SF Question: Perbacco vs Delfina?

Have reservations for both for a dinner next week on the same night , which one should we keep?

Can’t go wrong with either one. Both are totally different scenes. Enjoy.

Haven’t been to either for a couple years. Was going to say Perbacco has a more extensive wine list, and that may still be true, but looking on the Delfina site the list has been expanded quite a bit. Also a few years ago anyway, Delfina was very strongly discouraging BYO.

If you are staying at a hotel downtown and making the trip out to Delfina, you could also think about going a little farther to La Ciccia.
It is Sardinian and pretty homey, so yet again very different than Delfina or Perbacco, but it’s the restaurant we really miss from not living there any longer. (that and Henry’s Hunan - zero Hunan food in Seattle)

I thought the service in general at Perbacco was marginal. The wine service, terrible. Won’t go back. Haven’t been to Delfina.

Might have been the luck on the draw at Perbacco, I absolutely love the place. Went to Delfina and did not think it was special, and not worth the schlep.

I have been to La Ciccia many times. Not as good as Perbacco, but it’s a family place and nice.

I haven’t been to Delfina in a few years - but it was one of my favorites for a long time. I don’t recall having ever been to Perbacco…

Of course, any spot that offers tripe will automatically be one of my favorite spots.

I’ve been to Perbacco 50-60 times. Been to Delfina 3 times. And Perbacco is BYO friendly.

Perbacco is terrific. The service is a bit more formal than you might expect given the prices but in my view the service is terrific and appropriate and they’re very BYO friendly. I’ve never had a less than fantastic meal there, probably been 8-10 times.

To re-comment. I do agree with the comments on Perbacco. I would choose it over Delfina. It is a very nice looking place, the food quality is very good, and the prices are quite reasonable. I’ve never had problems with the service.

My only point in bringing up La Ciccia is that I can replicate the Perbacco decor and food quality in most cities, granted often at a higher price. What I can’t find most other places is the homey, sardinian cuisine of La Ciccia, mainly the stewed dishes, octopus, tripe, etc. It is radically different from the northern Italian fare of Perbacco. The wine list is pretty interesting too especially if you want to open your mind to Sardinian and Sicilian wines. Yes it is a small family restaurant, tucked away in a (mainly) residential neighborhood well out of downtown and the mission.

But by all means enjoy Perbacco, it is very nice and in my mind quite a very good value as well.

Agree with the general consensus here - Perbacco.

Delfina I’ve eaten at a handful of times and honestly never left very impressed. However, I love Delfina’s pizza place next door. Even their non-pizza dishes are great.

I also really like La Ciccia but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed by Perbacco.

I guess I’m glad our experience at Perbacco wasn’t the norm. We brought a bottle of Champagne & bought a bottle of Barolo off the list ('01 B. Mascarello?). As it was getting late & the number of diners was decreasing I repeatedly could not get anyone’s attention to pour more wine in our completely empty glasses. I got up, went & picked up the decanter off the wine service table, set it on the now empty table mnext to ours. Thn we got even more attitude from the waiter than we’d been getting prior to that. A small tip & a vow not to return was the end result. Too bad, because as I recall we had an egg yolk-filled ravioli w/ mushrooms that was among our favorite dishes fom a weekend filled w/ very good food.

Thanks all for the feedback. My workmates and I ventured to Perbacco and had a really nice meal. The service both wine and food were very good and the pasta dishes we shared for apps were melt in your mouth good.

I wll probably try both Delfina, which I haven’t been to in a couple of years and La Ciccia in some upcoming visits.

Ventured to Delfina’s this past Tuesday and had a very nice meal also. As was pointed out the two are very different, but I think both are very good. Delfina’s and Piperade were the highlights of our dining experience this week.

Probably won’t be back to the Bay Area til June but NOPA and probably Bobo’s (for steaks) are on the hit list for that week, any other reccomendations out since I will probably be spending at least half of July out there. Thanks in advance…

Ate at Perbacco last week. Fantastic food and service.

We went to Perbacco last night. The service was not very good and we were left with empty glasses a few times. We had a ravioli dish which was excellent, but the gnocchi was was so heavily-laden with Chinese five spice, it was not enjoyable. The appetizers we had were just OK. The asparagus was bland, especially compared to the killer asparagus dish we had at lunch at Slanted Door. I doubt we’ll go back to Perbacco.

Sorry to hear it Poppy, I’ve always gotten excellent service with BYO as well as off the list.

I wonder if the poor experiences have been on Fridays? No excuse however, just looking for rhyme or reason.

Your experience sounds similar to ours Poppy. Sorry to hear it. I know we won’t go back. There are too many good alternatives. And I hold a grudge. [wow.gif]