Don't be fooled. This is NOT some upgrade in quality of food compared with Joe Mama's. It's a pig with some lipstick on.
The pasta is very obviously from the same frozen packages they use at your run of the mill Italian places around the country. I thought, maybe my ravioli will have some nice homemade touch to it? Nope. Straight from the freezer- sauce was from a can.
My friend's pasta dish with chicken was extremely light on chicken- there were 5 small pieces on the dish. Sauce was meh as well. Also-both of our pasta portions were decidedly small.
They haven't really done much with the decor- they took down all the fake celebrity pictures, redid the menu in Italian, and changed the name. I liked that Joe Mamas despite having mediocre food could take a joke.
Though- no complaints about the service which was excellent. Our waitress was extremely friendly and proactive. Also- half off wine bottles on Wednesday from 6-?(can't remember). And since most of them are $30-$40 normally that's very good.
Bottom line- these weak $14 pasta dishes aren't worth your time. They need a chef if they want to charge the prices they do. In fact- I think Noodles across the street is significantly better and cheaper. And for a nice dinner in Oakland The Porch has slightly better food and a dramatically better atmosphere.
It's too bad- I thought we might have a Piccolo Forno in Oakland but that is not the case.