Best Neighborhood Gem Restaurants in Japantown

Everything we had was excellent. The risottos and pastas were delicious. Burrata starter was also delicious. The house made pear tart for dessert was amazing. Service was excellent. The only issue is the noise level inside on busy nights - it's quite deafening. The later it gets the less noise there is as people leave.

These are innovative, awake and aware professionals. The original energy and spirit of the restaurant are alive and evolving. Service: Excellent. Food: Excellent. Ambience: Excellent, energetic, present, engaging. This is what an exceptional experience feels like. Thanks to everyone at The Progress.

The food quality at Octavia is very high. The chefs really know what they’re doing. We had a pre-fixe menu for Christmas Eve dinner and they accommodated dietary restrictions with advanced notice. They actually called a few days in advance of the reservation to confirm the dietary restrictions which was really nice. We had 9 courses I think and they were all delicious. My favorites were the soup and the pasta dishes. The service was also very good, the servers were very attending and accommodating. There was one dish I didn’t eat much of because it had radicchio in it which I don’t like, and our server offered to have the kitchen make me a replacement dish with a different lettuce instead. The only negative of Octavia is that it feels very cramped. The space is small and they squeeze in a lot of tables so you’re sitting basically on top of other diners and it’s a little awkward. Everything else was great though. I would definitely recommend Octavia as a good place for special occasions or bringing out of town visitors.

We returned for a second visit this holiday season; it was wonderful. Got adventurous and had the creamed corn. I noticed my daughters snuck more than an initial half teaspoon taste. It was very, very good. Not watery creamy. This had a nice texture. Try it! The prime rib was exceptional. I had the smaller portion. One daughter had the thinner slices. One daughter had the regular cut. All were sumptuous! Had a baked potato instead of the mashed. It was yummy. We ordered an apple crisp to share between the three of us. It was delicious with a nice amount of apple slices hidden under the topping and surrounded by the usual warm spices. Our server was great! She was friendly, attentive but didn’t hover. Thank you all for a wonderful evening! I may not be back for a while. Palo Alto daughter is moving to Duarte. CA this summer. If she needs help moving, we’ll have to do a farewell visit at House of Prime Rib. Again, thank you!

Very busy on a Holiday Monday night but the service was excellent. Food is always good at Florio it is a neighborhood standard!