A16

01/19/08

doesn't warrant the bold claims

by monkies at Citysearch

I've been here a few times now, mainly because my friend lives in the marina. everyone knows it's rated as a great place, so maybe that influences the decision...but i don't get it. it's average. nothing special at all. sure there are some unique items on the menu here and there, but not enough that they are so good i'm blown away or the standards so good it deserves the admiration it gets. it's a trendy hot spot, that's it. food is average, service is average, ambience is average (it's just a crowded little place).

01/17/08

Fine food in a narrow space

by DinerDan at Citysearch

Had lunch today in this jumping, narrow dining spot. We lucked into nearby neighborhood parking and had a nice short walk in this vibrant area. The open kitchen and woodfired ovens made for a great show. We had the Dine-around SF meal, 3 courses. The beet, radiccio salad was great, with big peels of tangy Romano(?) on top. We both had the salsiccio( fennal sausage) pizza. It was pretty big, with a thin,crunchy/chewy(!) crust. Topped with the house made sausage, that had a bit of picante to it, some broccoli and a green winter leafy vegtable that was also a bit tangy. The pizza teased all your taste buds as it went through the mouth. The gelato desert was small, thankfully. Both the chocolate and pistachio were smooth and yummy.

• Pros: Good service, friendly staff, terrific wine by glass selection
• Cons: Parking, noise level

09/26/07

Great food, dismissive service

by sf7730 at Citysearch

Found the starters, pizza, salumi and pasta to be excellent at A16. Entrees were good, although not up to the same level. Unfortunately, the service was way below expectations. Waitress seemed angry with us from the start of the meal, barely tolerating our questions about the menu. She nearly rolled her eyes as she agreed to put a surprise candle in my friend's dessert -- and then didn't even do it! Finally, the main room was broiling hot for most of the time we were there, presumably from the nearby brick oven.

• Pros: Pizza, salumi, starters
• Cons: Service, entrees, hot dining room

04/21/07

Why do people love this place???

by blkestin at Citysearch

When we moved to Cow Hollow, everyone told us we had to go to A16. I mean, the number of people who mentioned or recommended this place was overwhelming. We figured it must be a really special place, so we tried it out. We had to make our reservations more than 2 weeks in advance, they seated us in the stairwell at the back of the restaurant, and the food was nothing to write home about. Why in the world do people love this place so much? I struggle to think of a place that is more over-rated and more disappointing. For much better food, atmosphere, and value and for less attitude I recommend you go to Luisa's on Union Street instead.

• Pros: Sorry...can't think of a single one
• Cons: Everything else

03/15/07

Save money and time

by giome at Citysearch

I was there for lunch on wednesday,the place wasn't busy,I asked the hostess,can we seat at the

counter?She said no ,the counter is all reserved.

Well I work for really busy italian restaurant,I never eard somebody reserved a counter space for lunch.

We left the pizza counter was still empty.Save your money and time,the city is full of places better then this.

Good food,but orrible customer service,unprofessional hostess and manager.

01/17/07

Just make sure your server knows about wine....

by kcunnick at Citysearch

The food was fine, less expensive than I thought. We're very knowledgeable about wines except for Italian wines so we asked the server to recommend something full bodied like a cab - she recommended more of a pinot. I would have returned the bottle but she as *so confident* so we tastefully accepted it. It was a $50 mistake. Dinner would have been so much better had the wine been what we wanted. Left after $100 dinner pretty disappointed. If we return, it will only be to the bar; the bartenders were pleasant and knowledgeable.

• Pros: great service, great bartenders
• Cons: the waiters don't know a thing about wine - talk to the bartenders instead

10/30/06

Just okay for Italian

by arodigari at Citysearch

We just don't understand the hype. We've dined twice and on both occasions we have had fare that is just okay. As the server explained the food is Italian like the Southern Italians prepare their food - we are from Sorrento and what we had does not compare. The wines list was very thorough with many Italian selections. We were disappointed in the pizza because we found it to be charred, with lots of dust on the underside of the crust. Our server was quite nice and amiable. We think that if a restaurant is going to call itself an Italian restaurant than it should serve the food like the Italians like their food - simply.

• Pros: Wine list, nice server
• Cons: noise, parking

10/06/06

i can't believe i go back...but i do

by franca12 at Citysearch

the pizza is good. (better than most places) not great. sort of done in napolitana style, but has too much sauce and never has to come out as charred as it sometimes does. and for all the hype and $ it should be great. service is always weird and bottom line is, its amateur service....i think this place is someone's hobby... anything we've had other than the pizza was a disaster.

• Pros: pizza
• Cons: everything else

08/13/06

Great Pizza, Crappy Service

by ttbella at Citysearch

I have been to this restaurants a couple of times and it is different every time. I think I have figured it out: they prefer their customers to be just a table for two and gorgous. When I have been with just a date service is fine, when I showed up with my family, who happens to be from the campania region of italy, they made us wait 40 minutes after our set reservation time!! And they were rude and snide and made us feel like we were inconviencing them. Funny, cuz we were the ones planning on dropping a few hundred bucks. About the food: pizza was great and authentic, but some of the main dishes, like the lamb were horrible. So I recommend going with one other person and sitting up at the bar with a pizza and try avoiding the hostesses!!!

• Pros: Great Pizza
• Cons: Crowded Tables and Rude Hostesses

07/27/06

Dissapointed

by apbuddysf at Citysearch

The pizza was great and the wine list deserves the accolades that it constantly receives. But the other food that came was average, if not below average. The pork loin was almost entirely fat (i.e. white and grissly) so I feel like I barely got to eat. The service was so-so but the ambience was nice. I guess next time I'd just go there for wine and order a pizza as an appetizer. I was bummed b/c so many critics have given A16 such rave reviews....seems like it may have gotten ahead of itself with some of the other menu items.

• Pros: excellent pizza, great wine list, fun ambience
• Cons: rest of the food isn't exceptional, service is somewhat rushed, way too expensive for what you get