Pausa Bar & Cookery

Date night with my fiancé. We enjoyed great wine and delicious cheeses, pastas and rabbit mains. Our server Yvette was amazing as well.

Our favorite place to be on any occasion. The best staff who make you feel very welcome. With Zela, Brianna, Cynthia, Igor and the gang. Cocktails are flirty and fun! Food is creative and very tasty. Order everything on the menu!

Great experience as usual! I’ve come here several times since the summer (from solo dining to a large party) and was not disappointed. Food was delish and cocktails superb. Server was quite friendly and checked in a couple of times and was quite accommodating. The best part: they surprised my friend with a mini birthday panda cotta which we both loved!

I've now eaten at Pausa several times. It never disappoints. As a vegetarian, I appreciate the number of good options. My companion this time is vegan and, while there were less options, she felt that there was enough of a good choice. I certainly be back.

From the food to the ambiance and then the service; this restaurant is the best in San Mateo hands down. Period.

Wonderful for sharing food!

Great food, great service. Will come back!

Always consistent, always good, fantastic service 3-5 people waiting on us, fantastic!

The entire Pausa staff is very positive and welcoming, which outweighed a higher noise level. Great pizza, salad and charcuterie. Good and reasonable Italian wine and the cappuccino was the real deal and fabulous. Will most certainly be back.

Its very expensive and very little food on the plate.

Over priced - average quality food and very small portions.

Our server was excellent.

Excellent atmosphere, delicious food, wonderful service. My new favorite spot!

The food and service were very good, though there were not enough vegetarian options. The noise level was deafening(literally- the staff should all wear ear plugs. Seriously). We are sad to say that if it does not become quieter, we may not be able to return.

Lovely restaurant and great service. Unfortunately, lacks choices for Gluten Free and seemed like a hassle to make modifications. Would be great to have a GF pizza and pasta option. Pizza on a pan not to avoid flour and pasta in fresh water and separate pot to avoid cross contamination. Risotto would have been great with mushrooms or more substance - ie..scallops. Also would be nice to have a GF dessert other than sorbet. Left feeling hungry.

+'s- Homemade pizza, -'s way too salty, especially the Wild Boar pasta (Couldn't finish it); not enough vegetarian options

The bar scene next to our dining was very lively and crowded, there were large tables of diners (10-15) making our table of 3 a forgotten priority. We had to as for additional water, bread. Given prices and previous reviews I expected more!

It was a warm night so we sat at an outdoor table. Our waitress was excellent, attentive and friendly. We spent some time perusing the menu—culinary creativity throughout. As appetizers we had the seared tuna and a salad, both very good. Main course for both my wife and me were pasta dishes, basil tagliolini for her and linguine with tuna sausage, capers, and other things. Both very delicious. We'll definitely go to Pausa again.

Love the hostess and chefs and cooked served us amazing food

Very noisy restaurant.

Consistently great quality and interesting menu. Very pleasant and attentive service

Very accommodating staff. Great food and service. Would definitely recommend and come back.

Food and drinks was delicious as always. Service was very friendly but slow- they seemed understaffed. Overall we almost always have a great time here!

Super overpriced, not much food, very expensive, service not that great

Amazing food and presentation!

The rest of my party enjoyed the food, but I personally (gluten free and vegetarian) did not find much to eat. The eggplant side dish was too sweet (too much glaze). Some more hearty/healthy sides would have made the day more enjoyable.

Great dining experience!!

I would go here again, but mainly for the wine and the appetizers! I think we just chose the wrong entrees, I wasn't really wowed by the risotto I selected, but I loved our server and the wine. Also, we're from the city and know loud restaurants - I was surprised at how loud this spot was even on a Tuesday night. Just good to be aware of.

Expensive for what you get. Pasta that is nothing special, should not cost $25. I do not understand the hype of this place. Food mediocre at best and service was not impressive. Not going back.

Attentive service. delicious food. it was a birthday dinner and your staff made us feel special and enjoy our meals.

We’ve been here before and really enjoyed it. This time was awful food, everything was super salty and not good. Sent two of the 3 dishes back. Pretty sure we won’t be back as this was awful food

Service-food-presentation-wine list-decor : OUTSTANDING on every level
Thank you for a great evening$$$

Food was great but service was rather condescending.

One of our favorites. Had the basil tagliolini pasta and a pizza. That pasta was superb!

it was a great experience for all five first time diners. WE WILL RECOMMEND IT AGAIN.

It's loud there -- very loud. If you don't like EDM, don't go. But the food is outstanding. Tonight I had what literally is one of the best fish dishes I have ever eaten in my life. The desserts are always amazing. Their housemade cured meats are amazing. They have an amazing selection of outstanding wines by the glass.

Have I said "amazing" enough? If you appreciate good food, go there. It isn't cheap, but the food is worth every penny.

This was my third time at Pausa and I remain impressed with the excellent, friendly service and good food. It works well for either pleasure or business meals. As a vegetarian, I really appreciate that I have multiple choices on the menu.

I found everything to be great except for the background music. Too loud to have a conversation with the person next to you. And I didn't like the kind of music being played - I felt like I was in a club. For an authentic Italian restaurant (which it is), maybe they could consider playing ITALIAN MUSIC at a reasonable noise level in the background?

Carlos is the most amazing ever. Truly!

Portion are small food is ok, nothing special and for sure no value for money.