Piccolo Forno

Great food and friendly service. We had a nice lunch of salad, pizza, pasta, dessert, and espresso drink all for about fifty bucks. What an awesome deal! The pizza was thin and crisp, the way I love it.
Best meal I’ve had in a while and so glad this place opened up. Strange how empty it was but I’m sure this will quickly change once people catch on to this new gem in north beach!

This restaurant has delicious food and friendly staff. We had some pizza and pasta. The potato white pizza was uniquely fantastic. The crust is medium thickness with great flavor and crispy on the edges. The chicken fettuccine Alfredo was some of the best we had ever had.
We met the owner and he was so nice to us. We will be back. We need to try dessert next time.

This place was so wonderful! We just happened upon it on our way to a show one night, and we were so happy with the food and the service. The waitress and all of the staff were so sweet, and happy to explain dishes to us and make recommendations. I had the gnocchi with pomodore sauce, and it was amazing. Every single person in our party of 6 loved what they had chosen. In fact we loved it so much we ran in there right at closing the next night and grabbed a couple of slices of pizza to take back to our hotel for dinner, and it was wonderful also. If you are in San Francisco, don’t think twice, go to Piccolo Forno!

The people behind our neighborhood favorite Ideale have come up with a winner on what was once a forgotten stretch of Columbus Avenue in North Beach. If you are looking for unique and delicious Italian fare at reasonable prices this is the new place to be…
I’ve eaten here now on a number of occasions and have yet to be disappointed. From classic Italian meatloaf complete with hard-​boiled egg in the center, to pasta, to a savory pie with veal, to Roman thin-​crust pizza — everything is simple, hearty, and makes you feel like someone’s mom or grandmother is back in the kitchen throwing the food together with ingredients fresh from her garden. You’ll know that’s not the case when you’re here, however, as you’ll see Giuseppe and the crew back in the open kitchen pouring love into everything that’s prepared…
They make different items daily visible ‘under the glass’ when you go in, but be sure to look at the menu too otherwise you’ll miss the pastas. Their uniqueness comes from the variety and nature of the fresh daily items, all of which can be taken out for lunch at the office or an easy dinner at home too. But eat at the restaurant if you can, you won’t find a friendlier environment in the area.
Great, clean, fresh food from people who know good food, served with a little bit of Italy and a smile. Two big thumbs up…

Piccolo Forno gets me excited about the future of North Beach eateries. Located a couple of blocks down Columbus from the cluster of carbon copy tourist tarps, Piccolo Forno (along with The Italian Homemade Company) offers a simple and relaxed — yet contemporary approach to Italian dining.
Open and clean interior gives off a relaxed vibe. No stuffy and fussy service but rather a straightforward and personable approach to hospitality. The same applies to the menu. Pizza slices, calzones, and pasta dishes along with a variety of antipasti and salads. The namesake Piccolo Forno pizza is almost a take on a niscoise salad in a pie. You won’t even miss the fact that there isn’t cheese on it with the nice combination of flavor between the tuna, artichoke, olives, tomatoes, and egg — it’s very tasty. I can’t wait to come back to try more of the menu.
Piccolo Forno is a casual Italian eatery with quality food at affordable prices — a departure from places up the street but definitely a win for the neighborhood.

I am absolutely enamored by the fact that restaurants like these are sprouting up along Columbus with each passing year. It makes me appreciate rent control more and more in one of the best neighborhoods in SF.
The first things you notice upon entering is the clean no-​frills interior and a booming/​hearty welcome from the staff. You want Italian? Well, the owner’s friendliness, accent, and concern for your overall enjoyment of the meal makes you feel like you’re at a sit-​down meal with the family. Just ask him to recommend things off the menu and subsequently listen to him rattle off 12 things and then say everything’s tasty!
Overall, the food quality was pretty good, portions were a bit small and plating was messy… kinda like how you would serve yourself at home. Rather than critique using my subjective preferences (i.e. Carbonara was runnier than expected, pizza was doughy/​a little dry, etc.), I will say that I had an extremely pleasant experience.

The best fettuccine we have ever had! The sauces are amazing & they make their own pasta everyday! Lemon sorbet was served in a lemon & just excellent & refreshing!
We will be back and we are from Dallas & we are foodies! Thank you!!!

The food is delicious!!!
They have a great service and the place is nice. We love the pizza, pasta and Salads!

So good ! Amazing customer service and even more amazing pizza & pasta ! Definitely a treat

*Excellent Service, Excellent Food, Great Location in North Beach*
I found it on Unilocal…5 stars and 32 reviews… they have only been open for 7 weeks! The hubby and I ventured out and it was so worth it!
ORDERED:
Margarita pizza
Mushroom and beef gnocchi
Beef Lasagna
Raspberry italian sodas
The the lasagna was so good we were playing tug-​of-​war with it.
The servers were sweet, responsive, patient. I felt like family a little bit!
Definitely worth a shot if you’re in town.

My husband accidentally found this place when we were walking through North Beach on our weekend urban hike.
The restaurant was new, clean and modern, yet cozy. The kind and friendly waitress named Guliette greeted and seated us at one of the high tables. She immediately told us about the pasta of the day, which sounded all delicious.
We started off with the Greek salad (romaine lettuce, feta cheese, red onions, tomatoes tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette). This was super tasty and fresh!
My husband got the margherita pizza that was freshly made out of the oven. The pie was thin and perfectly crispy. It was simple, but good flavor.
I had the spaghetti with meat sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente. The flavors were well-​marinated and it kept well when I finished the other half to eat at home. The portion was pretty generous.
Overall, this is a great place to sit down and enjoy a good meal without waiting for 2+ hours for the other well-​known Italian restaurants. The prices were very reasonably too, which is always a plus!
A quick shout out to our adorable waitress, Julieta, she was attentive, kind, caring, and took care of us well. If you read this, we loved your Argentian accent! (Can you read a book next time we visit)?
We will definitely come back soon! Cheers and XO.

We found this place by accident and so glad that we did! Had such an amazing dinner!
The restaurant is small and very cozy, and the staff is extremely friendly. The staff makes you feel very welcome and like family. We were immediately greeted and seated. We started off with 2 Italian sodas (ginger beer, chinotto). After much debating we decided on the house specials (gnocchi and carbonara) and ordered a side of warm foccacia bread. Our dinner came out fast, and hot and oh my it was DELICIOUS! So fresh and light, pasta was cooked perfectly and seasoned to perfection. The gnocchi was light, fluffy and melted in your mouth. We just about licked our plate clean.
We were so stuffed, but since dinner had been so good we had to get dessert. Our waitress recommended hazelnut coffee cake (tasted just like the Ferraro rocher chocolates) it was amazing and the lemon gelato was light and creamy.
Looking forward to coming back and trying the pizzas!

The ingredients are fresh and seasonal. The service was great. They even opened the door for incoming customers. You can see what they are making in the kitchen. We saw a patron local SFPD officer resembling a comic book caricature, wearing a 7-​point cap and carrying a wooden nightstick and thought he got confused since it used to be a donut shop.
It is great to see young Italian restaurateurs bringing cuisine back into North Beach, which at a previous time became an exodus for the district. The place feels authentic, so much so that the waitress from Capri is still learning English. The ambiance feels hip but their food still holds true to Italian cooking — lots of amore and freshness put into it. We had the vegetariano calzone, bull mozzarella arugula salad, and ham lasagna and liked them all. Will try the tiramisu for desert next time.

Haven’t been to any other spot in SF that does thin crust the same way. Super thin, Crispy on the bottom and cheese melty on top.
Just how it should be done, pasta, pizza and espresso in the same sitting.
The small team that works at Piccolo Forno could not have been more welcoming. They obviously care how everything is tasting and how our experience was shaking out– Has the warmth of a friendly neighborhood corner and the heartiness of a family dinner all in a modern shop.
Will take all my pizza lovers here.

Great place!
While staying in San Fran for work I really wanted some home made pasta. This place makes their own noodles, has fresh food and they have extremely accommodating staff who make the Italian place very authentic. Their owners let us try so many things! Can’t beat it!

Wow, the food is great here. This newly opened casual restaurant reminds me of a pizza café in Rome. There are slabs of pizza, bowls of marinated vegetables, and a case of homemade desserts. It’s like walking into an Italian kitchen.
Everything was affordable. Pizza is $ 4.50 for a large slice and $ 10 – 14 for homemade pasta and sauces. Menu changes daily so it’s pretty exciting to go in and see what they made for the day.
It’s relatively quiet now since it’s so new but I think this place will be packed pretty soon because it’s high quality food and affordable prices.

I was new in town and had friends visiting. «Surely,» I thought, «Surely we can get a table around here somewhere.» Even though there are about 11 Italian restaurants per block, most places had an hours-​long waiting list. Some even laughed in our faces for asking, so we had that going for us.
Not Piccolo Forno. We walked in to a friendly greeting, an open table, and a pizza display to refresh a tired soul. It seemed like hardly any time passed between ordering food and food appearing. My spaghetti was perfectly al dente and the sprinkle of fresh basil on the meatballs made my whole day worthwhile. One of my friends got the piccolo forno pizza. He is now seriously considering moving to San Francisco.
A week later, when my family was visiting, we went back. We received the same warm greeting, and the owner quickly rearranged tables so we could all sit together and without getting a cold blast of air from the door opening. My dad and I split a salad and fought over the last tomato. I don’t even like raw tomatoes. My sister-​in-​law and I got spaghetti carbonara. I now realize that up to Wednesday night, I’d only ever eaten «carbonara,» not carbonara.
TL;DR: kind people, amazing and authentic food, not crowded.
I’m going to be pretty sad when everyone finds out about this place and I can’t sneak in there with no reservation on a Saturday night anymore.

Earlier, before dinner, he showed me a picture of us from nearly 20 years ago. He said that it was taken on the first day we met. My first instinct was that dated me, I did not like to look at me when I was in my prime. But wait, on second thought, I should, and it seemed that I looked exactly the same, hiding behind sunglasses and hat (I’m that vain, yes.) Perhaps because staring at my old self smiling back me made me hungry, we went to fetch food.
Owner is italian. He told us that this is a 2 and half weeks old restaurant. It felt very European. I did not catch the owner’s name, who greeted us warmly. We did the dine in version vs. take out. My companion used to run a Unilocal like site before there was Unilocal.I think it’s because he’s extremely observant, often have smart things to say about anything that interests him, and he’s a people person. I’m not a people person. I’d like to eat in peace and not talk. He observed that the owner was in a talkative mode. «He could tell that we were locals so he chatted with us.»
I liked the ambience of the new place. It felt neighborly, local, even though it’s just a block away from the tourist trap. The restaurant appeared to be easy on the eyes. Whatever they did, it works.
I could see that the owner was making a caesar salad in the kitchen. He tossed it by hand. Just enough times so that the lettuce could stay crisp, yet the dressing was mixed in. Interesting technique.
The counter displayed a wide array of premade pizza and things. A man who appears to be a local worker stopped by to order a piece of pizza. The owner told him that it’s free, it’s getting to be end of the day, clearly they know each other, and he was being very generous. So incredibly kind. You don’t see that often enough.
The salad arrived with the pasta. It’s all freshly made. The meatball was crunchy outside and soft inside. The pasta was al dente. If you google spaghetti meatballs, the google image would show that dish. Their pasta is stock image ready. The caesar salad had just enough anchovies, which is my favorite thing in a caesar. I think it is most likely the best I’ve ever had. Most of the caesar salads we eat in America is ladled with dressing. This one was light and intense at the same time.
When the bill came he went, «Wow.» I asked why, he said that it was very inexpensive. I did not offer to pay. He won’t take my money anyway. But I’m glad I was not the usual expensive date for once.
That evening was full of surprises. I received my belated birthday presents from him, I had not anticipated anything really; I saw what I looked like nearly 20 years ago and I had not really changed that much at all, except I think I’m more in shape now even though I was not out of shape before; I had met the owner of this neighborly restaurant who is kind, ernest, and talented in the kitchen, which proves to me good people are still around; and I finally found a caesar salad I liked…
Welcome to the neighborhood. Please stay.

For under $ 6 I got a tasty corner slice of pizza with egg, olives, tuna, tomatoes, and I think mozzarella. Crispy but chewy, and bursting with fresh tomato.
When you walk in, there is a display of all the food options, and the staff is so friendly. The owner, m and chef, who is from Capri, chatted with me and even brought me extra utensils and napkins. There’s also wifi — just ask for the password.
Would definitely recommend!

Piccolo Forno just opened a few days ago, and I tried it out for lunch today. With the Italian Homemade just across the street, it’s great to see North Beach moving farther north.
I had a slice of the mushroom pizza and two supplis (fried rice balls). The mushroom pizza was pretty good — the crust was thick but crispy. Similar in style to Golden Boy, but thinner and crispier. The sauce and toppings were tasty as well. The owner mentioned that they’re expecting a new pizza oven from Italy soon, so perhaps the pizzas will change a bit when it arrives.
The supplis were very interesting, and I had not tried them before. They appear to be fried risotto, mixed with bolognese sauce and parmesan cheese, then breaded and fried. They were very tasty. Although they heated them up for me when I ordered them, they were still a bit cool in the center.
Overall, Piccolo Forno is a nice addition to North Beach, and I’ll definitely be back.