Why did we dine here? – Locanda Positano is the sister restaurant to Acqua Pazza in San Mateo and has received some high accolades on Yelp. We were in the area, love Italian food, and decided to give them a try. Locanda means inn, in Italian. Positano is a scenic town hugging the Amalfi coast of Southern Italy. We’ve visited there but did not have a meal. Our last visit was in September 2012, where we found this place extremely loud.

The restaurant was packed at dinner time, so make reservations ahead of time.

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Why did we dine here? – Seiya is a small plates oriented Japanese restaurant in sleepy San Carlos. It is situated in a location that once housed Hamon Japanese Restaurant.
This restaurant is highly rated on Yelp, with 4.5 stars when we dined here. Chef/owner Kuo Hwa Chuang, from Domo and Blowfish in San Francisco runs Seiya.

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Piacere means Pleasure, to please, a source delight or joy in Italian. This restaurant is located in San Carlos in the Laurel Street shopping area right across the street from restaurant Town and near Spasso. Piacere focuses on modern California-Italian cuisine using local and organic ingredients. One last visit was in May of 2011, where we sensed food quality slipping. Read the rest of this entry »

Mack’s Smoked Barbecue – BBQ opened in 2008 and is located in suburban San Carlos. This barbecue restaurant moved to the other end of Laurel Street in 2010. Mack’s specializes in North Carolina style BBQ sandwiches and Ribs. Meat is cooked in a smoker for 12-14 hours. Our last visit was in September 2011.

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Speederia Pizzeria is located in the Laurel St shopping district in sleepy San Carlos. We have been here several times with our last visit in August 2010.

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Ramen Santouka is a legendary noodle shop located inside the Mitswa supermarket in San Jose just off Highway 280′s Saratoga exit. They have locations in many different cities around the world including Los Angeles. Read the rest of this entry »

Spasso is a neighborhood Italian restaurant in San Carlos’ Laurel Street business corridor. There are 5 Italian restaurants within one block! Read the rest of this entry »

Town Restaurant is a steakhouse serving American comfort food in downtown San Carlos. It opened in 2006 and has gotten positive press, so we figured we would see how it stacks up. Read the rest of this entry »