Villa d' Este

This restaurant is more than the excellent food at very reasonable prices. The wait staff is "old world," meaning they are very attentive but not obsequious. The meal is served either A la carte or dinner. We had the diner. I veal Saltimboca, excellent and the epitome of the dish, and my companion had the scallopini. Anti pasta, salad, soup, dinner, desert with coffee. A most enjoyable meal. However, it is the experience of dining in this establishment that lends a high degree of elegance with its decorative motif. The walls, chandeliers and ceilings are a blend of art deco and Italian flourish. Set off a courtyard in Lakeshore Village in San Francisco, it is a feeling of a cozy respite from the hurried life we live these days. The owner, Ramon, celebrates 40 years of ownership this September. I first ate here, under different ownership, in the 50's as a child, but remembered the decoration and inviting feelings. I urge you all to take advantage of this gem.

This restaurant receives fairly polarized reviews, and I can understand why. The building is old-style and receives a fairly small customer base, at least when I have been. Personally, I think this is great. It is a quiet, ambient, authentic Italian experience run by an extremely warm, welcoming family. I felt like I became friends with the staff the moment I walked in the door. The food tasted great; it was nuanced, seasoned, and cooked perfectly. There is clearly great attention to detail in their food preparation as well as their building and their customer relations. I would much rather have a laid back, satisfying dining experience with service that goes above and beyond, than I would go to a loud, trendy, expensive, busy restaurant packed with flair and gimmicks. Perhaps that's just me. Oh, and for three people, with multiple drink orders, full five course meals, the check came out to less than $100. Very reasonable. I will be back.

We love this old school restaurant. Our family has been coming here for 50 years. Built in 1928, it has art deco architecture and a grand piano. Pastas, chicken, veal, beef, fish, pork and even vegetarian dishes. Great place for sweetbreads which can be hard to find. Full dinner comes with antipasto, salad, soup, pasta, entree, ice cream and coffee. All for a very good price. The service is spot on, as is the timing of your meal. If you have a good appetite for classic Italian food, give this place a try, you won't regret it or leave hungry!

Lovely old italian restaurant! For a moment is like you take the time machine, so don't expect any TV or music or any other modern or fancy decoration. There is a piano and it seems they do shows at night. I loved it but I'm not sure if someone on his 20 will love it too. Is a mix between romantic environment and an old hotel restaurant. We were there on a weekend for the brunch. The staff is nice and the plates are very well serve. The brunch has warm muffins, butter, jam, fruits and a glass of champagne included in the price! Everything was really good. I definitely recommend it.

When we entered, we were greeted with warm welcome by the owner and beautiful live music. The main dining room has a gorgeous art deco creating remarkable ambiance. The food was great and our experience was wonderful. Definitely will return.

Fernando Loza

I will keep this one simple. The food, the service and the prices were all excellent. The owner makes you feel at home. Great location and we found plenty of parking on a Sunday. Pay them a visit, you won't regret it.

Erica Long

We love this old school restaurant. Our family has been coming here for 50 years. Built in 1928, it has art deco architecture and a grand piano. Pastas, chicken, veal, beef, fish, pork and even vegetarian dishes. Great place for sweetbreads which can be hard to find. Full dinner comes with antipasto, salad, soup, pasta, entree, ice cream and coffee. All for a very good price. The service is spot on, as is the timing of your meal. If you have a good appetite for classic Italian food, give this place a try, you won't regret it or leave hungry!

Natalia

Lovely old italian restaurant! For a moment is like you take the time machine, so don't expect any TV or music or any other modern or fancy decoration. There is a piano and it seems they do shows at night. I loved it but I'm not sure if someone on his 20 will love it too. Is a mix between romantic environment and an old hotel restaurant. We were there on a weekend for the brunch. The staff is nice and the plates are very well serve. The brunch has warm muffins, butter, jam, fruits and a glass of champagne included in the price! Everything was really good. I definitely recommend it.

Jack Wilkinson

This restaurant is more than the excellent food at very reasonable prices. The wait staff is "old world," meaning they are very attentive but not obsequious. The meal is served either A la carte or dinner. We had the diner. I veal Saltimboca, excellent and the epitome of the dish, and my companion had the scallopini. Anti pasta, salad, soup, dinner, desert with coffee. A most enjoyable meal. However, it is the experience of dining in this establishment that lends a high degree of elegance with its decorative motif. The walls, chandeliers and ceilings are a blend of art deco and Italian flourish. Set off a courtyard in Lakeshore Village in San Francisco, it is a feeling of a cozy respite from the hurried life we live these days. The owner, Ramon, celebrates 40 years of ownership this September. I first ate here, under different ownership, in the 50's as a child, but remembered the decoration and inviting feelings. I urge you all to take advantage of this gem.

Curtis Pollard

When we entered, we were greeted with warm welcome by the owner and beautiful live music. The main dining room has a gorgeous art deco creating remarkable ambiance. The food was great and our experience was wonderful. Definitely will return.

Maria Fe Morales

Always enjoyed our dinner here. Good place for family dinner! Food are reasonably priced and great food too. The fish I order was perfectly cooked; excellent!! Owner & staff are very friendly. Great service above & beyond! I would recommend to my family & friends.

Michael Dallara

This restaurant receives fairly polarized reviews, and I can understand why. The building is old-style and receives a fairly small customer base, at least when I have been. Personally, I think this is great. It is a quiet, ambient, authentic Italian experience run by an extremely warm, welcoming family. I felt like I became friends with the staff the moment I walked in the door. The food tasted great; it was nuanced, seasoned, and cooked perfectly. There is clearly great attention to detail in their food preparation as well as their building and their customer relations. I would much rather have a laid back, satisfying dining experience with service that goes above and beyond, than I would go to a loud, trendy, expensive, busy restaurant packed with flair and gimmicks. Perhaps that's just me. Oh, and for three people, with multiple drink orders, full five course meals, the check came out to less than $100. Very reasonable. I will be back.

David J.

Growing up in an Italian-American family in San Francisco, this is the type of food that I fondly remember from childhood, and that seems to have disappeared. Nothing trendy nor out of the ordinary, but classic dishes excellently prepared and courteously served. The decor is stunning and adds to the feel of a bygone era. The prices are reasonable even by non-SF standards, and quite a deal in the city. This is my go-to place when visiting family, and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything I've had there. My only problem is that even on a weekend, there is not the crowd they deserve to have. True, it's not the place to go to be seen or to rub elbows with celebrities. It's not the place your favorite TV chef raved about nor the place to try the must-have food craze of the week. But when a restaurant in San Francisco is coming up on their 40th year in business, they must be doing something right. Do yourself, your palate, and your wallet a favor and head to Villa. Buon appetito!

Kelly Lockwood

Very comfortable atmosphere. The owner is there every night. Food is so delicious, classic Italian dishes, great soup, pasta and salad with every meal. Excellent service!

Good, old family style place. Live music on Friday night. Old time decor you don't see anymore. What chandeliers!

Blaine Buckingham

Good, old family style place. Live music on Friday night. Old time decor you don't see anymore. What chandeliers!

Dinner was great from start to finish. Salad is fresh, soup is hot, fish well prepared, very delicious. Staff are courteous, setting is nice and quiet, nicely decorated. First time there. Very reasonable price. Will be back. Highly recommended.

Love this place .....we were in the city, and for the price and convenience, ya can't beat it. Food is excellent and they do the full 5 course meal with perfect portions.

Went here for a company party. We rented out the whole place. It was pretty nice. The food was okay the portions are kind of small. The food was prepared pretty well, but I wouldn't give it five stars. It lacked imagination and variety. For some reason I think they forgot to give us condiments such as salt and pepper and sauces. Just very basic stuff was missing. They prepared the tables pretty good, tell me what happens but the presentation had much room for improvement. For this kind of small restaurant, I would say they did a pretty good job for what they are. Like I said it's slightly above average. I would give it a 3.5, or maybe a 3.7 at the most, since I can't I gave it a four. They had an open bar so that was pretty nice. Their wine selection was not large but what wine I had was pretty good. Didn't have a large selection of hard spirits though. Specific varieties of certain drinks were not available, rather going for a general selection. Overall everyone got the type of drink they wanted even if it wasn't the perfect ones. There was definitely enough space for all of us and probably space for more. Parking in the area is not great at lunch time I would imagine but after dinner it's pretty good. It does sit in a recessed pedestrian cul-de-sac of sorts, so it does provide a bit of privacy. It took a long time for them to prepare all the food, I could understand since they're serving like 40 people, but since I got my food medium rare I feel like it shouldn't have taken 2 hours. It was pretty much cold by the time I started eating it. The decorations inside were very old-timey. So if you're looking for something elegant and modern this is not the place, it kind of takes me back to maybe the 50s mixed with late Victorian. Kind of like something you would see out of Scarface, but instead of actual stone everything is painted on plaster to resemble Stone. I was afraid some of the pendant decorations were so precariously dropped overhead that it might fall on me but I'm sure it's just an illusion. The caterers and the bartender gave pretty good service though I would give them that. I remember asking the bartender a few times for different kinds of drinks and he served at no problem and pretty expediently even though there were plenty of other people there with me. The bathrooms are located in the front by the bar. if I were to judge the cleanliness I would give it probably a 2.5 out of 5. You can clearly smell odors in there. you can tell they didn't clean in a while. Pretty much something you would expect out of a dive bar, so if you're looking for high class this is not the spot even though it's trying to pull that kind of effect. All in all I give this place an average rating maybe slightly above average because of the customer service.

Alex Chin

Went here for a company party. We rented out the whole place. It was pretty nice. The food was okay the portions are kind of small. The food was prepared pretty well, but I wouldn't give it five stars. It lacked imagination and variety. For some reason I think they forgot to give us condiments such as salt and pepper and sauces. Just very basic stuff was missing. They prepared the tables pretty good, tell me what happens but the presentation had much room for improvement. For this kind of small restaurant, I would say they did a pretty good job for what they are. Like I said it's slightly above average. I would give it a 3.5, or maybe a 3.7 at the most, since I can't I gave it a four. They had an open bar so that was pretty nice. Their wine selection was not large but what wine I had was pretty good. Didn't have a large selection of hard spirits though. Specific varieties of certain drinks were not available, rather going for a general selection. Overall everyone got the type of drink they wanted even if it wasn't the perfect ones. There was definitely enough space for all of us and probably space for more. Parking in the area is not great at lunch time I would imagine but after dinner it's pretty good. It does sit in a recessed pedestrian cul-de-sac of sorts, so it does provide a bit of privacy. It took a long time for them to prepare all the food, I could understand since they're serving like 40 people, but since I got my food medium rare I feel like it shouldn't have taken 2 hours. It was pretty much cold by the time I started eating it. The decorations inside were very old-timey. So if you're looking for something elegant and modern this is not the place, it kind of takes me back to maybe the 50s mixed with late Victorian. Kind of like something you would see out of Scarface, but instead of actual stone everything is painted on plaster to resemble Stone. I was afraid some of the pendant decorations were so precariously dropped overhead that it might fall on me but I'm sure it's just an illusion. The caterers and the bartender gave pretty good service though I would give them that. I remember asking the bartender a few times for different kinds of drinks and he served at no problem and pretty expediently even though there were plenty of other people there with me. The bathrooms are located in the front by the bar. if I were to judge the cleanliness I would give it probably a 2.5 out of 5. You can clearly smell odors in there. you can tell they didn't clean in a while. Pretty much something you would expect out of a dive bar, so if you're looking for high class this is not the spot even though it's trying to pull that kind of effect. All in all I give this place an average rating maybe slightly above average because of the customer service.

Danny Roberts

Love this place .....we were in the city, and for the price and convenience, ya can't beat it. Food is excellent and they do the full 5 course meal with perfect portions.

K. Y. Ng

Dinner was great from start to finish. Salad is fresh, soup is hot, fish well prepared, very delicious. Staff are courteous, setting is nice and quiet, nicely decorated. First time there. Very reasonable price. Will be back. Highly recommended.

Old school Italian. Traditional decor, good service and very reasonable prices. Been in the neighborhood for a very long time and has long standing clientele. Food is average, traditional American- Italian dishes like lasagna and spaghetti. Live music some nights.

Restaurant is very dated. However service was nice and friendly. Timing for food took a while however I was surprised at how good the food tasted. Overall it was a decent experience.

Paul Chan

Old school Italian. Traditional decor, good service and very reasonable prices. Been in the neighborhood for a very long time and has long standing clientele. Food is average, traditional American- Italian dishes like lasagna and spaghetti. Live music some nights.

Asi Afuhaamango

Restaurant is very dated. However service was nice and friendly. Timing for food took a while however I was surprised at how good the food tasted. Overall it was a decent experience.

AWFUL. I am not a "foodie" or a picky eater, but the food at this place was TERRIBLE -- everything pre-entree came from a can, and then, for my New York Steak entree, I cringed when the waiter put the plate in front of me. The steak looked like a $1 piece of scrap meat. But I was hungry, so I took a bite -- and spit it out. Just the worst food I've ever paid to eat. At least, upon seeing that I had not touched my entree, the owner did not charge me for it.

tasteless food . the food was cold , the soup was chuncky thick . the food tasted canned ! soda tasted flat . the whole place smelt like a haunted house . i was afraid of getting food posioning . nice workers . do not come here for italian food .

m

tasteless food . the food was cold , the soup was chuncky thick . the food tasted canned ! soda tasted flat . the whole place smelt like a haunted house . i was afraid of getting food posioning . nice workers . do not come here for italian food .

Luiz Maykot

AWFUL. I am not a "foodie" or a picky eater, but the food at this place was TERRIBLE -- everything pre-entree came from a can, and then, for my New York Steak entree, I cringed when the waiter put the plate in front of me. The steak looked like a $1 piece of scrap meat. But I was hungry, so I took a bite -- and spit it out. Just the worst food I've ever paid to eat. At least, upon seeing that I had not touched my entree, the owner did not charge me for it.