WALNUT CREEK, CA — The old sandwich shop on North Main sat empty for eight months. Now it is a wine bar with small plates and exactly the kind of patio Walnut Creek has been asking for since the last one turned into a bank branch.
So Bacco, a new Italian-inspired wine bar and cicchetti spot, opened quietly on North Main last week. No grand opening banner. No influencer dinner. Just a handwritten specials board and the smell of olive oil drifting onto the sidewalk.
Whats on the Menu
The menu is short. Maybe ten items. That is a good sign. A kitchen doing too much is a kitchen doing nothing well.
The porchetta comes sliced thin on a wooden board with fennel slaw and a mustard crema that actually tastes like mustard, not mayonnaise with ambitions. The arancini are golden and exactly as crispy as they should be, served with a tomato sauce that tastes like August.
The standout is the stuffed zucchini flowers. They are tempura-light and filled with ricotta and lemon zest. Two of them on a plate for twelve dollars. Not cheap. Worth it.
There is a section of cicchetti, the Venetian small plates, which at Bacco means crostini with creative toppings. The one with whipped lardo and honey is the kind of thing you order, eat, and immediately order again.
The Wine List
Natural wines. Mostly Italian and French. The staff knows what they are pouring. I asked for something bright and the server pointed me to a Friulano that tasted like green apple and limestone. Eleven dollars by the glass.
The Space
The dining room seats maybe 30. Concrete floors, exposed beams, warm lighting. The patio out back is the real draw. String lights, olive trees in planters, heaters for when the fog rolls in.
The Verdict
Should you go? Yes. Bacco is not trying to be a destination restaurant. It is trying to be the neighborhood spot you walk to on a Tuesday night when you want a glass of wine and a plate of something good. Walnut Creek needed that.
Bacco. 1518 North Main Street. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 4 p.m. to close. No reservations for parties under six. Parking in the lot behind the building.
