Stella Alpina Osteria Restaurant Review, Burlingame

Stella Alpina Osteria is a small Italian restaurant located a block from the main Burlingame Avenue shopping area. It opened in May 2005 and was recently shown on PBS’ Check Please TV show.

The restaurant, which serves Northern Italian cuisine from the Alps, is on the basement level of a building and has some patio seating for warmer nights. They specialize in braised meats, risottos, pastas and ragus.

Decor, Vibe – Stella Alpina Osteria is a very small intimate location, with paintings on the walls. Not too fancy. Mostly older folks in their 40′s and beyond were dining.

Stella Alpina Osteria Menu

Pretty standard Italian menu with several starters, pasta, and other dishes.

Picks:

Stella Cocktail – Glass of Wine

Carpaccio All’ Albese ($12) Thinly sliced beef filet, sliced mushrooms, Arugula & shaved Parmigiano drizzled with a lemon infusion was a very good dish. Meat was thicker than usual and of high quality.

Gnocchi with White Truffles Special ($15) was the best dish of the night. Homemade, very smooth and well done. We had this dish again in the middle of 2011 and verified how good it was.

Asparagus soup special ($8) tasted almost like beans but was a refreshing soup to start a meal with.

Agnolotti – Ravioli with Beef special ($23) was surprisingly good. The edges could have been less firm, but this was a tasty dish.

OK:

Tiramisu ($7) with Espresso and Kahula Soaked Ladyfingers with Mascarpone and cocoa came in a glass cup. Portion was small. Could have used more ladyfingers and less cream. Not too much liqueur flavor.

Seafood Risotto Special ($23) had 4 mussels and several shrimp. Flavor was about average, not a special dish.  Could have been a lot warmer.

Scottadito di Agnello ($28) Grilled Colorado lamb chops, Rosemary and mint pesto was a fair dish. It was cooked to medium rare per request but did not feel hot. Meat was not gamey, but this dish did not wow us. Sauteed Green Beans were a little dull and appeared undercooked.

Pans:
None

Stella Alpina Osteria’s service was a problem. We got shuffled between servers and our main server was aloof. She did not seem to care much unless you made an effort to work with her. Another table ended up with free glasses of port, we ended up with average service.

Dinner came to about $50 a person with an appetizer, entree, and dessert, pretty expensive for the burbs. We had a better Italian dinner at Delfina in the city for the less money than Stella Alpina Osteria. Also Capellini and Donato Enoteca are better.

Stella Alpina Osteria is clearly one of the better Italian places in Burlingame, definitely better than nearby Il Fornaio. If you go, try to keep costs done by not ordering a lot and by only selecting the best items. $20 Corkage, glasses of wine from $8.

$25 Dining Certificate for $5

Stella Alpina Osteria Overall Rating: (Good 2)

Come Back?

Food Rating:	(Good)
Service Rating:	(Below Average)
Atmosphere Rating:	(Good)
Value Rating:	(Average)

Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary

Alcohol:	Full Bar
Attire:	Casual
Hours:	Mon-Sat 5-930pm, Sun 5-9pm
Parking:	Street
Reservations:	Yes
Prices:	$15 - $28