Trattoria Fresco

We have been here twice in the past month, and each time, the food was delicious. This is a great place to come to on the spur of the moment when we have a hankering for really good pasta with fresh ingredients. Also the cherry tomato salad with balsamic onions was a fabulous first course. Wine list is short but reasonable with some interesting Italian wines. We feel like we are in a neighborhood restaurant in Italy when we come here. Will definitely return.

As always, this is just a fabulous restaurant in our neighborhood. Marco’s creations are spectacular; and, our server, who has served us many times before, is just wonderful. Thank you for a great Valentine’s dinner.

Excellent food. Great and friendly service by Marco. Love all the pasta dishes. Perfect location, quiet and plenty of parking.

I just love going to Trattoria Fresco, Marco is truly my idea of an Italian chef. He is authentic with his dishes. I have tried almost everything on the menu so it’s hard to pick one favorite. He always suggests a great wine to pair with what we are ordering. I brought some friends with me the last time, now its the only place they want to have dinner.

After reading everyone’s previous reviews, I can say that at least Marco is consistent!
He’s definitely NOT «warm and fuzzy» but that doesn’t necessarily make him rude. Just a no-​nonsense, get to the point kinda guy.
I’ve only been to Florence, Italy ONCE and as far as I can remember, the food is on par with what I had over there.
I was just passing through town so I doubt that I’ll ever find my way back but if I didn’t live over two hours away, I’d probably be a regular!

Marco has created an excellent trattoria. The food is excellent, the service is great, and I am a big fan.

Had two dishes — the chicken was very good, moist and flavorful, the pasta just okay.
The owner/​server was rude, making me reluctant to return.

BEST Italian food I have tasted in the 1.5 years I have lived in Northern California! I am from LA and have had great Italian food but this was outstanding! My boyfriend found this place because I had said we really needed to find a «go to» place for Italian that served great food and was not overpriced.
We asked Marco to suggest dishes for us. We started with the eggplant appetizer and shared a bottle of wine. He suggested a ravioli dish for my boyfriend (who doesn’t even like ravioli!), which he loved! I had homemade tagliatelle with pancetta in a light orange juice cream sauce (arancia?). Perfection! Not overly creamy, pasta was al dente and surprisingly light.
Marco is not the warm and fuzzy type, but he isn’t rude. He gave us excellent advice for our meal, the food was superb, it was served piping hot, portions were perfect and we weren’t rushed. We found our go to Italian place!

Charming atmosphere in lovely downtown Ross. Mediocre food. Owner/​waiter has attitude issues. Best dish was toscanella (super cheesy) with truffle oil. We probably won’t come back, but give it a whack. You might have a better expetience. Ciao!

Ok food, but they guy is rude. We came right when they opened with young kids and were the only ones in the restaurant during the whole time we were there. Yes our children are very young and were admittedly not the most quiet but from the moment we stepped in he made us feel like we were bothering him. He hadn’t received our open table reservation. Very stressed and rude when taking our orders. Rare to experience this (especially here in the Bay Area) and we eat out a lot (with our children). Will not go there again.

We had a wonderful dinner there last night. Great ambience, the entire menu sounded delicious and the owner was charming. We started with the burratta which was incredible. Reminded me of a burratta that we had in Arrezzo, but better! We each had pasta dishes, which were perfectly cooked, simple and had amazing flavor. We had the delicious chocolate mousse for a perfect end to a lovely evening. Service wasn’t fast but based on other reviews we expected that and enjoyed a leisurely meal. Definitely as authentic Italian as you’ll find. If only they fried zucchini!

Just when you think you can’t find that little gem of a restaurant, it exists in Ross Common. Marco is very creative with amazing salads and pastas, although we have a hard time not ordering the grilled Salmon or Trout because it is so fresh and tasty w/​drizzled truffle oil and great side dishes. This has become our favorite restaurant in Marin and when you’re married to someone named Guido, you take Italian food seriously.

Fantastic Dinner. My wife and I ate here last Wednesday evening for the first time. We shared the Arugula salad, tomato and pesto sauce pizza and the Rusticate pasta dish with shrimp and sausage. One of the tastiest Italian dinners we have had. Atmosphere is very nice on the Ross square. We will be back.

My family and I have been eating at Marco’s restaurant for over 15 years. The food is always great. Marco is a great guy– he has a quirky sense of humor, which is part of the fun of the whole experience. I have often run into him at the Farmer’s Market picking up fresh, organic produce. When my daughter is home from college, the first place she wants to go is Trattoria Fresco. As noted above, it is lightly staffed and sometimes if it is busy, you have to wait a few minutes. But never as long as you would wait at a good restaurant in Europe, so just relax, enjoy the vino and have an actual conversation with your dinner partners.
–Susanne L. e tutti la famiglia

If you’re looking for authentic, REAL Italian food go to a restaurant where the guy in the kitchen is Italian. This restaurant is owned by Marco… Marco is a natural entrepreneur and is really good at what he does so remember this is his place and if he seems a bit eccentric, get over it and enjoy the food and participate in the Italian family kind of treatment you’ll get there.
The food is always fresh, top quality and this is the best pasta in Marin. Marco does Italian wine events which my husband and others have attended and really enjoyed.
I’ve been enjoying this local place for years and wouldn’t think of going any other place to eat Italian food in Marin. Keep in mind I’m a foodie type of person and my last name is DiGiovanna so I know Italian food when I taste it and this is the real deal.
Also remember this is a small local restaurant with a limited staff so make sure you’re not in a rush and you’re ready to dine Italian style, slowly eating a good meal drinking good wine and giving the owner a hard time like he does to me and others… all in good fun!
Happy dining and Una BuonaCena.
Janet DiGiovanna

Went here last week and really enjoyed myself. After reading some of the other reviews about the owner being rude and not having regular hours… that’s not the reason why I really enjoy this restaurant. It’s more like you’re in his kitchen, eating his delicious, fresh prepared food, that he makes for you after seating you and pouring you a glass of wine. He wasn’t chatty, true, but that didn’t bother me at all. My food was excellent. The décor and the music was excellent. I loved the place, its a great little corner of the Ross neighborhood, and I’ll definitely be back.

This guy is as close to eating in Italy as it gets in Marin and most of San Francisco. The chef is from Italy. It shows. Everything on the menu is prepared differently than here. It is far better than the US-​Italian restaurants.
Reasonable wine list as well.
I hadn’t been back in a while and the chef was more reserved than he used to be. Hard times in the industry will do that do you I guess. After throwing out little banter I started to see the old own coming back.
Excellent food. Keep up the good work.

It has been a while since we have eaten here, for no particular reason and we were happy to know it is as good as we remebered it. We used to eat here quite often and always enjoyed the neighborhood feel, the simple, yet always well prepared pastas and the charm of Marco, the owner/​chef.
Saturday night was no exception. We went rather late at the spur of the moment, sat at the bar for about 5 – 10 minutes waiting for a table and sipped a glass of wine. We split a caesar salad, nicely dressed with a refreshing lemony dressing, homemade croutons and fresh anchovies. I then had the spaghettini al vongole which was perfectly prepared and well seasoned and my fiancé ordered the lamb chops with roasted baby potatoes and brussel sprouts. I’m typically not a fan of lamb but he insisted that I taste it and it was superb. I loved it!!! It was not gamey, just perfectly grilled and bursting with flavour.
It’s a lovely, low key spot that I highly recommend if you haven’t tried it. And for the comment about Marco closing whenever he feels like it, well-isn’t that the whole point of owning your own business and being the boss? It’s a restaurant, not a hospital. Chill out.

To follow-​up, Opentable emailed me yesterday and informed me that they will be dealing with the owner directly, that he is grossly misinformed. As of today, Marco has not called Opentable to research the matter, as he promised to do.

The reason I call myself the *pasta princess* is because I worked in Italy for 5 years and ate in probably well over 100 trattorias, many of them in and around Florence and the Chianti region. Last night’s absolutely authentic dinner at Trattoria Fresco was a wonderful reminder of homemade pasta, perfectly cooked meat and delicious wine.
Marco is a superb chef, a warm host, and his selection for us from his wine list (from the volcanic island of Capri) was unique, reasonably priced and a perfect match for our food.
We loved all three pasta dishes we ordered: homemade filled pasta with a tomato cream sauce, orechiette baked with artichokes, potato and cheese, and homemade spinach tagliatelle with meat sauce. For the second course we had steak and lamb chops — these are Florentine specialties and Marco lived up to his city’s reputation.
The quiet and tasteful setting in the tiny and chic town of Ross, not far from the College of Marin off Sir Francis Drake Blvd, is easily worth a trip, and a great bit of luck for Marin locals, too.