Agrodolce Osteria

Nah nah nah. These low ratings are crazy. This may be my favorite Italian place of anywhere. Great food and wine. Great ambiance, though it gets ridiculously crowded with is of course never ideal. But to me, it's a cool, fun place that makes you feel like you're not in Berkeley, but rather Italy I'd town! I could tell you what to order, but instead just look at my pics!

Amazing food, really cute vibe and lovey service. We had lots of apps and everyone ordered a different kind of pasta. I forgot to photograph the deserts, but we had one of each of those as well. Every dish tasted so good! I love a good cream sauce for pasta and this place did it perfectly. My only complaint was that we did end up waiting a while to be seated, even with a reservation, but the staff was really friendly about it, had us wait at the bar and gave us some free shooters to celebrate our friend's birthday, so that made up for it.Overall this place was great and I'd definitely recommend trying it out!

This is our second time dinning at Agrodolce Osteria. Our dining experience here was nothing short of exceptional.Our servers went above and beyond to ensure everything was perfect, and we couldn't have asked for better service.If you're looking for an Italian restaurant that delivers on both food and hospitality, Agrodolce Osteria is a must-visit!

Cute ambience, stingy portions.Came with a friend to satisfy an Italian craving at 8pm on a Thursday evening. The interior ambience is cute and cozy, with a silent movie projecting on the brick wall at the back of the restaurant.We ordered the mushroom ravioli and a fried eggplant and mozzarella appetizer to share. The food was delicious, although I was anticipating more than 5 ravioli for a main course. We ended up eating a lot of bread so we wouldn't leave hungry. Nice place to come for a drink and a snack, but probably wouldn't return when I'm actually hungry.

I could have just caught them on a bad night, but I was kind of underwhelmed by this restaurant. ParkingParking around this area depends on the time of day, so I'd recommend coming 10 minutes early to find a spot. The restaurant is located off of residential streets so you'll likely find parking close (it just might not be right in front). ServiceIn my opinion the service wasn't terrible, but it is part of the reason why I wouldn't come back. We sat outside because the weather was nice, but as it got colder we asked them to turn on the heat lamps around our table. Even after asking numerous times, they were never turned on. The service overall was slow - our waiter took a very long time to take our order. It didn't take too long for our food to come out, but it did take a while once we were all finished for the waiter to bring us the bill. Overall the staff were very nice and friendly. FoodThe food was average in my opinion. The bread was cold, hard, and stale. BUT, the garlicy herb olive oil dip they served with it was AMAZING. The Pappardelle Ragu wasn't great. The noodles and meat were overcooked and the meat and sauce lacked flavor and seasoning.The polenta in the lamb shank was kind of soggy and lacked flavor.The seafood risotto was pretty good, but mostly tasted like tomato. Ambiance The ambiance inside the restaurant was nice! It has dark-dim lighting. I don't recommend sitting outside (unless it's a hot day) as you might get cold and it's directly next to the street, so it's kinda loud with the cars wizzing by every 5 seconds. Please note: this is just my opinion (and I very well could have just caught them on an off night), and you may have a very different experience here!

Service and ambiance was great. The food was not very good though. I got the Paccheri San Giovanella which came out with a soup instead of a sauce at first. I got it changed and the sauce was thicker but I still didn't think the pasta was anything special. The mushrooms tasted a bit undercooked. My friend got the basil pasta which I thought was pretty good and had nice flavor. I forgot to take a picture of our appetizer which was the Carpaccio di Tonno. I thought it wasn't good as the sauce they used tasted more like a ranch/ Caesar dressing which paired weirdly with the tuna. I also didn't think the tuna tasted that fresh either.

Came for a friend's birthday The service was great, staff was on it & as the place got busy they just kept on going. This was our second visit here & this time they / the chef knocked it out of the park. There were at least 3 appetizers: beef carpaccio, fried calamari, pawns & artichokes & the tomato salad, all just delicious. Oh & let's not forget the bread service, fresh bread with olive oil & herbs. For the mains there was: lamb shank, several orders of the mushrooms raviolis / one was a double, a couple of orders of the pork chop aka porchetta al forne, salmon, lasagna; in short there was so much food & getting to taste it all was even greater fun. The mushroom ravioli melted in your mouth & then dipping the bread into the sauce was heavenly. Scrumptious all around. Let's not forget dessert for the birthday girl, tiramisu & cannoli - oh my goodness. The ambiance was casual & as the restaurant filled up it gets loud, yet doable. Word has it the owner is opening a second restaurant in Danville, hoping to open January 20. This crew plans on being there! If nothing else to give him hell, eats his wonderful food & drink lots of wine!

The food is excellent. The service is good. A nice wine selection and bar. On cold nights they light the fireplace! So nice

First of all - food is amazing! We've been a few times, and always good! Lady visit though they had multiple large groups who extended their stays, backing up the restaurant and others reservations - we waited over an hour past our reservation time and over an hour for our orders, we'll go back but probably not on a Saturday, or best if we call ahead and see what the current status is... glad the restaurant is so busy, obviously because food is so good- wait staff was kind and apologetic- manager gave us wine on the house while we waited - so we felt appreciated - again, on a weekend, call ahead is best advice- but definitely go!

This is a great restaurant! We were greeted with a genuine smile and seated immediately upon arrival. The servers were extremely friendly and cheerful. Angela, Jude, Julia and Erika were absolutely delightful and sang Happy Birthday in Italian. The food was fantastic with large portions. It was one of the best dinners I have ever had!