Cafe Roma - San Luis Obispo

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at Cafe Roma this year. They offered turkey dinner with 3 other options. We had the turkey, short ribs and salmon. All the dishes were prepared in interesting ways and delicious. The service was excellent, the staff friendly and informative. We will be back next year.

This was our fifth Thanksgiving at Cafe Roma, so obviously we keep coming back for more. We love your food and the ambiance. Our first few years, the service was great. These last two years, not so much. Last year we had a well-intentioned waiter who greeted us warmly, then managed to all but forget us for the evening. Eventually, an attentive waitress from another station managed to retrieve out waiter for us. This year our waiter was prompt and efficient, but not particularly welcoming. His main concern seemed to be getting us to place our order, finish our meals, and then exit as soon as possible, thank you. As always, the food was fine, but then came the dessert. Every year we have been asked to select a dessert. Not this time. Our waiter simply came by the table, plunked down down one plate, three forks, and left. We ended up eating the little this-and-that squares of whatevers off that communal plate after realizing that individual dessert plates weren't part of the plan.

We love the food and the atmosphere at Cafe Roma, and we'll probably give it another try next year. But the service seems to be the weak link in the chain.

Best. Thanksgiving. Ever.

Horribly rude owners and disorganized restaurant. Poor quality food.

Excellent service! Great food and ambience. Very accommodating. They sure know how to treat their customers. Went with family for Thanksgiving. Great turkey, mashed potatoes and delicious dessert Sampler plate. YUM

Beyond food and service, Cafe Roma offers a wonderful ambiance in a high ceiling room, tastefully decorated. Not so easy to find in this part of the Central Coast.

Thanksgiving Dinner was AMAZING!

Veal Marsala was excellent. Lasagna was even better.
Had a reservation and was seated very close to time.

Great Night with friends— the Eggplant was to die for— excellent service all around

Poor service, very loud and food was mediocre. We will not be back. There are much better Italian options in SLO.

We were ready to enjoy a birthday celebration at a lovely restaurant. The food was delicious. We enjoyed a couple of bottles of wine. The server told us early in the evening that he was going to serenade our birthday boy personally with his beautiful voice. Well after dinner we declined dessert because we were stuffed. I guess the server didn't appreciate that because he did not serenade our birthday boy and pretty-much tossed the check at us and never interacted with us again. I assumed they'd bring a bowl of ice cream or something so that he could sing. Nothing. All-in-all a very strange experience. The food is very good and the restaurant is lovely. The experience just let a bad taste in our mouths. There are lots of great dining option on SLO. I'm not sure I'd choose this one again.

This was our first visit and we were very happy with the food. The atmosphere was nice but a bit noisy. When I made reservations online I specified a birthday. Then I told the manager when we were seated and finally told the server before the birthday guest got there. It wasn’t acknowledged even though two other birthdays in the restaurant were. The server was friendly but as the dinner progressed he acted distracted and seemed to be rushing us. After we paid our bills he immediately came up took the bills after looking at them. That was tacky of him. If we go back, I’ll make sure to ask for another server.

Let me see, very good food, top-flight service, the company of good friends, two bottles of superb wine, all at a price that was very reasonable. I'd call that pretty hard to beat. I didn't realize Giacarlo Cucumo was in the kitchen at Cafe Roma or I would have been there sooner. We WILL be back!

Recommended

Celebrating our birthdays. The seafood pappardelle was outstanding

The staff is great, warm and friendly and on top of things. And the food always so wonderful!

We were seated right away at a table in the back area. The waitress was fantastic. We ordered some appetizers, calamari,buratta, and spinach salad. All were good but not great. Dinner took a bit longer to arrive. The seafood pastas were both warm not hot, the carbonara was pretty good except the pasta was way under cooked. The filet was average and the chicken just ok. The desserts were also just ok. Nothing to write home about. Overall not the best meal we’ve had and it was pricey.

The thing I like most about this place is that they pay attention to detail. They don't over cook or over season the food. The mixed grill I had this past weekend was probably the best meal I have had in SLO area since moving here about 6 months ago.

Great service. The salmon dish was pretty boring. But overall it was a very nice dining experience.

I was a little disappointed to tell you the truth. The service was great, Hanna and her colleagues were fabulous. The wilted spinach salad was pretty good but not very artfully put together. The crab cakes were good. My husbands capellini pomodoro was delicious. But my shrimp piccata didn't thrill me. I felt that the shrimp were farmed and I did not like the texture. I thought I'd be healthy and order the spinach with it, but I later felt queasy and think there was probably a lot of butter or oil in the spinach. I always forget how rich restaurant food is! The chocolate mousse was delicious. So I guess it was kind of mixed. The atmosphere was lovely and Cafe Roma feels like a real Italian restaurant.

Overall, I think Café Roma has declined since my last visit approximately 8 years ago.

We frequent Cafe Roma on Tuesday nights for half price wine night. Sharon and I have celebrated many milestone occasions. The staff has always been very attentive. The food has always been outstanding.

One of our favorite restaurants. Always a great evening.

Amazing food and wonderful staff. Overall an amazing experience.

Lovely evening on the patio. My only disappointment was with the accompaniments to the salmon. I’ve come to expect it with lentils and I specifically asked our server if that would be the case. He told me yes but in reality, it was potatoes and a polenta cake. The polenta was very good but too many starches with that combo. Would have been happier with the lentils....healthier too.
Small quibble about an otherwise very good meal and service.

We sat outdoors in the patio. Great service. Delicious dinner. We enjoyed the delectable squash blossoms, wonderful fresh seafood special and pasta of the day,

We had a late reservation. Very quiet on patio. Veal with Marsala and lasagna were excellent!
Server was very attentive and friendly

Always enjoyed Cafe Roma as a Peak San Luis Obispo experience. You will not be disappointed! Our Waiter was very personable and on point for the service. Cost was reasonable. The Food is very thought-out and well prepared. Even got to take leftovers home and delicious the second time around. You can do no wrong at Cafe Roma. I had a birthday, and the candle on my dessert was nice touch. Recommend for special occasions, romantic dinners, dinner groups, or just a nice get together with friends or someone special. I would like to try those amazing appetizers on my next visit! And try the Bar! The Negoni was spot-on!

as always exceptial food and service go back as much as possible

Wonderful! Amy did a great job

Always a great experience -

The service was attentive. The food was amazing!
Siting in the veranda was perfect, not too load, and nice background music.

Had a wonderful experience with our server Hannah. Great pit stop coming from the train station.

Food was unexceptional and very average. Not much of it, either, considering the price. Don't eat here if you're actually hungry. Had to send back the wine. It smelled and tasted like red wine vinegar. Have little to no desire to eat here again.

Wonderful food in a lovely setting. We sat on the porch and enjoyed a fabulous meal as the sun set.the hills were lovely to look at and they put the heater on as it got dark.
Delicate squash blossoms and an amazing burata for starters. Oso bucco as main dish was simply yummy and tender. Panda cotta for dessert was the perfect ending to an excellent meal. Service was impeccable.

We had a great dinner and experience. I look forward to coming back. The food was superb, service was stellar, and the ambiance was wonderful.

Always excellent food and great service. A special place.

Reminiscent of family restaurants in Italy. Service and food were superb. The red murano chandelier was perfect. My gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce made me want to lick the plate. My husbands mb shank was huge and fell off the bone.
Definitely stays on our central coast list fir dinner.

This is a go to place usually But Friday night was disappointing Service was slow Fish portion small and could have been masked with extra veggies but floated lonely on the plate Carpaccio was still frozen and had no flavor Clams in Gabe lady not cooked enough to open
I will come back but wanted the restaurant to know they need to work on consistency

What an amazing restaurant Cafe Roma is. We stumbled on this gem during our one night stay in Madonna Inn in SLO. Both the service and the food was impeccable. Our sever Hannah is a first class. Even though she was fairly new to the establishment, her knowledge of the food and wine menu is pretty amazing. The owner Marco is friendly and hands on and came to check on us and chatted with us on several occasions. He even gave my husband a glass of Lemoncello on the house!! Thanks, Marco. We left the restaurant happy and morethan satisfied. Next time we are in the area we will definitely dine at Cafe Roma. Grazie, Cafe Roma