Ofena — Restaurant in San Francisco

A solid 3.5 Stars We will return to try it again and hopefully update the review to 4 stars.

A fantastic addition to this area that was lacking a nice Italian restaurant option. It’s really the only “nice” restaurant in the neighborhood, so glad we have an option nearby.

The decor was nice, and it’s a very large space in the former Lakeside Cafe space. The bar area separates the two dining areas and the large windows let in natural light though the lighting could be improved (either add lighting for each table or something similar).

Service was OK. Not bad but felt odd. Our server explained the “shared plates” concept and answered our questions about some of the offerings. It felt awkward and didn’t help me get a sense of what was on the menu. The whole interaction felt a little smug and weird.

Another server brought us a lunch menu after he heard me asking if the same dishes from dinner were offered at lunch. I thought this was spot on attentiveness.

The food:

Antipasti- the chilled artichokes-disappointing. More appropriate as part of a antipasti dish but not stand alone. It was cachectic and flavors were ok. I was anxious about how the rest of our meal would be after trying this.

We shared the Chitarra alle Vongole- clams with Meyer lemon, butter, chile and parsley. Seasoned well- almost too salty but I thought it was delicious . But this is not something you could share. Portion was too small and for $32 I expect more. Delfina’s pricey pasta portions are larger and have a similar price point-and shareable.

Reconsider the portion size, and/or reduce the price especially if you are promoting a shared concept.

Fried Chicken Cotoletta:

I’m not vegan but eat mostly plant based foods. This was a quarter sized chicken (not sure what round but it was smallish) It was juicy and crispy and well seasoned. The pepporonata that accompanied it was ok. A bit bitter and didn’t enhance the flavor-but the chicken as cooked perfectly and definitely made up for the size of the pasta and the sad antipasti dish.

The secondi comes with a side of your choice and we picked the grilled broccolini- it was a great pairing and generously portioned.

The tiramisu and affogato nothing to write home about. I Tiramisu too sweet and overpowered any other flavor that may have been in it. Affogato : the ice cream was a frozen ball and the espresso had no crema on top and when poured over the cold Ice cream, it became instantly cold.

At the end of the meal, my husband and I both decided we would come back and try other items for dinner and also try the lunch. The food was good and despite some of the hiccups, I could tell by looking around a to the tables that people were enjoying themselves and their dishes looked tasty.

Lastly the drinks were great. A whisky sour type cocktail was delicious and the Prosecco was...

We went last night for our first time and were extremely impressed. The service was absolutely top notch. Everyone was welcoming and attentive and our server was awesome. She gave us great recommendations from the menu, and was the perfect blend of chatty and attentive, and hands off to allow us to enjoy our time together. We ordered probably too much for our appetites, but there was so much on the menu that we wanted to try. We started with the persimmon, the artichoke, and the arancini for antipasti and loved all of it - I particularly liked the persimmon. We decided to skip getting mains and had two pastas and two sides - the duck gnocchi and the canneloni, and the gigante beans and broccolini. The gnocchi had a shaved cured egg yolk, so I didn't have that (I personally don't like egg yolks) but my husband loved the dish. I wasn't a huge fan of the beans, but the rest was super great. We decided to box up our leftovers because the dessert menu looked so good. We shared the spumoni sundae and were so glad that we did. Spumoni is my all time favorite ice cream and this exceeded my high expectations! Husband had a couple of interesting cocktails (I'm dry) that he truly enjoyed. I can definitely see coming in for just dessert at the bar instead of a whole meal. We're so happy such a great spot has come to our neck of the woods and will be...

3.5 stars overall, rounded down due to deceptive / customer-hostile surcharging.

Mostly good (some great) food, uneven but friendly and accommodating service, and nice ambience + easy parking

Amongst me and my friends:

LOVED: Italian soda Cannolis

LIKED: Focaccia

MEH: Duck gnocchi (which is a shame, because they were kind enough to make this for me despite it no longer being on the menu... but it just really tasted bland and one-note, unfortunately)

(not sure what my friends thought about their mains)

I was sad and disappointed to see the 5% "SF Surcharge" on the bill. Everyone... EVERYONE hates junk fees. Restaurant owners know this, yet in SF they still persist on adding this bogus surcharge instead of doing the ethical and less-annoying thing of... just charging $1-2 more per dish. I can't imagine a single person would be saying, "Well, that $20 pasta is now $21? I'm going elsewhere!"

I largely blame the evil National Restaurant Association for this passive aggressiveness, but it's past time for restaurants to do the right thing and cut...