Villa D’este

This is one of my favorite spot to eat. Been around for a long time. I love the fresh bread and garlic bread they serve. The restaurant servers is very polite. A perfect place to take someone for a special occasion. As you look around you tend to see older crowd. Which is pretty cute. Away from the social media where you can have a one on one conversation. Food is great and atmosphere is great.

This is one of our favorite family style Italian places. The architecture is amazing and the family who runs the restaurant is truly lovely. Cocktails are strong. Good old fashioned personal service everyone is treated like family. Food is good and inexpensive. On Friday nights they have a really good singer too!

While leaving a Giants game, we chatted with a native San Francisco resident on the train. He highly recommended this old little Italian place so we listened. He even got off the train with us and walked us down to it. Can’t usually go wrong with advice from a regular so we went with it.
While this place was not bad by any means, it also wasn’t anything special. We would never eat here again as there are so many other choices.
The décor is from the 1920s but was kinda of neat. We thought it was a pretty place. Our service was great and everyone was very friendly.
Two of us got the house red wine and each glass contained multiple pieces of cork floating around. The wine was very warm which wasn’t exactly appealing. It seemed like it had to of been sitting in the sun or warmed up some way. That was disappointing. The food was good, but nothing special. I would recommend getting the dinner size vs. ala carte if you’re hungry.

Got here for the 1^st time around 5:30pm and the place was okay for the most part. For people with busy schedules, I highly recommend NOT to come here. My casual dinner took me about 2 and a half hours.
There were barely any server, I looked around and saw 1 waitress who was trying to wait for 5 full tables.
Now I would not mind waiting if their food was delicious, but their Chicken Lombardi was a huge let down. Sidenote: their thousand island salad is more cheesy compare to regular ones.
The chicken did not look appealing. But I was not gonna let apppearance fooled me. Then I tried it. The meat was quite bland, and the veggies that came along the dish was tasteless. The sauce didn’t provide much flavor support for the meat (sorry for being too technical here).

This place needs to close its doors for good. We went here with a groupon. Big mistake. It felt like a funeral home. So old, decayed and ancient décor. I love antique furniture and places that keep the original look and architecture, but this place seems a bit run down to me. The food was horrendous. Everything from the salad to soup and the main dishes were BLAND and tasteless. Vegetables seemed like they were steamed for days or frozen for months because they were so watery and tasteless. Or maybe they were microwaved. My husband had the chicken Parmesan. How can you get pasta and parm wrong! Never coming back here. At least the wait staff was friendly. That’s about it. Please read Chris M.‘s review of this place. He took the time to write out exactly what my experience was like here.

I want to like this place. I really do. I’ve been here maybe 5 times in the last couple years. The management staff is always super nice which is another reason why I feel so bad for what I’m about to say…
The food here is horrible. Like everything. My husband thought the salad dressing smelled like BO. My appetizer pasta had sauce on it that was just gross (and I like ragu and prego from the jar). My entrée steak was the most disappointing. I asked for it medium and it arrived rare. They brought it back and the outside was burnt and the inside was still rare. They made me a third steak and again, it was burnt outside and pink inside. I couldn’t even eat it. I poked at the potatoes that tasted like TV dinner potatoes and just gave up.
While the management staff is great, the wait staff is lacking. There was a good 15 minute difference between my husband being served his chicken and me receiving my (first) steak. I’d assume this was a one off, but this same thing happened last January 2014 when we were there with a big group. I was 7 months pregnant and starving and served last in a group of 25. The food was not edible then and there have been not improvements since then.

Cliff notes: One of the worst meals I’ve ever eaten, staff was nice, but slow and all I could think of was Restaurant Impossible. I’m having to trim this down as I literally ran out of space to describe how bad this place was and was so bothered I’m writing this at 4 am because I had trouble sleeping. I hope this place gets help because the food is awful and nothing is close to fresh, and it made me sad for them and for anyone who chooses to eat here and «likes it».
I am happy to say that this is my first Unilocal review ever, and hopefully my last. Now don’t get me wrong, I try to use Unilocal whenever I can and have gotten some great recommendations and great laughs off of here as well (both for the apt description of certain places as well as some hilariously overly negative reviews from some spoiled, whiny people). I find a lot of people on here can be very helpful and some are uptight, self important, whiny assholes who would literally complain about any and everything in their lives (this feels like the latter, but I promise I’m not one of those people and having worked at restaurants I try to be as patient and understanding as possible)
You might be wondering why I am pointing all of this out as opposed to getting to the review, but it is to clearly illustrate that this place was so awful and eating here made me so upset that I was compelled to do something I swore I’d never do and that is write a Unilocal review, and a bad one at that.
I had heard about this place for years (probably a solid 15 – 20) as I had grown up in SF and had passed by here thousands of times, living in the area as a kid. My father and step mother had been coming there for years, usually with my step mothers aunt (who is now 92). They invited me to dinner with them last night and I finally went… and to say I was disappointed would be an incredible understatement.
So now to the restaurant: Villa D’Este
We got there around 530 (when dining with a 92 year old this is not uncommon) and the place was literally empty (sometimes a bad omen but not always). The entry was nice (outside), and the old school vibe of the place was pretty interesting and felt like stepping into a time machine which was really cool.
I should point out that while the service was slow, they were incredibly kind (my family chatted with them as they are regulars). They seemed nice enough and initially I was feeling hopeful for this place. I was hoping for real down home Italian food, which when done right is absolutely incredible, needless to say, that is far from what I got.
I got the Calf Liver and onions dinner. The dinner came with soup, salad, antipasto, pasta bolonese, coffee and ice cream for an extra 4 $, I would at least get to try a big sample of items to get a feel for the place and it seemed like a good deal.
The first thing I noticed was a yellow orb of what had to be margarine that was waiting for the bread, which should have been the first sign that something wasn’t quite right here. The bread then came out, which was not good but that and the «I can’t believe it’s not butter» was probably the best thing I would eat here.
The antipasto came out and I was hoping for some nice quality cured meats, maybe some fresh mozzarella, some bruschetta perhaps… what came out was literally pepperoni and ham that might not make the grade for lunchables, some thin and flimsy ridged pickles, some overly soggy pepperchinis, some lifeless cylindrical baby carrots (the kind you get in the little packs at the grocery store), a canned 3 bean salad, and some kind of mystery veggie (still not sure what it was). Everything was bland and seemed canned or frozen.
My family’s salads came out and I could see what looked to be bad ice berg lettuce, with old «coleslaw mix» of purple cabbage and shredded carrots. My aunts blue cheese dressing was a big glob of something that had clearly come out of a bag, as well as the runny «Italian» that I had.
The soup then came out, which was clam chowder, and it was grayish, bland and runny. This again was something that at one point was frozen and just heated up in a pot before tossing in a cup. I’ve had much better soups at Safeway and I think Campbell’s would even have this one beat.
The the pasta bolonese came out and at this point I was still disappointed but not surprised at the bland, lifeless, rubbery pasta, that had for sure come out of a bag and was poorly boiled up into a rubbery texture. The sauce was definitely canned and again was watery, flavorless and the meat that was in the sauce was grayish and looked like little meat pellets.
Then the entrees came out. I again had the Liver and Onions, and thank god I did because the poorly grilled onions and mushrooms are the only thing that made it remotely edible, veggies were lifeless, bland and mushy. Ice cream was also awful. All in all the quality of the food resembled that of a SFUSD free lunch or something from Laguna Honda (I’ve seen plenty of both). Literally ran out of text

Villa D’este is in such a great location and the courtyard leading up to the entrance is inviting. We usually come here a couple times a year as a party of about 8 – 10. The service is always very nice and friendly, and the food is just OK, home cooked and heavy. On our most recent visit, the salad tray lacked freshness (had a weird smell) and the pasta was in desperate need of being thrown away and fresh stuff made (very dry and yuck!). One extra star for the full bar and the fact that my 80 some year old grandparents love this place. Their chicken and steak dishes are usually decent and consistent. You receive lots of food and given all the courses this is a great place for family gatherings. Again, just be prepared for mediocre food.

So I’m reading reviews and seeing it may be hit or miss, but our visit was definitely «hit.» We arrived and were instantly seated by Ramon in the dining room, which has a retro and old school feel to it. Our service was great, the food was decent, and the staff was really friendly. They made us feel like old friends, and Ramon was easily one of the warmest and most hospitable matre d’s we’ve met.
If you’re really looking for things to criticize, try another place. If you’d like a good meal and to be treated well, don’t want to stand in line for hours to be served, or are open to seeing a place with a history, give it a try.
We came in tired and looking pretty rough from a day out and around at the beach, and we’re still treated like guests, not like we were a bother. Can’t say enough kind things about the owner and our waitress, or for what a nice surprise it was to find a place where people are treated politely and not given a pager from an indifferent, young, inexperienced hostess.
Recommended for family atmosphere, multigenerational groups, and people looking for a decent meal open to something with a little character…

An excellent family owned Italian restaurant where I enjoyed Christmas dinner with friends with minestrone soup, penne pasta and the house turkey dinner. The dessert was the tastiest Tiramisu! Mojito was my drink and the wines were very good. Great place to have a perfect «almost private» corner to celebrate the season.

Save yourself the trip and agony! I wish I checked the reviews before risking my health with this place that needs to be shut down and re-​evaluated by officials! I went there for a family event during the afternoon. Great hospitality, but it’s a cover up for their lack of attention to the rancid food they are serving.
I showed up late to the event, and was only able to hang out for a short time before getting back to work. Family members were kind enough to pack my plate of spaghetti and meatballs to-​go. At this point, I haven’t had the chance to even see what my food looked like, and it didn’t look like anybody else ordered it, so I had nothing to go off of as far as what I was going to ingest in the near future aside from the less than mediocre serving size. I said my goodbyes, and took my spaghetti and meatballs to-​go with anticipation of enjoying a nice Italian made meal. I was starving!
Forty minutes of driving in traffic, I was finally able to see what was in the bag… what a let down! A handful of angel hair noodles that looked like they were dipped in watery tomato soup along with two mystery meat meatballs the size of golf balls. But I didn’t care, I needed to eat! Huge mistake, I should have trusted my instinct to throw that crap away… It’s not like I would’ve been throwing much away anyway, it was the serving size that you order for a small child.
I dug into the pasta first… more disappointment. Yet, I decided to continue in hopes that the meatballs would take me away… another bad decision to carry on knowing that these meatballs had nothing on any frozen meatball you can microwave!
In the end, several hours later, I was hit with a ton of bricks with my stomach aching and twisting in unbearable pain! Yup, we all know wht happens when you get food poisoning, and that’s exactly what happened to me!
MY ADVICE: STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!! NOT WORTH YOUR TIME, MONEY, OR RISK OF HEALTH!!!

I could write a lengthy review detailing all of the things wrong with this place, but let me sum it up like this: My girlfriend and I each spit out our food on the first bite because the meat tasted rancid and the sauce worse than from a can. I have never told a place that I could not and would not eat their food because of concerns of food poisoning, but I did tonight. Save yourself the risk, don’t go here, EVER!!! I felt sorry for the poor waiter, who was nice, but this place needs help and fast.

This restaurant offers a glimpse into what the 40’s and 50’s were like. I always picture the boys of the Rat Pack walking in and holding court in a place just like this. Seeing the décor alone is worth the trip. The first Monday of the month offers a real live Supper Club. I am a member of the Supper Club Six and we put on a darned good show. There is a Prix fixed menu for $ 20.00 and no door charge for the 2 hour show from 6:30 to 8;30. There is usual ample parking on the street. This makes for an easy feel good evening.

This place is a nice hidden gem. Even the area where the door is
was a lil hidden. Its pretty chill, very fancy, great place to take a date.
The bread was very soft, I liked it. If you come here you should get the full meal because it comes with all the helpings you need an is just what a few more bucks then ordering regular, it comes with dessert, coffee, salad, a side dish, and bread.
Theres never been many people when I’ve come in here which is pretty good, well it should mean that the service should have been faster too.
I definitly had to ask for the things that were supposed to come with my meal or I probably would not have gotten them.
The bar looks great, I love the décor and ambiance. NOt sure if theres a bartender tho.
I thought the lasagne was excellent, I may come back

I’ve always passed by this place, never really thought it was a place for food due to the sign. I’d glance at it, see ’boutique’ and assume it has to do with flowers. But I got stuck at Walgreens waiting to pick up meds, so I had half an hour to kill.
The first thing that struck me was how uninviting the entrance was. The odd doorknob, the aged menu and glass casing in the front.
First impressions once I got inside: The bar looks awesome. But for some reason looks out of place. Looked like it was an owner and a friend/​customer.
Once I hit the dining room, however, I was struck with how empty it was. Nevermind the tacky aged giant silver electric chandeliers and the incredibly old fashioned table settings; I was struck with how empty it was. Already an hour past opening, I was the only one here for food, rather than the bar.
The décor is outdated. I feel like I shouldn’t even be there, with my casual jacket and jeans. The table settings are from the seventies, the chandeliers, the style, all of it out of date. Either the owner is feeling very nostalgic, or simply doesn’t think an update is needed is beyond me.
Sitting down, I found myself with a very nice waiter. I ordered ala carte, spaghetti with clams with a marinara sauce. That apparently came with a soup and salad.
The soup was delivered promptly, with a basket of fresh bread.
The soup was a small bowl/​cup of clam chowder. It tasted alright, though for some reason it had a very strong taste of celery. The clams were very tiny. I’m not talking clam pieces; but tiny whole clams.
In any case, the chowder was decent enough, and filling with the bread to wipe up the remains on the bottom.
The salad never came, but I didn’t comment on it, because the spaghetti came.
First impression of the dish was that it looked like a lot. Second was the fact that it looked like it was simply dumped onto the plate without a care in the world.
The pasta tasted cooked, at least. The marinara slightly watery, but passable. But then I started wondering where the clams were. After a few seconds of searching, I realized that the clams were simply very… small. Tiny in fact. They tasted rather flavorless. I thought they’d taste better all together.
At least until I hit the grit. That was unexpected. I take another bite and hit more grit.
A bite of pasta and suddenly there is a crunchy texture in my mouth. Nevermind the fact that it was just bland.
I glance out of the corner of my eye and see who might be presumably the chef, watching me from the kitchen. A little disconcerting, but reasonable, considering how terribly the restaurant seems to be doing.
The pasta was disappointing, if not for the mere fact that it was simply almost decent; but because of the fact I could make fresh pasta and make the exact dish at home; but better. That was the thing that hit me the hardest.
I took it to go, paid for it, then tipped the waiter for the good service, however dismal the food turned out to be.
Advice for the owner (s): Update the décor. Go modern. People are put off by the old fashioned state of things when they first see it. Either because they’re uncomfortable or simply modernist snobs; the effect is still the same. That appears to be the main problem, as most people in the street appear to simply be discomfited by the style and old décor. They associate the ancient décor with ‘failing’, ‘ailing’, and generally ‘high class’ what with the table settings and chandeliers.
When you’ve got what appears to be predominantly formal table ware and settings, with similarly themed décor, people aren’t going to come in for casual eating, because they’ll feel out of place.
Advice for the chef: I asked the waiter if the clams were fresh, she said they were. That’s good. But the sandy grit was a major disappointment in what could have been a decent meal. I didn’t ask if the pasta was made fresh.
Secondly, a little care with the food is always a nice touch. Especially when it comes with pasta. Use tongs to twist the pasta into a slight roll and plate it that way; it adds a little neatness and people will notice that.
Thirdly, don’t use small clams; in a chowder that’s expected. But in a pasta? It’ll be lost in everything else and doesn’t impart much to the overall flavor. People will want to see whats in their meal.
PS: Don’t stare at customers while they’re eating. Either send a waiter to come ask how it is or come out yourself. It’s disconcerting and mildly disturbing.

The food was not very good. I went there for mother’s day lunch and they had a set menu only 8 dishes that they were serving up that day which came with pasta and salad and ice cream. I had the veal which was not good at all. with a side of tasteless greens and some kind or un seasoned rice.
The salads they served were disgusting and the pasta was like a canned pasta you heat up… we asked for an appetizer that wasn’t on their special menu and it was pretty good but overall I didn’t like the food. The place is old and falling apart a bit, needs some renovations.

Although the service was lovely, our family ordered three different dishes and they all tasted so terrible that my husband and daughter didn’t even finish their meal. This restaurant needs the help of a TV show like «Restaurant Impossible» to improve the quality of the food and update the décor. This is a serious suggestion because you cannot survive in San Francisco with such poor quality of food.
I honestly tried this restaurant because they were offering a deal — The Unilocal reviews were so mixed from excellent to awful — I should have believed the bad reviews because I now believe the good reviews only came from friends and relatives :(

Always a great dinner, here.
Old school Italian, great soup, just go for the 4 course meal, the fish here is always great.
This restaurant is in a BEAUTIFUl Art Deco building and the interior is just stunning. Wonderful for dinner, I’ve also attended private parties, here. Full bar, great service. Very traditional fare. The service is personal and professional.
This place is great for a date, or dinner with friends, a great place to gather.
It’s traditional, a great value, easy parking
, and there’s nothing pretentious or modern about the place.

Have you ever watched an episode of Restaurant Impossible and couldn’t help but sympathize with the hopeless restaurant owner/​staff featured on the show? Yet, everything about that restaurant is just so wrong… This is exactly how I felt while dining at Villa D’Este. I feel like the grinch writing a 1 star review just after Christmas. But, I gotta keep it real.
A relative arranged for our fam to have dinner there. We had a party of 30 and the reservation was at 5:30. The majority of our party shows up a little before 5:30 and our table wasn’t ready. The waiter kept saying «5 minutes,» but by the time we actually got seated, it was 6:10.
During the 40 minute wait, I made several observations: 1) The name of the restaurant should be changed to Villa D’Geriatrics. Although we did have an early reservation, it felt like we stepped into a senior home. I’m not trying to knock on the elderly. Much respect. I used to volunteer a lot at senior homes. However, based on the clientele, I knew that this wasn’t exactly the most happening place to be. Bf spotted a Mozart lookalike dining there and we also saw an OCD Jack Nicolson wannabe from As Good As It Gets opening and closing each door he touched 5 times. 2) The décor is gaudy as hell. Some could call this old world charm but let’s face it, Villa D’Este is overdue for a major facelift! You got the wallpaper peeling, crown molding having fallen off, hung picture frames crooked, dusty cobwebs and the nastiest carpet ever.
We finally get seated and have a set menu to order from. The meal consists of salad, pasta bolognese, entrée and dessert + coffee. There were slim pickings of entrees — chicken, fish, veal or steak ranging from $ 25 — $ 29. The lowdown:
— Cesar Salad: A wilted mess dredged in watered down cesar dressing. I had two bites and decided to leave it at that.
— Pasta Bolognese: They served a small portion of about 10 pieces of penne in marinara sauce. There was no meat in the sauce, so I’m not sure why they called it bolognese. The pene was so overcooked and soggy. The marinara sauce was horrible… possibly Ragu?
— Petrale: This was clearly a frozen filet as it was incredibly fishy even though doused with lemon white wine sauce. The mashed potatoes were caked and dried with canned gravy pooled in the middle. Cooked veggies were mushy and cooked in too much butter.
— NY Steak: Bf and relatives said the steak was cheap and had no flavor. Lots of grizzle… even my 12 year old cuzzo knew that. They were cooked as ordered and that was the best part.
— Pumkin Pie: Not bad… obviously Kirkland.
Overall…poorly prepared food. I wouldn’t even call this place Italian. Nothing about the cuisine is reminiscent of Italy. Everything was mushy and flavorless. Maybe that’s what senior citizens prefer?
Service was inconsistent. While a lady came around and filled our glasses of water repeatedly, another waitress was very careless. She dropped a dirty fork on my coat/​chair. My pops also ended up with some crème on his jacket somehow. Also, when it came time to pay the bill, the waitress charged us for 2 extra meals. It ended up being about $ 40 per person and I can recall so many meals I’ve had for that same cost that were superb.
Definitely would not return… even if I was 80 years old. My original rating was 2 stars but bf convinced me to lower to 1 star after having food poisoning that evening. Eeks!

I am absolutely in love with this place! The ambiance, the welcoming staff, the elegance, the food, the feeling, the bar, and the cleanliness were great! We went to Villa d’este for my birthday on ⁷⁄₈ and I was so happy that my mom chose to go there. The owner, Ramon, and his daughter were so welcoming and friendly. The food was delicious and authentic! I loved the full course meal that included, antipasto, a garden salad, soup, and a small serving of pasta. It was delicious. I was also surprised by Ramon with a DELICIOUS tiramisu and ice cream concoction! I will absolutely be visiting this place again! It had such a cozy and elegant feel to it. Loved it!