It’s fun being negative! We don’t do it often enough. Why am I being this way, you ask? Well, my friends, here’s why:

1. This place has scads of positive ratings on other, lesser;) review sites
2. We L-O-V-E Capri Italy as I believe we’ve mentioned about a gazillion times, and that’s where the owner is from
3. Mikele, the owner (a very nice guy) is the uncle of a semi-friend of ours in Capri and last but not least…
4. In our book, anything Italian has a decent chance of being
   kick-ass good. So what the hell happened between Capri and Cow Hollow?!

WOW. Want the run-down, the evidence, the goods? DO YA? Ok, here ya go:

1. Place was dead…a place smack-dab in the middle of Union Street, dead? First warning sign.
2. Our waiter, nice as pie of course, reminded us all of Count Dracula. Is Transylvania near Italy? We all covered our necks
3. They were…wait, I still can’t believe it…out of…oh god, I
   can barely say it…CHICKEN! Are you kidding me? CHICKEN?  Out of
   fresh, moist, tender Bufala Mozzarella or kid goat, maybe but…Chicken?
4. Once we got over our shock and ordered other stuff, they brought
   us the wrong dishes. Fixed it, no problem, smiles the whole time
5. The dude poured the new (second) bottle of wine in my existing
   1/2 full glass from the first – different – bottle. When he had just
   placed a new glass down. Maybe he was so busy staring at my neck he
   lost his concentration
6. Papardelle with Boar. Boar-ing.

That said, let’s leave on a positive note, whattaya say? Throw ‘em a bone.

1. The Bufala Raviolis were tasty. Nothing to write home about, but definitely tasty.
2. Being with our comedian friends like Shari & Dave, how bad could it be?
3. Everyone really was nice, especially Mikele.
4. So maybe we hit an off night, Monday and all. Hey VinDiviners out there – Go check it out yerselves and holla back!

PS. Sorry for the list overload.
Capannina Ristorante

1809 Union Street
San Francisco, CA
415.409.8001

Venticello is awesome. This spot isn’t exactly ‘happenin’ or ‘trendy’ or ‘chic’, it’s just Italian romantic. Yeah I said it. You want a hood spot where you can romance your baby? You want to keep to yourselves in the corner cuz you’re romancin’ someone elses’ baby? (I did NOT say that, wow. It does seem like a place you can do that though, I saw it on TV, Sex And The City I think. Yeah Big kept taking Carrie to that Chinese Place. Anyhoo, I digress.) There’s a good buzz going on here all the time.

The waiter brought over slow baked garlic to spread onto bread. I thought I was gonna die. Then we had the Crostini with Buffalo Mozzarella, and for those who appreciate Buffalo vs. plain, it’s awesome! The Gnocchi is OTT, and really any fresh pasta dish they have here is great!

Then the meat comes out. They have a Rabbit Stew, yes, rabbit, thumper, cute little suckers. It’s good! OR have your own pasta and then split the Filet Mignon. That’s a good way to go too.

Wines you ask? Well would this be a John and Janine Post if we didn’t mention SOME form of alcohol? Here screw those Cali wines, go straight for a glass of Proseco, Italian bubbly for those not in the know, then definitely buy a bottle of the Tignanello, one of our faves.

See, not ALL good Italian happens in North Beach. A strong 7.5 outta 10

Venticello Ristorante
1257 Taylor St.
San Francisco, CA 94108
(415) 922-2545