IdealeBella ! Bella!Truly enjoyed Ideale! Excellent Italian selections!!! Staff very welcoming!5/14/2013 12:00:00 AMIdeale is the Reale DealeThe casual ambiance and friendly Italian staff have made this our new SF favorite. Have eaten there the last three trips to the city and enjoy taking my wife and mother-inlaw (who are from Lucca, Italy) for some authentic food and Italian conversation. They have a great wine selection of half bottles which makes it affordable to try different varietals. It can be hectic on weekends so be sure to make a reservation but allow for additional time to be seated. Well worth the wait!5/11/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat Italian foodI had a great dinner with a friend. The service was fantastic too. Lots of pastas to choose from...5/10/2013 12:00:00 AMMy ideal Italian restaurantIdeale is, quite possibly, my "Ideal" Italian restaurant. Have been there four times now on visits to San Francisco. My only regret is that I didn't know about it on my first 15-20 trips to the city. The food is simply perfect. The service is excellent. The atmosphere is of a casual restaurant that is family-run. Make your reservation and go. You will be pleased.4/27/2013 12:00:00 AMIdeale is the best, most authenticIdeale is the best, most authentic Italian Restaurant in North Beach. I can attest this as a 20 year resident of the neighborhood who has eaten at every other restaurant in NB.4/25/2013 12:00:00 AMWonderful little gem in North BeachWe enjoyed a great bottle of wine with the carbonara, tuna tatare, and pumpkin ravioli. Everything was absolutely incredible. They were running behind schedule, so our reservation wasn't kept on-time, but the wait wasn't very long at all. To be honest, it was completely worth it.4/13/2013 12:00:00 AM7x7 missed the markI came here after seeing Ideale listed in 7x7's top 10 places in San Francisco for pasta. We got seated a little after our reservation because a large group took longer to finish than expected. As former food service workers, my group and I didn't mind, but the couple in front of us were seriously upset and almost left. We ordered 2 appetizers, 4 main dishes and a bottle of wine to share. The pear and prosciutto appetizer was delicious but the other, the buratta was slightly under seasoned. Of the 4 pasta dishes (what we came for!) the group was unanimous that only two were to die for - pappardelle with lamb ragu and the vegetarian gnocchi - the others were slightly over cooked. Overall it was a great experience and I would go back again.4/13/2013 12:00:00 AMSimply the best!We've been going to Ideale for more than ten years. Though we often try other Italian restaurants in North Beach, we are usually disappointed with them when compared to Ideale. It is the best Italian restaurant in San Francisco.
Antonio4/5/2013 12:00:00 AMExcellent evening. FabulousExcellent evening. Fabulous food, great service, nice atmosphere. I loved that we shared all the dishes, which allowed us to try more on the menu. The burrata was creamy goodness, the fettuccine with black truffles was outstanding. Nice thin crust in the prosciutto pizza, and the seafood was flavorful. It was all so good, and I truly enjoyed the lamb...juicy, with a nice seared crust. Yum! Dessert was lovely too-both panna cotta and tiramisu were lovely . Our waiter was fantastic. Ideale... You delivered an ideal experience.4/1/2013 12:00:00 AMGreat authentic and freshGreat authentic and fresh food - homemade pasta and desserts - it's just grand.3/28/2013 12:00:00 AMWonderful Italian restaurant!Wonderful Italian restaurant! Food cooked to perfection!3/23/2013 12:00:00 AMIdeale is IdealExcellent ambiance and excellent service. The kind of bustling neighborhood bistro we love to frequent.3/16/2013 12:00:00 AMRoman CuisineWhat I love about Italian restaurants on North Beach is that most restaurants specialize in regional cuisine: Roman, Tuscan, Neapolitan, etc. since Steps of Roma has closed this is the only other Roman cuisine restaurant I've been to on North Beach.
Before I came here I checked the website. I knew the two traditional Roman dishes I wanted - spaghetti alla carbonara and the saltimbocca. Nothing fancy about the spaghetti alla carbonara it's just straightforward delicious. Of course the pasta is cooked to al dente. The veal was moist and the prosciutto complimented the veal. The roasted potatoes are a great side to this dish. Why not a 5-star review? It's because they didn't have the pasta cacio e pepe - a traditional Roman dish.3/13/2013 12:00:00 AM