Sotto Mare

Despite the bustling lunch crowd, the service seemed disorganized and lacking, especially given the price point. The restaurant was a popular choice for both visitors and locals, but the host's poor management detracted from the overall dining experience.

Date of Visit: 7/30/2024

Sotto Mare is one of the most popular Italian restaurants in San Francisco. Located in the heart of North Beach, Sotto Mare was opened back in 2007 by Gigi Fiorucci, which served the freshest fish and shellfish. With a huge selection of oysters and clams on the half shell, crab cioppino, clam chowder, and seafood pastas and seafood risotto.

We arrived at around 7:40pm on a Tuesday evening, and there was still a half an hour wait for the table inside.

Breads were complimentary with butter.

Elysian Space Dust IPA $8
Husband got the IPA draft beer. This one is a little bitter but went well with seafood.

Raymond R Collection Chardonnay $12
I got the Raymond Chardonnay from St. Helena. A little too citrusy.

West Coast oysters $2 each
Clam on half shell $1.5 each
We got 6 oysters from the West Coast and 1 clam. Oysters were fresh but the taste was more on the softer side. I prefer something chewy and fresh.

The "Best Damn Crab Cioppino" $54.95
This is the most popular dish that almost every table ordered! A bowl with the whole crab legs, mussels, clams, scallops, tomato, squid and penne! Super fresh and delicious!

Linguine with Manila Clams $27.95
We also got the linguine with clams, infused with white cream sauce.

Where do I begin? Made reservations about two weeks ago. I literally grew up in North Beach and came here with my father pre Covid.

Picked a place that I thought my girlfriends would enjoy to celebrate my belated birthday. Turns out the cup of clam chowder two of them ordered was grainy and not even warm. There goes a minus for me. Second, all three ordered fish. Was going to order their famous cioppino but my friend didn't feel like all seafood so I ordered my linguini with clams. Everything just looked dry and they were just picking at their food most of the night, another strike there, then when the bill came the three treated me and our waitress who worked downstairs overcharge my friend's card when I specially told her how much to put on it since the rest was cash. It was a mess last night. My friend was annoyed and frustrated she got a charge then another charge again while she waits for the reversal. And and, their menu has no dessert!

Sotto Mare may had hit rock bottom a tad bit but maybe it was what they ordered. You learn and move on. Can't make everyone happy. All my girls drove very far to celebrate me so seeing them disappointed made me unhappy. The restaurant catered more to the tourists than locals like myself. Place is narrow by the entrance and everyone is bustling behind the kitchen.

A must eat spot when in Little Italy in SF! As a group of two, we had no reservation but waited in line to the hostess for about 15 minutes and luckily were seated at the bar right away on a Saturday night.

Best known for their Cioppino and I can agree it is a must order! I also appreciate the claws being cracked for easier eating.The seafood was not only fresh and plentiful but the stew flavor was so flavorful and I love the tomato shining through with the seafood broth. Complimentary bread must be used to get every last drop of the broth.

I also ordered the Fettucine with Bay scallops and the alfredo creaminess was perfect. The bay scallops were petite and great bite size. I added some dashes of tobacco and it was a win for me.

Visited Sotto Mare for the famous cioppino and it didn't disappoint! For starters, every single table ordered cioppino when we went for Saturday. They hand out bibs for the dish so it was funny to see the restaurant full of customers in their bibs. The cioppino is $55 for two and it definitely is a large portion size! It comes with large shrimp, small shrimp, mussels, clams, squid, small scallops and crab as well as penne pasta. There's a side of bread that is great for dipping in the broth.

We also ordered west coast oysters and clams on the half shell. The oysters were really large and I personally would've preferred smaller ones that are less fishy. I also thought the clams could've been removed from the shell better so they would be easier to eat.

We sat at the bar and it was fun to see the chefs chuck oysters and sauté seafood. All in all, it was a great dining experience. The food came very fast, the waitress was nice and I'm glad I can check off cioppino from my S.F. bucket list!

3.5

My brother and law and his fiance raved about this place, so we went during our trip. My BIL made a reservation for 9 PM. We went across the street for some wine while we waited for our buzzer to go off. At about 9:10, we walked over and checked the status. We did not get seated for another 20 minutes.

We were seated in the basement right next to the service station and it was STIFLING hot in there. Almost unbearable. We were informed that the kitchen was closing soon. And we needed to get our orders in. The decor was cute, but hard to focus on when I was so stinking hot.

BIL got the risotto, his fiancé got the lobster ravioli, and my husband and I shared the cioppino.

Our table was out of olive oil when we sat so we got some more. The bread was pretty good. They kept it flowing which was nice. I'd say that the server was nice, but not super knowledgeable.

I haven't read cioppino before so I didn't know what to expect, but I was happy with it. The two of us could not finish it. I think I'd like to go back and try something else.

***SEAFOOD ONLY RESTAURANT***

I'm still going to give this a place a 5 Stars review, after getting through the headache of trying make a reservation on the phone, being put on hold for 30 minutes and still didn't talked to anyone. Luckily, I was in the City anyways, so I went by there and made the reservation in person. They only take reservations for 3 or more. If you are going to go, go early. They open at 11:30AM, We got there at 11:00 and there was already a line waiting.

OH YES!!!! If you are wondering the food is ABSOLUTELY worth it!!!!

Everything we had was great, fresh, and tasty. Can't go wrong with this place. Very reasonable prices, I was surprised because this is in the heart of the tourist area. 3 Couples, $150 per with tips!! We each had an entree, one bowl of their Cioppino, a couple of appetizers and drinks. Also surprised that their entree are good size portions.

Appetizers, we had fresh oysters and prawns cocktails, both were fresh.

Entrees:

(2) Halibut with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce, fish grilled perfectly. The sauce went great with the fish and the spinach good.

Linguine with Manila Clams and white cream sauce was very good and came with LOTS of clams.

Wild Caught Prawns with with Lemon Caper Butter Sauce and Spinach was great, prawns grill to a perfect crisp.

Linguine with Seafood and white cream sauce was very good and came with lots of clams, mussels, shrimps and calamaris.

Risotto with Seafood came with lots of clams, mussels, shrimps, scallops, and calamaris.

Cioppino with lots of seafood!!! Enough to shared with the group!!!

All of the entrees were made perfectly!!!

It is a must stop if you like Italian Seafood.

Solid food and service!

Had an early dinner reservation and was told that the whole party had to show up before being seated. After 3/4 of the people were at the restaurant, the server ended up seating us anyway instead of waiting for the fourth person.

We were seated outside in the wooden booths they have on the street (rather than in the tables set up on the sidewalk). I actually liked this option because it semi private (just a bit of street noise) and roomier than sitting on the inside (looked packed in there).

I got the smoked salmon fettuccine which was REALLY tasty. The salmon tasted very fresh, and it was even good the next day as left overs. I would order it again.

Server was very attentive and didn't feel like it was difficult to get service despite sitting outside.

Friend recommended this spot to me and it did not disappoint! We got there at 12:15 and put our names down for a table at 1, our table was ready at 12:50. I ordered the Sea Scallop Sauté and everything was so delicious and it came out in a timely manner. All of my three friends ordered some of the pasta dishes and loved them as well. Great service and vibes, would definitely for some fresh seafood in SF

Went back today and enjoyed lunch, got there right at opening and the whole restaurant was packed by noon. Opens at 11:30am. This time, we only ordered the cioppino for the two of us and we still had some leftovers to take home!

I'd say the big bowl of cioppino can actually be shared amongst four people for a light-moderate size dinner. 1 1/2 cup (1 bowl) of cioppino for 4.

The cioppino has a good amount of sauce. There's plenty of crab legs (6-8?) and various seafood, but also a good amount of sauce/soup liquid.
Enjoy the sourdough bread and butter to dip in the sauce, yum-o.
The portion size of the other dishes are also large! Plan to share and under order!

Service is still absolutely wonderful!