Da Flora — Restaurant in San Francisco

My friend made dinner reservations for us, but the place was basically empty when we arrived Wednesday @ 7pm.

Restaurant is small (seats around 20) and is dimly lit. Very quiet, so not ideal for a first date, but good spot to bring a date you want to get to know better.

Menu is handwritten in cursive and is hard to read, but the food makes up for it.

First, the handmade foccacia bread (free) is delicious. Soft, fluffy, and savory... we asked for seconds and our waitress obliged happily.

For appetizers, we had the arugula pear salad and the sweet potato gnocchi. Salad was light and refreshing - loved the combo of sweet pear and savory cheese. And the sweet potato gnocchi... Oh. My. Goodness. You MUST try it. Amazing. I couldn't stop telling my coworkers about it the next day, and I will definitely bring friends here if just to introduce them to it and the foccacia bread alone. 1.5x the appetizer size would probably be enough for a light dinner, since the gnocchi is fairly heavy. Next time I will definitely consider that.

For my entree, I got the penne rigate with sausage and mushrooms. Portion was relatively small, and quality was just slightly above average. Slightly undercooked pasta, but the sauce was decent.

Service was okay. Our waitress brought us the wrong appetizer at first but apologized for it.

Despite the mediocre entree, I still have to give this place 5 stars for the foccacia, sweet potato gnocchi, and quiet/romantic ambiance and decor. I will definitely bring friends here again soon.

--

EDIT: Brought another friend here for the focaccia and gnocchi. Service was very bad. I called to make a reservation and the lady who answered literally scoffed and said, "Um, Saturday night at 7pm? Not going to happen." I asked if any other times were available. She replied, "Oh, um. Looks like we had a cancellation for 6:30." My friend and I got there and two waitresses were both rude. Water glasses never filled until we asked. Entree (risotto) was not good - I literally didn't touch mine. Revising my review to 4 stars... I was under the spell of focaccia and gnocchi when I wrote my...

Such a fabulous, luscious experience celebrating my 60th birthday here...chef and co-owner Jen McMahon lovingly prepared each of our dishes x 5 people, and it was outstanding: Sweet potato gnocchi, sherry cream and smoked bacon or sage; Orecchiette, Calabrese sausages, broccoli rabe, toasted breadcrumbs and extra virgin olive oil; Manicotti , crepes stuffed with spinach and ricotta baked Il forno in a wild mushroom , leek, and pecan pesto cream and aged provolone; Spaghetti with fresh cracked Dungeness crab, Uni cream, caramelized fennel, chili flakes mand eyer lemon zest; additionally, we all had classic Caesar salads, to die for !...fresh focaccia was ever present and delicious...the Chef's husband welcomed us with warmth and open arms....the ambience is delightful, Venetian red walls and lovely art everywhere...soft golden lighting made for a very intimate and special experience....conversation between us all was easy and easy to hear...the delightful waiter and host tastefully attended to our every need...some of us had wine, and their list has a wide array of wondetsul choices from smaller producers in Italy...topped off the meal with some Moscato and an espresso - heavenly...thank you Da Flora for creating a wonderful memory ! BTW, if you have not been here,...

We had the most wonderful dinner experience here. The interior is cozy thanks to the low, warm lighting and relaxing jazz music playing softly in the background. The staff was welcoming, attentive, and engaging. The food above all was phenomenal. We had the little gem caesar, sweet potato gnocchi, focaccia bread, spaghetti and meatballs, squid ink spaghetti with scallops, and the special dessert, which was a butterscotch pudding with whipped cream & gingersnap cookies. We washed it all down with a lovely Vermintino white wine. Da Flora has been operating in North Beach for 28 years, is family owned and operated, and curates its menu using seasonal, local ingredients. You can think of it as Californian-Italian cuisine - the best of both worlds. We will certainly return and will recommend Da Flora to any visitor looking for a good Italian spot in the...