Sorella — Restaurant in San Francisco

What a disappointing evening! Terrible service ruined this neighborhood restaurant for me. I had been here before and enjoyed the food and drinks so I was keen to come back to a local spot. However, my experience last Saturday was one of the worst service experiences I have had in the last few years. Our table was not ready upon arrival so we waited for 20 minutes for a table in the crowded bar - not a big deal, but not a great start. Acknowledgement that the wait was long would have been nice or anything to indicate that this was out of the ordinary. The hostess seemed so frazzled, I wondered if she had worked in a restaurant before.

I had mentioned in the reservation that we were celebrating my friend's birthday. Four people came by separately as they were setting up our table and seating us to note that this was a birthday celebration. This seemed like a positive sign. It took about another 20 minutes or so for the waitress to take a drink order and at one point I began to wonder if she was ever going to come back to take our food order - again annoying, but I can understand things get busy on a Saturday night.

The kicker came when we ordered dessert and there was no mention of the birthday - no candle, no happy birthday wishes, nothing. I had taken another friend here for her birthday a few months prior so I know the restaurant is capable of acknowledging birthdays and had seen many other plates go by with candles. If you're going to ignore my special occasion, then don't oddly bring it up four times when seating us.

To make matters worse, when i called the restaurant twice to explain that I'd like to talk to a manager to share my feedback, no one ever called me back.

For a restaurant that advertises being the sister restaurant to a Michelin starred restaurant, please work on your service. Your sister restaurant is amazing - some of the best service I've ever experienced when I was there in July. However, the service at Sorella was an...

So unbelievably mid.

Brought my boyfriend here for his birthday, he recently moved here from Northern Italy, so I wanted to show him what San Francisco had to offer in the way of Italian food! Honestly, by the time we left I was embarrassed. I ordered the pasta with lamb ragu, which was fine. He had the pumpkin ravioli and said they were not bad. For nearly $30 I would expect far better than “not bad”. To me the pumpkin had absolutely no flavor, I’m convinced they use canned pumpkin. the pasta was okay (not worth $30), but the ravioli were submerged in a pool of butter and oil….it was extremely off putting. For appetizer we had the beef tar tar, meatballs, and an order of “focaccia”. The tar tar came with fried intestines….why? No sense. The presentation was terrible, it looked like somebody threw smashed hamburger meat on a plate. The meatballs were so overpowered with fennel that I couldn’t even taste the sugo, which had the consistency of ketchup. We had polpetti at Eataly for lunch that day and they were far superior to whatever they serve at sorella. The focaccia did not have the consistency of traditional focaccia bread, it was green in color and the had no oily/salty crust. It was very airy, and had the appearance of green sponge cake. Why call it focaccia? For dessert we had the caramel chocolate tart, it was entirely unremarkable and came with a dollop of chocolate jam which did nothing whatsoever to elevate the flavor. The bill came out to a whopping $375, of which $75 was for espresso martinis we had at the bar. At this price point I expected a lot better. I’ve had far better meals for this price. Save your money.

Only reason I’m not giving 1 star is because the bartender made excellent espresso martini, and our waitress and busser were both very kind...

Our four top closed down Sorella last night as the last table lingering over an incredible, nearly three-hour meal. We ordered the warm parmesan budino (amazing), the winter chicory and burrata salad ("no, please, don't take this, I am not done with it and I never will be"), veal meat balls (if that's your thing, these are for you), grilled clams (what?? God, they were good), and four other pasta dishes that made everyone extremely happy (order the ravioli, you will not be disappointed).

The food here is the standout, but the drinks are divine. I asked for "something delicious and non-alcoholic" from the bar, as mocktails aren't really on the menu yet. I received back a complex, beautifully garnished, sparkling concoction with the perfect level of not-too-sweetness, served up in a lovely stemmed glass.

Aside from the delightful food, drinks, and desserts, what you can't miss here is the vibe from the phenomenal team. They walk this line of professional yet relaxed, observant yet chill, like no front-of-house team I've ever seen. You can tell that the people running the show at Sorella genuinely like each other and their customers. The feeling is welcoming and friendly, and not a beat is missed. It's a master class in hospitality.

About two weeks ago I came in to Sorella on a Sunday night to sit at the bar (no reservation needed) and had a great time then, too. If you're lucky enough to be able to swing it, this is the kind of place you want to become...