Pantarei

We sit down, and one of the servers, Jonathan, approaches the table and asks us in a sarcastic and condescending manner «Can I help you guys out with something to eat or maybe you guys are looking for a job»
My friends didn’t catch the insult, but I did. I will never go to this place again, and I’ve already put my experience on my Instagram and Facebook.
I’m now looking to contact the owner of this establishment.

Came here due to goid ratings and left after 5 min. Smelled really odd inside and the doorman was little pushy. We tried to sit outside but half the heaters were broken. It’s winter time and need to get them fired up. Too cold so we left and wasnt gonna review… but doorman popped off and cursed at us since we left and didn’t like environment. No class doing that and do the place a favor and fixed those front teeth with a cleaning. Ruined my appetite… I would do one star but didn’t eat food. Please take a class on how to treat people… can’t get away with luring tourists who don’t know with Unilocal around now.

This is my favorite Italian restaurant in SF! The food is incredible and the staff is super friendly and nice.

Love, love, love this place!!! Excellent authentic Italian dishes and definitely the best customer service ever!!! I always dine here when in town. I recommend this little gem to everyone!!! The pasta trio is amazing and their chicken ravioli is to die for. The bellinis are a MUST have! And the outside tables gives it a cute little Italy experience.

As far as Italian food in North Beach goes, it is difficult to go wrong. We stumbled in here in search of some pasta that would make even Aziz Ansari proud, and we were not disappointed. The friendly Italian waiters in their black hoodies were a nice whimsical touch, and despite them bringing out the wrong bottle of Riesling, the meal was very nice and we particularly enjoyed the prime location of window-​gazing from the triangular confines of this place, nestled on the corner of Columbus and Stockton. The lobster pasta was a great portion and the squash ravioli probably could have used a bit more for a group of three guys, but overall we were satisfied and had a fun meal on a Friday night with no wait.

I always love coming here when we are in the City. Great service, tasty drinks and delicious food. This is what a restaurant is supposed to be!

Lasagna, fettuccini, bruschetta were all delicious. Server cracked our party up and was a pleasure to speak with.
–The Arp Darp King

Went here because of the high ratings. Horrible experience. My salad and panini were so salty that i couldnt even eat them. Our order of appetizer came after our entres were served. We ordered calamarie and we got couple of pieces of fried shrimp in there. Utmost carelessness for a restaurant that boasts of such high ratings. The one star is for the music they were playing.

We were wandering North Beach and picked this spot almost at random (well not random, it was quite busy and had good Unilocal reviews). We were not disappointed at all in our decision. The service was outstanding, the food was delicious, and we struck up some lively conversations with the table next to us. All in all a very good time and food worthy of a second visit.

This place was phenomenal. Holy crap. Seriously stunning. Homemade pasta. Limoncello to flipping die for. Un freaking believable. It was literally the best Italian I have had in the city. We had the duck linguini and ravioli. We started with bruschetta and it was crazy crazy awesome. Fresh and tasty tomatoes and olive oil was excellent too. Can’t say enough good things about this place. We will be back.

I came here to try their drink specials one afternoon, and am glad that I did. I tried one Mimosa and one Bellini and although they weren’t spectacular, they were still pretty tasty, especially considering that they cost less than $ 4 each. The Mimosa had a nice ratio of OJ to Champagne, many places use more OJ to save on alcohol, but this place did it right. The Bellini was better than the Mimosa, it was tart with a slight sweetness and had tons of carbonation, just like it rightfully should. I wasn’t blown away by my experience here, but I’d definitely return for a few more drinks.

I LOVE their sangria here. I don’t know how they do it, but I swear there’s more alcohol in it than normal sangria. I get a little buzz off of one and a GREAT buzz off of two. :)
As for the food, we’ve only had appetizers, but we were pretty impressed. Their tuna tartare would be great if they eased up on the salt. It was actually so salty that I wonder if the chef accidentally put too much on our dish. The calamari dish is pretty large for an appetizer, and everything is fried perfectly. The ragu/​rice fried balls are pretty good, but they’re given with a mustard dipping sauce, which makes no sense. The flavors completely clash. It’d be better if they were served with a side of marinara or vodka sauce.

Our table ordered the minestrone soup, pappa al pomodoro and shrimp soup, tuna tare tare appetizer, and calzone (requested to be vegetarian). If I were to come back here, it’s most likely to be for either soup.
The complimentary bread was soft. The minestrone soup was a new experience for me as its consistency is thicker than I’m used to and included an array of veggies including garbanzo beans. It was delicious. The pappa al pomodoro and shrimp soup is similar to that of a «tomato bisque.» It had three jumbo shrimp and cherry sized tomatoes and came with two slices of bread. I liked this soup as well. The calzone bread was soft on the inside, unfortunately that’s what I liked most about it. I wasn’t too big on the flavor as it lacked sauce. The tuna was pretty good also. It came with cherry tomatoes as well as bread. I would reorder it if I had a hankering for this dish.
The hostess was friendly and helpful and maybe all of those who came to our table to serve/​pickup dishes left a good impression except one.

Love this place! Excellent service. Bartenders are the BEST!
Two sets of adorable twins!!! They make some awesome crazy drinks ! Food is pretty good too! I feel like I’m back in Italy — you won’t be disappointed!

Solid spot for Italian food. It’s on tourist strip but I wouldn’t say it is touristy… No gimmicks but still sort of modern. Everyone working at the bar and eating there seemed to be speaking Italian.
The rabbit pappardelle was very substantial and had a brandy pink sauce that wasn’t too creamy. It was very tasty and different from most rabbit pasta. The rabbit was very tender.
The service was nice and attentive. It did take a long time to get the food though which is the only complaint.

We were passing through North Beach looking for a restaurant Sunday night and decided to try Pantarei.
We were seated promptly at a great table in the very corner of the restaurant by the windows. The place has interesting modern designs inside and a fun atmosphere.
We ordered the Squid Ink Pasta and Seafood Taglioni. Presentation was great and both tasted very good. Lots of flavor and fresh seafood. Portions were big and filling.
Only problem with this place is that they were clearly understaffed. It took over 20 minutes to be greeted by the waiter. Our food took a while to come out and we didn’t get our drinks until long after we got our dinner. Food was worth the wait though.

Amazing. There is a sea of Italian restaurants in this neighborhood but don’t pass by Pantarei. My wife and I stopped in with our three children and both the food and service blew our minds. We had the bruschetta as a starter and it was fantastic. Fresh and flavorful describes it including the delicious mozzarella that comes with it.
We had the fresh homemade fettuccine with salmon and zuchini, tre paste and a wonderful vermicelli with eggplant and ricotta.
It’s obvious that the owner of this restaurant cares deeply about it and it shines through both the food and attitude of the staff who are frequently speaking Italian and bringing smiles and wonderful service to each table.

Very friendly staff and not too busy for lunch. This place is in the authentic Italian area of town, which is adorable! Had the duck pasta and it was succulent! Eggplant appetizer was good too. They were out of a lot of the bottles of wine we wanted and didn’t have their calamari appetizer, which is supposed to be delicious so that was a bummer. Overall good experience.

We went to dinner here on a Monday evening around 5:30. There was no wait and the servers were great. It’s a wonderful ambiance with open windows, upscale sheik spot. I believe most of the staff is authentic Italian! They also offer gluten free pasta.
My Gf order the Tre Pasta and I have the gluten free pasta with tomato basil and meatballs. It was awesome. I understand most of our portions in the states are larger and have read other comments about the portion size and price. I personally thought it was perfect. To be honest the portions are more reminiscent and similar to portion size in Europe and Italy, so if you want authentic Italian, with the accent, portion size and all. this is the spot!!!
Highly recommend for a romantic dinner spot. :)

I think we were the first people there Sunday for lunch and we were hungry! Started with a bloody mary — cucumber was nice touch. Shared the cherry tomato basil shrimp soup and an order of calamari fritti — wow, the calamari was so good and light — clean oil (a pet peeve of mine with fried foods) and there were shrimp and zucchini in there too. The soup was to die for!!! Some gorgonzola toasts came with the soup but my other half gobbled those down, dunking them like oreos in the soup.
He had a sausage calzone — which was enormous so he took it home. I had the pasta special with langostines and shrimp and it was outstanding, with asparagus in a white wine cream sauce — yummy!
We thought our service was great but we also had a beautiful unrushed day to sit on the patio and enjoy the meal and each other’s company. Thank you Pantarei!