Tullio's Italian Restaurant

The first time, I went to this restaurant, it was somewhere in the 2000's when I was a grade school kid. I love Italian food and it's sad that they closed in July 2018. Back when the restaurant was still around, the inside was always nice and the staff were always friendly too. This restaurant will always hold a special place in my heart.

Tullio's been around for 30 years! The last time I went to Tullio's was in 1998, and they're STILL so good! Why haven't I been back since 98 especiallly since I live closeby? Somebody slap me lol Service is great ... we never had to look around for our server (who, by the way has worked there for 13 years! and drink refills were on point. Food is phenomenally good! Something about their sauce! Mmmmmmm! It's gotta be a family recipe... Parking is available in the back of the restaurant no meters which is a huge plus in Walnut Creek! Shhhh don't tell anyone! When you look around at the patrons and see generations of families and the restaurant full with a good flow of people on a week night, you know that this family owned local restaurant has been doing something right. Our table comprised of vegans and non vegans and we were all happy and so full! Vegans had spaghetti with Tomato Basil Sauce and Gnocchi with Napoletana sauce. Our non vegans opted for pizza. Servings are HUGE! You'll definitely bring home a doggie bag. We were there for a birthday celebration. They allowed us to bring our cake from Whole Foods and offered to keep it in the fridge until it was time to serve. We didn't think to bring candles (fail! but when we asked our server to bring out the cake she asked if we had candles and offered to add some if we didn't. When she brought the cake out the candles were added onto the cake, lit, and ready for is to sing happy birthday. What a great time we had tonight! We will definitely be back again (and this time we won't wait 20 years to do so! Thanks Tullio's staff for making our night great!

SUMMARY: Family friendly restaurant with stellar service, but some of the food has been hit and miss on occasion. Great pasta, but we've been disappointed at times with their pizzas. 4 for now, definitely boosted by the service. BACKGROUND Tullio's is one of those tucked away, family friendly restaurants that has been around the block and has a loyal following. No doubt this has a lot to do with the family running it. It's located across the street from the US Postal office on Broadway, so easy to find based on this landmark. SERVICE As mentioned above, it's family run and you get that impression right away. We've never had a bad experience with the service and we don't consider ourselves regulars either. Waters filled at the right time, food comes out in a reasonable amount of time, even when busy. ATMOSPHERE Down to earth, homey with some local artwork/murals. Nice booths in good shape. FOOD Along with their spaghetti and meatballs, I had my favorite splurge dish, linguine with clams in white clam sauce. Between the two, it's a toss up. I usually prefer linguine but their meat sauce for their spaghetti is pretty damn good. I should ask for an extra scoop next time. It goes well w/ their free bread, but definitely get some extra garlic bread because the free bread sometimes is less than fresh. Now we've had good days w/ the pizza and bad days. My biggest gripe is sometimes the pizza has been a bit undercooked on the top, but crusty and nice on the bottom. Strange, right? And other times, just too overdone to where the pizza's edge and cheese/toppings were a bit dry from the overcooking. I'm a fan of thinner crust, so that might bias me too. But I decided to skip on the pizza going forward and will stick with the pasta dishes. We did have some dessert once. I can't recall what it was, but at least I have the pic to prove it! It was delicious with their coffee, which isn't that bad either. Always piping hot, which I appreciate alot. PARKING They have a lot in the back and it does get packed. This lot is a bit more narrower than most and every time we go there, there's always some person or persons who drive diagonally into the spaces vs. swinging out wide and cutting it sharp to make a perfect entrance. BATHROOMS Clean enough :

Tullio's Italian Restaurant is near Downtown Walnut Creek. It's a little difficult finding the place when you're driving by so either have Maps ready or park and walk. If you do find the place while driving rest assured that there is plenty of parking in the back of the restaurant so don't pay for the meter! The restaurant is located on the 1st Floor of an old brick building and shares space with other businesses above them. I've never been in a restaurant set up like that but oh well. It's weird enough that I have to mention it. S/O and I walked in and was greeted by our host. We were seated right away and was given our menus. I love Italian restaurants and was looking forward to eating some pasta but none of their special plates seemed appealing to me. I've had authentic Italian food in the past and I can assure you that family would have frowned upon the menu choices here lol. So what did we end up ordering? Pizza and you can't go wrong with that. We ordered a Large Peter's Special #15 on the menu. Our waiter came by with our pizza piping hot but did not give us a spatula. Not sure if that's something they don't give out and it's not a big issue but just saying lol. We had to grab the hot slice with our hands and forks. It had loads of different meats and had a mound of bell pepper which I love . Service was fast and friendly would have given that 5 stars alone. Pizza was alright. Ambiance was old school Italian and casual. Restrooms are clean. All in all, this restaurant was good but not good enough to tell mom and pops about.

We had gotten into town and wanted to meet a friend for a late lunch, and he found this place. My wife grew up near here and had never heard of Tullio's. Due to the off time we were there, it was very quiet, and started picking up as we were leaving with regulars that come for early dinner. We got some garlic bread to start which was really delicious, which was free with Yelp Checkin. The iced tea is strong and flavorful. I usually get the special, and ended up with the carbonara which had lots of pancetta in a creamy sauce. The pasta here is really great, and not run of the mill restaurant pasta. My daughter is never content with kid's menus and ordered the flatiron steak, which comes with mushrooms and sauce that's really good. My wife got the Chicken Dore which she said was really fantastic. I don't know how we missed this spot before on previous trips, but when in town, it's likely we'll be back!