Piccino — Restaurant in San Francisco

Fun drinks but it wasn't nearly as good as La Cotogna. The service wasn't nearly as attentive -- there was a constant feeling that you needed to keep ordering to stay there. Hospitality isn't just about the bricks and mortar (it is gorgeous), but also about feeling welcome. The pizza came out kind of just meh, and the meatballs where actually cold. We spent about 400 for 3 people for drinks and dinner and the value proposition wasn't there. For that kind of money we would like to feel unrushed, the food while beautiful served at correct temperatures, and not to have the constant feeling that we needed to feed the meter. Not once were we asked how the food was -- there was an assumption that it was all good. Maybe it was just an off night. It didn't feel sincere it felt formulaic.

Standout dishes, foccacia and the masa dessert were both excellent.

The pizza was served a bit underwhelming (the burrata wasn't bad, but there was something off about the cooking of the pizza -- the cornicione was wet (I've never seen that before), and made an unfortunate eating experience. The meatballs were served cold, and had an oily taste like fried food that was cooked at too low of an oil temperature.

The dry cured beef was good, but it was very difficult to eat as it was stuck to the plate when you scraped it off all the goodies went all over the place; it was beauty over substance.

The pasta was under seasoned again plated beautifully, but just not great.

I really wanted to love this restaurant the story is compelling of how the two partners met; it is a local women owned business we should support as many these was we can. It sources from its own farm, and it is beautiful. It wasn't bad, but for 400 for 3 you really need to focus on the experience and not just the look. I can see what it is so popular. Again maybe we just had a bad night or...

Chic enough to have an anniversary dinner with your wife and the staff makes it feel to be a special occasion, yet casual enough that you can take you kids and enjoy their signature pizzas. In fact, we were there on our 20th anniversary based on a strong recommendation from our restauranteur friend, and at that time, there were at least 3 large families with kids, but we never felt bothered or awkward. In fact we'd love to take our kid here next time.

We aren't big meat eaters, but pork terrine (house-made) and pork sugo pappardelle, even in succession, were just great and never too heavy. Great selection of wine, and if you don't know which one to have by the glass, they still let you taste a few varieties. All the staff is all friendly yet professional. I called ahead to prepare a small cake to celebrate our anniversary with some message on it, and they just did it at the right moment to my wife's surprise. No reminder was needed on the premises. They just made it happen.

The decor: as you can see in the inside view photos, the restaurant is just one big hall, but acoustic is never a problem (the lattice of joists on the ceiling must help diffuse sound), and light coming in from the western side near the sunset hours (there's a park on the west side, so no obstruction) gave just the right glow to start the evening, with the white walls and wood trimming and floor giving bright yet warm ambience. The view of the large, open, and impeccably clean kitchen with half a dozen neatly dressed staff working in a busy yet very coordinated fashion adds an upbeat rhythm to complement the otherwise relaxed and static interior.

So...food is great, staff is friendly, place looks great, and things just work. And easy on your wallet (for this quality), and oh, plenty of parking available, around this area of SF. What...

My friend made a reservation for five of us at Piccino - I was really excited to try it! We all arrived around 5 minutes on either side of our reservation for 7pm. However, we weren't seated until 7:15pm. When I went to talk to the host at 7:10pm about a table, he told me to give our server some time. Wow, okay? We made a reservation for 7pm, but we should give our server some time? I also told him it was my friend's birthday, which he failed to relay to our server.

Then we ended up at a shared table seated next to an extremely obnoxious child who couldn't stop moving or making strange noises. So much for reservations.

Throughout the meal, we had to ask for our bottle of water to be refilled. This happened at least five times. It was never taken or refilled without our asking. We also poured our own water the entire time, minus the first glass. Our server was often nowhere to be found, and I had to ask other servers and the host to help us instead. Even then, the hosts and servers were often conversing instead of attending to guests or tables.

We had to tell another server that it was my friend's birthday, which she was able to relay to the kitchen. The wine list also boasts expensive wines - there were no reasonably priced ones. The average glass cost $14-15. The $50 bottle we ordered was only okay.

The only saving grace was the food. The pasta I had was great, well seasoned and well made. The portions are pretty small though, so keep that in mind when ordering!

Weirdly, in the middle of dusk, they placed a candle on our table. But it was about an hour later around 8:30pm that they abruptly turned down the lights... and turned them back on again.

With the awful service, strange ambiance, and shared tables, I won't be going back. The food is good, but...