The Steps of Rome Caffe

It’s sad that this great institution closed… and left a big gap in NoBeach. 4 pages of dessert and all amazing! Awesome espresso, and their food was just as .bomb​.com. Imponente!
Yes, the place was almost always loud but that’s ok since you came here for the dessert, and *that* type of authentic Italiano atmosphere. You will be missed Steps of Rome!

So sad to hear this place closed down. Every trip to SF HAD to include a detour to Steps of Rome. Best tiramisu I’ve ever eaten!
Servers were always friendly even while singing and dancing.
Fond memories…

You can fool me many times. Yes, you steps of Rome.
Yet, I’m not in a hurry to go back.
Why? Because your not as hype up as your suppose to be,
I think your pasta is okay at best.
Yet, I can do wonders of my own with a jar of Alfredo sauce,
and I get it your location is for tourists but honestly not the best place for pasta.
I honestly feels if your not a good looking person you probably wont get good service here. The Italian dudes who work here can barely speak English, but the are eye candy to Women, who probably wouldn’t mind, (But I do).
If you’re a conservative tourist person, don’t come here,
I wouldn’t bring my Step mother or Mother in law here,
in fear of the bad impression it may leave.
But also kind of weird when your dining and see the waiters give lap dances to girls.
(Just tell them it’s your birthday!!!)
It’s not my cup of tea but it is entertaining to say the least.
(Note how I added the word least)
As In you should at «Least» check out this place, once… umm nevermind.
Yet, if your trapped here by accident the ravioli is quite good, but yeah
If you to order the spinach salad and the spinach gnocchi, you might smile a bit.
The Tiramisu is good but you should,
Really got to «Stella’s bakery» down the street. (I’m just sayin) :/

Came here last weekend around 10PM and got sat right away.
We ordered the baked bruchetta and the warm spinach salad which took FOREVER to get. Not that we were in a hurry, but good grief 40 minutes for an appetizer and a shared pre-​dinner salad?
The bruchetta was yummy and the salad even better… quite delish.
Also ordered a bottle of Lambrusco, was expecting a higher quality of Lambrusco for for $ 29.00, especially when the bottle that arrived at our table was a Trader Joe’s special at $ 3.99 a pop! What a freaking rip off!!!
Our entrees arrived soon after after our appetizer and salad. I had the spinach gnocchi with mushrooms in a cream sauce which was actually good. No complaints on the flavor or quality of the food.
Service was mediocre impressed whatsoever… and being charged $ 29.00 for a bottle of $ 3.99 Lambrusco — violated!
3 stars for the warm spinach salad and the spinach gnocchi.
2 stars for the service.
–1 star for the mark up on the Lambrusco.

Almost every time I go its about the yummy desserts, the great café atmosphere and the a ok service.
Ravioli: spinach and cheese was super good very filling.
I love the chocolate soufflé! Nuff said.
The one night I decided to bring my sister the waiters were giving birthday girls lap dances and body shots. Super uncomfortable.
Oh well my sister can’t say she doesn’t have fun with me :)

After Tony drilled my ears at how good this place was, we tried it out after dinner.
Walked in and the place was full but the guy working there hooked us up 4 seats. I really loved the energy and ambiance of the place. We had coffee and pastries and they were great. I ordered a cannolli and and the wife ordered the tiramisu (so cliché I know but hey?). I have to say that I wanted to move to SF to be close to this place. No, it wasn’t all the hot chicks that were in and out of this place like a porn casting office, it was the cannolli (Ok, if my wife doesn’t read this, it was the hot chicks too).
Service was great, the food was great, the energy was great and I already miss it. And I miss my wife, who is at work, because she is the most beautiful lady in the world. There, now I won’t get an ass-​kicking when I get home.

Dessert, espresso, dessert, dessert, espresso, dessert, dessert, americano, dessert, americano.
That is what the 5 of us enjoyed on Sunday evening of the Labor Day weekend. Yes, 6 desserts, 2 espressos and 2 americanos = Happiness.
None of us could really agree on which was our favorite after we tasted and nibbled, then licked the plates and bowls clean, or more accurately we all had a different favorite dessert.
One thing we agreed on, they know how to make some great coffee, and we all want to go back someday to eat a meal because everything looked and smelled amazing.
Desserts were $ 6 — $ 6.50 each.

Nice food here; today, I had the rigatoni con pancetta. It was served in a creamy tomatoey sauce and the pasta had a slightly chewy with a final snap as you bit down… al Dente? it was nom nom.
my friend had the sauteed chicken breast with a side of sliced tomatoes con fresh sliced basil. No carbs.
Everything is made to order and tastes that way; a unique SF dining place that is unpretentious.
Customer service: fine.
Décor: slightly kitschy.

I don’t even care about the food (though it was fine, as was the wine)—
THE WAITERS ARE SEXY. They know that sexiness is their job. And they make a point of making you notice it. One waiter, BLESS HIM, was wearing sunglasses the whole time he was working.
RRRRRAWR.

*** Dessert Review ***
After dinner one night, my friend and I decided to go to North Beach since we wanted some Italian desserts. We ended up at Steps of Rome and ordered Espresso, and an array of dessert options.
We ordered Tiramisu, Cheesecake, Cannoli, and Profiterole. I’m giving 3 stars because half of the desserts we ordered were absolutely delicious and the other half were very disappointing. The Tiramisu and Profiterole were both so, so good, and unfortunately the Cheesecake and Cannoli were both borderline bad. I can’t say much for the cheesecake since I’m not a fan of cheesecake in general, but I love a good Cannoli, and there’s was just so blah and hard.
Espresso was good, service was friendly. Overall, the good desserts and espresso hit the spot. What’s neat about this place is that they’re open very late — I can only imagine it must be pretty awesome to grab Italian food and desserts pretty late at night post partying.

It is a tradition of mine to eat at Steps of Rome the night before Bay to Breakers, I look forward to it every year.
For an appetizer I ordered the pancetta con melone. It was the perfect
combination of savory and sweet. The cantaloupe was perfectly ripe and the pancetta was not overly salty. They were served on a bed of peppery arugula with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
For my main course I ordered the gnocchi con pancetta, my favorite. This dish is the reason I keep coming back to Steps of Rome. The gnocchi are pillowy bits of heaven that are covered in a rich pink vodka cream sauce. There are peas and bits of pancetta swimming alongside the gnocchi.
Unfortunately I did not have room for desert this time, but in the past I have had their cannolis and tiramisu, both are most excellent.

I generally avoid touristy restaurants, especially on North Beach, but a friend really wanted to go here for a quick bite to eat one afternoon, and since it wasn’t crowded, I acquiesced.
Next time, I stick to my guns. While I didn’t have a horrible experience here or anything, I realized quickly that the caliber of food here just isn’t worth the price.
I ordered a piece of chocolate cake by pointing to it in the counter display, so I don’t know if it had an official name on the menu. It looked deceptively tasty; sadly, appearances did indeed deceive me, because it tasted like something one would ordinarily get out of the freezer section at Safeway. It didn’t have any real flavor, just that fatty mouth feel of pre-​fab desserts that are made from poor quality ingredients. My mouth was saddened by this :(And I paid about $ 6 for this piece of cake…*sigh*
I had also ordered a lemonade. It was $ 2.65, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be Minute Maid from a soft drink machine :(Maybe I’m old-​fashioned, but when I pay over $ 2.50 for a lemonade, I expect actual lemonade, not the corn-​syrup-​and-​water I can get at the drive-​thru at McDonald’s for a fraction of that price!
So, to be clear, my bill was about $ 10, including tax and their health-​service-​fee, and what I got was really seriously mediocre. I have had better tasting cake at Applebees (and that’s sad!). After reading other reviews on Unilocal,I think it’s great that people enjoy going here for the experience, be it loud pop music, gropey waiters, or whatever else. But for me, going to a restaurant is about eating good food that is better than what I can make at home. Sadly, that’s just not what I got here. So, I won’t be back, even if my friend suggests it again. With so many other options on North Beach, why pay more for mediocrity?

***Review is for DESSERT ONLY
Ever since high school, people have mentioned Steps of Rome as such a fun place to grab dinner or dessert at. And after having been here a handful of times, I can now firmly say… why? Other than waiters that may or may not flirt with female customers, I can’t think of anything that makes them stand out from the rest in the area.
It had been years since I’ve been back, but I was actually excited about going back recently to give them another shot since, at the very least, I would now be able to write a proper review. After eating dinner in Chinatown, we decided to stop in to grab some quick dessert before heading off to a bar to partake in our real «dessert». Nothing jumped out at me on their menu, so I ended up going with their Espresso Crème Brulee, figuring it would be a pretty solid choice.
Someone once told me that one way to measure the quality of a crème brûlée is by the hardened topping of sugar. With a whack of your spoon, it should be hard enough where you feel resistance, but still thin/​soft enough to crack and splinter. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but if it is, this crème brûlée was not up to par. With a whack of my spoon, my utensil just powed through the top. That is, assuming there was even a top. As for the rest of it, I was underwhelmed as there just wasn’t as much espresso flavor as I would have liked. Also, ordered their mocha twice now and didn’t care for it either time. I’m no coffee expert, so maybe this is how it’s supposed to taste and I’ve just been drinking sludge this whole time. However, if that’s the case, then please pass me another cup of sludge.
Now, I’ve never tried their actual dinner menu, so for all I know they’ve got amazing entrees to devour. Should I ever try it, then maybe it would make them worthy of a higher rating. Until then though, I’ll just have to base this on my (disappointing) dessert experiences. I can see why tourists would be interested and would enjoy themselves here, but as a local, it’s not worth the effort to fight for parking.

It was the last night for our first TOA and we pretty much dragged our feet to keep the night going. After a quick stroll and some naughty shenanigans, we decided we needed dessert and caffeine.
I ordered the Panna Cotta and enjoyed it very much. We ate, we talked, I listened and ate some more. Overall I thought it was a really fun place and I had a good time with my friends!

It’s not the same…
Still good… but not the same.
Especially the infamous tiramisu.
Their desserts taste like out of the box and not fresh.
Don’t get me wrong, Steps of Rome is still a fun, late night place to go, they play loud funky music and the waiters dance with all the pretty ladies.

3.5 STARS
My fiancé & I were in SF checking out a wedding venue & decided to hit up north beach after for dinner. This is one of my favorite neighborhoods in SF. I love the scenery & outdoor dining options.
We’ve tried several restaurants in the area & decided to give Steps of Rome Caffe a try. They sat us right away but the place wasn’t packed to begin with. The waiter was friendly & took our order immediately. Although we had to remind him of our drink order (beer and a glass of champagne) 10 mins after the caprese salad arrived. He apologized for forgetting.
CAPRESE — ⁴⁄₅
Slices of vine-​ripened tomato topped with slices of Fior di Latte mozzarella, basil, & a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil with olives.
SCALLOPPINE di VITELLO — ⁴⁄₅
Tender veal sauteed in a lemon-​butter & caper white wine sauce; served with sauteed vegetables and roasted potatoes.
HOUSE SPECIAL — ⁴⁄₅
Served w/​clams but I substituted w/​mussels.
I give their food 4 stars, service 3 stars, and overall atmosphere 3 stars. Their women’s restroom is tiny & a bit dirty. We opted to go to our favorite café just down the street for dessert instead of ordering at Steps of Rome Caffe.
No complaints on the dishes because everything we tried was delicious. However, with so many better options in north beach I probably will not return.
** CASH ONLY **

We got off to a rough start didn’t we? Ah well, it ended with decent food and I figured out why the service was so poor early on, I forgive you.
I had to get up and ask the server for a menu, to order a beverage, to double check on the status of said beverage, and lastly for the check. I get it now, she was in the middle of closing out her shift.
Still, regardless of shift status I don’t recommend ignoring customers and making them work to be served, but when I did actually get service she was very polite.
Hmmm with a thousand restaurants in North Beach will I be back here? Ehhhh not likely. Would I stop here if someone else wanted to? Sure. The music was a tad aggressive for relaxed Italian, I felt like I was in a Mitsubishi commercial. And I’m sorry, how can an Italian restaurant have no onions? I was denied a request for them added to my salad.
Quirky visit indeed, highs and lows across the board.

Saturday, 8:00PM.
North Beach is just flooded with folks at this evening on the weekends so I didn’t think any venue along the Columbus strip. It took the staff about 15 minutes to set up the tables for our group of fourteen.
+Good service (constantly supplied beverages and bread)
+Fun atmosphere (plays top 40 music in the background)
+Quick turnaround on food
— Cramped, not ideal for groups (because we were so long, we started
annexing nearby table space)
— For the cost, I’m expecting better quality food and larger portions
(though there were some decent dishes, like pumpkin ravioli and the
margherita pizza)
Grubbed on:
1. Bruschetta
+Fresh tomatoes, juicy, and full of flavor
— Bread was almost stale and not toasted
2. Eggplant and mozzarella antipasti
+Grilled eggplant with melted cheese surrounded by tomato sauce,
without any saturation
3. Pumpkin ravioli
+Warm pumpkin wrapped in fresh dough immersed in light cream
sauce
4. Penne alla Vodka
*Mediocre dish — sauce was on the watery side
5. Chicken and olives pasta special
— Preponderance of olives, inundating all other flavors
— Minimal chicken
6. Margherita pizza
+Thin, well-​proportioned pie of sauce, basil, and cheese
7. Sourdough bread
— Way too stale, brittle
And then???
I usually give second chances so if I return, it’ll be with fewer people.

When in Rome, I hope you don’t have to wait until you are half way done with your meal to get your drink.
when in Rome, I hope you don’t have to watch everyone around you get complimentary bread as you do not get it.
When in Rome, I hope that the bus boys will not be more friendly and suitable to be waiters, than the waiters.
All in all, When in Rome, I hope it is NOTHING close to what I’ve experienced at Steps of Rome Caffe.

ew.