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Mon-Thu. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
"This place was delicious! I kept eying everyone's meals through the window as I walked up and down the hill and I'm glad that we stopped…" read more »
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Food is pretty good; service was painfully slow.
We came here for dinner before catching the Symphony a block or so away. It was convenient and close and we had plenty of time before the show, about an hour and a half. We ordered the sea bass, petrale sole, and veal milanese as entrees. The starter bread is good and so is the tomato-ey sauce that comes with it. I like how they have sparkling water sitting on the tables when you arrive, at no extra cost.
The ambience is cute and has the typical SF cafe adornments- bright walls, small tables sitting close to one another, white tablecloths, paintings.
My only real complaint is that we had to wait 15 min. after ordering for our salads to arrive, and then another 20 or so for our entrees. We saw a lot of tables who were seated after us get their food before us, so maybe our server didn't put the order in right away. Anyhow, if you have a symphony to catch, you should come here for dinner well in advance of an hour and a half before showtime. Also, make reservations on symphony nights (stating the obv). Overall, we had a decent experience and didn't leave pissed off only because we were in symphony mode, meaning: we were all in the mood to slow down, catch up, and enjoy some lengthy conversation over a few glasses of wine before Beethoven's 5th. But if you're in a rush, forget it.
The waitress there gave me the full on boob press when she thought I was footing the bill.
Alas, she put them away when we decided to go dutch.
I, like another Yelper, become sad when I see all of the negative reviews here. I've been coming to Caffe Delle Stelle for a number of years now and I like it just fine. It's a perfectly lovely little place, and it's terrific for pre-opera/symphony/ballet meals. If you really want to go high-end, you can go to Jardiniere or Absinthe, but if you want to catch a quick, good meal at reasonable prices, give this place a try. They really deserve much more praise than they've received here.
I'm a picky diner, and I like this place. I'll bet you will, too.
I love their Economy Lunch Special.
When I found out that they were offering a full lunch (salad/soup, hot Italian pasta dish, bread and fizzy water) for 10 bucks, I had to come by to try it. I had been here for dinner before and had also noticed the lack of customers. Let me tell you: during lunch, this place is packed! I've come by for an early lunch (11:30ish) and a late lunch (1:30ish) and in both cases, I had to wait for them to clear a table for me.
The food is good, and I love that the fizzy water automatically comes with the meal gratis. The bread is also quite nice. The meals aren't fancy but they're tasty and clear value, especially in this neighborhood. I knock off one star for the slow service. When the owner (Italian gentleman) serves your table, it's great. If not, there's a long wait. But then again, the restaurant was completely full when I was there.
Thank you CDS for providing a hot meal under $10 during these economic times!
I love the food here. It can get very busy on symphony and opera nights, so you have to come prepared to wait or you can try and make reservations. Good luck with that - it may be difficult. But the nights that are not busy, you can easily get a table. The area is also nice so that you can walk around before or after dinner. The bookstore next door is great and have a good selection of used books.
I have been to Cafe Delle Stelle about five or six times so far, and each time I make my way over there I always have the same enjoyable experience. Last time I was there, my mother and I were going to the opera, and as we alerted our server that we had a deadline, she was already aware and made sure that we were on schedule.
We started off with a delicious plate of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella and bruschetta garnished with olives and a nice bottle of reasonably priced Chianti. For our main courses my mother had a petrale sole fillet rolled and stuffed with delicious crab meat and salmon, and I had homemade pasta sea food dish with angel hair and a light olive oil and lemon zest sauce.
Over all the place is convenient (especially if you're going to the opera or symphony-it's only a five minute walk away), reasonably priced especially for the quality that you are getting, has delicious food and great ambiance. I would defiantly recommend it to any one looking for a great Italian restaurant in Hayes Valley.
This place certainly attracts mixed reviews. But for my 2 cents, I like the joint. SAY LAH VEE!
Clearly an old world atmosphere, which I love. Old world service as well: they get to you when they can, then attempt to pay attention to your needs.
For lunch, we had the paparadelle, pizza & red wine. All were excellent, as were the ambiance & service.
We've been there before and will return again when we can get to the Hayes Valley.
A friend and I walked into Caffe Delle Stelle last night. I had only been there once and I'd thought it was not bad so why not go back a second time. The place was empty. 5 guests in all. We waited for about 3 minutes for someone to appear to greet and seat us. It never happen.
So we left.
I can not understand how is it possible that in this economy and specially in a business that is in great part all about "service" they can afford to do things like this.
Oh well... I guess they must not need the biz that badly...
Ok food BAD service. Thing only good thing this place has to offer is location and atmosphere.
The waitstaff was friendly enough but our waitress was MIA all night, which was inexcusable since the restaurant was not busy at all. Plates remained unbussed in front of us and our waitress never checked on us. Even after telling her that we had tickets for a show and that we were in a rush, she disappeared to who knows where and I had to ask the busser for our check.
The food was decent so I considered giving this place another shot on the off chance that I caught them on an off night. But after reading all the other complaints on Yelp about their inept service, I can't justify any return visits or referrals.
Another drag is that they didn't have a full bar. I guess that's ok since Absinthe is across the street.
I go here for one reason and one reason only;
Zuccati roasted pumpkin ravioli: sage infused butter $9.00
Just bring me some sparkling water with it and we're cool
Very disappointing. Has gone downhill since my last visit. Not authentically Italian. Bland, overcooked food. Boring menu.
One star for the bread and delicious dip.
The food was terribly bland and I was shocked when I got the bill. I highly recommend that you do not go here.
I've been here twice for lunch with coworkers, and had similar experiences both times. Like many others, my chief complaint here is that the service is bad. Not unfriendly, just bad. They're very slow, and today my entree came out 10 minutes after everyone else's in my group (there were 8 of us). That's just unacceptable, especially considering it had been at least 25 minutes since we had placed the orders when their food came out.
The quality of the food seems to vary widely. I enjoyed the "pizza" that I had for lunch today (once I finally got it). It wasn't made with pizza dough, it was flat bread with goat cheese, caramelized onions, rosemary, olive oil and figs. It was supposed to have some pancetta too, but that was not present. I thought it was quite tasty, although I had been hoping for an actual pizza as opposed to the flatbread. The combination of flavors with the goat cheese and figs was great, one I hope to experience again in a better setting.
The other people I was with had mixed reviews for their dishes, and I recall being unimpressed with the food when I was here last year. The food alone is 3-3.5 stars, but the slow service brings it down a notch. It shouldn't take 1.5 hours to eat lunch, no matter how crowded it is, and it's not like the food is bargain-priced. It's not that expensive, I'm just saying there's not much value to this place.
One of my friends was in town from New York yesterday, and in order to see everyone she wanted to see, there had to be two dinners, one at 6pm for the people with kids, and one at 10pm for the post-theatre late nighters.
We went to Delle Stelle for the first dinner which was perfect. It's a very good place to bring a kid over 6 and under 9 who behaves themselves. Meaning: a well-behaved kid could have a fairly good time there. But I suppose they would have to be in good company. I really don't want to say anything politically incorrect here about bringing young kids to restaurants, obviously.
Anyway there was a kid with us - did you guess that already?
The place seems to be owned and operated (or at least out front) by Italians from Italy. Their bread all comes with a nice mash of what I believe is cecchi beans, lots of olive oil, garlic, sun dried tomato, and parsley. I ate a lot of this because I was just planning on having a salad since I knew I was also going to dinner at 10pm.
What I had was a massive spinach salad with pine nuts, goat cheese, and good whole olives with a very lemony dressing. The quality of the baby spinach was nice and it was an enormous heap of salad.
The minestrone looked good, and so did the leg of lamb, the steak, and the pasta dishes. Everyone was quite happy. The fried calamari was also tasty - delicate but not greasy with the small tentacles - my favorite part - included.
The service was fairly quick and they were all very nice. When the kid got his pizza the waiter said, "Pizza for the bambino." Gotta love it because they do seem to grow up so fast.
I've been here 4 times. Simple Tuscan food, done extremely well. I had no idea that lamb meat balls could be such a big deal! Absolutely sublime! On my last visit, I had the petrale sole filled with salmon and crab meat . So good !! They have a good wine list, and amazing prices, great service, cool space, and just fantastic food. This place is ALWAYS packed, so getting here early (or having reservations) is a must.
Things that rock about this place:
1. The bread and bread dip (some tomato garlic concoction)
2. Sparkling water served instead of flat dead to the world water.
3. The salad...delicious.
4. The chicken stuffed with gorgonzola and figs....fun and delicious.
5. The bread pudding....excellent.
6. The staff...helpful and friendly.
I had dinner here last night during the Hayes Valley shopping night/open house. My friends and I ate here more by necessity than by choice as every other restaurant we walked by or tried to get a reservation via open table was packed. While the service last night did not reach the epic proportions of incompetence as detailed in other recent reviews, it could have been better. It took a while for the waiter to take our orders. The first course (salad for one dining companion and the minestrone soup for me) came out fairly quickly. However, there was quite a lag before the main dishes came out. I had the vittello milanese served with penne from the dinner specials menu. For dessert, I had the tiramisu; the version here has always been one of my favorites. The tiramisu portion was a bit smaller than I remember from previous visits. Overall, the food was fine.
With that said, the busser did a great job of ensuring we always had several full bottles of the complimentary sparkling water at our table. I did notice that they no longer serve the sparkling water in pitchers with slices of orange. (That was a great touch!) The tomato/garlic tapenade served with the bread was still great. On the other hand, the bread they offer has always been lackluster, and that doesn't appear to have changed.
The worst service I have ever experienced in my life. When the time comes (if ever) that I experience a restaurant with worse service, I will come back to this review and change this statement. My friend and I waited for 10 minutes before anyone acknowledged or seated us, waited another 20 minutes before anyone came and took our order, and then waited another 70 (SEVENTY) minutes before our food began to arrive at our table. Our waiter came only ONCE during the entire ordeal in this uncrowded restaurant, and hurriedly asked if we needed any bread.
The bread never came.
I was tempted to give this place one star, yet as the bland food was edible I showed some restraint in rating it.
Ok, I freakin' love their pumpkin ravioli with sage infused butter. BUT the wait staff is snobby snobby snobby!
granted I only go in there for the ravioli and only to-go, but still.
I can hardly bring myself to go in there for the ravioli when the staff is so snobby and rude!
But if you do dare to enter, the ravioli is totally awesome.
Oh and once I went in to order to go and they told me to come back later, they didn't really look at me, just "come back later" wouldn't let me order! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!
I've been here twice. The food is tasty, and the pasta is reasonably priced. It's sort of embarrassing how impressed I was with free sparkling water.
However, our waitress was rude to us, and scolded an employee in front of us. This left me with a very bad impression, enough to bring my review down to 3 stars.
Date & Time: Friday August 8, 2008 @ 7pm
Company: Pretty Girl Jin A. & Michael
Crowd: Older 40-Plus Couples & Small Groups of Over 40's
Vibe: Relaxed
Decor: Comfortable & Rustic. Red Walls w/ Italian Prints & Photos. Nicely-Spaced Wooden Tables w/ White TableCloths. Three Tables for Deux Al Fresco.
Service: Friendly, Nice, Efficient. Jin A. thought the Young Waiter was Cute;o
Imbibe: Bordeaux & Espressos
Devour: We all had the Daily Special Soup which was Minestrone. Jin A. had the Best Dish- Pastry Shell w/ Eggplant & Pasta for the Filling:) Gen had Thinly Sliced Veal which was A-OK. Michael had the Lamb Shank:( We all Shared our Dishes, but No One Wanted Michael's. The Tomato Garlic Sauce w/ The Bread is Good. Dessert such @ Bread Pudding & Egg Custard looked Good, but We were too Full from the Generous Portions
Total: $82.37
Great location in Hayes Valley. The prices are pretty decent. I tried the arugula salad which was average--the dressing was a little too heavy. I also tried the rigatoni with chicken & sun dried tomatoes which I felt was a little salty. My friend tried the lasagne which was actually pretty good. I was happier with his dish than mine.
Service is a little abrupt--- before I could even get my drink order in, the waiter had already walked away! Geez, isn't it your job to ask if I want something to drink??
Anyways, I do recall being here once before and feeling the same way about the place. With so many other options in this area, I will definitely try another place when in the area.
This place has slipped over the years but is still pretty good. We got in at 6:30 on a Friday night and it was maybe 1/3 full so that tells you what other people think of it. It's not that it's bad, but they've just gotten lazy. The menus are wrinkled and badly photocopied, and the place gives the overall impression that they just don't care. Like the other Stell* places in the neighborhood, the staff doesn't know much about wine. The waiter looked at me like I'd asked hm who the 8th President was(1) when I asked if the Barbera would pair well with the papardelle. He just shrugged and nodded. It did but I can't help but think there was a better pairing on the menu. My friend had the gnocchi, which was a bit gloopy but my papardelle was really good. I'd say go ahead and go to Stelline if you were in the neighborhood (but don't ask wine questions).
1) Martin Van Buren
As has been noted many times here, the service is very very bad. To me, bad service is much worse than bad food, because being a decent server requires minimal effort. I'm always sympathetic to a harried, over-worked server who has too many tables and is running around frazzled. That was not the case. Our waitress just clearly did not care.
Delle Stelle has the distinction of serving me the most horrific calamari I have ever had the misfortune to eat. It was served with parmesan cheese (wtf?) and broccoli that had the living shit roasted out of it (it literally *crumbled* in my mouth it was so dry). The calamari itself was similarly death dry, and chewy. Terrible.
My entree, the name of which I forget (lasagna noodles with spinach and pine nut roulade) was actually pretty good, though it was really only a small step above "Olive Garden quality".
It sounds like I fell into the same trap as many other people who ended up here because everything was crowded. There's a reason this place is empty: mediocre (sometimes terrible) food, awful service. Go somewhere else.
This place had been on my go-here list for almost ten years. So I was slightly disappointed to find it didn't totally rock my world when I finally made it. But I was having an intense craving for pasta (and why the hell is it getting IMPOSSIBLE to find a decent plate of pasta in this city?), and Delle Stelle was handy and I was happy to finally have a chance to try it. And it did scratch the pasta itch, so all things considered, okay, it was fine.
It is a pleasant room with pleasant people who work there. The carpaccio sucked a little bit, but both pasta dishes were good. Though the BF didn't care for his gnocchi. But I liked it, so we just swapped and everyone was happy. They had a beer selection of one, which was kind of lame, and their wine list was nothing interesting. But overall, it was a completely pleasant experience.
Had a lunch date here with another one of my cousins and we both enjoyed it very much. We stepped in around 11:30 AM to beat the lunch crowd and the place was empty - just the way I like it! =) (The place was pretty full by noon) We were seated immediately with a jug of mineral water already at our table. The restaurant was very cute, decorated with nice colors and various art work.
We both decided to go with the menu fisso - it comes with your choice of soup or salad, and pizza, sandwich, salad, or pasta, and either soda, coffee, or their choice of a 4 oz glass of wine. The complimentary bread and tomato pesto dipping sauce is excellent! I can get full simply stuffing my face with that stuff. I had the lasagna and my cousin went with the angel hair pasta with pesto and a various assortment of seafood. The lasagna had ground beef and slices of zucchini - loved it! The tomato sauce was perfect, as it wasn't too tangy or salty. My cousin also loved her pasta dish and enjoyed all the seafood.
We'll definitely be back for our next lunch!
This place is not San Francisco - worthy. Poorly presented, horrible service, and average food. How do they stay in business?
We had to ask several times for the waiter to refill our water (he never even bothered taking drink orders), eventually eating the main course without anything to drink. The presentation was not visually appealing at all, and the food was simply sub-par (risotto that just taste like rice with spices, overly chewy lamb shank, mushy polenta).
I guess this place has fallen out of favor from where it was 10 years or so ago. The sparkling water (seriously if you don't like sparkling water, just ask for still..where in SF can you not only get a picture of sparking lot..but get it for free!!!)and bread sun dried tomato/garlic tapenade, were just the touches I remembered.
We walked in at 7:45 or so on Friday night..and it was DEAD. We had to wait a second while they set up a table in a section where there was still a server, as they were sending one server and the hostess home early for the evening.
We ordered a delle stelle salad to share, and my BF had the sole and I the chicken special of the night. His came with mashed potatoes which were creamy and just the right hint of garlic. Mine came with a polenta square. All was delicious.
The table next to us had also ordered a first course and the server brought them their main course before they had even finished..as they complained a bit, i think we had the opposite affect as we had to wait just a tad longer than normal (maybe 5-10 minutes...past normal!) after we had finished our salad...luckily the busboy was happy to oblige with more bread.
A food runner/bus boy finally brought us a dessert menu after another long wait after our dinner dishes were cleared, and we did order a dessert to share.
I didn't notice that the decor was faded or old..if anything...it just reminded me of an Italian trattoria, in Amalfi. I did take off a star because there were flies flying around. While it had been a nice day it was the 2nd day of spring...there were regular flies and a few little 'teetsy' flies landed on our table...i H-A-T-E flies!!
took of another star because they forgot to give back our visa card.
The night we had dinner at Caffe Delle Stelle was a quiet weekday evening. I used to go there all the time when I lived in the neighborhood some years ago. It has definitely changed. I don't think that they serve italian food any more. The names of the dishes are italian but the recipes are either greek or middle eastern. I thought the food was good but not especially italian. The service was slow but we were in no rush so that wasn't a problem. The wait staff were pleasant and hospitable.
If you are looking for an inexpensive place for decent pasta, come here with friends.
Fair warning, portions are huge, so be prepared to share. Nothing special on the wine list.
Food....Cold, tasteless.
Service.......Friendly, however slow. Does having the last entree come out 20 minutes after the first entree account for anything?
Two stars due to atmosphere, and the simple fact that we didn't have the shits after the meal. Fair enough?
My dining companion and I dined on a Wednesday night and were satisfied with our tasty pumpkin ravioli and tagliatelle with meat sauce. The pasta had a nice al dente bite to it which tells me it was fresh and cooked just right. The prices weren't bad either...$13 and $14 respectively. The antipasti platter for $12 came with proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, olives, spring greens drizzled with olive oil, and 2 baguette slices spread with goat cheese and slice of tomato, . Like the other reviewers, we, too, liked the bread with the tomato-ey spread and the sparkling water which tasted like tap infused with CO2. I would have enjoyed ordering the $7 Prosecco, but I was the designated driver. I parked 3 blocks away off of Gough in an un-metered 2 hour max space which was nice because I didn't have any more coins on me and, if I did, the meters only allow 1 hour max. As for the service issue, I noticed that we were not asked whether we wanted more bread or water. I guess you gotta ask for it. I definitely recommend this restaurant for their pasta. Ciao!
Given that we live within the bounty of one billion farms, I don't understand why I have Sysco Systems Frozen Vegetable Mix on my plate. I recognize it from my days of working in a kitchen, you can't fool me.
In this hood, with the ambiance, and attentive service, I had expected more. I'll stick to Stelline, it's not trying to be something it's not at least.
I call this place "cafe attitude", similar to cafe trieste in north beaaaaach which i associate as it's ugly cousin. The food isn't that great and there is always an 'issue' if you don't have a rezzy, like an empty restaurant at 6pm on a thursday isn't a strong indicator that walk in's are needed???? i drove by on a wednesday night at 7:45 and only TWO people were there, how does this place stay in business???? i think its owned by the mob.
note to staff/owners: take an enema or valium. there are far better places in sf with the same menu, the only way i'd eat there or recommend it would be under diress whilst in a padded room as i "shoot up" with mr. clean. Caffe Del SUCK IT!
I had eaten here about a year ago and remembered liking it. I tried it again last week and was not happy with it at all. The food is definitely not worth the price. I'm sure I'm biased having an Italian grandmother who makes awesome food! But seriously, the pasta dish I had was $13. It was angelhair pasta, tomatoes, and pinenuts. Not a very large portion, very bland. The server didn't offer us any cheese so I had to ask and then wait till I was half way done with it before they came back with the cheese. It was around 8pm and there were only 2 other parties dining. Service was extremely slow but the server we had was friendly at least. The tiramisu was really good but the chocolate torte was the WORST thing I ever tasted.
I felt bad but we told them the torte wasn't good and they took it off the bill. That's why they get 2 stars instead of 1.
I won't be coming back.
Many, many years ago I would have rated them at least three stars. Today, the food is still good but their service is unfriendly and slow. Recently, they somehow lost our confirmed reservation and they were completely unaccommodating and the hostess was downright rude. I asked myself why I was going back given the previous bad service but I belive in giving a second chance since, maybe, they were having a bad night before. Nope, bad service prevailed right at the front door and we went elsewhere.
If you do go, go on a slow night: maybe the staff will be less crabby, or less stressed with fewer patrons because they clearly cannot handle it when there are crowds. As for me, I will not be going back nor will I recommend this place purely because of the bad service.
To be honest, the only reason why I came to this place was because we had tickets for the symphony and we wanted to eat within walking distance before the symphony. It seems we don't have a lot of decent affordable options in this neighborhood.
I'd say the pasta is decent. Some of it is handmade, which I'm a fan of. Not remarkable, but decent pasta. Decently priced too.
I'd come back if I had another symphony outing and had to eat nearby. Otherwise, I wouldn't make a special trip for it. There are way better restaurants in the city.
loved the food, especially the economy lunch specials. i highly suggest you stop by for a glass of nor-cal grape juice and a lunch entree.
service was definitely polite, and the atmosphere uplifting.
i also love the name- say it 3 times fast.
My friend Camilla and I were treated to dinner here by our bf's during a double SF Symphony-night date. I was excited to try a new place but slightly discouraged by the not so enticing words of my fellow Yelpers. Still, not being one to enjoy judging anything before its due, I stepped into the crowded but warm red room with faith that I'd at least get a satisfying meal.
Satisfying - yes. I ordered a very non-traditionally Italian dish - a crepe stuffed with corn, onion, cheese, and a few other things. It was definitely an interesting combination but didn't exactly make me forget about the fact that our waiter had pretty much ignored us the entire night and had brought our food so late that we had to wolf it down like animals in order to make it to our quadruple date with Michael Tilson Thomas on time. The high point of the meal was probably the delicious dipping sauce they give you with your bread as an appetizer. I probably would have been happier with just that rather than my semi-worth it crepe dinner.
The location of this place is good - I like Hayes Valley and I liked that all we had to do was walk around the corner to get to Symphony Hall - but I think Delle Stelle's "Italian" crepe is better left to the French. Que sera, sera...
I declare this place... an oozing pimple of pomposity on the face of an otherwise beautiful city
Food-- Eh!
Ambiance-- Fair
Service-- Abysmal!
I don't give just anyone a single star. You really have to screw up.
This place has decent food, but the service is so downright rude, your stomach is too knotted up to enjoy it.
When we went, the restaurant was empty but for a few tables, so they sat us next to the host podium. Sort of an annoying place to be. So we asked to be moved. They moved us to the door near the kitchen. Remember: the restaurant was empty. We asked again and the waiter said "Okay, but this is the last time I move you. One more time and forget it."
Okay, I admit, restaurant work is hard, and maybe we were annoying. Once we were seated, things were okay... for us...
But for the group of four next to us, their waiter was just as rude, if not worse. They ordered, were in the middle of eating their salads when their main courses arrived. The gentleman very politely asked if he could finish his salad before having the main course placed on the table. The waiter said in a very rude tone "The food will get cold, so no." And then proceeded to clear away space for the main courses.
The food was disappointing for me, but other people do rave about it.
So, if you don't mind horrible waiters, then you might like this place.
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