Itria — Restaurant in San Francisco

Nestled amidst the vibrant energy of San Francisco's Mission District, Itria stands out like a chic oasis. Its minimalist elegance and relaxed vibe, with dim lighting and a sleek interior, set the stage for a truly cozy dining experience.

We opted for their phenomenal tasting menu, a steal at under $100 per person (before taxes and tip). This four-course extravaganza featured three delectable dishes in each of the first three courses, culminating in a delightful dessert. It's a fantastic way to sample their culinary creations, both seasonal offerings and some of their permanent menu stars. Every single bite was a revelation, leaving our party of three feeling incredibly satisfied.

While portion sizes may seem small at first glance, trust me, by the end of the meal, we were happily satiated. Their menu is served family-style for appetizers, transitioning to individual portions for the main course and dessert – a nice touch for both sharing and savoring.

Reservations are a must, as the place was buzzing when we arrived. Luckily, we had planned ahead and were promptly offered seats at the bar with drinks while we waited for our full party.

Our server was incredibly knowledgeable about the menu and readily highlighted some of their most popular dishes. We snagged the rosemary focaccia with garlic anchovy oil, a must-try. The focaccia itself was perfection – warm, buttery, and light – and the garlic anchovy oil added an addictive layer of flavor. A minor quibble – it could have been a tad warmer. In hindsight, starting with the bread would have been a great call, allowing us to savor it before diving into the subsequent courses. As the meal progressed, the focaccia went a bit cold, overshadowed by the star of the show – the incredible food.

Speaking of which, the tasting menu kicked off with a complimentary chilled soup – a taste bud explosion of perfectly balanced flavors. It was a small portion, but oh-so delicious, setting the bar high for what was to come. Every dish that followed lived up to the promise.

The first course featured Miyagi oysters, Hokkaido scallops, and Shima-aji. Each seafood starter was a testament to freshness. The Hokkaido scallop was melt-in-your-mouth buttery, while both the scallop and the Shima-aji boasted a delightful citrusy zest. The oyster, however, stole the show for me with its tangy perfection.

The second course continued the parade of fresh offerings – ocean trout, bluefin tuna, and amberjack. Each dish was beautifully prepared, with the sauces and the dressings taking the center stage. Seriously, these sauces were so good that I could have licked the plate clean!

The third course showcased the brilliance of their house-made pasta: casoncelli, cencioni, and pappardelle. The casoncelli, in particular, was a revelation. Light and handmade, the roasted pistachios added a delightful textural and flavor contrast, perfectly complementing the creamy yet light sauce. All the pasta dishes had sauces with the ideal consistency – neither too runny nor too thick.

Finally, the panna cotta provided the perfect sweet ending to our culinary journey. Light as air and bursting with flavor, it was like eating a cloud of cotton candy. The interplay of tart and sweet flavors was truly exquisite.

While the service had a few hiccups – attentiveness could have been a touch better, with water refills requiring some effort on our part – the phenomenal food easily overshadowed any minor shortcomings.

Overall, Itria offers an exceptional dining experience. From the relaxed yet stylish ambiance to the explosion of flavors on each plate, it's a place that will leave you wanting more. Just be sure to make a reservation – this gem is a hot spot...

Seeing all the amazing reviews on Google and Yelp, we made a reservation for dinner at Itria for the first time. My friend and I both ordered the chef tasting menu and wine pairing. The tasting menu offered 2 plates of crudos (basically appetizers) and 3 pastas, with an assortment of wines. Unfortunately, we didn't fully enjoy our meal. This review gets a 3 because it was not all bad and we did not get to try some of their popular dishes through the tasting menu. Some of the crudos were, scallops, oysters, uni, trout sashimi. The oysters were the best tasting of the crudos but they were sprinkled with crunchies, which I would have preferred not to have. The scallops were drenched in lime juice, covering any fresh scallop taste. The uni was also sprinkled with crunchies, which also covered any fresh uni taste. The trout tasted like it came out of a can. Something about the dishes felt like they were premade and stored in the refrigerator rather than made fresh to order. When we were served, the two plates of crudos came one after the other, we hadn't even finished the first so we had a lot of food and wine in front of us. We weren't in any rush to finish our reservation as we started at 7:15pm and no one was behind us. So i'm not sure why the food was not timed more appropriately, and it didn't help that we weren't enjoying the crudos that much. The pasta dishes were better. Not the most amazing, but better. The creme dessert was not bad. Earlier in the evening I arrived early and had some sake. The sake options were ok. They didn't have typical brands that were offered at premium Japanese restaurants. I had to taste a few before I found one that I liked, and the one I settled on was ok. The ambience and service was fine. Final bill after tax and 20% tip came out to 388 total, though we did not feel like the experience was worth that much. I recommend going ala carte and choosing their best dishes as recommended by others rather than the tasting menu.

*Edit this review was updated to a 2 star. I remember the servers interrupted us multiple times in the middle of conversation rather than show their presence and wait to be noticed. The place felt like it was trying to be fancy but actually isn't. Again maybe the chef's tasting menu really...

This place is not worth it. For $95 for a tasting menu, it’s more expensive than other italian places and I would just head to north beach.

Service: i want to start here because it was honestly the most dismal showing of ‘service’ if you could call it that. Im not sure if the servers just aren’t being paid enough or are treated poorly, but I legitimately felt each person we interacted hated working there, had no pride in the food, and didn’t want to be there. They dropped off food at times and didn’t explain what things were, despite it being a $95 tasting menu. Our water was never refilled until the end when I pushed it out toward the edge of the table. We were never offered more drinks (dont you all want to make money off alcohol?)

The pacing of the dishes was quite irregular. After the 2nd pasta the 3rd one took forever to come out

Our bill was dropped off right after dessert was given and another server walked over apologizing that no one had asked if we wanted tea or espresso.

The service is the #1 reason I will not be returning. Rude, curt, and none of the staff wanted to be there. Tbh i didnt want to be there either. Sorry that they all have to return for work.

Food: the first item dropped off was a savory panna cotta which was quite frankly, bad. It tasted like fishy sour cream. I barely touched it.

The stars of the meal was actually the sashimi and oysters. The oysters were fantastic, and so were the scallops and the rest of the platter. The blue fin tuna was great but average.

I was a bit surprised there was no salad pairing.

The pasta overall was just ok. The first one with smoked octopus was quite good, the second mushroom pasta was excellent and my favorite. The tagliatelle was too salty and underwhelming, lacking a depth of flavor one would expect and left me disappointed.

Dessert was not a great choice- chocolate budino was too sweet and heavy. An offering of sorbet/ gelato would have been a good palate cleanser

1 star for the rude and unprofessional service 2 for some of the food...