Caffe Sport - San Francisco
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About
Every square inch of the interior is adorned with elaborately painted furniture and woodcarvings. Come in once and you’ll never forget, and you’ll see why Caffe Sport is so famous.
Come and read the autographed photos and letters from celebrities throughout the world who are all Caffe Sport fanatics.
Two nights in a row, we made reservations via OpenTable and had to wait more than 30 minutes. On first try, we ended up eating at neighboring restaurant whose food was MUCH better. Second night, we waited it out. Nice waitress. Fun atomosphe. But food not worth the wait. I think they entice you by being the only one in neighborhood to "claim" to have available tables... only to make you wait. And the food is not worth it. We walked-in waited at different North Beach restaurants 2 other nights and both were better... Much better food, similar or shorter wait, and better atmosphere. Caffe Sport is a disappointment at best
Lovely owner/manager. Phenomenal food. Felt welcomed and really enjoyed our time at Caffe Sport. Looking forward to coming back! Must try the PESTO
not enought salmon in my pasta , was like left over tiny pieces., fisherman stew sauce was so so, zuchinni c apetizer and caesar salad was good .
Flavors unlike anything you have ever experienced outside of Palermo. Portions aren't what they used to be, but the food is as good as ever.
The prices were very high for decent Italian food. Portions were not big. Better to take your own bottle of wine and pay a corking fee because the bad wine was very overpriced. 31 dollars for a $9 bottle.
This is the best Italian food I have ever had. The servers and manager are delightful. Get the garlic bread. It’s divine.
Awesome! Great food
NYE with family & friends! Great night...of course 8 bottles of wine will make any night amazing!!
Great staff and great food! We had a great time and we were a big group so happy they were able to accommodate us.
Waiters were fun and attentive. Lots of food
Even though we live in SF, we don’t often get over to North Beach and Cafe Sport is a great long standing restaurant there. We made reservations for and early dinner before going to see one of the last shows of Beach Blanket Babylon. The food is wonderfully old world Italian- reminding me of my grandmothers pasta dishes.
As the evening moves on be prepared to wait for a table and the service gets a bit slower. Fortunately, the staff are responsive to your requests.
Great atmosphere and service. Food was good but not mind blowing. Would go back again just for the ambiance.
Place continues to offer great food in a unique atmosphere. Had to work with the staff a bit to remind them of some basics, but that’s fixable. Fun and filling experience!
Good honest Italian food with professional service. What's not to like here?
We were there early evening. To our surprise the manager actually remembered us from a year ago without prompting as we walked in. Staff was very friendly and attentive. Food was great. Cozy place. Enjoyable, relaxed experience. Will definitely be back again.
The best Italian in SF. Get the zucchini, crab salad, pesto, Alfredo and everything. Super good.
Our family enjoyed all the food and the waitress was great. A bit noisy but we were in an alcove all by ourselves. Almost felt like we were at home!
We showed up on time for our reservation. We waited over half an hour and weren't seated. What's the point of making a reservation? To make things worse, when reserving a table, this restaurant requires you enter a credit card, presumably to charge you if you don't show up or show up late. But when they are so late that if forces you to go somewhere else, they don't offer any compensation or even an apology. Won't ever go back. (While we were waiting, another party was seated and then 15 minutes went by before a waiter showed up to their table, and another table got their food and it was wrong and had to be sent back.)
We had an 8:15 reservation and were not seated till 9 pm. We were not served our food till 10:15. Not cool when you have three hungry 12 year olds. Clearly, they need to manage their reservation and walk in system better.
Great place for authentic Sicilian food.
Enjoyed the place. Service was excellent and the food was very good. Nice place to try if you’re in the North Beach area.
Early dinner before theater. Perfect service and food was marvelous.
Family style platters, had enough for lunch the next day. Will go back again and again.
This was for our anniversary. We had a wonderful meal. I couldn’t eat it all which is rare for me. Their pasta. A little bit of heaven on a plate. We look forward to our next visit.
Food was great! I came in knowing not what to expect but it pleasantly surprised me.
Food was very good. The service was excellent. We will go again when we are in the city
Waiters were terrific. Great time.
The best Italian (Sicilian!) restaurant in the bay area..
A mere shadow of what it once was. Lousy pasta dishes and VERY slow service given we had a 5:30 reservation). 5 of us and only thing decent was spaghetti and meatballs. Wouldn’t go back.
We went with open minds after reading the mixed reviews. My partner’s great memories of long ago visits were upheld. We had to wait an extra 20 minutes to get a preferred table, but used the time at the bar to soak up the Saturday night festive vibe. Everyone serving us was attentive and fun. We had a great meal and another memorable experience.
Well, we've been going here for MANY years bc the food was so good. But tonight, for our special anniversary dinner... we were totally underwhelmed. Started out, we were seated at a private booth which was so nice until they made us change our table out of the blue. Mind you, we made reservations. They told us they had a “better” table for us. But better to them meant right next to the kitchen and bathroom where it was A LOT less private or comfortable. One bench is high... one is lower. I felt like a midget and my hubby and I had to switch seats. God I wish we were able to stay at our booth! Tried to shake that off, nothing is ruining our special night... right? So then the food came. The appetizer with calamari, shrimp and scallops was just ok. Lacked shrimp and scallops... maybe 2 shrimp total and a few m&m size pieces of scallops. Scampi and pesto taste was spot on but they are getting a lot more skimpy on the scampi and it’s not the same size as before, it’s a lot more smaller. But here is where I felt compelled to write a review. We ordered filet of sole... and SERIOUSLY. What kind of restaurant does this!? They tried to pass off striped bass for filet of sole!!! And played stupid about it. This has never happened to us before at any other restaurant. How shady. We are avid fishermen and have a freezer full of striped bass. If we wanted striped bass... we sure wouldn't spend $25 a plate for some! BAD and shame on the kitchen for doing this. Overpriced food, mediocre portions. Staff was very “meh”. Where I used to rave about this place and crave their food... it has changed to not wanting to come here anymore and the whole bait and switch on ingredients leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. Dishonest. Gone are the good ol’ days.
Thank you for writing the review Tricia! We want to thank you for your continued patronage at Caffe Sport. We are very sorry to hear that your most recent visit was not a good one. We wish that you would have addressed the manager at the time to try and resolve the issue but there is still no excuse for this level of service. We hope to see you again in the future.
Out of town visitors
Cramped table, over priced mediocre Italian food, rude staff, not ever going again and I’m a San Franciscan. Skip this place.
We are sorry that you did not enjoy your visit to Caffe Sport. Our kitchen values freshness, flavor, preparation and presentation, and we're sorry to hear that you did not experience this. In addition, we always strive to provide attentive service and are sorry that we did not live up to expectations here. Your feedback allows us to improve for future guests and we hope to show you the true Caffe Sport experience in the future
It was a nice place with average food and service. Very difficult and expensive to find parking.
What a fun place to dine in North Beach! Can't wait to have another chance to come back.
Awesome over-the-tip decor, delicious cioppino, and fair prices. I’ll go back.
I had reservation at 7:00 pm for party of 6. We checked in at 6:45 but did not seated till 7:30.
Ate there for decades always a culinary family style delight
My family came here with a party of 18 for my birthday. I was overwhelmed by how attentive the staff was, especially for such a large party. We had an incredible time and an incredible meal. It felt like Italy, and I mean that as the highest compliment I can give. Grazie mille!
Food was good but service was so-so. We had to ask for hot water, bread and coffee multiple times.
They just had a tough night... seated about 15 minutes after our scheduled
Thank you for the feedback! We do appreciate you understanding that staff can occasionally get very busy, however we are still very sorry that this put a damper on your experience. We do hope that you will return so that we can show you how we really operate.
FAQs
Caffe Sport - San Francisco does offer delivery in partnership with Postmates and Uber Eats. Caffe Sport - San Francisco also offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (415) 981-1251.
Caffe Sport - San Francisco is rated 4.3 stars by 363 OpenTable diners.