Buona Tavola - Paso Robles

Came here for a birthday dinner for a friend and was blown away by the quality of Italian food here. They make all their pastas in-house, all their sauces are exquisite and bursting with traditional flavors and textures. Portions are perfect. I got their warm seafood salad that came with juicy tender shrimp and scallops over a bed of fresh arugula. Perfectly seasoned. With each bite of pasta you can close your eyes and let your mouth experience the cuisine ride. Their staff are super friendly, some are Italian so you know this place is authentic. They brought complimentary homemade limoncello which was not bad. We sat outside, under the heat lamps. Make a reservation. Plenty of parking around the street.

We arrived at Buona Tavola just as they were opening and were seated at a patio table, as was requested in the reservation booking. The place was full from the time we got there (17:30) until we left and about 19:30. Very nice meal with an awesome server, Patricia. A bottle of California rose to cleanse the palette followed by an awesome Bruschetta. The bread was served with an olive tapenade that was so good it could have been my main course. The mains were a shrimp pappardelle and pumpkin stuffed tortellini - both very tasty and rich. The valpolicello was a great accompaniment. Service was very good, not over bearing and attentive enough that we didn’t feel ignored. It was pricey and worth it. We will go back next we’re in Poso Robles.

This little gem of a restaurant was delightful! We were walk-ins and seated quickly. We were lucky enough to come in on a Wednesday where it was half priced wines $100 or less. We had the James Tobin Cab and it was great! The bread and olive tapenade was delicious and I’m thinking I may need to go back and pick up a jar to bring home. We then shared the Caesar salad (good, not great) and I had the Pappardelle with shrimp and my husband had the tortellini with veal, spinach and proscuitto in a mushroom tomato sauce. Both were outstanding!!! We ended the meal with the apple pie tart (good) and the Paso port. We would absolutely come here again if we are lucky enough to get back to Paso!

A true Gem!!! Buys food from locals n fresh n soooo delicious. I will be back. Ordered the special that night. Prosciutto wrapped filet! & Lamb stuffed Ravioli....

Authentic Northern Italian cuisine with inside and outside seating. Buona Tavola (“Good Table”) is one of our “go to” restaurants when we are visiting Paso Robles. It never disappoints. Our server was friendly, professional and efficient. She also did a great job in recommending a local red wine that we all loved. I ordered the Agnolotti di scampi allo zafferano - half-moon shaped pasta stuffed with scampi and imported prosciutto in a light saffron sauce - molto delizioso. Helpful Hint: Enjoy a lovely dinner and then a walk around the nearby historic square. It is lovely at night.

The food was excellent. Delicious Northern Italian cuisine. Great service.

We hadn't booked a table and were lucky to get one being Fathers Day! Lots of people always a good sign. Friendly helpful staff helped us with our orders for the Minestrone soup followed by pasta dishes - Pappardelle alla San Pietro and Orecchiette con rapine e luganega. Whilst we waited bread with Olive tapenade appeared and was delicious. The meals tasted great (and looked good too) when they arrived. Lots of wines to choose from plus a few local and Italian beers.

This was an amazing authentic Italian experience right off the downtown square in paso Robles. It's a little pricey but worth every penny. Make sure to have the fungi trufilati anti pasta

This has got to be some of the best Italian food I've ever eaten! Delicious bread and hot pasta. It was nothing short of culinary perfection. You must try this restaurant if you're in Paso Robles, Ca.

Amazing dinner and wonderful ambiance. Our waitress, Katie, treated us like family! The gnocchi was light, with the best pesto sauce. We were celebrating two birthdays and we were surprised with complimentary lemon cello and chocolate lava cake. What a great time!

Reading the reviews we were ready for an Italian adventure. We were not disappointed! Right from the start it was delicious with the YUMMY bread that comes with Olivata, an exquisite olive spread. Then we went with the special sausage tasting appetizer, Affatati misti. It had beautiful flavors to explore pairing together. We moved on to a special seafood risotto made with a crustaceans sauce base & a delicious Veal scaloppine with braised portobello mushrooms. Last but not least we finished with a beautiful melt-in-your-mouth Tiramisu. The chefs were in full view whipping up the incredible dishes.

Unbelievablely delicious and a wonderful dining experience! The olive tapenade served with bread was delicious and they sell it to go. Too many great entree options to choose from.. full but could not pass on dessert.

Great restaurant, from the food, to the server, to the host. They are attentive and know the menu and what to recommend. I am definitely leaving tonight better and happier than when I arrived. If you like Italian food this is it.

Even here every time I pass through. Top of my list for Italian food! And I drive up and down the coast a lot! Great wine selection and the pasta is home made, the service is top notch!! Highly recommended!!

The food and service here are amazing! It's a small spot, so it's echoey, and the tables are a bit crowded. The interior decor is beautiful, though. The staff here is super friendly. The two pasta dishes we ordered were perfect. We will definitely return.

Reservations are a must, but you see why. Outstanding food, wine, and full bar. A touch crowded together, but otherwise perfect.

Get the artichoke salad and in house made tortellini with red sauce to start. They are both dishes you must try! Service was great, I love the white table cloth touch and cozy atmosphere!

We visited after a day of driving. The place was packed. The menu is extensive but we went with a pasta special and the veal special. Both were amazing, so much so I'm dreaming of the butter sauce they used for the pasta. Highly recommended.

My Wife and I stopped by on a Monday evening, it was busy with mostly locals which is always a good sign. The service was very good, the cocktails and wine were excellent, the food was some of the best Italian Food we have had. We highly recommend Buona Tavola.

Great food, great local and Italian wine selection, and we sat outside with the blooming honeysuckle which was so pleasant and cool with the breeze. We had the antipasta special, the shrimp special in a garlic cream sauce, and hubby had the orichette with homemade sausage. The antipasta had 3 kinds of homemade salami and sheep cheese which I don't usually like but tasted great. Our server was Lalo who was knowledgeable and efficient. The hostess was very helpful when I called for reservations.

I very much enjoy having lunch with a friend at this restaurant. The staff are so wonderful and the food is always delicious!

I took my wife for valentine’s dinner. Our server/Jaime was great. It was small/intimate restaurant. The atmosphere was just right for valentine dinner. My wife ordered fish and I got the filet mignon. We enjoyed a bottle of wine our dinner experience was amazing. Thanks Jaime.

First, Claudia the bartender is amazing. We sat at the bar for dinner, and the service was excellent. The entire staff we encountered were professional and friendly. The food is delicious. The drinks were so good. We were recommended to come here from a friend in Bakersfield, and it did not disappoint. Highly recommend!! Thank you for a great dining experience!! We can’t wait to return.

Several weeks ago, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary at Buona Tavola. We expected this to be a good choice as we visited a year earlier and had a great experience. This last visit was no exception. Every course we ordered was excellent, the service was attentive and never overbearing, the wine list was extensive and had solid selections across price points, and the ambiance was fun. We even met a new friend at the table next to us. We recommend the mussels in spicy tomato sauce, the pappardelle, and the rustic apple tart. Buona Tavola holds its own with the high end dining establishments in Paso Robles and we will be sure to visit again on a future trip.

Nice, elegant, white table cloth restaurant serving satisfying flavored dishes. The pasta with shrimp and crab meat was a sumptuous pile of noodles drenched in cream sauce. Caesar salad was fresh but needed grated Parmesan rather than shaved Parmesan cheese. Chocolate souffle was more of a small chocolate molten cake with its heaviness. Attentive service and relaxing atmosphere. The poster on the wall advertised hand made Italian sausage but was it mentioned again on the menu?

The pasta was simple and delicious, and their meat sauce, a combination of chicken, duck, veal, and beef, was hearty and excellent. The mussels and clams were serviceable, but not the best in my experience of similar shellfish dishes. The olive topping for the bread and the bread itself was just so-so. Service was polite yet aloof, but the restaurant itself has a pleasant, classier than average ambience. Overall, a very nice place for a delicious Italian dinner.

Not bad. Not bad. Nice little Italian restaurant in the heart of Paso Robles. Had reservations on a semi busy Saturday night. Ordered wine and a couple of plates of pasta. A fettuccine with a hearty chicken, pork and beef. Meet was chunky, not ground like a Bolognese and tasty. Also got a pappardelle with a creamy shrimp sauce that was quite nice. The dishes did not come with anything so if you want bread that’s extra. Best part was the desert - kind of a chocolate lava cake though they call it a chocolate soufflé. Comes with vanilla gelato and was delicious. Only downside was that I had to ask for the wine 3x. Never an acknowledgement that they forgot. Anyway, food was good and worth a try.

Food was good but service could be better even Friday night. Souce of special seafood pasta was excellent, salad was very good, but gnocchi wasn't that interesting.

Very cute restaurant with outdoor seating available. Would recommend making a reservation prior to arrival.

Overall a very nice experience. The restaurant was packed. It's quite a small space but we were well attended to. We enjoyed a great bottle of Sicilian wine at the table. The guests who were with me loved their dishes. The salmon special I ordered was recommended to me by the server over another dish but I found it a bit disappointing. I would definitely try again though!

Service was excellent. It is clean and friendly. Seating is very close to others, so easy to get to know the people around your table. Food is great, except the mashed potatoes, instant? Everything else was prepared perfectly. We will eat there again.

While the food here is consistently good, unfortunately our experience this visit was horrible due to all of the fruit flies. We spent the ENTIRE meal swatting away the insects that were constantly buzzing around the food and drink. At one point there were at least 4. The staff said it’s been a problem for over a week and management hasn’t done anything about it. One staff said it’s because of the harvest. However, we visited multiple wineries and restaurants this week and had zero fruit flies at any of the places. I can only imagine how many end up in the food. BEWARE THE FLIES!!!

Went for lunch. Had the Caesar salad. Was surprised to see it topped with 2 anchovies. It tasted alright. For my main course I got the papardelle pasta that came with prawns and Pancetta in a tomato cream sauce. This tasted pretty good. For dessert I got the Gelato. Very tasty. The iced tea I got tasted like tropical iced tea so I didn't care much for it.

Buona Tavola is definitely a small and charming restaurant. However, the wait time is quite long, and the food comes out very slowly. We placed our order at 8 PM but didn’t receive our dishes until 9 PM — it seemed like the kitchen was quite backed up with orders. I would recommend this place if you want to enjoy a relaxed dinner with some wine, but if you’re dining with children late in the evening, you’ll need a lot of patience.

There's got to be better options in Paso downtown. Food is good but there is no care by the "cooks." Service is okay but not anything exciting. I would recommend going elsewhere for dinner. Not sure where but this was just okay.

We arrived with high expectations, eager to experience a restaurant that had been much talked about — but what followed was an evening marked by disappointment. The ribeye steak, regrettably, was a poor cut: lean, sinewy, and utterly devoid of the richness one anticipates from such a classic dish. Adding to the frustration, a neighboring table received a ribeye that appeared far superior in marbling and presentation — a visual reminder of the inconsistency at play. The fettuccine di carni fared no better — an uninspired composition that resembled a forgettable meat stew more than a thoughtfully prepared pasta. The flavors were muted, the texture of the meat lifeless, and the pasta merely a vehicle for what felt like an afterthought. Only the Piemontese dish offered a glimmer of culinary intention, providing a semblance of depth and regional character — though by then, the bar had been set disappointingly low. Service, too, left much to be desired — inattentive, sluggish, and lacking the finesse expected of a restaurant of this caliber. A final misstep came when an offer of parmesan was accepted — only for the dish to be unceremoniously blanketed in an excessive, almost comical snowfall of cheese, drowning whatever nuance might have remained. An evening that began with anticipation ended with regret — a lesson in how execution must match ambition.

I don’t understand the good reviews. While the pasta itself was good, the pasta dishes overall were very bland. The sausage in the Orecchiette was sweet and not good. The dish had very little pasta and a lot of bad sausage, with a flavorless tomato sauce. The pumpkin tortiglioni was also flavorless. Do not recommend.

My husband ordered the boneless chicken and was served half a chicken with bones in. Zero apologies and the chef and server were laughing. Did not offer to make it right or take off the check. Unfortunate experience for us.

There were many gluten free options advertised on the online menu that were not available at the restaurant, leaving very few options. The service was even more disappointing. Food and drink items were plopped onto the table with no comment or restaurant appropriate behavior of any kind. I’ve never met staff at a restaurant so entirely uninterested in making customers feel welcome. I would definitely not recommend this restaurant. We would have been better off getting to go sandwiches somewhere!

Mediocre at best. Not a real Italiano in sight, which was disappointing. Salmon and scampi had a bit of a punji taste. Salmon had a definite over sear on the bottom, wouldn't even come apart. Flavors are definitely not there. Service was amazing however, everyone is very nice. Nice people inside. Just the food is not there. Not even in the slightest. I saw many people not finishing their plate, not a good sign. Polite people will take the food to go when it is no good. We didn't even bother to do that. Would not recommend, will probably never be back.