Tratto — Restaurant in San Francisco

We would never have made this a destination, but friends were in from out of town and they wanted to try it. So we did. And boy, are we glad we did!

First, the atmosphere. The Italian movie playing on the wall, unbelievable artwork by Amos Goldbaum, chic lighting and environment. Beautiful!

The SERVICE - amazing. He knew we were looking to have a nice leisurely dinner and gave us the time to enjoy our cocktails without tapping his foot and pushing the menus at us. He allowed us to have a well paced meal - so we could catch up with our old friends. But, when we needed something - he was there. Later the Chef came by to share a recipe with me. Delightful!

The FOOD! --- We had several appetizers including the Butter Beans - which I will be making at home thanks to the Chef. They were simply prepared - but were a big hit. The Calamari had a wonderful texture and were perfectly done. The Pork Rillette was superb - served with a grainy mustard and rustic bread. LOVE!

And the DINNER! -- We split the Special - with a wonderful Ribeye cooked perfectly, a selection of mushrooms and oven roasted potatoes. This was served with two sauces - a red pepper and a chimichurri. Both were great.

The DRINKS! We all started with a cocktail - the Improved Martini ruined us for any other martini. The Italian Sailor made me want to run off to Italy and the Boot Kicken Old Fashioned kicked my bootie! And the WINE - great selections of Italian wines - also available in a Jug. Who doesn't love a rustic italian meal with a jug of wine! We ended the evening with a few coffee drinks, port and I had the Grapefruit-cello - another big hit!

The also have a PDR which would be a great place for a group dinner. They call it The Gallery because of the great artwork again - but Amos.

They say they are a Modern Trattoria With A Rustic Soul - and...

There is something about stepping up to the hostess desk of Tratto that just makes YOU feel fancy- it has that kind of elegance to it, while also feeling like San Francisco- we don't dress up unless we absolutely do. From the marble staircase of The Marker Hotel (where it is located) to the comfy leather chairs, the place has casual elegance to a T. We were a group of 5, and wanted to have something special for an out of town relative to try. We left there beyond filled with more than just good food- we left with such a feeling of Old San Francisco that each made an agreement to come back again and again.

We started out with a flatbread pizza to share and the crispy fried chicken thighs garnished with crispy prosciutto and lemon squeeze. You know food is good when everyone stops talking and starts doing their own little "yay food" dance! The Roasted 1/2 Chicken is absolutely the most amazing thing done to a chicken I've ever tasted. It was the perfect blend of rosemary and buttery goodness. The skin was deliciously crispy while the tender meat, especially the breast, was juicy and like butter to cut. The mushroom gnocchi was so rich and delicious that it was hard to share it with the other 4 people at the table. The buccatini was indeed so delicious, the person who ordered it would only share the pasta and NONE of the prawns- but made a beautiful production of savoring each delicious bite. Even the teenager in our group was blown away by how delicious everything they tasted was. When we ordered dessert to share we chose- italian donuts with bourbon caramel sauce, tiramisu and chocolate bread pudding. SO DELICIOUS that I am now intent on trying everything on the dessert menu. This is my new favorite dinner spot in the...

On a father/son trip from the east coast and went here to eat last night. Ordered a ton of food: focaccia, bruschetta, pizza margarita, gnocchi short rib pasta, lemon linguine chicken cacciatore, and tiramisu. I’ll start by saying the environment is beautiful, warm and inviting! Staff for us was the highlight, our waiter was so kind, friendly and helpful. Then the bus team was always on top of clearing table, replacing silverware and topping off my beautiful wine! Now the food... the focaccia top had a great salty flavor which I loved but the body of the bread was dry, despite the need to have such a hydrated dough. The bruschetta was a great small course snack, very tasty and lots of flavor. I was drinking the montepulciano wine and no matter where I go this wine is a workhorse that never disappoints. The pizza margarita was not the best, I’d give it a 2 out of 5, the cheese fell off the moment you touched it which means it was not cooked enough or the cheese was not too fresh. Dough would not be considered true Neapolitan as the crust was not light and fluff, but dense and flat, no body or structure. My sons gnocchis I though was superb! The richness of the beef was cut by the cream and denseness of the pasta. My pasta was unsatisfactory as I’ve had better MRE (meals ready to eat) in the marine corps called chicken alla king. It had very little flavor, and was mushy. I never bother complaining at the time because folks work very hard and it was good enough. The dessert was very disappointing and had almost no flavor. I asked if it was made in house and he said it was, maybe tonight was just not a good night, but truly not good. We would give this a...