Gaspare's

(415)387-5025
5546 Geary Blvd.
(@ 20th)
San Francisco, CA
(Outer Richmond district)

Price: $-$$
Rating: 6.5 (Rating & price key)
Last visit: 10/07/04

Decent food in a nice cozy throwback space (think checked tablecloths, at-your-table jukeboxes, and plastic grapes hanging from the ceiling). On a Thursday evening, Christina & I were seated right away and a somewhat narrow green vinyl booth by our cheerful waitress.

I ordered veal scallopini with spaghetti and meatballs (the meatballs being just a $1.00 addition), while Christina had a sausage, ham and mushroom pizza. The veal was unremarkable, neither particularly bad nor particularly good, but the spaghetti, topped by two whopping meatballs, was tasty - I should have followed my first instinct and gotten a plate of just spaghetti.

Christina's pizza was pretty good, with a nice thin crust and good flavor. Our waitress forgot our order of garlic bread, but when reminded, it arrived quickly, and she didn't charge us for it, wich was nice. The bread itself, however, was terribly garlicy and made my mouth hurt (and I really like garlic!). A little roasting would have helped tone it down. Definitely avoid this if you're here on a date!

All in all, a pleasant enough place, but I didn't think it lived up to the high praise it often receives on other food sites.