This picture was taken at 2nd Street on August 11, 2011. By all appearances they've decided to open the restaurant on a truck with a crane, rather than in the Fuzio location. While it doesn't seem to leave much room for seating, at least the view will always be changing!
| Location |
| 139 G Street |
| Hours |
| Sunday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Friday-Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Phone |
| (530)758-8646 |
| Website |
| http://www.paesanos.biz/ |
| Menu |
| http://www.paesanos.biz/davislunch.html |
| Owners |
| Dave Virga and Mark Scribner |
| Established |
| 2011-09-08 |
| Payment Methods |
| Cash, Credit Card |
| Non Food Features |
| Two outdoor patios, full bar, gender-neutral restroom |
Paesanos is a new full-service Pseudo-Italian Fusion restaurant located in Downtown Davis in the location last occupied by Fuzio. It's an affordable, casual place with a very nice ambiance to enjoy lunch, dinner or drinks.
The menu includes appetizers, salads, pasta, sandwiches, pizza, dessert and drinks. It's a mix of Italian classics (bruschetta, fried calamari, gnocchi, fettucini alfredo), pasta with contemporary CA-style toppings (and pad thai), entree salads, foccacia sandwiches, pizza (incl. choose-your-toppings). They also have a separate list of gluten-free options, with a disclaimer that they cannot guarantee non-contamination.
They provide complementary bread with olive oil and vinegar with your meal so long as you dine after 5:00.
You can expect to wait for a table if you show up between 6 and 7 p.m. on most nights. There is almost always a long wait all evening on Fridays and Saturdays. You can call ahead to get your name on the list 10-15 minutes before you show up. Reservations are only accepted for parties of 6 or more. If you just want the food and not the full dining experience, you can call in an order and pick it up for take-out within 15 to 20 minutes. This is an especially good option on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Paesanos has sister restaurants in Elk Grove and Midtown Sacramento. The owners also own Uncle Vito's in Downtown Davis and Midtown Sacramento, and Paesanos Pronto in Downtown Sacramento.
Gallery
2011-08-11 11:56:10 Loved this place in Sacramento (loved midtown's Uncle Vito's too). Hope they do it justice in Davis. Polenta frieeeeessss. —EdWins
2011-08-24 22:09:18 I go to the one in Sacramento frequently, and the food is delicious. I just wish the portions were a little larger. —EliYani
2011-08-26 10:10:25 The Elk Grove location is good too. By my experiences, this is also a good family restaurant. They will usually give the kids a ball of pizza dough to play with (handles like play dough), give the kids an ice cream bar after their (large) meal, and on Sundays, you get a free kids meal for every adult meal purchased... hopefully they will have this deal at the Davis location. The food is also consistently good, and the portions generous... my favorite being the steak salad (the Fuji apple pizza is good also). —OldDavis73
- So if I were to order an adult meal I get a free kid's meal as well? Do I need to have a kid with me? It's not really going to be for a kid, I'm just going to eat it with my meal. —hankim
- Yes, I believe you do have to have the child with you. Not that I've tried without the child of course... I guess I just assume this would be the case. —OldDavis73
- I don't believe the Davis location offers that free kids meal deal. —jsogul
2011-09-11 21:10:15 I hear the menu is good, but I have yet to go myself —StevenDaubert
2011-09-11 22:11:54 Had dinner about 8 pm on a Sunday night. It had only been open a few days and was very busy. My server was Matthew, who has a distinct British accent though he mentioned living in Germany and going to school in France. Matthew was friendly and offered several suggestions for starters. I wanted a glass of wine and didn't see many choices. I settled for a Joel Gott 815, California Cabernet. I'd give it a grade of B. My starter was the Bruschetta with smoked mozzarella and tomatoes, which had a little too much olive oil. Grade: B-. The entree was the Spaghetti & Meatballs. (I was impressed that they offered whole wheat pasta.) Grade: B-. I would give grades of C for ambience and the food runner. It's a noisy restaurant. They give you one paper napkin, which usually isn't enough for an Italian meal with olive oil and marinara. I asked the runner for more napkins and never saw him again. I will give a grade of A to Liz, one of the managers. She was the only person to introduce herself by name and ask for my name. Liz visited my table and brought some extra paper napkins after I'd mentioned the food runner had disappeared. Liz also remembered my name when she thanked me as I was leaving. —nowhereman
2011-09-14 11:26:32 The wife and I had some free time and were excited to give the Davis Paesanos a shot and i'm happy to report it was a pleasant experience. We were there early and that was good as they have a 3-7 (now 3-6) happy hour with drink and appetizer specials. We had the fried ravioli, the house insalta, and a Paesanos combination pizza. I really enjoyed the makeover of the place and thought it was spacious and well thought out. The drinks arrived and were made correctly and tasted excellent. Our service was spot on and the food came out and meet all expectations. We drove by the on the weekend and the place was slammed which was good to see. Our quiet 2 hours we spent there was excellent and the place definitely filled up when we were leaving around 6:30. All in all I'm happy with the service, the happy hour prices and the addition of another eatery in Davis. Solid food and service for a fair price. This is not a pure Italian resturant and I don't think they advertise as such. The menu is fusion so I would not expect anything less. I'm surprised how people are so displeased over expectations I don't think were ever advertised.—loneshark
2011-09-14 15:23:17 I had lunch here today and was very impressed! My server was Kelly and she was great. The food was amazing. I loved all of the different selections they tempted me with. I had the artichoke, crab appetizer as well as the... Opps I forgot the name of this classic pasta dish but it was amazing. The portions were large and I most certainly have left overs for dinner tonight! For a new restaurant in Davis, I know the have locations elsewhere, It was excellent. —ashleyinthemist
2011-09-14 16:10:43 Perhaps I am a bit jaded having grown up in the northwest and having eaten truly fine Italian cuisine both back home and abroad, but this place, much like Cafe' Italia, fell very short of my expectations.
As always, I ask about Lasagna, which is not on the menu. The first time I ever enter an Italian eatery. I figure, if you can't create a tasty and proper Lasagna you should just close up shop. I am told they can make it, but that it is a "seasonal special". I receive it, made with overcooked Rigatoni noodles rather than Lasagna pasta in a small casserole dish, even smaller than the portions received at Cafe Italia. While it was edible and not entirely unappealing, the pasta and meat were both undercooked, there was little or no Ricotta. The dish was excessively oily, but did have a better flavor than it would seem to have had. I am left disheartened about this newly arrived "Italian eatery". It is a far cry from true Italian cuisine and honestly, I know a few locals who have cooked far better pasta dishes of any type than this restaurant seems to be able to produce.
It IS NOT a true Italian eatery and is much more California Fusion than anything else, so I feel they misrepresent themselves quite a bit. For the prices, I think one would be better off elsewhere, but this is just my opinion.
The location is not the best in the world, hidden in the back corner of G Street near Froggy's, but the atmosphere is nice and service quite friendly and prompt unless you run into the same issues as the napkin incident spoken of above... I inadvertently dropped my fork and requested another one and waited for a time before receiving the replacement, my fault entirely, but it shouldn't take five-seven minutes for something like that.
I would rate it as:
Service 4/5 Atmosphere 4/5 Location 1/5 Quality 2/5 Menu Selections 2/5 Overall- 2.6/5 —Wes-P
Really Wes???? C'mon comparing this place to Cafe Italia?? I disagree completely! I do respect your opinion though. I hope people will try it and judge for them selves. I do agree about not offering lasagna. S.V
2011-09-15 17:32:38 Wes...You seem not to take in consideration that they just opened. —Sherri
- One would think that an establishment freshly opening it's doors, especially one with a pre-existing reputation, would do their utmost to maintain that reputation and put their best foot forward. Perhaps this establishment does not care about that reputation, but I would highly doubt that. — Wes
2011-09-21 11:02:16 Tried this place out on Saturday and it was a mixed experience. I had been to the Midtown location once and was pretty pleased, so I was excited to have a location in town. The hostess and waiter were super friendly, and we sat in the side patio with the tall, small tables. Would have been a great atmosphere had it not been for the horrendous music selection. It was Top 40 from my middle school years mixed with some Miley Cyrus.
We ordered the "bocce balls" which were described as "lightly fried balls of pizza dough smothered in garlic butter, parmesan, and basil." I would say 'smothered' is a major understatement. They came out SWIMMING in a bowl of grease. They were tasty, but way too oily. There were also only a few ribbons of basil - would recommend they add more. Partner ordered the Fettuccine Arrostiti, which was described on the menu as having a spicy sauce. He said it was rather bland, and again, very greasy. I ordered the gorgonzola and fuji apple pizza. It was a very interesting combination of flavors, but, you guessed it, way too oily. It was also supposed to have spinach and unless I am mistaken, they had maybe five or six leaves of it on the whole pizza.
Bottom line: they should keep the friendly staff, play some classier music, and ditch the oil. I would go back, but would try different dishes and ask the waiter to tell the kitchen easy on the oil for our order if they haven't yet fixed their heavy hand. —MeggoWaffle
- What kind of music do you think would be better? I think jazz would be nice. :) —jsogul
- Jazz would be nice. Anything but the junk I was subjected to on Saturday. There's nothing like trying to have a civilized conversation with Madonna blasting in your ear. —Megan
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5494148_spices-used-caribbean-cuisine.html describes "Caribbean Spices" as a "melange of African, Amerindian, British, Chinese, Dutch, French, Indian and Spanish influences. Caribbean spicing, which utilizes allspice, annatto seeds, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger, habanero chiles, limes, mace, nutmeg, onion, peppers, scallions, tamarind and thyme, blends these influences to create vibrant flavors." As long as we're talking about the salmon salad, what seasonings are on this fish? Is it "hot" with the chili component or simply "intense?" The Paesanos menu reminds me very much of Fuzio's menu in the Firecracker Pork still being featured with fusilli pasta. —JudithTruman
2011-09-26 21:52:48 I went with my fiance and we were really surprised at how wonderful everything was! We had the polenta fries which were fantastic, to start. The chicken Caesar was good, maybe a bit too much dressing, but the croutons were delicious. We also tried the Spicy Creole with whole wheat pasta. The shrimp were perfectly cooked and the portion was huge. For desert we tried the brownie sundae, probably would not order that again as it was not to my taste but it was very well made. Overall very glad we tried it and would definitely go again. I love that they have whole wheat, gluten free, and vegetarian options at very modest prices. —DanielleC
2011-09-28 20:48:44 I had lunch here today. Once again I had a really good experience. I know this is a chain but I think the food is good. My friend really enjoyed their meal as well. We ordered the Bocce Balls as an appetizer. Wow! They were great. Most definitely will blow your diet. But yummy. The baked pasta dish was awesome. My friend had a salad and loved it.
2011-09-28 22:27:54 Four of us went out to lunch here yesterday. Everyone cleaned their plates, except for the stromboli eater who took half home! Everything was good; nice atmosphere. One called it an upgrade from Caffe Italia. We all said we'd most likely return. —Darcie
2011-10-06 16:01:32 Went for lunch one day and then dinner. The salads were very good and generous. Went with a group for dinner and two were vegetarians. They liked the portebella sandwich but the risotto was too salty for their taste. The food does seem heavy here as I had the Stromboli after reading some of the reviews. Interesting. Not sure if I like it or not. I think it was too rich and heavy for my taste. Also, didn't like the Bocce Balls,very larged fried dough with butter. Lots of butter. But, my vegetarian friend really liked them. They are a conversation piece for sure. Had very good service both times. —LokiAbbi
2011-10-21 21:30:55 Gave this place another chance tonight with a friend. When we put our names on the list at 6:30 we were told it would be half an hour. Checked back in at 7:10 since we hadn't been called and were told 15 more minutes. Finally got seated at 7:45... 45 minutes longer than their original estimate. I understand it was busy, but if you run a restaurant you should be overestimating wait time instead of underestimating.
First thing we ordered was the polenta fries starter. Server said they might be out, went and checked, came back a bit later and said "we have them, did you want me to order them for you?" Umm, YES, they should have been ordered as soon as you found out the kitchen still had them. Then the fries went to the wrong table. They didn't figure this out until maybe 15 minutes after the fact, and then had to order them again. Tip to restaurant goers: if they bring you something you didn't order, you might want to mention it so they can put in another order right away to replace the one you started snacking on, instead of only admitting it's not yours when you're asked about it a second time.
When we finally got the fries, they were tasty, not greasy, but much mushier than the polenta fries they serve at their midtown location. Warning to strict vegetarians: they put parmesan cheese on the polenta fries, even though it doesn't mention that on the menu. I've kind of given up trying to filter out animal rennet when I'm out to eat, but just be aware that this place will put ingredients on the dish that aren't mentioned in the dish description. Friend got the mushroom ravioli special - she said the sauce was a bit sweet but still was very good. She also loves their sangria. I got the fried ravioli with spicy marinara (it's a starter but more than enough for a meal... served over lettuce), which was also good and not greasy at all, just like the midtown location.
We sat on the side patio, which was nice. There were pretty string lights and some sort of old movie being projected on the building next to us. The loud, horrible music I complained about in my last review was no longer blaring, so that's a plus. But overall the negatives outweighed the positives. We waited way too long to be seated, way too long to get our food (and weren't offered any discount or anything for the polenta fries mixup), and way too long for water refills. Might try going back when it's not so busy. —MeggoWaffle
2011-10-22 08:01:20 @megowaffle, do you mean 7:45? —jsbmeb
- Yup! Thanks =)
2011-10-22 20:51:39 we had a great dinner here... wait was long, but it was friday... we got in and yes the music is a joke. is it wierdo blaring 80s night in italian fusion land? come on. we had a great dinner.. I had the italian steak sandwhich, and it was UNREAL. others had the specials and said it was great. lower the stupid music! —Carsonsig
2011-10-24 16:53:34 I've been here for lunch and dinner, and I have no complaints. It's pretty darn delicious and the prices are not bad. The service was great. We ordered the polenta fries, which were just too salty for us. They took them back, with no problems, and took it off our bill. They handled it really well, and the rest of our order was divine. We'll be back for sure. —MichellePalmer
2011-10-27 22:21:17 Not at all impressed with the meal we had there last night. Two out of three pizzas came to the table lukewarm. I ordered a "Tequila Shrimp" pizza on a gluten free crust. The pizza was sickeningly sweet. Yuck. I hate sweet pizza. The cornmeal crust was good, but it would have been even better hot. I will probably not go again any time soon but if I have to I'll order a plain old pizza on the GF crust instead.
2011-11-20 14:37:59 Yum. I checked this place out for the first time on Friday night. We got there a little later on, around 8ish, and were looking at a 25-35 minute wait, so we took a seat at the bar. Both bartenders were pleasant and friendly, and the beer selection was pretty decent. After no more than 15 minutes they seated us—luckily, still in back section by the bar, so one of the awesome bartenders was our waiter. I had the creole pasta, which was excellent. Rich, spicy, and pretty filling, with some perfectly cooked shrimp on top. My wife had the tequila shrimp and chorizo pizza, which might well be the best pizza I've had. Great mix of sweet and spicy.
Compared to the last Italian-ish place we had in town, Pasta?, the food is a lot better, prices are a bit lower, and service is all around great. Highly recommended, and I'm looking forward to my next visit. —TomGarberson
2011-11-28 11:09:56 Not impressed! I can make much better pasta at home and for ¼ of the cost. I ordered the Fettuccini Arrostiti in a spicy cilantro cream sauce. I was so excited to try it, but by the time it got to the table the cream had soaked into the pasta and the butter was starting to separate from the cream. Looked like it was sitting under the heat lamp maybe? I don’t think they washed the sand/dirt out of the cilantro either because every bite was gritty. Gross!! It wasn’t fresh and was very disappointing. —DjMisschiff
2011-12-03 19:30:30 I tried Paesanos for the first time today and throughly enjoyed it. I am a total foodie, see pics of food above. My friend and I had the Chopped Salad, Bruschetta, Carbonara, Spicy Creole, and Tiramasui for dessert. Everything was on spot with flavors however a suggestion for the the Carbonara is they should add peas and chicken. The sauce was a bit on the hvy side. It only had bacon ,but it was still delicious. The Spicy Creole was my favorite dish and packed full of flavor and flare. The portion size was a bit small but with the appetizer and dessert I was satisfied. The spicy Creole is spicy and has shrimp, chicken and sausage and comes with a good sized piece of garlic bread. I asked for freshly grated parmesan cheese as an extra( not charged for it :) The tiramasui was so delicious and the choc with the creme freshe was so delightful. The wait staff was very friendly , but the service was a bit on the slow side. We dined about 2pm on a Saturday. No bread given before the meal until after 5pm. For those on a diet they do offer wheat pasta upon request. The decor was very nice and it was decorated for Christmas. Will be returning very soon !!! —ElizabethBarthel
2011-12-05 20:10:46 Paesanos I love you. You took such good care of me and my husband last Monday (Nov. 28th, 2011). The bartender came to our table (we were sitting in the bar) and asked if he could make us a drink. Being 9 months pregnant, I declined, but asked if they had fresh lemonade or something citrusy that wasn't sprite. The bartender made me my very own little mocktail that was perfect, extra lemony just for me. Also, our food came out right after our appetizer so the waiter asked the kitchen to remake it so we could have more time to enjoy our appetizer. So thoughtful. We would've been fine either way but we felt that Paesanos went above and beyond to make sure we enjoyed our experience. Quality food+quality service= Winning! —jenb
2011-12-06 11:20:18 I've now been to Paesanos three times and I have to say it is now one of my top restaurant choices in Davis. I've eaten with people who have a variety of dietary restrictions and the restaurant has responded admirably with everyone being pleased with their meal. The vegan was able to order a customized pizza (low oil, sauce only, veggies), the ease of substituting gluten-free pasta or pizza crust makes life easy, the ability to omit meat to make most recipes vegetarian was appreciated by another (made sure to ask if dish could be made without any meat products instead of just asking for no meat), and the omnivore loved the stromboli. One time the request for gluten-free pasta didn't make it to the kitchen but the dish was remade very promptly and both the manager and waitress came over to apologize for the mistake. While on the slightly higher end of my budget, this restaurant is on my go-to list for anyone looking for a nice place to have a meal - vegetarian, vegan, gf, or omnivore. —AnnaD
2011-12-06 19:28:40 Love the food, the service has been great every time I've been. However, the two bartenders, men, have been absolutely terrible. They were both incredibly mean and rude, thus losing them their tips. One would imagine that as a bartender you would be kind to all of your customers. However, both times I have had interactions with them, they have been nothing but rude. I have heard this from several other people as well. It's a shame, because the food is so incredible and delicious. Hopefully they will change their attitudes, or hire new bartenders. Either way, everything else about Paesanos has been absolutely wonderful. —Millie
2012-01-10 13:28:48 I dig the polenta fries. —DavidBarnum
2012-02-10 13:44:31 Sooooo Slowwww! Just got back from lunch at Paesanos. It took about 10 minutes for the waitress to take our order. It was 50 minutes from when we got there that 2 of us got our food. It was 10 minutes after that when the rest of the table got their food! The waitress blamed the server for not bringing them all out at once. Isn't that your job to check that, missy? I was NOT impressed with the service. She also never asked how we were doing, which I guess isn't that surprising since we were waiting an hour for our food! And the bathroom floor was sticky. Yuck! The food rated a "not-bad". —Myra
2012-02-10 13:47:52 The food here was very good. I'd come back again, although I did feel sick the entire night afterwards. :/ Hopefully that won't happen next time. The food really was great. —IDoNotExist
2012-02-21 10:44:51 I love this place, the food here is really good. I have had the Stromboli, Balsamic reduction pasta, and the fettuccine lime cilantro cream sauce. All of which are incredibly good, nice selection of beers on tap. Both times I went the service was really nice and friendly. I find the prices to be very reasonable for the quantity and quality of food. —DagonJones
2012-02-21 14:34:41 good prices on good quantities, Angel hair was a tad oily but it was still good. The Fried dough balls (bocce) were great —StevenDaubert
2012-02-28 16:17:01 I've thoroughly enjoyed every pasta dish I tried here. (I have to disagree about the bocce balls though... just a big tub of dough, does nothing for me!) But back to the positives... literally everything on the pasta list that I (or friends) have ordered tastes wonderful; I'm a particularly big fan of fettucine arrostiti. Service has been quick and professional, no complaints there as well. —ChonT
2012-03-06 23:38:33 My boyfriend and I actually really like this place. If you are a food snob, go over to Osteria in West Davis and they will impress you with their Zagat rated presentation, highly priced entrees and wines and flatter you with highbrow service.(And you will probably still complain)But I have really liked the service at this place and I have been happy with all three orders I have had, especially because I eat gluten free and their menu has a great gf selection, though I haven't tried the pizza. Word to the wise, pizza is about the most difficult thing to do well with gluten free flours; I personally have had the most success making good gf crusts and pizzas at home, but on my next visit to Paesano's I'll order it and see. But listen where else can you get good gf breaded and fried calamari? The happy hour prices are good. The polenta fries are yummy and different, the gf pasta dishes are good and creative. . .I had a salad, a little heavy on the dressing but hey, next time I will say "Light dressing please?" A person commenting earlier said the male bartenders were jerks. . .this is actually true. There are usually three reasons a bartender is rude to you: You are not a hot chick. You are a hot chick with a date. OR He doesn't like his job. Last time we were there, my boyfriend commented on how much he had enjoyed the Lobster risotto on our previous visit. "Oh really?" said the bartender, "I wasn't impressed." Come again? Wrong answer! He was either trying to be a jerk to my boyfriend or he hates his job. Either way if I owned the place I would fire that dude. However there is a blonde girl who has served us at the bar a few times and she is always very nice to my boyfriend and I equally. So that's cool. —lebowski
2012-03-08 15:19:58 Finally a nice place to go without spending too much. This place is the best. Staff is nice, food is delicious and comes fast. That's why it is always busy! If it's real Italian food or not, I can't tell... never went to Italy... but it's for sure delicious and fresh. I'm a student and I rarely go out for a real dinner, because everywhere in Davis is too expensive. Usually, nicer restaurants are there for faculty or rich local people... I didn't like Cafe Italia because of the price and food quality... I'm not sure why people mention that restaurant here... but anyways... It feels great to have Paesanos to go! If you have more money or status to go somewhere else... just go... don't leave bad comments to a place that can serve everyone! —franindavis
2012-03-23 17:16:08 It's chain food. Not spectacular. The service is very good. It can be crowded and a little loud, but overall it's a pleasant place. If you're looking for authentic Italian, the ONLY place in town is Osteria Fasulo. If you're looking for a decent meal that isn't horribly expensive, this place works. —toriac
2012-03-24 02:51:58 The Pork Fusili blew me away. I never would have ordered it because I don't like the way words sound nor the description on the menu. But someone ordered it for me and I was delighted. It's like pulled pork in a spicy, mole like sauce with noodles. Really unique and less than $10. —MikeyCrews
2012-03-25 20:16:52 Went here for the first time a few weeks ago and can't wait to go back. Good service and deeeelicious food. I got the risotto and we had some garlic bread as an appetizer. My friend and I had girly drinks for dessert and the waiter/bartender was really nice but without being overly flirty or anything. Going back this weekend for a friend's birthday, can't wait! —gurglemeow
2012-03-26 10:51:43 I LOVE this place! Great food, creative menu, good service. The baked pasta is incredible. To the person who wanted Lasagna, but ordered the baked pasta - don't confuse the two, it's a different dish, and doesn't make sense to compare the two. The pork fusili is probably my favorite, love the combination of the spicy jalapenia salsa and the sour cream, both unexpected in a pasta dish but taste great. Spaghetti Carbonara is also excellent. To the person suggesting they add chicken and peas to the carbonara, please don't do that! It wouldn't be pasta carbonara if they did that. This has become a weekly lunch spot for me an my co-workers. —RudyGramage
2012-04-03 11:48:09 Had a bad experience here on a Saturday with a group. We made reservations 4 days in advance for 20 people for a friend's birthday. Only 15 people ended up being able to make it but they started showing up 20 minutes before 8 and our reservation was for 8. Come to find out, they did not have a table ready for us, or ANY tables for that matter, and we didn't end up getting a table until about half past 8 despite our reservation. Meanwhile, we have 15 people inside waiting, and since the restaurant is relatively small and doesn't really have much of a waiting area, our group was completely blocking aisles, waitstaff, and customers, due to our not having a table. (I would have preferred to wait outside to be polite but I guess everyone else was cold.) I don't blame the staff that helped us as it probably wasn't their fault, but they didn't even really apologize and didn't seem particularly concerned that we had to wait over half an hour despite making reservations days in advance. I can't speak for the food as I was sick and didn't have much of an appetite, but the birthday girl got pizza and said it was too salty to finish. My boyfriend, who is not a picky eater, tasted it and agreed that it was overly salty. I would stick with the pasta, anyway; never been impressed with any restaurant's pizza if the restaurant doesn't specialize in pizza. I'll still be going back for the risotto and to try their pasta, but it was a disappointing night. The wait staff was polite and timely though, besides the reservation thing.
2012-04-20 14:41:05 Every time I have been here the service has been terrible, but the food is so good I keep going back anyway. Happy hour has great cocktail deals, but I expect they can afford that simply because they don't pay attention to your glasses enough to let you order any refills. I love the pasta dishes, particularly the Modena di Balsamico, and I'm a fan of the bocce balls ($4 at happy hour!). I just only go if I have 3 hours for a meal, and never on Friday/Saturday night (even with a reservation made a week beforehand, our party waited 45 minutes to be seated and another 20 after that for our drinks!) —MeganR
2012-06-07 09:40:40 Came here for happy hour on a Wednesday evening. There were plenty of open tables and service was fast. Our waitress was very friendly and happy to give suggestions about the menu. We ordered the polenta fries ($4), bruschetta ($4), and the calamari ($10). The polenta fries were delicious and came with balsamic ketchup and gorgonzola sauce. The bruschetta tasted strangely like a hot dog—it might have been the combination of the smoked mozzarella and tomatoes that caused that. I'm not sure I'd get it again. The calamari was delicious, but a little pricey for the portion size. It's too bad that it's not offered on the happy hour menu. The happy hour drink menu was pretty amazing though, maybe one of the best I've seen in Davis. $3 for pints, house wine, selected cocktails, and sangria. I had two glasses of the sangria, which was poured stiff and delicious to boot. I'm not normally a fan of sangria served without fruit, but I'd be happy to have more of the Paesanos sangria in the future. —AlexHirsch
2012-06-15 21:27:03 We took the in-laws to Paesanos the night before my wife's graduation. The place, like all of downtown, was an utter madhouse. We had made a reservation for 8pm, and unfortunately we had quite a bit of a wait. Not surprisingly, a lot of the patrons were students with families visiting for graduation, so they were spending a lot longer at tables chatting than the staff apparently expected. We got seated about 35 minuets late, and things were still slow after that.
Despite the delays and the craziness, however, the both the hostess and our waitress were extremely friendly. They gave us a free appetizer and waived a substitution charge because of the wait. The food was, as always, excellent.
Maybe not the best place to go on unusually busy nights, but even if you do get stuck with a longish wait, it's still a pleasant dining experience. —TomGarberson
2012-08-25 21:53:58 Won't be going again, just to be safe. Went as a group of 3 tonight and two of us got sick. The other was merely disappointed with her food. I got a sandwich and we shared the polenta fries, which were okay (not a lot of flavor, not a lot of fries). My sandwich was hard to describe, not exactly bland, but it suffered from an overabundance of flavors that didn't go together which made it very unexciting to eat. Nothing about it tasted fresh, and the "housemade rosemary bread" did not taste fresh nor did I taste rosemary. I shared the sandwich with a friend who was also bored with it. Our other friend got a pasta that was supposed to come in a creamy garlic sauce. However, you could barely tell it had sauce at all, and what sauce it had was watery. It also came with spinach, which I love normally, but it tasted dry and kind of as if it had been left out all night or something. Basically, old. I would still be willing to find what dishes they have that are good (like the risotto), but I got so sick that it won't be worth it for me to try going back. It MAY have been a coincidence, maybe I would've gotten sick anyway, but, I'm not willing to risk it. —gurglemeow
2013-05-26 15:41:52 Every experience here has been top notch. It has become a go-to restaurant for my family when we want a place where we know the food, service and environment will be positive. We were just here last Friday (5/17) for dinner and everything was wonderful. It's a great place to take your kids. We bring our two-year-old daughter all the time. Ask for the Play-Dough!!! It's real dough your little one can play with for a while before the food comes! Really can't say enough good things about it. —BrianPakpour
2013-07-23 18:52:05 Very upset that they got rid of the mushroom ravioli - that was my favorite meal and they don't have any other ravioli dishes (besides the fried ravioli, which is an appetizer). Sad to say I won't be eating here anymore due to menu changes. —EllieE
2015-11-29 21:36:16 We just picked up our takeout order (11/29) to find the smallest portion sizes I have ever seen from Paesano's (including other times we have ordered take-out). This was after waiting almost a half hour past when we were told the food would be ready for pick up. We will not be returning as either dine-in or take-out customers. I would suggest anyone getting take-out be sure to check the bag before leaving the restaurant to make sure your pasta doesn't look like it came off of a kid's menu. —ema
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