Vero Ristorante Italiano, Palo Alto

I have just had the most extraordinary dining experience. Vero in Palo Alto is a little known treasure! The quaint, unassuming dining room, sparkles with flickering candles and effervescent smiles. When you enter this restaurant, you immediately feel the warmth and genuine passion of it’s owners and staff. It brought me back to weekends at my grandmother’s home where the entire family (3 generations) would gather for a weekly, traditional Italian, family meal. The savory smells of my youth floated to the door and greeted me as a smiling Antonio welcomed us in for dinner. This was so much more than a meal. It was a journey accentuated with such succulent and savory flavors that the osso bucco nearly brought me to tears. Every bite excited and delighted my senses. To say the service was stellar would be an understatement. Every person in the restaurant felt like “they” were the only customer there! Antonio, Massimo and Charmin, treat you like family while Maria and the other fabulous chefs create something so delicious that you pause to pinch yourself to make sure your not dreaming! I know this sounds like fantasy, but it exists – right here in Palo Alto! It is the closest thing I have found to Italy in this country. Vero is so much more than a restaurant, it is authentic, it is a place to experience and savor food, generosity, kindness, friendship, and family. Vero is Italy in the Bay Area!

It hard to try to find something to say about this place that can be the least bit negative. Usually when you go to a new place, you have some kind of expectation that doesn't meet your requirement, but here i can only really be negative to the fact that I can't order that item everytime. Before I go into this, I guess there should be some background to my final opinion. A friend of mine was celebrating her birthday and she knew the owners of the establishment, so in kindness they made sure her experience was memorable. I'm not italian so I couldn't begin to tell you what I had because the name were too hard to pronounce for me, but what I can tell you is that the dishes we had were definitely filling but not heavy, Flavorful, but not fattening, and most of all, worth every penny. This is a place that not only should you go with that special someone, but to spoil yourself with a little flair once in awhile. Now I know they paid special attention to my friend for her Birthday, but the icing on the cake (so to speak) was the dessert they made for her in honor of her birthday. I won't tell what it was because honestly it was something that's not on their menu and there is a reason for that. The people who get this offered to them should understand that that dessert is a gift for only a deserving few. In this case friendship had it's benefits that night for me and I put that dessert on a pedstal after we were done. The bottom line, GO! Your partner will love you and your stomach will love you.

It is good, simple Italian without the attitude and hefty price tag. I ordered the squid / cuttlefish pasta and swordfish entree. Both were excellent.

A genuine taste of the country of food and wine. Pleasant atmosphere. Good and attentive service.

Traditional Southern Italian 4 course menu; pasta cooked to perfection. Nice ambience; great place for a date.