the saltiness of the portobello. Definitely eat these up fast; if you let them sit around the oil separates and makes the appetizer seem greasy. The calamari is a good mix of the rings and the mini tentacles, a substantial ratio of fried outside and squid. The lemon aioli is it served with is also on point. The baby kale Caesar is unlike other Caesars I’ve had. It had a light dressing (not the creamy dressing I am used to) and was made with kale! And just like traditional Caesars, this one was topped with shredded Parmigiano reggiano and croutons.
The flat iron steak was on their specials menu for the night. It wasn’t my favorite dish (but I’m also not a big steak person), but I enjoyed the side of fries. They were crisp and salty! The oven baked tortellini — creamy and rich and has pancetta!
The cocktails are delightful and the wine collection, as we learned, has some top notch selections. The tiramisu was on point, too. It was more cakey (not soggy) and not too sweet.
The staff are friendly and didn’t complain when we stayed five hours for dinner. Classy interior and beautiful wine wall. For a fancy time sit in the front room; for a more relaxed experience sit near the bar.