San Francisco North Beach Italian restaurants
 

We'll be in SF at Christmas, staying near Union Square. I was there a year ago and vowed to eat more Italian dinners in North Beach. I've been making reservations on opentable.com, but every restaurant is not listed there. Kuleto's is open X-mas eve, and close to Union Square, so I reserved there. In North Beach Piazza Pellegrini is open X-mas day eve, and I liked their menu (I'm a vegetarian). For Dec. 26 I chose Trattoria Contadina, but I could have chosen others. I appreciate suggestions.

There are so many to choose from:

I like Sodini's Green Valley restaurant on 510 Green Street

Also E Tutto Qua (corner of Broadway and Columbus)

My favorite coffee shop is Caffe Roma on Columbus

Wasn't that impressed with Franchino's (Columbus)

Also on Green Street are Caffe Sport and the Columbus Cafe - somewhere around ther we had the most glorious fresh oysters one night -

I'm certain others will have other restaurants to add to this list.

Enjoy! :)

Ate at L' Osteria del Forno in October - very small, no reservations, but the food was very authentic, and quite good. It's on Columbus.

I ate at Rose Pistola on Columbus last October. It was lively and good - the mussels in the sizzling pan were delicious.

Da Flora is very good. Reservations are necessary.

Does it have to be in North Beach? Marteen and I recently had a delicious dinner with the Kals at Perbacco. I was wowed by the pasta dishes and their selection of cheeses.

I like North Beach Restaurant. Perhaps take the Powell/Hyde cable car to Green st & Hyde & eat at Frascati. This is a nice area to wander in.

Stu Dudley

I also ate at Rose Pistola in October and loved it.

I had excellent fresh fish and great drinks.

Kirsten

Good choice to eat in North Beach. I personally think it has the best food in the city :)
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Another recommendation for North Beach Restaurant-- husband and I were there 30 yrs ago, then 20 years ago, and we took the kids and their spouses back there 5 years ago. Our palates have all grown quite sophisticated, so kudos to them for them keeping up-- so many restaurants do not last.

Thanks for all your replies. The one evening I'm the least certain about is Friday with Trattoria Contadina. Do I dare go out without a reservation the Friday after Christmas? Might it be a slow night? Especially if we dine early?

I'm not sure what we'll be doing during the days; I'll decide last minute depending on the weather. But I usually like to return to the hotel and put my feet up before dinner. Last year we ate at Colibri's on Geary near Union Square and really enjoyed it (home-made corn tortillas to die for!) Maybe we should just do that Friday night.

Meanwhile I'll check more of the menus of the places you recommended. I'm a picky vegetarian!

Friday & Sat after Christams may be extremly busy because lots of people want to get out of the house after "cooking in" for 2 straight days. We're dining out those nights. Why would you expect it to be slow???

What is "dining early"? To me, that's 6pm. To my Father in Law, that's 3:30pm

Stu Dudley

Hello judybarnes, a restaurant in North Beach that many Fodorite's have enjoyed so much they always go back to it many time is the MonaLisa on Columbus. And a good friend (a Fodorite also) who is a vegetarian loves their pasta dish with something like four types of cheeses.

Here is the website for your reveiw:
Have a wonderful time in SF!

http://www.monalisasf.com/

Thanks for your replies. Stu, I appreciate the tip about how busy it could be after Christmas. I don't do Christmas so I didn't think about all the cooking involved.

LoveItaly, I ate at the Mona Lisa late at night a year and a half ago and it was delicious. I just looked at their menu on line and they have the largest, most varied selection of vegetarian pasta dishes I've seen. No Roman artichoke, but I'll live. I'm going to phone them tomorrow for reservations.

I am glad that you enjoyed the MonaLisa your last visit judybarnes. It seems to have become a "Fodorite" restaurant. Fodorites from Australia, Cananda, Florida, S California, Texas and N California, the East Coast always enjoy the restaurant and the food. But you are right, they need to start severing Roman artichokes! They do have quite a selection of dishes. I can't eat dairy products and so never have ravioli as all ravioli seem to have cheese in them. The MonaLisa has a meat ravioli without cheese. That always makes me happy!

LoveItaly, you helped me when I planned my trip to Italy in 2006. I ran into a Fodorite with whom I'd visited on the forum while visiting the Doge's Palace. It was so cool!

I am in the legions of those recommending the North Beach Restaurant...with a twist!

I think a perfect memorable evening would be:

Dinner at North Beach Restaurant followed by tickets to "Beach Blanket Babylon" (which is ~1/2 block from the restaurant) followed by a cappucino/etc. at either Cafe Grecco or Cafe Puccini...absolutely outstanding night!

I don't remember judy but I am glad that I was of assistance. How did you and the other Fodorite at the Doge's Palace know each other were Fodorites or did you just happen to start conversing and Fodor's came up in the conversation?

I have sometimes wondered while at the MonaLisa if there are any other Fodorite's in the restaurant. A group of us were talking one evening and some people at the next table kept looking at us and we wondered if they were Fodorite's but guess we were to shy to ask, lol.

LoveItaly, that's why you have to carry that bright, bright orange Fodors tote bag with you everywhere. There's no missing that!

i can second e tutto qua. it was delicious.

Good idea (I think or maybe not) Patrick. I do have several of them.

Was it you and Lee that were in a restaurant in Italy where there were Fodorites sitting at the next table? Or am I getting that mixed up with some other Fodorites?