Ragazza Restaurant Review, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Ragazza 311 Divisadero Street (Between Page and Oak) San Francisco, CA 94117 415-255-1133 Ragazza Website

Ragazza (Italian for girl) is the second restaurant by chef/owner Sharon Ardiana and opened in September 2010. Ragazza’s sister restaurant, top rated and our favorite pizza restaurant Gialina, located in the Glen Park neighborhood, opened in January 2007. Ragazza is an informal neighborhood restaurant featuring Neapolitan-style thin crust pizzas, seasonal salads, antipasti served in a casual atmosphere.

Decor, Vibe – Ragazza, located below the Metro hotel, projects a casual, convivial setting with large old black and white family pictures on the wall, old school incandescent lighting, wood banquettes, and fancy wood tables. The loud and slightly cramped restaurant was packed with people from the hood and some folks from the upstairs hotel. We waited about 30 min. for a table at 6:30pm on a Sunday.

Menu

Ragazza Menu has 8 Antipasti starters, a single pasta and roast, and 8 pizzas with optional extra toppings. Several vegetarian options. No Nutella dessert pizza like Gialina, yet!

Signature Dishes – Margherita Pizza, Motto Pizza

Website Ragazza Menu was slightly different than the real menu.

Full image set

Picks:

House-made Mozzarella w/ Heirloom Tomatoes & Prosciutto di Parma ($10) was a decent salad with a huge ball of fresh cheese and some tomatoes that tasted fine but didn’t look like they were in season. The soft cheese had some subtle flavors that accented the tomatoes and prosciutto perfectly.

Red Oak Leaf Salad w/ roasted beets, goat cheese & pistachios ($8 small) was the better of our salads with very fresh orange colored beets, excellent cheese, and a very well done vinaigrette with pistachio hints.

Roasted Delicate Squash w/ currants, pine nuts & ricotta salata ($6) was a lovely vegetable dish with tender and warm roasted squash, skin still attached, covered with thin slices of cheese. Pretty good portion size for six dollars.

Margherita Pizza ($12.50) was a classic pizza with very thin crust, a soft center, crispy bottom, and a just you we enough edge. You could easily taste the high quality cheese.

Potato Pizza w/ bacon, red onion, thyme & Taleggio ($15) was a much more meaty and greasier pizza. Strong bacon flavor and chunks of potato in every bite. The crust was just like our other pizza.

Ricotta Cheesecake w/figs ($7) had smooth fresh whipped cream on top and proved to be extremely yummy. Clearly homemade and not pulled from a box. The molasses covered fig didn’t really sync to the dessert.

OK:
None

Pans:
None

Service – Ragazza had adequate service that was pretty cold until a good tip was desired. Hopefully this will improve with time.

Value – Ragazza’s prices are in-line with neighborhood restaurants of this caliber.

Alternatives – Nearby restaurants include Nopa, Nopalito, and deep dish competitor Little Star Pizza.

Verdict – Ragazza serves up very good pizza in an informal atmosphere at reasonable prices. We still like their sister restaurant Gialina better, but you won’t go wrong eating here.

Short wine list with glasses from $7, 500ml Carafes from $18, and bottles from $22. $1 per person Healthy SF surcharge. 18% added for parties of 6 or more.

Restaurant Map: