(between Columbus Ave & Powell St)
San Francisco, CA 94133
About 2 weeks ago we started having warmer than usual weather in San Francisco (it was short lived, as usual) but it made me start to crave authentic Italian food. Warm weather in the city reminds me of living in Rome, the hussle and bustle of a city, but being able to sit outside and enjoy a pizza and then stroll through the streets with a refreshing gelato. Thus I began my quest for the next best thing to being in Italy for Italian food-North Beach in SF. Not nearly the same atmosphere, but only a convenient 15 minute walk from my office.
Cinecitta is one of many small Italian eateries that you'll find in North Beach, just off Columbus where most of the restaurants are. Columbus feels very much like walking through Italian streets, in that you are surrounded by restaurants with so many hosts offering you menu's it can be confusing which one to choose! Luckly having learned from experience that the restaurant that doesn't chase after customers usually has better food and service. I had read about Cinecitta on yelp and decided to give it a try. It's just past most of the Columbus restaurants, off Union Street.
The restaurant is small with 4 tables in front, a few tables inside and a long bar. The service was great, we met the owner who is from Rome, huge points for that! She made recommendations on the menu as well as offered to explain any items we were unfamiliar with. Other than authentic Roman style pizzas (no stuffed crust here!) they offer appetizers, salads, panini's, calzones and a few entrees. I ordered the Trastevere-for 2 reasons, 1) It's named after the neighborhood in Rome I lived in and 2) It sounded delicious! It has tomato sauce, mozzerella cheese, arugala and proscuitto with a sprinkle of parmesan on top. My friend had the Alla Romana pizza which is also very delicious- tomato sauce, mozzerella cheese, sausage, salami, and pepperoni.
The Trastevere
After dinner we walked around and got gelato at Naia, not the best I've had but my favorites Straciatella and Chocolate Hazelnut (usually called Baci) are pretty good. They were lacking in some of the best Italian gelato flavors though, mainly the fruit flavors like Strawberry (Fragola)and Mixed Berry (Fruitti de Bosco). Naia does however have some unique options like Guinness, and some typical American ice cream flavors as well.
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