Laiola

I’m so bummed that this place closed. Amazing wine list, knowledgeable staff, incredible food. Bacon-​wrapped prawns, spiced almonds, potatoes, amazing desserts… such a wonderful experience, and a great alternative to the rest of Chestnut street.
I’d love to know why it closed. I’m assuming that it’s because of a tough economy, competition, lack of business, etc… but I ate there four times, and now I wish I would’ve gone more often!

Came here one day for dinner with a group of friends. We ordered various tapa’s with the
grilled squid — REALLY tasty. The squid was perfectly done, and had both the squid body and tentacles.
pimentón spiced bravas style potatoes — It tasted like higher class fries.
Chickpea croquetas — It was ok, but a little hard to cut. We had a disproportionate number of people, so we tried to share. This one was darn hard to cut… oozing out the innards (yum?)
duroc pork meatballs — This was really, really good, but SO TINY. The meatballs were flavored well but we couldn’t figure out how to split it well.
Pan con chocolate — My favorite dish of the night! They serve it with a little bread, and we probably ate it incorrectly, but even so it was SO GOOD. The seasalt brings out the chocolate, and the warm bread gives a great texture to the chocolate. YUM.
I think I’d come back just for the chocolate. Everything else was ok, but crazy over priced for the size. I know they’re tapa’s, but seriously. They served everything in exactly 6 pieces (and as a group of 5, we all had problems with what to do with the 6^th). The service was decent, but because we came to our 5:45 reservation a little late (at 6), I felt like they were hurrying us up a little. Funny enough, when we were leaving, there was no line. So why did they hurry us? Boo.

Another closure (tomorrow) for remodeling into a taqueria concept. Same owners, just a change of name and menu. It’ll be a Tacolicious, similar food to what you get at the Ferry Plaza’s Thursdays street food market. Do you think that swapping tapas for tacos is a good idea? I’m not sure.
A few taco trucks also plan to debut in the city next year. It seems that in 2010 instead of going to the Mission area, you’ll be able to buy tacos in every neighborhood in the city. How wonderful. Yes, I was being sarcastic.

Laiola is as Californian as 2Pac and Dr. Dre.
The idea behind Laiola is about reaping the benefits of the local soil; the same as one would do in Spain. Local olive oils from the owner’s hometown of Modesto are right up there w/​the very best of Spain. Joe, the owner, even gave us a flight of olive oils to prove it.
Drool over…
— Dates wrapped with chorizo bacon drizzled in soy sauce
— The lamb burger w/​patatas bravas (it was a huge portion for a tapas plate — we split it y todavia estoy llena)
Get tipsy on…
— Seconds to death — absinthe, gin, lemon, triple sec, lillet
— Laïola spicy beer w/​a salted rim
— a great Iberian wine list (mas de Portugal to come)
— y claro, Tinto de Verano
The atmosphere was lively & fun although the music was a bit schizoid (they played everything from Redman to Creedence) … but once I realized that it was just showing it’s Californian /​American side, i appreciated it a bit more.
Come here for a Californian take on Spanish cuisine.

Came here for happy hour and LOVED it!!! I love the warm yet dark atmosphere, the cute bartenders, and can’t wait to go back to try their dinner menu.
I absolutely loved the Chickpea croquetas sticks… hehe…slightly crispy on the outside, soft and warm in the inside. My bf loved the boar salami which were beautifully lined on a wooden board. Incredibly simple yet beautiful rustic presentation. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed the bread.
But of course my favorite was the Rose Sangria. So refreshing, such a beautiful pale pink color that made the glass look like it was blushing and the tiny dices of fruit were so cute! We mentioned Daily Candy and got two for the price of one. :) Too bad the promo is over but I will definitely go again to have some more!

3.5 stars if you just go for cocktails. I LOVED the spring tea punch cocktail — it was actually spicy, and awesome :) The place has a nice cozy, intimate vibe. Grab a seat at the bar and chat away.
Food is tasty but didn’t give me anything to obsess over in the days to come. Chickpea «patatas bravas» were pretty tasty and I really liked the summer berry tart w/​vanilla bean gelato.

Trendy tapas place in the Marina. I should have known better.
Came to celebrate my college roommate’s birthday a la girls night out. We were promptly seated by the bar (more on this later). Popped a bottle of bubbly to start the night, and off to ordering we go.
The mussels and the medjool dates were fantastic. Portions can stand to be bigger given the price, but that’s what I get for choosing a tapas place, I guess.
The steak was cooked well, but our pasta was actually pretty gross.
The churros at the end were okay, but we could get better ones off of the street vendors.
The event that left us with a sour taste in our mouths:
There was this dbag sitting at the bar pretty much the entire time we were dining. Every so often he would just, stare, at our direction, and more specifically the birthday girl. Um, hello! It’s not a free show. If you want to look, at least buy her a drink!

Heard about because of the SF Big Eats Top 100 list. The pan con chocolate was pretty heavenly so save room for dessert. I think without bread tasted even better :)
The other amazing dish was nectarine wrapped with ham. But my absolute fav dish was the lamb burger. So juicy and tasty!
Found the tortilla espanola just okay.
The chefs pay a lot of attention to detail, treating each tapas dish with love and care. We sat at the bar right in front of them so witnessed this. And our server was very good.

So the food still gets a high rating from me, but the service seems to have taken a hit since the last time I was here.
One of my coworkers has an interesting method about how to figure out how squirrelly someone is: the pineapple sign. Basically, the higher the ponytail is on the chick’s head, the more screwy she is. Well, our waitress was definitely a full-​fledged pineapple. After taking forever and a day with every step of the service, she proceeded to stare at us with her stoner eyes. Somehow an extra tapa made its way onto the coaster on which she was taking our order, but luckily she took this off of our bill. If it weren’t for the busboy, we never would have received our bill. She was too busy flirting with every guy in the place to pay any attention to our all female table.
Fortunately, the food saved the experience, but I am sad to have taken a star away because of a pineapple. I want to go back for the yummy food, but may have to run the other way if I see her doing her thing again.

I always enjoy tapas restaurants, and this was no different.
A friend who recently moved into town was on top of picking the place to dine for the evening and I must admit, I was a bit nervous. Could a Santa Monica gal who just weeks ago moved into the best city in California, pick a winner?
Yup. She nailed it.
Located on Fillmore and Chestnut, Laiola has a bustling vibe and tight quarters but when with good company, the distraction just becomes a moving portrait around you.
The first thing that hit me was their diverse wine list. My Garnacha was the perfect liquid to ease me into our meal and acted as one heck of a tour guide through our dishes.
We started with the spring pea & asparagus salad which was light, but had a kick of salt which made you remember it.
Traveling further, we had the trout a la plancha, bacon-​wrapped medjool dates, and my favorite of the night, shrimp and green garlic.
The shrimp were decadent and dressed in garlic that was relentless and beautiful. I could complain that there weren’t enough but I think it would simply be stemming from the fact that they were erased from the bowl so fast. A must order.
The bacon wrapped dates were something I was really looking forward to, but didn’t hit the note it intended. While the bacon was crispy, and savory, the accompanied dates didn’t play well with the combination.
Service was fun, easy, and carried us through the meal wonderfully.
While there are numerous tapas restaurants throughout the city, this is worth a visit.

U.N.I.M.P.R.E.S.S.E.D.
Our female server was sure doing a $hitty job on Monday during happy hour. I wanted to leave 3 times during my not-​so-​happy hour due to:
1.server’s impassable service
ability to bring out ordered items unless prompted
3.server’s overall attitude
It was Manny from Cancun, the water guy/​runner/​bread bringer, who was ON HIS GAME and salvaged the night… the empanada and potatoes brava helped as well. But a bad server can really RUIN the experience.
I will NOT return and I will NOT recommend this place to friends.

This review is only for the dessert. I want to come back for dinner, because the smell was amazing.
We got some champagne and some coffee. I got the coffee and it is so good. Again, the large bowls of café au lait. It’s my thing. I love it.
The chocolate dessert is the chocolate lover’s dream. Non chocolate lover’s dream too. I’m not a huge huge fan of chocolate, but man, was it GOOD. Crunchy bread and chocolate spread. It’s like nutella, but without the hazelnut. oh, and there’s sea salt and olive oil in it too. What an idea.
The bacon wrapped dates are delectable as well. yum yum.
The service was amazing as well. Carlos seated us at the best table and recommended the best dishes. We knew what we wanted, but the service still matters!

Let’s get straight to the point.
Laiola’s menu may not be as extensive as other tapas-​style establishments in the city, but these are what I think, more stellar dishes than the others:
1. Chickpea croquetas served with olive aioli — I think every table that night ordered this dish! the croquetas are like chunky fries — slightly crispy outside and surprisingly, the inside had enough texture so it didn’t end up tasting mushy.
2. Pork meatballs with caramelized onions and arugula — tasty! The sweetness from the onions and peppery arugula livened up what would’ve been an otherwise ordinary meatball.
3. Roasted beet salad with pistachio nuts — I love beets! and well, I needed a balanced meal.
The spicy roasted cauliflower and lamb burgers are the «others», which were just okay.
I have to say that the lag times between dishes were a bit far apart, from the time we put in our order, it took less than ten minutes to get the croquetas and the salad, but another 40 minutes for the burger. (definitely make a reservation, even the bar area was crowded!) Other Unilocalers noted about the slow/​bad service here, but there were three people serving our table, so we had no problem with that.
So, you all know that I’m going through 7×7 Magazine’s Big Eat SF list and they got this one right:
# 31 Pan con chocolate with sea salt and olive oil
Keep an open mind (or in this case, an open palate) because this dessert is different. No fancy presentation. You get 4 grilled pieces of baguettes with a huge scoop of chocolate ganache on the side topped with sea salt and olive oil. (the portion is so generous that the four pieces of baguettes that come with it are not enough.) Spoon some of the ganache on your bread and spread it like peanut butter.
How was it?
It was delicious. Like, lick the back of your spoon while the two grannies next to you look so jealous delicious.
The sea salt really helps bring out the nuances of the dark chocolate, and I’m guessing that they use about 65% cocoa because it wasn’t sickeningly rich. The olive oil has a delicate flavor and gave the dish an extra creaminess to it.
I’d have to say, I may just come back again for the pan con chocolate. You really can never have too much chocolate.

Despite some of the mixed reviews, I have to say this place is not too shabby.
After reading some of these other reviews regarding their service, I can see how it can be good or bad on any given night. Since a large party unexpectedly grew and took our table reservation, we ended up eating at the bar… which turned out to be a plus. Being so close to their station, the waiters checked in on us fairly often, which I appreciated, but one of the waiters/​bus boys was a bit too efficient with clearing plates out of our way. A couple of times, he would attempt to take a dish that still had food on it, and then would hover over us until we cleared the dish for him to take away. Minus points for that.
The food, however, gives them back some plus points. Out of the entrees we had, their meatballs were ridiculously good. Typically, I imagine meatballs to be pretty standard and routine at restaurants, but these were great. The brussel sprouts were also decent, though I’m not a fan in general. However, it seemed to be a hit with the rest of the restaurant as well (sitting in front of the chefs, we saw a number of these orders get shipped out).
As for their dessert, by far the best dish of the night was their pan con chocolate dish. Although the idea of chocolate with pudding/​ice cream consistency sprinkled with sea salt plus toasted bread and olive oil was a bit unusual, the combination worked great. In fact, the chefs were nice enough to hook it up with additional bread just so we wouldn’t fight over the few pieces we had left. I would definitely come back… just so I can figure out how the hell to describe the consistency of that damn chocolate!

Sangria.
Cava.
Ahem, Second Cava.
Bread Pudding. Warm, gooey, sweet, sliced like butter.
Bread. Ricotta. Sweet Baby Jesus, Ricotta.
Chocolate (similar to Nutella) with bread…
Yes, I went for alcohol, carbs, cheese and dessert. And it was FANTASTIC.

The manager, Isaac, was sweet enough to make room for my hungry (and intoxicated) party of 12 on Thursday night. I think half the people at the table took it upon themselves to order for the entire table so we pretty much ended up with everything on the menu… and in some cases 2 of a few things on the menu!
Everything was fantastic, but my 3 favorite things (besides Isaac of course):
The house-​made ricotta (i think i ate 2 servings of this by myself)
The grilled calamari (perfectly chewy)
And the pan con chocolate dessert (I can’t think of a better dessert than salted chocolate on top of fresh bread)
The perfect ending to 10 days of incredible meals in SF… and now the diet begins. Sigh…

We happened upon Laiola first because I was in major need of the ladies room… Luckily, they allowed me to use it even before they knew I’d become a paying customer! We had a work function next door at Circa and the group of us wondered over afterwards for some additional food and drink.
Kudos to Isaac who made sure our group of 12 were seated within minutes when we arrived on a Thursday evening without a reservation. We were told that the menu was tapas style so we ordered a bunch of food to share; maybe too much. My favorites included the tortilla espanola, chickpea croquetas, and calamares a la plancha. Oh, and how can I forget the mel i mato (house-​made ricotta, local honey, pluots & figs)? It was all fabulous! I felt like I could taste the fresh local ingredients used in pretty much everything we ordered.
I somehow made room in my completely full stomach for the pan con chocolate that is written about in so many of the reviews that come before this one. Wow… bread with olive oil and salt topped with creamy, perfect chocolate… it tasted like pure heaven!
So, I pretty much had to roll myself out of Laiola tonight — it was worth the splurge, and I know I’ll sleep well tonight. Thanks Isaac and staff for taking such good care of our group tonight — we’ll see you again next visit!

The bacon wrapped dates were my favorite here. Delicious and full of flavor. The ambiance was great for a date. We also ordered cigrons amb morcilla and moorish style lamb meatballs, but in the cigrons — I only really saw chickpeas and no sausage, so I remember getting the dish not even knowing what it was, but oh well — we dipped our bread in it anyway.
The place isn’t that memorable when it comes to food. But for drinks, they have the option of getting a sample of three different red wines to eat with your food. It was great!
Also got to walk around the Marina afterwards so the location was great as well. They only get 3-​stars because the food isn’t spectacular enough to earn 4-​stars!

I thought I had encountered a new breed of Marina hipsters at Laiola. Turns out there were just temporarily displaced. The large party of 12 next to us were from Alemany Farms and were eating at Laiola for Slow Food Nation. Ten percent of all proceeds from dinner last night benefited Alemany Farm. I was told it was a celebration of local food systems.
I was educated about the farm which is a 4.5 acre organic fruit and vegetable farm in San Francisco. They have a really great teen apprenticeship program where they give low-​income youth jobs on the farm. I was also introduced to the idea of edible landscaping where they encourage people to grow their own food.
I had a good time last night at Laiola. Eating delicious organic tomatoes under the heat lamps on Chestnut St while sipping Sangria and chatting about the budding green economy.

Decided to try this place after reading all the raving reviews. Cute little place. Easily missed if just driving down the street.
Space is limited. But offers different seating. There’s:
–the bar: close and personal with the chefs and bartenders
–the tables: behind the bar. a bit darker. more intimate.
–outdoor tables: sitting on the sidewalk
–window tables: tables by the window that opens up to the outside
Didn’t know what to expect except they serve Spanish Tapas. The menu was confusing: can only read 3 or 4 things on the menu. But even then had no idea what those dishes were.
Asked for the waiter’s recommendation who recommended pretty much everything on the menu. Therefore, no help at all. lol.
Ended up getting the manzanillo olives, chickpea croquete & fresh calamari to start. Even though dishes were small, they were packed with flavors. Surprisingly, three tapas filled the two of us.
Deliciously satisfying! =]