Bettola

Homey Italian restaurant in the Richmond! Feels like i'm eating at someone's nonna's house and I absolutely love the movies projected onto the walls in the main dining area. We came for SF restaurant week and loved getting to have 3 courses for $45. To start - fennel salad or meatballs. I chose the fennel salad because I needed to eat some vegetables and it was a delightful combination of flavors. Peppery, vinegary, garlic-y, and sweet. Very refreshing! My friends had the meatballs and it was an AMAZING portion size. Almost could've been a full meal on its own. Meatballs were juicy and smothered in sauce, served with a side of bread to soak up everything remaining in the dish. Mains - I had the Mushroom Orecchiette, which I don't believe is on the menu but was delicious and comforting. However, it is VERY rich and creamy. If you're lactose intolerant, beware! Friend had the porchetta, which looked well seasoned and came with some of the crispy skin. If you're only ordering the porchetta though, be warned it is just a plate of meat with no accoutrements.Dessert - Tiramisu. I love a tiramisu with sweet sweet mascarpone and less of the espresso/liqueur taste and this met my needs. If you want a more "traditional" tiramisu this probably isn't what you want but I loved it. Our server was hilarious and made dinner very enjoyable. Great banter that sent me right back to nights eating out in Italy! I will definitely be back here for a glass of their $9 house wine and a porchetta sandwich at some point! And maybe grab a few italian pantry items and slice of fresh focaccia :)

Great ambiance although there are two distinct sections - front of house and near the kitchen. We were sat near the kitchen/bathroom, which was okay but came for Valentine's Day so would've preferred something more intimate than the communal table. Our waiter was nice but it was hard to hear him with all the activity going on around us. It was a prix fixe menu for Valentine's Day, which started with pizza bianca. I could've done without the bread. It was overdone and bland. The mousse on top wasn't much of a mousse.The appetizers were the best thing we ate that night, especially the arancini. The arancini was great. The involtini was also good but needed salt.For entree, we shared ravioli and a lamb shank. Both lacked flavor but the ravioli was particularly disappointing because they were so small! The lamb shank offered plenty of meat, but needed salt! It was at this point that I feared I'd still be hungry after this meal...For dessert, we got a tiramisu and chocolate soufflé. The soufflé broke and came to us with a large puddle forming, which they tried to cover up with many flowers. It tasted great though! The tiramisu lacked flavor but had a delightful texture to it.The weird thing was that while we were eating dessert, we noticed a lot of lasagnas coming out, which were not listed on the prix fixe menu. I would've rather preferred a lasagna than the ravioli, so seeing that was disappointing and confusing. We were sitting there noticing that everyone was getting lasagna when a waiter came by and gave us dessert spoons, not knowing that we had just finished our dessert. I got excited thinking that there was a special Valentine's Day dessert, but he had just made a mistake. What a let down...The bill was close to $200 after getting a carafe, so it was expensive to say the least. Overall, we left dissatisfied and more confused by the experience than anything.

made a reservation 3 weeks before for their valentine's day prefix menu at 8:30pm arrived 10 min early and no table was ready, they offered the high top tables and the communal table in the back... but not the vibe for a romantic vday dinner reservation, so we basically waited 15 min for a table to open up despite having made that reservation.ambiance - came back and was seated at the corner table. i think they pushed tables together just to fit more people in, and i could hear the conversations of the table next to us and felt so uncomfortable bc i know they were overhearing our conversations too. The tables were so close together, so much so the waiter had to bend down under the lamp and i would smell his bad breath lol... service- we were not greeted when we walked in and it was awkward bc i didn't know what to do and we were standing in the middle looking at all the tables with no one to come attend us. no water given until we asked for it. towards the end, service lacked as nobody was checking up on us. i had to wave down another waiter to get dessert to go and the check. food - got their prefix menu and was excited to try the lamb shank and ravioli! after we were set on that, they told us they ran out of the lamb shank and ravioli, so it was just the cuttlefish available -- but we were told we could order another entree from the regular menu on top of the prefix menu. (annoyed they ran out of a prefix menu with a reservation bc isn't that the point of reserving a prefix menu??) after some time thinking, they came back and said they would replace the items on the prefix for the porchetta romana and melanzane alla parmigiana. ending up getting:- porcini & burrata: good but small- Dungeness crab cakes: mixed with risotto on the inside; my partner didn't even realize it was crab - slow simmer veal: kinda tender kinda tough.. was thinking about asking for salt - Porchetta romana (x2): a basic plate of roasted pork and side salad. very heavy and greasy. you need the salad to cut through the pork. was surprised when they came out with just a plate of meat... then gave us the salad a few mins later. didn't finish this one. - chocolate soufflé: rich and chocolaty - tiramisu alle fragole: light and strawberry Did this put us in a bad mood after dinner for valentine's day, yeah. did i actively want a burrito after this, yeah. i would give it three stars bc maybe other couples had a better time, but the frustration i feel on this $60/pp + tip meal has lasted on me for days.

Got to try this place and enjoyed the overall experience. We stayed in the dining area in the front but there's a deli counter in the back showcasing various items to order to-go. We got to try two of their sample platters which gave us a taste of their whole menu before ordering things we liked.Overall, the charcuterie board was very good. The prosciutto, salami, and porchetta were pretty spot on. The dips were flavorful with the bread. As for the main dishes, the favorites were the meatballs, beef lasagna, pesto pasta, and eggplant parm. Good flavor and texture. The arancini, brussel sprouts, potatoes, and chicken were very standard. The broccolini was a big miss as it was soggy and overcooked like collard greens, and the salt cod dip was just too salty to thoroughly enjoy with just a few crostini slices. We ended with desserts and the ice cream and tiramisu were great. The chocolate mousse was good as well. I wouldn't get the pie again as it was very dense. Overall, I like the concept at Bettola and the environment they create. Very nice for some casual yet upscale dining!

I recently returned to Bettola. It appears as though they changed their service model. Now the restaurant offers a traditional process of sitting down, ordering off the menu from a server, and receiving plated food from the server. In the past, customers ordered at the counter. I'm indifferent about this service model, but I did notice that the meals appeared to be in a higher pricing tier. For example, my friends ordered lasagna for lunch and it was $19 each for a plate containing just the lasagna- sides are additional. Anyway, the decor is cute and fun. The atmosphere is lively. The little market area is fun and offers unique grocery items to take home or to gift.

Bettola is my new favorite spot for Italian food! The ambience is amazing--think cozy yet chic with the perfect music to set the vibe. The staff? Absolutely wonderful. Not sure if they're all actually Italian or just nail the accent, but either way, it works, lol.Food is fantastic. This isn't your typical pizza, pasta, and ravioli joint. The menu has so many unique dishes that make you wonder which region of Italy they're from, but honestly, it doesn't matter because it's all so good! The arancini is a must-try. Seriously, it's bomb, soooo good!Plus, the prices are super reasonable, which is a nice surprise for the quality. Highly recommend if you're looking for something a little different in the world of Italian food!

Nice little Italian neighborhood spot. Ambience- I'd call it upscale casual. Half is set up to look sort of like a market - seems like they do a good lunch and takeout business. Other half is fairly traditional dining area with tables and chairs that can be moved around to accommodate different size groups. It was a cold night and their heaters were doing a good job. Dining area is in front and the kitchen and market space is in the back. We came in for dinner - you sit down and they take your order. I thought the lighting was good. They are supposed to play movies on the wall a la Foreign cinema but I spent all night starting at a YouTube pause button because someone wasn't on it Service - I love that they hired an Italian student. From Italy. Adds to the authenticity of the vibe. Alas as sweet as he was he was not a great waiter. Maybe train him? For example, we got the wrong food because he couldn't understand us and we couldn't understand him either. Had to ask for water twice. Forgot the silverware. That sort of thing. As casual as this place is, it's not inexpensive so you know, the basics would be helpful. But he was so nice I'm only dinging them one star for it. Food: What we ordered was all solid but a better waiter would have let us know we were not ordering right. I ordered the eggplant Parmesan which was good. We had the fennel salad as they were out of regular salad (how do you run out of salad?!). It was very nice. My husband ordered their specialty, the rotisserie pork belly. It was good but -- a plate of meat. I don't think he realized that no sides came with it. So not ideal. We also got and paid for a bowl of bean soup which we didn't order - it was also good. Tiramisu was a bit too soggy IMO but flavor was nice. Wine was fine and reasonably priced. Parking in that neighborhood is very annoying. We'll be back to give it another go next time we're in the area.

I'm betting on a bright future for Bettola! Located in the heart of San Francisco's Richmond District along the busy Clement Street corridor, Bettola is part butchery, part fast-casual takeout, part tavern, and all restaurant thanks to the abundance of casual Italian food on their menu for lunch and dinner and and features a nice variety of groceries and other items for the members of the neighborhood to purchase upon any visit. Credit for this bustling enterprise goes to owner Gianluca Legrottaglie, whose name could not represent more authenticity, who himself cannot describe what he has in Bettola. Is it a bodega? Is it an alimentari? All of which translates into the concept of a bettola is in Italian. Whatever it is, it can be qualified as a certified success. Bettola is modeled and named after Legrottaglie's grandfather's own bettola which served as a local grocery store and tavern for locals to congregate in. What brought me and four other diners here on a recent weeknight evening for dinner was that Bettola was participating for the first time in San Francisco Restaurant Week for the Fall of 2024. For this concept, local restaurants offer diners a multicourse pre-set meal for a set price. For 45 dollars, diners got to choose from two menu items from their Antipasti section of their menu, three courses from their Primo section of their menu, and we enjoyed the same Dolci or dessert course. Making reservations on their website was super easy as it leads you to the OpenTable website and thankfully plenty of time slots were available with advance notice. Parking can be a challenge in the Inner Richmond neighborhood so I decided to take the bus to Geary Street and meet my party at Bettola and that too was super easy to accomplish. The daily menu at Bettola not only have a Happy Hour which is featured from 3 to 5 p.m. from Tuesdays through Sundays, they also have a regular menu that is separated into sections including Gastronomia, which serves as their Starters; their Tavola Calda Rosticceria which serves a main courses and sides coming from their kitchen; Sandwiches; various beverages including aperitivos and wines. With their Restaurant Week menu, our table received a nice sampling of what their kitchen has to offer with a wide variety of dishes. For our first course, I ordered their Polpette Al Sugo, which were beef meatballs served in San Marzano sugo and served with grilled bread. Others in our party ordered their Finocchi e Arance, which is a fennel and orange salad served with black olives, arugula, and pickled red onion. For our entrees, I enjoyed their La Porchetta, which was their sliced rotisserie pork belly, topped with fennel pollen, sea salt, and garlic rosemary. Others enjoyed their Lasagna Alla Bolognese, which was layers of pasta sheets beef ragu, served with bechamel and parmigiano Reggiano; and their Timballo Di Orecchiette, which was a baked pasta served with mushrooms, bechamel, smoked mozzarella and parmesan. Finally for our dessert course, we all enjoyed their Tiramisu, which was a coffee soaked ladies fingers layered with creamy mascarpone. For myself, their first course was the best course as my meatballs were juicy, flavorful and could have been a meal all unto itself thanks to the four slices of bread that came with every dish. The salad offered that nice citrusy taste that was needed for a heavy meal such as this and only made us primed for our main course. The pasta dishes were fine as their lasagna was a nicely composed dish. My entrée was unexpected and not in the best way imaginable as it was literally sliced pork and that was all there was. There was a lot of pork, and a little salty at that as the brining from the exterior of the pork loin really shined throughout, but I wish that there was more variety to this dish to balance all of the meat that we were served for this one entrée. Thankfully their tiramisu dessert was able to balance out the rest of our meal as we enjoyed ourselves sitting at a communal table with other diners as they enjoyed their own meals right next to us. It gave us an opportunity to gaze upon their Pollo Allo Spiedo which was their signature rotisserie chicken, brined and air dried and rotating away, many at a time in full view of customers. Their Tagliere Misto which was their version of a charcuterie and cheese platter also looked nice and inviting when paired with a nice glass of red wine. With a bill that was 45 dollars a person, this was a deal to be enjoyed by all. Bettola lives up to the notion of being everything to everyone, as it is part restaurant, part rotisserie and part marketplace. Inviting by serving delicious food to enjoy there and to take home, they are the perfect addition to the neighborhood that would certainly utilize this unique concept. Here's to many more years of success for Bettola and Gianluca Legrottaglie and his hard working team!

We were very excited to try this recently opened neighborhood Italian restaurant. It replaced what used to be the Koja Kitchen on Clement. First look, busy dinner spot, but we were able to snag a small table near the front. Upon closer look, very casual and rustic. Our server was friendly, but seems a bit confused (inexperienced?) as he told us that he will wipe the table for us and then proceeded to have us sit down at the table without wiping it down. So my husband and I took one of the napkins from the big wooden utensils caddy that they put on our already small table and proceeded to wipe our own table. Not a good first impression.Next, the menu was placed and our server went on to let us know a certain item is sold out for the night, no problem there. We decided to try their Porchetta which is what they are known for. Then we decided to try the pizzas. The Porchetta came on a platter thinly sliced. The skin is golden brown color and crispy. It's delicious. It also gave us Chinese Siu Yok/Filipino Lechon vibes. My husband said that it also gave him Pastrami vibes on the taste. Then, we got their Pizza Blanco and Pizza Rossa. Firstly, maybe we are not well versed in "real" Italian food but the bread is more rustic and they don't automatically come with Cheese. For cheese on the "Pizza Al Trancio"(pizza by the slice), you have to pay extra. It's also under the category of "Tavola Calda" which translates to hot table, meaning Italian restaurant with no table service. What?! No wonder it's so confusing.The pizza bread itself, by itself would be delicious if I had something to dip into. Very crispy rustic focaccia is what I would call it. I was asking my husband to see if they had some Italian stew or something to dip into. Needless to say we are not fans of their pizza as is.To round out our meal, I wanted to try a dessert. So we settled on the Baba Napoletano under the "Dolci" section which means sweet. I did study Italian for a semester in college, so I do know my dolce v. dolci although I do mix that up sometimes. Lol. So it's described as a rum sponge cake that look more like a cream puff with the bread soaked lightly into rum and with this really nice (lemon?) whipped cream pipped into the middle. Not bad but not exceptional. It was also the last one for the night and we were enthusiastically told that by two servers.Dinner ended and our server seems a little shocked that we didn't finish our dessert. My husband is not a big dessert person and I learnt to not compensate his not eating by me eating too much tho it's hard sometimes.Although some part of the meal was enjoyable (Porchetta), the rest was just okay. Now it could be that we ordered wrong. We saw lots of people order roasted chicken and meatballs so maybe we should have gotten those instead. But I can only write about our meal and it's just average or as kids now say, it's mid. We both left slightly hungry.I don't like to end in a low note because the bright side is this is a new casual Italian restaurant. With some fine-tuning, it can be an awesome place to come back to. Located on Clement St. and 5th Ave, next door to Kitchen Istanbul.

Visiting the city is always a treat for my wife and me, but choosing the perfect restaurant can be challenging. After our maternity shoot in the Presidio, we decided to try Bettola, an Italian restaurant, based on its promising Yelp reviews.We entered the address into our phones and headed to the restaurant. Upon arrival, we were slightly confused about its location until we spotted a small sign with the restaurant's name.Inside, Bettola was beautifully decorated with classic Italian antiques and had a unique layout. We expected a traditional sit-down meal but discovered it was set up in a cafeteria style. This was disappointing since I had hoped for a more formal dining experience for my wife.Despite the self-service setup, the food looked appealing, and we were eager to try several dishes. We opted for the baked pasta, meatballs, and grilled broccolini.After ordering at the counter, we seated ourselves and waited for our food. We also had to serve ourselves water and gather our own silverware, which was surprising given the restaurant's low occupancy. The server checked on us once, but we had to refill our water ourselves.Overall, I would recommend Bettola to those who are okay with a self-service restaurant with premade food that is warmed upon ordering. If you are looking for a traditional sit-down restaurant, I suggest exploring other options.