Pausa Bar & Cookery

My friends and I dined here on a Thursday evening – the ambience and restaurant is definitely beautiful! It was busy but we had 8pm reservations so we were seated quickly. We weren’t met with any service for about 20 minutes but our server was very attentive and helpful after that.

We ordered numerous drinks, pasta entrees, the garlic buttered potatoes, and a pizza. Drinks and appetizers were great. The pasta we really enjoyed was the duck egg tagliatelle. I would pass on the mandilli di seta and buckwheat pasta.

There is a free parking structure around the corner if you can’t find street parking by the restaurant.

Some of the best pizza in the Bay Area. I would love to know the exact composition of their dough recipe. It has a really unique flavor and texture. I have unsuccessfully tried to recreate it at home several times. Maybe the chef will one day share? The ambiance is a bit obnoxious. I wish it were a bit more low key, but this is, of course, San Mateo.

I am glad I went to this place. The restaurant was actually crowed considering I went there on a Monday night. Because it was a big party, I got to tried many dishes at once. First of all, don’t waste your time on the cheese board, especially if you don’t like hard cheese.  We got the chef selection and told the server we don’t like hard cheese and want only soft cheese.  I don’t know why but the server just got us two different kinds of hard cheese and it tasted like cardboards. It was not good. This was the only dish that was left by the end of dinner because no one liked them. On the other hand, the cold meat chef section was much better. The wine list was good. The service was a bit slow. We had to wait around for pretty much any needs. The main entree selection was small, only 4.

Overall, I will go back again, but not for a while since I’ve tried pretty much everything that night. I went with a party of 8 and we ordered at least 12 different menu items.

Pausa, which serves Italian fare, has been a downtown San Mateo staple for approximately 5 years now and their interior is still sharp and fresh. It has the feel and ambiance of a restaurant you could quite easily find in the SOMA district in San Francisco.

Parking is hit or miss downtown. There is however a 2 story garage quite literally attached to the side of the restaurant. For my most recent visit here in October, we had a reservation to dine with a group of friends. We typically go family style, which means we attempt to order one of everything to share. The only standout for me was the Margherita pizza and that would be it. Nothing else stood out, as much as I may have even attempted to convince myself I was enjoying many of the dishes that were in front of me throughout the long evening. The fun, lively atmosphere may have been a factor in attempting to sway my taste buds, however in hindsight now, this was not the case for me.

Service was sharp, friendly and efficient, even though it was a Saturday evening and every table was seated every time I took a peek around the room.

The food was amazing. Our server Jameson was excellent. He knows the menu so well we ordered everything he recommended. The ambiance was excellent as well.