Reviews of Farina Pizza

I believe that Farina makes some of the best pizzas in the Bay Area, and I have tried a ton of pizza places throughout the area. I am an extremely picky eater but have fallen in love with food at Farina that I would have never eaten at other restaurants. The cappuccino is fantastic-- and I strongly dislike caffeine. The calamari is to die for as well. I have taken my own family, my boyfriend's family, and various other friends to Farina and they all have loved it. The pizzas are large enough to split between two people, and I think priced in a fair way. The ingredients are really high quality. The dining experience is very personal if you are sitting at the bar/pizza counter-- a much more personal experience than I would say most restaurants offer. Overall I highly recommend their food & will be returning soon!

Hands down the best meal that we have had in a long time! I would, and will, highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a truly authentic Italian meal with great service in a fantastic setting. I went here with my mom and dad while visiting SF from Seattle and boy, do we wish there was a place like this in Seattle! Everything we ordered was exceptional, as I am sure everything that comes out of that kitchen is. The atmosphere is darling with an old-school yet modern charm. The food was seriously so good. We had the prosciutto, burrata antipasta, the pesto pasta (unreal!), grilled octopus, and grilled eggplant and an affogato. This place is a winner and the line should have been around the block. We will definitely go back every time we are in town. Thank you for the kind service and the amazing meal. Didn't catch the host's name but he was very sweet and attentive. Grazie!

I don't know what really gets 5 stars but this place had a great pizza (and I don't just say that-another winner is Mozzaria and I'm comparing with pizza I loved in Naples...the one in Italy). Also an amazing simple brocollini. I hope to come back soon! I guess 5 stars would be the pizza places in Naples, where the pizzas are divine and costs $10 including a beer...

We had lunch at Farina one sunny day. Coming from Europe we were really keen on getting a slice of that wonderful Italian cuisine. Farina definitely had a thing or two to offer. We were more than satisfied with both our food and our service. Highest of recommendations. P.S. The price may be a little too high for some people, so consult a menu before making reservations.

I like it, a lot. I think people are comparing this to Delfina when they should be comparing it to Una Pizza. The pizzas are about on par with Una Pizza though a little cheaper. Yes, both places don't cut the pizza. Yes, the pizzas are delicious. Get the Montanara (a deep fried pizza appetizer). They have a great beer selection. The decor is outstanding. They have a separate take-out counter.

We arrived late on a Sunday afternoon to learn that pizza only is served between 3 and 5. As this is a pizzeria, all should be good in the world...not so. We ordered the Tonno di Capolla and the Italia - a tuna pizza and a prosciutto with arugula pizza, along with a bottle of "red" wine. <br/><br/>The pizza's were actually quite tasty, but the crusts were incredibly soggy - almost to a point of being more pasta than pizza. While the red wine was delicious, paying $48 for a generic blend is a bit steep<br/><br/>That being said, this place is great from an aesthetic perspective - well designed and smartly outfitted - while perched on a popular corner that provides for plenty of people watching on a lazy afternoon<br/><br/>I've read other reviews on some of the non-pizza items, specifically the spaghetti with rabbit sauce - and it intrigues me. I'm not so off put to eliminate this place from my long list, and I'm anxious to return to try other options <br/><br/>Just order with caution and your wallet in mind

Farina Pizza – An Empty Façade. For months we eagerly looked forward to the opening of Farina Pizza at the corner of 18th and Valencia in the heart of SF’s new restaurant row. A beautifully designed interior and sidewalk seating with overhead space heaters that would temper the cold with offerings from a menu focused on authentic Italian pizza. We took the plunge Monday and decided to drop by and spend a nice Monday evening over pizza and wine after a long day at the office.<br/><br/><br/>The host was uber-chipper and led us to requested chairs at the counter, so that we could watch the food being prepared. Eleonora was our server, and while it took some time for her to take our order she seemed up to the task. We ordered a glass of Sangiovese (excellent) and a glass of Brugneto (not so good) and while the results were mixed one’s taste in wine is often subjective. However, the labeling of the 3rd red (and most expensive) offering by the glass as “prestigious” was a bit telling.<br/><br/><br/>We watched the cook compose our salads, just inches from us. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. The salads sat on the counter for over 10 minutes, and we lamented that we just couldn’t reach over to acquire them, or that the cook couldn’t do the same. The Misticanza salads were delicious, but the delay was really inexcusable and certainly didn’t enhance the quality of the dish.<br/><br/><br/>From our seats at the counter we also noticed a disturbing trend. Apparently the Farina folks print out the orders and then place the sheets on the food. One of our salads had a nice ink-filled slip of paper on the greens as well as the rim of the plate. A second, entrée dinner salad that was put together also had a piece of paper placed on the ample greens. We saw a plate of pasta at the other counter with the order slip placed on it. Just how hygienic is this practice?<br/><br/><br/>The pizzas took quite some time to arrive, and when they showed up they were not the crisp, thin crust pieces that we imagined. In fact, they were very soggy in the middle, so we let them sit for a few minutes hoping that they would set and dry a bit. Another employee (probably the manager) came over and told us that in Italy pizzas were served whole. He assumed that our delay in tucking in was due to the fact that they weren’t cut and we were waiting for someone to cut them up. Ahem, no, we’ve been to Italy and are quite familiar with how pizza is served there. <br/><br/><br/>But if you want to talk about geographic distinctions, here is one recommendation from this consumer: in America if you go to a Korean restaurant odds are that the descriptions of the offerings aren’t just written in Korean. Do your patrons a favor and provide an English translation of your use of Italian terminology in your menus so that the consumer is fully aware of what the offerings are.<br/><br/><br/>The other half was generally satisfied with the flavor of her soggy cheese pizza. I took one bite of my sausage pizza and set it aside. The broccoli on the pizza was so bitter that it permeated the flavor to the extent that it was inedible. The same insightful manager approached me and asked how I liked the pizza. I said I didn’t like it. He asked for specifics, and I described the bitter and sour taste of it. He offered to take it back, but I declined, solely because given the time it took for the food to arrive I didn’t want to have dinner a half hour after my other half was done. I ate half of the cheese pizza and picked off the sausage from my pizza fiasco for a little protein.<br/><br/><br/>We didn’t ask for any special treatment, and we were charged the full amount for the two poorly-made pizzas. A good manager or staff person would have see a nearly-intact-pizza pushed to the side as an opportunity to unilaterally set things right and remove the charge from the bill, or offer an apology and a dessert, or provide some other amends. Not at Farina Pizza.<br/><br/><br/>So if you want poor and indifferent service with soggy pizza and possibly prestigious wine, head immediately to the corner of 18th and Valencia Street. There is plenty of seating available, and you’ll go home only $110.00 poorer for the experience.