Acqua e Farina

Acqua e Farina is hands down our go-to spot for pasta cravings! The Fettuccine Gamberetti is our absolute favorite--perfectly creamy with just the right amount of shrimp, and the fettuccine itself is always fresh and cooked to perfection.Every time we visit, we know we're in for an incredible meal. The flavors are consistent, and the quality never disappoints. If you're looking for a reliable, top-notch pasta place, this is the one! We can't recommend it enough.

Came here as a result of having tried their some of their pastas several times at work. Food: I tried the most popular dish on the menu : Fettuccine gamberetti which great but was overshadowed by my having to constantly fan away fruit flys at my table. I killed one and the other was too tiny to kill. I addressed this with the waitress who said they have had the pest control folks come on a weekly basis and they still couldn't figure out why they could not curb the fruit fly infestation. Yuck!!!!!I ordered another pasta, with pesto, and asked for shrimp instead of chicken. They still had chicken. We asked to return it which they replied with a "let me ask my manager." It was way more complicated than it had to be. They did end up removing it from our receipt but was made to feel as if I, the customer, was inconveniencing them. Anyway they offered a halfhearted apology and griped about why I couldn't tell them earlier to remake the food. The bread was hard and old and so hard to chew. The ambiance was dull and lackluster. The service was ok but inattentive at its best. Overall, the whole experience was disappointing and I do not recommend this establishment. Go eat somewhere without a fruit fly problem.

We popped in here before a show, but some of the people in our party were late. They sat us and brought us drinks while we waited on the Tardy Party. We (unfortunately) had to rush our meal to get to the show on time. The staff were accommodating, understanding, and provided excellent five star service to our party of 12. THE FOOD was so delicious. I had the chicken parmigiana, and it was fresh, authentic, melt in your mouth deliciousness. The polenta on the side was creamy and just delectable. We shared the pizza, and fried cheese and zucchini. They also serve complimentary bread. We were in such a hurry that I only took a few photos. My daughters enjoyed their Caesar Salads, and we had to hustle out of there without dessert. I look forward to coming back and taking my time. It's pretty inside and we thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, despite literally having to eat and run. Grazi and we'll see you soon.

Service was excellent and the food was delicious. Our server was very thorough from going over the specials, water refills, drinks etc. this place looks small but once on the inside it's pretty big. An area inside is big enough to hold events. The bar is small but cute. We ordered 6 well drinks and it was $100 just for the bar tab. It was weird tho because we kept ordering the same drink and the glasses appeared to get smaller with each round. Overall the experience was good, food was great and I will definitely be back.

I'm so disappointed I would've given this place 4 stars if we weren't attacked by fruit flies for the ENTIRE meal. We ordered the steak pictured here, and pork chops. Both were pretty good. I would recommend eating here but I prefer to eat in peace and not have to shoo flies out of my face every few seconds. I don't think I can come back here. It sucks because I would've definitely suggested this place to friends. After I left the restaurant, I looked on yelp and saw that there were other customers who experienced this.

I was somewhat disappointed in this restaurant, as I had heard good things about it. I came here with a group and we ordered multiple things to try. Out of the appetizers, I liked the polenta fritters the most. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and the marsala sauce that came with it was divine. I wanted to mop up that sauce with lots of bread. The crab cakes came in two tiny pieces that barely had any crab in them and the fried calamari tasted very greasy (1 star off). The salad that came with the crab cakes was topped with canned mandarin oranges. This was the first time that I have seen canned fruit used in a restaurant salad.My entree, veal saltimbocca, was the least favorite item of the evening. The veal was underseasoned, overcooked, and the marsala sauce was nothing like the marsala sauce used in the polenta fritters appetizer. The garlic broccoli was pretty good though. My friends ordered a pasta, a risotto, a halibut special, but no one raved about their food (1 star off). I was surprised that dried pasta was used for the pasta entrees at this Italian restaurant.For dessert, we ordered chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, and panna cotta. All were pre-made; none were fresh. The chocolate mousse was the white-milk-dark chocolate kind that you find at many French bakeries. I liked the desserts better than my entree, but they were nothing special.The cocktails were served in small, skinny glasses, half of which was ice. They were still around $16 each (1 star off).The restaurant was spacious, but felt cold (in ambiance, not temperature). We were seated in an adjacent room. The tables were spaced out and the walls were white. It felt like an overfill room. We still got attentive service, but the ambiance was off. One of our friends got an alert that someone tried to open her car door while it was parked outside the restaurant, so that probably did not help matters.Overall, I felt like I was at a cafeteria serving Italian food, but paying fancy restaurant prices.

Prob a 4.5 rounded up! Acqua e Farina is such a great restaurant in Downtown Hayward.You wouldn't guess it from the outside (the small entrance can be easy to miss), but on the inside it's so spacious with multiple rooms for dining. It almost feels like each room has a different theme (from an Italian street to a classy bar to a beautiful large group dining room). It's a little mixed up but I don't mind it.The food was great value for the price. You get really generous portions of pasta and I appreciate that they offer rotating specials too. I loved my fettuccine pesto chicken pasta (~$20). Wasn't too heavy and had a nutty pesto flavor.The best part (or maybe equally great part?) was the service. I wish I remembered our server's name because she was amazing. She was giving fine dining level service - super knowledgeable about every dish and special; checked up on us just enough but not too much that would bother us; and all around was really nice and professional. I was so impressed!Anyways, definitely stop by Acqua e Farina if you're craving pasta in Hayward!

Nearby parking lots amazing service very friendly venue setting was simple but elegant the food was fresh loved it amazing gem in neighborhoods if I am in the area willBe back

Food ok. What is absolutely ABOMINABLE is their take out/pick up system. Ordered here by phone 3 times, once via online. Every time I have arrived, they haven't even started the order despite my telling them my pickup time. On average, have had to wait a minimum of 20 minutes. Worse, no apologies or an iota of service recovery attempt. ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE

My family enjoyed our dinner. Also thank you to all the staff who accommodated us as we had family with special needs. Luis was our server and did a wonderful job the whole night, along with the other waiting staff. The food was also great, the menu is simple and they were able to provide some substitution options for diet preferences. All the sauces and food items were fresh and tasted good. I really liked their homemade creamy Italian dressing. Only critique was the halibut was overcooked. Would definitely recommend this place. Support family and local businesses!