San Gennaro Cafe

While the prices were top shelf the food was average or below. Soft drinks were $2.50 each with NO refills. Not family friendly. The service was bad. Once our order was taken the waitress never visited our table of her own free will. We had to constantly try to signal her while she did her best to avoid eye contact. The supposedly $15 value FAMILY-STYLE dessert was ONE 3x3 brownie with a scoop of icecream on it. Something you would pay $3 to $5 in most restaurants. RIP OFF more

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I cant stress how bad this dinner was, All i can say that if you want to pay 20+ $ for a bland, and undercooked Chicken dish/ Pasta..then Go there! The only thing that I enjoyed about that place was the waiter, who was funny, he even joked that others have walked out on their meals, That does not surprise me ! more

I cant stress how bad this dinner was, All i can say that if you want to pay 20+ $ for a bland, and undercooked Chicken dish/ Pasta..then Go there! The only thing that I enjoyed about that place was the waiter, who was funny, he even joked that others have walked out on their meals, That does not surprise me ! more

Overall not a good meal. There were four of us dining, and nobody was happy. My cousin and I got the same pasta dish and agreed that it was completely flavorless. It was supposed to be garlic and oil, but there was obviously no garlic in it. It was also supposed to have capers as one of the main ingredients, and we both only found about 3 a piece... Another person got chewy gnocci, and another very dry and flavorless baked ziti. The caprese salad didn't have any oil on it when it arrived, all the bread was burnt on the bottom, and they added blue cheese to 2 of our salads which nobody expected or wanted. They didn't even allow refills on sodas, which I have never heard of in a restaurant when they actually have a soda fountain. For the 4 of us it came out to over $100, and nobody had alcoholic beverages, dessert, or appetizers. Luckily we had a $100 gift certificate, but even the remainder we had to pay for the tip and tax was more than it was worth... more

I went here for dinner with a friend of mine. We sat down, and things just seemed so unorganized from the get go. It took sometime to get waited on. The way that the food is described in the menu sounds fine, but when you get the food, it is DISGUSTING!! I ordered the chicken. It was runny, and it looked like they had boiled the chicken in tomato sauce and slopped it onto the plate. I couldn't even eat the food. The presentation was horrible, and I don't think a starving stray animal would have even eaten the food. I told the waiter, and he told us to speak to the manager/owner. She was rude, disrespectful, and very unprofessional. She did not try to satisfy her customers, and didn't care how we felt about the food. After seeing all the negative reviews on this site about this restaurant makes me wonder how they are staying open. Do yourselves a favor and STAY AWAY FROM HERE!!! I will never go back! L.A. has plenty of good restaurants, and this one is not one of those! Pros: NOTHING!! Cons: EVERYTHING!! more

I practically live in Brentwood Village, so San Gennaro is very convenient. But it's more than that. My boyfriend and I have eaten here probably 30x and have never had a bad experience. We bring all our out-of-town guests here for a good meal and affordable prices. The waitstaff is always very friendly, attentive, and helpful. They have a decent wine list for a smaller place, too. Plus, again, good prices. The interior is small but cozy, and there's a charming patio as well that, get this, is dog-friendly! Bring rover and come chill here for some good grub and tasty vino. They even have a dog menu and will bring your pup a water bowl. It's good for dates, casual dinner with friends, or takeout (they'll typically offer you a glass of wine while waiting on their delicious pizza for takeout). Wear a cute dress or tshirt and jeans...either are appropriate for San Gennaro. I love this place. Great neighborhood restaurant. Really can't say enough good things about it. Pros: Dog-friendly patio, delicious food, reasonable prices Cons: small more

I love this place. My wife and I eat here as often as possible. The food and personal service is unbeatable. The front patio is great in the summer. Their low-priced wines and bread are fantastic. It's no wonder this place is a local favorite. Pros: Food, Service, Bread, Prices, Wine Cons: Parking more

This restaurant is AMAZING! They have a patio or you can sit inside. Is Casual but also a great place to take a date. the food is excellent and the servers are fast and friendly. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone that loves a good meal! Pros: excellent food, excellent service, appropriately priced Cons: none more

I used to actually like this place. Now it is AWFUL. And I think they raised their prices to make up for the 25% off they now have. Seafood lasagna was runny, barely had any seafood in it and came in a bowl (because it was so watery) and get this it cost $28.95! WOW. And it was a small portion too. Pizza was very average. I'd much rather go to Oak Fire Pizza at least they have $10 pizza on Sundays. And I ordered a salad which 10 minutes the later politely told me they were out of (out of a salad?) and asked if I wanted to order anything else. I was annoyed so I said I didnt want anything else but he never compd anything as a friendly gesture/token. An older guy in the back (maybe the owner) was very rude to people waiting for takeout. Our server was truly super nice but this restaurant sucks. There were flies inside, the balsamic vinegar leaked, there were fingerprints everywhere and the food was horrible. I will never go back. People need to stop blaming the economy for their businesses going belly up and start giving better food and better attitudes. Pros: waiter was friendly Cons: everything else more

We eat here a few times a month. We frequently go for the 1/2 off Tuesday dinner, but we go any night when we just want to relax and have a nice, reasonably priced meal. Everything is very good, the pizza is superb. The wait staff is friendly to customers and to each other. That''s saying something on Tuesdays when they are mobbed for the 1/2 off dinner. All in all, they work very hard to make their customers comfortable and the kitchen staff does an excellent job. This is a wonderful place to go, expecially if you are hungry and exhausted. They will take good care of you. Pros: good food, good service, friendly wait staff, more

This place is simply just bad! Went there yesterday and it was one of the worst dinner experiences in a long time. Our waiter was very old and not a bad word about that, but he was either senile or drunk. We waited 20 minutes to order and then 30 minutes for the food. In the mean time we noticed that the staff was rolling their eyes and making faces at each-other after taking orders from the other customers. Apparently, it was 50% off that day and they were annoyed that people " only" wanted a pizza. Then the food came and it was BAD, I had ordered a goat cheese salad with grilled chicken. On the menu it said mixed greens, but I guess at this place it means iceberg and romaine lettuce witch in my opinion isn't mixed greens. The chicken was extremely dry and cold. I called the waiter to send it back, he just looked at me and took my plate went up to the open kitchen and started pointing at me while talking to the cooks. Needless to say, this was very uncomfortable. Then a lady, I guess the manager comes down and tells me that this is how they serve it, and if I don't want it she will eat it for dinner, how rude it that? While all of this happens, the old/drunk/senile waiter starts to open a bottle of wine at our table, WE ALREADY HAD A BOTTLE OF WINE????? I mean, this was bad bad and bad. We decided to leave and not eat the food and as a little bonus we waited 30 minutes for the bill and ended up paying at the counter! Cons: Food, service more

The first night I was charged twice for drinks. The seafood dish had a tablespoon of seafood and I was charge way over the normal price for this dish.The second night when I said no tomatoes in my order, it came with a ton of tomatoes. I was charged extra because I changed from tomato sauce to pesto. The plate portions are too small. This is the worst place I have ever eaten in. Please stay away. Pros: Empty place to eat Cons: over prices, wrong food came to my table. more

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Initially, everything was fine, our waiter was attentive, the restaurant wasn't too crowded, the menu looked promising. We ran into trouble when we selected a bottle of Talus Pinot Noir from the $12 wine list. The waiter did not let us taste the wine, he just poured our glasses and left it on the table. It was too sharp and had a lousy aftertaste and we both drank 2-3 sips and decided to send it back. I told the waiter that it tasted almost like it was on the verge of turning bad. He said that it had a synthetic cork and that shouldn't happen. If they were classy, they would have taken it off the bill. My roommate commented, "I guess if it's twelve dollars, you don't get to taste it first." Yep. My roommate ordered the gnocchi marinara and I got the cheese ravioli marinara. We both ordered "mixed greens" salads to start. What we got were plates of romaine and iceberg lettuce with some red cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, olives, one cherry tomato and some cheese thrown in. Now, I don't know about you, but when I thinked "mixed greens", I think of something other than romaine paired with iceberg. I guess TECHNICALLY we got mixed greens salads, but please. The waiter from the next table knocked into my roommate not once, but twice during the course of our meal. He apologized the second time. After they took our salad plates away, we had to wait TWENTY minutes for our main course to arrive. The pasta had sort of a gluey sticky consistency and the marinara sauce was almost wholly devoid of flavor apart from a strong pepper overtone. We ordered the three-chocolate mousse for dessert. It was just OK. Also, the portions were rather small, which was, in this case, a blessing, but if we hadn't loaded up on bread, it would have been a problem. Ultimately, only the bread was any good. That and the tap water. And, as I quipped to my roommate, you can get bread and water in jail. We got the bill and they had, indeed, charged us for the bottle of wine. Pros: The bread is good. Cons: Bad food, bad service. more

The worst restaurant experience ever!! The food is terrible, they call that italian yuck!!! The tomato sauce was runny and looked like tomato soup. My chicken postitano was awful, the chicken was dry and taste less. The service was so slow, the waiter was not on top of it at all. To top it off the owner was so rude, I hope this restaurant goes out of business, like supposedly the one in culver city did! I have never felt this srtrongly or disappointed in any restaurant, BAD EVERYTHING, the restaurant needs to go BYE BYE, it is not worthy of being in brentwood, maybe in Reseda and even that is pushing it! more

Wow. I just read all the other reviews. I don't get it. I mean yes, the waiter was brash, but he softened up when I asked him if he was having a bad night. I can see that he would rub people the wrong way - there is absolutley an aptitude for rudeness there. But I love the extensive menu, the willingness to accomodate your tastes and preferences, and I loved the food. We had a grilled calamari salad that was fresh and crisp and with an abundance of calamari and taste. I'm a big fan. I will definitely go back... perhaps I will ask for a different waiter though. Pros: great food Cons: brash waiter more

I too used to love this place. They used to be so friendly! Now the customer service, whether when eating in or having food delivered, is horrendous. Calling it simple arrogance would be excusing it. Two nights ago I had my final straw, if you will, as once again the owner (the woman who takes orders over the phone, who I hope is the owner based on her attitude), had no patience to even take the order. I was hung up on once final info was exchanged. And when I called to tell her that something was missing from my order, she had no interest in apologizing, let alone correcting the error. The last time we ordered in from them she literally got into an argument with my girlfriend, who had simply pointed out that her salad had none of the things she had asked for and all of the things she had asked to be kept out. No apology, no desire to solve the problem, a rude comment, then she hangs up on my girlfriend. Having been in the restaurant as well, we?ve seen the same personality problem and have experienced the other facets of the (lack of) customer service hinted at in other reviews. Despite our boycott, I tried again two nights ago after a year of staying away, and I was punished for it. As for the food, I simply don't understand what happened to the quality that they used to have. The pizza is okay, but the lack of flavor and originality in everything else astounds me. I?m sorry, but these are basic Italian dishes: it?s not that hard to get them right or even make them special. There is no marsala in the chicken marsala, which, like all the chicken dishes, is incredibly dry. I blame myself for this week's mistake, but it won't be repeated. After a cooling off period to make sure that I'm not just writing this to ?get back at them?, I've decided that posting my experiences just might help one person have a nice evening because they avoided this restaurant. Pros: It's close by (to me, anyways) Cons: Bad service, bad food more

I love this restaurant so am surprised to see such a negative review below. My boyfriend and I have dined-in at the Brentwood location twice and have had extremely pleasant experience both times. The most recent was 2 weeks ago when we went for dinner. Service was great. They have a huge menu (so many things to choose from!) and they're flexible on substitution or changing up any dish, which is good for a vegetarian like me. Also, their wine is also only $12 per bottle! Can't beat that, and during the summer they have bottles of wine for 1/2 off. Food is delicious, as is the bread and oil/balsamic vinegar you get complimentary. We've also had take-out from here because not only is the food tasty, but it's very affordable - about $9-$12 per main course. Definitely check it out and see for yourself. Pros: Food, service, cheap bottles of wine! Cons: Parking more