Dinner IN San Francisco

My girlfriend and I are going to spend one special night in San Francisco on Nov. 12th. We are looking for a great place to eat in the Italian district...........any ideas?

Thanks...............we had a wonderful dinner at L'Osteria del forno. Had to wait awhile for the table, but had a drink at my favorite bar..........Gold Spike. And we had lunch at Zuni's.........Didn't try the roast chicken, but saw an order go out, looked great. I don't think I would fight to eat there again, but it was a fun place to people watch.

I have no idea if these restaurants are in the Italian district I only know that popular Chef's around the area sugguest these places to go for great food:
Italian= Delfina and Rivoli
Pizza= Zuni Cafe
Vietnamese=The Slanted Door
Seafood=Hayes Street Grill
Dim Sum=Koi Palace and Yang Sing
Indian= Indian Oven
Japanese=Maki
Cheese Course= Gary Danko and Zuni Cafe
Bar= Bix,Tommys Joynt and Zuni
Bread=Acme Bread
Hamburger=Balboa cafe and zuni
Good Luck!!

By Italian district I guess you mean North Beach? The Slanted Door is the hot ticket there now but is in the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street so rather far away. Gary Danko's is sorta close to North Beach (North of North Beach) and is, arguably, the special event restaurant in the City but reserve well ahead and bring your piggy bank. You mean November 12th, right?

North beach far from the Ferry Building.. ::shakes head:: my sister and I used to walk from South beach to the ferry building to North beach every Sat.. and I'm telling you.. I'm not in the best of shape.. North beach isn't that far fromthe Ferry building.. and if the guy was a treu romantic.. he'd take his girl on a cable car from the Embarcadoro across the street from the ferry building to North beach to cafe triest and have coffee with his lovely lady.

Not in North Beach, but a really nice Italian restuarant is I Fratelli on Hyde Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. It is more of a neighborhood restaurant (meaning lots of regulars, few tourists). One of the cable car lines goes by right out front. Really nice and really nice priced, too.

Have fun! I absolutely adore SF!

It isn't in North Beach, but it's really quite tasty and reasonably priced. It's Café Cozzolino at 300 Precita at Folsom, 415-285-6005. You don't really need a reservation, but do call ahead and ask for the table for 2 in the window near the door. This is the most romantic table, but 2 others in the window all overllook Precita Park. What's more, you will find parking within a block of the restaurant, something no place in North Beach can claim. The wine list is short but has less mark-up than other places, and every dish I have ever had has been delicious. The only negative is that they are slow at bringing the bill, but when you see how low it is, you won't mind. This is a family operated place where you will never be rushed.

Last year I went to a tiny place called L'Osteria del Forno on Columbus in North Beach. It was highly recommended-----and absolutely delicious!

http://www.losteriadelforno.com/

Here you go "strongkms".......... Ristorante Fior d'Italia


North Beach is the place to be for Italian Food. This district of San Francisco has 100s of very good Italian restaurants. It would be a difficult task to pic out the best. But that said one must consider the oldest and most popular and that would be the Ristorante Fior d'Italia
http://www.fior.com/
"If you haven't eaten at "The Fior" you haven't been to San Francisco!"
I see you live 100 miles away from the city so hopefully after your romantic dinner you'll get lucky and stay the night in the most beautiful city in the USofA. Waking up in San Francisco on a Saturday morning means only one thing........... right around the conner from "The Fior" is the Caffe Trieste that has been serving up optimum quality Espresso coffee and fabulous music for almost a half century in San Francisco. The historical "Beatnik" location in North Beach hosts poets, writers, composers and artists. Saturday is live music from late morning all through the day. A great fun place to be............. on Saturdays I think they drink more wine then coffee
http://caffetrieste.com/

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz

Here you go "strongkms".......... Ristorante Fior d'Italia


Waking up in San Francisco on a Saturday morning means only one thing........... right around the conner from "The Fior" is the Caffe Trieste that has been serving up optimum quality Espresso coffee and fabulous music for almost a half century in San Francisco.

Hmmm. For the 22 years I've been doing it, it meant something else--getting to the laundry room in my apartment building to grab a machine before one of my neighbors grabbed them so I could do my weekly pile of laundry.

As to an Italian restaurant, I wasn't wild about Fior d'Italia the one time I tried it years ago (it's kind of old school and the food, to my palate, was nothing special). I Fratelli, on the other hand, I did like--but, again, it's fairly routine Italian. You could do worse than just taking a stroll down Columbus Ave. (main drag of North Beach, the Italian neighborhood) and trying whatever looks good. The street is lined with restaurants, bakeries, gelaterias and cafes. Two you'll pass are Rose Pistola and The Stinking Rose (the former has Coppola connections, the latter specializes in garlic dishes and both are wildly popular with tourists but I have actually tried niether). Another is the U.S. Restaurant (Italian in spite of the name) which used to be a fixture of inexpensive (read "RoadFood") dining to North beach locals (and I ate there several times a month) but was forced out of it's long-time location near the corner of Green and Columbus by yuppification and has now relocated down the street (I haven't tried it since the temporary disappearance and reappearance). Another North Beach fixture (and place with Coppola connections) is Tommasso's but I go there mostly for pizza and calzone although they have a full Italian menu. Outside North beach, an old friend used to like Cafe Riggio on Geary in the Richmond District.

quote:

Originally posted by Nemis

I have no idea if these restaurants are in the Italian district I only know that popular Chef's around the area sugguest these places to go for great food:
Italian= Delfina and Rivoli
Pizza= Zuni Cafe
Vietnamese=The Slanted Door
Seafood=Hayes Street Grill
Dim Sum=Koi Palace and Yang Sing
Indian= Indian Oven
Japanese=Maki
Cheese Course= Gary Danko and Zuni Cafe
Bar= Bix,Tommys Joynt and Zuni
Bread=Acme Bread
Hamburger=Balboa cafe and zuni
Good Luck!!

I'll go with Acme bread and Gary Danko. I prefer Maharani for Indian food and one of the zillion Vietnames places in "Little Saigon" to the pretentious, over-decorated Slanted Door. I don't eat much Pacific seafood (having grown up on the Chesapeake), but the last time I ate at Hayes St. Grill, I had to go to McDonald's afterward to ward off starvation. It isn't seafood, but Absinthe right down the street (or the very decent Italian place across from it whose names temporarily escapes me) is much more to my taste.

Zuni is very much a place to see and be seen (I don't want to scare away any of my fellow Roadfooders, but this is especially true if one is gay although probably most of one's fellow diners there will not be). Still, some people swear by their roast chicken.

If Italian is what you are looking for, skip North Beach and go to Delfina...if you can get in. I cooked Italian food for 2 years straight...and go to Italy for a month every year. This is the real thing. It is a little on the hip (translate: really crowded) so don't plan on a quiet intimate meal, just an unforgetable one.

Zuni is a good, solid restaurant. It has been around for close to 25 years. I cooked there in '83-'84 and it was good then...and still is. Judy Rogers has made it a great restaurant deserving of the title, Favorite Restaurant of San Franciscans.

quote:

Originally posted by Chef Susan

If Italian is what you are looking for, skip North Beach and go to Delfina...if you can get in. I cooked Italian food for 2 years straight...and go to Italy for a month every year. This is the real thing. It is a little on the hip (translate: really crowded) so don't plan on a quiet intimate meal, just an unforgetable one.

Zuni is a good, solid restaurant. It has been around for close to 25 years. I cooked there in '83-'84 and it was good then...and still is. Judy Rogers has made it a great restaurant deserving of the title, Favorite Restaurant of San Franciscans.

Well, OK--favorite restaurant of SOME San Franciscans. This one would rather have a good chicken vindaloo or even chile relleno any day. But that's why SF reportedly has 3000 restaurants.

I do agree that the best Italian food is NOT in North Beach (and some of it IS at Delfina), but it's still fun to walk around N.B. of a pleasant evening, maybe have some coffee and pastry or gelato etc. etc., so dining there has its charms beyond the food and I assumed that's why the originator of this thread specified that 'hood.

BT what's your address?............. I'd like to send you a set of clean underwear so that next Saturday morning you can skip doing laundry and get down to the Caffe Trieste with the rest of the San Franciscans................. Susan you want to join us??

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz

BT what's your address?............. I'd like to send you a set of clean underwear so that next Saturday morning you can skip doing laundry and get down to the Caffe Trieste with the rest of the San Franciscans................. Susan you want to join us??

It'd be a long trip--I'm hiding out from the rainy season in Tucson (and I have my own washer/dryer here).

I've been to Cafe Trieste, though, and I like it--more commonly on Saturday EVENING or in midweek than Saturday morning.

Here, it's easier to find Mexican chocolate and a churro than a mocha and biscotti.

BT ..try this coffee house while in Tucson. it is my favorite great coffee and the best home made muffins and coffeecake.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-07-22/chow.html

Raging Sage Coffee Roasters (2458 N. Campbell Ave.; 320-5203) is a bit of a challenge to locate along the perpetually hectic stretch of Campbell Avenue, just north of Grant Road

and of course you lucky dog you get to eat at "El Charro"
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=288

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz

BT ..try this coffee house while in Tucson. it is my favorite great coffee and the best home made muffins and coffeecake.

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-07-22/chow.html

Raging Sage Coffee Roasters (2458 N. Campbell Ave.; 320-5203) is a bit of a challenge to locate along the perpetually hectic stretch of Campbell Avenue, just north of Grant Road

and of course you lucky dog you get to eat at "El Charro"
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=288

Even though I think we're drifting a little off the topic of Italian food in SAN FRANCISCO, I'm greatful for the recommendations. It's still a bit of a drive since I'm actually in Green Valley (about 20 miles south of downtown Tucson), but both those places look worth the drive. I even think I've noticed Raging Sage while driving past, but when I go to Tucson it's usually for a specififc purpose, not just to "hang", so I haven't tried it--but I will.

quote:

Originally posted by fpczyz

BT what's your address?............. I'd like to send you a set of clean underwear so that next Saturday morning you can skip doing laundry and get down to the Caffe Trieste with the rest of the San Franciscans................. Susan you want to join us??

Okay...for anything other than dinner, North Beach is fun...I would love to join you for coffee and biscotti at Caffe Trieste...you buyin?