Top image: Castro Street in downtown Mountain View, the restaurant row where Vaso Azzurro has operated at No. 108 since 1999. This photo does not show the restaurant. Photo: Runner1928 / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Wednesday, Nov. 11, is the last dinner service for Vaso Azzurro at 108 Castro St., the white-tablecloth Italian restaurant where the waitstaff are known for breaking into operatic song between courses. Service runs from 5 to 9 p.m., Palo Alto Online reported Tuesday. After that, the Sadri family, which has owned the restaurant since 2005, hands the space to a new tenant and starts looking for a new address within walking distance.
“We always treated this place as a sanctuary,” owner Michael Sadri told Palo Alto Online. “This is where (guests) come to be attended to. This is where (guests) come to be listened to.”
What the menu says
According to the dinner menu posted on Vaso Azzurro’s website as of Nov. 11, starters include bruschetta at $9.95 and fried calamari at $15.95. Pastas and mains run from a gnocchi al pesto at $25.95 and a meat lasagne at $27.95 to lobster ravioli at $29.95. The house’s namesake Linguini Azzurro, with clams, prawns, sea scallops and mixed fish, is $34.95, a price Palo Alto Online also reported. A seafood risotto is listed at $35.95, a lamb dish at $37.95 and a filet at $38.95. The menu notes a $19.95 per-person minimum.
Palo Alto Online lists an apple strudel with vanilla gelato and house caramel at $10.95, and reports that the kitchen bakes its own bread and desserts.
One discrepancy for diners to note: the restaurant’s website still lists lunch, but Sadri told Palo Alto Online that Vaso Azzurro stopped serving lunch after the pandemic. Call ahead (650-940-1717) before going.
Who’s behind it
Vaso Azzurro opened in Mountain View in 1999. Michael Sadri and his brother were living in Utah, helping a friend run a restaurant, when they saw during a family visit that the Italian restaurant was for sale, according to Palo Alto Online. They had planned an American bistro called JJ Michael for the space but kept the Vaso Azzurro concept instead. Sadri, who grew up in the Bay Area, has a sports medicine degree from San Jose State University and has worked in restaurants ever since, he told the outlet.
The restaurant’s website credits Alan Sadri as executive chef and Edgar Durant as chef de cuisine.
The family sold its lease to Virginia Qian, who plans to turn 108 Castro into Cafe Ikebana, a day-to-night cafe and lounge. Qian told WhatNow in August that daytime would center on matcha drinks, cakes, Japanese sandwiches and lighter food, with cocktails, desserts and tea drinks in the evening and brunch and afternoon tea on weekends. No opening date has been announced.
What the critics have said
Vaso Azzurro has been reviewed by the Mountain View Voice twice in two decades, and both critics landed in roughly the same place. In 2006, critic Elaine M. Rowland called it “a sure thing,” crediting the intimate setting, friendly service and good value while flagging small portions on some dishes. In July 2015, Dale F. Bentson’s review, “Sing for your supper,” praised generous portions, reasonable prices, attentive service and the singing staff, but found the risotto dry.
The record
Santa Clara County’s environmental health open data, last updated in October, lists two recent routine inspections, both with green “pass” placards:
- Dec. 4, 2025: score of 87. Inspectors recorded five violations, none marked critical. These included cold-held food on a prep table measured at 48 to 49°F (the standard is 41°F or below), knives stored between tables, burnt-out hood lights, mold-like growth on sink caulking and missing food manager and food handler certifications, which the restaurant was told to obtain within 60 days.
- April 29, 2025: score of 93. Inspectors recorded three violations, none critical: grime in a soda gun, a broken sanitizer dispenser on the three-compartment sink and dry rodent droppings in the office, with the owner asked to email the last two pest control reports.
The county data does not show a later reinspection. Records after mid-October 2026 were not yet posted.
The long view
Unlike many restaurant closings, Vaso Azzurro is leaving on its own terms. Sadri said the family is moving to get a bigger kitchen and ideally a private dining room, along with space for a pastry program, a coffee bar and a small market for house-made goods. He hopes to announce the new address by year-end and reopen in March, open all day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. No lease has been signed. “We are deadly committed to reopening,” he told Palo Alto Online.
If that happens, the family will be trying the model many downtown restaurants are moving toward: more hours, more revenue streams and retail. It will also be trying to keep the regulars who, by Palo Alto Online’s account, make up most of the dining room. The incoming cafe at No. 108 points the same way, toward all-day traffic rather than a single dinner seating.
The Reported Table is built from published menus, public records and other critics’ published reviews. The Chronicle does not award stars and our reporters do not claim tastings.
Sources
- Palo Alto Online, “After 27 years in Mountain View, Vaso Azzurro prepares to close,” Nov. 10, 2026
- Vaso Azzurro, dinner menu (checked Nov. 11, 2026)
- Vaso Azzurro, homepage
- WhatNow, “Café Ikebana To Open On Castro Street In Mountain View,” Aug. 21, 2026
- Mountain View Voice, “A sure thing: Vaso Azzurro,” Feb. 17, 2006
- Mountain View Voice, “Sing for your supper,” July 17, 2015
- Santa Clara County Department of Environmental Health, inspection records for 108 Castro St. (open data)
- Violation details: Dec. 4, 2025; April 29, 2025
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