Incanto on Church St in the Noe Valley is our favorite. Definitely not the red sauce stuff you find in North Beach.

If you want to stick with more "basic" Italian, North Beach Restaurant in North Beach is where we go. Nice atmosphere, extensive menu, and award winning wine cellar.

Stu Dudley

Perbacco, Incanto, A-16, Delpina, Quince, Acquerello, Pesce, Antica Trattoria are all highly regarded. Perbacco is my current favorite. Again, none are red sauce Italian-American restaurants.

Perbacco is my current favorite, too.

dmlove--who can resist homemade salumi and those wonderful breadsticks!!!!

bookmarking

Incanto wins, hands down. Authentic enough to seem "weird" to those expecting red sauce on everything. My favorites have been the "handkerchief" pasta with a pork ragu, and on a hot summer evening last year, a lemon verbena flavored granita.

For pizza, definitely A16 or Delfina Pizzeria. Please note that the management runs two locations side by side. "Delfina" is the more formal restaurant where reservations are a must. "Delfina Pizzeria" does not take reservations and limits itself to pizza and a few appetizers. Wine list is good, even the short list at the pizzeria. I usually order a pie to go and then sit on the bench outside with a glass of wine. Haven't been cited for drinking in public yet.

I second the recommendation for North Beach Restaurant; we ate there 20 years ago and again almost 5 years ago and were very happy. We had been steered to it as well.