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Honest Italian
Food
in the Richmond
Café Riggio keeping it
real
.tmp)
by Tamar Love
North
Beach is inarguably the best place in the city for
traditional family Italian, but sometimes we just don't
feel like dealing with the parking, the crowds or the
prices. On those nights, we walk over to Café Riggio, a
moderately priced neighborhood Italian nestled between
5th and 6th Avenues on Geary's burgeoning "restaurant
row."
A relaxed, convivial and unpretentious
restaurant, Café Riggio is an excellent place to take
your mom, your friend's visiting dad, or your snooty
boss who insists, "there isn't any good Italian
anymore." The dining room is casual, the service is
friendly, and you can almost always get a table --
although things tend to get noisy and crowded during
peak hours. The pleasant service is consistent no matter
what the hour, and the cheerful wait staff will always
recommend something extremely tasty if asked.
.tmp) According to its
website, Café Riggio features what owner John Riggio
calls "The best veal money can buy," Vitello all
Parmigiana. We haven't tried it yet, but based on the
restaurant's track record, we're more than willing to
believe Riggio's claim. We have tried the Risotto
con Funghi Selvatici (moist, flavorful and hearty, even
to our carnivorous palettes), the Cannelloni Ripleni
(mmm... gobs of meat and cheese...), the Linguine con
Vongole (fresh clams -- neither gritty nor fishy!) and
the grilled salmon. We were delighted with all of it.
Equally wonderful were the crab cakes, which came
drizzled with a sweet, tangy red pepper sauce, and the
Mozzarella alla Caprese: slabs of real mozzarella, fresh
tomatoes and basil -- a perennial favorite of ours. But
by far the most outstanding item on the menu -- and
quite possibly the best thing we've ever eaten -- is the
Gamberoni con Aglio e Burro: jumbo prawns sautéed with a
light (!) brandy, garlic, butter and lemon sauce. The
prawns arrived cooked to perfection, not too rubbery,
not too dry, and the sauce... well, let's just say that
we used up our table's vast supply of bread in sopping
up every last particle of that wonderful sauce, which
was neither low-fat nor skimpily portioned.
The
preponderance of veal dishes -- over a dozen by our
count -- may terrify vegetarians, but they shouldn't
worry too much. Café Riggio features lots of options for
herbivores, including the aforementioned mushroom
risotto, a delicious spaghetti dish loaded with fresh
vegetables, the ubiquitous cheesy baked pasta dishes,
and an extensive seafood menu for those who only eschew
red meat. The desserts are also quite wonderful; our
party managed to put away two cannoli each, with very
little effort. We were eyeing the tiramisu, but we
realized that if we ate any more, we would most likely
die.
Café
Riggio
4112 Geary
Boulevard
(Geary @ 5th Avenue)
San Francisco, CA
94118-3102
http://www.caferiggio.com/
phone:
415.221.2114
fax: 415.387.9119
hours: 5 pm - 10 pm
(Mon - Thu), 5 pm - 11 pm (Fri - Sat), 4:30 pm - 10 pm
(Sun)
accepted: MasterCard, Visa
reservations
accepted for parties of 6 or larger
$$
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..p a s
t...r e v i e w s
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Twenty
Four
Venture
Frogs Restaurant
Elka's
North
Star Restaurant
Ana
Mandara
Sushigroove
South
Potrero
Brewing Company
Murray's
Glasshouse Restaurant
Clémentine
Jack's
Restaurant
Xanadu:
RestorAsian Cuisine
Barcelona
Zinzino
Bandol:
a Southern French Bistro
Alamo
Square: A Seafood Grill
Fringale
Watergate
Le
Colonial
The
Elite Cafe
Indigo
A.G.
Ferrari Foods
Magnolia
E&O
Trading Company
Backflip
Sushigroove
Thailand
Restaurant
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La Cumbre
.tmp)
by Susi Levi-Sanchez
Among
the silicon supported start-up restaurants that line
Valencia Street in the Mission, La Cumbre bravely holds
its ground. This cozy restaurant has all wooden tables
and chairs, none of this metal and concrete techno
coldness. The jack cheese they melt in their burritos is
thick and real and tasty. You can smell the grilled
meats before you walk in. Not only is this place
authentic, it's a bargain. For $4.50 you can get a super
(as-big-as-a brick) deluxe vegetarian burrito made with
beans, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, fresh lettuce, and
salsa instead of the typical three-day-old tomato and
canned beans crap. This lively spot keeps the old shape,
feel, and incredible taste of the Mission alive.
La
Cumbre
515 Valencia
Street
(between 16th & 17th)
Mexican Cuisine
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..b a
r
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Fulton Street
Opened by the party
responsible for The Crowbar in North Beach, Fulton
Street promises to uphold the spirit of the cool, two
pool table neighborhood bar - with fringe benefits like
vast expanses of (carpeted) space, huge circular booths,
and the low lighting one might associate with an
old-time pizzeria, which is what, in fact, used to
occupy this space. The only thing you have to worry
about is where in the bar to drink your delicious Hemp
Ale: with the tattooed hipsters upstairs in the Crowbar
Southwest? Or downstairs with the forty-year-old guy in
the Member's Only jacket who's trying to decide between
Fiona Apple and Boss Hogg on the jukebox? [ MORE
]
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..c a f
e
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Rockin' Java
There are couches, chess
boards, 2 Web TV connections are all found at this funk,
neo-50s looking cafe. There are sandwiches, bagels,
smoothies are sold; besides all the typical coffee
drinks. [ MORE
]
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..d i g i
t a l....d i s
c o u n t
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.tmp) Join Backflip
as they offer you 2 for 1 discounts on food and
beverages. Print out the SF Station cut-out coupons and
use 'em at participating venues!
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