Penny Roma - San Francisco

Ambience: 5 stars for the decor and vibeFood: 3 stars because everyone's pasta was WAY too salty, not one plate was actually finishedService: 3.5 stars for slow service (with a 1.5-2 hour max per table, be prepared to eat fast because the dishes take a while coming out)

Incredible!! This review is for the vegetarians! We fully intended on going and doing the tasting menu when we realized we could order every single vegetarian item on the menu for cheaper and get larger quantities so that's what we did. Appetizers The eggplant and bread were incredible and honestly surprisingly good. The bread was hot and buttery and the eggplant really shocked us with all the flavor, and ended up at the top of our favorites list. The arancini was a disappointing and lacked a little in flavor but still gooey and good. Pastas We ordered the cacio e pepe, gnocchi and raviolini and all three were INCREDIBLE. The cacio e pepe was amazing for one hot fresh bite then as it cooled it wasn't as good and was overwhelming after one bite so we couldn't eat too much but that first bite was mind blowing. The pesto gnocchi was a crowd pleaser, it was so incredibly fresh and light with a hint of what I think was citrus, definitely my favorite item on the menu. Lastly, the raviolini, an incredible dish with so much flavor. Was a close second on my list of favorites. Dessert Get the olive oil cake, that's it, that's all I have to say. You MUST get it.

I've had pasta... but then there's PASTA. I got the fusilli al'ragu, a red sauce pasta with lamb. I loveddd how the pasta itself picked up the sauce and chewy. The sauce itself was amazing; I feel like tomato based sauces typically are watery but this one wasn't and it made the food experience sooo much more enjoyable for that. I literally have ZERO complaints about it. The restaurant itself is cute and full of greenery! It's always bustling, for very good reason, of course! I'm excited to come back and experience heaven on earth again!

Penny Roma is one of my favorite pasta places in SF. I really like the texture of the pasta and you can really tell that it's very fresh. We got the rigatoni and the angolotti. Both were great! We also got the carpaccio to start and that tasted okay. I also got one of their red wines and it was very light and refreshing. It was a little on the sweeter side so it paired well with the pasta. The service was great and I really liked the aesthetic of the restaurant. This was my second time coming and I will definitely be back'

One of my favorite spots in SF for pastas! Super cute place along with amazing pasta, a recipe for a great spot for date night or casual dinner with friends. Recommend making a reservation as this place is quite busy. We were able to get a Friday reservation week of you can set notifications for openings on Resy, which made it easy.We ordered: Arancini (3.5/5): a little too cheesy for my liking, but if you love cheese then this is for you Albacore tartare (4/5): loved this appetizer was fresh, flavorful, and the pistachios really added to it! Crispy Potatoes (4/5): they're potatoes and they're crispy. You can't go wrong. A good side (nothing mind blowing though). Agnolotti (3.5/5): this one was ok. Pasta itself was fresh, but the flavor was a bit lacking. Amatriciana (5/5): Star of the show and my favorite dish. A Roman classic, and this reminded me of the amatriciana pasta I had in Italy! Great flavor, great texture. Wish they kept this on the menu all year round.