Cancel

Open app

Search

Polenta Restaurant

5.0 (29 reviews)
Closed • Closed
Updated 3 weeks ago

Polenta Restaurant Reservations

Polenta Restaurant Photos

Business Info

Recommended Reviews - Polenta Restaurant

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Sausage Ragu
Richard T.

The best way to describe Polenta is little slice of Italy in San Francisco! One of the more authentic Italian restaurants in the city. The food quality was amazing, dishes were carefully curated balancing the richness of meat and sauces with beautifully herbaceous greens. Lovely wine list and super nice staff who obviously care about what they are doing. The restaurant is cute but a tad bit crowded which is my only knock but at the same time it ties well with the european vibe they are going for. I recommend the Cotto e kren, Frico and Lubjanska

Sara K.

I love polenta! The service is impeccable and refreshingly candid. The vibes are cute inside with a decent amount of seating, somewhat dim lighting, and the kitchen in the back. The wine we wanted wasn't in stock but the replacement was hella good! The food smacks and you can't go wrong with anything you wanna try. I typically don't like gnocchi, I think I just never had legit gnocchi cause I loved theirs. Overall, I'd highly recommend and get there early cause they may run out of stuff you'd like to try.

Lubjanska
Daniel D.

I wanted to take my friend from Italy to The Italian Homemade company, he suggested Polenta instead. While the food is *obviously* pricier than homemade, the flavors were excellent! I let him order for me (while enjoying seeing him speak in vibrant Italian to the servers, who were very helpful) and was glad to be presented with a couple of dishes i never knew existed. I joked that i always order spaghetti and meatballs at Italian restaurants like how people order orange chicken at Chinese restaurants.

Apple pie
Jeff A.

This is a gem of a small family run restaurant. The food is Michelin worthy exquisite. The food is north eastern Italian. The owner describes it as "having a lot of influences from many other cultures because we have been invaded by everybody". Indeed some dishes are decidedly not Italian like the potato salad that was served with the pork. The portions are small. It's kind of Tapas style Italian. We shared family style so we got a taste of everything. The flavors of some dishes like the carrots I don't even know how they did it. The pastas are all homemade and excellent. Highly recommended for Italian food you probably never have had.

S G.

Excellent quality regional Italian cuisine, nice wine list and the owner Gulio is very personable. So glad this opened in our 'hood!

Frico and snap pea salad.

See all

Reviews are largely positive. Diners highlight the authentic regional Italian food, homemade pastas, and unique wine list. The attentive and friendly service and cozy neighborhood ambiance are also praised.

Read the full review summary in the app

1 month ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

23 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 4
Thanks 3
Love this 3
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 3
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 1

16 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

21 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 month ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

27 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 2
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of Kyle T.
68
44
54

2 months ago

Great new spot in the neighborhood. Everything was very tasty and we can't wait to go back! Menu is well curated and a solid wine list.

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thank you very much for the kind words!!!

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Jeff A.
37
559
1568

5 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 4
Thanks 2
Love this 2
Oh no 1
Photo of S G.
0
21
21

5 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thank you very much for the support from day 1! See you soon

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Excellent pastas, unique wine list (I appreciate the tasting opportunities), lovely and knowledgeable service. Great vibe.

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thank you very much, hope to see you back soon.

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Denise H.
261
64
7

5 months ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 2
Love this 3
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 1
Thanks 2
Love this 2
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thank you very much!!!!

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Wonderful restaurant in a great spot! The food and wine were excellent and the service was great!!

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Food was absolutely delicious, can't go wrong with any of the dishes. So unique and different from other Italian restaurants

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thank you , can't wait to have you back!

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Superb pasta! Came to table fresh & hot. Intimate rest. Small enough. Parkg challenge.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 months ago

A sweet little restaurant. Owner and staff very kind and genuine. Unique dishes beautifully prepared.

Business owner information

Photo of Giulio D.

Giulio D.

Thanks your kind words!!!!

Helpful 0
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

Polenta Restaurant Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Polenta Restaurant

Review Highlights - Polenta Restaurant

“Definitely try the Frico - it's tasty and the side snap pea salad is something I could eat everyday - and ask for recommendations on the wine.”

Mentioned in 5 reviews

Read more highlights

Bottega - Parmigiana Di Melanzane

Bottega

4.3(1.8k reviews)
1.6 mi•Mission
•$$$
Outdoor seating
Locally owned & operated

One of my favorite spots for pasta in the city. Everything we ordered was so good that I genuinely…read moredon't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu. We came for lunch on a Monday and ordered the Caesar salad, calamari, two pastas and the burrata salad, and every single dish was excellent. The pastas in particular were incredible, but even the appetizers and salads were thoughtfully prepared and full of flavor. It was one of those meals where everything just worked, and there wasn't a single dish that I wouldn't happily order again. The restaurant itself is also really cute, with a warm and lively atmosphere and charming interior decor. They have outdoor seating as well, which is a nice option when the weather is good. Dinner can get especially busy on Friday nights and weekends, but the energy is part of what makes this place fun. They stay open until midnight, so later in the evening it really starts to feel like a bit of a scene. I would highly recommend Bottega for both lunch and dinner. Great food, great atmosphere and a menu where you can order pretty much anything with confidence. Definitely a spot I'd come back to again and again.

Came to Bottega for a birthday celebration! The restaurant was quite busy, but had a nice moody,…read moredimly lit ambiance inside that made it feel perfect for a dinner in SF. We ordered the calamari, salmon fettuccine, and spicy rigatoni. Everything was delicious and came in generous portion sizes. Dinner also included complimentary focaccia. The service was good and the food came out fairly quick. One thing I'll point out is that I wish the chicken added to the spicy rigatoni was more tender, as it was a little tough. Overall, a nice spot for a birthday dinner in the city.

Photos
Bottega - Insalata Di Arugula

Insalata Di Arugula

Bottega - Inside

Inside

Bottega - Inside

See all

Inside

La Traviata - Cioppino

La Traviata

4.2(706 reviews)
1.9 mi•Mission
•$$

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure to visit La Traviata for the first time. My significant…read moreother went to school in San Francisco when he was in grad school and La Traviata was a restaurant that he and his family would visit when his folks were in town. I really loved the restaurant the first time I visited, and I was happy to have a chance to be back again on our recent visit to the City. La Traviata is a great, family-owned restaurant that offers wonderful food and top-notch service. John and Sylvia take great care of their customers. The restaurant is absolutely charming, with pictures of opera singers and celebrities on the walls. On our most recent visit (September 2026), we invited my aunt to join us. She lives in the East Bay, but had not been to the restaurant before, so we loved getting to introduce her to the establishment. We had delicious food, drinks, and a wonderful time catching up. The restaurant was not super busy, and we were allowed to stay for an extended period which was great. I did make sure to confirm with the restaurant that it was okay that we were staying a bit longer than usual. We had such a great time at La Traviata and it was the absolutely perfect location for us! I can't wait to be back again the next time we are visiting the City!

La Traviata is not exactly your typical haut cuisine dining experience, though the prices reflect…read morethat. Instead, what you get are totally satisfying and bounteous plates of Italian comfort food, served in a welcoming, cozy ambience - definitely a refined step up in atmosphere. In my estimation it beats most North Beach establishments of comparable merits. By San Francisco standards the place is a bargain. Our table of four thoroughly enjoyed every dish and we left satisfied, vowing to return for the next family occasion.

Photos
La Traviata - Dining room vibes at 6PM on a Wednesday

Dining room vibes at 6PM on a Wednesday

La Traviata - Tiramisu

Tiramisu

La Traviata - The tiramisu--don't miss it!

See all

The tiramisu--don't miss it!

Caprizza Ristorante

Caprizza Ristorante

4.7(60 reviews)
2.1 mi•Mission

Great food! Wonderful, elegant, personal service. My grandson licked his plate!…read more Specials everyday: today was carrot & ginger soup with shrimp. Presentation is always beautiful. They have scrumptius desserts also.

Caprizza Ristorante looks undiscovered in the Mission, and it was easy to get a table! We got one…read morefor 16 just 2 days before, which is really hard to do in SF. It was pretty empty for a Thursday night. There's decent seating, and the room was well lit with some nice backgrounds on the walls. The staff was very nice and hospitable, and they handled our big group well! They also brought complimentary bread with balsamic vinegar. 5/5 Bruschetta was so solid. I could not complain about the flavor at all. Everything was well balanced, and it was a very nostalgic dish for me. 2.5/5 Margherita Pizza was where it fell short. It was a bit too salty and felt like a glorified cheese pizza. The crust was okay, but I don't think it's authentic. 4/5 Fettuccine Pesto was flavorful. It was a bit too oily, but the pesto comes through. They put mixed veggies in for the vegetarian option, even though I suggested cherry/sun-dried tomatoes and zucchini alone would be good. It was not bad with the broccoli and carrots as well. 3.5/5 Cheese Ravioli had a nice, slightly al dente pasta. The tomato sauce felt a bit burnt to my liking, and I wondered if it was overcooked. 4.5/5 Creme Brulee was great, with the right amount of sweetness. The custard was a bit harder than usual, but that's a minor detail. It was a really fun time, and they took good care of us! This is a solid place for a group dinner in the area, especially since they can fit a big party on short notice. The bruschetta and creme brulee were the highlights. I'd come back for a last-minute group dinner and try other items like the pesto pizza and gnocchi. Glad I got to check it out!

Photos
Caprizza Ristorante - Caprizza

Caprizza

Caprizza Ristorante - Fettuccine Alfredo w Chicken

Fettuccine Alfredo w Chicken

Caprizza Ristorante - Dining area

See all

Dining area

Delfina - pasta

Delfina

4.0(2.3k reviews)
1.1 mi•Mission
•$$$

Came here to celebrate my roommate's birthday and had a great meal! The parklet we sat in was well…read moreshielded from the street and our waiter was very sociable. It was a bit noisy with the traffic of the street but otherwise we could hear each other and still have a conversation. We started off with some Poco Tempo aperitifs, which were delightfully light. We got the Pane a Pala with Delfina ricotta and dried tomatoes, and it was worth the extra money -- the cheese was warm and paired beautifully with the fluffy bread. We shared the Summer Salad as well, which had really great bright tomatoes. For entrees, I had the Rabbit Saddle in Porchetta, and we split a Margherita DOP pizza. My Rabbit Saddle came with a side of their butter beans, which were tender and plentiful. I had never had rabbit (which was well-cooked), and the sweetness of the peppers really brought it together. The pizza had a great crust and the tomato sauce was very fresh. For dessert, we shared the Cocoa Nib Pavlova, which was my favorite of the night. The meringue shell was so delicate, and the mix of caramel gelato, chocolate, and hazelnuts is so classic. Loved every bite! Had a great time here and took home lots of leftovers. Great place to have a nice dinner with friends!

4.5/5 Delfina was…read morevery good! The service was standout. My boyfriend and I sat at the bar and our bartender was very attentive without being overbearing and very knowledgeable--he gave thorough, detailed descriptions and recommendations on the wine list and the food menu (beyond what I would've expected). He even replaced my water and apologized after realizing he poured it to the brim, which really wasn't an issue but I appreciated his correction anyway. We ordered the side of wood grilled corn to start, I ordered the malfadine al limone pasta and my boyfriend ordered the spaghetti pomodoro. The wood grilled corn had a nice char to it and we enjoyed the accompanying sauce and cheese on top; however, based on the menu description I was expecting a little more of a Calabrian chili flavor / kick. The pomodoro was good but nothing to write home about, and the malfadine was a bit of a surprise / the highlight! I enjoyed the curly pasta texture and loved the lightness of the sauce paired with the salt flavor and complexity of the salmon roe on top. We love a good dessert but nothing caught our eye on the menu this time, as we don't prefer the soft, creamy desserts like panna cotta (as opposed to something more tangible like a cannoli). Lastly, we also had the following glasses of wine: Verdecchio, Verdeca, Montepulciano, and the Carignan Blend. As someone that loves crisp white wines with high acidity and minerality, I loved the Verdecchio. The Verdeca was refreshing but too light and not fruit forward enough for my preference. We both liked the Carignan, as we like deeper berry flavors, and the Montepulciano was OK (didn't love but didn't dislike). Would definitely love to come back and try some of the other wine varieties and menu options!

Photos
Delfina - Inside

Inside

Delfina - Mushroom pizza

Mushroom pizza

Delfina - Panna cotta

See all

Panna cotta

Arcana - View from the bathroom and more plants for sale

Arcana

4.4(279 reviews)
1.6 mi•Mission
•$$

I bought out Arcana for a night and it was a hit! The plants and decor are lush. It feels like…read moreyou've left San Francisco and entered a jungle. I love the wood tables and the steps that lead you to a private room upstairs. The space is amazing and attendees loved it. They have a photo booth too. Staff are wonderful! Thank you, Naz and Ife! Amazing bartenders. They were so friendly, attentive, and personable. Many attendees said they came to the event particularly because they love Arcana. It's conveniently located near BART and multiple bus lines and some Lyft bike docks. I cannot recommend Arcana enough! It's great for date night, girls' night, corporate meetups, and more. It's welcoming and inclusive and the food and drinks are delicious and strong. Will be back!

Clearly says 9:30pm for the cover/ticket charge. I am uploading this at 9:19pm, but the whole…read moreinteraction started maybe 10 minutes prior. Charging the $10 event fee on discretion before the posted event start time seems... shady? illegal? My two friends got in a few minutes before with no cover. I was dealing with a bike lock while they went in. We were not there for the event but rather as volunteers from the weekly cleanup refuse crew in the Mission. You get perks as a thank-you for doing your part in making the City a cleaner place. We had just had a lovely time at another participating business (Beehive) and planned on Arcana being our final stop. Thankfully I was able to use the restroom without a fee, with my gear held up outside by the security team. While waiting in the restroom line, I told a staff member about all this, and the worker seemingly went up to the front to find out what's going on. The line took a few minutes, my friends also bumped into me, and I told them I'd likely wait for them outside the business post-restroom while they finished their wine. Already reported to the Mayor's Office. Maybe I'll add BBB. Should be honest and equitable! Four out of 200+ reviews by me have been one star, so I rarely share negativity. It's all rather unfortunate as other visits here went off without an issue. I warned a group of four about all this while I waited out front, and after talking to the front door folks, they left and thanked me for the advice. Please be careful if you visit here. . . .

Photos
Arcana - Downstairs

Downstairs

Arcana
Arcana

See all

Polenta Restaurant - italian - Updated October 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...