Glad they condensed the menu. The lasagna and pasta were good. The risotto (not pictured) had too many onions. read more

Acqua e Farina - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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Located in a really interesting part of Hayward, it's downtown but not on the main strip per de. The parking was easy to find right across the street. The restaurant has a really cute ambiance on the left side of the room but the right side of the room which is where they sat us a party of 5 had a tea fe dining hall experience. Not charming and cute. I did enjoy the classic flavors of the food! read more

I had the Fettuccine Gamberetti and it was ok, I rate the dish a 6/10. $30 is the average price for the pastas at this restaurant. A Pasta dish with about 5 shrimp for $30 with not much flavor is absurd to me. I don't mind paying high prices for quality flavorful food, however Aqua e Farina is no longer that place. Prices were increased way too high for mediocre Italian food. read more

Acqua e Farina - Fettuccine Gamberretti - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

Consistently good food and nice ambiance. A go to spot when we want Italian food. Great wine selection.

Thought it was good. Quant and the price was decent. I thought the service and waitresses was superb!!! read more

This is becoming one of my favorite places for Italian food and so close to home. I ordered their special Osso Bucco. And it was absolutely delicious. The meat was tender and easy to digest. Go hungry, the portion was very generous. If you are craving Italian food, you must come to this place. read more

Acqua e Farina - Osso Bucco - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

We had a wonderful experience here! I actually took a youth leader here for their birthday and we both had a great dish! He's never had any of this food (great Italian/seafood) he loved it! He has the seafood pasta ($30) and I had the pesto pasta ($25) and we both shared the calamari ($17ish) - was sooo delicious! Get the calamari! Also the bread was so good! It came out warm and he also tried oil and vinegar for the first time and he really enjoyed it! The environment was also really nice. We went during 3pm/3:30 and there was only a few tables occupied with other parties but it wasn't loud. Thank you for a great experience! Definitely coming back!! read more

Acqua e Farina - Seafood pasta (special for the day) - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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The fact that they had flies that they say came from the sewer and the restaurant that were on my food. The servers joke that he accidentally ate five himself that day did not inspire confidence in the way that the restaurant was being managed. I was grossed out as compensation. They offered a scoop of ice cream which that was ridiculous considering my stomach was really upset because they were flies all over the food. read more

My husband and I went here for date night on a Friday night, around 8pm. Lots of people still eating at the restaurant, despite it being an hour before closing! I can tell there were a few big parties there as well. We both ordered the clam chowder to share, which was one of the specials, and we each ordered a fettuccine dish. Clam chowder came out within 10 mins of ordering, along with complimentary bread. The clam chowder was warm, not hot, when it came out and it didn't taste much different than something I reheat out of a can so was a bit disappointed since it was something on their specialty menu. The complimentary bread was dry and also disappointed so we did not get any refills. Note that the menu states that after two refills of complimentary bread, you have to pay $3 for each additional basket! It took about 30 mins to get our pasta. There were a few tables that were having their appetizers when we came in and they didn't get their entrees for a long time as well. I wish the pasta portions were bigger! Otherwise the sauce was good. When they give you your order, they ask if you'd like some grated cheese! The highlight of our experience was the customer service - our server was attentive, checked in on us, and gave us updated on when we can expect our food to arrive! If I could, I would rate our experience 3.5 stars that night. read more

Acqua e Farina - Fettuccine Gamberetti - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

Great yelp find in the Hayward area. The place is surprisingly big once you get inside. Very spacious with a full bar. Decent sized menu with familiar classic Italian dishes and a few unique items. Very friendly service and the food was prepared quickly. Good bread with dipping oil got me started along with a nice glass of house Chianti. My Caesar salad was pretty good and my linguine and clams was simply delicious. No hesitation recommending this family run spot. read more

A classic family owned italian american restaurant with a mid/moderate price point. The appetizers and dinners were all nicely made and very tasty. The service was excellent. Again this is an italian american menu so dont go in expecting specific regional italian specialties or cutting edge cooking. read more

We had a great meal at Acqua e Farina. Service was excellent. Food was delicious. Two had martini's and loved them. Others had wine. Very good. This is a bit of a drive for both couples but we always have a great meal!! read more

Food is solid. I love Italian and am also in the hunt for good pasta in the east bay and was excited to try. I got the fettuccine gamberetti and it was delicious. My friend got a special that was linguini with shrimp cooked with garlic and olive oil and I tried some and also liked it. I do wish that for the price you're paying that they would give you a little bit more. Each pasta dish is around $25-$29 so after tax and tip it's not a cheap meal by any means. They do provide complimentary bread (up to two baskets) which helped with feeling more full. The venue is very large with many different rooms and it definitely wasn't that busy when we went for lunch on a Friday but if you happen to be in the area, worth checking out. read more

This place is such a hidden gem! The staff ARE SO NICE like it's so welcoming! The food tho??? 1000/10 I've tried their Gnocchi and the Pesto pasta and its so yummy. The Gnocchi is my favorite. I try to go here every time I'm in the area!! read more

Food was excellent. The meat sauce would have been approved by my Italian Nonna! I plan to return.

Super consistent. Food is always fantastic. Service is great. Prices are great! Everyone I take there always goes back!

I came here interested and craving Italian food. The staff were friendly. The inside looks clean and vintage. For the food I ordered calamari fritti, pepperoni pizza and penne pasta. The restaurant starts you off with a bread basket. The first two baskets are free. The calamari were crispy. The two sauces that come with it are a good pair. The pizzas at this restaurant are personal size. But they are big enough to fill you up. NY style/thin crust. And lastly, the penne pasta was my favorite. Very tasty and delicious. I'm happy to have had a chance to eat good Italian food at this establishment. read more

Cooking level is down. I ordered steamed mussels and clams and instead of well seasoned broth they were in a gluey sauce that was not as tasty The spinach salad dressing was overly sour. And charging 9.95 for lemon sorbet or spumoni seems excessive. used to be our favorite restaurant in Hayward but now I am not so sure. read more

holy duckin shiz, this place is true Italian flavor, I feel like I'm in Tuscany or indulging on Santorini. read more

The food was wonderful and the service was great. The ambiance was lacking, but the food made up for it. Veal Saltimbocca!

Sometimes you just got to get food to go and oh my word!! This caprese mozzarella and gnocchi is to die for. The service was welcoming at the door and the place inside was very comforting. Next time my meal will be inside and experience the full service. read more

Acqua e Farina - Gnocchi and caprese mozzarella - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

This was our first time at Acqua e Farina. I wanted soup and their minestrone hit the spot. I also had their caprese salad, so yummy. Husband had the rigatoni with sausage, it was delightful. I also had the Italian Manhattan which was yummy! Really nice ambiance, we sat at the bar and the bartender was a very nice gal. She made sure we were well taken care of. We will def be back! read more

Huge space but I recommend that you still put down a reservation. They were able to seat my bf and I but it was definitely a full house. Unfortunately I thought the food was unmemorable and the service though nice, took a very long time. We got the calamari, the sauces were a tomato sauce and spicy aioli which were just ok. Nothing special but also nothing bad about this appetizer. I got the clam linguine pasta and my bf got the steak. I think per the menu, the pastas are made fresh daily. But the pasta was really thin to me. I prefer more of a bounce to my noodles. I also thought the clam linguine was spicy and relatively flavorless. None of that aromatic white wine flavor. I barely touched it and it was a $30 dish. It does have quite a lot of clams tho. My bf's steak, per him, was just ok, a little dry. With two drinks and the ginger pear sorbet (which was good) our bill was $160. read more

Great food and service! Located on an unassuming street where I almost missed it. This is located within downtown Hayward. The service was excellent and we didn't have to wait too long for our food. The waiter was very attentive and made sure our carafe of water was filled. Before ordering our food, we were provided some white bread. We decided to get the fried calamari, minestrone soup, fettuccine pesto and the penne alla salsiccia. My boyfriend ordered the penne alla salsiccia. It was a hearty dish with al dente pasta. The sausage was not spicy but it complemented the whole dish. It's a good dish to try for unadventurous eaters. I ordered the fettucine pesto. The pesto sauce was very creamy and the dish was topped with pine nuts. The pasta was al dente. I really liked the sauce, however the chicken it came with was extremely dry. I felt that the chicken didn't belong as a part of the dish. It palatable to me because it was smothered in the pesto sauce. Overall, Acqua e Farina is a great place for a date night, and the food is better than typical Italian restaurants. The food here is good but nothing out of the ordinary. The service and atmosphere made it worth for our visit. read more

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What a great little place in Hayward! I don't want the word to get out! I had the fish special, parole of sole, it was excellent! The manager came to the table and spoke in Italian with my brother in law. That's all I'm saying. read more

Been waiting to try this place cause always heard good things about them, and I am definitely not let down. Delicious Italian food! Such a great menu, I also love how they have a huge cocktail, wine, beer menu. This place is huge would be perfect to throw an event here! Out waiter was friendly and fast we instantly got water, bread and dip. He had memorized all their specials for the day. This place definitely has the best minestrone soup!! So flavorful not too tomatoey like most. It had a nice thicker texture! I ordered the pomegranate mojito, it was perfect! So refreshing and a perfect balance, one of the best mojito's i have had. Our food was delicious, flavorful, and the portions were perfect! read more

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My family found this place while needing to grab food between scheduled activities so we went at an off time in the late afternoon. We all ordered different pasta dishes and were so surprised that the food came out very quickly. When our server became busy as more guests started coming in, another server checked on us. The food was so tasty! We could smell the garlic in the pesto sauce before tasting it, which was a great sign! The ambience was ok but it's pretty utilitarian, not fancy at all. read more

This is quite a place in an area that I would never think about going. I was surprised. The menu is heavy on the pasta, with a few non pasta dishes. For appetizers, try the calamari, which were lightly breaded and still hot and crisp when it arrived to our table. Whenever I see small print disclaimers, it turns me off because I have to stop and look for any "gotchas". First refill free. First two baskets of bread free. Automatic gratuity of 20% for parties five and over. I think these are best left off the menu. read more

Ate here for my niece's birthday. It was a good food. And good service. Fewer starts given because the ambiance is lacking and honestly, for the level of food served, the prices are a bit high. It is good for groups and I am not saying I wouldn't return. Just expected a little more elevated experience for the cost. I opted for a meatball sandwich which was satisfying (and something I wouldn't normally order) my husband had a chicken and mushroom dish that he really enjoyed. read more

Acqua e Farina - Meatball Sandwich - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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Moved to Castro Valley several months ago and I am always looking for good foods in the East Bay as I love my restaurant choices back in the Peninsula and SF). I am really happy to find Acqua e Farina because it is now my favorite Italian restaurant (I keep a list of the top ones in each cuisine). Recommended for good pasta, salads, pollo. We ordered the Cesar salad, fettuccine gamberetti, lasagna, pollo parmigiana and everything were so good! We all love it and will come back for in person when the pandemic is over. Togo-pics don't look as awesome as in-person serving, but they taste delicious. My top ones are: Italian- Acqua e Farina Japanese - Gogo sushi and BBQ at Lowelling. Pho - Joe's Pho Mexican - El Rancho Supermacado Pizza - Suzzie Qs Bakery - Seven Hills inside the Castro Valley Marketplace. read more

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I had my birthday here. The whole meal there were gnats ALL over my food! In the appetizer and my dinner! So nasty, way to ruin my evening.

I absolutely love coming to this place! Their pasta is always to die for and their prices are reasonable. The special lamb braised with a side of pasta was "fall of the bone" delicious. I was a little disappointed with the dessert. It wasn't up to my standards. I say you should stick with the pasta for this place. Overall I'll continue to visit this place! read more

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This is the second time I've been to an Italian restaurant and it caught me by surprise that this restaurant is tucked away in downtown Hayward. The outside looked like a small restaurant but as you walk through the door, it's actually a pretty spacious place with multiple rooms that can sit quite a bit of customers. Tables are covered with white tablecloth and the server will light the table candle for you as you sit down. It is dark inside for better ambiance but it's a bit too dark for my taste as I had trouble seeing my food. We ordered crab cakes, the seafood pasta special and tiramisu. The food came out at a very good pace and service was good. The first two baskets of bread was complimentary. The crab cakes were delicious but it's a bit pricey for the portion. The seafood pasta was a bit heavy compared to the one I had in Greece. There was a good amount of seafood in there: salmon, calamari, shrimp, clam and mussels. With the exception of the calamari and shrimp, the rest of the seafood didn't taste very fresh and the fish was pretty dried. It was covered in lobster sauce but the sauce was too overpowering and a bit heavy so halfway through the dish, I was already full. The tiramisu tasted like any ordinary tiramisu and we weren't blown away by its taste. Overall, if you are in the area and is craving Italian, this is a good place to stop by and try but if you have to go out of your way to visit the restaurant, I would suggest looking for other Italian restaurants. The final bill was pricey for the food but the crab cakes were good, and the service was excellent. We will likely not return in the future. read more

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Nice little restaurant in downtown Hayward. Good service and pretty decent food. The polenta that came with my chicken parmesean was delicious! I'd definitely eat here again when in the area. read more

Been meaning to try this place for a long time. Glad I finally made it in. The food was good. Service was friendly. I'd come back. read more

Acqua e Farina - Penne alla salsiccia and fettuccine gamberetti. Really good! - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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If you're looking for great service, yummy Italian, (I'm loving their generous pasta with clams, and their Italian wines ) this is a hidden gem for date nights or nights out with friends or birthdays A great spot I'm glad I discovered while biking. Very romantic and chill vibes. Server was attentive even for my particular self! Finally, the bread pudding was a tasty treat for dessert! read more

Note: I'm only giving this a 4 because I didn't eat the food. My wife kept telling about how she wanted some pasta. No good Italian spots in Castro Valley, and I had heard about this place from a colleague ages ago. Do, I decided to surprise her one evening before I headed out with some friends. She really loved the gesture AND the food. Next time, I'll order myself something as well. I'm sure it'll be a 5. I took the order to go. But, next time we'll eat in. The inside looked clean and nice from my observation. And the server was friendly and polite. read more

The service was outstanding. He was very attentive and did a great job of detailing the specials. I had a nice Cesar salad, angel hair spaghetti, and a delicious espresso martini. Yes, I pick the same old boring but yummy food. Love the murals! The room was a little loud due to one table that may have had hearing issues. Beautiful Christmas tree. Just love this place. read more

Food: * Salads (Caesar & arugula): small side salads, nothing wrong with it, but wasn't anything special. * Porterhouse steak: Ordered med-rare, got rare (closer to blue rare). Didn't send it back because I didn't want to end up with a med-well steak. I just packed it and reheated it for lunch the next day. Came with veggies & polenta. Polenta was pretty bland. We weren't offered any steak sauce, but we also didn't ask as much of the steak was too rare for our tastes. * Tortollini alla Panna: had a bite off my friends plate. Was good & cheesy/creamy. * Fettuccine Gamberetti: had a bite off my friends plate. Was good. * Tiramisu: like most tiramisus out there. *Torta di Formaggio (ricotta cheesecake): was not a fan. Very very obvious it was a ricotta cheesecake, texture wise. Didn't have much of a cheesecake flavor or creaminess. Sort of flavorless. At least on the night we were there. Service was good, food was slightly lackluster on our visit. We were seated in the spacious room to the right after you enter, I believe there's a main dining room straight ahead from the entrance. Plenty of street parking available, and a parking lot down the street. Likely we were there on an off day or I ordered the wrong thing. I'd recommend sticking with a pasta dish to be safe. read more

Acqua e Farina - Porterhouse steak with veggies & polenta - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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One of the nice mom and pop shops on Downtown B street! Been here a few times and they are one of my local favs as they have a nice ambiance and the pasta selections are very tasty! This visit we ordered the following: Calamari - they were the rings vs the tentacles (which I prefer). Not bad, but I really like it when they mix it up w/both. Pasta special - homemade linguini w/red cream sauce, sausages, shrimp, mushrooms, and other veggies. Not bad, but not sure I would order it again. With all the veggies, it may have made the dish a little too busy. I think I was craving white sauce that day, but decided to give this a try. Couldn't really identify one particular ingredient with my palette. Homemade pasta w/fettuccini and chicken - nice fettuccini sauce and the chicken, made this a simple yet delicious dish. Overall, the staff is great and the bread they serve before your meals is sooo good! Always one of my go to spots close by when I'm craving Italian! read more

Acqua e Farina - Homemade pasta w/alfredo and chicken - Italian Near Me - Hayward, California

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