Palio

I had the pleasure of dining at Palio for lunch a few days ago. How lucky! Palio is an all around elevated dining experience that I highly recommend.As soon as I stepped inside, I was greeted by the owner, Martino "Son of Vince" DiGrande. I thought he was simply the host, but it was slow and we ended up chatting quite a bit. We talked about the restaurant, travel, his fondness for Mexico City and just all kinds of things. A very down-to-Earth and charming guy. Martino comes from a restaurant family and has been at the helm of Palio for twenty years. It shows.The decor is warm and comforting. The fire from the pizza oven adds to the ambience and the bar is a gorgeous, sparkling temptation. The interior design is elegant without being stuffy. Welcome.The bathroom situation is likewise refined and clean with nice design touches. I started off with the Fritto Misto (see photo). Calamari, prawns, fish, and vegetables fried in a light batter and garnished with red bell pepper sauce and lemon. This was a generous serving and would make a fine appetizer for four people. Or you could just eat it yourself and call it a lunch. It was absolutely delicious! If it were not for the apocalyptic sadness of Dry January (why did I do this?) it would have paired nicely with an ice cold beer.For my main course I had the daily special; a risotto with spinach and mushroom. Perfect comfort food. Creamy, savory, and just everything you want. This would go nicely with a buttery chardonnay or a chenin blanc. I've only had risotto a few times, but this was the best I have had so far. The service at Palio is welcoming and refined. Attentive without being obtrusive. The staff is nothing short of charming and take their craft seriously. They made me feel right at home and taken care of.After the meal, my dining companion enjoyed an Irish cofee while I had straight black. Sadly, the coffee was the one thing that did not measure up. It tasted like yesterday's coffee warmed up. Not enough to cost a star when you consider all else, but a bit of a disappointment. Now I know how my parents feel.Pricewise, this is not a place to go on a budget. Rents in this area are no joke and you are paying for food that does measure up to the price tag. However, you could certainly enjoy the Fritto Misto mentioned earlier for under $20, which I consider a great deal.I will definitely return to Palio to pre-game the cigar nights at the Amador Club and try more of their menu. I highly recommend that you stop in and say hello to Martino and the crew. Bon Appétit!

Really excellent Christmas dinner at Palio. Super great service and really excellent branzino and osso bucco entrees. Highlight was a thinly-cut octopus appetizer.Really excellent fruit tart dessert as well.

Amazing Italian food and steak! Came here with a few colleagues. The steak was really well done (med rare). And nicely plated.One of the best restaurants during our work trip! Will be back Pro tip: you must try their tiramisu .... Even better than the steak :)

The restaurant has nice ambiance is located close to the center of SF and the service is great. I was here for a team event and they were able to seat a party of around 50. The pasta with pork sausage was surprisingly yummy and I really enjoyed the steak. Come give it a try!

We've been there as a party of ten for a friend's birthday. The place is pretty quiet despite being on a very busy street in San Francisco. Being busy in s sign if good food, but ai do appreciate of a nice cozy place to eat dinner, which this place indeed is.We ordered pizza, pasta, fish and chicken. I ordered Funghi Pizza which was amazingly delish (好吃). My wife's risotto was not that good unfortunately. The rice was undercooked. The birthday's lady was also disappointed about the fish, since it was pretty small. As far as the food go, I think their pizza is their specialty.We have also asked them to serve a birthday cake for us, which they kindly did. They did charge $35 for that service, which I think other places do not. Not a big deal, but just an abnormality. The staff are SO very nice. I mean they are at a different level. Whatever you ask would be there yesterday. I will go there again, but will make sure to order from pizza menu only ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Such a hidden gem!The restaurant is on a very quiet street on the outskirts of Chinatown, we went on a Friday night and the restaurant was pretty empty. However the food was really good!The burrata is great for sharing, taste of pear and meat mixes really well with bread, and the server brought us extra bread which was warm and tasty.Many yelp reviews highlighted their crab pasta, but I tried the pasta of the day which was black ink with seafood and it was also very good! It came with great portion, plenty of shrimp and calamari, and the pasta itself tasted fresh (not sure if they are freshly made but they do have a pasta making station). Tiramisu at an Italian restaurant is always good.$60 per person post tax and fees

Amazing food and service! Went with 2 adults and 2 picky kids and they made the kids feel very special and welcomed the order of just buttered noodles. The bread was devoured by the kids, the pizza, shrimp Alfredo and burrata were phenomenal and the Chianti was the bow on top. Highly recommend for a family dinner or night out with friends, partner or even alone!

The service was excellent. I highly recommend the Branzino the fish potatoes, the spinach so good the beef carpaccio excellent the peach tea so refreshing. The only thing I wouldn't order again was the Bolognese. It is a little unappealing and it had like a very weird cheese sauce that I didn't expect.

Food (5/5): Delicious pasta and appetizers. I particularly liked the mushroom pizza, crab pasta and calamari. I also enjoyed their drinks. I got a sweet cocktail and a Moscato. Both were great.Service (5/5): Very friendly and helpful service. They were extremely attentive, checked up on us frequently, and were knowledgeable about the menu.Ambiance (5/5): Beautifully laid out restaurant with plenty of seating. Very clean with plenty of well maintained bathrooms.

We were highly disappointed by our experience at this restaurant. We had a reservation for Thanksgiving dinner. We were seated quickly and ordered the 4 course meal. We got our drinks and salad in decent time. They were alright. Nothing special. Waited 30 minutes to get our entrees, which were just alright. Waited 30 minutes after finishing entrees to get dessert, which we asked to take to-go. When they finally brought it, they did not bring it to-go. Waited 15 minutes to get the check after dessert. It was extremely hard to flag someone down to help us. We were paid no attention after many attempts. The host was walking around talked to guests, but failed to ever say a word to us. Overpriced and disappointing service.