I hadn't been to Nodo in well over a year and I'm happy we ended up there again this weekend. The restaurant does not take reservations so we were nervous that the wait could be long on a Saturday night for a party of 4. We arrived at 6:35 and were seated right away. The restaurant was mostly full at this time but it's hard to tell if the wait times picked up later on because we were not seated near the door.
I love the lupin beans they bring out at the start. We shared the bread notes (they melted in my mouth and the oil on top was amazing) and the kale slaw salad (the dressing and toasted seeds made the salad). We were all torn on which items to choose for mains. I settled on the duck ragu fettuccine. The pasta was so fresh and while the sauce was rich, I did not find it too overpowering. The food could have come out faster but we were not in a rush and I personally prefer when the meal is drawn out as opposed to feeling like the restaurant is eager to turn tables (especially in a restaurant where they don't take reservations). I still found the service attentive even though the food took a while to come out. I also like the atmosphere/decor and felt the price point was fair.
My two small complaints: the complimentary bread they brought out was totally stale (I was hungry so I still ate it ...). Secondly, two of our guests were running late (and we were early) so for about 30 minutes it was just 2/4 of us at the table. We ordered drinks to start while we were waiting for the rest of our party to arrive. A man, who must have been the manager, abruptly asked us where the rest of our party was. When I mentioned they were running late and were on their way, he asked exactly when they would be coming. It felt like he was going to deprive us of our table even though we had ordered drinks ... I understand the objective is to turn tables over and not to delay the ordering process, but after that interaction, he kept pacing near our table to see if they had arrived. I felt as though if they were so strict about the entire party being present, they should have waited to seat us.