Bocce Cafe

Very understaffed but the staff there do the best they can to tend and accommodate everyone. Our server was up and down most of the time tending us and maybe 8 other tables! Not a lot of servers can do that. The manager was a kind man he was also the bartender that day. They have a beautiful patio and have outside seating. The owner should really invest on buying a few heat lamps to warm up outside on cold nights and they would have the complete package! Ok enough about the restaurant looks.
Their food was ok. Not amazing as we had expected but not bad at all.
Appetizers: Prosciutto Melon, the presentation was nice but it needed more taste. The Fried calamari was so tasteful full of flavor and so was the sauce. I can honestly say it’s the best I’ve tasted anywhere in S.F. They provide bread with an amazing home recipe Sauce.
Main entrée: Chicken Parmigiana, it was an ok dish a little plain for my liking. My fiancé has the chicken Parmigiana Now that was an amazing dish! Came with a side of pasta and a side of vegetables.
This place has a lot of potential and needs a lot of love. I can tell it was very family orientated at one point. Bocce bring that back.

Closed had a reservation and no one even called. I had booked a month or so ago on open table and was not even notified that it had closed

Closed??? What happened loved this place and my wife and I had our first date here. took my sons there tonight to show them and they were shut down???

A very average Italian place, and I was definitely not impressed with the dishes.
Portion sizes of appetizers were small, like the garlic fries and fried calamari.
The fries were very lacking that I would have preferred McDonald fries.
Fried Calamari — Pretty good, probably the best thing I ate from here the whole night.
Bruschetta — Bread was stale. Bruschetta itself lacked a lot of flavor, or maybe I’m spoiled by B Street and Vine in San Mateo
My main entrée was the Penne Portobello — I had high expectations for this dish, but it was sadly a let down. Sour for my taste, perhaps it was heavy with wine, and not the good kind. Kind of regret getting this dish, but the ingredients sounded delicous, «portobello mushrooms, chicken, and prosciuto in marcella sauce «…not.
Interior was nice, but they were lacking in servers. I think there was only 1 waiter running around tending to everyone in the entire place (and it wasn’t a small place either). He was even prepping all the drink orders as well. Busy for him.
Overall, I wouldn’t come back to this place. I’d rather stay at home and make my own pasta.

We wanted something off of the ‘main’ north beach drag and went here on a recommendation. I think its likely more fun on a warmer day since it looks like they have a nice outdoor patio and bocce ball. The food is mediocre at best, what they lack in quality they make up in serving size. The service was fine but the food is simple and close to a ‘homecooked’ meal, but I’ve had better. Simple wine list to match the simple food. overall, a good place for larger groups (huge dining area) and families.

We stumbled upon this place with our Bay Area friends, who we were visiting. They’re newer to the area and live about an hour outside of San Francisco, so we were sort of blindly trying to find somewhere to eat in the city. We actually had our sights set on another place, but it ended up being closed. We stumbled upon Bocce Café and decided to give it a shot.
We walked through a cute patio area to get in, and because it was fairly warm out, we actually sat on the outside patio. The inside was cute but we didn’t spend much time in there. Our server was fine, but nothing really stood out and service was a bit slow for how few people were in the restaurant (we ate at a weird time, probably about 4 or 4:30pm).
Before our entrees, we decided to get a few appetizers. I don’t eat fish but my three dining companions had calamari, and we also split some fried mozzarella sticks. For some reason, they came with onion rings, which was odd but I’m also not into onion rings, so maybe that isn’t weird to everyone? The mozzarella sticks were good, as was the bread and olive oil dipping sauce.
We all ordered something different. My friend’s husband ordered the Cappellini Pomodoro, which he enjoyed quite a bit. It was more of a marinara-​type sauce than he was expecting, but he liked it all the same. My fiancé tried the pepperoni pizza, of which I had a slice. It was just okay — I am really not picky about my pizza so I certainly would’ve eaten it, but I expected something a little better from an Italian place. My friend originally ordered the Penne Portobello but when it came out, she was disappointed. It was much more of a stroganoff-​type sauce than she was expecting, and she said it was somewhat oddly sweet, so she ended up ordering something else (the Ravioli alia Spinaci). She wasn’t stoked with that, either, but took home what she didn’t eat and finished it the next day, so I think it was decent. I had the Linguini al Pesto. It was pretty good; it was a little less al dente than I prefer but I enjoyed it enough. Although they didn’t necessarily have a kids’ menu, they were kind enough to make a small dish of penne with marinara sauce for my friends’ daughter (who then refused to eat it — silly toddlers).
Overall it probably wasn’t the absolute BEST place we could’ve gone, but I think most of us enjoyed our meal well enough, and the place was pretty cute.

Really bad. They were out of Chianti and bread (!!!). The fried mozzarella comes with some onion rings and cold tomato sauce (no marinara??); tastes like frozen. Warm spinach salad drenched with dressing. Chicken Parm was dreadful. Wife had gnocchi; said it was ok but mushy. Won’t be back. Should have just waited for our table at Tony’s.

My family and I found this place while walking around the North Beach area of the city. It was a busy Friday night so a lot of the places we tried first were too crowded to seat us, but we stumbled on this establishment and since we were crunched for time, we gave it a shot.
Our service was lackluster and inattentive. We ordered several appetizers to share as a family. Nothing stood out as above average. Bland tastes and just lacking a chef’s love.
The restroom was even a disappointment. One of two stalls was completely disgusting and not usuable, and one of two sinks was broken.
This place has potential with its location and atomospheric charm, but it needs some serious love and attention.

This place has a LOT of potential but someone needs to put some love into it. And get a Chef that cares about their food. My family and I had 5 appetizers to share, grilled portobello salad, bruschetta, steamed clams & mussels, & calamari. Nothing was seasoned, so it was just generic and bland.
Service was not exceptional, as if the guy serving our table was miserable to be there.
The ladies room was worse. One of 2 working toilets and 1 of 2 working sinks.
Would love to see this cool spot get the love it deserves and give it another chance.

One of those San Francisco hidden places… old fashioned good Italian food… nothing fancy but really nice ambiance and good old food. Used to frequent Bocce very often when I worked in the City… now as often as I have the time while I am in SF.

Pros: Nice interior, set back away from the street. Large open interior. Servers are friendly. Piano player. Large groups.
Cons: check your water or any other drink for insects, they will land in them. There is open communication between the outside so all the gnats, fruitflies and mosquito’s come in. The food is average, bland and not so memorable. The drinks are OK, nothing special. Kind of weak pours so stick with wine or beer.
They open at 6, and besides the giant group I was with not another soul until after 9 walked thru the door.

Ate here with my friends prior to the NWM! I was thinking I would be carb-​loading before the marathon but I saw cioppino on the menu and knew that’s what I wanted. It came with a side of pasta which was a plus! When my meal came I was surprised how huge the bowl was! There was so much seafood in that bowl, I was totally full and content. The atmosphere was cozy, we had a table next to a cushioned bench and I enjoyed the dimness of the restaurant.

Absolutely adorable interior. Very ski-​lodge like. There was a projector for the giants World Series game although there was only one other party in the entire restaurant on a Saturday night…
The two stars are for the great interior and okay food. I don’t want to destroy their Unilocal rating with something even worse because the food was okay although pretty overpriced, but it’s UNACCEPTABLE to find MULTIPLE BUGS in my leftovers.
I hope this restaurant can turn it around because it’s really beautiful but there’s needs to be a management, chef, & maybe waitstaff change? Kind of felt like we were a bother to the workers. But one of the waitresses was kind and put up with us.

There are MUCH better places for dinner in North Beach and in San Francisco proper. We went on a Tuesday and the place was empty.
The best thing about this meal was the wine and my dining companions. Other than that, nothing special.
The bruschetta was okay. The carpaccio was blah. It just felt like an over processed canned food kinda place. Nothing felt homemade. The gnocchi were pretty good but the sauce was nothing you couldn’t get at an Olive Garden
Try a different spot in North Beach

I want to give 3.5 stars
Hard to find, but really interesting place.
When you walk in, it’s like you’re leaving the city and into italy. Huge open restaurant with super high ceilings. Wow, and they have a very nice outdoor seating area too. This place seems really old though.
Place would be amazing for groups.
Food was pretty good. I liked the calamari and the shrimp pizza the best. Also had pasta with pesto and that was good too.
Service was okay, nothing special.
They seem pretty empty though so if you don’t want to wait, this place would be great.

Great Italian food! The higher rated places were all too busy to walk in without a reservation on a Saturday night, but they had tables here. Whole the little things made it clear this is not the best place in the area (parmasean cheese in the shaker and not fresh), the food was still very good. The lasagna was oily but delicious with the meat and the seafood linguini and cioppino were plentiful and excellent. The portobello penne was good. Service was fast and extremely friendly. Overall if you find yourself in the area without a reservation on a busy night definitely check this place out!

Great dinner spot for a group.
Enjoyed the garlic fries and antipasto platter. Ingredients were quality and in season. Could have used more gluten free entrée options, but I just had a couple apps instead.

Amazing customer service, delicious food, and beautiful ambiance!
I booked a large party from out of town here at Bocce Café, and was in contact with the manager over the phone and via email. Karwan was very helpful and understanding, and together we created a set menu with delicious options for my guests.
The outside patio is beautiful, just breathtaking. I decorated it even more for the surprise engagement party and Bocce’s looked like a movie set. The night went as planned, and my guests LOVED the food. We had family style appetizers and the servers just brought out mouth-​watering bruschetta, prosciutto melone and insalata balsamico unlimited. We had entrees to choose from such as the tortellini, eggplant parmesan, fettuccini alfredo, and linguini with fresh mussles. For dessert, Karwan went out of his way to accomodate our taste for tira misu.
This place gets 10 stars out of 5!!! I am SO IMPRESSED with their customer service and quality of food. Thank you so much Karwan, and to all the staff that waited our large party. The evening was a night to remember and I am so grateful to you for helping me plan this long-​distance event.
Grazi.

Suburbanites looking for a traditional North Beach dining experience need look no further than Bocce Café. More than a café, it’s roomy inside, it has lots of patio seating in the back, and it has a menu rivaled only by the Olive Garden in its predictability and blandability. OK, maybe that’s not completely fair since Bocce does offer non-​OG dishes like cioppino and mussels bordelaise. But it is kid-​friendly which is why you are likely to be among boisterous families with gaggles of ADD monsters who would rather be on their Playstations. If you can get past the anarchy, you can find decent Italian food here.
Bocce also has the benefit of being slightly off the beaten track as it sits on a residential block on Green right off Grant. Truth be told, Jamie W. and I ended up here only because the new Original Joe’s was an absolute zoo, and we didn’t feel like being squeezed into a bar table an hour later. Bocce at 5:30PM was the exact opposite — near-​empty and overstaffed. We were hungry, so we shared a couple of appetizers right away. And since it was before 6PM, we could take advantage of the fact that they were half-​off. Woo-​hoo. Jamie ordered the $ 9.95 Combination of Fried Calamari and Fried Mozzarella Cheese with Tomato Sauce (see photo). Pretty average.
I went with the $ 8.95 Prosciutto Melon, which was hamstrung by unripened cantaloupe slices despite the salty-​tasty prosciutto wrapped around them (see photo). However, given the discounted prices, we didn’t feel we had that much room to complain. Our risk-​averse entrees were marginally better even though we did steer away from the pricier temptations on the menu. Jamie simply had the $ 10.95 Spaghetti & Meat Balls, which was surprisingly sparse on the vermicelli but generous on the meatballs (see photo). The sauce was also a tad watery, but Jamie didn’t seem to mind as he devoured it in near-​record time.
I ordered one of the $ 9.95 Bocce House Pasta Specials, Linguine Carbonara, which was loaded with cream and bacon bits (see photo). What’s to complain about with such artery-​clogging goodness? I decided to undercut the creamy indulgence with a $ 4.95 side of Beef Meatballs (see photo). Two big, meaty spheres bathing in a pool of tomato sauce. We were full and considering a return visit for the live music they have on Friday and Saturday evenings when apparently a jazz combo plays. It wasn’t the finest meal we ever had in North Beach, but we could have definitely done a lot worse.
FOOD — 3 stars… standard-​issue Italian for big families
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… spacious for a North Beach venue, something to consider for your next big get-​together
SERVICE — 3 stars… good at first and then drifted as more customers trickled in
TOTAL — 3 stars… mangia at your own discretion

3.5 stars. Solid place with reasonable prices & nice sized portions. Great space for large groups. The outdoor patio looked perfect when not freezing.
TIP: Go during happy hour for 50% off apps!
Bruschetta — Yum!
Prosciutto & melon — Good.
Carpaccio — Yum!
Mozzarella caprese — Fresh!
Fried calamari — Crispy w/​marinara sauce
Mussels — Great
Cioppino — Great tomato broth. Some of the seafood was overcooked. Big portion so be good & share with your pals.