A Mano, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com A Mano 450 Hayes St San Francisco, CA 94117 A Mano Website

Why Here? A Mano or by hand in Italian, is a California Italian restaurant from Adriano Paganini’s group that runs many local restaurants including Super Duper, Delarosa, and Belga. A nice neighborhood joint in the trendy Hayes Valley area. We are big fans of pasta and pizza, so we had to give it a try.

We like this place because you don’t need reservations and the food and prices rock. This makes it one of our go to spots. No reservations, so you may need to wait a while. Menu rotates from time to time.

We returned in June 2022 and found the place even more popular. Lots of outdoor seating. The food is decent but the pizza is not authentic. Service was fine, but not outstanding. They use Yelp waitlist.

Come for the Weekend Fried Chicken, beware it sells out fast.

Nearby is Dumpling Home

Food Picks:

Fried Cauliflower, Lemon, Chili, Bagna Cauda ($10) was a bit greasy, but worth ordering. Lots of flavor and one of the best renditions. 9.5/10

Lettuce Strawberry salad ($13) was a nice blend of salad and fruit. Not too sweet. 8/10

Summer Stone Fruit, Wild Arugula, Pickled Red Onion, Gorgozola Dolce, Pistachio Gremolata ($14) is a seasonal salad. Refreshing with arugula and feta. 8.5/10

Chopped Salad ($15) with kale, wild arugula, farro, castelvetrano olives, red onion, finocchiona, ceci beans, ricotta salata was not as nice as the Strawberry salad. Lots of salami chunks and different ingredients. 7.5/10

Persimmon Salad ($15) with arugala was a nice and lite starter before the starch is brought in. 8/10

Margherita Pizza ($14) had a very crispy crust with a bread like edge. Decent cheese. Not exactly Neapolitan authentic like Tony’s pizza, but sure to satisfy most. 8/10

Salsiccia Pizza ($16) was also very crisp. This one was a bit salty, especially the olives. Also a bit greasy. 7.5/10

Pizza: asparagus, pancetta, green garlic, pecorino ($16) was surprising very good. Nice crispy crust, great flavors. You really do not taste the asparagus even though it is chopped up and all over the place. 8/10

Radiatori, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Fava, Pecorino ($20) eggless pasta. Was not as good as the Spaghetti, but decent if you want to avoid meat. 7.5/10

Spaghetti, Manila Clams, Garlic, Chili, Pangrattato, Bottarga ($20) has just a slight kick. Very well done with a nice flavors. Eggless pasta. 8.5/10

Pasta: rigatoni, pork sugo ($15) was good but not stellar. Eggless pasta.Very al dente like we want it! Slightly spicer than we wanted. We wonder how long this sugo was boiled. 8/10

Pasta Eggless Bucatini with sugo ($17) had nice thick noodles. This dish was on the spicy side and have small chunks of meat. 8/10

Cacio e Pepe ($15) was done well and also very al dente. Bold flavor. A bit spicier than the rigatoni. 8/10

Buttermilk Panna Cotta, Seasonal Fruit ($7) was smooth, rich and silky. 8.5/10

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