Tips for Dining, Eating, and Food Shopping in the SF Bay Area (including Berkeley, Oakland, Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and San Jose)
Start New ThreadHi fellow Hounds!
My wife and I are visiting SF for a few days and will be staying at the edge of Cow Hollow/ Russian Hill area (around Van Ness and Lombard). 9/13-9/16
Looking for some recommendations on the Best Italian in the area and of Course, Seafood places as rated and visited by locals. Not into extremely expensive stuffy places though.
Also, who has the best Cioppino?
Thanks!
Joe
By jtfish
on Jul 14, 2009 07:58 AM
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Have you tried searching the board yet? All three of your topics are pretty well covered on here. Italian runs the gamut from traditional American Italian to regional specialty places. The best I've had is SPQR, which is Roman and Incanto, which is Cal-ital and heavy on meat and offal. For cioppino look up reviews on Tadich and Scoma's, both are good for different reasons.
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For the record, there are some big changes at SPQR. Chef is out. SFgate reports that other changes are coming. Probably still good, but hard to know how the changes will reshape the place.
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I wouldn't expect any big changes. The ownership hasn't changed, the chef de cuisine is taking over, and A16 didn't change much when Christophe Hille left.
All that Chronicle Scoop column said was, "At SPQR, the kitchen staff will remain as is while working on potential tweaks to the restaurant."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article...
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In that neighborhood, A16, Acquerello, and Capannina.
Around here, SFO means the airport.
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Pesce is good for Italian seafood dishes and they serve a version of cioppino as well as other great dishes, meets your criteria too.
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Pesce
2227 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109
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Yeah, good place. Same chef-owner as Antica Trattoria, which is also one of the best Italian places in that area.
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Excellent! Thanks for the info everyone! Oh! Sorry about the SFO thing! Just a habit from flying!
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Definitely A16. Emporio Rulli is also decent. Stay away from E'Angelo and Fuzio. These are all on Chestnut Street.
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Any opiinions on Rose's Cafe as far as dinner? Same owner as Rose Pistola. There was a recent good report about their take-away stromboli. It is largely organic. The menu changes daily to take advantage of what is seasonal. The pasta and bread is made in house
http://www.rosescafesf.com/food_and_w...
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It's good, not great. A nice choice for a multi-generational meal where everyone can find something satisfying, not a great choice to impress chowish people. Not the best value, but if you think of it in terms of a neighborhood Pac Heights restaurant, the pricing makes sense.
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Thanks. It is on my endless lists of breakfast places to try, but hadn't heard much about lunch or dinner.
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Rose's Cafe
2298 Union St, San Francisco, CA 94123
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For breakfast, try the fennel sausage on soft polenta with spicey tomato sauce and poached eggs. The breakfast pizzas are also excellent.
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Acquerello (on Sacramento between Van Ness & Polk Streets) is very, very good. It is refined, high-end cooking and is relatively expensive. But it is worth the money.
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Not in the neighbourhood you are staying but I took your post to encompass the SF area: you might wish to consider La Ciccia. We had one of the top Italian meals of our experience there with a long-time Bay Area 'Hound. I would love to return. It is not fancy, but the owners are delightful, the food is soul satisfying and the cost good value, unless things have changed drastically. They specialize in Sardinian food and have quite a comprehensive wine list too if that interests you. The J Church line drops you outside the front door so it is an easy trip too. Reservations strongly recommended as it is both popular and small.
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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
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no big changes since you were there, grayelf. had a great meal there my last time in town; there is a lot I love about my current home, but I definitely miss walking through all that nice cool fog to have dinner at La Ciccia. The wine list is reasonably priced, in addition to being comprehensive (all Italian). Seafood dishes are a strength, though you won't find cioppino.
Only problem for OP is that it is a pretty fair shlep from where they are staying, without a car. I'd do it, but then, I'd drive the three hours from Merced in order to eat at La Ciccia. <g>
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