Best Restaurants for Special Occasions in Pacific Heights

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

We go as often as we can -- definitely at Christmas. This time we were in a cozy room with a fireplace. Dinners was DELICOUS as always. Everything included -- just a few choices to make and drinks aplenty! Great martinis and service that is beyond (Trevor and our carver were fantastic). A San Francisco institution!

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.

Excellent all around! We had the boeuf bourguignon, steak frites, blanquette de veau. All delicious. We also enjoyed the desserts, we’d recommend the crème brûlée and chocolate fondant. Great atmosphere inside and great staff.

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