Tullio’s Italian Restaurant

I wanted to write and say a public thank you to the staff of Tullio’s for their outstanding customer service. What could have/​should have been a failed dining experience, turned into a wonderful night. I called in a pickup order on a very busy Friday night, two entrees=30 min. I arrived to retrieve the food at the 25 min mark, yet my meal was not ready. I waited, and waited, watching group after group come in and retrieve their meals. After waiting an hour and three attempts to see what was happening, I canceled the order and was preparing to leave very upset. This is where the service took an upswing. I was given a full refund and also my dinner which finished cooking during the refund.
The food is homestyle cooking, and very good in my opinion. However, the customer service is what really makes the difference. The kitchen repeatedly lost my order, and the front end staff took care of it without the need for supervisors or angry confrontations. If you are craving great quality Italian food, I recommend Tullio’s.
And thank you to the staff!

Food was really good, lasagna and gnocchi, but the service wasn’t all that great and they seemed a bit disorganized. Plenty of parking behind the restaurant, which made it easy to get in and out.
The pastas have a large and small option, trust me, small is enough. I had the large and it was two big pieces of lasagna, which means I got leftovers the next day!

The best Italian food there is. Grew up eating at Sorrento’s and then Tullio’s in Walnut Creek during the 80’s and 90’s. Moved away and miss it. Eat it when I’m back there visiting my parents and the food is just as good as it was then.
Their baked lasagna is unmatched. It is simply incredible. Their Angel Hair pasta with smoked Salmon is life changing. Even their pizza is killer.
I have memories of their lobster ravioli special. Not sure if they ever put it on menu anymore. Seriously the best Italian food you will ever have. The owners are awesome.

Tullio’s is my favorite family Italian place. The pizza has a great dough, my favorite is the carbonara — no sauce, pancetta, pesto, tomatoes, garlic, and cheese. Yum! I also like the raviolis — home made — with any of the sauces. The family that runs Tullio’s are very hard working and kind to their customers and employees. The place is always clean and inviting. Patio dining on warm evenings is luxurious.

Pretty dang expensive for some pretty subpar very very Americanized «italian» food. My friend’s pasta was overcooked. My eggplant parmigiana had cheap American tasting cheese on it. Not much flavor. Won’t be back. The service was good though

On Broadway across from the post office sits a small family run Italian restaurant named Tullio’s. Plenty of parking in the back means there is no reason to subsidize Walnut Creek by way of the many ripoff meters found street side. We decided to give this establishment a try for lunch. We were shown to a booth that gave us a front row view of the post office. Our waitress brings us water, lemon and a basket of bread with a bowl of oil and herbs. The bread is nice (focaccia and Italian) and the oil is very flavorful. For lunch I opted for the Italian Deli sandwich and side salad. The side salad comes out first and it covers its own plate. It is huge with plenty of mushrooms, beets, onions, croutons and lettuce with Italian dressing. It is good. My sandwich arrives shortly after and the waitress says the kitchen also gave me a side of pasta salad. The sandwich is big with lots of meat and sits on focaccia bread. The plate is small and now I have the common dilemma of exploding focaccia bread with tougher Italian meats. No way of eating with hands because the sandwich falls apart. I simply remove the top bread and knife and fork the poor thing. It is tasty with lots of quality meat and a very tasty herb spread. The pasta salad is good but I am too full to appreciate it on this visit. Price for the sandwich is around $ 13.00. Service is good but hard to tell how good as there were only 4 other tables sat on this Saturday. The deduction of 1 star comes from weak bread. Learn that focaccia does not stand up to hard meats.

Really probably closer to 2.5 stars. Tullio’s is just mediocre through and through and is surprisingly expensive. We order a medium cheese pizza and as soon as they handed me the box, I realized this wasn’t going to be good. It was really heavy and the pizza is thick. Two slices is all I could eat and I felt bad after eating it. The garlic bread is pretty good but really expensive ($ 5) for 4 slices.
Unfortunately, I don’t think we will go back even though the staff was nice.

I hadn’t been to Tullio’s in a long time, but I had a jones for pasta this past Saturday night and my mom was here from out of town, and we wanted to go out — she loves pasta too. I had the BF make a reservation, the only one not pleased was my 11 year old son — he’s more of meat guy. Or pizza. When I told him Tullio’s has both, he was good to go!
We had to wait a few minutes for our table — that’s a good sign, right? It was about 7:00pm and the restaurant was packed! And people continued to come in and put their names on the list. Their were people waiting inside and in the outside lobby area. I just never imagined it would be so busy…
Anyway, now for the TWO BEST PARTS!
#1 The Service: «Danny» was our server and he was amazing! We pretty much figured that out right away. He was just «on it» from the minute he came to our table. He didn’t drop the ball once. It’s not easy to wait on busy tables and do it well! I have great respect for people who do that job, and especially for Danny who did it so perfectly for us last Saturday night! I couldn’t have been more impressed. And then, when I asked if he would mind taking our picture when he got a chance at the end of the meal, he seemed genuinely happy to do it — not inconvenienced at all, even though he still had other tables! It had to have been a little bothersome to stop and take our picture. But no, he actually got several great shots & made sure we were happy with them. I go out to dinner a fair amount, and I’ve eaten in some of the best restaurants in the country and the world, and Danny’s service was up to par w/​any servers I’ve had at at them! I haven’t Felt inspired to write a Unilocal review in a long time and I’m writing this one because of Danny!
#2 The Food! Every thing we ate was delicious! The Cesar salad I had before my entrée was the best one I’ve had since I can remember! Lately, the Caesar salad I’ve been having has been flat and tasteless. The Caesar salad was flavorful and garlicky and perfect! My entrée was sea scallops over angel hair pasta with sun-​dried tomatoes and spinach and OMG! Amazing! Mom had linguine and clams which she loves and he did not disappoint at Tullio’s. BF had Tutto Mare — tons of seafood! None of our dishes were light on the seafood, which DOES sometimes happen w/​seafood entrees.
What can I say? I’m going back ASAP! Tullio’s is my new favorite place!

Order: spaghetti carbonara & steak sandwich with a side of Italian pasta salad
Spaghetti Carbonara: individually I give this 4 stars. It satisfies my carbonara craving, but maybe I walked in with my expectations too high. I can’t really pin point what the exact problem was but it was just average in my opinion. When I first mixed my pasta I noticed the sauce to be very runny. Is it supposed to be like that? Despite that small issue, pretty good and I enjoyed how they cooked the pasta, perfectly aldente!
Steak Sandwich (mom’s opinion): The bread wasn’t toasted on the sandwich, but I know some places simply don’t toast their breads and only do so for certain items or upon request. The steak cooked well and was very tasty. Not the biggest fan of the pasta salad, and maybe that’s just because of personal taste. ³⁄₅ for mom!
The service was annoyingly slow and luckily I wasn’t hangry today because I probably would’ve complained. Our waiter was nice, patient, informative, and did well keeping up with us if we needed anything.
In my opinion, average restaurant. Probably wouldn’t come again. A little pricy for what you get.

Recently went there with co-​workers. This wasn’t my first visit, so I suggested it. I was looking for another good experience. This one was memorable, but not in a good way, for me. The staff was attentive. Everyone enjoyed themselves, and their entrée. Mine, not so much.
I order the Jambalaya Risotto. The waiter warned it was spicy. I said, No problem. When the dish was brought out, the server was wearing mitts. He warned the plate was hot. When I took it from him, the rim of the plate was very cool to the touch. The center of the bottom plate was warm. The food itself was hot. It was as if they just poured the contents onto the plate before walking it out. Not a good power of suggestion with the mitts.
My order was… well, different. Up until my entrée arrived, the appetizers, the garlic bread and fried raviolis, were delicious. So, I was really looking forward to my risotto. My first bite left me wondering what flavors were filling my palate. The taste was strong. Definitely not as spicy, as warned, or hoped. The saucy was very red. It took me a few more bites to discern a red wine flavoring, bold. The sausage and chicken were thinly sliced, but enough to enjoy with each bite. The shrimp tasted old, not fresh. It tasted previously frozen. Very fishy/​seafoody. It threw the whole experience off. Although I took well more than half of my order home, I doubt I’ll finish it.
The atmosphere is nice. As it was lunch time, it wasn’t very packed. Overall, I give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars. If I go there again, I won’t order the risotto.

Five stars.
Food is awesome.
Server was attentive.
Love the family style ambiance.
Portions are massive.
Complimentary garlic bread with Unilocal check in is super yummy.
No complaints at all, super happy I found this place! :)
If I had to choose something to change, I would ask that the bread be warmed upon being brought to the table to give it more of a freshly baked appearance

This place definitely brought back memories. I came here frequently during high school days and nothing changed (except couple of new flat screen tv’s). So we stopped by Walnut Creek after Napa and decided to have some Italian food.
The bread Tullio provided weren’t very good. We both decided to get the Tutto Mare seafood pasta (one with red sauce and other with white sauce). Both were very good and satisfying.
Will come back again when we are in the area.

Dear reader,
This is my sad and tragic story of the one time Unilocal!betrayed me…
Once upon a time my grandmother and I were staying in Walnut Creek, and after a long day’s drive, we wanted to end our road trip with a nice Italian dinner. When requesting recommendations, my aunt as well as the hotel staff suggested we go to Pasta Primavera. I ignored their kind suggestions (because the restaurant’s Unilocal!review was only ³⁄₅ stars) and found Tullio’s, a seemingly wonderful 4-​star family restaurant with homemade pasta. LIES!
My list of grievances:
1. Our server never asked if we wanted a drink let a long a nice glass of wine with our dinner.
2. The complimentary bread was just painfully depressing. Being a small town from the Bay Area, you would assume that the quality of the bread would be impressive (we are just a few cities away from San Francisco for Christ’s sake!), but instead the loaf was similar to day old bread that you get at the store.
3. I checked in on Unilocal!because I discovered you get a free order of garlic bread. Well, that was a disappointment too. The cooks must have just taken the crappy bread, thrown some garlic on it, and then burn it.
4. When trying to figure out what to order, I asked our server to confirm if the «Romano» pasta sauce was Pecorino Romano, i.e., Italian cheese. He said, and I quote, «I don’t know what that is, but the Romano sauce is a white cream sauce.» YOU WORK AT AN ITALIAN RESTAURANT AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT PECORINO ROMANO IS?!
5. My grandmother ordered spaghetti with meatballs, and I ordered Fettuccine Alfredo. Well, her dish tasted like the cook took a jar of tomato paste, dumped it on the spaghetti, and heated it up. It was just bitter and flavorless. My dish was ok, eatable, but not sensational.
Overall, the meal was unsatisfactory, but my grandmother and I were just so shocked at the 4-​star rating on Unilocal!compared to our thoughts, that we just couldn’t help but crazy laugh at how ridiculous our whole dining experience was.
My grandmother said I had to give Tullio’s a 1-​star rating, but I have to say the staff was nice, the experience was quite entertaining, and I didn’t get violently ill at the end of our meal, so I award the place 2 stars. Congratulations!
Sincerely,
A Real Italian

I’ve been going here since I was a child. I moved away for about ten years and when I returned to California you better believe I came back to Tulios t check it out. There were still sine if my old time favorites and believe it or not, they still tasted the same. Hats off to this restaurant. I hope they continue to prisoner
Prosper. I will always be returning!

It’s strange that this place has so many good reviews. The food quality is no better than Olive Garden. Everything we ordered tasted pre made or frozen. The mozzarella sticks weren’t gooey or crispy, they just tasted like microwaved food.
We ordered the scallop pasta, linguine and clams, and rigatoni pasta. My scallops were chewy and had an unpleasant taste of the ocean. The description reads «creamy garlic» but the sauce was bland and thin. The clams had little to no meat in them, these we’re also chewy and also had an unpleasant fishy taste. The rigatoni had a super ordinary thick red sauce. I will say the service was good and that free garlic bread with check in is always cool. Everything is a little pricey considering the quality you’re receiving, this is most likely because you’re helping them pay for their frozen food and their Unilocal fees.

When it comes to finding amazing lunch specials on pizza, I have the most amazing luck ever.
I was first introduced to Tullios thanks to an office lunch we had. I was able to sample their combination pizza with the best tasting sausage ever, and also their fresh garden salad. Needless to say I was suckered in to coming back for more a day later.
On my second trip I dined inside the restaurant. It was quiet with only a few tables full. The lighting was very dim and the light coming in through the windows made for a very comfortable vibe. They also have a giant beautiful Italian mural on the far wall which I couldn’t stop staring at either. The service was attentive and very friendly.
They have a small lunch menu with six or seven items, all for the $ 9.95. I went for the Margherita pizzetta, and while I waited I munched on the basket of bread. Two types of bread, and a dish of olive oil with balsamic and fresh basil. The bread was delicious but the olive oil mixture was out of this world. You just got to love fresh basil.
There is a check in offer for free garlic bread which I had to take advantage of. You get four pieces to an order. They were made fresh with a generous portion of fresh basil (they really love their basil here), and freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Each piece was crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and tasty all around.
My pizzetta arrived shortly after my garlic bread disappeared. My first impression of the pizzetta was that they not only love their fresh basil (which was generously coating my pie), but that they also love their cheese. It could have easily been mistaken for a plain cheese pizza if not for the basil and the tomatoes hiding underneath the cheese. It’s not a criticism. I love cheese, and I love the gooey, cheesy mess this left. The crust was thin and crispy, and overall it was an amazing lunch.

This place has incredible service! It has a family owned restaurant feel (not sure if it is) and the waiters and host are all very friendly and courteous.
Proof: They forgot a salad order and upon reminder, promptly served the salad, apologized, and noted that it would be taken off the bill because it was their error.
Food is solid Italian!

My husband and I have been here twice. The first time, we were here for lunch with a friend. We ordered a vegetarian sandwich, a pasta and a pizza. We were really happy with the food quality and taste. We were particularly thrilled with their garlic bread that comes free if you redeem the offer on Unilocal.So we went there again a couple of days back. We ordered a pizza and the garlic bread again. However only this time the garlic bread was overcooked /​burnt. We really liked all the other items though. I would have given a five star rating if only they didn’t take the free garlic bread lightly. Guess it shows more about their attitude than the food.

We had a lot of family in town, and it was pretty late once we had everyone settled in. We showed up at Tullio’s late in the evening, but they were very gracious about seating us and taking care of all of us, even though the ended up going home late.
Tullio’s is a family-​owned business in Walnut Creek, and it feels like family, when you walk in. And the food is always excellent. I had the veal dore, and thought it was excellent. We all left full and happy.

We needed a quick catered dinner in a couple hours — this restaurant came thru with flying colors! Affordable, delicious, generous portions, plus unexpected free bread and a giant tub of parmesan cheese! We ordered quick before jumping on a BART train in SF, made a pit stop at Walnut Creek Target on the way home and then the food was ready! All in 2 hours.
We had a party of 9 adults and 3 kids — the Family menu was perfect. These are half trays of pastas and salads. Plus you can order sausages and meatballs for only $ 2.50 each. Everything was hot and tasty. Plus they threw in free bread, a ton of butter and literally a tub of parmesan cheese. I kid you not.