Sole Ristorante Italiano

This place holds a special place in my heart for my boyfriend and I. We’ve celebrated birthdays and anniversaries here because the food and the service is always great. This place is on the smaller side so we always try to make reservations. Lordy, the food. So so good. The meal starts off with this addictive, warm bread that comes with what I think is a sun-​dried tomato dip. OH MAN. My boyfriend and I try to limit ourselves to one basket as to not ruin our appetites for the entrees. But we’re weak and we always get another basket. This is only the complimentary part, mind you. So imagine how good the appetizers and entrees are. That burrata and prosciutto appetizer is out-​of-​this-​world good. The burrata is creamy and goes so well with the salty meat. We even save some slices of bread to eat the appetizer with. I could eat this dish forever I think. For the entrees, I can’t help but order the same thing every time, the chicken marsala. That sauce is so flavorful and the chicken is always cooked well. My boyfriend tried the spaghetti and meatballs and the gnocchi (on separate occasions, we’re not that ravenous lol) and loved both. The gnocchi is as light and fluffy as everyone else has said it is. You don’t miss the protein with this dish.
My boyfriend and I mutually agree on eating half the entrée and taking it home to save room for Sole’s incredible desserts. My boyfriend is in love with their canolis. I know it comes from a bakery a couple stores down so that’s definitely on our list of places to stuff our faces. The shell is so crispy and that filling is just the right amount of sweetness. And if that’s not enough, we order another dessert because yolo right? My Freshman Algebra teacher gave us some life advice long ago, and one of them was, «if you see tiramisu on a menu, order it. Don’t question it.» And I follow his advice almost always. The tiramisu, again, was not too sweet at all and came with some fruit to compliment it. But honestly, you can’t go wrong with any of the desserts or entrees or appetizers here. It’s my go-​to date restaurant, and I’m so glad I found it. 5++++ stars.

My boyfriend and I went here for the first time the other night for our anniversary dinner. We were absolutely in LOVE with everything we ordered, and the staff is super friendly and very helpful! We can’t wait to come back for my birthday! =)
Best Italian restaurant both of us have ever gone to, hands down.

Just a sweet little neighborhood restaurant, relaxed atmosphere and home cooking Italian food. Their outdoor seating is very inviting to passers by.
I really enjoyed the Caesar salad and tagliolini de porcini, hand made pasta with just enough white wine sauce: and tasted their gnocchi with truffles — gnocchi was a bit soft do my taste but the squad is delicious.
Their tiramisu was remarkable, overall, it’s just a delightful place to enjoy a little bit of relaxation with loved ones, stress free.

Authentic and amazing. The employees are really friendly, food was served really fast.

The food was amazing, the place is modest and adorable and the waitress was so sweet. A true hidden gem in San Mateo!

great find in the neighborhood. Excellent food and friendly service. they are very accommodating because we just dropped in. We’ll be back

REVIEW #1000! I made it, guys! :)
Now, some words about the wonderful restaurant that I get to write about for my thousandth review.
Oh Sole, you stole my heart with your pillow soft gnocchi and delicious handmade pasta. Your bread and tomato dipping sauce was an exquisite way to start the meal. I highly recommend coming here and sharing a few pasta dishes so you can try a variety of things. Everything we had was amazing. Also, save room for dessert. They have cannolis from next door that are out of this world delicious.
One thing I would have changed about my experience is that I wish we had brought a bottle of wine with us (everyone else clearly had been there before and had brought wine), but that’s on me, not on Sole. Corkage is $ 15/​bottle I believe (don’t quote me on that). Granted, this is a very solvable issue that I will be fixing the next time I visit.
Definitely make reservations — this isn’t a «just come by» kind of spot. The restaurant is very small, so you’ll be happy that you did.
Service was very warm and friendly.
All in all, this was an awesome spot. First Italian restaurant in the South Bay/​Peninsula that I’ve really fallen in love with and I plan to be here the next time I get a pasta craving!

Really nice little place.
Sidewalk seating; nice interior; good prices. The food is old-​school Italian: cream in the sauce, extra Parmesan is grated from a block at the table.
Whole wheat and GF pasta available, but I doubt it is home-​made like the regular pasta is.
Gelato & cannelloni place next door if their desserts are not enough

Came here for an office lunch. Genuine Italian place. The food was amazing. Their Caesar salad was delicious. I had the spinach ravioli (very good) and my friend had the pesto gnocchi. Also delicious. The cannoli presentation was so gorgeous and the inside filling was to die for. Ran out of water a couple times, they could have been a bit more attentive, but overall it was a great experience.

I’m sure the food was wonderful and the place looked nice but the customer service sucked. 3 of us walk in asking if we seat ourselves, which there was two empty tables present at the time. The uneducated woman holding a tray of waters said I don’t have tables for 3… What do you mean? We can take a 5 seater table? Really? As she rushes past us and says I have 5 people coming and another party over here… Ok so how long she said an hour… So basically the wait is an hour… Probably the simpler thing to say when people walk into a restaurant. It’s a shame that service can give a place a bad rating but she truly was distasteful!!!

Quaint neighborhood restaurant that makes you feel like you’re at home. The staff is friendly, helpful, and very attentive.
The food is simple but delicious. The special cheese plate was a bit on the pricey side given the portion size. The salad with avocado was simple, simply dressed, but a good accompaniment to the meal. I had not ordered a pork chop in such a long time but the description of their stuffed pork chop was intriguing. And, I was not disappointed. It was moist, tender, and very flavorful.
Too bad Romolo’s cannoli was closed as that would have been a perfect ending to the meal!

I really thought that I’ve reviewed Sole Ristorante Italiano earlier. Oh well, this place is consistently great.
The food is filled with favor and beauty. The atmosphere is relaxing. But the real gems are the people that make this place an unforgettable experience. I cannot say enough great things.
Try — if you can — to save room for a dessert. They are just awesome.

Foods is decent, but horrible customer service. Waiter and hostess are incompetent, inexperienced, and have lots of attitude. Fresh pasta on some dishes (spaghetti is not one of them). Also, your meal is better when the head chef cooks it. I remember the chef from his last restaurant, Sapore Italiano, in Burlingame.
Good luck getting a table for 2 away from the door. If you’re unlucky, you will battle the cold draft as well as the loud slamming of the door.

Don’t do it!
I was so disappointed in this place.
Service: It’s odd that such a small restaurant would take reservations and turn away business when people are walking in ready to eat. Yet that’s what happened. The bf and I walked in and were told that we could have the table until 9pm because no one had reserved it. Meanwhile several parties were turned away at 530pm on a Saturday because people had 6pm reservations. What?
2^nd the two ladies serving us forgot to bring water. There were only three parties in the restaurant at the time and they forgot to bring water… to all of the tables…
We order the pork loin with panchetta and veggies and got a very messy, bland-​tasting plate. We forced ourselves to eat it, but I couldn’t even identify the panchetta. Everything, including the veggies were overcooked. See image attached. It was just a sad-​looking plate.
I liked the bread!
The gnocchi with mushrooms had great flavor and texture. This is the only dish I would try again.
Womp womp…

My family and I love to eat here! The food is so fresh and consistent! I often dream of the hand made gnocchi long after we’ve gone! The owners are a delight, they make you feel as though you are dining in their home! The service is top notch — the pizza is really authentic! I regret telling you all this because it was my secret little spot… Now, it can be yours!
Tip: Don’t be late!

Love this place! Can’t believe I’ve never tried this or even heard of it before.
It’s not a big restaurant but they do have indoor and outdoor seating available and heat lamps outside of you choose to sit there.
We ordered two dishes from the specials menu, which did not disappoint! One was fettuccine with boar and the other was a risotto with chicken and mushrooms. Both were delicious. My only concern is that if they were specials I may not get to try it again! But it seemed like the whole menu would be amazing and I definitely want to come back to test more dishes :) big enough to eat and share and take some home!
The bread and dip that they give is also bomb. No idea what the sauce is that you’re dipping in but it’s addicting! Limit yourself or you’ll be full off that before your food comes haha

My former boss took me to a belated birthday dinner here at Sole Ristorante, a cute little cozy, white table cloth restaurant that feels very warm and inviting. I have been here I believe three times in the past year and although it is not my favorite restaurant, I do enjoy
it a lot. I have never had a bad meal here.
We arrived approximately 5:00 pm as we had reservations (better be safe to have them since it is rather a small place). We were immediately given menus, bread and butter, and ask if we would like a glass of wine. We did have a glass of Merlot.
The waiter was very nice, helpful with the menu and this is what we ordered. For an Appetizer, we ordered Bruschetta di Peperoni e Caperi, which is toasted bread, red bell pepper, capers and EVOO. Just enough to give it a yummy taste. We then each had Insalata di Avocado, which was butter lettuce, avocado, dried cranberries tossed with lemon and EVOO. Salad was delicious, very fresh & tasty. We each ordered a small order of a pasta dish since for our mains we were not ordering pasta. We both had Sedanini con Salsiccia, which is small tube pasta with mild Italian sausage, mushrooms, tomato sauce with a touch of cream. This dish smelled so good and was absolutely scrumptious. We are so much bread to soak up the juice. Yummo! For our main, i had Maiale com Pancetta, which is pork tenderloin wrapped with sage and pancetta, finished with a mushroom sauce. I enjoyed my dish however I just found the pork not as tender as I had hoped. My former boss ordered Gamberoni al Brandy, which were these huge tiger prawns sauteed and finish with a brandy sauce. She said they were Excellent. Both of our mains came with parsley roasted potatoes & cooked asparagus.
We had several glasses of wine throughout the meal and finished with a cup of Cappuccino.
Absoultly a very satisfying meal, great ambience and would DEFINATELY return. We were so full. Couldn’t force dessert. However we did have each a Cannoli to bring home that we purchased right next door at Romolo’s Cannoli. They filled the chocolate shell with ricotta and then dipped the ends with pistachio pieces. They actually close at 5:30 so we figured this would be a nice treat later on in the evening.
A very nice evening of fun, good food and good company!

Real cool Italian Bistro… small and quaint is what you get at Sole’.
Am here for lunch and they have 8 tables inside and 8 outside so this is a small place to get your Italian fix.
The service is crazy good and the waiter, server is so attentive. One person managing all these tables and he is totally rocking the service.
Love the cool bottle water they serve with the meal along with Italian bread and sundries tomato dipping sauce.
They made Truffle Gnocchi just for me because I saw a picture of it on Unilocal and it was not on the menu today. It is creamy and rich, could only eat a few bites and I was done.
Overall my experience is a total 5 stars! Great experience.

Wow, what a hidden gem in San Mateo! This is a small Italian restaurant that serves seriously good Italian food. I am glad we made reservation on a Thursday night cause it was packed! The antipasto dish was amazing and of a good portion to share among 4 people; my spaghetti carbonara was just perfect, creamy but not too heavy, and al dente to my liking. And to finish off with tiramisu and affogato? We are in Italian heaven!

It’s so hard to find good pasta and risotto in the Bay Area… this place definitely has it in spades! Not only is the pasta good but it’s al dente also! The risotto is not soggy but firm and well flavored.
The place is a bit small so it’s best to call in for a reservation if you have a big party.
The staff have been friendly in the times I visited so I’m definitely coming back!

Wow! My sister-​in-​law recommended this place and hubby and I decided at the last minute to try it and I’m SO GLAD we did! They are a very small but busy place — we didn’t have a reservation but they were able to seat us still even if it was by the door — it was worth it!
Staff is AWESOME — there are two waitresses that serve the whole restaurant and they are so pleasant, helpful and nice! You feel very welcome there. Hot toasty warm bread to start with a tomato spread was AWESOME — perfect way to start the meal…
We ordered the beet salad and they automatically split it for us — wish I took a picture of it — it was beautifully late out and TASTED awesome! They do NOT skimp on the goat cheese which went PERFECTLY with the arugula and red and yellow beet slices… Next time I may want my own!
I had the special — Spaghetti alla Carbonara — it had the pig cheek meat which was so tasty and perfectly cooked… add lots of fresh Parmesan and I was in food heaven. Hubby had the Pappardelle Alla Bolognese –and he LOVED it — you could taste the wine in the homemade meat sauce which was very meaty… and the fresh pasta was cooked perfectly…
We were too stuffed for dessert and we found out later that the gnocchi was a must try — so we’re already planning to go back…
Loved the food and prices are very reasonable and parking wasn’t too bad — not sure if it was because it was a Monday night… will know more the next time we go! :)

Amazing experience here on Valentine’s day. I could only get reservations outside but the heating lamps provided ample comfort. The bread and marinara dipping sauce are delicious, they just need to give you more of the sauce. We had gnocchi as an appetizer and split the bleu cheese salad off the specials menu.
The gnocchi is amazing. It melts in your mouth. Great texture and consistency. The black truffle and white wine sauce is just perfect.
I had the pappardelle and my lady had the veal. Both were quite tasty.
We even splurged and got the afogado (sp) and the canoli that they make at Romolo’s on the same street. Can’t beat that.
There was a middle aged guy going through a mid-​life crisis breaking up with his girlfriend during dinner, which was crazy but we had a great time.