As we have previously indicated, this Section will include not only reviews of neighborhood food businesses throughout Berkeley, but also news about food products or services that our reviewers find interesting. On occasion, we might even offer a recipe or two. Our reviewer will always be anonymous, and in the vast majority of reviews, a resident of Berkeley. We accept reviews from our readers — send to newsletter@berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com and include your name and contact information which we will not publish. We really would love to hear from you about that neighborhood gem that you loved or the one you wish would just get with it!
The post for this eNEWS is about a restaurant in West Berkeley located on San Pablo Avenue on the West side of the street South of Dwight Way.
Paisan | ||
2514 San Pablo Avenue Berkeley, CA 94702 510-649-0130 |
Hours: | Sunday-Thursday: 8:30 AM – 9:00 PM Friday-Saturday: 8:30 AM – 10:00 PM Weekend Brunch on patio: Saturday & Sunday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM |
Today’s reviewer starts out by stating that great pizza is the foundation of an authentic Italian Pizzeria, but Paisan is much more than that. It’s both a neighborhood restaurant and a destination that is casual yet sophisticated. Paisan takes reservations, advertises that its good for kids (they will let you bring your own birthday cake, but charge $2 a head for cutting), does catering, will do take out, and even has outdoor seating in a patio that is covered with a trellis that provides shade on sunny, hot days. Their website at www.paisanberkeley.com even provides you with the meaning of the word, Paisan:
pai.sa.n (p-zän) also pai-san (-zän)
- a countryman; a compatriot
- slang, a friend; a pal
- peasant
Paisan serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and adds coffee and drinks to that list. The menu includes a tempting array of pizza and house-made pasta-of-the-day (see below for what our reviewer ordered), but also salads (such as a roasted apple salad with little gem lettuces, pomegranate, white cheddar and apple vinaigrette — $8.75), antipasti (such as fried olives and anchovies — $4.50), and more substantial dishes from their Wood Oven menu.
Since this is a very popular place, our reviewer made reservations and upon arrival, they were seated promptly. The service was very friendly. There were several families with children, but the restaurant was not overly noisy. The reviewer’s party ordered four items from the menu and were served promptly:
Roasted Half Margarita Pizza — $11
Housemade Pasta-of-the-day with pea shoots — $15
Wood Oven Half Chicken roasted with garlic and served with arugula, frisee, shaved fennel, dried apricots, cherries, toasted almonds and a citrus and golden balsamic vinaigrette — $16.75
Portobello lasagna with savory spinach, portobello mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella and basil oil — $14
The food was great so our reviewer went back for lunch and tried their Meatball Sandwich ($8.50) and the Chicken Salad. The sandwich was the best our reviewer has ever had, but the chicken salad was dry. Recognizing the problem, the restaurant didn’t charge for it and apologized.
There is a full bar serving a variety of cocktails and Italian and other wines. Prices are not listed on the menu for cocktails and the reviewer did not order one. However, their descriptions are certainly intriguing like the House Cocktail titled, Fresh Cut Grass, made with Square One cucumber vodka, Gabriel boudier, triple sec, fresh lemon juice and mint and the Mason Jar Cocktail titled, Paisan Paloma made with Ixa silver tequila, mint, grapefruit juice, hopped grapefruit bitters and soda.
The wine list is not extensive but interesting with a lot of half bottles. Our only complaint is that there are very few California wines on that list. There is a corkage fee of $15. Eight draft and 3 bottled beers are also listed.
The menu lists the following coffees: Affogato, macchiato, espresso, cappucino, Caffe Americano, coffee latte, drip and espresso with sambuca/grappe.
There is ample street parking during the day and an additional parking lot right behind the building is available at night.
Paisan is owned by the same group that owns Lalimes so the expectation regarding the food was high. Our reviewer found that the food was indeed excellent and gives it a high recommendation.