Santa Cruz is a great tourist hot spot with a playful boardwalk and great picture opportunities. I would also recommend going down to Capitola Beach, for there are super colorful buildings there for awesome Instagram pictures and well, it's a beach. Now being a tourist sure stirs up an appetite, so we went to Kianti's Pizza and Pasta Bar for dinner. I ordered the combo calzone and it was delicious!! It was definitely worth all the carbs. The calzone was an awesome explosion of stringy cheese and flavorful pepperoni. This dish was super filling and satisfying. My family also ordered a half spinach and half spicy chicken pizza because well it is a pizza bar as the name says. The pizza was average, but still enjoyable because all pizza is great. The only dish i wouldn't recommend is the house ravioli. It may look appetizing and it was in fact good. However, the next day, my sister got food poisoning from it. She was throwing up all over the hotel room. Therefore, don't order the ravioli to be safe. Don't want to ruin your vacation with food poisoning. Kianti's has so many other good options, so choose one of those. (I would recommend the calzone :P)
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Mamma Mia! Mulberry Street Pizzeria sure serves some awesome dishes. Firstly, one of my all time favorite dishes is lasagna and when I saw the menu, I definitely wanted that. It was pretty good, especially the marinara. I really enjoyed have some of that with every bite. In fact, the marinara made another appearance in the spaghetti with meatballs. This dish brought me to Italy. Also, the meatballs were fabulous and a great size. Thirdly, you're probably wondering where the pizza is in this post and here it is! A flavor that seems pretty popular is the cheese and grilled chicken. Just one bite and I was in blown away. Overall, I would rate Mulberry Street Pizzeria 4 stars because of the amazing homemade food. Aurora serves some of the best Italian food in Novato. Come to think of it, why is it called Aurora? I think it's because the food smelled so good it woke up Aurora(aka Sleeping Beauty) from her deep sleep, but that's just a guess. So anyway, the first dish we ordered was the capalini, which by the way is a clam dish. I absolutely loved the flavoring of the clam. The clam broth also tasted amazing. They give you bread before the dishes so dipping that bread in the clam broth is a-okay. In addition to that, the gnocchi al piacere with sauce is another dish I recommend. Gnocchi is a type of pasta, made from potato, that is chewy. As long as Aurora puts meat sauce on something, it will taste fabulous. In fact that brings me to the next dish, rigatoni al sugo di carne with meat sauce. If you don't like more doughy pasta, then rigatoni is for you. A tubed shaped pasta is great for holding meat sauce. After all of that and you still don't see anything you like, just go with a pork tenderloin. This restaurant sure puts the tender in tenderloin. Plus, I thought the mushrooms helped elevate the dish. All in all, Aurora is a 4 star Cute Diner rated Italian restaurant. Garden Bistro is a trip to the Mediterranean and back with its flavorful Greek and other Mediterranean dishes. To begin with, you should try the appetizer sampler platter. This appetizer contained pita bread with two different dipping sauces and not to mention, they had falafels. Plus, I really enjoyed their paella, which is risotto accompanied with clams and shrimp. Garden Bistro was able to infuse pretty good flavor in that paella. However, the roasted chicken was a salt bomb, which isn't good at all. I'm glad my sister ordered that and not me because I would not recommend it. In my opinion, the loaded burger is the star of their menu. It had caramelized onion and cheese along with the regular, delicious meat and bread. If these two dishes don't appeal to you(which I find it really hard to believe...), try the New York steak. Sometimes the classic is still popular. To wrap it up, Garden Bistro is a great representation of the marvelous Mediterranean food there is in the world. All roads lead to Gaspare's, an Italian restaurant in San Rafael. To start with, Gaspare's serves the best ravioli. It is stuffed with beef and spinach and drizzled with a nice tomato sauce. In addition to that, what Italian meal doesn't include lasagna. During my visit, I ordered the Lasagna Al Forno. Lasagna Al Forno is a meat lasagna, that is baked in an oven. For me, this lasagna was the highlight of the meal. Beside more traditional Italian dishes, they also serve dishes like the marinated calamari salad,or as I like to call it, the seafood salad. In this salad are octopus tentacles, squid, and more. As I come to an end, Gaspare's desserts are divine and highly recommended my me. I especially love their soft, creamy tiramisu. All in all, Gaspare's is a family friendly restaurant with a jukebox, amazing food, and great service.
From morning to lunch, Grazie will always be there to satisfy your hunger. Their Italian styled menu includes delicious sandwiches, awesome brunch, and more. One of my favorite brunch dishes anywhere are pancakes. Grazie's pancakes are fluffy and seem tasty, so I ordered the raspberry pancakes and they did not disappoint me. They were actually the best pancakes I have had in while. In addition to that, I recommend these two sandwiches, portobello turkey burger and the chicken club. Some other amazing dishes you must try are the omelets and paninis. Overall, Grazie is a great family friendly restaurant to try. As you walk through San Anselmo, your nose catches a whiff of mouthwatering French food. It smells so good, that you think your nose is deceiving you. Well, it's not! The food at L'appart Resto is unbelievably good that you just have to go down there and try it yourself. First of all, one of the must try dishes they serve is the PEI Mussels Mariniere. Not only are the mussels delicious, but also the mussels juice is delightful to dip the complimentary bread in. Plus, the steak frites are well cooked and flavored. However, the only dish that was a disappointment was the grilled chicken sandwich. The pesto sauce was overpowering and I couldn't taste anything but the sauce. :( To sum it up, when you're in the area, go to the 4.5 starred restaurant, L'appart Resto. A pizza's thin, crunchy crust, fresh basil, and gooey cheese make up an extraordinary meal that few get to experience. You can become one of those people when you go down to Tony's. This Italian restaurant goes all out on their pizzas, salads, and appetizers. As you might have noticed, I love to start meals with calamari. Tony's delectable calamari stands out with a crunchy outside and chewy inside. Onto the pizzas, this restaurant serves an assortment of pizzas, from cracker thin to New York all the way to the classic Italian pizza. With amazing appetizers and pleasing pizzas, Tony's is definitely a 4.6 star restaurant. Don't forget to tell me what dishes you like by commenting on this post.
If you ever want to grab something to eat, a pastry, cookie, or pizza, Market Hall Bakery is the place to go. With homemade tarts, moist cakes, and cheesy pizzas, it's hard not to pay a visit to this European bakery in Rockridge. I recommend the cupcakes, I'm a red velvet fanatic, and the chewy chocolate chip cookies. Staying with the cookie theme, the chocolate mint crinkle and almond meringue cookies are also packed with flavor. One bite and it's a party in your mouth. As a dessert person, the apple pecan coffee cake is to die for. A fruity, nutty crumble on top with coffee cake on the bottom leaves you wanting another slice. If I were to give Market Hall a rating, I would give it 4.8 out of 5 stars.
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Hi! I'm Jocelyn...Here, I write a blog mainly dedicated to food. Check out my reviews on Yelp! https://cutediner.yelp.com Archives
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