Neto Caffe and Bakery

I’m bumping up my review from two to three stars, because I’ve come back too many times, despite my complaints, to justify two stars.

I really wanted to like Neto the moment I first say it back in October. I really enjoy Mediterranean, the menu looked interesting, and the 2 AM close seemed very convenient for the those nights when I couldn’t get to dinner until 11 PM.

But my first attempts weren’t great.

The first time I came was for lunch, and the service was slow and confused. Neto had only been open for a few days, so I figured time would change this and the food would make up for it. I went for hummus with mushrooms, which I figured an Israeli restaurant would do really well. The hummus looked good, though the mushrooms were the soft and slimy half-moon type you see in cans (I hope this is just a coincidence). They weren’t terribly flavorful and the hummus was one of the worst I’ve had (this includes most store bought kinds). It was pasty and lacking flavor. The pita was doughy and all too chewy. The portions were large, but that doesn’t count for much when the food isn’t very good. I finished with the cinnamon pastry, which was good, but not worth going to Neto for.

I made another more attempt, and got their mushroom Samboosak (turnover). The Samboosak turnover was a thick pita shell covering the same mushrooms from the hummus with a mustardy sauce. It wasn’t that bad, but it also wasn’t that great either. It might have been better with something different inside, but the amount of dough used in the pita was somewhat overwhelming. I tried a chocolate croissant, which was ok (should be pretty easy to make this tasty), but not great. The yogurt and granola is overpriced and the granola is soggy, but the yogurt at least was thick, pungent, and interesting.

The prices are too high and the baked goods are too large (and expensive) to have with a meal, so it might be better to think of this as a place to get dessert items.

I’ve given Neto a couple more tries since and have found that some things have improved and that there are some options I like. They seemed to have lowered the prices and removed a few of the confusing “add $2” notes next to salads. They’ve made a bunch of little improvements, like adding pictures of everything, which is nice. I appreciate that they have free wifi, its always bustling, yet never totally full, and they do have a lot of options. I really like the chicken salad (with breaded chicken slices) and the hummus was more enjoyable the second time around. They seem to be be doing good business, so they may not be compelled to lower their prices much more, but I would be likely to return if a few more items were a little cheaper.

I eat Neto’s breakfast pastries. They are among the best pastries I have found in Mountain View (Prolific Oven in Palo Alto is better but further away). Traditional Jewish delights like babka and rugalach, great croissant and pan chocolat. Only tried lunch a few times and was not impressed.