Review - Restaurant - DiStasio's

I have been to this restaurant before, in fact I took my family here after we moved all my stuff in last year. After that visit I felt like I had to apologize for the quality. They have a great view, with a heated outdoor covered deck on the water. This is the building where the Hofbrau used to be before they moved up the Embarcadero. I also visited later when my sister and nephews were in town. I remember being disappointed then also. But, these were just memories, before I was keeping track of the restaurants and my impressions of them.

So, the other day I decided that I wanted some pasta and a view. I thought I would approach this restaurant with new eyes to see exactly why I didn't like it last time. I should have picked a better day because I was getting over a cold and my taster may have been "off". The place was empty and the people working there were very friendly. I ordered a salad and cheese ravioli with Alfredo sauce and chicken. They had bottomless sodas, which I always appreciate. They were good with substitutions, and I appreciated that as well.

They brought bread to the table, with butter, and they had some olive oil at the table (which I assumed was for the bread). Unfortunately, the bread was not good. I buttered the center and ate it with my salad. The bread tasted like it had been made in a breadmaker or frozen at some time. The salad was great, with some cute carrot roses with olives in the center!! The lettuce was fresh and the dressing wasn't too vinegary. The ravioli was great, very large, and the large chicken chunks in the dish were cooked just right, but lacked in taste (but my taster might have been off). The sauce was ok, a bit too much pepper for my taste. My taster was probably off, so it might be better or worse than ok!! They offered fresh Parmesan cheese grated on the dish.

Bottom line, I will probably be back to try some of the other dishes. But, I was more impressed by Giancarlos up on Morro Bay Blvd.

Great News!! The old Anthony's restaurant building is now DiStasio's on The Bay!! They totally redid the exterior of the building, adding some Mediterranean-style columns and painting it. They divided the interior into a wine and cheese tasting room and a restaurant. Currently they are only open for dinner, but will open for lunch soon. I don't know if the DiStasio's on the waterfront will be closed now, but I am looking forward to trying out this new venue!!

Follow-up: I was able to stop by for lunch the other day and the interior is just as nicely decorated as the exterior. The view is fantastic, nice music playing, and the service as friendly as always. They had only been open for 2 days for lunch, so there were some service issues (bad napkins in the bathroom, slow, inattentive, water left on other side of the table, etc.), I am sure they just need to work out the kinks. I was appreciative that they were able to make a tortellini substitute for their Fettuccine Alfredo dish (they had some left over from a special). I ordered their Caesar salad and it was great. There could have been a bit more of the sauce on the pasta, but the chicken and pasta was cooked perfectly. Their bread is still as bad as it was at the other restaurant, so I didn't mind that they didn't offer more when I finished the few pieces in the basket. They should have some authentic sourdough or some herb bread or something, this stuff tastes like it was made in a bread machine or something. Don't know quite what it is, but it isn't appetizing. I hope they can make a go of it at this amazing venue. One problem is there is no parking lot adjacent to the building, there is one kitty-corner and I don't know how full that one gets in season.