If one were to wander off the main path in North Beach—the main “path” being the long stretch of Columbus Street—he or she would find themselves faced with dauntingly steep hills, quirky boutiques, and quite a few delicious restaurants that might otherwise go unnoticed by tourists or unadventurous locals. Among these restaurants is Bocce Café, an Italian eatery that seems small and modest from the outside. Once you go through its entrance, however, you realize that there is more to Bocce than there appears. This means going through fancy double doors, taking a few steps down a tree-lined walkway, and entering the restaurant through a nondescript door on your right-hand side. Sounds mysterious, no? Well, not exactly, but that doesn’t mean that what awaits you isn’t satisfying.
Last Friday evening I dined at Bocce Café with a group of friends and acquaintances for the 21st birthday celebration of a friend and his roommate. Though our large party of about sixteen people was almost 45 minutes late for our 7:30 PM reservation, the cafe held our table, albeit with a slight irritation, seen in the face of our waiter. Despite this, we were promptly given steaming baskets of bread, of which there were three varieties—good, savory, and absolutely delicious. Everyone in my party was freezing and famished, so we gobbled down the fluffy and satisfying appetizer, complimented with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, very quickly. A downside to dining at Italian restaurants is sometimes ending up with hard-as-a-rock bread that, I suppose, they expect their guests to attempt to gnaw on while waiting for their meal. Thankfully, this was not the case at Bocce.
As we filled up on bread and waited for our drinks, I looked around for the “live jazz band” that was promised on the sign in front of the café. Hidden in a corner was a group of 4 to 5 musicians who soon after began to play some jazz and Frank Sinatra tunes. Later in the night, after catching on to the birthday festivities of our party, the musicians broke out in a resounding rendition of “Happy Birthday,” to the delight of us and the other restaurant patrons.
The live music aspect and the setup of the restaurant seemed to make it a good place for special occasions and birthday dinners. The main floor was spacious yet cozy, and dimly lit. This made the place feel classy and romantic, but it wasn’t so dark that you couldn’t read your menu. There was a beautiful outdoor patio, decorated with white twinkle lights, but it was empty the entire time we were having dinner. It is possible it was reserved for a later party. Besides the group I was with, there were two other large parties of people celebrating birthdays, both which consisted of 30-somethings who mingled by the bar before being seated. These people were dressed up as if Bocce Café was just a stop on the way to an evening of bar and club hopping. The way that bottles of wine were being ordered—I counted five at a table of twelve—led me to believe that Bocce’s clientele is definitely of a certain income bracket, which in turn left me dreading our table’s bill.
However, poor college students that we are, everyone seemed to order carefully and simply. I shared a Margherita pizza with a friend of mine, which came to a very reasonable price of $9, for eight small but filling slices. As basic as pizza is, sometimes a restaurant can mess it up—not enough sauce, too much sauce, etc. However, this pie was delicious, very cheesy, and somewhat greasy, which, in my opinion, is how pizza should be. My friend Chris Begley, also the birthday boy, ordered a three-pasta platter, which came with small portions of fettuccine alfredo, gnocchi (small potatoes) covered in a creamy tomato sauce, and cheese ravioli. He said that all three pastas were equally appetizing, and the price—$14.95—was just right for what he ordered. As alcoholic drink prices go, Bocce’s fares were not that terrible. A couple of glasses of the house Chianti, at $5.50 a glass, were ordered by my friend Nick Minnott. He let me have a few sips, and I enjoyed what I tasted. The birthday boys ordered Hefeweizen on tap, at $4.50 each. With such a large party, the bill is going to be astronomical anyway, but it was made less so by the fact that most of our group simply had water or another non-alcoholic beverage. The evening ended with complimentary desserts of tiramisu and a giant piece of chocolate cake, which all members of a party passed around and nibbled on as we waited for our bill.
Unfortunately, our waiter refused to split our bill into separate checks. As a former waitress, I know that the restaurant’s computer system is probably perfectly capable of doing this, but also as a former waitress, I definitely don’t blame the waiter for not wanting to deal with sixteen different credit cards. It turned out not to matter anyway, as basically every person had cash, and our bill was paid quickly and easily.
Overall the experience was wonderful, and worth the long trek by bus. The next time I’m in North Beach and actually have some money to spend, I will definitely be taking my friends to Bocce Café.
Bocce Café
478 Green St. (At Grant Ave.)
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 981-2044
http://www.boccecafe.com
Hours:
Sun.-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Price Range: $$
Take Out: Yes
Full Bar: Yes
