Lo Coco's

Prefect spot for great Italian food! Food melted in my mouth - Pasta was amazing, with perfect sauce and perfectly soft meatballs. Lively environment, with many customers so make sure you get there early. Waiters were friendly and answered my questions about the menu.

I have been coming here for years and it definitely holds a special place in my heart. I always come here with my dad and we order the number 9 pizza as our appetizer. We grab a slice and then have the rest boxed up to take home. Then we dine family style and pick a pasta or two and the fried calamari if they have it. It's a very small, quaint restaurant and they do not take reservations so be prepared to wait if you catch them on a busy night.

Truth be told, Jamie W. and I have walked by this always crowded spot dozens of times, and while I knew it would be good based on my historical pizza gluttony at the Piedmont Avenue location, we also knew it would be carb central, so we kept walking, that is, until we were feeling in dire need of familiar comfort food on a cold, brisk evening.Go early. It opens at 4PM, and I'd suggest getting here before 5 unless you're willing to wait in the small side room that looked like the elevator for the Empire State Building. We started our dinner by sharing a Focaccia Bread (photo: https://yelp.to/OP-Jkb54NO) the $18 Sautéed Seasonal Vegetables straight from the farmers' market - broccolini, cauliflower, mushrooms, romanesco, and cherry tomatoes (photo: https://yelp.to/jWTfA8IZAt).A nice healthy start that segued to our individual pasta orders. Jamie had their signature dish, the $17 Tagliatelle al Sugo with a couple of their huge Meatballs (photo: https://yelp.to/npYLdmdog-). It was a simple fresh pasta, very thin, covered in tomato sauce. Light but given heft by the moist meatballs. I went for the more luxuriant $27 Pappardelle Bolognese (photo: https://yelp.to/4z7SAfimVU).Famous for the eight-hour stewed beef and pork shoulder ragu that coats the noodles, the pappardelle was velvety good providing a highly carnivorous delight. You would think we would've been fully sated by now, but we decided to indulge in the $13 slice of Tiramisu, a delightful housemade confection, surprisingly light (photo: https://yelp.to/tuk4dJFmUt). The crowd was out the door when we left. Yeah, go early.FOOD - 4 stars...true homestyle cooking, good size portionsAMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...constantly crowdedSERVICE - 4 stars...attentive serverTOTAL - 4 stars...definitely need to stop more often...but earlyRELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u

My favourite Italian restaurant in the Bay! The food is always amazing. The workers are very nice and the inside is very cute!

Cozy atmosphere, classic Italian delicious food, and very quick service!My partner and I dined at Lo Coco's on a Friday with no reservations (not sure if they do reservations), and we were seated within 5 minutes. Service was very friendly and some of the reviews mentioned that it was too cozy, but we came in an hour before closing and it didn't feel stuffy at all.We ordered the ravioli with pesto and classic pasta with a red sauce and a meatball. Both dishes were incredible, I was particularly in love with the meatball as it had a melt in your mouth texture, it was so good we forgot to take a picture! I also loved the ravioli, it was one of the best pesto sauces I have ever had. We wanted to get a cannoli but unfortunately they had ran out, so next time we go we will be sure to arrive a little earlier.

Everything was outstanding. Greeting at the door,wait staff and recommendations, food, vibe, etc. I had the special (linguine with clams, mussels and calamari) and my wife and friend had a pizza and salad and I shared a salad with my buddy who had egg plant Parma. Everyone raved about their dishes. Lo Coco has been at the Berkeley location 41 years!!! Only thing you should be aware of is they don't take reservations unless your party is 6 or more. We arrived at 5:30 on a Sunday and the place was full and stayed full.

Delectable desserts. We didn't order food because we had eaten elsewhere. Hazelnut gelato and cannoli were amazing!

Great service and staff. There was a mix up with our order and they totally made up for the mistake by giving us additional food.It's cozy and the food was delicious. I highly recommend this Italian restaurant. You won't regret it.

Always GREAT! Can't be beat! Might be equaled but never beaten. The pastas are always served hot and their pizzas are a special piece of heaven. Attentive service and the family owned and operated business understands flavor. I'd marry the chef and tell my husband to move over--and he is the nicest man, I'm sure he'd understand. He loves it too!

No wait for a table at 6pm, they were 3/4 full. Water and menus promptly brought to the table. A server came and announced a special, a breaded swordfish, which we ordered. Another server brought a plate of olive oil and one piece of bread (for two diners). The "bread" an index-card sized piece, was not foccacia, (maybe pizza dough?); it was ok....the olive oil was great, very fruity.We ordered a couple glasses of red wine (sangiovese and millami). Both were good, but the Sicilian red was better (rounder, more full-bodied). We had the "summer" caprese, which was excellent; a perfect heirloom tomato with mozzarella and basil, drizzled with oo.Entrees were the aforementioned special, a breaded and grilled swordfish with a linguine pasta; a very generous and delicious portion of fish and pasta. Also ordered was Giovanni's special pizza (eggplant, garlic and basil). The crust was excellent, the pizza delivered on the eggplant and garlic, but the basil consisted of one leaf decorating the center....more basil please!We opted for the tiramisu and cannoli for dessert. The tiramisu was a generous portion, tasty; but still partially frozen in the center. The cannoli was a disappointment. Though the ricotta filling was fresh, there was nothing in it, just plain ricotta in a thick chocolate shell, which was not a pleasure to eat. A lone sliver of candied citrus peel perched on one end, with a scattering of chocolate chips and chunks, dusted with confectioner's sugar. Sadly, that cannoli fell far short of the quintessential southern italian treat I was expecting, I ate half then left the rest. Lo Coco was doing a good business; it was loud when we arrived, tables turned and it was still loud. Enough so that we were leaning over the table to hear each other during the entire meal. Perhaps it was our seats (one side was bench seating with a tall partition)? If the room is that loud everyday, my sympathies go out to the staff!