Stefano Cafe & Restaurant

Really great and nice service. Wide range Latin-​Guatemalan cuisines with some Italian dishes as well. The Pupusas are better than the average here in pupusaville (Bernal Heights area) definitely. They seem to be handmade right there before they cook them. That’s hard to find. The cheese is really tasty inside them too. Not greasy. Traditional cabbage and salsa served with them.
Garlic bread is good too, we got it for instant snack gratification haha.

Stefano’s is a hilarious hodgepodge of food cuisines… but strangely enough, it works!
I’ve tried food from the Salvadorian, Guatemalan, and Italian menus at this point. My favorite was the Guatemalan steak — it was delicious, flavorful, and very reasonably priced. I also appreciate that they have pacaya, something I’ve found in very few other San Francisco restaurants that drew me over here. The Italian is the weakest of the three cuisines but tastes like standard Italian food. Stefano’s has a very chill, family-​run feeling, and the servers are always happy to recommend things to me and bring me hotter spices. For someone used to eating Mexican in the Mission, I found the Habanero and spicy veggies I was offered to have a bit of a kick but not be as ultra-​hot as the server claimed.
They do a great take-​out /​delivery business as well and are always prompt. For in-​house dining, expect a casual but tasty experience.

Whoever said Stefano sells Mexican and Italian Food has no taste buds and can’t read.
Stefano sells Italian — Guatemalan — El Salvadorian Fusion.
At first I was like… WTF?
I am Guatemalan and I just couldn’t see how this place would work. I tried it today for the first time and was really impressed.
The Food and Customer Service were off the charts. We complimented the waiter on the the food and he gave us Stefano’s big secret: They have two experienced, older ladies in the kitchen who know WTF they’re doing and it show!
I was really impressed by the menu because there’s something for all budgets on the menu but the food quality stays high.
We ordered «Tamales De Chipilin» for $ 1.50 a pop. I’ve hard Chipilin before and I hate it. But for some reason, these were good as hell!
We Ordered a «Loroco Pizza.» Italians don’t eat Loroco (remember, this is fusion). When I tell you it was one of the best Pizza’s I ever had, I do feel their pizza was better than North Beach Pizza (who I think is great). They way they used the Loroco was perfect. Enough to make you taste it but not so much that it killed other flavors.
We ordered a Greek Salad. It was really green and Fresh. Someone chopped the salad. This wasn’t a pre mixed salad.
My mother ordered «Caldo De Gallo.» Bomb. They even took the chicken out of the soup and threw it on the open flame for us. Enough to crispen the outside of it but not enough to kill the flavor.
Best of all, the tortillas you get are hand made. I hate Tortillas. I grew up eating them, 3 meals a day. But handmade tortillas are to die for.
5 stars.

This place was a little confusing to me since it advertises Italian food, Guatemalan Food, and Nicaraguan food (I think!). I got the tostadas and they were really yummy, coming with salsa, guac, and beans. He said to be careful of the habinero salsa that came on the side because it was very hot, but I tried it and it was not that hot and was very delicious.

Great servie, healthy food, good value. Unfortunately, the food was not very flavorful. Parking was a hassle, but that is to be expected on the mission. I ordered seafood pasta and beef tongue. Both were just OK, but there was lots of pasta :).

They serve literally everything. I don’t quite understand but I like it.

Stefano’s is my favorite place to go before a half Marathon. This place is the best place to load up on carbs, the only place I know of where I can order ceviche, pizza, pupusas, penne shrimp pasta, and a cheeseburger!
In addition to the carb smörgåsbord they offer, they have the BEST sangria! I love me a glass of sangria, but Stefano’s never fails to offer that one up by bringing out a pitcher of sangria instead of just a glass!
Aside from the food and 5 star sangria, I love the ‘homey’ atmosphere. I literally feel like I’m at someone’s house for dinner, right down to the scale they have in the bathroom!

YUCK! This is NOT Italian food. It’s Salvadorean and Peruvian plus pizzas made by folks of those nationalities.
The awful story: My dad came up from San Diego and asked me to take him to an Italian restaurant so I Unilocaled this place and saw it had 4 stars. Oh! What a huge mistake. Dad wanted a meatball sandwich with sauteed bell peppers on top, and even explained this in Spanish, but no luck.
The meatball sandwich contained 8 tiny Costco style meatballs that were hard and dry, lettuce, raw tomato, raw bell peppers and a smattering of pizza sauce. Yuck! I could have done better at home for less than half the cost.
If you want anything resembling Italian food, go somewhere else!

So I’ve passed this place for years. The multi-​ethnic offering kind of worried me. I happened to be catching a late brunch and perhaps watching the world cup. My first choice restaurant was no longer serving brunch. We walked by here and the brunch menu looked yummy. It described delicious Central American breakfast as well as some typical American fare like pancakes.
We decided what the heck. they were still serving brunch. the world cup was on TV and the diners inside seemed to be enjoying their food.
It had been a while since I had an authentic Central American breakfast. I forget whether I ordered the Guatemalan or the Salvadorean breakfast. It came with sausage, pureed black beans, eggs, plantain, and crema. It was as delicious as I remember it tasting. My friend had another typical Central American breakfast and we split a single pancake (which was nearly the size of the plate it was served on).
The food was delicious. The kitchen staff spoke Spanish to each other and I am assuming the Central American breakfasts are what they grew up eating and cooking. The clientelle was mainly eating lunch while we were there or coming in for a beer on the gorgeous afternoon. It seemed as if the Central American fare was quite popular and many of the clients seemed to be ordering «comfort food from home». That seems to be a pretty good endorsement of their Central American specialties.
The restaurant is painted and decorated to look like an Italian trattoria and they do serve pizza, pasta, sandwiches, and some italian chicken entrees. I think that menu might be a bit too expansive and wonder if they can really pull off all those dishes.
The wine menu is reasonably priced (although we certainly didn’t try it with breakfast) and they do have beer on tap. I will definitely have to give this place another try.
Oh. and the staff was great. They really made you want to return.

It is impossible not to start off on the wrong foot. Walking in you expect it to be Italian. Mainly because it says ‘Italian cuisine’ on the outside. However it is not. It looks like they bought this place and kept everything as is. Quickly learned how to make pizza because that was cheaper than to order new menus and repaint.
It is now Guatemalan and salvadorian cuisine. What I ate was decent actually, but shouldve been 6.50 instead of 10.50 The Italian food is WAY over priced (pizzas for 18.50? At beretta you can have a great pizza for 10), making it a disappointment, which is a shame as the pizzas arent bad, but definitely not worth 18, —
2 stars because they were really friendly.

First things first, I think they should rename this business, make it their own fully.
It’s really close to where I live, which is awesome when you are hungry and dont want to venture too far.
The Latin portion of the menu is pretty good. They make fresh papusas and corn tortillas which are really tasty and cooked well. I find the times I have gone for take out its really fast, they deffinately know how to cook with a lot of good flavor and its not overly spicy.
I honestly haven’t tried the italian/​pizza portion of this menu.

This place was not what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was suppose to be a Italian restaurant. IT’S NOT ITALIAN. it’s a combo if guatemalan, salvadorean and italian. The menu is totally not the italian menu I was looking for.
I got the chicken alfredo and it was bland and dry. I would NEVER go back!

I thought this place was delicious. I ordered spaghetti and meat sauce. It was a big enough portion for 2 meals. I split a pitcher of yummy, diced fruit filled Sangria with my husband-​we both agreed it was great.
One downfall-​pretty slow service for being one of three groups eating on a Sunday afternoon.

This place has always had a peculiar identity. Under its previous owner, it served perfectly good North Italian food, of the heavy variety that you’d expect to find on the touristy strip of Columbus Street in North Beach. It was expensive for the quality, a throwback to the 70s in atmosphere and décor, and nothing to write home about in general.
It seems to have changed hands recently (probably because the place lost its beer and wine license), and now it provides a weird combination of Salvadorian, Guatemalan, and Italian foods on its disorganised menu. The new food isn’t up to snuff — there are better Central American places all over the neighbourhood, and if you want stodgy Italian fare, there are more suitable options not too far away. Bleh.

So, ya, I got sucked into those quasi-​ridiculous
discount dining certificates. And they’re mostly a bad idea. But they did draw me to this place for lunch on a rainy day with my wife. And it was just what I didn’t fully realize I was hoping for.
The service was a little shaky but I’ll pass that off as us being in that unsightly gap between lunch and dinner (3 PM on a Saturday) and the food was very good. Not «holy shit, I just discovered new parts of my mouth at this late date in my life» good but «that hit the Italian colored spot in my heart and belly» good.
The cioppino was delicious. rich, savory, chuck full of tender seafood.
The Cesar salad perhaps a tad overdressed but traditionally savory and good.
The raviolis were firm, tasty and the pappardelle ragu was rich and comforting.
The fact that I have nothing especially pithy or snark filled to say about this place perfectly sums up how unassuming it is in its confident Italian trattoria being.

You know that show Kitchen Nightmares? It was like that, except I, not the chef, wanted to jump off a bridge.
It’s a bad sign when two tables, seated after you order, get their food before you. It’s a very bad sign when an hour and 20 minutes after you order, the waitress asks, «Uh…so…what did you guys order again?»
And out the door we went. First time ever.

We walked over to Stefano on a Wedensday night, after we gave up on waiting for a table at The Front Porch. Our server was very sweet and let us know ahead of time that they were out of a few menu items, because of a holiday party. Overall, it was lovely and I am so happy I can walk to great Italian food, without having to worry about parking in North Beach.
*****complimentary endive with green beans and blue cheese (so nice of them!)
*****Seafood Risotto
*****Pear-​gorgonzola ravioli with arugula
*****cozy leather couch at my corner table
–1 for the fruit flies that wanted a piece of my meal

Attentive, friendly wait staff. The lasagna was excellent, and we had a good tempranillo. The pouring was generous – the server actually filled my friend’s glass back up. Who does that these days? The portions were substantial, and they brought us extra servings of delicious bread and dipping sauce. The waiter noticed our table was wobbly (we didn’t notice), and it bothered him enough that he was determined to wrestle with it, and place a shim under the leg to stop it. The attention we got was very much appreciated. And, for such a good dinner and service, it was very reasonably priced.
We live in the neighborhood, always looked for that ‘to go’ place, and tried some of the Italian and Sicilian restaurants. Incanto was expensive and the service was awful. We got so much attitude from the server, the place is pretentious, and nothing was remarkable. Big disappointment. And with 3 of us, we had tab of over $ 200! La Ciccia is good, I will admit, but for a good old fashion, delicious meal that isn’t going to break the bank, try Stephano’s.

On a previous update, I had mentioned that the future of Café Stefano may be uncertain. Well, I am happy to say that my friends and I were there again last night and the improvements are continuing.
The most noteworthy change though is that he now has a new chef there named Estuardo Chamo (see photo). Estuardo is a young talented chef with a lot of flourish and aspirations. Just like Stefano, he is a really nice guy with a bunch of charisma. With his passion, personality, and drive, I think he’s definitely on his way up.
Stefano has also recently hired three new girls (waiters/​waitpersons) and they are really sweet and pleasant which really adds to the experience.
Forgot to add that we all ordered a bunch of food again (easy to do at those prices) and we each had the Petrale special (the french fries on the side were fantastic!), Veal Marsala, and Rigatoni Bolognese (be sure to ask for parmigiana to spoon on). As always, we had a bunch of wine with our meal as well.
The chef came up to introduce himself and gave each of us a shooter which he called «Chardonnay Camaron Ceviche» that looked absolutely gorgeous… it looked like something you would see on the Top Chef (see photo). It really surprised me.
There was a family nearby that was having lasagna and eggplant parmigiana. They sounded so happy when they left and said that they loved the eggplant parmigiana. I definitely need to go back to try that one next time as well as their osso bucco.
I really love that one part of the restaurant that is painted up with scenes of Italy (see photo) and heard that he has purchased new lights to put up again, but hasn’t yet since they plan to do some painting. Surprisingly, they weren’t playing Italian music so I asked and was told that their stereo just broke, but that they hope to have this resolved shortly.
Combined with Stefano’s reasonable prices and old authentic Italian recipes, the recent addition of Estuardo makes for a wonderful place where you can get a great meal in a cute setting for not a lot of money. In this economy, that is a dynamite combination.

At the glowing recommendation of Harry C, and his note that the place might not be around for much longer, Sis & I stopped by Café Stefano last night for a taste
I pass it all the time on my way to 280 & never registered this place was even there… horrible oversight on my part!
There for takeout, we arrived around 5:30 while they were still setting up for the evening.
Their menu must change b/​c we were given a very small menu that said «Specials» at the top. Asking if this was their full menu, they said yes. There was no pizza or «regular» pasta menu that others have mentioned in previous reviews (or maybe they’ve stopped making pizza or changed their menu?)
Staff was highly recommending their Polenta but alas, it was made w/​chicken broth so we had to pass
Instead we opted for their 2 veggie options — Gnocchi w/​Radicchio, Pine Nuts, & Balsamic Reduction; and Eggplant Parmigiana
The Gnocchi was phenomenal — the most unusual-​tasting gnocchi dish I’ve ever had… a bit like an asian-​infused dish but add in the ginormous amount of toasted pine nuts to give it a wonderful crunch, combined w/​the soft gnocchi bites & radicchio, we loved it
The Eggy Parm — another OMG-​invoking dish. «Plain» dish w/​no pasta to accompany, this eggplant was so thinly sliced it was like sheets of pasta w/​just the right amount of sauce & melty cheese
The eggy had no slime factor at all & I usually hesitate around eggplant b/​c of its slime-​factor… would totally get this dish again!
Sure hope whatever deal this restaurant has in the works keeps it around for a good long while. We want to come back & try more of your yummy dishes!