Every Friday, we provide you with the best–and the worst–user reviews from the week. The following reviews are real, valid, submitted, unedited (except where marked) reviews from our various sites.
This week saw a deluge of reviews for the Mission’s new swanky Italian joint and focacceria, Farina. Earlier in the summer, Farina received some harsh reviews upon its relatively well-publicized opening on 18th Street. “Anonymous” merely recommended the Italian-craving diner opt for the nearby Delfina, a sentiment echoed in a longer review left by “render ferguson”:
I went here for dinner the other night. I was initially impressed with its quaint location and lack of parking. They seem to have copied the north beach atmosphere with a mexican twang. The food was a step above Olive Garden, with a disagreeable after-taste. I would suggest Del Fina for an authentic mission experience.
However, it seems that Farina has corrected its initial missteps, as professed by “SFagain”:
Took the excuse of some out of town friends visiting to try this place out and had a simply perfect evening. Each course was even more amazing that the last. All the wines we tried from their selection were lovely, and the grappa selection was an equal match.
If you are one of the few people that responded with a negative review, I highly suggest giving it another shot and enlisting the advice of the staff. The few suggestions they made at our request were great compliments to the choices we had already made. A more authentic genovese meal can not be had in San Francisco! I can’t wait to go back.
The authenticity received a second ringing endorsement from a self-professed true Genovese:
Being born in Genova, I wanted to try this place. It was great. The food was outstanding and so was the service. We were seated upstairs ( on a Saturday night) and we felt like we were the only people that mattered with all the attention and prompt service we received.If there’s a complaint, it would be the background music. Somehow the Latin music was, I almost want to say, annoying. I’m sure there’s plenty of Italian music that could be played and I just don’t mean “O Sole Mio” and the like. There’s plenty of modern Italian music out there. But this was a minnor thing. For those who complained that the portions were too small, they need to know that portions in restaurants in Italy are generelly on the small size, since you just don’t order one thing, but a series of courses. For too long Italian restaurants have been what “Americans” thought they should be: huge portion of pasta with globs of runny sauce which you don’t know whether to eat or drink it and the biggest no-no of all: meat served on top of the pasta or alongside on the same dish. Not Italian. Besides, if you want a big portion at Farina, order the veal chop, it’s huge.Keep up the good work, Farina, we will definetely be back. And yes, the focaccia, just like we had in Recco, buonissima!!
If the second batch of reviews is any indication, it seems that Farina has straightened out the kinks, which is a common evolution in new restaurants. We haven’t been yet, but would welcome an alternative to the waits at Delfina. But what’s with the Latin music?
Farina [MenuPages]
