Ardiana

Sharon & team did a spectacular job of putting together a menu that has similarities to their other two restaurants: Gialina & Regazza, yet uniquely different at the same time with a Mediterranean twist. The menu doesn't disappoint because everything is fresh, very quickly served with an awesome staff.

My wife and I are vegans. We had:

1) The carrot hummus, black tahini, watermelon radish and sumac (this is a permanent item on the menu, it was an occasional menu item at their sister restaurant Gialina. One of our favs!)

2) Smashed avocado, Meyer lemon, Aleppo Pepper, chili oil, Japanese sesame (to die for, it's almost like a guacamole but better smoother and creamier)

3) Marinated Castelvetrano olives, orange, chili (we love olives Mediterranean style that are not overly briny, and this hits the mark)

4) Margherita pizza without the cheese and added mushrooms and arugula.

The wine selections here are outstanding too.

Looking forward to having dinner here twice a week!

This place is new and such a great addition to the neighborhood - I've recently moved from San Francisco but wish this had opened while I was living closer to this place. It's the perfect place for a casual but delicious meal with a small group of friends or even a great place to come for a date. It's homey, everyone is nice, there's a good selection on the menu and it's more than just your typical pizza place where you can only find pizza and one or two salads on the menu.

The menu is broken up into a few sections - homemade pita with small plates and/or dips: hummus, roasted cauliflower, smashed avocado, baby beets. They have a 3-4 choices of salads, and 6 types of pizza. They have 4 meat dishes: chicken, tuna, lamb, and beef short ribs. There are enough choices here for vegetarians, which can sometimes be hard to find in San Francisco.

We started with the following appetizers:

"For the Table" section; individually they are $7 each, 3 for $19, or you can get 5 for $31 or all 6 for $36. We were 3 people so we got the 3 for $19.

- Pickled Baby Beets, Orange Blossom Yogurt, Pistachios, Mint - I liked this one more than I thought I would. The combination with the yogurt, pistachio and mint was a good combination. I loved the other 2 little plates we got better if I had to pick favorites.
- Smashed Avocado, Lemon, Aleppo peppers, chili oil, sesame seeds - Smashed avocado and avocado toast are all the rage and you're not a true SF restaurant till this is on the menu. This was great and I loved it. Would definitely get this again. The avocado was perfectly ripe, well seasoned and overall wonderful.
- Roasted Eggplant Dip, pomegranate molasses, Greek yogurt, mint - This reminded me of food I had in Turkey with the pomegranate molasses and mint. Loved the smokiness and just everything about this.

I also loved the fresh pita. It's not your whole wheat pita you get at most Mediterranean restaurants - it's made of white flour but it's fluffy, fresh and pairs well with all the dips / small plates.

We also got:

- Summer Stonefruit, Buratta, pistachio butter ($14) - You will get 3 little scoops of buratta maybe the size of 1-2 tablespoons and some peaches. It's a delicious dish but a tad expensive at $14 for the amount of food. Next time, I'd add more of the small plates instead of this.
- Pizza - Funghi, caramelized onions, fontina cheese, truffled pecorino ($18) - I loved the pizza here, there's a lot of crust on the pizza but I like that, and it's light, fluffy and crispy on the outside. It's what a pizza should be like. This one doesn't have tomato sauce but it's delicious and the proportion of the toppings were good and not stingy. I loved the caramelized onions and the truffled cheese. I'd get this again and can't wait to come back to try other flavors of pizza.

Overall, such a great addition to the neighborhood and one of the better restaurants in terms of food quality, variety and service. The wine selection is also quite good. 5 stars, I can't wait to come back!

Not my spot for food but I can see why people like it. I also think I have Nebbia in the back of my head...

Great vibe - nice but casual, family friendly or date friendly. Super service - loved the service. Cute menu with shared appetizer dip like things to go with flatbread pita. Then salads, pizzas, mains. The apps were interesting - got the spicy avocado, eggplant, and beets. All tasty but not quite my flavor. Avocado was too spicy that I think the oiliness was too much - the avocado was super fresh so it sort of killed that freshness. Eggplant was my favorite, but had too much mint or some other herb for me. The beets were good but super huge chunks so I wasn't sure how to eat it with my pita.

Pizza was good. Crust was a little under done. Tomato sauce didn't go to the edge.

Lasagna was a veggie and cheese lovers heaven; just not for me. But very fresh.

Chicken was my favorite. It initially came out under done but they took it back and then it was great. And my favorite sauce was the tomato salsa. I was thinking the green one was a chimichurri but it was more of a serrano pepper type of oil/sauce.

Some outdoor sidewalk tables

Single bathroom in the back past the kitchen.

Overall, I'd go back for the vibe and the service, but the food is just not quite my flavor but maybe I just need to try something else on the menu!

There are tables of two and four, and the bar. They add a chair to the table of two if you are a party of three. It seems tight but it is doable. Everyone there was super friendly and helpful. They did get our order separated, and one of us had to wait quite a bit to get their dish. A bit of a limited selection when it comes to beer. But their pizzas are quite fabulous. One of the best thin crust pizzas ever. There are several options with additional add-ons for a customized pizza if desired. Crispy on the bottom and light with great texture on the crust.

Delicious little restaurant in Noe Valley specializing in pizzas and amazing appetizers.

I go here for the pizza, but I have to say, the muhamarra spread which I got in mid-May, served with fennel pollen crackers, is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. Savory and delicious. I would buy it in bulk if I could.

Who knew that this little gem was just a 5 min walk from our house.. We're so excited to start coming here more often.

Ardiana is the perfect neighborhood gem. Quality service, excellent food, bustling but cozy vibe, and friendly guests. As soon as we sat down we started chatting with a couple next to us who also lived in the neighborhood (benefit of living in Noe Valley... friendly people).

Smashed Avocado: 5 stars
Lamb sausage pizza: 5 stars
Everything else in the restaurant that I saw on other tables: Looked and smelled like 5 stars

Definitely make a stop in here if you can, you won't regret it.

I sat down at Ardiana expecting great food from how highly it was recommended, but the service was so wonderful that I also wanted to mention it.

Our waiter was amazing, gave us awesome for recommendations for what to order ("you would be missing out if you didn't order our pizzas"--truth, pizza was amazing), and just joining in our banter when he came to fill our glasses of water. I was tickled. He gave us some of our best laughs of the night.

The beet hummus he recommended? I'm not much of a beet person, but it was so lovely and made me feel like I was making healthy choices with the hot fresh pita bread it came with. He even left the little bowl with the smears of hummus still in it so we "could dip our crusts in it." It's no ranch, because this is not a ranch restaurant, but it was amazing.

We got a salad with burrata that melted in our mouth, a funghi pizza, and what I called the "carbonara pizza with tomato"--it has egg, pancetta, and pecorino. It's perfect.

It was the best experience. I can't wait to come back

With the introduction of Ardiana to the Noe Valley neighborhood in 2017, chef Sharon Ardiana has created a 4-star trifecta of delicious, flavorful Italian dining options in SF.

For those of you who might not be familiar with Sharon's other locations, Ardiana was preceded by Gialina in 2007, followed by Ragazza in 2010.

I've been a Friday regular at Gialina since it opened. Abel, Sam, Fabian and the rest of the staff are all personable and attentive, juggling to-go orders, while expertly serving in house guests. Gialina's crust is the stand out star of their pies. It's cracker thin and crispy on the edge, with a chewy texture on the inside.

The Atomica is hands down my favorite pie on the menu at Gialina. Okay, enough about Gialina --let's talk about Ardiana.

Recently attended a family Saturday night birthday dinner at Ardiana. Given the size of our party (8 adults, 1 child) and how quickly the restaurant was filling up, I wondered whether the service might falter.

Our waiter quickly put any concerns to rest. He was pleasant, quick to make wine and menu suggestions, and he provided extra plates after we were served so we could enjoy a family-style meal.

Everyone in our party agreed that there wasn't one lackluster dish brought to our table. Everything we ordered was flavorful and delicious. A few of the standouts:

- Smashed Avocado, Meyer lemon, Aleppo pepper, chili oil, toasted sesame

- Pizza: New York, New York, Funghi and Italian Sausage

- Rigatoni alla Norma
- Meyer Lemon Spaghetti

Note, each one of these spots fills up fast and seating is limited at Gialina, so arrive early or prepare to wait.

We were about to walk over to Gialina for dinner but decided instead to hop into the car for the short drive over. We'd been meaning to come here and although we (try to) adhere to a mostly dairy-free diet, this night was "cheat night" so we thought why not try something new.

They have a great family-friendly neighborhood atmosphere. We dropped by early around 5:30 and there were a few other families there with their toddlers in tow. I immediately liked the staff as they were friendly.

My favorite of the night was the Meyer lemon pasta with lemon-chive butter (wow) and a healthy amount of Parmigiano. It was creamy but not too creamy and the perfect hint of Meyer lemon that it wasn't an overly citric in flavor.

As per usual with their sister restaurant pizzas, there is a crispy factor to the crust's exterior. I can't give a good assessment of their pizza just yet (I had like 2 small slices of their Funghi one which has carmelized onions, truffled cheese) but perhaps in a future visit. I can say however they do not skimp on toppings.

They have a solid wine list with carafes available when a bottle might be a smidge much. Then we closed dinner with a budino which was simply divine!

I love neighborhood joints like this with a local atmosphere that has become a rarity these days in SF. We got lucky to be able to snag a seat sans reservation but I'll have to remember to make one next time.