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I took my man here on a Friday for a celebration. It's a celebration bitches!
Anyhow, the food was awesome. Good ol' hearty Italian food. I had the pesto cheese ravioli and my honey had the tortellini carbonara. Both were really really good. We had the polenta appetizer as well, which was baked cheesy goodness to the max. Everything we had was really rich and hearty. Definitely comfort food.
No complaints other than that they don't have dessert. Why oh why not just throw a few easy dessert items on the menu to end the meal right? Tiramisu can't be that hard to make.
This place is nicely tucked away right next to the alley where they filmed "Mrs. Doubtfire." It's got a nice old edwardian design and upon entering you will be greeted with loud happy customers and servers scrambling all over. The place is small and cramped, but not to the point where it will be a nuissance - in fact it just adds to its overall charm.
I came here and ordered their gnocci while a friend had the calamari pasta platter. Both dishes were delicious. They were very generous with the amount of seafood on the platter and the gnocci had a very nice soft chewy texture in my mouth from the chewing pasta, cheese and pesto.
Service is also very friendly and the prices were very reasonable. It's definitely a place to check out the next time you're around North Beach.
It was crowded, it took them at least 10 minutes to get us a table even though we were the only one's standing around.
The waitress was a little slow in our service and the food wasn't that great. I got the cheese ravioli with the basil pesto and my friend got the gnocchi. We shared the dishes together and they both tasted EXACTLY the same. Lame.
Also, the menu wasn't that inventive, they seemed to have the "typical" italian foods: penne, gnocchi, angel hair, and pizza. A lot of the menu actually looked like what you could get at the olive garden. Also, the presentation wasn't all that great, I swear my friend's gnocchi with the pesto sauce on it looked like duck turds.
Slow service, mediocre food, really crowded, and not very many tastey sounding veggie options, and a little pricey for bleh-ish food.
Also, just as a side note (not related to my review), the two guys sitting next to us were total d-bags. They were trying to flirt with every single woman in there and I overheard of both of their unemployed status as they high fived each other for their "accomplishment"
If you want big, bold and hearty Italian dishes with a homey atmosphere and great bar service then this is the place for you. I don't know about the Olive Garden comparisons that I've read here as I have never been there but you will enjoy your experience at Sodini's. The servings are plentiful and you will not leave hungry. I've been coming here periodically for about 15 years and it's one of the most comfortable restaurants in North Beach. I've always had friendly service here and it helps if you have a very good sense of humor. ;)
"It looks crowded," my friend said, "So it must be good."
Or it must just be a San Francisco institution. The menu said the restaurant was 100 years old. But what brings people in year after year after decade after decade? It couldn't have been the overly peppery frito misto or the bland North Beach style angel hair.
Our waitresses were nice, but the service was So Slow. I wasn't impressed. With all the other restaurants to choose from, I can't say I have any interest in coming back.
The food here was tolerable, pretty cheap and nothing special (read: iceberg lettuce and canned black olives for a house salad; stale table bread; thin crust pizza with plenty of cheese) but not bad... the bizarre-o waitress merits the one-star-review. She either does not know a THING about waiting tables or just not give a fuck. She demonstrated having absolutely no concept of how to wait tables professionally.
When she brought my friend his glass of wine, she snuck around behind him for a surprise-attack of wine delivery, reaching over his shoulder and startling him, causing her to bump into him and spill wine onto his sleeve. Why would she do this? Why not present the wine so that he can see her coming and make space for her to put it on the table?
While we waited for our meals to arrive, she came up to our table with a flashlight, saying that someone lost a camera and she thought it might be under the table. She proceeded to get down onto her hands and knees and crawl under our table with her flashlight as we sat there perplexed. Of course we were laughing at the hilarity of the waitress crawling around at our feet, but really? Is this the way to find a lost camera? How about waiting until we leave or asking us to look around? She didn't even ask us to look, just bumbled up with the flashlight and apologized profusely as she crawled around our ankles. Weird. Entertaining but very weird.
Before our meal arrived, my friend and I decided to help her out by clearing the table, anticipating the trouble that could ensue if she arrived with our pizza and had nowhere to drop it. But unfortunately, our clearing was not enough... when she arrived with the pizza, she literally tossed the olive oil dish across the table onto my bread plate (oh sure, I guess I wasn't going to use it again) and plopped the pizza down on its stand, even though there was plenty of room for the dish to remain where it was.
After that, our waitress wandered around in front of the restaurant, talking on her cell phone directly outside of our window. We figured we could just tap on the glass if we needed something.
Yes, it was hilarious and entertaining, but really? What a bizarre person. I know a thing or two about waiting tables and she broke SO many of the customary rules of good service (there occurred many other tidbits that I have not mentioned).
If Sodini's was a cheap pizza stand instead of a moderately priced restaurant, I would have expected service like this. But for what it is, the service was flagrantly erroneous.
Wheeeeeeeeeeen daaaaaa moon hitza ur eye like-a big-a pizza pieeeee
THAT'S AMORE!!!
Old school joint, been around forever. Used to be called Green Valley (my dad has some interesting stories about the old haunt). Of course, it's in my old 'hood so I gotta hollah at both the hood and the food.
Great bar, I know the bartender (though I only see the dude once a year). Usually go with the homies, we throw a few back at the bar while watching some sports then head to a table for some parm, pasta, pizza, whatever - it's all pretty good. I even take my ladies over sometimes and even that picky crew digs the place.
If Danilo Bakery is still open, we usually get some desert to end the evening with a bang.
Cool place, great hood, good prices.
Ya feel me?
TRIED AND TRUE SODINI'S WINS AWARD
SODINI'S
510 Green St., (415) 291-0499
It is told that, in San Francisco, a restaurant closes every day and every day a new one opens. Why is it then that we have a trattoria in North Beach that has survived and flourished year in and year out, maintaining a reputation reinforced by in the Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay Awards? According to the Guardian Sodini's is the "Best Old Style Italian Restaurant" in San Francisco.
I asked Mark Sodini about this one night at his packed restaurant, with people waiting in line out of the door. "It's the employees," he answered, "Most have been with us for over a decade. We have one girl who is new. She has only been here six years. Our chef, Rufigio, has been cooking here for 12 years." Those of us who have enjoyed going to the restaurant for years know beautiful Ana. She runs the full bar and welcomes everyone who steps in the door as if the place was hers. Our server, Rachelle, started working at Sodini's nine years ago as a single woman. Now she is married with three babies. This is a family restaurant in more ways than one. Mark told me that his brother bought the place 16 years ago, and Mark joined him one year later. Not long after, Mark took the establishment over and has run it day in and day out, 360 days a year.
In addition to his staff, Mark attributes his success (he has never advertised) to Old World Italian food, with many of the recipes being his grandmother's. He supplements the neighborhood feel of his place with products from North Beach: pasta strips for lasagna from Molinari's and crusty bread from the Italian French Bakery. The restaurant draws eighty percent of its customers from the neighborhood.
The walls are covered in memorabilia and art. There's a painting of the old Green Valley Restaurant that Sodini's replaced, a mural that positions the viewer to look from the restaurant down Green Street, and another one, executed by a former waitress, that shows Mark's brother kissing his wife, amid grape vines.
As for the food, if there was a prize in North Beach for the best house salad, Sodini's would win hands down. The fresh romaine lettuce is supported by, black olives, onion, tomato, cucumber, garbanzo beans, croutons and mushrooms. However, it is the house made dressing, made of blue cheese, olive oil, garlic and lemon that makes the salad. The fried calamari appetizer is not your generic North Beach fried calamari. Sodini's only serves the rings, which are lightly battered and lightly fried, leaving the calamari extremely tender. This delicacy is accompanied by spicy aioli sauce.
The restaurant's signature pasta dish is Tortellini Carbonara. This beef filled tortellini ring has a light cream Alfredo Sauce made with mushrooms and pancetta. The tortellinis melt in your mouth and the sauce is light. Biting into a piece of pancetta brings this otherwise mild dish to life. Lamb lovers will enjoy the rack of lamb, infused with butter, grilled to perfection and served with a generous portion of linguine pesto. My favorite vegetable at Sodini's is the sautéed spinach, with mushrooms. It is fresh, tender and not greasy or overcooked. Try it with a little hand-grated parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
So one night when you are wondering where to eat, saunter over to Sodini's. You will be treated wonderfully, leave with a belly full of good food and feel like you have just been to an Italian family's home for dinner. Just remember their motto: No decaf. No reservations. No dessert. No exceptions.
Very nice people and help. They accommodated our large group (10 people) on short notice on a Saturday night around 7 PM. We didn't wait long. Parking can be a challenge in this neighborhood. The food was great and the price not too bad.
Ate dinner here last week and I was treated to everything I expected.
You see, I'm one of those dorks that loves little authentic places with charm and fantastic food.
Sodini's hit the spot.
I had the lasagne and spent 40 minutes eating every bite slowly. And I mean every bite. It was the best lasagne I'd ever eaten and that's a lot for me to admit (I make a mean bolognese).
If you're in North Beach and you can't figure out which place is more authentic, just try Sodini's.
It certainly met my expectations.
All I can say is that anyone that only rated this restaurant a 4 star or less needs to go back. My friend and I have only been to San Francisco twice and we have eaten there 3 times. This past visit in June we visited it twice during our only 5 day stay we liked it so much. . My friend and I split the basil garlic gnocchi the first time we went and all we did was mutter, "Yum", as we took each bite. It melted in our mouths. The bruschetta is awesome. Fresh tomatoes with a garlic/olive oil over toasty bread. I cannot say one bad word about this place. The service was superb. Everyone was very friendly and made us feel like we were part of the family. Go early in the evening if you don't want a wait. That is what we did. If we ever return to the San Francisco area we will definitely return to this restaurant.
P.S. Why we originally tried this restaurant is because it was off the main road of Columbus. I said to my friend, "Let's try somewhere different that is not on our list and is off the beaten path." This comment brought us to Sodini's and I'm so glad it did.
It seems to me that this is THE PLACE to go if you are in the mood for some basic Italian fare. I realized recently that I prefer simple pasta dishes and stuff to fancy Italian food. Maybe you don't , and that's cool, because there are lots of fancy places to eat in SF if that is your thing.
My boyfriend and I went to Sodini's on Saturday night. We didn't have to wait very long. I had some lasagna which was delicious...all melty cheese, meaty meat, and not too much sauce. That's all I had (and a cocktail. Good cocktail!) so I can't comment much more on the food, but here are some other things which made Sodini's awesome:
1. Crayons on the table to draw with on the butcher paper covering the tables. Yeah, yeah, I know this is a common feature of chain Italian restaurants, but we got more than three colors! So, awesome.
2. Frank Sinatra crap everywhere.
3. The couple next to us who were on a first date, and I'm pretty sure they met online. They seemed like a coupla good kids. I hope it works out for them. I know Sodini's isn't responsible for this couple, but I'm giving it to them anyway.
I ADORE this place! It's a quaint little place, with a tiny little bar, and somehow a very romantic atmosphere. It's has a very personal vibe that I love. The waitress was very sweet and friendly. The salad was so-so, but the rest of my food...pasta and chicken were amazing! The wine was good, and even if you have to wait a bit for a table, you can always wait at the bar and have a drink before dinner. The staff are very, very friendly and the food isn't overpriced...perfectly reasonable. Trust that a little place like this that has been around forever has GOT to be GOOD!!
I've been in here twice and would go back again.
Great ambiance, great bartender. It's close quarters inside, but the waitstaff makes it easy to feel like the restaurant is less crowded. They are really attentive. Prices were reasonable and portions large, plan on taking some of your dinner home for lunch the next day.
The first meal was good enough to make me go back a second time, (and would have should have given four stars). The second time I went for dinner I had the pesto and it was mediocre. It was missing that 'pop' that most pesto has and was a little too creamy for my taste. But the salad and the wine were both great.
I'm looking forward to having dinner here again, and bumping this up to four stars.
Great staff and cool neighborhood spot
Parking is DRAMA in North Beach but it's worth a venture out!
Tortellini is laddered with yummy cream sauce....I think we got the Carbonara. MmmmMmmMM. My friend insisted that their Calamari was the best, and good god...he was right. Light and crisp, NOT DRENCHED in batter.....and you get both an Aioli or Marinara sauce. Can't say much about the chicken I got...but overall a good solid 4 stars.
Crowded even on a Monday night! I can only imagine how it is on a weekend.
First off, in North Beach, if you're going to do Italian, you want to go somewhere with an atmosphere and this place has it. Dark, rustic, old fashioned, basic Italian food, nothing fancy just good old fashioned cooking.
Calamari is good, as well as the mozzarella caprese salad. For my entree I had the tortellini with mushrooms, pancetta and a creamy sauce which was so amazing, that despite my plan to only eat half and save the rest ( I am trying to fit into a wedding dress in 2 months afterall) I ended up eating the entire thing in one sitting.
Service is fast and efficient and friendly, exactly what you'd expect from a neighborhood restaurant. For 3 of us we spent $120, for 2 appetizers, 3 entrees and a pitcher of red wine.
Perfect place for a good dinner out.
FYI - they are really basic- so much in fact they don't take reservations and don't serve dessert. But they do take credit cards.
I like this place. It's always busy. You might wait at the bar. You'll stand and order glass after glass of the sangiovese, then when the table is ready, you'll sit and have a big meal in a comfortable, Italian restaurant that feels like they've been doing it this way for many, many years.
Not super fancy, just honest Italian food.
I think some other Yelpers who vote with one star have to take a little reality check and turn down the drama a little.
So what, if they someone may not greet you at the door.
So what, if they're busy and the service is a little slow.
Relax. Slow down. Don't rush your food. Enjoy a little wine and have an interesting conversation with the people you came with.
Sodini's is a great little family restaurant slightly off the beaten path in North Beach. One of the most comfortable places I've visited.
First off.....you see a parking lot across the street that has a few spaces, and you pull in. Just leave a note you're at Sodini's and they come to collect right there. Anna is the bartender, and she's a class act- vey funny and keeps up with everything.
The Sinatra/ Tony Bennett/ Rosemary Clooney tunes abound. The food is old style, with huge portions of each offering. There's a great table in the back that (if you can grab it) is the best seat in the house. Everyone's smiling and talking non-stop.
Simple, fun and flavorful. What's not to like?
The sign on the window is so funny: No reservation. No dessert. At least the restaurant tells you upfront about the restrictions.
You can easily miss this restaurant on Green Street. However, this is a wonderful place to go to if you are in the Little Italy area.
Seating is very tight. There are around 15 tables and a sit-down bar area.
The free bread was a disappointment as it wasn't warm and was regular plain white bread. Nothing special. You can use rosemary infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar provided on the table for a dip.
The food is delicious!!!
Appetizer: Fried calamari with the garlic aioli and cocktail sauce - MmmM.. the calamari was fresh and the lightly coated batter was perfect. Well worth the $15! This is a popular appetizer as most tables ordered it.
Main Entrees:
Seafood Linguine- Wow! There were clams, shrimp, calamari, and mussels in the dish. The seafood was really fresh, and it was in a light tomato cream sauce. My mom and sister shared this dish, and the chef split the platter into two smaller plates. What a great touch!
Tortellini with mushroom and pancetta- MMmMm.. my favorite dish of the night. The cream sauce was rich and so yummy. The mushroom and pancetta gave the dish the earthy and salty flavors. The tortelini was cooked well too. Great dish.
Gnocchi in pesto sauce- We called the dumplings "little pillows" since they were shaped like that. SO cute! The gnocchi wasn't bad. Not quite as fluffy though. The pesto sauce was pretty thick.
Service was okay. We didn't see our waitress that much since the restaurant was extremely busy.
Definitely come to this restaurant to experience southern Italian food!
Was looking for a place in North Beach as had a friend visiting staying around there. Picked this place based on the yelp reviews, as figured it would help me navigate the minefield that can be touristy stodgy north beach Italian restaurants.
It is a cute place, but then again, most of the restaurants in North Beach are. We got a table straight away, but it was pretty full. I have to make a special mention of the staff here, they were all super friendly, down-to-earth, helpful and great.
The food was OK. The bread they give you is ordinary at best, but their olive oil is pretty yummy. Ordered some garlic bread and caprese salad appetizers-they were fairly awful. The mozzarella on the salad was like a brick- or make that mini bricks as it came in those rounds between the tomatoes. The garlic cheese bread was made on the same gross bread they put on the table when you sit down. It was pretty gross and not like a beloved classic garlic bread at all. All of us ordered gnocchi for our main course. The gnocchi was actually really yummy-stuffed with spinach and cheese and fluffy. I got just a plain tomato sauce on top of it, which was super fresh and flavorful. The boys got a meaty creamy looking sauce that was pretty funky looking, not in a good way. The portions were decent but not stuff-you crazy big, which is a plus for me.
I would go back for gnocchi if I was in the area but I wouldn't trek across town for the restaurant, and I'd be wary of ordering other stuff on the menu, based on what I saw around me on other tables.
North beach dining has yet to convince me, I'm"m still thinking it's all mostly a tourist trap.
Great food. Great prices. Big portions. They don't serve coffee and they don't serve dessert. The Calamari is always a gold standard for a starter. Honestly, no matter what you get, your tummy will be happy.
Their tortellini was the best, was it handmade at the store? Because I've never had pasta that delicious. I loved the atmosphere and the fact you can draw on the table! Paper tablecloth is amazing.
Their prices were a bit high, but alas. I will be back again, one day!
Okay after almost of month of scoping out the dozens of cute little restaurants near our new digs, we've found the only Italian place you need in North Beach!
The service was so friendly and efficient, the garlic bread was addictive, and the soup was not only enough of a meal on its own, but was tasty enough, too. Then the meal came (chicken sodini and a carbonara) and we didn't even talk-- just ate and smiled! And though large portions don't usually equate to food you'd want to take home, we did. And I can't wait to get home to eat the leftovers for dinner tonight.
The best pasta in North Beach; search over.
I randomly stumbled upon this restaurant while looking for a good Italian plaxe to eat on vacation in SF.
I think I had the best Italian meal here I have ever had! I had the clam and muscle appetizer to start. It was in a white wine garlic sauce and crazy good. Cesar salad was amazing. Seafood linguine had a cream sauce and was out of this world - they were generous with the scallops, shrimp, and shellfish. Waitress was super helpful and friendly. Definitely going back next time i visit SF.
Ventured here on a spontaneous Tuesday evening date to North Beach.
Dinner was going to be either this place or the pizza place (Golden Boy..?) next door. We opted for the sit down for a pleasant discovery!
FOOD:
Caprese - $9ish, tasted very fresh and light. Perfect appetizer. They ended up splitting the dish in two (knowing that we wanted to share), which I found to be a nice gesture =)
Seafood Linguini - $15ish, and let's just say they don't skimp out on the seafood - succulent shrimp, squid, clams, mussels, the whole shebang! Overall though, the flavor was perfectly savory - not bland as far as most pasta dishes can be. Very good portion as well (had leftovers!)
Pesto Gnocchi -- $10ish. OMG so tender and soft and melt in your mouth kinda good. (We ate here about a week ago, and I can still imagine the wonderful texture...or maybe I'm just craving it now..).
SERVICE: Friendly, but a bit slow/unattentive...I think we waited about a good 20 minutes or so before our waitress took our orders. I think there were only 2 waitresses the entire evening, but the place was packed...so I can partially understand. Nonetheless, they might want to consider getting more staff?
AMBIANCE: Authentic homey Italian feel, which was pleasantly refreshing. Though, a bit on the noisy side (most likely bc our table for 2 was right next to a huge birthday party of 10+ people) and hard to hear each other.
OVERALL: I would definitely like to come back for the food for sure! However, not a place I would go out of my way to come back for. Perhaps if I were in the North Beach area again.
Excellent food and service. Portions are large so we ordered an steamed shellfish appetizer and Veal Marsala and shared it. They were happy to accommodate the sharing. The veal included soup so we had a 3 course meal. They brought in each course and gave us enough time to finish them before bringing in the next.
My only gripe is they don't have a desert menu.
Really 3.5 stars. This place is really good when it's good. But it can be hit or miss. A few times I went and ordered something that wasn't so good.
Grab a glass of the house red while you wait... and depending on the night it could be quite a wait.
Atmosphere is nice and it's really fitting for the locale.
1st time in North Beach.
Great Italian atmosphere, great Frank Sinatra music, delicious steak.
Good service.
Great walk from there to our Hotel Park Galleria!
We`ll be back!
Dion
SO ridiculously delicious. The best part was my pepper steak. We also had the "steamers" appetizer, which had a really good sauce. This might be my new favorite restaurant in North Beach! Really friendly service, too.
I absolutely adore this little hole in the wall. Cozy bar, locals scene, great Italian food, attentive service, decent prices, neighborhood feel all tucked away in my first city love...North Beach. Here, you can come to catch up with an old friend, eat your troubles of the day away, and feel perfectly content to stay awhile longer. I've never felt the rush to move along; even though they don't serve dessert :( It's okay, Sodini's, I still love you.
Went there tonight and as I said in the past - this place is totally cool. Atmosphere is kick ass and drinks are stiff. But tonight the food was great and as promised I had to bump it up to a 5 star, they deserve it - 100%
I will return.
My friend asked me if I would join him after the I.A.S.C. for a drink at his buddy's place. So off… Read more »
It was late Sunday night and raining. We were cold and wet and hungry and not many places were open. Sodini's was. We opened the door and the bartender greeted us with a big smile and hello like we'd known her for years. The place was about half full and she found a table for us immediately. I was sold before I tasted anything!
I read reviews that say "the best place in North Beach" etc. This isn't the best Italian food in North Beach but I will always go back to this restaurant when I am in San Francisco. There is something very special about it that goes beyond the menu. Its small and comfortable and the staff friendly.The Margharita pizza is great , the crust is perfect, but you have to like garlic. Clams/Mussels appetizer is delicious. A local neighborhood restaurant where even outsiders will feel at home.
I have been to Sodini's many times throughout my decade living in SF and I really only come back for one reason: the atmosphere. It's definitely a quintessential spot for SF and great to bring visitors and family - the interior is very welcoming, cozy, and dark - great place to go to get out of the rain - love the red glass candle holders - awesome touch. The servers are always wonderful and wear happy smiles on their faces as they're buzzing around; the place is always packed.
The food. I have been wanting to fall in love now after ten years of trying but I have just never ordered anything here that has wowed me. The food is extremely average. In the sea of Italian spots that is North Beach... there are many more fish. You get my point.
Come for the love, the atmosphere, the experience and just enjoy it.
1/8/09 I always like to start with the positive. We are visitors here. We had to park about 6 blocks away in Telegraph Hill. It's a decent neighborhood.The restaurant itself is a quaint, homey. Pretty nice. The décor is a Sinatra tribute. The house chardonnay was great. The people were very nice. We started with the minestrone and house salad. They were ok. The bread was cold and stale. The special shrimp with linguini pesto was just not great. All of the pasta dishes we had were just lacking in flavor. Very bland. Our son really got the short end of the stick though. He had the linguini alfredo. It was the worst alfredo we ever tasted! No flavor whatsoever. Have some wine and soup, and leave.
The trouble with eating good Italian food is that five or six days later you're hungry again.* The trouble with eating Sodini's food is that it sucks.
Rule one of dating, and most of life: in the first five minutes people will tell you what they're about, you just have to listen. Same deal for restaurants. Unfortunately, I didn't listen. Twice.
First ignored clue - Sodini's large sign which proudly proclaims "No dessert, no decaf, no reservations, no exceptions." Lesson learned: when a restaurant claims they take pride in soup-nazi level service, you should assume that's exactly what they provide.
Second clue ignored - our treatment when we walked in on the Sunday of a three day weekend. The place was crowded and there was a wait list. That part was fine. Less fine were the bar and wait staffs' heroic efforts to ignore newly arrived customers. No "welcome to Sodin's." No "The wait is 30 minutes. Would you like to leave your name?" We did eventually get our names taken but between the slow moving line and the lack of staff interest we decided to take our business elsewhere. And we virtually never leave restaurants. Lesson learned: when a restaurant annoys you enough that you leave, don't give them a second chance.
We went back the next week, it wasn't crowded and we were seated promptly. Service this time was pleasant and efficient. For two large portions of too soft, pre-boiled pasta, and calamari that looked and smelled good but was devoid of any flavor and two glasses of wine we paid, with tip, $75.
On the plus side, the atmosphere is good if you like old school Italian movies - dim lights, dark wood, red booths, candles and Sinatra memorabilia. Also, people who dislike eating at shopping mall international food courts because the flavors are too complex, subtle and exotic may find comfort in Sodini's bland and familiar offerings. Others are advised to steer clear.
I realize this review may come across as harsh, and I'd like to make it up to Sodini's by offering this slogan, to be placed on their sign, as a gift: "Sodini's - we're so gourmet you can leave your tray on the table."
Ratings:
Service: ** (average of a four star and a zero star experience)
Food: **
Atmosphere: ***
Value: **
*George Miller
We took our just engaged friends visiting from Chapel Hill Tuesday night for a celebratory dinner. I have had drinks at the bar several months ago and heard that the food was great. I had to rethink the celebratory part seeing that the only bubbly on the menu was Prosecco. We had martini's, beer and wine with dinner. The calamari is light and cooked perfectly. The pasta dishes are acceptable, not jumping out of the chair if that's what your looking for. Over all the food and service is above average. The atmosphere is the best part of this establishment.
A very unusual place. It's family owned and operated for like a thousand years. It's usually crowed, very crowded, so your table with be almost butted up against the ones on either side of you but it's like being in a Italian family kitchen. The food is very good as is the service.
Make a reservation, go early, sit at the bar. If you order drink(s) I find that you tend to get a table faster...Ana (of course one of the family) is there to make you a smashing Negroni or some other interesting Italian drink,
The food is all good and so are the desserts..everything like Mama Mia would make in her home kitchen and very large portions so order as you go along not all at one time.
No frills tasteless Italian food. Girly girl and I went, spent $100 on calamari, chicken marsala, lasagna and a pitcher of house red. A lot of food but poor quality and boring.
Would rather have spent the $100 anywhere else such as Firefly or Range.
Despite its accolades in other posts, I can't really get into this place. My initial experience here was unremarkable, and how that opportunity came about allowed me to get a good deal of exposure to the place. I had gone in here with my girlfriend and a friend of ours to get a bottle of wine and hang out. This was early on a Saturday, around 4:00 or so. We were overcharged for the wine, and hassled by the bartender because we had recently eaten elsewhere and weren't interested in appetizers, etc.
Several hours later the three of us returned plus our friend's date, as we had noticed that the food smelled good during our bar stint. The experience was very bland and a rip-off to boot (llama taboot taboot). We got suckered.
In the end, I found the $27 bottle of Behringer Merlot we bought offered at Trader Joes for $8, and am now submitting this post. North Beach is littered with tourist traps that disguise the couple decent places. It's like the grail scene in Indiana Jones, ......choose wisely.
If you want real authentic Italian food this is definitely the place to be. They're not messing around and to prove it, they don't even serve dessert - just straight yummy, hearty Italian food. The minestrone was a true testament to that with it's thicker broth, not being as tomato based as most others that you get in restaurants. The pizza, while not my favorite ever, was still pretty damn tasty with a crunchy crust and flavorful top. I was so full off those two things that I couldn't even manage to eat my own meal that I ordered, the Penne El Forna with meatballs (I added those myself while clapping my hands and squealing with glee!) I'm SO having the leftovers for lunch today and I can't freakin' wait. Is it noon yet??
P.S. They don't take reservations.
Get a complimentary Bottle of…
Neighborhood: Civic…
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Neighborhood: Western…
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Italian
Neighborhood: North Beach/Telegraph Hill
Category: Latin American
The best eats, drinks, coffees, shops, etc. in my…
Where to eat Italian in, out, and around SF for a…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Most of my "Happy Places" have a high nostalgia…
So my father comes to the city and I discover he…
North Beach is one of my favorite neighborhoods in…
Pizza isn't OKONOMI-YAKI. Spaghetti isn't…
