Food was very tasty. The interior is beautiful and the service was impeccable. The pesto pasta we had was delicious. The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars was the pizza. I wish the crust was a little firmer. It was very soft and doughy which isn't my favorite although the toppings were all done perfectly. Would definitely go back. read more

Delicious food with a couple of new options such as pizza made with buckwheat dough (it was amazing!). Great ambiance & always love seeing the Italians welcome us as Bella Bella ! read more

Huge fan of Italico/Terun in PA so we had to try Impasto. Food is amazing but they need to brush up on their service and train their waiters on table etiquette. Service was slow and very choppy. read more

My review mirrors a few others. Salad was acceptable, pasta was mundane. Spicy sausage pizza horrible, sausage was cooked before hand and was the star of the item, the pizza crust on the other hand was not cooked runny and cold. Sorry, for the bad review but either turn up the heat or leave it in longer. Get a curtain for the front door it's like a wind tunnel at night coming down San Carlos avenue. read more

Food- the fish of the day , Italian seabass branzino, was perfect - Vermentino di Sardegna wine: excellent. Desserts : panna cotta and crostata lemon curd, both with fresh berries, were delicious. Service - polite and accommodating- my husband dropped his napkin, the waiter noticed it and replaced it immediately! Ambiance - perfect newly created space - Decor, palette colours, comfortable seats and lighting , together with an open kitchen create such a nice vibe and atmosphere! Highly recommended, you feel good , as we always felt good in Terún , in Palo Alto read more

"The food didn't have any remarkable flavor, the pizzas were ordinary and not crispy, they were soggy. The atmosphere was nice, but unfortunately, there are much more impressive Italian restaurants in San Carlos. It wasn't bad for trying once." read more

I have eaten here three times and each time I was not disappointed. The service is very good, the dishes are well crafted with fresh ingredients and the atmosphere is lively. read more

What a fantastic addition to San Carlo. My wife and I went the opening week and were absolutely blown away by the experience. The ambiance of the restaurant was top notch - elegant and welcoming. We enjoyed our full meal at the bar with Samantha. She made us a couple of their specialty cocktails to start which were balanced and delicious. The focaccia was perfect, and followed by crispy calamari. The 5 flour pizza was divine. While the food was truly delicious, the star of the evening was the General Manager Giovanni. Incredible hospitality and made our evening special. Cannot wait to come back again soon! read more

Made a reservation for Friday night outside on the patio. We were seated right away, water brought right to the table. Service was prompt and friendly. We had a bottle of Pinot Noir-delicious as well as the calamari appetizer with a light lemon sauce poured over the top, loved it. Branzino was cooked perfectly and loved the homemade rigatoni with beef/pork ragu. Cannot wait to return and try their wood fired pizzas and desserts. read more

We liked the decor outside and as promised all the heating lamp kept us warm in the rainy evening. The pizza was delish, using quality cheese and some fancy ham. The octopus and branzino were amazing. Will come again. read more

Me and my family had an amazing dinner night at Impasto. Every single dish we ordered was 5 stars!!! the restaurant is brand new is beautiful! every single detail like the lighting, the tables, the tableware and the decor was fantastic. The staff is like family super friendly and professional. if you are looking for an authentic Italian restaurant this is a gem! best desserts, all the pizzas, fresh pastas with best sauces and the octopus is a must to order! I highly recommend this beautiful well done Italian restaurant Bravo! read more

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A must try-Impasto is a brand new beautiful restaurant in San Carlos featuring the very best pizza, pasta, cocktails and so much more-if you love Italy, you will feel right at home-try the soup- it's delicious too read more

I'm going back for sure! This is such a wonderful spot to eat delicious (and authentic) Italian food. The ambience is semi-elegant and spunky. Our server, Valerio, took really good care of us. Not to mention he was Italian so it was fun to interact and speak in Italian with him. Brought back feelings of being in Italy for sure! It's also kid friendly, so that's nice! It's a busy place (not surprised), so just make sure to make a reservation in advance to make sure you get in. Bravi bravi bravi! read more

Wanted to like this place, had reservation, tables are very close together. As soon as we sat down we felt rushed, water was brought to table and while the person pouring it spilled it all over and then only clean up half the water that was spilled. Tables are so small for 2 or 3 it's hard to find places for your plates. you can hear all conversations around you! food was average nothing special. we had a beet salad that the produce seems old and cut up in different sizes and not enough dressing. Pizza was just ok, skimpy on toppings.... My dessert was so hard to eat I had to break the tart with my hand and the lemon filling was hard and gummy, like it was days old....something was very wrong that night. read more

I do not have much to judge the restaurant by simply because our first impression was enough to walk out shortly after sitting down. My best advice is not to go there as a couple. They have only two tables for couples and the rest are four tops. We went there on a reservation and arrived when only four or so tables were seated. We were given the choice of a two top inside that we would have had to give up quickly and a two top outside that one of the seats was blinded by the sun. Our only other choice presented to us was to leave. We chose that. They were absolutely supportive of losing us as customers. We then went to Cask where the staff moved two tables together for us without asking and greeted us with the usual warmth and friendliness of Laurel Street restaurants. Impasto is a great idea in a good location and likely has great food. But, my 20+ years here in San Carlos tells me their rigidity with their guests and lack of accommodations for couples will be challenging for them long term. Having so quickly alienated local foodies doesn't help. We won't be going back. Follow up after manager response: Original reservation was 6pm. We arrived at 550pm. Restaurant is incorrect on the response about our reservation and what they offered us. Don't know if it is manager spin or restaurant employees covering themselves but the manager's response is simply not true. Also, a little sun?? I could not see my wife across the table with the direct sun in my eyes - even with sun glasses on. Did they try to adjust the table? No. Did they offer a later reservation. Absolutely not. They offered the bar. And let's not forget the real issue for us is they have no tables to accommodate couples and no interest in doing so. The backhanded comment on my review without trying the food was "interesting" but any decent restaurateur knows that service and atmosphere are equally important to taste and quality of food. Impasto is simply not accommodating to couples and the service element made that absolutely clear. As such, I really do not have interest in trying food in such an unfriendly environment. Best of luck to them. read more

The food, service and atmosphere were subpar on a Friday night. The restaurant has limited space and they clearly had to try to fit as many tables inside as possible. You have to raise your voice to talk since it was loud and you're seated pretty close to other tables. I had to excuse myself as I slid in between tables to enter and leave the restaurant. They may have been short staffed that day since our waiter seemed to be very busy with many tables. However, we were most disappointed with the food. It was bland. We started with the grilled romaine. I did not enjoy warm, wilted lettuce that you have to cut up yourself. The dressing on the romaine happened to be the only thing I liked. I ordered the risotto ($35) off of their special dinner menu. It was sooo bland and the texture seemed like it wasn't cooked long enough. It felt like I was eating a bowl of rice with bland white gravy. My husband ordered the Branzino ($39) and it was not tasty either. The fish was bland and lots of bones. The side salad had soggy tomatoes in it. Overall, disappointed with this place and we will not be coming back here. There are many better Italian restaurants in the area. read more

Love this place! Always good food and the service is lovely! The rigatoni and octopus are my favorite. They are have amazing pizza.

Very average food for the kind of price that they are charging. The cauliflower gratin was burnt and there was no sauce in the ravioli. The pizza that we ordered looked very exciting but it was extremely soggy and undercooked. Really average service. read more

Best Italian in San Carlos now. Quality of food is definitely a notch up, especially with the homemade pastas. And the cocktails are quality and consistent. Some of the other places don't have cocktails or have bad ones. We are definitely going back. Elia is another great new restaurant, Greek. So nice to have these two great new restaurants in San Carlos. read more

My friends and I went here for dinner and we absolutely loved the ambience and vibe. It has a beautiful aesthetic and was bustling. The service was also top notch. Our server gave us wonderful recommendations. We ordered the eggplant polpette and focaccia bread as appetizers, and both of them were top notch. For main course we ordered the gnocchi and tricolore pizza. They have an incredible chili oil to add on top of all their dishes too! We really enjoyed it! read more

Great food and service. The burrata is absolutely fantastic! Get the tricolore pizza to taste the yummy creamy burrata

My third time visiting this place and it never disappoints... Food is on point and the staff equally impressive. The Host, Melissa and Bartender Reyes, (my girlfriend and i sat at the bar) gave exceptional service, made us feel like we were the only ones in the place yet there wasn't an empty seat in the house! read more

Food and service was good. We sat outside but it was very windy and noisy so next time we will sit inside.

The food was delicious ! We made reservations last minute and they were able to accommodate 2 on a Friday night at 5:30pm with the caveat that we leave before 7:15 for an existing reservation. Totally doable! Parking was a little odd as they are right next to cal train which we didn't park , so we parked across the street in the back alley. As we walked in, their entrance was so cramped because there were multiple parties just standing there either waiting to be checked in or arranging a reservation. It was a little odd because if no one was paying attention, they'd easily overlook you standing there. We were seated in the back next to their kitchen which was cool to see everything in action. Their decor was beautiful. The menu was good with prices fair in this economy. We ordered calamari, the San Danielle pizza and rigatoni pasta. Exceptionally delicious pizza as I am a lactose sensitive individual, who did not suffer any repercussions after our meal. It was delicious ! Even the next day for left overs, it was delicious. We had their cocktails - both good. The only drawback we have was the food service was slow. The waiters were amazing, but perhaps them being new and getting the rhythm, we left the restaurant around 7:30. For someone who told us to finish our meal, we should get our food timely too. Will be coming back again ! read more

Decor Cocktails Food Service were all great..The Italian Old Fashioned was exquisite, as was my GFs Boulevardier, served in beautiful glasswares. The Sangiovese was delicious, as was the beet salad, Tricolor pizza, and the Tiramisu. Highly recommend. read more

Fantastic time here tonight!! The restaurant is beautiful. It was packed on a Tuesday night, so definitely make a reservation. Food is incredible and service was top notch. read more

The ambiance was nice, but it was very noisy. Might be better to sit outside. The service was good. The food was good but not exceptional. Parking was a problem- we had to park far away read more

I really enjoyed the Nutella pizza! The dough/ crust is perfect and unlike anything else I have been able to find on the Peninsula. Takeout was super fast and easy to order. read more

We had dinner here a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. Everything we ordered was great but the steak and broccoli rabe with fava beans really stood out. Steak was cooked to perfection and the flavor and texture of the broccoli rabe and fava was so unique. Everyone was friendly from the moment we walked in, the vibe was cool and we really liked the decor. read more

What a great place. Great food. Great service. Some of the best focaccia I've had. Owners are super nice. Great location and vibe.

We've been there twice since the opening. The food and drinks were outstanding. The owners are present, friendly and very helpful. We'll be back read more

This restaurant left me saying WOW! As an Italian (born and raised), I can say the food here is top-notch, as are the service and the wonderful owners. A must-visit in the Peninsula! read more

Service was attentive and the food was delicious! The decor is chic and the vibe is hip! We had the special fish which was Branzino with a lemon sauce, served with an arugula salad. There were some bones near the head of the fish but overall the dish was yummy. read more

I love everything about this restaurant, including the decor. We've been there twice since their opening and the food was outstanding each time--not your "run of the mill" Italian restaurant. We've had their pizzas, branzino, and rigatoni. Maico, Franco, Giuseppe, and Mel's warm hospitality is unique and memorable. All the servers have been great as well. Impasto is really going to give the other "very ordinary" Italian restaurants in San Carlos some serious competition. read more

Impasto is an authentic Italian restaurant offering a wide variety of appetizers, pizzas and entree selection--there is something delicious for everyone. As an Italian myself, I am pretty picky about eating thin pizzas with tasty dough and a variety of toppings. The pizzas also need not to weigh on my stomach. Impasto pizzas were to die for! The ambience combines a pizzeria feeling with San Francisco's classiness and full bar with an array of drinks. The service was superb with excellent attention from several speaking Italian personnel who make you feel right at home and lots of laughs to go around. Great place for kids too. My daughter loved it!!!! We will definitely go again!! read more

I went there on Friday night with my family and let me tell you, the service was fantastic, the food was amazing and the ambience made the room feel almost electrified. I got the Terún pizza and split the focaccia Pugliese . It was some of the best focaccia I've ever had. I Will definitely be coming here again soon. read more

Went to Impasto because of the other restaurants it was related to in Palo Alto. Was expecting to have a good experience. We were very disappointed. The drinks were bad, the salad had no flavor, and the order was wrong for my wife and had to be sent back to get it right. Her order finally showed up, the main meal was good, but the overall experience was not what we expected. Most likely one and done. read more

Got three pizzas delivered, and they came fast and were excellent. Looking forward to eating in person. We used to enjoy Terun when we lived farther south, and were thrilled when we heard Impasto was opening in San Carlos. Keep up the great work! read more

This restaurant was super busy on Wednesday evening. Service was attentive. The decor and the vibe of the restaurant was great. The food was just so so. We ordered two pizzas and a pasta dish. The pizza was average. The crust as super soggy and paper thin. I would consider them to be very undercooked to the point of being raw. The pasta was also undercooked and extremely firm. We also ordered two desserts, tiramisu and the soufflé. The tiramisu was mainly mascarpone cream, I really was unable to tell if there was actually any lady fingers. Soufflé was a cake..definitely false advertisement. read more