Acquolina

Should get 6 stars but there isn’t an option to do that!
I came here on a whim last Sunday with some friends and I have to say I was blown away by the service. I have only come across service this good in extremely high end establishments, they poured extra large glasses of wine, gave us scores of sampler dishes (gratis!) and always knew when to pop in to see if we needed anything.
The drinks (especially the acquolina) were fresh and fantastic, the food brought me right back to my time in Italy, and the service well that was world class.
If you’re going to North Beach or really in the mood for great food, drink, and atmosphere you really shouldn’t skip over this place, it’s the new gem of the city!

North Beach can be overwhelming with the amount of Italian restaurants in the area, and you’re always afraid to make a bad choice. Luckily, we ended up with a solid choice in Acquolina. A group of six of us had dinner there on a Saturday night, and everybody was pleased with their dishes. I had a Lasagna with salmon, which ended up tasting a lot better than it sounded. There a balanced menu between apps, pasta dishes, stand-​alone entrees, and pizzas, providing options for everyone without being overwhelming. Our table ordered a mixture of pasta dishes and pizza, and everyone had positive things to say. The pricing is pretty much on par with everything else you’re going to find in this part of the city.

This place… Lol. The staff is a mess, moved us to a different table after seating us, told us they didn’t’ have rigatoni even though the person next to us was eating rigatoni, said they were out of lasagna even though lunch had just started, and then brought ²⁄₃ of the people in my party the wrong dishes. It was all around just kind of a mess and the food wasn’t very good (the ham was translucent and creepy looking) so it’s not like they redeemed themselves with outstanding food. Meh, go somewhere else.

Pretty mellow spot here. Just grabbed some beverages at 5:00pm and within minutes the place was packed. Service was good and prices pretty easy on the wallet.

It was Sat night and they said come on in we can work it out. Went to the bar and as usual too many good wines to chose from so the charming bartender gave us some tastes. We settled on a rococo de mori Cupertino with a generous pour. Then antipasto and bruschetta standard but hit the spot. We got a table fairly soon with no reservations. It took a while to get menus but hey Dolce Vita was playing and the night was young. Crispy vegetarian pizza and another italian dish. Perfect night in North Beach for locals and you feel like family.

Wouldn’t come back.
Two very mediocre entrees and 2 drinks = $ 87
The most annoying part of the whole night is we could barely flag down our server (shoot… any server). Loved the outside seats under the heater as that isn’t common in San Francisco so request those if you decide you go! But your money is much better spent at Park Tavern or Tony’s.
Ciao!

This place is the authentic Italian restaurant of San Francisco, I highly recommended it! The pizza was delicious, large and very affordable ($ 16)! The spaghetti quite delightful and was different from any traditional spaghetti I have tried! Compliments to the chef! Did NOT wait long for my food! The owner was exceptionally warm and welcoming. Most of the staff is from Italy and have so many great stories to share!
Definitely coming back soon!

Amazing, amazing, amazing! I loved everything about this place. The food is authentic Italian and the ambience on the street corner is the perfect location for people watching & soaking up the SF sun!

Came here for a glass of wine in the afternoon on a Saturday — not too busy, I was able to get a table outside. It’s a great place to sit and people watch. Cheapest Rose is $ 9, $ 10 for bubbly.
There’s a happy hour from 3:30 — 6:30 where house wine is $ 6 and beer is $ 3. Although I didn’t eat, the food I saw them bring out looked great.
Ambience is casual, and it’s clean and classy inside. I’d eaten already otherwise I would’ve loved to try the thin and crispy pizza they brought out to another table. Will return to try the food and update the review then.

A fairly new restaurant in an amazing area with a myriad of choices. The interior deco was appealing and it seemed super bright so I decided to check it out. Plus the wait at Tony’s, Mama’s was over 45 minutes and Park Tavern now had a 7 item lunch menu or something.
The food was decently priced considering the area and it tasted the same. Nothing great. Had a tasty appetizer bruschetta that seemed doused in garlic and olive oil, but somehow the bread was toasted well so it worked.
Then the pizza giorno. It was a bit messy and almost over baked, but it was a good, traditional Italian pizza with a lot of cheese and arugula.
Overall, there were a couple of flies near my seated area that annoyed me all brunch and made me wonder if there was something going on, but overall a decent restaurant in a great location.

I was so happy that the last place closed and Acquolina opened!
Came here for lunch. We had a baby with us so it was really nice that the restaurant had
enough space to accommodate us. The ambiance is great too; lots of sunlight and nice design throughout. It’s a perfect space to relax and catch up with your friends while eating their delish pizza.
Service was great, pizza was really good, and coffee was also amazing!
Looking forward to coming here again.

PROS– The environment is great. Definitely, welcoming and a strong feel for Italy. Our server was attentive and friendly. Loved that the staff spoke Italian.
The panne cotta was delicious, probably the best thing that we ordered.
Cons-​Entrees took a bit long to get to us. I ordered the Chicken Breast in a Mushroom sauce. First off, it was more of a Filet then a breast. The sauce had decent flavor but it was not thick enough to be called a sauce. It was more of a liquid. The vegetables were over cooked, too soggy. The presentation of the dish needs some work. Overall, not worth them price.
I would probably stick to a pizza if I ever go back.

New spot in a great area, and with a ton of potential. Risky business opening up another Italian spot in the Italian capital of SF. We came in on a Friday night and were seated promptly. The place had a great vibe. There were a few open tables but mostly occupied.
Loved our waitress and the great service throughout the meal. The food, about average. Started with the burrata app which was disappointing. It didn’t taste entirely fresh or boast it’s usual creaminess that makes the stuff so divine.
We also tried the chicken porcini dish which was so overly sauced. I have to admit, it wasn’t pretty to look at either. I did enjoy my tortellini stuffed with pears and gorgonzola, great flavors! My biggest complaint about all the dishes was that they came out luke warm, and after a few minutes, were cold. I mentioned it to the waitress but wasn’t looking for a replacement. She did try to make it right, and ended up bringing our group a comped dessert. My dining companions also tried the margherita pizza which they seemed to enjoy.
All in all, a good spot with plenty of room to grow.

Had a lovely lunch here.
Was greeted warmly and very quickly. I ordered the caprese and it was worth the $ 12. Nice slices of a dark heirloom tomato alternated with fresh mozzarella slices and a chiffon add of basil. It was on a bed of fresh arugula and lightly dressed with olive oil and pepper. A basket of delicious pieces of focaccia came with criers of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I also ordered the primavera pizza. Very crisp crust, just the right amount of tomato sauce, nice mix of peppers, eggplant and mushrooms and cheese applied with a restrained hand so that each ingredient was in just the right proportion — no gobs of cheese that are chokingly thick in some places and no sog from too much tomato sauce or toppings.
The waitress was lovely — attentive without trying to be my new BFF. She sincerely seemed to care how I liked the food.
A very nice experience. Would like to return to try the rigatoni alla Norma.

Food was pretty good. The two pizzas we ordered were a little bland, but salad and pasta were great.
Service left a lot to be desired. We could barely flag down a server for our 4 person table.
Note: only one bathroom for whole place.

Short story: MEH.
Food: was ok, fresh-​ish, but not very flavorful
Service: terrible is a good word. Food took about an hour to come out
Ambience: the best part about this, as its overlooking the park
Overall: wouldn’t come back
Long story:
So I came here with a gal pal at lunch time on a Thursday. They weren’t too busy, but it was the lunch rush, so be mindful of that when reading the review.
This place just replaced café divine, which used to be a north beach gem. Nonetheless, I was excited to give this place a try.
We were seated promptly, and our waiter, who was straight outta Italy brought us some bread and took our orders.
We were in a hurry to go, so we decided to order things we THOUGHT wouldn’t take to much time to bring out (this being our vital mistake, of course)
I ordered the insalata aquolino (chicken salad with avocado and mozzarella) and my girl ordered the crespelle alla fiorentina (French crepes with ricotta cheese and spinach, baked in marinara and besciamel sauce). And we were STOKED. Because crepes, obvi.
Sooooo we sat outside because it was a glorious day in the city and the breeze was beautiful. The restaurant is on the corner of Washington square park, so we had a good view as well. We were eating our delicious homemade Italian bread and chatting. We were having so much fun, we didn’t even realize 25 minutes has gone by and we hadn’t gotten our food yet. The only reason we noticed was because we downed the bread like the hungry hippos we are.
So we call over the waiter, because we were in a hurry, and he tells us he will go and check on the food. Another 10 minutes goes by and he comes back and says 5 more minutes. Then another 15 minutes goes by and still nothing. At this point I’m getting annoyed. I don’t think it should take 55 minutes for a salad and some baked crepes to come out.
We finally get the food after waiting for an hour, and we literally have to eat like starving children. My salad was mediocre, and it’s saving grace was the homemade Italian dressing, which complimented the avocado and mozzarella very nicely. The crepes were mediocre and to me, flavorless. The sauce didn’t add as much flavor as I hope, and I was kind of disappointed, cause to me, you can’t screw up a crêpe.
The waiter seems indifferent, and though somewhat attentive, was kind of a sassy pants. But secretly I loved his Italian face.
So that’s why they lost two stars. ONE HOUR WAIT for food that should have gone faster, and then the food was just mediocre.
If you’re in north beach and want fast, delicious Italian food, there are like 186 other places you can go. I would say choose your battles, you beautiful people.

Amazing place, with amazing in house made food.
Very friendly service! Highly recommended!

What can I say? Once in a while you find places that don’t just live up to the hype but blow the hyper out of the water.
Go here. This is what real Italian tastes like and this is what real Italians behave like. You won’t find crappy, overprocessed, over-​cooked, over-​complicated and under seasoned dishes here. Instead you would find simple, delicious and, dare I even say, elegant food that is pretty awesome. Not to mention they carry good Italian wine that costs them a quite a bit more to buy which they sell at a fair markup rather than crappy stuff that is being peddled by the wine distributors. San Fran *badly* needs places like this — Go support it and experience what Italian actually tastes like.
Oh and the folks who work there are lovely.

Pour 21 dollars la pizza que nous avons mangé était correcte mais sans plus.
Le problème est trois quart d’heure avant d’être servi et un restaurant qui semble pas très organisé (on nous a demandé plusieurs foissi on avait prit notre commande).
Conclusion: c’est correct mais il faut pas être pressé !

Opening week so hard to judge but I wasn’t terribly impressed. It was fine but unmemorable. The place itself is a nice upscale Italian café design and feels very spacious.
The food was okay — nothing bad but nothing great. The duck pasta was a good size portion and well presented; however, the porcini mushrooms were overshadowed by the rest of the dish. In addition, the pasta didn’t absorb most of the sauce. The pizza primavera was missing the peppers listed when they came out — they apologized but no one caught it until I already started eating and I wasn’t going to wait another 30 minutes for a new pizza or less time for a overcooked same pizza with the peppers.
The servers definitely were attentive and happy to be helpful though still learning the ropes on the menu. The owner (I think) greeted me but didn’t really seem to want to hear (or couldn’t understand?) feedback other than to hear it was good.

Amazing location!
Family atmosphere!
Delicious pizza!
Sophisticated design!
Definitely a place to be!