taverna pellegrini

I’m not kidding when I say that this may be the best restaurant Orinda has ever had. Okay, okay – Casa Orinda stands as number one, but it is in its own league as a real historic Orinda original. Orinda is pretty averse to change and «newness» so there tend to be just a revolving door of mediocre places. The restaurants in Theater Square are an example – over the decades there has never been a restaurant to write home about, nothing to get excited over. At the site of Taverna Pellegrini, every 5 years a new boring restaurant took over and then went out of business. So the amazing food here at Pellegrini is really a wonderful surprise. The main dishes are stellar. The Osso Bucco is out of this world. Succulent meat and polenta like we’ve never had it – and we’re an Italian family. The Salmon with Caponata is also delicious. The spaghetti ad meatballs, and polenta with sausage are also great picks. Servings are not skimpy and the food is not over salted or heavy. It is so well done. The best starter is probably steamed clams and mussels. The other starters we had were not so stand out. We hope it stays and we hope it stays this good.

Great restaurant! Taverna Pellegrini occupies the restaurant space that had been previously occupied by a fairly blah Mexican restaurant (so blah that I can’t even remember the name). When taverna first opened, we were very excited, because we absolutely adore Italian food and were excited that this restaurant appeared to offer more authentic Italian than the other nearby Italian restaurants. Our first visit to Taverna Pellegrini was not the best experience — the waiter mixed up my order of lasagna with my finance’s order of melanzane alla parmigiana and my fiancé, the vegetarian, was less than enthused that he ended up consuming ground meat. He will admit that it tasted good (meat tastes good!), but was not happy that they made such a mistake after he made such a big deal clarifying that his order did not include meat. Somehow, my fiancé, who holds a grudge with the best of them, decided to let us try the restaurant again. The food was again very tasty and, thankfully, the service had improved. So far we’ve tried the lasagna, the melanzane alla parmigiana, the homemade pappardelle pellegrini, the fritto misto di peace, and the saltimbocca alla Piedmontese. We will definitely be back — still need to try the pizza!

Food was very mediocre. Service was very slow. We sent one dish back because the shrimp were «off» and ordered something else. They kept both items on the bill, which we pointed out to them and they removed. I wouldn’t recommend this place.

Second time going here. First time we went was shortly after they opened and service was slow. I was hoping that they’ve worked out the kinks at this point, but they didn’t. Service was super slow again. Calamari were rubbery, my shrimp dish was super gross so I sent it back. They apologized but still put it on the tab. No action to remedy the mistakes. At an average of $ 35 per person, this simply does not fly. I gave them two chances, but won’t be back for a third time.

We came here on New Year’s Eve with a group of four. Nice cocktails and wines as well as service. The waiter brought a taste of the prosecco to my friend who wasn’t sure about ordering it. He also noticed I had used my dinner fork for salad and brought me another without my asking. Good salads, and the four different pastas we ordered were all delicious, particularly the lobster ravioli and gnocchi with sausage. Reasonable prices. We tried three desserts and all were yummy. Try the apple tart with apricot glaze and flourless chocolate cake.

We went to this place for our Christmas party. Food was great and the server was very friendly and also great service. Will definitely come back. It was a good experience. Had a lot of fun

Every meal I’ve had from either the San Francisco or newly added Orinda location has been nothing short of spectacular. Dario owner is a great guy with a great story

Food and service didn’t disappoint. Great menu and atmosphere. The apple cider braised Osso Buco over polenta was really good and so was their bruschetta and antipasto platter. Their desserts are your typical Italian fair and are very good. Service was prompt and attentive. Great new gem to the Orinda neighborhood

we so much want this restaurant to make a go of it here. the service is great, the food spotty. The half chicken, on two different occasions was anemic. charge a little more and give me a chicken with some meat on it, please. the octopus, unfortunately, was tough.

Frustrating experience! I am a long time Orinda resident. I took my family of 7 out to dinner the evening before Thanksgiving. The restaurant was under staffed and the food came out at different times which didn’t allow for us to eat together as a family. The pizza was undercooked and tasteless. My mother had to wait 15 min longer than the rest of us to receive her entrée. When I mentioned our experience to the manager he mumbled and went back to talking to someone sitting at the bar. Obviously they didn’t care about our experience or future patronage. We will not go back or refer others from the community to dine there.
–Understaffed
–Wrong

Excellent food and great service! The seafood on the seafood pasta was very fresh and delicious and pellegrini salad was overall great and had a lovely, light dressing. I am so glad that we finally have a good Italian restaurant in Orinda!

I have never written a Unilocal review but I felt compelled to do so to protect my fellow Lamorindans with kids, tastebuds or both. To be clear we were not expecting much, just decent service and a decent Italian meal. We received neither. After much delay the waiter twice brought the wrong pasta for our daughter despite a fairly simple entreaty for plain buttered pasta. Another staff member twice forgot a request for water glasses for the kids. The more disconcerting aspect of the dinner however was the completely insipid dishes my wife and I received. The lasagna was tasteless and uninspired, with the sauce seeming to have been discharged from a can of Hunts puréed tomatoes straight onto the plate. The short rib pappardelle was equally bland but the biggest travesty was the pasta itself. It was limp bordering on mushy. All this was compounded by the equally poor service at the end of the meal. We will not be back.

The owners of this restaurant get it. Excellent food (taste/​quality/​quantity), very friendly and efficient service, and reasonable prices. We were there last Wednesday and there was a staff shortage, but those on duty did a masterful job in keeping the flow running smoothly under tight circumstances. We really like the genuine care and concern that was delivered. We will definitely go back.

My family and I have been here a couple times and had a great dining experience. Very very friendly staff, and accommodating to our two kiddos. The kids orders arrived first as we had asked, and ours came shortly after. I loved my chicken piccata and my husband loved his pasta dish as well.
We ate on the earlier side but could tell it was starting to get crowded. I love the friendly staff and the food tastes great. It’s a fun option to bring your family or even a date night before a movie!

I think the restaurant is working out its opening kinks. We came here on a Friday night, no other kids but they graciously seated us with crayons and a huge sheet of paper. Our wine, burrata salad, and the pizza for the kids arrived quickly — but then there was a long delay without the waiter checking on us for our shrimp pasta and osso bucco. The restaurant was getting very crowded, so that may have accounted for the delays. The food was very good, however, so hopefully management can work out the pacing.

Frustrating experience! I am an active member of the Orinda community who is keenly interested in seeing restaurants come and thrive in our downtown area. I went twice to this restaurant with with my five member family (3 kids), both times with high hopes. We were all severely disappointed both times. Among the problems were:
–Understaffed
–Wrong orders brought to table
–Missing orders altogether
–Very long wait for food
–Cold food
–Soggy food
–No flavors
–Few choices for kids
–No atmosphere
–Hugely over priced
The town of Orinda desperately needs more family friendly, good quality restaurants. Unfortunately, this restaurant doesn’t come close to meeting the need.