Number5 Kitchen

This place is a one man culinary symphony which achieves the rare feat of offering both consistency and discovery with each visit. It's our favorite restaurant in San Carlos, where each dish is a labor of love. The seasonal firefly squid dish is a particular highlight with its delicate brininess and perfect texture, but kitchen staples like the pasta bolognese is also comforting and hearty, a classic crowd pleaser even for the fussiest of palates.Here, the pace is deliberate, and the food can take its time, but the anticipation is well worth the wait. PS. If the fries ever make it back on the menu - order them immediately. They are absolutely not to be missed!!

The place had one other party so it was quite. I really wanted to try this place as it was described as farm-to-table. I have to say that the experience could have been better. The server, owner or not, was very dry bordering rude. It was a 2 course menu for 25.00. When he served our salad, he pretty much throw the plates on the table that the lettuce fell off the plate. He didn't apologize or anything. The salad itself was okay, I had the squash salad and it was a bit too hard for my taste. Maybe it would have been better without the skin. I had the pasta and that was very good. It was wine tasting day and the owner of the winery was there. He was very nice but he was not the server and it almost felt like it was two separate events/restaurants. I don't know if I would try it again.

I came here with a friend since they loved the chef, Henry! Good: - Henry was so fun to chat with! He gave us recommendations and also was just a personable person - The food came out quickly- The caprese squash salad was so good! I loved how the burrata was flavored with olive oil and squash had texture and crunch- The breakfast pizza dish was amazing, huge portion sizes and also had so much on them - The dessert tart was so good too - small but was just what hit the spot for me - Cute outdoor vibe, we had a nice view of the street and it was a great sunny day Bad: - I thought that the bolognese dish was the least unique since it tasted good, but it tasted like what I could get at a high end Italian restaurant Overall the experience was so fun! I like supporting local restaurants too

Such a quaint restaurant ran by Henry. He does it ALL! From greeting guests to cooking, serving, and bussing. He's very passionate about his dishes and explains each one if asked. The menu changes seasonally to incorporate the freshest ingredients the season has to offer. Been twice now with different friends and all of them enjoyed the dishes. We did family style so that we can get a taste of many different dishes. I'll definitely come back again with more friends and try other items from the menu. Please help support this small business! The food and service is great!

Honestly, our experience warrants 2 stars, but I feel bad giving a low rating to a local small business run by just 1 person. We've been wanting to try number5 Kitchen for a long time, but every previous time we've stopped by they were closed. Finally, on a Thursday afternoon, we saw they were open and stopped in for lunch. Let me start by saying the food here is good. We enjoyed every dish we tried, though prices are on the higher side. We saw that every dish was cooked fresh, made to order, and served immediately. Unfortunately, too many things went wrong with our experience. When we first walked in, no one greeted us, so we sat ourselves. Completely fine, but once we sat down, we made eye contact with the owner, who proceeded to just look away - no "welcome" or "I'll be right with you" or really any acknowledgment -- we would've even accepted a head nod. We ordered off the QR code, and it wasn't until we'd be sitting at our table for about 15 minutes before the owner came by to give us waters, which he did with, again, zero greeting, zero attempt at small talk, zero smile, etc. Keep in mind, during those 15 minutes, he walked past our table several times to serve other tables and just ignored us. Again, we can understand things are hectic when running a restaurant as a single-person operation, so we were willing to overlook the lack of service. Unfortunately, the misses didn't stop there. We ordered Brussels sprouts, which we were subsequently informed are out. I ordered a bolognese pasta but was served a crab pasta. My partner ordered a burger that literally just never came. Ultimately, we were at number5 kitchen for over an hour and my partner literally never got to eat and I ate something I didn't order. I'm all for supporting local small businesses, and I think it's very impressive for one person to run the entire restaurant, but we just didn't enjoy our experience at all.

Really good dishes, primarily the pizza. The owner is amazing, super friendly, and hustles, however, the service can be a bit slow since it's just him; the place can benefit from just one more additional person to help in the front of house. The pizza is refreshing and light, but it may be a little too thin; holding up a slice, it does have the saggy bend to it, so it could use a little more cook or a tad more thickness, but again, it is light. Easy to eat more, which is dangerous ;) . The bolognese is flavorful, but it didn't seem the pasta is fresh or handmade. Although I'm not considering that a negative, but it would elevate the dish to another level. Nice cook on it though. Great location in downtown San Carlos, so there's ample parking in the area, and nice decor; clean and pleasing to the eye. Highly recommended, but a few tweaks can make it perfect.

We got the nduja pizza, which was thin crust. It was okay; definitely a fork and knife pizza, as everything would slide off the bread immediately when picked up by hand. The crust was burnt, but the pizza was lukewarm by the time it reached us. The flavors were nice: savory, meaty taste with tomato and cheese, and a light warmth from the chili. Very sauce-heavy, but bottom of the bread was not soggy at all. Lunch menu was minimalistic and interior was simple and had nice natural light. Not busy at all, so service was quick.

Went here for dinner and wasn't disappointed. Had the salmon and margerite pizza and both were good. The pizza was my fave! You can taste how fresh the home made sauce was. The owner, Henry, was superb. Friendly and happy to answer questions. Would def come back again.

Once again, Henry never misses! My fiance and I have made it a mission to come by every season to try Henry's new creations.We are so blown away every time. We came last Wednesday (January 24) for date night. His citrus appetizer quickly became my favorite - burrata with local, in-season citrus - what an incredible blend! We could not stop talking about it afterwards. Also featured for in-season was the new gnocchi pasta and the n5k crushed tomato pasta - both of which we were obsessed with. The gnocchi was cooked to perfection, with brussel sprouts, parmesan, and mushrooms, and the n5k tomato pasta - how did he manage to make normal pasta tubes taste so damn good?!Henry, you are such a magical chef. We will continue to come back for as long as we live in the Bay Area and recommend this place to all the people we love!

I love this place. Everything I have tried here has been awesome. The pizza is incredible. The breakfast pizza I had tonight was the best pizza I have ever had. The last time I came in he had a summer squash pizza that was also amazing. Henry is so friendly and such a talented and creative chef.