Bistro Mozart

Quaint little Italian restaurant in downtown Sunnyvale.
I came here with a friend and fell in love with the dinner ambiance. My friend had a salad and I opted for a classic marinara spaghetti and meatball dish (may have been a special). Though it wasn’t anything to write novels about, the food was good.
For dessert, we split a dark chocolate mousse and it was TO DIE FOR. Rich, creamy, and Jenny Craig’s worst nightmare.
I’ll definitely return.

I ordered the Fettuccine with crabs… was pretty good (v creamy and heavy! I like it that way, some might not)… but my husband ordered the Linguine with Clams and was very very salty… and later we discovered they had few other specials, 2 for 50 $ I think, sigh! they should have mentioned this before our order, aren’t they supposed to that?
I think for a salty expensive pasta, and not reading out the specials… we are skipping this one

Maybe 2.5 stars. but I’ll give it 3 and round up because the service was solid.
I’m not that picky but the fact is, this place is simply a mediocre Italian restaurant.
Food:
Bleh is probably the word that comes to mind. Calamari came with ketchup. That was pretty sad. The bread was not the «good» type of italian bread… just some soft white bread that reminded me of Wonder bread. Ordered the Rigatoni and the sausage was clearly not fresh. Others had the linguine con vongole and it had some really weird after taste. We asked the waiter what was in it and he told us only half the ingredients since apparently the rest of it was «top secret». The quote from my companion was basically, «worst linguine I’ve ever had.» Best item was the spaghetti bolognese… but really, how hard is that?!
Service:
Solid. Waiter was nice… attentive… made sure everyone was satisfied. I did notice however that when the place got busier, there was really only one server… so he started to disappear for longer gaps of time.
Price:
It’s affordable but for the quality, I wasn’t that surprised.

This is our «going out» spot. The wife, she likes Italian.
Good food.
Excellent service.
Good prices.

Took my dad here for his birthday and we had a good experience. I really liked my lamb chops. The service was great! And, they were so gracious to bring out a slice of tiramisu with a candle on top for my dad for dessert. It was yummy.
The corkage fee is very reasonable at $ 10 per bottle. Overall, a good casual place to have dinner.

Great food and fantastic service.
We did the Saturday night prefixe (shared appetizer and dessert, and individual entrees) which came with a bottle of wine as well, so it was a steal.

I went here with my parents for dinner tonight. While they ordered the $ 50 for two special, I went with the angel hair pasta dish, Capellini al Pomodoro. While most people might find this dish a bit bland, I’m a big fan of it. The complimentary bread is good, but the dipping sauce was a bit questionable. I can imagine some people might like it, or perhaps it is an acquired taste, but I’d prefer something less exotic… like butter. I ordered a Tiramisu for dessert. Although it was good, I’m pretty sure I’ve had better.
The staff is great. They’re attentive and friendly. The guy in charge of water refills was completely on top of things to the point where I was wondering if he was actually asking if I wanted a water refill because my water glass was still pretty much full.
My only concern about this restaurant is that we were the only other group of people dining there. There was one group sitting at a table outside, and we were inside. Two or three more groups came in during the time we were there, but even then, the rest of the restaurants were filling out while this one remained relatively empty.
I’m really hoping this restaurant will catch on and not end up closing down due to lack of business. I really like this place — it’s definitely somewhere to go if we’ve gone to Dish Dash or any of the other amazing Murphy Avenue restaurants too often.

Finally. An Italian restaurant worth raving about.
Good Food= flavorful food. It’s not something that you find very often. It’s located in the heart of downtown sunnyvale along with other great restaurants surrounding it.
Looking for a nice intimate dinner? try Bistro Mozart!
I love their raviolis and Chicken Marsala. mmmmmmmmmmm.

Went on a Sat night with the hubby and didn’t realize they had a live band playing outside! While a lot of people preferred to sit outside I’m glad we were inside so we could hear each other and talk which still enjoying the music.
The food was AWESOME!
We first started with the bread and their DELICIOUS dipping sauce. The previous Unilocalers were 100% correct — that dip is AWESOME — includes aged balsamic vinegar — along with garlic and chopped basil leaves. And I agree with another Unilocaler — would’ve been even more perfect if the bread was hot or toasted — but regardless we devoured the bread with the dip — asking for more dip…
The calamari was VERY GOOD. I’ve had it at other places where it’s over fried and you can’t taste the calamari — or not fried enough and the batter falls off the calamari. They fried it to perfection — crispy and tender at the same time and I like they had a lot of tentacles. Also loved that they offered the tarter sauce AND the cocktail sauce!
I also had the cesear salad — and I will have to say wasn’t too impressed. They could use some work in the salad department.
My hubby had the raviloi with the mushrooms — came in a red sauce — SO FLAVORFUL — the sauce was just right! The only thing is they chopped up the mushrooms and mixed with some cheese mixter — I would’ve preferred more mushrooms «chunks».
I had the lobster ravioli. OH MY — SO GOOD — SO RICH… I could only eat a few (given how much bread I ate) but brought the rest home where my 15year old devoured them! You could definitely taste the lobster — and the ravioli’s wer STUFFED — BIG raviolis!
We were so full — we couldn’t eat dessert — next time. We won’t fill up on so much of the bread and dip! :)
Service was great — very personable and they kept our water filled and kept checking in on us even though it was pretty busy and hectic with the live music outside and folks asking for tables outside. We were lucky — we came before the big rush.
Will definitely come back again — want to try their chicken dishes next… If their salad was better they would’ve been 5 stars… who knows — maybe next time?

Bistro Mozart is a very nice Italian restaurant situated in downtown Sunnyvale. The food is delicious and there is a wide variety of choices on the menu. At lunchtime the pasta dishes are discounted relative to the dinner menu yet are the same size portions which represents a great value. The outdoor seating in particular makes for an excellent lunchtime dining experience in Silicon Valley. In addition, the service is friendly and the owner makes sure everyone is receiving proper attention. Overall, a great dining experience!

The way to my heart is with pasta and Bistro Mozart has won me over. Their Chicken Marsala, Chicken Piccata and Spaghetti Bolognese dishes are so good, I ended up sopping up the sauces with the freshly baked bread. They have some stiff competition on the bustling Murphy Street where there’s a ton of restaurants to choose from, including Il Fornaio. I would skip the Italian chain and try this little mom and pop shop. The owner is very warm and friendly and you’ll enjoy a nice meal here.

This place is great! Came to Murphy St. because we couldn’t decide what cuisine, let alone what restaurant, we wanted to eat it. Happened to stroll by and the menu intrigued us enough to come in.
It was pretty empty when we got in and we were seated & attended to immediately. They start you off with some bread and olive/​balsamic/​herb combo. The bread, while quite soft, would’ve been better served warm. The dip, however, was superb! A great blend of basil, garlic, a few other herbs, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. And they were pretty good about refilling our bread throughout the meal, though the last time they cut the pieces in half (really guys? we’re spending $ 25+ a person!).
Started off with 3 appetizers. The bruschetta was quite good, and refreshingly non-​oily. The arugula salad was good (arugula, honey mustard, candied walnuts, cheese), though it could’ve used a few more ingredients (fruit? red onions?). Lastly, the lentil soup was solid, though nothing outstanding.
For our entrees, we went with the gnocchi, the melanzane (eggplant on a bed of fettucini), and the chicken diavolo. Everything was great, especially the gnocchi and the eggplant!
No desert (I mean, just look at the amount of food 3 of us tried to take on), but overall great food with solid service & reasonable prices ensure I’ll be back.

The best thing about this restaurant is that their sauce is cooked perfectly. My boyfriend ordered gnocchi and the sauce was not too thick and not too thin. Whenever I cook gnocchi myself, I find it really tricky to get the pasta to be perfectly soft, but Bistro Mozart was able to do that. I ordered the Rigatoni con Salsiccia. That sauce was really good too and the sausage was tasty. For dessert we had the chocolate mousse, which tasted okay. Though it was much too simple to be $ 7.
The only thing that bothered me was that I like to eat my food with soda. I was craving a root beer (as usual). They didn’t offer soda to us, they asked if water was okay. I guess they already turned off the soda machine since it was dead here on Sunday night.

I’m so glad I found a delicious and authentic Italian restaurant! I am definitely coming back so that I can try their other menu options.
I ordered the Fettuccine con Gamberi, which was super tasty. It had a light cream sauce with fresh cherry tomatoes. Usually Fettuccine dishes that come with a «light cream sauce» are super heavy and leave a puddle of olive oil/​grease at the bottom of the plate, but not in this case. The sauce was just right. Not too heavy, not too light.
The wine list is pretty good too. They have my favorite Chardonnay (Stags Leap) which is always a plus. There is also a full bar with Blue Moon on tap :)
The service was great. Refills were given promptly for my glass of wine and the servers were very attentive.
I don’t think this place has been open for too long, but they definitely know what they’re doing.
As I said, I am for sure going back :)

Can’t say much the dine in experience, but the catering we had was absolutely superb, and its HARD to get catering done right.
The chicken, sausage, and portabello paninis were delicious though the salad was nothing to write home about.
The chicken was very moist and the bread was exceptional. They paired it with roasted red peppers and it was my favorite sandwich.
The service was exceptional. When they heard that one of my coworkers’ favorite dishes was the salmon risotto, they drove back to the restaurant and brought it to her free of charge. I would highly recommend this dish if you’re planning on patronizing Bistro Mozart (which I highly recommend that you do!)

Oh how I’ve missed good Italian Food. What a find. I can’t believe there aren’t more posts. So let me fill you in.
Bistro Mozart is a nice, quiet and intimate place. The décor is very cozy. Even the ladies room felt more like being in someone’s upscale home and not some venue.
The service was exceptional. We were out on a «date night» so we weren’t in a hurry. Our server and the floor manager were super attentive with drink refills and checking to make sure everything was to our satisfaction. I’d like to publicly thank Memo for that.
The food was great and I can’t wait to try more. But here’s the run down on what we tried…
Bread with balsamic dip sauce — I know this is just general table fare and I normally wouldn’t even mention it, except that the dip was Delish! They should bottle it and sell it. I’d buy it. It would make an amazing marinade for many things.
Grilled wild boar sausage with cannellini white beans — Meat was perfectly cooked, juicy and flavorful. Beans were covered in the rich sauce and we used the bread to sop it up
Bottle of Vestini Sangiovese (so good even my husband drank it and he doesn’t like wine)
Linguine con le Vongole
With fresh Manila clams, lemon, white wine, garlic and olive oil — This was my husbands entrée and he scarfed it down. Clams were perfectly cooked and there were plenty of them. The sauce was just the right consistency (not to thick or thin). Pasta was properly prepared.
Fettuccine con Gamberi
Fettuccine with prawns and fresh tomatoes in a rich cream sauce — Was my entrée and again the shrimp were perfectly tender. Not even a hint of rubbery. The sauce was again, not to thick or thin which I really appreciate because it sucks to get a dish that is drowned in gooey sauce. At first I took some home for later but I busted it open the moment I got home to polish it off!
Chocolate Decadence– Was the finishing touch and it’s all about the chocolate. Rich and Thick slice of cake but so close to fudge in texture. As a dark chocolate lover it hit the spot.
Kudos again and can’t wait to go back!

The food was tasty; but, nothing to write home about. In general, it felt like this was a family of non-​Italians trying to do a restaurant from a cookbook or a past history of having worked in an Italian restaurant and taken the recipes with them when they left. There was just something missing in the way of spices and flavor that only the originals from the country of origin can get it right. Sorry guys; but 3 is the best I can do for now. Keep trying, I liked the location, bar area and décor.
Our waiter went out of his way to provide service and he was very friendly.
Oh yes; I believe the Italian sausage was under cooked. It could have been more brown on the outside. I like my pork well done.

Ordered the shrimp linguine with tomatoes and cream sauce. Linguine and shrimp was cooked perfectly but the cream sauce was slightly under seasoned.
I really liked they don’t skimp on the herb infused oil with balsamic vinegar.
Service A+
Food B+

While at the farmer’s market on Saturday, the hubby and I decided to check out this new restaurant because of the grand opening sign. I was puzzled that there was no menu posted up in the window, but instead an odd coupon for Valentine’s Day was taped up in the window along with the old «People Love Us on Unilocal» stickers from Valle Sol, the Mexican restaurant that used to be there. We used to like Valle Sol quite a bit, and were sad when it closed a number of months ago. Unfortunately, this new restaurant is off to a rocky start and our whole dining experience was disappointing.
Even though we hadn’t seen a menu, we decided to give the restaurant a try anyway. Upon entering, we were asked to sit «anywhere we’d like» which I thought was odd … I like being shown to a seat and welcomed in. The waiter seemed awkward and didn’t give us menus right away, or water, but did indicate he would be bringing some bread soon. He got a high chair for our daughter and then a few more minutes passed and we were still waiting for menus and bread. We decided to make the best of the first few minutes and set up snacks for our daughter … and this was a good thing, because the only thing we would be eating for a while was bread and her goldfish!
Another gentleman (who later I found out was one of the owners) was deeply involved with chatting with a man at the bar, and stopped for a few moments to get us menus. Then he went back to chatting up the man, and did little tasks here and there. No telling of the daily special or other welcoming gestures. The whole pace of the wait staff and owner seemed to be slow … there were many missed opportunities to welcome us in and be efficient with the service. And the menu was so off-​putting, I though that Bistro Mozart would indicate either French or Austrian origins, but the menu is all Italian! So confusing.
After ordering, the experience did not get better. We waited and waited and waited for our food, and no one communicated about when it would be ready. And when it finally came up in the window the chefs did not announce that the order was up, and it sat in the window for a good 2 minutes before anyone noticed and picked it up for us. This saddened me, since I felt that the waiter and owner were not extremely busy and there was no apology for the wait.
We ordered Linguine Vongole (with Clams) and Spaghetti Bolognese — both of which were average to NOT GOOD at all. My husband’s portion of food was generous, but the clams tasted old and had a metallic finish to them, and the sauce was not seasoned well. My bolognese was decent, but the pasta needed to be cooked in salted water as it had no flavor to it.
I, like Karen C. was visibly unimpressed, so the owner decided to give us a complimentary tiramisu and told us not to worry about the tip. This was a nice gesture, but a bit late in my opinion. I even tried to make a suggestion about posting a menu in the window temporarily, but the owner seemed defensive and didn’t want to listen. This is too bad, because if he was open I would have appreciated it … especially seeing as the restaurant has only been open for 2 weeks and they are «working out the kinks» as he said. Feedback from customers is valuable, and I would never give any suggestions to harm or drag down a restaurant. He said they are having someone build something (a shadow box I presume) to post a menu in, and that they wouldn’t be taping anything in the window in the interim. Hmmm, except for the Valentine’s Day coupon I suppose … (oh the irony)
Overall, the lack of service and warmth left a bad taste in my mouth, along with the odd choice of restaurant name and cuisine. I honestly hope that they improve their service and find their way, but from now on I will continue going to Il Postale as my choice for Italian in downtown Sunnyvale.

Downtown Sunnyvale has a new place to check out. It used to be the Mexican food restaurant and it still has most of the same décor including the sunny lamps. They have added white table cloths and cloth napkins and removed the rack that used to be over the bar so there have been changes but not a complete overhaul.
First impression is that the lunch menu is a little on the costly side and it’s an Italian menu not a Bistro menu. There are paninni’s at lunch but that doesn’t change that fact that it’s Italian and not bistro food. The menu is not eclectic in nature or French which is what you typically think of when you decide to eat at a Bistro.
We sit down and the waiter asks if we’d like something to drink to start with. We both say water to start with and that seems to be the end of the beverage choices since we don’t get offered a wine list and the menu’s don’t tell you if there are any options. You can see the full bar so if you’re interested in having hard liquor for lunch then this is as good a place as any is my guess.
I got the Fettuccine con Gamberi. I liked it but didn’t love it and had to add salt and pepper to it. I ate all of it. If you know me and read my reviews I always have food left over because I don’t tend to eat much in one setting and like to spread my meal out. This is not saying much about the portion size if my tall skinny body is still hungry after my entrée.
My dining companion got the Mediterranean Salad. She loved the Calamari and said it was cooked perfectly but after a bit she got tired of it since there wasn’t much more to the salad. It looked very white and probably could have used additional tomatoes or something else to add some color and variety of flavor to it.
I think the manager or owner figured out that I was going to Unilocal them and he brought us over a dark chocolate mousse dessert after we had declined ordering any dessert when offered. It was okay but mostly whipped cream.
I’ll give it more tries but for a first shot it didn’t thrill me. Maybe it’s really 2.5 stars but it’s not 3 right now and I can’t say I’m a fan.