Vicoletto

Tried Vicoletto tonight on the last day of Restaurant Week. It was a nice surprise that their prix fixe menu can be anything on the actual menu so I was able to pick my two favorites. I mainly had chosen Vicoletto to try their famous Italian-​imported burrata. It was pretty delicious with the grape tomatoes and arugula but worth $ 18? I’m not too sure about that. My boyfriend got the fried calamari which I got a taste of and was very good with the caper dipping sauce.
I was a little sad that the stuffed pork chop was sold out when our reservation was for 5:30 (chose this time specifically so things wouldn’t be sold out — oh well!), but the tagliatelle pasta with pork sugo was my next choice. I come from a gigantic Calabrese family, and the sugo and the sauce was really spot on with my grandmother’s recipe. Super tasty sauce that was very authentic Calabrian. There were 3 bones left in my sugo, which although pretty dangerous, I overlooked it. Boyfriend got the lobster ravioli and though lobster can be hit or miss for me, I really enjoyed it. Loved the bottomless focaccia bread that we used to soak up the last bit of the delicious sauces. At the time I thought the portions were too small but once we got to the dessert we were really stuffed so I think they were adequate.
For dessert we had a choice between vanilla panna cotta and chocolate lava cake so of course we chose both. Honestly, the entrees were awesome but the dessert really wowed me. The lava cake oozed, just as it should, and the panna cotta was so creamy and delicious. I loved that both came with two sour cherries that were really phenomenal. We were so full but I still finished every last spoonful.
$ 40 for a good Italian meal without drinks really isn’t bad because none of the courses were disappointing and service was quick and friendly. The décor was classy and romantic though we’re glad we picked the early reservation because by the end of our meal it was so loud we really couldn’t speak at a normal volume anymore. Overall the meal was really tasty and I love a good pork sugo with homemade pasta — comfort food for a Calabrese for sure!

The 4 stars is based mostly on their Buratta and Wine! All their other pasta and pizza dishes are comparable to most of the other Italian restaurants but I like this one b/​c it’s a little smaller and quieter and we can usually get accommodated pretty easily! Staff is very nice and service is good! No real complaints here!

No, no thank you, sir
I think that we have enough
«The North Beach» stickers
White wine and red wine
Then spicy sausage pasta
This morning was tough
Calamari shrimp,
I ate the whole damn thing, man
Try the pork chop, too

This place is the bomb! Gnocchi and tagliatelle were both delicious and homemade. The staff so unbelievably nice and accommodating to our large party of 15. Would definitely come here again. Zero complaints!

Came here on a Sunday night, and man was it pouring outside! This place isn’t hard to get, and the interior is very nice. The restaurant itself has sweet décor, and they took my reservation for seven people very easily, even though I booked that table that very morning.
Get a pasta and a dessert; that’s probably all you need. Order an appetizer to share, but otherwise, this restaurant serves deliciously satisfying portions that don’t skimp out on flavor either.
I ordered a delicious ravioli-​like dish that had a delicious, creamy white sauce drizzled over it. My friends ordered the lobster ravioli, which seems to be a more popular order in this restaurant.
Unfortunately, the restaurant only had the Vanilla Panna Cotta and Chocolate Cake by the time we arrived for dessert– but that was no issue! Both dishes were delicious.
I would definitely recommend a visit to this restaurant. The reviews are as good as it gets, and Vicoletto is one of the better Italian restaurants here in SF.

One of my favorite meals in San Francisco. Louis was a great waiter. So understated, yet fantastic food… best combo. We ordered the beet salad and zucchini appetizer, and I had the lobster ravioli for my meal. Will definitely be back! Thanks Louis for great service!

Had a wonderful date night here. Super cute italian spot that isn’t pretentious or touristy.
We were greeted warmly and sat immediately. They have a great selection of Italian wines and our server Luis was wonderful in helping us make a decision and was delightful as our host.
I highly recommend the burata. It was so fresh I felt like it was summertime in my mouth.
Definitely a spot to sit back relax and enjoy life.

Solid Italian restaurant. A gem, really. My friends and I were just walking through the area, playing everything by ear. We almost missed this place because it’s pretty small and not in-​your-​face at all. However, it’s also not exactly a hole-​in-​the-​wall kind of place either. We went in without a reservation, table for three, and the host let us know that there would be a roughly 15 minute wait. This was our best bet because it was a Saturday evening, right around the holidays, so we were happy with that. We continued to walk around a bit outside and totally forgot to leave our name! But just as we returned, the host let us know that a table had opened up, and even seated us before a table that was waiting there (presumably, they would have gotten the table since they had been waiting at the actual restaurant, but host hooked us uppp). Sorry to the table after us, and grazie mille to the host!
Immediately after we were seated, they brought out warm bread for us to nom on. Plenty of wines to choose from, and we opted for the Barbera d’Alba Ruvei. If you take nothing else away from this review, get the Burrata! It was absolutely delicious. I only wish there had been more of it!
I went for the Taglierini al Nero di Seppia (squid ink pasta), my friend opted for the Gnocchi, and another friend opted for the Pappardelle con Agnello. All three of the dishes were good. The portions aren’t overwhelmingly huge, so you don’t feel gross after. I think the bread and burrata had filled me up quite a bit, because I had to take some home with me. For the Taglierini, they really pile on the seafood, so I was a fan. And the seafood was cooked to perfection, not overdone like a lot of places.
For dessert, our table got the Tiramisu to share. Nothing to be raved about there, but also not bad. The table next to us asked if we would recommend that or something else, and we chose to recommend something else.
The restaurant itself has a lovely, warm ambiance. Waitstaff is kind and friendly. Not going to lie, our waiter made me swoon a little bit. Another nice thing about this restaurant is the noise level — just right. It’s bustling like any other restaurant, but not overly loud to where you feel like you have to shout at your friends across the table. All in all, a beautiful night at a wonderful restaurant.

Wonderful service, story genuine staff. I almost wanted to stay here for dinner, but my friend already had her heart set on the restaurant next door and come from out of state.
While waiting for our dinner table, we dropped into this restaurant for an appetizer and wine. We also tried their panna cotta at the end. The waiter was awesome, he recommended a wine that the restaurant recently took off the menu.
Octopus appetizer & panna cotta — let’s just say I wanted to lick the plate.
I would like to come back for their actual meal.

Whether you love Italian food or not this place is just amazing. It was like a great concert, when it was over I was a little sad that I had to leave — reasonable prices great food — good service and nice atmosphere
Go here !

If you’re strolling north on Grant Avenue thru China Town, keep going, make the dash over Broadway and, as they say in italian ‘sempre diritto’ you’ll get to the the restaurant. bar and store fronts of more residential North Beach. Its a great area of town and you CAN NOT stay more than one day in San Francisco without getting up early for coffee at Caffe Trieste right in the neighborhood.
When you catch Green Street, you’re on a little sideways from Columbus and around ‘Oh my gosh… they’ve been there forever’ places like Gino & Carlo and ‘line down the street Sotto Mare seafood restaurant. A landmark is the Arte Moderne 1948 Buon Gusto Sausage Factory Building and you might not realize that you’re actually really close to Coit Tower.
Between the two is a little alley and as good naming of places goes in Italy, there is the restaurant Vicoletto — which means ‘little alley’ For the big presences of Gino & Carlo and Sotto Mare, you might miss this little place. Don’t. Maybe you’re waiting for you table at Sotto Mare? If so, grab your light up vibrating lobster and go the bar at Vicoletto for a glass of wine or draft beer. Wine and beer only.
It’s a great in its own right with a very best of kitchen staff who put together very original and beautifully presented dishes. The food being the most important thing, the front of house staff are impressive also. They’re a small, known each other a long time, relaxed and dedicated group who clearly enjoy what they do.
The pastas are all homemade and handmade downstairs in a little pasta studio. And they do some unique things.
The menu is changing all the time, but standards to try for sure are the Nero di Seppia, which is squid ink pasta. Calabrian chilis are flavorful additions to dishes like the Riccia di Norma, and a favorite ordered over and over are the Lobster Ravioli (Ravioli Aragosta). To me, one of the kitchen’s great strengths are the seafood dishes — the Salmon with Asparagus is perfect as are the Capesante (sea scallops) and Calamari.
One thing you’ll really enjoy exploring is the wine selection. The Super Tuscan, Rosso di Montalcino, and Nebbiolo are fantastic. And their bartenders are really nice about offering small samples. If you’re curious about a wine you’ve never had, don’t be afraid to ask for a taste of something they already have open.
And, food or wine, that’s the most important thing. The dissatisfying thing about reviews is that you can spill squid ink for days to forever ‘talking’ about how food tastes. assaggi, provi! split a pasta dish of something truly characteristic and house favorite dish and Il Vicoletto will stay on your list of local favorites for sure.
Places like this on the edge of old North Beach/​Washington Square and now very touristy Columbus Ave are worth getting to know and also old friends to visit if you haven’t seen them in a while.

Homemade pasta with fresh seafood, hearty creamy sauces, and attentive service. A definite yes.
I like that the portions are modest and filling. It’s not my preference to receive a pasta plate the size of Antarctica. It’s simple, real, clean, contemporary and classy.
Had the calamari shrimp appetizer with lobster ravioli and linguini with crab. All excellent.
When you walk to the bathroom you see the cooks making fresh pasta in the back.
Yum!

Nice and quiet local restaurant with authentic Italian recipes and taste. What I have missed from growing up in Brooklynn
Gnocchi was flavorful but so gentle they practically melt in your mouth. So full of flavor with the perfect texture. I started with the beet salad that hosted a hint of lime, goat cheese and walnuts just the right size before a great meal. The winner; the lobster ravioli with chunks of lobster and delicious perfectly cooked prawn. The sauce was light but flavorful so it do not take away from the lobster flavor. Nice wine list, great service and the quiet ambience I crave to enjoy a great meal.
Definitely one of my favorite Italian places in the area. Fabulous!

This Italian restaurant on the crowded Green St stood out because of its modern styling and limited but solid menu.
Everything we had was quite good, no disappointments:
Mozzarella Burrata — Burrata imported weekly from the southern Italian region of Puglia with roasted butternut squash — Epic. The freshness of the burrata stood out.
Tagliatella — House made tagliatella with veal ragu and spicy calabrian pepper — the spice sets it off, really strong dish
Gnochi — with calabrian sausage and broccolini in a cream sauce — even the broccolini (yuck) couldn’t ruin this dish

Burratta cheese, please.
I’ve had a thing going with the soft gooey stuff for years now. When a friend suggested Vicoletto for their Unilocal famous burrata dish, no one argued.
It’s a nice, upscale and very modern restaurant in North Beach. Unexpected and, unfortunately, rather empty. That didn’t stop our foursome from ordering wine, apps and pasta. Who doesn’t like Italian food?
The burrata cheese dish had everything one might expect and portion generous. Enough to clog one’s digestive track for at least a day. But what a way to go (or not in the case).
Would recommend to anyone looking for a solid dinner spot without any wait.

Look, if you are going to put a plate of pasta in front of me, it is hard to go wrong. And from that point of view, Vicoletto was just fine: pasta is intrinsically delicious!
But beyond the innate, hard-​to-​mess-​up goodness of white flour in sauce, Vicoletto doesn’t do much to distinguish itself. It’s a perfectly nice room, but the night we were there it was woefully understaffed– nobody was at the door to greet and seat people, so it took them half an hour to seat us even though we had a reservation.
The menu was unremarkable — nothing to deviate from standard Italian fare — and while they executed respectably, I’ve had many many Italian meals that are more distinguished.
You won’t regret eating here — you just won’t remember it. And with so many terrific food options in the area, why waste good stomach on unexceptional food?

Satori Wine is a must here! That wine was smooth and just swell to the palate!
Do get their signature mozzarella burrata! It is a great opening appetizer. Their lobster ravioli was good — order if you are craving lobster. I really liked their Tagliatella! It was fresh and you can surely taste it.
The whole fish entrée was an eye catcher the way it was presented. It was displayed on two sticks and decorated with finishing on the bottom to compliment the entirety of it.
The ambiance was of dimly lit and contemporary décor. A nice dining affair here!

Upscale Italian just off Columbus in Telegraph Hill. Came here only for dessert. Will return someday for the food.
Tiramisu — ⁴⁄₅ — I liked that this tiramisu was noticeably less sweet and more dry than most tiramisus and still managed to be tasty and enjoyable. The cocoa powder generously sprinkled on the plate with less on top let you choose how much of that flavor you want. The strawberry slices were a nice touch as well.
Overall, there are better tiramisus around but this one was «I’m a fan.»

We came here as part of Restaurant Week in SF. Good aspects included the friendly service and the willingness to be accommodating with some substitutions. My favorite dishes included the zucchini antipasto — savory paper-​thin slices delicately fried — and the panna cotta, creamy with a mild tang.
The burrata dish was mixed — I loved the soft interior of the cheese — but the salad greens were remarkably salty, and the eggplant suffered a wealth of balsamic. Likewise the butternut tortelloni was pleasant but not exciting — I was hoping for some actual browned sage leaves in the sage sauce, as is customary for a butternut sage dish. Finally, the tiramisu was just kinda ok.
Nonetheless, we had an enjoyable night out, and Vicoletto gave us a nice relaxed setting for some penetrating conversation.

Vicoletto means Little Alley. It’s not in an alley but next to it. It sits in one of the most crowded area in the city. Also one of the most concentration of highly rated restaurants.
Three times a charm and now one more bookmark off my exploding list.
A reservation for four was easy to handle on Open Table. We lucked out and found parking in front. That was no easy feat considering our location.
I was torn between two dishes. The Tagliatelle or the Taglierini Al Nero Di Sepia $ 20. I chose the latter. It is house made black squid ink spaghetti, mussels, Monterey squid ink, prawns in cherry tomato sauce.
Unbelievable! Too good to be true. Perfectly seasoned. Al dente pasta made fresh in house. Portion was sufficient in fact I took some home.
We also tried their Burrata imported from Italy. It comes in every week. It’s a must try! Fresh is the word.
We shared the Pannacota and Tiramisu to round up the experience. Don’t skip these two. You’ll be sorry if you will.