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Business & Tech

O' Sole Mio

Authentic Italian In The Heart of Millbrae.

O' Sole Mio is a locally owned Millbrae Italian restaurant which, if you weren't looking, would slip right past you. This restaurant may be a "hole in the wall", but that doesn't make it any less desirable to dine at.

Straight away most people would notice the true Italian decor. This restaurant is formal without having to dress formal. The waiters and waitresses are all wearing ties, but no one certainly expects you wear one. Fake vines are strewn about on pergolas throughout the restaurant along with numerous pictures of somewhat older Italian entertainers hanging on the walls; you may also be lucky enough to have framed advertisements from the 50's and 60's staring at you during your meal. The atmosphere is pleasant overall, regardless of the overdone and overused pictures from an older era. Noise isn't an issue as most of the time it was limited to a dull roar, and the music wasn't enough to smother any chance of dinner conversation either.

What may turn a lot of people off to this place would be the space. Claustrophobics beware; the restaurant feels abnormally small and squished. It irked me to be able to hear chewing and other audible eating gestures with great clarity form the tables sitting around me. And, having to navigate through the aisles between tables like I'm trying to get to my seat in a movie theater, is just plain annoying.  

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Their hours are another thing that struck me as quite odd. They're only open 6 days a week for 5 hours at a time (4pm - 9pm). So if you wanted to grab lunch here then you're out of luck, this place is strictly for dinner.

The waitress was quite friendly. So friendly in fact that I had learned her name, where she goes to school, and what she thinks of her job. This sort of relationship is important to making restaurant experience memorable. She frequently asked how the food was and never hesitated to refill my water when I finished it. She did her job well and I don't have complaints from that aspect of the restaurant experience.

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The food, however, makes the cons of this restaurant much less thorny to handle. I was very apprehensive about the bread I was going to be served before the meal, and to my surprise, the bread was straight-out-of-the-oven warm. This detail makes this restaurant goer extremely elated. There are countless restaurants this side of the peninsula that give you a rock hard block of cold bread that you could do anything with but eat. Along with the usual butter, olive oil and balsamic vinegar are available.

I ordered grilled chicken alfredo. The chicken was grilled to perfection and the pasta was nothing short of fantastic. The portion of food they gave me was quite large, which is surprising because it's been my experience that most Italian places will only give you the bare minimum. Another detail that left me very satisfied was the fact that they offered me a pasta bowl instead of a plate. Many restaurants will just slap your pasta on a regular plate, which makes keeping the pasta sauce from spilling all over the table a difficult task.

I would recommend this restaurant for a dinner date. But don't worry gentlemen; the price won't break the bank. The average cost of each meal falls around $15, which is pretty reasonable for the amount of food that you get.

O' Sole Mio is an impressive Italian restaurant located right in the heart of Millbrae. If you can get past some of the cons, then the food certainly won't disappoint.

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