Ristorante Marcello

What a delightful experience. I grew up in the Sunset District, & the restaurant I usually go to, had no parking. So I drove around & found this wonderful restaurant. I had no reservation but the Owner?, I think he was the owner said he would find a table for me & my boyfriend. He was simply charming.
Everything was perfect, from the atmosphere to the food, & the delightful waitress, & waiter.
We especially loved our steak dinners, & that lovely French bread. I will be back, & this time take my brother with us. And of course this time I will make reservations!

Definitely one of the best Italian restaurants I have been to. I would recommend the dinner deluxe special it is worth the price considering everything that comes with it. Good service as well!

The best. My favorite in San Francisco.

We had not been to Marcelo’s since moving out of the city — 1999.
The food is still as superb as it was back then! The veal Marcelo was tastier than ever! Service was great. Best Italian food around and very reasonably priced.
The only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the décor could be «refreshed» a bit.

This was our neighbourhood go-​to for food when we wanted a nice place, good food and neighbourly service.
We booked my boyfriends birthday dinner wth family. We arrived on time at 6:30p on a Sunday.
It was much busier than normal
We were told the table wasnt ready. No
Problem. We had a drink at the bar.
45 minutes later we were seated.
6 people, spending money on drinks and dinner. Willing to drink and dine and have fun
Waitress was rude, unfocused, angry and with an attitude that was unwarranted and surprising
I asked to speak to the manager.
Alas it was this waitress!
She did not speak to us but plied us with more and more attitude throughout the dinner.
I am appalled at the service and disappointed that we ever gave them our time and money
Shame on you for treating us with such disdain!
Horrible service for a Place that we always loved.

I haven’t been to this restaurant since my childhood, when we went every week, but I’ll go ahead and assume that nothing has changed! Very old school, lots of fur coats, waiters in tuxes, and the cigarette smoke of old still lingering in the air.
This place serves a version of spaghetti alla matriciana that I have been struggling my whole adult life to recreate. Excellent food. So many memories.

I hate to give this place only 3 stars, because it’s cute, quaint and fairly classy local business. But I was pretty underwhelmed by my two visits here and I don’t think I’m going to give it a third try.
The food is not bad, but it’s nothing to write home about for how much you’re paying. The carbonara was a bit bland and almost on the dry side. The spaghetti matriciana was ok, but actually tasted the better as leftovers the next day. I think sitting in my fridge allowed the flavors to meld and intensify a little more. Portions are big though. The prosciutto and melon was great, but you can’t really mess that up.
The service is friendly as well, but maybe a little too friendly. My biggest gripe was that I ate there alone one night and the bus boy made constant comments about my race and how much he loved Chinese women. It made me uncomfortable even though he was incredibly nice. It was completely inappropriate.
I think it’s a nice place to come for a quiet dinner, but maybe for a different kind of crowd.

I’m getting old. I could have sworn I wrote a review of Ristorante Marcello long ago. Well, let’s remedy that right now.
I love this place. It is decidedly not hip, but neither am I. Actually, that’s one of the things I find refreshing about it. It’s a neighborhood restaurant and bar with the same folks sitting at the bar who were there in 1968. Not a man bun in sight. It’s a breath of fresh air.
It’s an old-​time red-​sauce Italian place, and the food is delicious and plentiful. The best thing on the menu, though, is the minestrone. Dear Lord, is it good. It’s thick and fragrant and warms my soul, especially with a thick slice of sourdough bread and butter and a glass of Italian red. That is the old San Francisco. –But I digress.
The pasta is great. The petrale sole is wonderful. The chicken piccata is delicious. Ristorante Marcello is old school. Their menu is traditional. They do traditional dishes, and they do them well. Their prices are reasonable. The waiters wear tuxes.
Give ‘em a try, but please save me some minestrone.

We came in on a Friday around 7:30. No reservations, but was seated rather quickly. Ordered two pasta dishes and where given bread and butter. Bread was warm and tasty.
Pasta was nothing to run home and write about. Good but just ok. Glass of Merlot. Good glass of wine. Tiramisu was on the tiny side but decent tasting.

Very nice people but the food didn’t taste fresh nor remotely homemade.
It was very bland and not what I was expecting for the price.
They were very understaffed the evening we ate there also.

You know you’re in for a good night when you walk in and a dapper tux wearing man greets you with a smile!
Minestrone is awesome. Just awesome.
Chicken Parm/​Veal Saltimboca/​Swordfish/​Petrale Sole
I never know what to have because I love them all equally!
Dinner for 4, a bottle of wine, and a dessert to share was right around $ 100. Cant beat that!
Do yourself a favor and stop in.

We come to this restaurant all the time!

I love this place, mostly for the atmosphere, but also because of their classic Italian American menu. If they have anything with mushrooms, I go for that, the owner is apparently obsessed with them. But be warned: side salads and other sides are not very fresh or good… well, at least for organic, locally sourced, blah blah Californian standards.

Well, it’s a restaurant for old timers in the Sunset. Prices are reasonable and the food was decent. Most entrees were around $ 25 and included soup/​salad and coffee. Hard to make an argument against that ;)
Most people dining here grew up on typewriters and there’s nothing wrong with that. I would also say that a majority of those dining were native San Franciscans… You can just tell. If you don’t go in expecting a high end dining experience, and see it for what it is, you’ll be happy. It’s a neighborhood place that’s been here since the 60’s and it’s good at being what it is — A place for the local old timers.

A nostalgic, but — so, so sad to say — very disappointing dinner…
It had been a long time, and a lot has changed in a decade. The quality of the food and service has greatly diminished.
Our waitress was curt, inattentive to the point of rudeness, and never broke a smile. The food was disappointing, with the majority of what we ordered just plain bad. The gnocchi was like paste. The pesto was bitter, and so was the sauce the scallops were swinging in. The scallops themselves were past their prime. Even my carbaholic children didn’t eat their (terribly bland) spaghetti and ravioli. The only bright spots were the minestrone and the Caesar salad. The veal parmigiana was edible but nothing compared with what it used to be. The desserts were very forgettable. My old favorite «Strawberries Julius II» tasted of mold. We walked away very disappointed, and — having been a habitué a decade and a half ago — embarrassed for this once great restaurant.

On my first experience coming here, I had lost my phone at the beach earlier in the day… after some frantic running around and use of Find My Phone, we were called by some people who had found the phone. After that all I wanted was a nice comfy place to eat dinner and Restorante Marcello fit the bill. The atmosphere and uniforms worn by the staff are very much from a different era (early 1960’s), but this only adds to the charm. I notice a lot of families and older adults gathering together here to sit down and enjoy a meal together. I appreciate how the staff are extremely friendly. We’ve come here a few times now and ordered the below dishes and enjoyed them quite a bit.
home made tortellini with cream sauce — delicious. peas, panchetta and a little bit of spice
bolognese sauce — standard, but still tasty and comforting
Ravioli — yum
Veal Parmesean — delicious. The veal was excellent.
Fettucini Vongole — tasty, but would be nice if they used fresh clams

Really cute old fashioned Italian place tucked away in the sunset area!
My friends say they always drive by this place and always wanted to try it. Looks unassuming from the outside but inside it looks very vintage and old school.
The waiters are dressed better than you as they are all in black and white tuxs! My friends and I felt really underdressed lol!
But everyone was very helpful and friendly! Our waiter was very personable and made us laugh a couple of times.
We started with one of the specials which were lightly battered and fried porcini mushrooms that were local. The mushrooms were delish and it was lighter than expected especially just adding a little bit of lemon juices on it! We also shared the beef carpaccio. This was good but I did feel like the sauce that was on the beef was a bit too overpowering
My friend and I both got the special which was meat ravioli or porcini ravioli with a pink sauce. Both raviolis were really good and we couldn’t decide which was better!
It’s a cute place and I would come back again!

This restaurant has special meaning to me as my grandfather used to take our family there often, the food was always amazing. I have been feeling nostalgic & would like to go back soon, happy to see it is still owned by Marcello, who was a friend of my grandfathers until he passed away in 2003. Marcello also happens to have lived in the same town I live in the East Bay, the old Baldochi house still stands today, a historical beauty in downtown Antioch.

I was in a good mood and hasn’t seen my sister’s family in a while so I invited everybody to dinner. I originally suggested pizza, but my sister suggested we try Marcello’s since it was near her house. I hadn’t even considered it since the restaurant doesn’t have a single window, but I was feeling adventurous so we walked the short block and a half over together. The décor is absolutely classic Italian as you might remember from the 70s, and really nothing has changed since. Casino, Goodfellas, and other Sopranos, come to mind.
We decided to start with their hearts of palm salad, which was tasty and well-​seasoned, but definitely came out of a can. I decided to go with my gut and try the fettuccine Alfredo, and was thrilled to smell the presence of nutmeg in the dish. Flavors were classic Alfredo and the pasta had a wonderful al dente bite. I wish there was a blackened chicken option but that might be more modern take. The other dishes were pretty tasty as well, and I was a fan of my nephew’s gnocchi and pesto.
Service was really friendly and made you feel like part of the family. Prices are moderate and certainly not over the top. There are absolutely no windows, which makes approaching the restaurant kind of sketch, but I assure you it’s worth a try. I’d definitely come back!
Food: ⁷⁄₁₀
Service: ⁸⁄₁₀
Price: $$
Atmosphere: ⁷⁄₁₀

This restaurant is a hidden gem! My friend took me here and I fell in love with their Spaghetti Alla Matriana. I live in Oakland but I have been eating here for over 15 years now and try to eat here as much as I can. It’s a little out of the way for me and parking can be tough, but it’s worth it!
The restaurant has that old 60s feel to it and they have a LOT of regular customers. Great service, good portions, tasty pastas, and good dessert.
I recommend the carpaccio, spaghetti Alla matriciana, escargot, chicken parmesan, bolognese, and salads.