Bocce Cafe-Italian Restaurant

07/08/08

Not likely to have repeat customers....

by slideboy at Citysearch

My wife and I had the misfortune of landing at this spot on a recent trip to the city. We visit often and always enjoy both old, favorite dining spots as well as new ones. While the restaurant is nice looking and well-situated, it leaves much to be desired. Our service was mediocre but I had to feel sorry for other hopeful diners who simply sat and sat and sat...Our waiter was inattentive, rushed and surly and, somehow, seemed to be aware that the food he was serving was substandard. We shared a caesar salad which was boring, dry but did have one crouton atop. When both entrees arrived, they appeared to be something taken from a box in a freezer and quickly heated up. If we had purchased them from a frozen section of a grocery store....we still would have been disappointed. In short, the place is simply awful. There are so many nice restaurants in San Francisco; I'd strongly suggest you skip this one.

• Pros: Good location
• Cons: Poor food and service

04/23/08

Always a great place

by ArtandFood at Citysearch

A good friend of mine took me on a lunch date years ago and I have always enjoyed this restaurant for being consistant. The seating both inside and the patio have always been a Gem, the food and service have been real and always on the 4star side from where I am sitting.

Friday and Saturday nights offer music which can set back a reservation and that is somthing I have learned to roll with. This can be a problem but the restaurant has grown on me and I do feel I am at home in a nice homey cafe in Italy.

So when I add the price, location, food and service it all deserves the 4 stars. I might be there with my wifefor a nice dinner or lunch and I know a group will all have a great casual time.

11/20/07

No, no, and no.

by 2foodlovers at Citysearch

The best thing this place has going for it is the space it's in. Nice large area, open feeling, and comfortable.

The quality of the food, however, doesn't come close to matching the quality of the decor. Bread: sans character and nutrition--just white bread. (It was warm, a nice touch.)

The tricolor dish was lackluster. The gnocchi itself was fair, the sauce had as much character as the white bread. You can easily get better pesto pasta at Trader Joe's. And the fetuccine alfredo was average--the cream sauce had a sort of slight metallic flavor. The look and feel of the entire presentation just felt empty of effort. The dish could have just went from the freezer to the microwave to our table for all we knew.

Kind of a shame this beautiful space is being so underutilized. So much potential, such a weak result.

• Pros: The space.
• Cons: Food not impressive.

08/05/07

Great place to have a party!

by rockngal at Citysearch

Great food, great service, great prices!!! We had my sisters bachelorette party there last night, they let us decorate the table, servers were helpful and friendly and the food was fantastic! great place to dine with a large group!

08/05/07

NO GO!!!!!

by aandeauntie at Citysearch

i had read some reviews, good and bad, but tryed it myself. BOO this place! we had a reservation for 6. thank goodness one didn't show-- we were seated at a table that uncomfortably sat 5 and when we complained to the manager he said "we'll give you free music" (i guess he was trying to be funny since there is free "live" music there). Service was bad. Got water initially, they comp'd us a bottle of their cheapest wine after much fretting over the table and 30 minute after-our-reservation-wait, thenwe didn't see our server for 20 min. We ordered our food, cheap and "worth" every dollar, got water spilled on us and by the end we determined every request took 20 min. INCLUDING extra napkins when our server spilled water on us. F this place. Will NEVER go back. WILL NEVER understand why there were people waiting to be seated. You'd have thought this was their first day in operation with servers and management who had NO CLUE. We were giving warnings to waiting patrons on our way out. To add insult to injury we passes about a dozen great looking places on our back down to Columbus St. I'd rather wait 2 hours for a slice of pizza then go back to Bocce Cafe.

Sincerely

• Pros: near other great places
• Cons: service, wait, service, wait, service, service, service, management, service, wait, service