Buona Tavola

Genuine Italian! Very fancy. Very delicious. Great ambiance with heated outdoor covered seating out back. But expect to pay for multiple small courses to get full if you come starving. Plan on $35/person absolute bare minimum. Again, 2x that if you come really hungry, and more if you buy drinks. Would come again with my wife.

My husband and I enjoyed a meal on the covered patio on a Friday night. The ambiance was warm and lovely - outside under a covered patio with cozy heathers. The service was spotty and a bit strange at first - we didn’t know who our server was for a while and it took quite a bit to out our drink order in. Our server finally came around and was helpful but was obviously very rushed - I think they must have been understaffed. Regardless, the server came through with our dinner orders and all the food was absolutely outstanding. We went to Italy for our honeymoon earlier this year, so we really appreciate authentic Italian options. This food was great!!! Would definitely return and recommend. The grilled eggplant app was so good, and I loved the sea bass special! PS - get the house wine!

MUST TRY!!! I may be biased as I used to be a team member at this restaurant back from 2006 to 2008, but this spot has my favorite type of Northern Italian cuisine on the entire Central Coast of California. I have eaten at Buona Tavola SLO countless times throughout the years, yet I have never once had anything, but an exceptional experience, superb service by each team member, freshly and deliciously prepared meals. So many years later (almost 32 I believe), this restaurant's quality has not changed one bit. Even under the new ownership, they strive to make you feel like you are in Italy by offering the most unique and authentic food items such as Bruschetta ai funghi trifolati, Insalata di Mare, Minestrone Soup and Tagliata di bue salutare - some of my favorite items. Unexpectedly, prices are surprisingly affordable considering the fact that inflation is outrageous right now yet Buona uses the freshest seasonal ingredients + many items are shipped straight from Italy. For our main course we opted in for Fettuccine al sugo di carni miste and Pesce del giorno alla griglia - both 10/10. As for dessert we chose Crema Di Vaniglia Della Buona Tavola and of course, the famous Tiramisu. My husband dreams of Buona's Tiramisu quite often. We try it at every restaurant we go to that offers it, and nothing compares to Buona Tavola's one. Service by Hailey G. was fantastic as she welcomed us and made us feel special. The main busser was so friendly - loved him, too! Thank you to the new owner and management for making sure that old patrons still receive outstanding experience when visiting this authentic Italian restaurant. Like Antonio Varia used to say: "I cook with love and I feel love in the air" vibe is still here and I am so thrilled to be able to experience it!

We showed up to the restaurant at 730 on Saturday night, only to find out we accidentally made the reservation for Monday at 730. My wife was embarrassed and we were getting ready to walk out before Drew, our Host extraordinaire, stopped us. He was able to put together a table and seat our party of 4 immediately. We were so very grateful for the accommodation. The service throughout the meal was amazing. Our waitress Alexis was so helpful in explaining the menu as well as giving suggestions. The food was delicious. We did appetizers, entre’s and dessert, no complaints for any of it. Highly recommend Buona Tavola. The staff, food and atmosphere are unmatched.

What a great place! About the only Italian with 4+ rating in the area. You want to experience this. I had home made scampi dumplings (5 stars). Regretted that I didn’t take a picture of 1) our eggplant appetizer and 2) two pasta dishes. Hubby had orecchiette with chicken sausage (5 starts) The only pic of the food I took was the made to order penne with chicken and red sauce (5 stars) our kid had. It was unseasonably cold for June, so we wanted to sit inside. It’s a bit loud inside, if you can get a table away from the kitchen do it. But outdoor seating is best. Deserts were pretty good as well. It was refreshing to get white table cloths at restaurant on the way down to Oxnard from San Francisco. Thank you for your high standards! Manuel was great too! Walking us through the specials was a lot of entertainment. 🥳

I had a phenomenal experience I always have had amazing service here. Definitely my favorite Italian dining in San luis obispo county! Franchesco always gives us amazing service the food is amazing I had the seafood pasta special was to die for! My gf had the gluten free pasta in a spicy red sauce! Amazing! All the wines selections we were advised on were all amazing truly a dining experience that's magical everytime can't rave about it enough! Every aspect of our meal was amazing! If you have been you must!

A really lovely, intimate Italian restaurant, run primarily by Italians. The beets, rucola and goat’s cheese salad was really good, as was the flat iron steak. A good selection of half bottles of wine is unusual in restaurants, but a real positive. Thanks to Andrea for great service and recommendations.