Cafe Torre

The food was good. Had the sea scallops that were the special that day. Perfectly cooked but the bacon wrapped around the circumference.
Our waiter was an older dude who wasn’t very friendly. He inspired me to up my 401k contributions since there’s no way in heck I want to be working at that age.
I ordered Ice tea and it never came.

We really enjoy coming here. The interior is ‘nice casual’, and the food is good. We have tried several dishes — the rack of lamb, various specials, and pasta, and always enjoy them.
I wish they would pretty up the exterior with some greenery and flowers — we tend not to plan festive occasions here because of the plain exterior, but that’s the only negative I can think of.

If you’d like to be treated poorly and eat mediocre food then this is the place for you! Our server never checked on us, didn’t even make eye contact, and was generally unpleasant from the start. Not to mention a horribly long wait for him to even come take our drink order despite the restaurant being empty, with the exception of the three of us. We were with our extraordinarily well behaved 6 year old, and intentionally arrived early so there would be no risk in disrupting the dinner service. The charcuterie might as well have been deli meat from Safeway, and the prosciutto in my pasta was suspiciously identical to bacon. We won’t be back.

Never knew there was an Italian restaurant inside this plaza. You wouldn’t be able to tell from the outside so I’m glad that I came here. Came here on a weekday for lunch with my ex boss and my coworkers. The food was delicious. Our server was great and was also funny.

Decided to try a new place tonight. Based on reviews we were prepared for good food but not great service. We were a party of 5: 3 adults, 1 toddler, 1 infant. Though we were the only party with kids, they were accommodating. They had a high chair for our toddler, and the tables are not crammed together — plenty of room to leave the stroller tableside with the baby in her carseat.
Décor is nice, the women’s bathroom is nicely decorated and clean. There were 2 older waiters there tonight — they were very professional though a bit reserved, that’s fine. But it was a bit hard to hear our waiter describe the specials over the chatter of the table next to us. Also the specials were not described well — we were told about a petrale sole, cheese tortellini, and a veal chop. Later in the night I heard the other waiter describe the specials to another table and he described the preparation and the accompanying sides — they sounded much more appetizing than the way it was presented to us.
* bread basket — warm sliced baguette with butter.
* Calamari Fritti appetizer ($ 10) — generous sized plate makes it a really good value, nice light seasoned crispy batter. We also noticed what others have mentioned — rings only, no legs. We were off to a great start.
* Seafood Pasta ($ 19) — reasonable price, a lot of seafood for the price. Linguine pasta was cooked well. Prawns were really tough and not cleaned well. Calamari was a bit tough — this was surprising since we just had a great calamari appetizer. Clams were good. Mussels were terrible — the meat was shriveled and didn’t come off the shell well, taste was a bit off, I think they were frozen.
* Pork Chop Stuffed with Figs & Leeks — generous portion. Veggie side of green beans and carrots were cooked and seasoned well. Side of fried potato chunks were delicious — crispy outside, well-​seasoned. The pork chop was good, fig&leek stuffing went well with the pork, and had a nice sauce … until my mom got towards the middle of the chop and closer to the bone and found the meat wasn’t fully cooked. We sent it back to the kitchen to be heated up more.
* Meat Lasagna ($ 17) — eh, it was just ok. Definitely not worth $ 17.
Where it all really went downhill was at the end. The busboy came by to clean up the table. My mom had some leftovers from her pork chop dish so we asked for it to be boxed up. The busboy said it would be $ 1 for a box.
Me: «What? Did you say it’s a dollar for a box?»
Busboy: «Yes»
Me: «Really?»
Busboy: «Yes»
Me: «Uh, ok I guess that’s fine.»
Busboy: «Do you want a bag? It’s 50 cents.»
Me: «Seriously? No.»
As he finished clearing away the table, I said very clearly «We’re never coming back here again.»
After the table had cleared, one of the waiters brought by dessert menus — I immediately turned them away and said we weren’t interested. Coffee, tea? No. I wasn’t interested in spending anymore $$ at a restaurant that was going to charge for leftover boxes. We had just spent $ 75 on dinner and they were charging for a box?!
The busboy returned a few minutes later with our box of leftovers and said «I was just kidding.» Huh? Yeah, he had been joking about the $ 1 charge for the box. I said «I asked you if you were serious about the charge for the box, and you said yes». He said «I was just joking.» Um, not really my idea of funny.
Well that joke cost Café Torre any possible return business from us — we will definitely never return. And we might have ordered dessert had I not been so ticked off by the takeout box.

A friend of mine took me here for the first time, i really liked it and i keep going back ever since. So far i have tried 3 different dishes and i’m quite satisfied. The food has a homemade taste and the servers are very attentive and professional.
The ambience is clean and relaxing, not too crowded or noisy. just perfect for a nice and enjoyable dinner.
Try the pasta with capers!!!

This is my favorite local restaurant. I’ve been eating at Café Torre for more than 10 years. The food is great (especially the smoked-​chicken linguini, we order it every time we go) the wines are great and the servers are like family. The ambiance is elegant and relaxing. If I am happy and celebrating or need a pick-​me –up, I know I can count on a great meal experience at Café Torre.

We used to frequent this establishment a few times a month. Considering there are so many restaurants in this area, our visiting the same place within a month says something. I would usually order the salmon and my partner would order the New York. Calamari as an appetizer. No dessert. Everything great from entry to exit.
On our last visit, the calamari was sadly overcooked and chewy. Rather that offering to remake the dish, or to substitute another dish, the waiter chose to say their calamari is perfect and that we must be wrong. Being regulars, we were offended. I’m hoping our server just had a bad day. In my book, you leave your drama at home and always put forward a good posture at work. Sadly, we have not returned since.

We made a reservation but that didn’t seem to help the extremely lackadscycle service. The bartender did not know the wines (though he pretended to!)
He was snarky and borderline rude at times. I asked for assistance in picking a glass of chardonnay as I didn’t recognize any of the wines on the list. I preferred something oaky, rich and buttery. He rudely replied «it’s between California or France, what do you think?» He told me to go with a Santa Cruz chard and it was EXACTLY the opposite of what I requested. Most know that Santa Cruz chards are often tart and not at all like their Napa counterparts (typically within the oak/​butter tasting range). Tart, overly sweet and well, not to my taste. Due to being in a group I wasn’t able to return it, lest I interrupt the flow.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one upset with his wine recommendations — two other women in my group said the bottle of red pinot he recommended was also positively off and not EVEN close to what they had asked for. This dude’s ignorance and ego was really killing the enjoyment of the place.
So, the wine wasn’t successful which was unfortunate but perhaps if you know the wines or get a different bartender, I hope the experience could be better.
The food wasn’t bad. The antipasti plate was decent. I did take exception to the dry, plain risotto for the following reasons:
Please, please don’t use white grain rice (think Uncle Ben’s) as a substitute for arborio
on the risotto. It was dry, flaky and is NOT risotto.
AND, please do not insult my intelligence by calling the bacon in the risotto, prosciutto — its not. Not cool. :-(

We loved our anniversary dinner at Café Torre. The white table clothes and napkins, excellent serving ware, and impeccable service made this feel very upscale. The waitstaff is mature, polite, experienced, reserved and classy.
The ambiance is romantic with low lighting, quiet humming conversation, nice looking and well dressed customers, enough space between tables, and simple but elegant décor.
The food was inconsistent, but good. Its not a place I’d go if you’re a real foodie looking for exceptional food, but its very, very good. Our calamari was chewy and its accompanying sauce looked to be a mayo, ketchup, relish, Bay Spice mix (pretty ho hum). My seafood pasta which the waiter recommended as their most popular dish was very flavored very well, but the squid and shrimp in it was also chewy and overcooked. My husband had a basic spaghetti with meat sauce and said, «I wouldn’t order it again», but then softened that halfway through to, «Its growing on me.» The house-​made tiramisu was delicious in all ways, but could have been presented more elegantly.
They have an impressive wine list.
Overall, we found Café Torre to be an excellent value because the overall bill for two with wine, appetizer, main dish, dessert and coffee was only $ 100-​ish. We have paid 2x to 3x that price for service that was lacking and the service and ambiance really made this place shine.

The food was actually pretty decent. This review is for the service experience.
My husband and I had been regulars at this restaurant several years ago and stopped coming because the food didn’t seem as good after the restaurant was sold. Last night, we decided to give it another try.
When we arrived, we were greeted promptly by one of the servers, who has been there for years. He seated us and came back a few minutes later to take our drink order. We both ordered a glass of white burgundy. After he left, my husband and I decided very quickly that we should change the order to the entire bottle of wine. My husband went and asked him to make the change. The server was already pouring the glasses but obliged right away, bringing another bottle over to us. He poured the wine for me to taste, and it didn’t taste like what I expected but I don’t send wine back for that reason, so I let him pour the rest.
After he placed the bottle on the table, I looked at it — and it was a very cheap looking bottle of California chardonnay. I called the server back and told him that this wasn’t what we ordered. He first said that they were out of what we ordered and that this was the substitute. I told him he should have asked us, as we do not care for California chardonnay. He then said, well, this is what people like. «When I bring the other wine you ordered, people always send it back.» I asked again whether he had the wine I ordered, and he said yes, and then went on to educate us about what a burgundy tastes like. I stopped him and said we drink plenty of white burgundy and asked him to please bring us what we ordered. He left and brought the wine. I asked him again why he didn’t bring it to begin with, and he said that most people don’t like it. What nerve!
Later in the evening, he came by to explain himself again and said «most people don’t like this wine, I misjudged you,» while trying to be all chummy by patting my husband on the shoulder.
This is the first time this has happened to us in all the years we have been eating out. We were shocked by the server’s presumption that we didn’t know what French wine tasted like and wouldn’t like it (even though we very specifically asked for it). I was super disappointed, and will never go back.

Good Food,
Had the Calamari and seafood paella and tiramisu. All very good.
Wine on the expensive side.

Met some friends here for dinner last night and had a really good meal.
The server was very friendly and helpful, even though we were there fairly late in the evening. He assisted with allergy questions and made sure our kids were well taken care of.
The food:
Beets and goat cheese appetizer — served on a bed of greens, so this was easy to eat as a salad. Nice earthy flavors, and a fairly big plate.
Homemade duck pâté — this was a big serving of pâté, plenty to share around the table. Yum.
Calamari fritti — Super fresh and tender calamari in a light batter. Not at all greasy (and since we mostly ate this with out hands, I can say it for sure.) Delicious. One thing we noticed was that there were no leg pieces. I don’t know if that was by design or not, but I kinda missed them.
Nicoise salad — My wife thought this was a miss. It was a nice looking salad, but there were a few elements she didn’t really enjoy. The dressing wasn’t all that flavorful by itself, relying on the olives and what she thought were too many capers to provide the kick. The tuna itself was under-​seasoned, and she didn’t like that it was cooked on a grill rather than a flat pan, which led to charred portions of fish. That works great with steak, but didn’t work with the fish.
Linguini with smoked chicken — Properly cooked pasta, and a rich Madeira cream sauce worked really well with their slightly smoky chicken pieces and shiitake mushrooms. Delicious.
Noni’s spaghetti — Spaghetti with their homemade meat sauce. This went over well.
My overall impression of the food is that it was excellent (with the one miss) and plentiful.
They also have an excellent selection of wines which we enjoyed.
We don’t get to Cupertino with any frequency, but next time we’re in the area I’ll be sure to come back. You should too.

$ 14 for a glass of house red wine? Too expensive for house wine. Although the food is good.

Solid 3.5 stars.
Great local wine selection and the service was great.
The shrimp appetizer was a perfect start to our meal along with the bread. The duck was a lil too rare for my friend but it had a great flavor. My other girlfriend loved her seafood pasta.
I got the pancetta, pine nut and amazingness– wait. what… that is thick cut bacon not pancetta… SIGH… it was tasty and there was a lot of bacon… but if you are saying on the menu it is pancetta, olive oil and pine nuts.
Ended up not getting dessert because they were out of the chocolate in order to make mochas
overall would come again.

Pretty solid place and would come back for the convenience and predictability, but nothing really blew me out of the water.
Probably an excellent place for families with kids.
We ordered:
Beet carpaccio — tasty and fresh feeling. Pretty simple stuff
Cream of zucchini soup — a little on the bland side
Roasted duck — a little dry at times but really great at others
Salmon in cream sauce — salmon and sauce (I suspect the same one on the chicken) was excellent. The rest of the plate was somewhat uninspired.
Chocolate torte — KILLER. Good stuff.
We also had wine by the glass. Pretty standard.

Came here a few times with my family. Solid Italian food with very good service. A bit pricey but they give generous portion. There is not much choice of Italian food in Cupertino area. Very good wine list, good selection of pasta & meat dishes. Clam & sausage linguine is my favorite. My son liked their steak, also. Didn’t try much of their desserts, since we were usually too full to have desserts there.
Enjoyable place, I would recommend to give it a try.

FOOD: the pasta is fresh, homemade, authentic, and very tasty. They have a good wine selection and the desserts are also above average.
SERVICE: is polite and professional. They remember regular patrons.
AMBIANCE: is bright and clean. There is ample parking in their lot.
VALUE: is average for a decent Italian restaurant.

I have been here for over 15 years. I have seen the owner greying. Amazingly, the foods remain the same. As usual, I got my Linguini with smoke chicken. This is, in my opinion, their best dish. Kid, now a vegetarian, got a pasta with mushroom. Wife got the Mahi Mahi salad and the fish was seared just right.
I think I will continue to come here until the owner gets too old.

I came here with my mom on a weeknight and there were maybe three other tables. It’s nice to find a more «American» place down the street instead of trekking to Palo Alto and what not. There was one server and he was awesome. I forget his name. There was also someone at the cashier (manager maybe) who was taking wine orders and delivering food.
The arugula salad ($ 9) was severely overdressed. I almost sent it back since the dressing was so tangy and strong. They split it with no fee. There is a $ 3 split fee for certain entrees but not salads. The housemade lasagna ($ 19) was awesome. It was a perfect portion and was delicious. The seafood paella ($ 29) was not good. The taste was bland and kind of sour for some reason. The seafood was cooked fine but the taste of the rice and the sauce didn’t have a kick, needed more salt and was SOUR! I’d probably stick to the lasagna next time or order something else. Ask for light dressing on the salad.
DO NOT ORDER THE SEAFOOD PAELLA. You have been warned!