Manzoni

Fresh ingredients! Homemade bread you dip in olive oil infused with fresh garlic and rosemary. Exceptional warm, kind, friendly service! The place is cozy and beautiful. I felt like I was eating fresh delicious hot food in a cozy Italian family home. Another plus, the bathroom is bright and clean!

Food: 5/5. Service: 2.5/5.We had early reservations at 5pm on Valentine's Day. The restaurant wasn't busy at all, but it took us a while to get seated. When we finally sat down, it took forever for them to give us a menu. When we were ready to order, it took forever for them to come and get our order.Now for the good part- the food was AMAZING. We started off with delicious bread and a side of good quality olive oil. Our prosciutto and burrata appetizer was simple but very fresh and delicious. For pastas, my favorite was the fettuccini alla vongole. I've been searching far and wide for a great vongole pasta dish that mimicked one I had in Venice, and this one was the best I've had in SF. The clams tasted very fresh, and the sauce was so light and flavorful. The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente. My boyfriend got the pappardelle and he didn't enjoy it as much because it lacked flavor. The meat was tender though.Overall, service was very slow, but the food was too yummy that we could overlook it. I will say, don't come too hungry (esp if you get hangry like me), and make sure you come early enough when it's not busy.

Fresh ingredients and friendly owner. All dishes were tasty and came out hot. Great dinner!

I wasn't a fan of the pappardelle. Noodles felt like plastic (not in an al dente way) and the sauce was bland and watered down. Service was fine - would people give the guy a break? He's doing his best. I did enjoy the ambiance with interior brick, low lighting, and in true Italian style it does get cold if you're sitting close to the wall.

Oh my goodness the food was good here!! We came without a reservation but we were still able to get a table for three. It's a small place. Charming interior. Large wine selection. All the food seemed very freshly made. The pasta was DELICIOUS! The fennel salad... the tiramisu-- all amazing!We were a little stressed out on behalf of the older gentleman who seemed to be the entire front of house. He was rocking it managing all the tables, seating people, pouring wine, serving/clearing etc etc with few issues but it felt like too much. You did occasionally have to flag him a little bit to get something but given all he was managing I'm surprised at how little that was required. But his running about made the otherwise perfectly wonderful dining experience feel a little more stressed. Get the poor guy a little help!

Really wanted to enjoy and support this neighborhood restaurant, but unfortunately we couldn't overlook our poor experience. We also want to set expectations for future patrons.To start, service was extremely rough. We understand that the older gentleman was working by himself for some reason, so we tried to be as forgiving as we could. But the issues kept stacking up.It was a rainy early evening, so the restaurant was perhaps only half occupied or less for most of the evening. Yet he passed on us repeatedly, so he could help other tables; we soon gave up and just watched him scramble back and forth. He definitely looked stressed, so we get it, but we couldn't help wonder about this staffing decision.He finally got to us, and I noticed up close how frazzled and breathless he was. Poor guy. When he took our order, I also noticed the messy scribbling of orders on his notepad. This will come into play throughout the evening.The food didn't make up for it unfortunately. The pasta came out first and was simply average. My partner had the parpadelle, and I got the ravioli. The ravioli was probably the best of the two, but the portion was sparse. On the bright side, the bread was good.But we were still hungry. And our appetizer and salad never came. He was clearly struggling to serve everyone the whole evening. We noticed other diners impatiently turning their heads to look back at him and talking about the slow service. Eventually, we decided it seemed like a crapshoot that any more food would make it to us this evening. We decided to cancel the appetizer and salad and leave hungry.Even after we paid, he experienced some confusion, which created more frustration for us--although we remained polite. After he realized his mistake, we left the restaurant.Yet, the issues didn't stop. After we got home, we discovered we were charged for an extra wine. However, after I couldn't get ahold of anyone, I quickly gave up, deciding it wouldn't be worth the hassle.Other notes:In terms of the environment, the ambiance was actually pretty bad. The acoustics were terrible. You could hear everyone talk, especially with no background music. More egregious was how loud and disruptive the gentleman was as he cleared the tables, producing comically loud clanging as he collected the diningware. On top of that, it was also very cramped inside, although that can be forgiven for an SF restaurant.Parking was tough, even on a pouring evening. It's right by Glen Park Bart.I feel bad for the server. Only one person running around on a busy night. But it was also a disastrous situation that impacted our evening, as well as many other patrons.' As much as I love supporting smaller local establishments, I really can't recommend this one due to my experience.

Really wanted to like Manzoni, as I live in the area and it would be nice to have another walkable date night spot (and I really enjoy Higher Grounds, which is owned by the same guy), but the food fell short for me.I made an OpenTable reservation for a warm Friday evening. There were maybe 3-4 other tables inside, and the owner was able to serve us all attentively. (To the other reviews complaining about service: I guess it truly depends on how many people come; if it's a night like mine, the owner can service everyone on his own; if it's busy, then that's where the problems come in I guess.)I immediately noticed how gorgeous the interior was; it transports you to Mediterranean Europe. We sat near the windows, but the rest of the interior is a bit dimmer (more romantic?).As for the food, the complimentary bread was great. I ordered the pappardelle con brasato di maiale. While the pork was super tender and yummy, the pappardelle pasta itself was underwhelming in texture and flavor (tasted like grocery store box pasta to me). My husband got the fettuccine alle vongole; he tried my pappardelle and told me it was better than his dish. Since I live so close, I might give it another try to see if their one homemade pasta dish is any better.

Exceptional pasta; this restaurant is a true neighborhood gem. I have tried the salmon special and that was a delectable plate as well but I would highly recommend the ravioli. As others point out, it's just the owner as front of house staff so I wouldn't come here if I was in a rush, but he is a lovely waiter and very kind. The ambiance is cozy, a little rustic and everything is clean and orderly. 10/10

It was nice! Food was good, pleasant atmosphere. Very quiet on a Thursday night. Definitely recommended for a date night.

Such a cute space; walk in and transports you out of GlenPark forsure. Service is solid when its not too busy. seems the owner, who also has a cafe (higher grounds) across the street, is really the only front of house staff.Have gotten to go, and the food has kept amazingly.Great fresh food. Have yet to try the specials, as the pastas always pull me in. Rigatoni is elite, spaghetti is fire, Manhal (i think his name is) is such a sweet guy, he may seem flustered at times, but he's always trying his best.