One star, if that. Our server gave me the wrong dish. Not really a big deal. Mistakes happen. So I said that I didn't want it. She said that it would be thrown out, so we may as well keep it. No one touched the dish, and we were charged for it. My dish arrived later. It was so garlicky and on fire with no other flavor but garlic. It was actually sickening. Everyone else was done with their meal, so I didn't want to send it back at that point. It's as though they hurried up and made the most putrid garlic meal on purpose. I really enjoy garlic when cooked properly. This was raw. The server just put to go containers on our table. I took it home and tried it one more time. It was even worse than I remembered. It went straight into the trash. I understand that dining out is different now, and we need to be flexible. But if awful, overpriced food with bad service is what it entails, I would skip this place. We tipped well. Maybe the server thought that we wouldn't, because of the mix up, so they ignored us. Too many choices on Solano Avenue to bother with this. For nearly $200.00 for four people it is not worth it. read more

Celebrated my birthday here, with several friends and family (table of nine). The good: nice decor; wonderful bread; tasty dishes (I loved the risotto special of the day; vegetarian friend loved her dish; friend with the pesto calzone loved once she added more pesto sauce herself--it didn't have enough in her opinion; pesto ravioli was wonderful; everyone enjoyed their meals); food was delivered hot (all dishes for our huge table) and fresh. Everyone was quite impressed and it seemed most of us would like to return in the future. Servers are very friendly and accommodating. The bad: We tried calling to make a reservation and it took several attempts before someone actually answered. And these calls were made during the early part of their business hours (4 pm on a Sunday). It seemed that we had to wait a fairly long time for our food to come, but that could have been because we were a group of nine. My wife and I will definitely return. read more

Cugini Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Albany, California

Nice Italian restaurant on Solano Ave. They have a nice open restaurant where the window open so wide that you feel like you're sitting outside. (Although there are seats outside as well) Service: The service was always pretty friendly. They were friendly and professional. No complaints here. Food: Love their sandwiches - I've tried their BLT and the Gianna's special. Both are absolutely wonderful. I would also get a sandwich on my "payday" as a little extra treat for me. Calzone - Average. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst. I'm not sure what else to say about this dish. Pasta - I definitely did not like their pasta dishes. The sauce was to heavy and the pasta tasted like store-brought pasta. Just not what i expected from an italian place. Overall: I would definitely recommend yelpers to try their lunch specials - especially their sandwiches. read more

Straightforward Italian food, great service, family friendly. What more could you want? Itsy got the kids pizza which was perfect, thin crust. Gma ordered the mixed seafood spaghetti and I went with raviolis. The Caesar was big enough to share and tiramisu was sublime. read more

Wow just wow. We have been ordering from local restaurants during the shelter in place and this place is a notch above the rest. Portions are huge! I'm not sure I have ever seen the stuffed artichoke before but man was it tasty! Definitely recommend for take out you won't be disappointed read more

Having a restaurant on Solano ave is expensive and I get that and I get the food is slightly more expensive cause of it but the quality doesn't have to also suck. The food we had was not good at all and way over priced. I ordered a sandwich that was basically fried and served with tarter sauce on a bread and I paid a grip on it. The location however is.m nice going and you get to sit out and people watch. Their drinks are also pretty pricey. read more

Cugini Restaurant - Prawn and Bacon Burger $16.50 it was only ok. Not worth the price. - Italian Near Me - Albany, California

Ordered ravioli (sauce was super watery), fettuccine alfredo & a side of garlic bread, my bill came out to $60!! The food was standard & loaded with faaaar too much garlic that overshadowed any other flavor. Really disappointed, I've had $20 take-out Italian food better than this. Will not be back. read more

Good food, friendly service, delicious desserts (Tiramisu), limited street parking (it is Solano Avenue), and moderate prices. I ordered the shrimp and crab ravioli. Not bad but I probably should have gotten a white sauce instead of the pomodoro sauce. Appetizers were calamari and it came hot and fresh. The sauce was great and the portions were good for the price. I ordered the Tiramisu for dessert and it was wonderful. It wasn't heavy and it was portioned just right. The resturarant is a bit cramped for it's size but it creates a different restuarant experience. They have a lot of little table rather than large tables. I think their promoting a more romantic, intimate dining experience. I won't be back anytime soon because I've got to try the other restuarants on Solano Avenue! read more

Cugini Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Albany, California

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Great customer service and delicious food! Their fried calamari with aioli dipping sauce is always a great starter. One of my favorites is their ribeye steak. Their tiramisu is the best I've had. And one of their bartenders makes the best kamikaze I've ever had. read more

Love Cugini! I have been here twice and it never dissapoints! The first time I went here was about two years ago, I got takeout and it was their pesto pasta, which was delicious! It was about $13 and it came without meat. I added chicken and it It was so worth it because the chicken was so flavorful, tender and the pesto was I just looked at the menu and found out that they added chicken to their pesto dish, making it $14 total. Awesome! The second time I came was recently, about a month ago, and I came to dine in. They were very short staffed and I was waiting for some time to be seated, but otherwise, the service was excellent and the food was delicious. It also has a nice ambience with relaxing, romantic music and cool artwork and Italian signage. It has a nice Italian setting! While I was waiting, I had their sourdough bread which was piping hot with some olive oil. I wish they added balsamic or chili flakes. Also, their olive oil went bad because it did not have its usual rich, delicious taste. I ordered their calzone special ($17.50), which was delicious. It is a massive calzone with marinara, calabrian (spicier sausage) sausage, eggplant, ricotta, and ricotta cheese. It is different than their cugini calzone because it has more vegetables. Next time I get it, I will get the cugini calzone because the eggplant wasn't as flavorful and soft as I would've liked it to be. Lastly, I had their vanilla gelato ($6) which was a generous portion as their food is and it had a deep vanilla flavor and it was so yummy! I was so full and I had a great meal! :) One thing I would say is that, when I came, they were very short staffed with the hostess going back and forth between seating guests and actually serving food. She hustled and she had excellent service! I hope by now, they hired more waiters to serve guests. Also, they need to change out their olive oil more frequently. Overall, I enjoyed my experience at Cugini and can't wait to come back again, hopefully for a romantic date! :) read more

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First of all my pasta was very salty and my son's slice of pizza was cold and the cheese was hard. We let it go but the worst thing was we ordered a bronzini dish that came with mussels and the mussels had a rotten smell. When approaching the waiter to tell him that the mussels were rotten, all he did was take the bad mussels away. When approached him again to let him know that it's not acceptable, he said "boss is not here." No apologies nothing. Also we were missing a side dish and we had to chase him for it. First time here, bad experience, bad food. Will not recommend the food or service. I expect at least an apology for serving rotten seafood at the least. read more

Tonight I came to cugini with my friends and order a gnocchi half tomatoe sauce and half pesto! Best thing I have ever had! They do a very good job! THANK YOU CUGINI!! read more

Wanted to try someplace new (for me) on Solano and checked out Cugini. I was charmed when I entered and was welcomed into the restaurant. We ordered the bruschetta, spaghetti & meatballs and the pasta with broccoli and pancetta, and finished with chocolate gelato. Everything was delicious; service was well paced and attentive (water glasses were routinely refreshed, plates cleared, etc.). Nothing we ordered was "fancy" or elaborate; I think good restaurants prepare simple food deliciously. Cugini hit the mark. The bruschetta was flavorful (bread was toasted over a grill, not a broiler); the pasta was cooked perfectly and the meatballs were large, flavorful, and tender (I hate when meatballs are tightly packed and hard); the broccoli was cooked perfectly (done, not overdone, and a bright green color; pancetta was crispy). Really enjoyed this restaurant and will be back. read more

Very disappointed since we have enjoyed it there in the past. The seating inside was very crowded with poor service. On top of that, my meal (crab raviolis) was subpar with no taste at all. Idk if I'll be back even tho I've been there several times before. Maybe the change of ownership affected the business even tho the employees are the same. ‍ read more

My and I came in tonight and we order over 85.00 worth of food. We are regulars we. One at least twice a week. Tonight we had the Hispanic waiter and he saw my wife drinking her own Coke Zero. Most of the time we are there the waitress or bus boys ask my wife if we need a glass of ice. This waiter told my wife he is going to charge her 3.00 because she was drinking her own Coke Zero. When we received the bill there was a 3.00 charge on it. He should of at least brought her a drink for the 3.00 he charged us. His service deserves a 1 star. I unstable we are not suppose to bring our own drinks into the restaurant but she only likes Coke Zero. He shorted his tip by 3.00 so sad for him. I want to thank Gianni for his quick response. We really do love this restaurant and the food. I believe that the waiter got us confused when he told he was going to charge us for the Coke Zero my wife was drinking when in fact it was the side of risotto she ordered. This would of all been avoided if the waiter would if not made that remark. Thank you again Gianni! read more

Let me begin my saying I didn't intend on dining here. The occasion was my daughter's graduation dinner and I had actually made a reservation at a nearby restaurant almost a month prior. The DAY OF my daughter's graduation, I get a phone call from the other restaurant owner telling me she couldn't accommodate our large party. She insisted she wasn't sure who made the reservation but she just couldn't do it. After a long back and forth (me completely incensed that she would do this the day of and her complaining about how she would have to turn away regulars), she suggested Cugini may be able to take our family. In all honesty, I wasn't too excited about the idea. I hadn't had a chance to look up Cugini's and it was so stressful trying to make a last minute change literally a couple hours before dinner. Still, when we got to Cugini's everything was absolutely wonderful! The owner was really nice and happened to be an alum of the same high school my daughter had just graduated from. His wife was our server and she couldn't have been nicer or more attentive. The food was amazing - appetizers were tasty and plentiful and literally EVERYONE liked their food. That's saying a lot because there were 20 of us. We were even there a bit after they were closing and they didn't make us feel like they were kicking us out. My mom liked the food so much she asked me to take her back for dinner not even a week later. She has also since been back for lunch on her own:-D. Overall, just a really lovely restaurant with kind owners and delicious food! This will definitely be my new go to Italian place when I visit the Bay Area. Again, just really thankful to this place for turning a disaster into a beautiful dinner. If I could give more stars I would! read more

I've always enjoyed the warm cozy atmosphere of this family run restaurant. Their Caesar salad and their margarita pizza are my favorites. Both delicious and generous. Wines by the glass are great and low corkage if you chose to bring your own. read more

I ordered to go garlic bread and fettuccine Alfredo with chicken. The garlic bread was very good, but, 4 small pieces for $6 seems a bit high. The chicken was very tasty, however, the Alfredo sauce tasted like heavy cream. No garlic, no cheese, just very bland. I will have to try something else and check back in to solidify my opinion. read more

Had lunch here with my Yelp lunch buds. I had never eaten here before and had always wanted to. The lunch menu had lots of choices (salads, sandwiches, pizza and pasta dishes). We were tempted by the pasta dishes but all 4 of us ended up getting sandwiches, The sandwiches all came with a generous mixed green salad dusted with parmesan cheese. Two of us had the pesto sandwiches. One of us had the hamburger i had a half of a turkey, cheese veggie sandwich which came with fries and a choice os soup or salad. I had the salad. The half sandwich was exactly the right amount. The fries were excellent, Crispy and crunchy but still plump. Some of the best I've had. We shared a canneloni dessert. Very nice, chocolate dipped, lots of whipped cream. The ambiance is comfy. We had a window table. Roomy is sunny. The restaurant was about half full. No problem with noise level or having to hear every detail about your neighboring diner's date. Our server was quiet but attentive. Nice place for lunch. read more

I see a bunch of 4 star reviews with outstanding comments so not sure what is going on, lol. I'm going to be brave and say it's 5/5! Honestly, I am very picky when it comes to Italian food. The only reason I tried this place is because I was dying for a lava cake and Cugini popped up on the search. I took a risk and tried it out and I am so glad I did! It's located in a cute little neighborhood, not too busy and nice ambience. Great customer service and good food. So far I've been twice and have tried their Penne con Broccoli, Fettucini Alfredo, garlic bread, calamari, and the wood oven artichoke. I was too focused on my dishes and the side dishes that I can't remember what my partner ordered but I do know he loved his plates as well. TRY THE CALAMARI! The second time I went, I noticed every single table ordered the calamari - there is a reason for it. Also, I went on a Friday night and they had live entertainment which was a nice addition. Try them out! read more

This place is great! The food is delicious and the portions are well served. Besides, pizzas here are made in a wood fire oven, what makes all the difference!! Service is also impeccable, friendly and very efficient. We will sure come back soon! read more

Cugini Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Albany, California

Love this place. Amazing pizza and Italian dishes with friendly attentive staff. The desserts are also delicious

Hi, Gwynnie! Hi, Eric! Hi, Tim! Hi, Alan! Hi, Peg! And hello to any Cugini-reviewing Yelp Cousins* that I've missed! (Yes, Elle, those are exclamation points!!!! We do think alike!!!) We *finally* wandered in to Cugini this Saturday. There was only one other group in the restaurant so we were treated like visiting royalty. Our waiter was prompt, efficient and friendly. Gave us an update on the fire on lower Solano that I'd seen in the morning. (Note to self: DO NOT store empty boxes next to a heater. They tend to burn. ) I ordered the veggie sandwich with Fat Tire beer. My dining companion (Mr. Steady-As-He-Goes) ordered a salad. He did not have a beer. Mr. SAHG does not drink beer. Mister enjoyed his salad. I enjoyed my veggie sandwich. I enjoyed my Fat Tire even more. (I hope that St.. Peter will meet me at the Pearly Gates with microbrewed beer but if that's asking too much, I'll settle for Guinness on tap.) We both used the restroom. Separately, of course. This is not the Mile High Club, its Solano Ave. The rr. was airy and clean with the open window looking out on a sweet little Albany backyard. Ever so cute... Nice place, Cugini. We liked it alot. We walked home to discover that Mr. Steady-As-He-Goes had left his expensive, polarized, bifocal shades at the restaurant... About an hour had passed, but they were nowhere to be found. The manager looked everywhere and was sincerely apologetic that he could not find the glasses. Mr. Steady swallowed the news somewhat bitterly. But it definitely wasn't Cugini's fault. These things happen. There is a lesson here. Those of you who know me will see the punchline coming!!!! Here comes the moral, pedalling down the pike: Drink microbrewed beer. Copiously. Assiduously. With gusto. Your glass will always be at least half full; and your eyes will always be merry. And tell St. Peter that you'd like a refill on that Fat TIre. Put it on my tab. * Thanks to my Yelp-pal Alexandra for pointing our that Cugini is "cousin" in Italian. read more

The hostess greeted us warmly and the Giants game was on. Those were good things! If our waitress had expressed a wee bit of interest in us that would have been nice, but it seemed more like we were a bother than anything. In general the food was ok and the atmosphere was convivial, so I might return, and hope for a server who was a tad more enthusiastic about the whole serving idea. I know the job sucks, I serve people for a living, just not in a restaurant. At the end of a long day, when it's your turn to wait on me, buck up and put a smile on your face. I actually didn't quite mean to go on that rant. Sorry peeps! 3 stars. read more

Seated quickly for a Friday night- yet I noticed that parties that arrived ten minutes behind us waited for around 20 minutes. Excellent service and delicious classic Italian food. On serving size, I normally leave restaurants unsatisfied and without leftovers, yet I left here full and with a box for a lunch the following day. Would dine here again. read more

Never. Ever. Coming back... I had passed this place a million times and never tried it...Always wanted to but never did, until Saturday...My friend from So.cal was visiting for the wkend and I had been raving about how a lot of the restaurants in the bay area were GREAT!! So here we went.... We were a party of 3 and got in a bit past 8pm on a Saturday night, the place was half full and we were warmly greeted by the hostess, she informed us that there was a short wait and that some tables needed to be cleared for us. So we said ok and waited by the freezing entrance. ( Ppl were coming in and out and it was COOOOLD and rainy out) I didnt understand why tables needed to be cleared for us...like I had said the place was only half full and there were plenty of spots for the 3 of us. We waited a good 10 mins...SERIOUSLY...(we were considering just going somewhere else) then she took us over to a table that *SURPRISE!!* was already set from the moment we walked into the door...!!! Hostess seated us, and we waited 5-10 mins for our waitress to get to us. She was cold and unfriendly and obviously had a telephone poll up her butthole (Gosh! Not literally of course!!) We looked over our menus and decided what we wanted...so we waited for her to get back to us...and waited...and waited...and waited....oh and guess what else we did!? Yup!! Waited............ .....OH! and what a lovely surprise we had! She decided to grace us with her presence, took our orders. left. no smile. no friendliness, no nothing...she must of had a dementor suck out all the happiness out of her...must have! anyways...soooo....mooooreeee waiting............................................................................................................................................................ FOOD!!!!!! Finally...we ate...My dish was...eh...I could have made it honestly. My husband liked his at first...but as he ate he said it got progressively worse with each bite. My friend said the same... *Note: Dont order the house red...tastes worse then a 2 buck chuck from TJ's... Never. Ever. Coming back... read more

While there is nothing this place does outright wrong (except their house red. Who in their right mind would offer a disgusting sour water red as their house wine? I second the other commentator who said you're better off with twi buck chuck. The chianti by the glass is also grossly overpriced for a very mediocre wine), they don't do much right. The artichoke appetizer was a nasty salty meat mess that completely fails at being a nice vegetable based starter. The rest of the food was non-descript, though after everything else we were impressed that the meatballs tasted like they'd been made in-house. On the whole, there is absolutely no reason to ever come here. If you want pizza, Zachary's is just a few doors down. If you want Italian, Mangia Mangia is just off Solano on San Pablo, and provides incomparably better food and wine for a similar price. This place is pretty much only worth your time if you hate wine and you get home some night craving boy-band music and baseball games playing while you eat boring food. I'm sure you're out there. read more

Cugini reserves its full Italian menu for dinner. Although they offer a couple of pizzas and several pastas, most of the lunch menu consists of salad and sandwiches. Potato leek soup was way oversalted, big unattractive chunks of potato in a weak vegetable broth (not a bisque). My "warm spinach salad" was nothing of the sort. The pancetta dice were overbrowned, the parmesan was generously applied but an indifferent quality, and the spinach was barely softened by a lukewarm dressing. Some of the leaves remained refrigerator-cold, in fact. The serving was large but like the soup, not well executed. Despite the menu claiming sourdough rolls for the burgers, they came on ordinary buns - reasonably good quality, nothing exceptional. The substantial patties are flavorful even without being salted, so they'd be sensational if anyone would do it before grilling. Cugini puts cheese on both sides of the bun. This works for the Gorgonzola burger because it's salty. The mushroom burger used fontina, which came off tasteless. With no lettuce or tomato (which did come with the Gorgonzola burger, just not with the mushroom burger), all the flavors of the mushroom/fontina burger stayed separate and unsatisfying. There's a lot of restaurants along the Solano Avenue corridor. But we've found it similar to the Broadway/Burlingame area in the Peninsula - most of them just aren't that good overall. The vast majority of them seem to have just a couple of good dishes. Order those, and you'll be happy. Miss them, and you'll wonder why you've wasted your money. read more

Cugini is fantastic. I love everything about it. I love the colors on the walls, the fabulous aromas emanating from the kitchen, and the friendly and attentive staff waiting to serve. The cuisine there is absolutely delicious. They use (I happen to know) mostly family recipes for their menu, and it shows. The salads are large and tasty, with fresh ripe ingredients. Their seafood is always cooked to perfection. Pizzas are baked in a wood-fire oven and come out bubbly and delicious with a garlicky crust. The gnocchis and pastas are also done to perfection. If you are in the Berkeley/Albany area and want a really great place that is not terribly expensive, try Cugini. The experience will speak for itself. read more

We ventured into Cugini in Albany for desserts after gorging in the sauce-fest in China Village Szechuan. Cugini has a nice, squeaky clean space and service was acceptable. We tried the chocolate lava cake, canoli, and tiramisu. On the positive note, none of the desserts were too sweet. Then again, I didn't find anything special about them either. The tiramisu was pretty dry, the canoli lacked taste. The chocolate lava cake was probably the best, but the "a la mode" part was nothing special. Dinner options look promising though. read more

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Cue busperson, motioning to our nearly finished appetizer plate, upon which sat the single remaining gorgonzola-stuffed fig. "Are you finished with that?" "No, we're still working on it, thanks." "Oh, well, I need to take the plate away." In an inexplicably urgent manner, the busperson hovered over us until we finally removed the offending fig from the plate. He quickly whisked away the now empty plate along with our bread plates for no good reason, as a sizable amount of time went by before our waitress came over with our entrees. Brusque is the only word to describe our experience with the wait staff Granted, it was toward the tail end of business hours on a Friday evening, but there really is no excuse for rushing us through what turned out to be a sloppily crafted and presented meal. We were served the wrong dishes (not too serious), a bruised apple was the centerpiece of our appetizer (yikes!), and my boyfriend's calzone was mostly inedible as it was burned to a crisp (kind of a no-no). We should have known things could only get worse when our stay commenced with the waterboy pouring icy water all over my boyfriend's foot. It was funny at the time, and then in hindsight ominous, when at the table next to us a young boy knocked over a glass of ice water in our direction. "Haha, that's twice in one night!" Our waitress was mostly nonexistent, and of the times she actually waited on us she conducted herself in a very cursory fashion. Given her absence from our table, we had the sense that she wasn't going to ask us if we wanted dessert as we sat there for a few minutes after our plates had been cleared. While we hadn't sat down with the intention of ordering dessert, we asked brusque-busperson for a few dessert menus to conduct a litmus test of our waitress. It was only when she walked by and saw my boyfriend clutching the menus to his chest that she hesitated and took our order in a way that felt like she had been "busted!" When our tiramisu arrived, it was delicious, but it wasn't tiramisu. It was more like sheet cake that had been dressed in cream with some cocoa shavings and chocolate sauce. There was no espresso-kiss to the ladyfingers, and the rum flavor was nowhere to be found. Although our waitress had explained that the chefs recently switched from soaking the ladyfingers individually to soaking the cake en masse, she didn't seem to agree with us that rum should be present. "They still haven't worked out the kinks." Um, glad we could be your guinea pigs. Thanks for not even offering to comp it for us. Maybe we could have overlooked the service gaffes if the food any been any good, but bruised apple + burned entree + tirami-giu = blech! "Can I have a fork, please, when you get a chance?" "You have one." read more

I really did not know what to expect out of this restaurant. Sure, it was suggested by a good friend, but it's a friend whose taste buds I do not trust. This is the same friend that dislikes sushi, pho, or any other "weird foods". She lured us to this restaurant by saying the salad is pretty good, and they have a really good Margherita pizza. In lieu of not having another restaurant to eat at, me and my friends found ourselves here. They sat us at one of the tables closest to the main walkway in the restaurant. Usually this isn't a problem, but since the restaurant is so small, the waiters and everyone else were bumping into me every time they walked by. I got elbowed at least three times during my meal, and some big lady stepped on my foot. If the restaurant is small, then don't make it feel even smaller by cramping it with tables. Also, like one of the other Yelpers on here, the waiters were very indifferent towards me and my friends. Sure, we're a younger crowd in a nice Italian restaurant, but that's no reason to give us a weird vibe. All we really want is just to be treated the same as anyone else. The food wasn't anything special at all. The salad that my friend was talking about turned out to be a normal Caesar Salad. The croutons that they stuck in the salad really stood out, but not in a good way. It kind of overpowered the rest of the typical Caesar salad flavor. The Margherita pizza was so plain. I realize that it's supposed to be a light pizza, but wow, it was plain. Tasted like just bread, cheese, and the occasional tomato. We also ordered some calzone thing that was filled with mushrooms and spinach. This was actually pretty good, since it was pretty packed with stuff. Otherwise, I've had much better Italian food for a better price at some other restaurants. I've also not gotten elbowed at other restaurants. read more

A couple of weeks ago we got out of a wine tasting up the block, were hungry, and saw tables free on the sidewalk, so we gave Cugini a shot. The fried squid ($11) was OK but heavy and salty, pepperoni pizza ($13.50) was kind of gloppy and could have come from a gas deck oven (though they burn wood). I can't remember the warm olives ($4), soup ($6) or cannelloni ($15) but they were along the same lines. Nothing was bad, but everything was sort of crude, like what I'd expect to be served in Concord or something. I had the impression that Italians ran the place but they wouldn't eat this themselves. On the other hand, I saw a lot more obese people than I do at most places I go. House red ($6) was a good value. Total bill for a lot of food and six glasses of wine came to $85.50 before tax and tip, signifciantly cheaper than places with better food such as Dopo. Nice atmosphere, especially sitting outside in nice weather (didn't see one bum or street crazy), friendly staff. If I lived nearby I'd probably eat there occasionally for convenience. read more

Stopped in for lunch because the restaurant we were planning to go to was closed. My husband ordered the mushroom burger. I ordered the Margherita pizza. The food was delicious. We will definitely be back. I had a difficult time finding the name of the restaurant. read more

I felt totally unwelcome at Cugini. Perhaps our waiter was having a bad day, perhaps he's just not a very friendly person- but maaaaaan...every time he came by our table he gave us these looks as if questioning why we were there, almost in disgust. His service was absolutely the worst. I don't think I've ever encountered a waiter/waitress like that before. Never comin' back! read more

Damn. Damn Cugini to purgatory. Went in for dinner randomly one Tues. or Mon. night. I came in expecting to be happy. I mean, before I came here I was eating oatmeal and cottage cheese for 2 days straight. Anything tastes good at that point. Or so you would think. Bread was ok. Service was shiitttttake...mushrooms. Salad was not limp but overly greasy and overly portioned. I'd rather have smaller and tastier and refined. Salad should not be shoveled. Pasta(clam linguini) was mushy. I was like, "O-M-G. Becky, don't look at her butt, because this pasta is like so bbbbbad!!!" Wine was deese(decent but what do I know? It was good. It's not usually bad.) love ezra don't go here ever. Not worth the $25+. read more

I've gone twice, because a friend lives close by. I've had better, but it is fine if you want average. I felt the pizzas were a bit too oily, and lacked a bit. We ordered the pizza with potatoes, and prosciutto, and the pizza margarita. Our whole foods makes both way better than these. I really had heartburn after these two oily devils! The other time I had a salmon salad. The salmon was cooked perfect and the salad was enjoyable. I just think this place is rather average, and if you aren't looking for complexity and more authentic Italian, then this is your place. Service both times was good I must say, very friendly wait staff. read more

Food is mediocre by Bay Area standards. Had a shaved fennel salad that was over dressed, crab cakes that were greasy, stuffed artichoke that was tough and filled with heavy bread stuffing, and penne with brocolli and sundried tomato that was passable but nothing special. You can do better. read more

Both the food and the service have gone down hill over the years. The pizza used to be really great, but the cooks have become inattentive to details. Pizzas are sometimes cooked well, other times they are under cooked or burned. Salads are prepared without listed and/or requested ingredients. Once, I had someone bring me a salad at the bar while I waited for my order. After realizing it was 'to go', unbeknownst to me, they put the pre-dressed salad in a box and let it wit and wait 15 minutes for the pizza to be done. Nothing like soggy salad when you get home. No. Just no. And with restaurant prices rising, with Cugini already being at the top end for pizza, I expect more. I expect attention to detail. Don't think I'll be back anytime soon. Too bad. It was a great local place, walkable from my home. But it's off the list. read more

Wood burning oven = amazing pizza, tasty calzones, and yummy main baked dishes. I really love the nice but casual atmosphere and perhaps, I'm a pick you up at 9 crowd, but I have never waited more than 5 minutes for a table. I love the bread, the paper on the tables, how attentive the staff is, how they actually have pelligrino. (I dunno sometimes other restaurants have tried to pass on crystal geyser. No, not the same at all). The spinach salad is perfect for two. Plus the wine list is pretty good. I always enjoy myself here. read more