Italian in SPQR

Happy Holidays!!! Since this is a vacation week for many, I'm going to take this opportunity to write about five meals I had in San Francisco during a trip there this fall.

On our first night in San Francisco we had dinner with a friend in Pacific Heights at SPQR (1911 Fillmore St., between Bush St. & Pine St., 415-771-7779). There was quite a wait, so we went to the bar of the French restaurant next door for a drink while we waited (SPQR is long and thin with no space for parties waiting for a table. Half of the menu is small plates and half is pasta and other dishes. We got a bunch of things and shared everything.

The Grilled Chanterelles were great and flavorful, if a bit oily, with bits of sauteed spinach throughout.



The meatballs were also good, served with sauteed tomatoes and big slices of garlic. They were on the small side, but were packed with flavor.



My boyfriend got the Pasta Carbonara. This was a bit disappointing and tasted more like an Alfredo Sauce with no hint of bacon or egg anywhere.



I ordered the Canneloni with Homemade Sausage and Spinach. This was good, with tasty sausage and a marinara sauce, but not much spianch at all. The portion was decent and everything came with a big basket of crusty slices of Italian bread.