Alberto's Cantina . . . | San Francisco Bay Area, CA

AnonymousDeja News - The Leader in Internet DiscussionJan 30, 1999

. . . is at 435 Main Street in Pleasanton.
      We ate there during the dinner break of the Laurie Sepulvado benefit
event at the Cowboy Country Club.
      She had "Dana's Mini Burrito" that, anywhere else, would have cost $4.
It was $8.50 and worth, at most, $3.
      I had "El Patrón Platter" that was a flauta, chile relleno, and
enchilada preceded by a pleasant salad with a house dressing that the server claimed was "tart" but was really quite sweet. It was $11, would have been $8 at most places and was worth, at most, $5.
      I had to ask a busser for some tortillas that came quickly and very
hot.
      The service by the non-Hispanic hostess and server was barely
competent.
      The food left so much to be desired that I will never go there again
and warn you against doing so. The only thing adequate about the food was its quantity and visual presentation.
      If you can imagine the possibility of insipid Mexican food totally
devoid of spice, flavor, or interest, that's what we got at Alberto's Cantina. Even the addition of the cool on-table salsa roja was of no help.

Alberto's Cantina is clean, the rest rooms were clean, well equipt, with nicely hot water.
      The noise level is just fine, nothing to complain about. The decor is
cutesy-fartsy ex-urban Mexican that almost made me laugh.

      [Since January 14, most of my posts have not gotten out via my
       ISP, a fact that I learned January 24 when two people asked
       me why I've been so quiet of late. I hope that this repost,
       via DejaNews, might be of interest and is not a duplicate.]

Mon, 25 Jan 1999 01:10:30
Newsgroups: ba.food
Subject: Alberto's Cantina . . .

Icono Clast -- A San Franciscan posting from San Francisco

Ciccio@Home NetworkJan 30, 1999Subject: Re: Alberto's Cantina - Should have went to "Casa Madrid"

NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 30 Jan 1999 10:01:40 PDT
Xref: pale-rider.INS.CWRU.Edu ba.food:35963

Someone wrote:

[Alberto's Cantina]

> . . . is at 435 Main Street in Pleasanton.

[A real bummer time snipped]

> Icono Clast -- A San Franciscan posting from San Francisco

As a fellow native [I presume you are, lest you're being redundant] I hate to tell you this, but you really blew it big time! Directly across the street at 436 Main St. is, what I consider to be, one of the better restaurants, not only in Pleasanton, but the Bay Area. It's called "Casa Madrid."  I won't pretend to have a command of spanish cuisine. I have, however, over the years, tried it here and there. "Casa Madrid" is by far the best. My S.O., who is extremely well versed on spanish cuisine, insists that the food at "Casa Madrid" is great with many authentic spanish dishes. Though, there are some "california fresh" items on the menu as well.

I am a relative newcomer to tapas [aren't we all], but my S.O. has found it amusing that what all her life has been "snack food," has become such a rage. That said, she has rated both the hot and cold tapas at Casa Madrid exceptionally good. For what it's worth, I agree.  Though, we favor their hot tapas items. Admittedly, however, the tapas items aren't as creative or exotic as say "Cesar's" in Berkeley.

As for the main dishes... I don't remember their spanish names, but most recently I had one of their daily specials, a lamb shank with sort of a demi-glaze, that was out of this world. Prior to that, I had one of their regular menu items, stuffed veal in a spanish sauce [not a stereotypical red sauce] which was excellent. I'll stop there, but suffice to say, the other main dishes I've had over the past couple of years have been great. My S.O. also raves about them. We have yet to try their paella dishes. The reason being they make them fresh and we've not had the patience to wait the 30-45 minutes. Though a friend of mine, who is a paella aficionado, says its worth the wait, the paella is great. Oh, I almost forgot, with the entree, we had a spanish garlic soup that was fabulous.

The dessert tray is very good. Being a flan freak, I almost always go for the flan. It has a good sauce, with a subdued coffee flavor.  I've tried what they call "secret cake" [because they won't tell you the ingredients], and that was good.

As for the service...excellent!  The older owner greets the patrons hello and bids them good-bye. And you can tell he really means it when he asks: "How was your dinner?" The food servers are very friendly, attentive and accommodating, but WITHOUT BEING INTRUSIVE!  The ambiance overall is nice, being elegant, but WITHOUT BEING PRETENTIOUS!  [Sorry about the caps, but those are my 2 big peeves with most restaurants]

As for Alberto's Cantina... I agree, it's thumbs down. In fact, I never thought I would find a place that could serve worse "suppose to be" mexican food than El Torrito, then I tried Alberto's Cantina... But just to show you that I can find something good in any place... their sports bar ain't bad. I've enjoyed a few Monday Night games there. But I won't be there this Super Bowl Sunday ;-)

Ciccio