Sotto Mare

Went for dinner on a busy Saturday night. We cut the wait time by taking seats at the bar.

I started with a cup of clam chowder which was good. I shared the Crab Cioppino, which was excellent. There was every kind of shell fish along with pasta in the tomato based broth. The broth was perfect, not too thick or thin. The tomato flavor did not overpower the seafood. It is messy (bid provided, ). I had to use my hands to get at everything. The crab was delicious. Good size legs in the shell. The shells were cracked making it easy to get at the crab meat. It was large enough to feed a third person.

I really liked the bread they served, which was hearty enough to be used with the soup and cioppino. The crab

The place was hopping. It was tight and loud and lots of fun. The service was great. They were friendly, attentive, and fast.

Great food and experience.

Found this on spot on Yelp and decided to check it out. This was a solo meal and I wanted to try as much as I could, so I ended up ordering these:

Oysters: one from East and one from west, both were really delicious and sizes were ideal for me. The East tasted more sweet and West tasted more briny.

1/2 Dungeness Crab: the MP was ~$28 and the meat was sweet, dense and really fresh. So glad I ordered this, and it's a pain if you don't like using your hands, but I really enjoy the whole process. It's served semi-cracked, but still requires some labor.

Clam Chowder: the portion was great, not too much and not too little. The clams were plenty and the celery/potato/veggies were chopped small so the ratio was good!

The service here is quick and I sat solo at the bar with no wait. Very fun atmosphere with great quality food. I came to SF for good seafood and I definitely got it.

Must have anytime I'm in SF. The best damn crab cioppino is just that..by far the BEST!! It's packed full of so much seafood. The crab is precut so it's easy to get to the meat. The brother is so flavorful and just warms my heart with every sip.

I've recall trying the scallops here once before too and those were also killer. The most tender super buttery scallops I've had.

Also love the complimentary bread here..it's perfect with the soup.

Service is ok. It's really busy and packed in there but makes sense and I'm not knocking them for it. I'd rather sit down quickly and get good food and I have no complaints :)

A North Beach classic! This Italian Seafood restaurant has been in SF for a very long time (under different names and owners) and has been owned by a single family for the past decade! I came here for my birthday and had made reservations at 6 PM on a Thursday; make sure to call at least a week in advance. There's also limited parking.

We sat outside and immediately got bread to share. My friend and I split: "Best Damn Crab Cioppino" with seafood ($55 - 4.5/5 good variety of seafood including , tomato-y yummy stew, and goes well for dipping bread) and Linguine with Seafood ($30 - 4/5 should've tried another thing since it was super similar to the cioppino but with a white & creamy sauce & still yummy).

Our table also got these but I didn't get to try these and they thought that: Fettuccine Alfredo ($16 - 3/5 - didn't think it was anything special), Fettuccine with Bay Scallops ($28 - 4/5), and Risotto with Seafood ($31 - 4/5).

While super busy, their staff was very nice and you could even see the owner walking around talking to tables but you probably have to ask multiple times to get something. We weren't expecting anything for my birthday but they came out with a piece of bread with a candle stuck it in; we thought it was very funny and thanked them LOL.

Overall, a solid place for Italian Seafood!

Delicious! it had large pieces of crab, bay scallops, shrimp, octopus and white fish in a rich, savory tomato based soup with penne pasta.

Note: I'm not a fan of seafood

Came here on a Saturday during Santa Con weekend. We called ahead so my group got seated pretty much right away. We were seated outside and the main con was that the table was slanted and made it nerve wracking to eat, but that's just the city.

Our server was energetic and was on it with keeping us stocked with our water and bread. I got the linguine pasta with pesto and after adding more salt and Parmesan, I was a big fan of it. My bf got the linguine aglio-olio-peperoncino and it was a bit spicy but delicious! His dish was oily but that's to be expected lol.

I just wish that this restaurant had more protein options. I really think that this pasta would be much much better with some chicken breast or bacon crumbles. I know I could have gotten seafood but it would be nice to have a meat option for those who aren't a fan of seafood. I understand this place is intended for seafood lovers tho so I get it.

Be sure to get reservation for this restaurant. We didn't realize it at the time but we booked the same night as SantaCon for a friend's birthday. With reservations, everything went off without a hitch and the restaurant delivered despite a packed house on a Saturday night.

Definitely set aside at least half an hour for parking as they don't seat you without everyone there. Outside seating is more festive but cooler and basement seating is more private but more austere. I think either is great.

Food wise, I just loved their Sea Scallop Saute. Their lemon butter sauce was amazing and I still think about it. We also enjoyed their Cioppino, mussel and clam combo, and seafood risotto. Everything was fresh and tasty.

One of the busiest days at this restaurant without reservations and the service was the best. Thank you Laura for your kindness & ensuring that we were seated. Thank you to Connie & Carlos for great service. This is my second time here & the staff is awesome! Busy with chatter and music playing, including a TV in. My food was absolutely delicious, hands down. I ordered the half crab & noodles. My cousins shared the cioppino and said it was delicious. We also ordered peach bellini's! Would I be back? Yes indeed! Do I say you need to try this place out? Yes absolutely!!

I went here on a Sunday and it was very busy. All the tables seemed like they were really full but we didn't have to wait to get seated. The restaurant was very narrow and cozy. The servers were very nice as well and gave us really good recommendations on what to order since it was our first time.

We got the clam chowder and the cioppino.
The clam chowder was really good and thick. I really like how cozy and hearty if felt eating it. The star of the show was the cioppino. I loved how the crab was cracked already for us which made it easier us to eat it. I love the blend of all the seafood together!

5 stars for the food, but 3 stars for the dining experience.

Food: My cousin and I came for the famous cioppino. W O W - it did not disappoint! Of all the cioppinos I've had in my lifetime, this one had the most impressive array of seafood - shrimp, crab, mussels, clams, squid, and probably more things that I can't recall. The broth was delicious and the serving size was perfect for the 2 of us to share. The only thing I didn't care for was the penne pasta at the bottom. It's just inevitable that it will become overcooked while sitting in the broth.

Dining experience: The dining experience was just okay. The hostess was not very friendly when we asked if there was any outdoor seating available. We ended up sitting at the bar. It was quite cramped and the restaurant was kind of hot inside, so it was not the most comfortable dining experience when you're slowly picking through various types of seafood. This was not a deal breaker, but just something to be mindful of when considering different restaurants and their dining experience.