Pazzia serves one of the most authentic, delicious Italian dishes around. And somehow, they manage to prepare the dishes with less cheese and bread than other greasy North Beach joints. Service is attentive and friendly. I don't think they take reservations for parties smaller than 6 so be prepared to wait. The room is a little one-dimensional, and can fill up quickly. Last night, I had to yell over the large birthday party group just to hear my date. But the food more than makes up for my throbbing throat.


Fresh, warm bread the old-fashioned way. The Medessi beer is drinkable. And any choice of their thin crust pizzas is good. We ended the night sharing an affogado glass, warm coffee syrup over a scoop of vanilla gelato. Note to self: get back on the treadmill....now!

Is it a romantic place to bring a first date? Probably not. A fourth date with someone you feel comfortable eating delicious, messy spaghetti with? Absolutely.

As my good friends and I always say, restaurants and bars should only open with a 9 month expiration date. Unless it's a classic, sustaining a restaurant, especially in this economy, is a pipe dream. Meet the next victim.


For an instant, the location is a nice breath of fresh air on Chestnut Street, helping to break the monotony of its neighboring retail, pet retail, and more retail stores. Spatially, they didn't get it quite right. You have to squeeze in everywhere. Service was attentive though. We were seated immediately and our bubbly server came to our table no less than half a dozen times. Good Arnold Palmer in cute, kitschy jars. The wedge salad is fine. I mean...who can taste anything else when its drenched in blue cheese? Battling a somewhat upset stomach, I decided to go light and order appetizer sliders and a side of the roasted veggies. Best thing about their pork sliders? The sweet Hawaiian bread used to smash all that oozing meat. The veggies were just ok.


A little too loud to hold a normal conversation without straining your throat but overall, my first visit didn't warrant any serious complaints. I think one time is enough for me though. That - or the nine months will come sooner than I realized.