Dante’s Table

I’d tried visiting Dante’s Table a couple of times over the last couple of years, only to find them closed for unscheduled and explained reasons. I did finally get a chance to visit, just before they closed for good, and found it a rather uninspired Italian experience.
For example, the crab cannelloni sounded good on paper, but the actual cooked result was lukewarm, with any crab flavoring getting lost in a sea of cheese and sauce. And although the server was just fine, the kitchen itself seemed slow, even though the place was barely one-​quarter full. Prices were a bit on the high side, and the décor seemed dated, like a mini-​Olive Garden of yore.
I’m always sad to see neighborhood establishments go, but hopefully there’ll be more room now in the Castro for more upscale and/​or higher-​quality places.

We were looking for something new in the Castro tonight. Walked in around 630; the place was empty.
We were greeted promptly and directed to sit wherever we felt comfortable.
We ordered an appetizer and two entrées. The food took a little long coming out but the server visited our table to let us know the reason why. That was nice.
Crab cannelloni was cheesy and tasty! The sauce was fabulous and the tubes were chock full of crab.
Chicken saltimbocca was very good as well. Served with crispy potatoes and sautéed spinach.
I agree with many of the others who have posted about a strange or weird ambiance in the place. It is a somewhat Italian, somewhat upscale, definitely on the nicer side of dining establishment yet they were playing techno dance music throughout our visit. That did not match up.
All that said, it was a nice enough place and the food was really good. Service was attentive.

It’s good, but I think it’s overpriced and the ambiance was strange. It was decorated in a classic, Italian restaurant type of way. pretty romantic with candles and Christmas lights and all… But it was playing club music. Huh?! Confusing.
Duck salad was good, though the orange slices in them made the salad feel a bit fast food Chinese-like…if you know what I mean. The dressing was delicious and the duck was tender.
Burrata was delicious. It’s burrata.
Meatballs were smaller than expected (I’m used to giant balls. What can I say, I like big balls of meat. Thank you Berretta!) but the sauce was good. The actual meatballs tasted mediocre.
The crab cannelloni was heavy. I barely tasted the crab, and the whole thing tasted less than sophisticated.
The food isn’t bad — almost everything tasted like something I’d expect to get from chain Italian restaurants like Buca di Beppo. Consistently ok. But at the high price point (similar if not more than Berretta or pizzeria delfina), I don’t think it’s worth it.
if you do go. ASK FOR THEIR CHILI PEPPER FLAKE BREAD. Or maybe not because you’re gonna end up eating multiple plates of them and walk away hating yourself. Their bread is home baked and oh so delicious! I might go back just to get their bread and burrata.

I really like this place, though some of my other friends thought it was just okay. I made a reservation through Unilocal,which seemed like a wise choice for a Friday evening. From the moment I walked in, I was greeted by a few waiters, who tended to my cocktail needs while I waited for my friends. One suggested that I try the Celery Smash ($ 11) with Gin, Celery, Lemon, Green Tabasco. He claimed that it’s better than a Bloody Mary (which it’s not) but I requested extra spiciness anyways.
For dinner, I ordered the Crab Cannelloni ($ 20) which is Pasta filled with Dungeness Crab, Ricotta Cheese, Tomato Cream Sauce, and Parmesan Cheese. I’ve been on a bit of a crab binge lately and this satisfied my craving for that and something with carbs. Definitely would recommend. I also tried a bit of the Pork Medallions ($ 19) wrapped in Bacon with Rosemary Marsala Reduction & Sweet Potato Purée. This was surprisingly delicious as well! Overall solid restaurant choice for a double date night. Good lively vibe, not boring at all. More like 4.5 stars from me, but I was very impressed by the warm & friendly service so there you go, Unilocal

Great location food and drinks. However the service was very slow they were not busy at all.
We ordered the chicken pen and the carbonara. They were both delicious and very flavorful

Had a great experience there tonight. Yummy food, drinks and great service. Friendly staff. We ordered seafood paella and hanger steak, very delicious.

We were visiting SF for the weekend this past week and arrived before 12 expecting to have a great lunch here. Nope. Door was locked and the restaurant was closed… Called and they said they were having «problems» and will maybe open at 12:30. If your hours are 11am-​12am you should at least put a sign on the door to apologize for the inconvenience.
Very disappointed as we were excited to try this place. We walked across the street to the sausage factory.

I love this place. The food is always delicious, the cocktails are inventive and tasty, and you can always get a table. It’s not very chic or stylish, but the food is great and the atmosphere is cozy.
It’s become my go-​to neighborhood place. So don’t try it. I really don’t want it to get crowded.

Made a reservation for 9 at 8:30pm but was told by the waiter our table won’t be ready since the party has not left. Due to the delay, the waiter provided a round of complimentary drinks and half off our bill! This was very generous since the food was a bit pricey. I ordered the blood orange margarita, which was watered down but I can’t complain since its free. We didn’t get seated til about 9:20ish. We ordered the
Polenta fries
Beet Salad-​good portion for starter. Light dressing with nice texture from glazed
walnuts.
Rigatoni– Flavorful, creamy sauce
Spaghetti
Calms and Mussels– I light the light sauce. Enjoyed dipping my bread in the sauce.
Crab Canneloni– Yummy
Chicken with Proscuitto
Paella– A bit wet.
Overall, great service, food was a bit slow. Be prepared to wait. An extra stars since we got comp. drinks and half off bill.

I came with my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day dinner. Really cute and cozy design. A good place for a date with your loved one. The manager is super friendly and recommended Ravioli Dante. It was amazing, especially the sauce. I would come back again :)

** REVIEW OF THE COCKTAILS ONLY **
* MANHATTAN ($ 9) — 3.5 STARS:
Not especially well balanced, but this one drink has the alcohol of two drinks — it’s a smashing steal at only $ 9 — har har!
Stay tuned for the dinner review :)

— Made reservations for 12 people… No problem-​o; staff completely worked their magic to make it work.
— Multiple splits in food bill… No problem-​o; staff completely worked their magic to make it work.
— Several libations and multiple nosh to begin the main dinn’ter… No problem-​o; staff completely worked their magic to make it work.
Food was delish… Drinks were a bit watered down (but the conversations and relationships were the spice to dull that lil’ snafu).
Otherwise — I am a happy customer and will return to say «Hello» to the friendly staff… AND the food… So yea… ‘They-​Cool.’

Went here for my birthday with my family, and I’d recommend it highly.
To start, I made a reservation for 12 people at 7pm, about 5:00, day of, and they accommodated my needs. We sat in the kind of private room past the kitchens and bathrooms. Nice room, and we had it all to ourselves.
The service was a little hectic at first, as the bartender came and attended to us because the waiter was busy at the moment — but the bartender & our waiter were incredibly helpful and cheerful all night and kept coming back to make sure everything was okay. They did not forget about us as some restaurants tend to do if you’re stuck in the back corner of their restaurant away from the hustle and bustle.
They also made accommodations for us to serve my birthday cake there — my aunt had baked a cake, and after we sung, they took the cake to the kitchen & served it up for us – we had to ask politely tho and I took it as something they don’t typically do, or do very often.
Now the food —
For appetizers we ordered the calamari, meatballs, and polenta fries. The meatballs were to die for. And the calamari was delicious — tho as a heads up, it’s not battered and fried calamari, it’s lemon-​y grilled calamari (to which my mother responded — «We’re asian that doesn’t bother us.)
I ordered the hangar steak which comes with vegetables grilled to perfection, and a delicious house made pesto. I also ordered the duck salad which was heavenly.
We had 12 people, and therefore ordered almost every item off the menu and I can honestly say my family enjoyed every bite. My favorite bites of other peoples’ dishes were the «Rigatoni Spinaci & Prosciutto» the «Ravioli Dante» and the special that day was «Chicken Scaloppini»
This restaurant comes highly recommended in my books!

The carbonara was excellent, very nice smokey flavor. The chicken saltimboca had a nice flavor but there was too much liquid in the dish. Service was also really good.

Our go-​to place! The pesto pasta with truffle oil and prosciutto is my favorite pasta ever. And I’m Italian. :) drink the mimosas — the best bubbles in town in a mimosa for the best price too! Love this place, the environment, and the staff!

The food was great but the service could be improved a little bit.
Learn how to pace a meal, starting with the ordering process. We were there enjoying the company of friends and drinks in your restaurant, so it’s not as if we aren’t paying for the pleasure of sitting at the table. We had a person coming up every two minutes asking if we were ready to order. I thought they were trying to flip the table, but the place never filled up. Anyways, just read the table a bit better. We’ll make eye contact when we’re ready; it’s not that big of a place.
The salad was very large for the price, probably the best value that we saw during the meal. Most items seemed a tad expensive, but the taste was excellent. Loved the meatball appetizer.

Date’s Table offers a quaint and low key alternative to bottomless mimosa brunching away from the thumpa thumpa of most other brunch spots in the Castro.
Had a fairly large group for a birthday brunch here on a Sunday so we made reservations ahead of time and they sat us on this long table in the patio. Speaking of the patio, its really cute with tons of natural greenery and glorious rays of sunlight. I had the Monte Cristo even though I’m not the biggest fan of mixing sweet and savory but I enjoyed my sandwich. Generous amount of turkey and ham with melted Swiss to sparingly dip into some maple syrup. I want to try the eggs genovese next. Overall folks liked their food, albeit slightly smaller portions, and washing them down with bottomless mimosas served by the carafe.
To be honest, service was kinda slow but we were also a larger group. We didn’t mind though since we kept ourselves entertained with familiar show tunes playing in the background and enjoying the sassy service from the affable Ms. Olivia Hart. Thanks Ms. Hart for getting the whole patio together for a lovely rendition of «happy birthday.» We had a wonderful time and I look forward to coming back again for brunch.

I was really surprised that I liked this place as much as I did. For one, the Castro isn’t exactly world-​renowned for it’s cuisine. It’s gotten better lately (Super Duper Burger, Starbelly, Kitchen Story), but back in ’09 it was sort of a culinary wasteland. Secondly, I’m not really a big fan of Italian food, in general. I don’t know, pastas and pizzas just seem so «easy» to make at home, I always feel a little bit ripped off, like I just spent $ 20 for something I could make at home for $ 2. Thirdly, I hadn’t heard ANY buzz at all, so I was skeptical that it was going to be good. My friend made the OpenTable reservation and I just sort of went with it, but I wasn’t exactly enthusiastic.
Totally wrong on all three accounts. The space, which used to be a pulled-​pork sandwich specialty shop, and before that, a Burmese fusion place, was always a great location and a pretty «space», but it was never an amazing restaurant before.
Until now… the food was amazing… the prices reasonable… and our server, Alejandro… well, let’s just say it’s the Castro. I would have paid $ 50 for a Hot Pocket with that smile delivering it to the table. Okay, not really… but… my point remains.
Delicious Italian food served in a cute little bistro-​like setting by handsome men for a reasonable price? I’ll never set foot in the Sausage Factory again, as much as I adore the innuendo.

We started off with Polenta Fries w/​gorgonzola dip. The texture was crisp on the outside while the center maintained a creamy lava center. I would have preferred if the polenta was seasoned better, it felt rather bland but was cooked well. I enjoyed the dip but again didn’t wow me.
I decided to try the PROSCIUTTO & ARUGOLA PIZZA. The crust had a great bite but towards the middle it felt limp and too soggy for my liking. Flavor wise, the sauce was robust but very simple. Prosciutto, which I normally love on anything, I did not care for it on the pizza. It was wet and a little flavorless.
Overall Thoughts
Execution fell a little flat for me and lack of seasoning left something to be desired

9÷8÷13 Dinner
The menu has expanded. YAY! Now they have several choices of pastas and appetizers. Dante’s Table is an intimate Italian eatery on Castro Street. It’s the sister restaurant of nearby Poesia. We had tried their pizzas when they first opened and found them okay.
*Caesar’s Salad ($ 8): just your usual but my BF thought they could use a stronger Caesar’s dressing. For me it’s fine because I’m never a fan of strong dressing.
*Meat Balls ($ 8): this is an appetizer but BF made it his main since he wasn’t very hungry. Meat balls very tender and flavored, served in a spicy marinara sauce. I would love to have these meat balls with pasta!
*Calamari Fritti ($ 11): finally bit the bullet and got this since the BF doesn’t eat calamari so I usually avoid calamari. Deep fried but very crunchy, not greasy or oily at all. Good balance between the rings and legs. Batter is thin.
*Spaghetti Bolognese ($ 13): very simple but tasty. The meat sauce is generous with a spicy kick. Spaghetti al dente.
Overall a much better experience than when it first opened. Staff is very attentive and friendly. They now serve Sight Glass coffee which is another reason we should come back for breakfast.