Town in San Carlos?

[Melanie Wong]

Almost ended up here on Friday, but decided to save it for another day. What's the word on Town (Eat American)?

Town
716 Laurel Street
San Carlos, CA 94070
650.595.3003

http://www.townsc.com/

[Benny Choi]

I posted on a previous thread about a recent visit to Town. The food is nothing to write home about. A good time can definitely be had at Town if you're there to socialize, drink, and cuisine is not the priority. But I don't think of Town as a chowhounder's destination.

[Melanie Wong]

Thanks to you all for the comments. Any experience at Town at lunch time? Maybe a way to avoid the noise at the bar.

And, thanks for the reminder for Giuliana's, here's an earlier thread on it.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[doc]

There are a couple of ways to avoid the bar noise. The booths in the back of the restaurant are fine ... especially the ones in the back/right as you enter. Back/left gets you in the restroom traffic. Or you can sit outside ... there are several sidewalk tables. The only dish I have had here which I would return for is their French Dip which is made with real prime rib and comes with a side of well-cooked fries. Portions are generous and PR cooked MR. About $15 on the dinner menu, not sure about the lunch price.

[anniem11]

I went to Town on a Friday night and the noise was unbearable. The bar is in the middle of the dinning room so you get all the noise from the bar. I can't remember what the food was like. I liked it much better when it was A Tavola. I agree with Sushi Monster about Piacere. Excellent food and service and also a nice bar NOT in the dinning room.

[Sushi Monster]

I can't speak to Town's quality, having not eaten there. My family had a pair of horrendous service experiences at the former A Tavola in that space (which was also under the same management as the current Town...) So it's unlikely we're headed back.

BUT, I can say this: If you find yourself in that stretch of Laurel Street and Town says it'll be an unconscionable wait for a table, by all means look across the street at Piacere. My family and I have been the recipients of not just good service, but really *memorably* good service many times, particularly the times we were in town with out-of-town family from the red states. My late mother-in-law, of blessed memory, was gravely ill with Parkinsons. In a wheelchair. Very slow eater. Lots of complications for any dining experience. We will never, ever forget how solicitous and sensitive the staff was. As my wife put it: "The waiter, when he kneeled down to talk to her directly (she could barely speak in more than a whisper) rather than talking over her (so many people seem to wish people in wheelchairs are invisible or deaf) ... that I'll never forget. He gave my mom back her dignity for that one night."

The Italian food is also top notch, by the way. Particularly the osso bucco.

I'm very quick to snap when service becomes an issue or a distraction. This is one of those rare cases where service is actually an attribute. These folks are really good at what they do. And yes, they give Sushi Monster III Shirley Temples with double cherries, which makes us all very happy.

Sushi Monster

PS: You can probably date yourself as a genuine mid-Pen Olde Timer (carbon-date yourself actually), if you can remember what the Tavola building was before it was rehabbed into a restaurant. Any guesses? C'mon you San Carlos High townies ....

It was the Tivoli Theater. Lotta happy memories of midnight movies there, but I digress ....

[Eugene Park]

Hey Sushi Monster,

Is Piacere's osso bucco the type that has the marrow that you can spoon out of the shank? I live for that type of osso bucco, and hate it when I get served osso bucco from a more "mature" calf that's had the marrow harden.

Thanks.

[Sushi Monster]

The versions I've had at Piacere came on a bone that wasn't quite big enough to excavate, although given the right utensils (crab fork?) I suppose it's possible. One other thing: The beef dishes on the menu are always very strong, particularly appreciated by my spouse, who was surprised to find her rare steak was actually rare. A miracle, these days, no? Pasta dishes are huge. I'd say if there's a perceived weakness here, it might be the fish, which is ironic. I've only had fish on the appetizer side of the menu, though. Mussels a poor value there.

[Eugene Park]

Thanks SM. I've been looking for a place in the Peninsula that does osso bucco as well as Capp's Corner in San Francisco. CC seems to have a source for veal shanks that has the perfect ratio of marrow to bone density (perfect width for a butter knife to scoop out the marrow). I may try Piacere's version for comparison sake.

[orezscu]

Thanks for the extra background info on the place -- I stand a bit chastened. I'm not against growth and expansion of a good thing, of course, and this group's restaurants serve very good food. My impressions of Town are just that it's a churn place, made to make money. While that's every business's goal, it should be less obvious to the customer than it is at Town.

Great meats, watch out for any "asian" attempts. I ate a sushi roll there that tasted like I was french-kissing a toothless monkfish.

[orezscu]

Decent corporate place run by the group that does Milagros, A Tavola, etc. They do a fine enough job in their black slacks and shirts, like Piacere across the street, but for the money you can get a better meal at Divino in Belmont at Ralston. There's also a cozy Italian BYO wine place just down the street from Town called Giuliana's, which is very unpretentious and reliable. Run by a family rather than an LLC.

[san carlos girl]

Not to discuss the food, but the management of the place -- "the group" that owns Town, Milagros, etc. is a local family. I do not know them personally, but I know of their very strong support for community programs.

Town, Giuliana's, and Divino are 3 very different restaurants. Town is bigger and slicker than the other 2 and has a busy bar, so perhaps that is what you mean by corporate, but I don't think that the only definition of a family restaurant means dad cooks and mom runs the front of the house.