L'Osteria del Forno

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Jonathan Kauffman

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519 Columbus (at Green) San Francisco, CA 94133

415-982-1124

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Critics'
Pick
Best Pizza by the Slice
Award Winner 2004

Cuisine(s): Italian, Pizza

Hours: Sun,Mon,Wed,Thu 11:30am-10pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am-10:30pm

Price: $, $$, $$$

Payment Types: cash
Attire: Casual.

Features: Takeout

Serving: Dinner, Lunch

Alcohol: Full bar
Reservations: Not Accepted

Parking: Street

Description

Among the mediocre, touristic restaurants that line Columbus Avenue in North Beach, there is a genuinely good place that serves delicious, authentic northern Italian food. It is eccentric: It's tiny, it doesn't take reservations, it's cash only, and it specializes in dishes cooked in its oven (forno), so there are very few pastas on the menu. But the panini (we love the one stuffed with roasted pork), pizzas, and oven-roasted meats are sublime -- and inexpensive.

2004 | Best Pizza by the Slice

We were so beguiled by the sandwiches at this tiny (10-table), cash-only, old-style North Beach restaurant that it took an idle comment by a friend to shake us from our habits. He said that his favorite pizza by the slice was the porcini sold here. We took his advice, only to find that the porcini (saut�ed imported Italian mushrooms, made bianca-style, i.e., without tomato sauce) is our second favorite of the nine combinations on offer. We love L'Osteria's amazingly thin, amazingly crisp c... More »
2000 | Best Italian Restaurant

This here's the total North Beach experience: a tiny jewel of an eight-table storefront trattoria smack on Columbus Avenue where the neighborly waitstaff makes you feel right at home and the kitchen produces amazingly flavorful Old World delicacies. The food's necessarily simple -- the kitchen doesn't even have room for a stovetop -- but the brick-oven pizzas, daily pastas, and focaccia sandwiches are worth waiting in line for (an inevitability if you arrive at prime time), the antipasti... More »

Fresh Eats: Our weekly roundup of SFoodie news

By SF Weekly Staff | Wed, October 06, 2010

At L'Osteria del Forno, Small Is Still Beautiful By Jonathan Kauffman When Wally Tettamanti and Susanna Borgatti opened L'Osteria del Forno in the early 1990s, it was a curiosity. A restaurant with only an oven? An Italian place that barely serv... More »
L'Osteria del Forno Still Does Things on the Right Scale

By Jonathan Kauffman | Tue, September 28, 2010

Part of a series about restaurants that have been around so long they've slipped into a media black hole.When Wally Tettamanti and Susanna Borgatti opened L'Osteria del Forno in the early 1990s, it wa... More »
Chard Into Memory

By Bonnie Wach | Wed, February 09, 2005

Am I the only one who thinks this country needs a massive dose of ginkgo biloba? First we bomb the crap out of Iraq on the hunt for nonexistent weapons of mass destruction. Then we have a Senior Moment and suddenly we're bombing the crap out of Ir... More »

Main Menu

Insalate E Antipasti
Served With Our Focaccia Bread

$6.00

L'osteria Mix
butter lettuce, radicchio, red onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

$6.00

Pomodori Gratinati
baked tomatoes stuffed with bread crumbs, garlic, italian parsley, olive oil

$6.00

Pepperoni Alla Griglia
grilled sweet red peppers, garlic, italian parsley, olive oil

$5.00

Patate Stufate
roasted russet potatoes & yams, carrots, rosemary

$7.00

Insalata Rustica
tuna, white beans, celery, oregano, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

$9.00

Insalata Caprese
sliced tomatoes & fresh mozzarella, basil, capers, green olives (anchovies)

$6.00

Insalata Di Pomodori
tomato salad with french feta cheese, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar

$9.00

Speck
smoked prosciutto, white beans, arugula, parmigiano reggiano

$9.00

Carpaccio Di Manzo
thinly sliced raw beef, shaved parmigiano reggiano, capers, olive oil, lemon juice

$9.00

Carpaccio Di Salmone
thinly sliced raw wild salmon fillet, olive oil, lemon juice, sweet peppers, chives

$9.00

Radicchio Alla Griglia
grilled radicchio wrapped in parma prosciutto

$9.00

Bresaola Della Valtellina
thinly sliced air-cured beef, white truffle olive oil, porcini mushrooms

Delizie Dal Forno
From The Oven

$13.00

Crespelle
crepes filled with sauteed porcini mushrooms, ham, bechamel sauce

$10.00

Polenta E Formaggio
gorgonzola or gruyere cheese melted over roasted organic polenta

$12.00

Pasta Al Forno
penne pasta baked in bolognese, bechamel sauce

$14.00

Our Roast Of The Day
with roasted potatoes or mixed salad

$16.00

Spiedino Di Agnello
skewered lamb marinated in ginger, rosemary, garlic with roasted potatoes and mixed salad

$11.00

Gamberi Adriatic Style
skewered tiger prawns lightly breaded, parsley, garlic served over mixed salad

Focaccine
Sandwiches On Flatbread With Rosemary & Sea Salt (no Substitutions)

$7.00

Napoletana
fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, lettuce, basil, olive oil

$6.00

Tonno
tuna, celery, mayonnaise, lettuce, (anchovies)

$7.00

Arrosto
thinly sliced roast of the day, tomatoes, lettuce

$7.00

Alpino
ham, olive paste, imported swiss cheese, tomatoes, lettuce

$7.00

Lunatico
italian salami, teleme cheese, grilled red peppers, lettuce

$7.00

Boscaiolo
smoked prosciutto (speck), porcini mushrooms, fresh mozzarella, lettuce

$7.00

Parma
prosciutto, eggplant, fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce

$7.00

Pancetta
grilled italian bacon, spicy vegetable spread, tomatoes, lettuce

Pizza
Thin Crust, Each Additional Pizza Topping $0.50 For Slice $1.00 For 12" $2.00 For 17"

17" For 3-4 $15.00
12" For 2 $10.00
Slices $3.00

Margherita
mozzarella & tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $17.00
12" For 2 $13.00
Slices $4.00

San Francisco
ham, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $18.00
12" For 2 $13.00
Slices $4.50

Acciuga
garlic, anchovies, capers, mozzarella, tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $18.00
12" For 2 $13.00
Slices $4.50

Salsiccia
mushrooms, italian sausage, mozzarella, tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $18.00
12" For 2 $13.00
Slices $4.50

Vegetarinna
mushrooms, onions, zucchini, mozzarella, tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $16.00
12" For 2 $12.00
Slices $4.00

Pesto
pesto, mozzarella, tomato sauce

17" For 3-4 $16.00
12" For 2 $12.00
Slices $4.00

Salame
italian dry salami, mozzarella, tomato sauce

Pizza Bianca
Without Tomato Sauce. Each Additional Pizza Topping $0.50 For Slice $1.00 For 12" $2.00 For 17"

17" For 3-4 $19.00
12" For 2 $14.00
Slices $4.50

Tre Formaggi
imported gorgonzola cheese, ricotta, mozzarella

17" For 3-4 $19.00
12" For 2 $14.00
Slices $4.50

Porcini
sauteed imported italian mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, olive oil

Looking for another city?

L'Osteria del Forno

519 Columbus (at Green) San Francisco, CA 94133

415-982-1124

Description

2004 | Best Pizza by the Slice

2000 | Best Italian Restaurant

By SF Weekly Staff | Wed, October 06, 2010

By Jonathan Kauffman | Tue, September 28, 2010

By Bonnie Wach | Wed, February 09, 2005