Bellanico Restaurant and Wine Bar

Neighborhood gem. Friendly and knowledgeable service.

We are long time patrons of Bellanico’s and we never leave disappointed. Excellent food! Everything on the menu is fabulous — farro persimmons salad, cauliflower, beet ravioli, pork chops and slow-cooked beef ribs. Wine flights are great too. And for dessert, don’t forget the goat cheese cheesecake! Yum!!! Service is awesome too.

Last time I was at Bellanico was January 18, 2015, about 4 years ago. That was the third time my friend and I were there and, if you check my YELP review for that date, you can see I had some misgivings about food, noise level, etc., My recent visit on January 11 was to re-visit and see if rhings, in general, had changed. They had changed, unfortunately, for the worse. January 11 was the first day of Oakland's Restaurant Week and I expected special prices and better than average food. Neither one happened. Altho most restaurants offering special meals for that week are usually in the $20 to $30 range Bellanico came in at $46 per head for a 4 course dinner (2 appetizers, main and dessert). We opted for ordering two (2) restaurant week dinners and because of the choices provided in the meno ended up ordering the same choices for both our dinners. Bellanico's servings, especially their appetizers and salads tend to be on the "meager" side so we were not surprised to see the ubiquitous "Florentine meatballs" (2) dancing on a small plate. Ditto for the salad, nothing really special. For the main entree we ordered the lamb chops (2) on the thin side and instead of medium-rare they showed up medium-well. Should have been sent back but we figured it was too much of a hassle. The dessert was a fairly pedestrian cake with a creamy side. We provided our own wine, a 93 point 2014 Chateneuf-du-Pape that turned out to be a very good bottle. Bottom line, a rather expensive dinner, almost $150 adding corkage ($20), tax and tip. After a four year absence Bellanico has started to show it's age and although it seems to continue to pull people from Montclair and Piedmont I don't believe we'll be visiting again. Given the ultra-competitive nature of Oakland's restaurant scene there are far better choices to choose from.

I like this neighborhood restaurant and generally recommend it but avoid the Lamb special they are running during restaurant week. Greasy .

Bellanico is our "go to" for going out and for celebrations of all kinds. The food and wine flights are a home run every time.

Excellent and well curated wine list. All three appetizers that we ordered were superb.
I always get the chard mulfatti and we had the roast duck breast with duck leg confit which were memorable as well

Delicious Food, Wonderful Service.

We recently enjoyed another lovely meal at Bellanico, this time with family from Idaho. Everyone raved about his or her dinner. Our server combined outstanding service and excellent advice on wine with good humor. And even our family commented on the (relatively, for them) reasonable prices.

2 extremely minor nitpicks:

The noise level is challenging for those with less-than-perfect hearing. Sitting against the wall and eating at off hours help.

No matter how many times we come we always have to look up at least 3 words on the menu. Is this pretension or a little game the restaurant plays with diners?

Our go-to restaurant for all special occasions. The variety, quality, and imagination always leave us amazed, pleased and satisfied. Would give 10 stars if the option were available.

Ballanico is my go-to restaurant for good food and great service. We were seated immediately as we waited for our party members to park. Parking is in surrounding residential neighborhood since the Glenview shopping district is modest. We ordered the cauliflower fritters and meatballs for appetizers. We added the hand formed burrata that had diced roasted beets on the side. For dinner, the pastas and risotto were done perfectly. My Liberty duck was very good and the the accompanying risotto was al dente. My husband's pork was delicious and the potatoes were crispy and well-seasoned. We split the freshly made bomboloni and a strawberry sorbet dessert. We were never rushed and the food was perfectly executed.

Last time we went to this restaurant was 1 year ago. We went To this restaurant for a birthday.
We order the prix fixe menu. We had the pasta dish which was dry , Sticky and cold. I had a wine perion with the dinner. The 1st glass of wine was explained but then after that she just mention the name.The duck dish was very salty, Cold and dry. We were disappointed with our dinner. I feel very sad because before I remember the restaurant being stellar. We had the prix fixe menu and it felt like that they pre fixed a lot of the dishes Ahead of time.

Delicious and interesting Sunday brunch food at this, our favorite special occasion place. Housemade sausage was perfect with creamy polenta and fried egg. Everyone left satisfied! Sweet service. Reasonable prices.

Tamara is a fantastic server. She is very knowledgeable about the food and especially the wine - she will help you pick your perfect meal!

wonderful!! great food and service. Often take friends there and are never disappointed.

We were underwhelmed by the brunch food. The holandaise was sparse and watery. My poached eggs were overdone. One order at the table was served late, missing an egg and had no potatoes in the hash. They trickled onto the table one by one every few minutes or so until his meal was complete. The waitress called it deconstruction hash. She did her best to salvage the situation.

There is a good vibe in the restaurant and I loved my wine. But I would not go there for a meal again.

Great venue, with delicious food and drinks. Ambiance is great and I look forward to returning soon.

Terrible wait times for simple dishes for children. Up to an hour for pasta with butter and cheese.

We discovered that with Bellanico, Sunday evening was a good time to get a reservation & be there. When it's completely full, as on Saturdays, the noise and close quarters is uncomfortable -- for us, maybe less so for others. The food is reliably great and service always good, too.

We experienced some great food here at Bellanico for brunch this past weekend. This is the place to come if you are in the mood for rich, complex flavors. This is not a place to come on a diet! Try the pork shoulder confit sandwich, the sausage on polenta with fried egg, the gnocchi carbonara. All were terrific. The menu changes often, so we will be sure to be back to taste again in the future!

All I can say is solid. Have never had a bad meal

Neighborhood gem that I love and everyone I take there loves! Food is consistently good.

The night we went there was a large party that was extremely noisy. If I ever go back I would ask them if they were having a party in the restaurant, and I would never go if I knew that this was happening. Very disappointing evening. Wonderful staff!

Always reliable for a delicious, authentic Italian meal with superlative service.

This is my third or fourth time at this restaurant. The first time I was blown away, then I had lunch there and was also very happy. This time the Service was very good, as always.
The appetizers were really good, we had the Pork with brussel sprouts and the sardines.
I can't remember which entree my daughter had but she raved about it. Her boyfriend and I had the proscuitto wrapped Cod, and we both found it to be very salty. I almost couldn't eat it because it was so salty, and I have high blood pressure and shouldn't eat salty food. The polenta that comes with the COD was good, the vegetables were also tasty, but were sloppily plated and a little bit of an odd mix which wasn't amenable to nice plating. It looked like something I throw together at home when I don't know what to cook.
I was a little disappointed in the wine selection and decided to to have wine because of it.
The two younger people had dessert, my daughter had the gelato with prosecco and almond cookie, I can't remember what her boyfriend had but they both enjoyed their desserts.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in this trip due to the salty food, and the limited choice of wine by the glass.
The prices were higher than I remember

My main dish : the casarecce with buttersquash and brussel sprouts, unlike appetizer and dessert, was insipid... no flavor whatsoever.
However the cauliflower nuggets and chocolate cake with gelato were to die for.

Bellanico is one of our favorite restaurants in the Bay Area, not just in Oakland, not just because it is in our Glenview neighborhood. This restaurant curries favor with clientele, with a quiet setting, an interesting observable kitchen, an adventurous menu and fine wine collection. We started with the cauliflower fritters and an excellent home-made aigioli sauce, indulged a favorite of grilled sardines with a {watch-out hot) chili sauce, and had for main courses the casarecce with grilled brussel sprouts, walnuts, cippolini onions and spinaich, and tagliolini pepati with smoked bacon, jalapenos, garlic and arugula in tomato sauce. This was an outstanding birthday dinner (dessert at home!) with delicious French Camposet rose wine. Bellanico always delivers a memorable dining experience.

The food and service is wonderful and always consistent.

The food was excellent! The short ribs just melted in my mouth. The waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu and the wine list and suggested a perfect wine for this picky girl

Great pasta. Decent setting. Overall a good dining experience, but it was somewhat ruined by an awful waiter who was impatient and unfriendly. Made us feel like we were milking the restaurant explicitly and somewhat rudely limiting wine samples even though we spent $150, including tip, on the meal. He has barely a working knowledge of the wine selection, which didn't help the experience and frustration.

The food here is creative and yummy. Get wine! Service is friendly and welcoming. Don’t miss the beet ravioli or the liver pate.

My husband and I came to Bellanico after we discovered that our gift certificate to Aperto (which had closed) would be honored. Even though we live in San Francisco, it's worth a trip for the delicious food served at Bellanico. I was also impressed by the owner who told us he would honor our gift certificate (it was at least 2 yrs old). We bought another $100 gift certificate for our son and daughter in law who now live in the East Bay and can't wait to try the restaurant after our rave reviews of our experience!

We had the prix fixed meal and it was very good. However, the service was not as good as we have had before. The waiter seemed distracted when I asked him about the dishes. Usually the wait staff explains the wine pairings when they bring the wine, but this time no one offered a description of the wine until I asked. And as I write this I remember that I asked to have my leftovers boxed and no one brought it to me as they have done in the past.

Decent food. Wine flights were subpar. Cozy space. Waitress bumped table almost dropping another parties food onto our table. She was apologetic.

We go to Bellanico's every time we want to "impress someone" or when we have a special occasion. This meal was to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We had a lovely table for two to the side of the room, our service was incredible (with several recommendations made), the different courses came out tasting marvelous, and the wine recommended was nicely paired with the food.

We had the cauliflower fritters, fried squash blossoms and shared the pork chop and prosciutto wrapped petrale sole. For dessert, the doughnuts! We left full and very satisfied!

My wife and I have been here twice and each meal was excellent. All of the dishes that we have had have been excellent, the service and ambiance is very nice and the quality of the food is very good. If you go with a group I would highly recommend making a meal out of the appetizers, just order a whole bunch of them and share.

There were four of us, long time friends, for dinner on a Monday night. Bellanico's was busy, not crowded. Our waitress provided excellent food and wine recommendations, and service throughout the evening. Bellanico is my favorite restaurant; the food and service usually excellent. We had a fabulous time and closed the restaurant. Three of the four meals were excellent, as were both desserts. My entry, beet ricotta ravioli was very good, but missing that something that would make it excellent.
I will definitely will return knowing that service and food will continue to be great.

Bellanico is consistent with excellent, elevated Italian cuisine of local, seasonal ingredients and a very well chosen Italian wine list. Great tasting menu for both food and wine. One of the best values in Oakland for a quality culinary experience.

Reasonably priced, flavorful (though often too salty), wonderful rosemary focaccia and EVOO. Try their dinner and wine pairing option.

We ordered from the week's tasting menu: lovely braised pork and accompaniments, and nice wine pairings. Some things were a little oversalted, but mostly enjoyable. Service was OK: food arrived promptly but our waitress did not seem very familiar with the menu. Sadly, it was so loud on a Saturday night that we could barely converse; it did interfere with the enjoyment of our meal. We will probably go again, but on off hours, and definitely not on Saturday night.

It’s a small restaurant but very comfortable. We had a tasting menu for one person in our group which gave you a choice and she ordered sweet pepper soup which was a 10. It had many layers of flavor. The soup came with a bruschetta with olive tapenade on cream cheese. I could order a big bowl of the soup and the bruschetta and be a happy camper. This was just the beginning of an outstanding meal. Her next dish was a arugula salad with apple and goat cheese. It was very tasty and the apple in the salad went well with the little bitter arugula. Her next dish was her entree. It was a pasta I can’t pronounce with a Walnut creme and brussel sprouts and spinach, it was very earthy and very flavorful, we all shared some Of it. Next was the dessert. Hazelnut and date pudding cake. It was a moaner and I hope I die with it in my mouth. Not yet though. That was the tasting menu. Two of us ordered off the menu. My son ordered Swiss chard malfatti. It was about 5 light Swiss chard pillows with butter and it definitely for us was the best entree. It was very light and so flavorful and not too rich or too much. I ordered the beet ravioli with ricotta and butter. I love raviolis but don’t enjoy meat so this was perfect for me but it was hard to make a choice because of the excellent menu. The raviolis actually tasted like beet, usually when I order raviolis I just taste pasta and cheese but this was so different. It was not heavy, not rich and very flavorful. I would order again. For the dessert I ordered doughnuts with chocolate and vanilla cream to dunk them into. It was like a heavy beignet. I thought it was just ok because I’m not into fried food and I could taste a little bit of the grease. The sauces were yummy. Now this is just my opinion but I think anybody who visits the restaurant will leave very satisfied. Bon Appetit!
Yes we are going back very soon.
Thank you to the chef and his assistants.

Delicious salad and gnocchi... perfect balance of sauce