Ideale Restaurant Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Ideale Restaurant 1315 Grant Avenue (At Vallejo Street) San Francisco, CA 94133 Ideale Restaurant Website

Ideale Restaurant is an Italian restaurant in San Francisco’s North Beach serving authentic Roman cuisine for over 12 years. They focus on hand picked ingredients, homemade pastas, and breads.

Decor, Vibe – Small romantic Italian family style restaurant with colorful artsy decor, red pendant lights, low light, jazz in the air, and abstract paintings on the wall. Small counter in the back. Locals and some tourists primarily in the 30’s and 40’s with a couple big parties.

Menu (Click to zoom into any picture)

Website Menu

Picks:

Burrata ($12.50) fresh artisan burrata mozzarella with arugula and tomatoes had some good, strong, and mushy cheese with fresh green tomatoes.

Calamari e rughetta ($11) Fresh local calamari, grilled with organic arugola was a very good appetizer. Couple pieces were slightly burned but the calamari was fresh and cooked well.

Margherita Pizza ($13) topped with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil had a nice and crispy crust, with no sogginess. Cheese was average and could have been more premium. Interesting powdery flour under the pizza.

Scallopine ai funghi ($22) Veal scaloppini sauteed with mushrooms was on the small and thin side but hit the spot. Could have used a little less saltiness. Potatoes were excellent.

Risotto alla pescatora ($16.75) Risotto with black mussels and clams, calamari & prawns in a garlic, pinot grigio sauce was huge and excellent. Lots of fresh seafood but only 2 shrimp. Rice had a strong shellfish, wine flavor. One of the better risotto’s around.

Panna Cotta ai Lamponie e Cicoccolato ($7) homemade panna cotta topped with seasonal berry and milk-chocolate sauce was a weird combination. It was smooth and not overly creamy but should have had just one flavoring.

OK:

Papardelle all’ agnello ($14.50) homemade noodles in a lamb ragu was just average. Lots of lamb chunks and noodles that had a powdery texture.

Pans:
None

Ideale Restaurant had fair service with the server never asking how food was. They were friendly when we talked to them. Water changing bus boys were good. The food was very good (pasta was disappointing), making this a safe bet for Italian in the touristy North Beach area. Be sure to make a reservation as this place gets busy. If you want the best Italian in the city, try Acquellero.
Ideale Restaurant has a multi page wine list with moderate markup, glasses of wine from $5, bottles from $16. The house red ($7) was pretty good. Parking is difficult here, so park at the Central Police station.

Restaurant Map: