Trattoria Pinocchio (SF)

So, if you find yourself hungry in San Francisco, like we did last weekend, you couldn't do much better than Italian food in North Beach. But which restaurant would be the one?

Trattoria Pinocchio web site

Parking was an adventure, but if you go down the street a ways, there were plenty of spots. Bring quarters! The place had many windows and the waiter had a thick Italian accent. There was a long bar and a big espresso machine in the back. You could imagine you were in Italy!

Our waiter, Antonio, took our drink order and a bread basket was brought over. Starved, I jumped on the bread, oil and vinegar dipping. He came back and took our orders and soon the salads arrived.

Baby greens, grape tomatoes, shaved carrot and fennel in a light vinaigrette = deliciousness. You could tell this place was a step above. Olive Garden take notes!

I got the Meat Tortellini in a walnut cream sauce ($18.95). A little Parmesan one top made it a perfect pasta lunch. The sauce was so rich, I was wiping up the sides with the bread. Her fork would appear and steal a tortellini from time to time, but I didn't mind. I was stealing some from hers too.

She got the Pasta Festa Special ($24.00), which had chicken, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes in a light lemony cream sauce over freshly-made ribbon pasta. Wow, that was good. You know how you plan to ask for a to-go box before the meal comes and then you wonder where your leftovers went? It was like that.

I splurged at the end of the meal with a Cappuccino ($4.25). I thought it was more foam than anything else, but still had that rich coffee flavor. One thing on the bill that surprised me was the SF Health Care charge at 1%. I must have missed that in the morning papers.

Scores out of 10:
Food: 9
Service: 9
Atmosphere: 9
Price: 9
Overall: 9