Bellanico Restaurant & Wine Bar

We live close to Bellanico but haven’t been able to make it for happy hour and found it to be a little too pricey for a casual lunch/​dinner. As I was deciding where to go for restaurant week, I saw this menu and knew we had to go. For $ 20, we had an incredible three-​course meal with the best desserts I have ever had in Oakland (the warm chocolate, data & hazelnut pudidng cake and the affogato with gianduja). And for only $ 11, we were able to pair the first & second course with their amazing wine.
We’ve already decided to make this our new happy hour spot (5 – 6 pm every day) for their cocktails and small bites. Definitely a great place to go for italian food and wine — looking forward to go back soon!

I came for restaurant week and really Brian S has said everything that needs to be said. It was exceptional and the wine pairing is a steal. I had never been before restaurant week but I thought it was a good excuse to try a new restaurant, and I hope to make it back soon.

Bellanico — what happened to you? I feel like I’ve visited a friend from my past, only to find out that she’s now a crackhead. So so sad.
When my partner and I first discovered this restaurant a few years ago, we were thrilled. It was really close to our home, the food was outstanding, fresh and creative, and the service was excellent. Over the years we returned from time to time because of a few signature dishes that we were unable to get elsewhere.
Within the last couple of months when we visited, we were «greeted» by a VERY unwelcoming server. Truffs D.‘s review from 1÷7÷16 is 100% correct. We stood at the door for an embarrassingly long time without being acknowledged. Once someone did finally say something, we had the short dark-​haired woman as our server. I wasn’t thrilled since the last time we had her, she seemed unfriendly, but I thought I’d give her the benefit of the doubt and chalk it up to a bad day or traumatic life event. She was very cold and I felt like I was inconveniencing her.
Aside from the service and the quality and taste of the food, I would suggest bringing children (unless you happen to have miracle kids who are EXTREMELY patient when they’re hungry).
The review gets 2 stars because the food is delicious, but the service has taken a nose dive. I’d rather spend my money elsewhere. It will be a LONG time before I return (if I return at all).

Restaurant Week Review!!!
Bellanico has a phenomenal menu, and they have really chosen a tasting menu that shows off the diversity of the dishes they offer. I *almost* came back for lunch today, but decided to try a different menu solely for the sake of variety. The space is very warm and inviting; it reminded us of being in a small café in Europe. The servers were really nice, and the owner spent time walking around and making sure everything was going o.k. without being too obtrusive; he obviously cares a lot about his customers’ experience.
The menu started out with two small appetizers, both practically bite-​size. They were a nice start to the menu; they provided a small tasting and good flavor.
Next followed the «primi» course; we chose «tombo tuna» and «braised lamb belly.» While probably the weakest course on the menu, the proteins in each of these dishes were still really good. We were not super happy with the chickpeas in the tuna dish or the red mustard in the lamb belly, but aside from those two items, both dishes were still strong.
The secondi dishes were very strong; we ordered the ono (turned out to be trout) and pork tenderloin. The pork tenderloin was the star dish of the night; I would *HIGHLY* recommend ordering it. The trout was also pretty good, although probably fishier than the ono would have been.
For desert, you will get a sampling of deserts (unless you are here for lunch, in case you will have to choose). The espresso panna cotta and hazelnut cakes were both really, really good; I would have a tough time choosing between them. The hazelnut cake came warm from the oven and with homemade ice cream: yum! The cheesecake had a very strong goat aftertaste.
Overall, we were very happy with our decision to try this great little café for restaurant week!

Randomly checked out this restaurant during restaurant week after getting my nails done. The menu was so well done and the wine pairings super yummy. Service was great! Davaughn, our waiter, answered our questions and was just a joy. I operate under the philosophy of: surprise and delight… That was totally this meal that took me and my friend on a fabulous journey #bravo #jobwelldone

Kudos to Bellanico! The «restaurant week» lunch menu provides three course dishes for a very reasonable price, and the food was very tasty! Also, the service we experienced was above satisfactory, so I disagree with one reviewer who claims the servers look miserable and unfriendly.
Bellanico is one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants!

There are some items on this menu I will always love… the pepati, the beet ravioli, the duck liver pâté, the burrata, the pork belly. Almost always excellent. Except for this last time. The pasta was Way past al dente. It ruined my favorite pepati, which has also gotten smaller. The service has gone WAY down hill. Sad really. The staff act and look miserable, give unsatisfactory service, no smiles, no friendly recommendations as in months/​years past. And seriously, should I go back, if that grumpy scowling short dark haired woman is there, I’m walking out. Bad bad service. What happened? Please Bellanico, make your staff happy, make your bathrooms attractive and start offering the kind of quality and service that made people loyal to you to begin with years ago.

I hesitate to rate Bellanico so highly, since it is still possible to get a table for breakfast/​brunch without waiting on the weekend. As word gets out, that will end. This is the kind of breakfast that so far I have only found at BLD on Beverly in Los Angeles, and I have asked them in the past to open a branch somewhere up here in the Bay Area. They laughed.
My friend and I stumbled on Bellanico a month ago or so, heading to the place next door, but we stopped to look at the menu, were intrigued, had a wonderful meal sitting at a sidewalk table. I’ve been back every weekend, brought other friends with me.
I’ve had the Duck Confit Hash with Poached Eggs, the Fennel Sausage with poached eggs & Polenta, and the Pancetta with eggs & country bread. My favorite so far is the pancetta dish, but they are all great.
Service is wonderful. Coffee is excellent. My friends who have eaten dinner here rave about the nighttime food as well, but I have yet to come over for dinner.

The staff ALWAYS seems cranky and put out. I’ve been here 3 times and it’s always the same. Not trying it a fourth time. Try to smile wait staff and guy who seats you. Being friendly to your customers is a good thing. Promise.
Tonight I was going to get a glass of wine at happy hour and they turned me away at 4:50 (happy hour starts at 5). No prob, Park Burger got my money and they served me my wine with a big smile.

1^st time I visited and I’ll be back! We had reservations at 5:45 pm on a Fri night and I was surprised at how busy the place was that early in the evening. The space is on the small side and the tables are pretty close together, so I wouldn’t suggest it for a quiet, romantic meal. It’s loud and I felt like the couple next to us was «with» our group. On the plus side, they do have a few tables out front on the sidewalk.
The food and the service was da bomb. To start the meal we all shared the cheese plate and a couple of salads. Each item was nice sized and tasty. For dinner I had the beet ravioli was was amazing, The earthiness of the beets was paired perfectly with the creaminess of the ricotta cheese. My husband had the beef that was served with arugula and bone marrow. He raved about it! For dessert we had the donuts and the sorbet with a prossecco float. Super delicious.
The only somewhat negative comment I have to make (other than the noise level and tight space) was that the sangria was not good. First if all, it was small. Second, the flavors were just off. Not something I’d order again or recommend.

Love love love it!
Straight from fine Italian cuisine with modernization. These guys and gals provide hospitality from the moment of arrival. They have a great experience to offer each time and are happy to share it with you. Way cool people eat there and talk amongst each other.
Compliments for all the flavor! Great service by sexy warm folks, and value for the price.

Mother’s Day Success
I like the neighborhood vibe of this place. We had a quiet table at the back which I’m sure other patrons appreciated since my 4 year old was «in a mood.» Parking is spotty since its in a neighborhood but we found something after a few minutes.
The food overall was excellent. We had a mix of brunch and lunch items so sharing everything really worked out well. They also have a kids pasta and butter which was actually pretty good for a kids dish. Other dishes sampled were the Country French Toast and Eggs Florentine with Kale.
I had the prix fixe which was a bargain at $ 25. First course was Burrata with Artichokes, Snap Peas and Leek Top Pesto. The salt really made the flavors pop. A great start. Second course was the Grilled Bavette Steak Medium Rare with Fried Egg and Arugula/​Grana Padano Salad. The runny egg was great with the peppery salad and the steak was perfect medium rare. Third course was the Zeppolini Doughuts with Sage Custard and Savory Dark Chocolate Sauces. Kids loved these.
All in all a solid meal. I’d come back again to try some of the more traditional Italian Entrees.

Located in the very tight-​knit neighborhood of Glenview and by tight I mean feels like Smurf Village! The word tight also comes to mind when speaking of the parking sitch in that lovely but boxed-​in neighborhood.
For our health, it was great to park about a mile away from the restaurant in a very hilly neighborhood flanking the business district side if things. For my lungs, aww they’ll get used to it! All the while strolling to and fro afforded a lovely conversation with my favorite «Red» Jessica P.
When we finally got to our destination I had a quick bout of déjà vu seeing Blackberry Bistro where I had a lovely brunch there as well but soldiered on. Upon entering, the place was packed and didn’t really have a lobby to wait in. There was a bit of a wait just to announce my arrival and that I had previously made a reservation on OpenTable. After some of the controlled chaos cleared, we were shown to our table right by the window. The view was great until a party decided they wanted to commandeer our view by sitting there. No worries, I was still in the best of company and the food we meticulously chose was on it’s way.
The offerings were unique to say the least but not hard to choose. We started with Stracchino Di Vedeseta cheese plate. The profile alone was pungent but seemed to get a rise out of both of us like when one is eating REAL cheese for the first time. By that time we decided on our mains yet I can’t recall what my lovely friend ordered but mine was very memorable. Liberty Farms Duck Confit Hash crossed my lips and they quivered with excitement because I’d recently been on a hash kick. This dish was no exception and quite a contender. With it’s poached eggs (had them hardened, can’t do runny), shallots, fingerlings and red endive, I was more than pleased with the flavors. I recall Jessica being quite enamored with hers as well.
Not wanting this mini adventure to end, we opted to see the dessert menu yet couldn’t decide on a single thing until the Dolci Sampler caught our eye. Jessica was in immediate agreement so we went for it.
This sampler had everything for our very mature pallets. Warm chocolate over date and hazelnut pudding cake, mascarpone gelato, goat cheese cheesecake, pistachio brittle, zeppolini (warm mini doughnuts with sauces), olive oil poundcake, olive oil gelato and caramel blood oranges delighted us to no end. It was the perfect pairing to solidify for me that adult desserts have it way better!
The overall experience was top notch and I enjoyed the two hours Jessica and I spent there, worth every… everything!

Bellanico… the sister restaurant to Aperto in the city. Absolutely love both places!
Came to Bell around 6:30 and was able to grab seats at the bar. Everyone was so friendly and accommodating. Our bar tender/​server Sophie was very attentive and sweet. My all time favorite since 2008 from Aperto to now Bell is the Tagliolini dish. I preferred the thicker original pasta but Bell uses a thinner one. Still delicious!
Kudos to Sophie recommending the Yellowtail wrapped with prosciutto. Wow was the fish cooked perfectly and how crunchy the prosciutto was!
We also ordered the Italy North to South wine flight and the goat cheese cheesecake. Wished we had ordered the full size cause I turned for a second and my date devoured half of the cake… that’s how yummy it was! Thanks Chris for Aperto and Bellanico!

I have no idea how Bellanico received it’s 4 stars. I was deceived.
To summarize: great service, cute spot, feels over-​crowded, food is not good and I will never come back.
What we ordered:
Duck Pâté — literally slabs of pâté on toast. Presentation was terrible and the pâté taste off.
Pork belly– not what I expected. It came on a skewer of chewy pork belly and fingerling potatoes and I liked the potatoes more.
Ribeye — OK steak but nothing special. Temperature was correct and came with bone marrow.

One of the best restaurants I have ever been to.
The ambiance was incredible and don’t get me started on the food.
The mussels, gnocchi, steak & marrow, pork tenderloin with pork belly were absolutely incredible.
This experience was incredible!

For Oakland’s restaurant week, we tried this place. It’s located on a street with about a block of other restaurants and stores but mostly residential areas surrounding it. It’s all street parking but it was easy to find with the residential areas. We made a reservation on Opentable beforehand. I don’t know that we needed to but we came for a pretty late lunch at 2 pm when they closed at 3 between lunch and dinner. We were a bit early so our original table wasn’t ready. The owner/​manager/​host offered us another table, mentioning there were children nearby. We didn’t mind but that’s great that the restaurant was considerate I could see how some people would not want to be seated next to kids. There ended up being two kids to our right and two kids to our left but with a table or two buffer in both directions. And they were fine — only loud once. They gave us two menus. One was the regular menu and one was a tasting menu. The tasting menu was different than the restaurant week menu online and slightly more expensive but when we asked, they said that was it. It was fine. They had three choices each for the appetizer, entrée and dessert. And between our group, we almost ended up getting one of each thing. Other friend ordered off the al la carte menu. Service was fine but food was a bit slow to come out. It was towards the end of their service and it didn’t seem too busy so not sure the reason.
First they brought out complementary carrot cake muffins. Small and cute and a great alternative to plain bread. The appetizers were a pork belly with a bean salad, a burrata (cheese) along with toasted bread and beets, and a swiss chard in a small patty (like mochi size) dish. All were small but delicious. And interesting, rarely had those flavors before. I also tried some pâté, which wasn’t super liver-​y, from my other friend’s al la carte appetizer. For the entrees, I had the orecchiette with spinach and prosciutto. My friends also had the cocoa gnocchi and a poached egg and prosciutto dish (similar to eggs benedict). The cocoa gnocchi sounded really interesting but I didn’t get to try it before my friend wolfed it down. Haha. For dessert, there was a chocolate panna cotta, goat cheese cheesecake, and zeppoline (Italian doughnuts). The zeppoline was different than I had before but it came out hot and freshly fried with great dipping sauces. These were regular mini doughnut shaped rather than doughnut hole/​fritter shaped. I’d also never had cheesecake made from goat cheese but it was great, especially with the pistachio crust. The panna cotta was light and very chocolaty too. Overall the food was great and I would recommend it to all.

Being the snazzy little Unilocaler I am, I snagged a 6 pm reservation on the last day of Restaurant Week (truth: Mr. P knew exactly what would brighten my day and stumbled across an abandoned reservation on Open Table). This area can be a little limited in parking, so give yourself some extra time.
Romantic lighting, enclosed patio seating, new silverware between each course… this is a very nice date night with all the lovely details without being pretentious. Very attentive and kind staff who put up with all my batty questions and gave me great suggestions. (For whatever reason I have the hardest time figuring out what is on Italian menus unless it’s crystal clear. Agnolotti, tortelli, sformato… err…).
I could slowly talk you through bite by bite, but I’m going to just get to the point. The bacala was my absolute favorite, and I could probably eat the dark and white panna cotta every day for the rest of my life. I think whatever you order here will be a delightful culinary experience. Also it doesn’t hurt coming here during restaurant week when you can indulge for just $ 30 per person. Such a steal!

What a wonderful neighborhood restaurant! Bellanico is a local gem that has stellar service to match their scrumptious menu.
We came here on a lazy Sunday with our two young kids. They were offering their Oakland Restaurant week brunch menu for $ 24, to which you can add wine pairing for $ 10.
Here’s what we tried:
Burrata with roasted baby beets — they make their own burrata, which works really well with the Grillo white paired with it.
Braised and seared pork belly — loved the crispy skin and tender meat, specially with the «Merlau» red
Poached eggs and prosciutto on country bread — liked this version of Eggs Benedict, paired with a Bordeaux blanc
Butternut squash and goat cheese frittata — fluffy and creamy, yet quite filling. Paired well with a Loire white blend
Dark and white chocolate panna cotta — rich and creamy
Florentine doughnuts — our kids loved this with the sage custard sauce and chocolate dip. Only problem was that there were only 5 small pieces for $ 8.
Goat cheese cheesecake with pistachio brittle — my fave dessert, love the savory cheese with the crunchy brittle
Our brunch also came with complimentary muffins. My kids loved these and our server was gracious enough to provide us with another helping! Overall, we highly recommend Bellanico and look forward to coming back!

While my first, and yes amazing, visit to Bellanico was almost four years ago, let’s credit Oakland Restaurant Week 2015 for compelling me to put the figurative pen to the paper to tout how sublime their food really is.
Bringing a co-​foodie co-​worker last Friday, Scott and I arrived for our noon reservation to find the restaurant already 70% occupied. I’ve been twice prior, and impressions of Bellanico have stayed pleasantly consistent:
— Feel: neighborhood-​y.
— Romantic food but not nec. a romantic setting (think more small wine bar with amazing eats).
— If your Italian’s not quite fluent, a bit of do-​ahead online research and translation sites for their menu may be worthwhile.
And, seriously lovies: if you have the chance this week to pop over to Bellanico for their ORW menu, please — GO. Their $ 20 lunch ‘tasting menu’ offers several choices for each of three courses — all lovingly plated from what I saw on both ours and other’s tables. You can see the lunch (and dinner) ORW offerings here:
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My lunch choices:
Course #1: Salsify And Egg Yolk Sformato, Nettle Pesto, Shaved Brussels, Green Garlic, Red Frill Mustard. Classy, sophisticated and delicious dish. Piercing the sformato to its egg-​yoik center, which runs and mixes delightfully with the sformato’s rice starches and grilled red greens, is such an understated ‘wow.’ I also tasted my co-luncher’s Bacala Mantecato Agnolotti, with a Whipped Salt Cod And Potato Filling. Also very good, though IMO I got the tastier dish this round.
Course #2: Pork Tenderloin And Pork Belly, Crema Fritta, Grilled Treviso Radicchio, Campari Sauce. Ahhh… two days later, and memories still linger and tease of the dual-​pork deliciousness, so moist and savory and a little salty and more than a little fatty. The taste of my co-luncher’s Pancetta Wrapped Yellowtail Jack was again very delicious, but for my tastes, the pork was the clear winner.
Course #3 (dessert): The chosen Guinness Stout Cake, Sage Buttercream, Butterscotch Sauce was the *perfect* dessert size for me (i.e., more a tasting), but while good might have been the least impressive of the three courses. The co-diner’s option of a Bittersweet And White Chocolate Panna Cotta w/​Brutto Ma Buoni Cookie seemed the better choice here; though in a return visit I’d opt for the Warm Pine Nut And Honey Tart with Olive Oil Gelato. Though, truly, a jump off the OWR menu and an order of their goat’s cheese cheesecake is practically a must for the first-​time visitor.
This lunch, as with dishes in all prior visits, the courses’ tastes are only equaled by their plating. The sophistication and imagination the chefs put into their dishes are truly impressive. And, despite the ‘tastings’ label, portions sufficient vs. overbearing for mid-​day consumption.
Bellanico was the favorite lunch spot of a dear and departed friend, and the place for our first lunch together — so co-​owner Elizabeth, and her staff and fine food, will always have a warm place in my heart. Personal sentiments aside, Bellanico is a very worthwhile destination for anyone who appreciates good Italian food cooked with loving care.