Best Date Night Restaurants in Pacific Heights

Always a quintessential S.F. experience… feels like home🙏

My husband and I are Florio regulars for several reasons: * The service — including Jamie the bartender, Josh and Peter the servers, and David the host — are always on their ‘A’ game. We feel well taken care of when we dine here. My husband has trouble walking due to Parkinson’s, and the staff here is always ready to help us get to our table. * The food — never had a mediocre or bad dish here. The parpadelle, lasagna (not currently on the menu), hanger steak, roasted crispy chicken and cacio e Pepe are particular favorites. The desserts are excellent as well, including the olive oil cake and caramel gelato. * The drinks — though I’m not a regular martini drinker, I love the Florio martini. It’s delicious. Florio offers a well-curated wine list, too. * The ambience — sophisticated and casual. Lighting is at just the right level. Not too low so you can’t read the menu, not too bright where you feel like you’re at a chain restaurant. For total transparency, we have no business or family ties to Florio. We’re not friends with anyone who works here or anyone who owns or manages the restaurant. In other words: We have nothing to gain from posting a glowing review. I just like to recognize good people doing a great job.

Joyous experience. Our third or fourth time here, fabulous food and service each time. Maz and Jordan are extremely attentive and friendly. The dishes are exquisite and delicious. The Taste of the ocean dish is a must. So good. The menu changes seasonally, with some staples on there year round.

Absolutely incredible meal! Everything about it from start to finish was near perfection! Firstly, the hospitality is on point. A server is always right there when you need them to be and they made the amazing suggestion to get half an order of each of the pancakes rather than a full order of one. The servers that come around with the trays of food also know what they’re doing. When I ordered a single oyster for myself and my partner made a comment about not liking oysters, the servers gave us an extra one for free just so my partner could try it. This was an absolutely amazing opportunity to show not just above-and-beyond hospitality, but also that the restaurant truly believes in the quality of its food. And you know what? My partner did say it was the best oyster he ever had! They’re known for their quail however, I just think it’s not meaty enough of a bird for how it was prepared (Most parts were more breading than quail). As for everything else I tried, I just can’t think of any criticisms at all. I guess I could complain about my glass of rosé but that’s entirely my fault. I went with sparkling when I should have gone with still. The hit of the night were the blue corn-pepita pancakes with braised bacon and coffee butter. I wasn’t even going to order it until the server made the suggestion and I’m glad they did! The pecorino and ricotta pancakes are good too just not as good. The wedge salad is all the right balance of flavors with a nice crunch of lettuce to feel extra bright and fresh. The fried brussel sprouts are paired with an incredibly deep cashew satay sauce. The umami richness is impeccable. The almond financiers with duck liver mousse are another example of perfect balance in flavor. The financiers are light and fluffy and the mousse is smooth and delicate. I thought the burrata and bread dish came a too late into the night for us to fully enjoy however the peanut milk was the perfect cap to our evening.

We returned to HED11 for the new menu, and we agreed that it’s one of the best they’ve ever created. I’m not very familiar with Thai Northeastern cuisine, except for papaya salad, but everything was incredible. The table-side preparation for the papaya salad was really creative, and the final dessert was stunning and creative as they crafted a dessert that looked exactly like the artwork, which made the night even more fun and exciting. Last menu they served 6 main dishes at once, which felt a bit overwhelming but this time they separated the main courses into three smaller courses served with rice, which felt much more balanced. I highly recommend trying this new menu, it’s outstanding! Thank you for making our birthday celebration extra special with the thoughtful gifts