621 Bridgeway, Sausalito, CA 94965 (See Map Below)
Phone: 415-331-5225
Neighborhood: Bridgeway Promenade. Website and reservations are here. A parking lot is next door, and city lots are about three blocks away. Some street parking farther south on Bridgeway.
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Angelino
This video (in Italian) starts with a video montage of San Francisco, but then goes to an interview with Chef Ancona of Angelino.
Angelino is a nice little Italian place founded and operated by the Ancona family, focusing on cuisine from southern Italy. They draw high marks for their food. The restaurant has remained successful for many years in an area with multiple excellent Italian competitors, leveraging its Bay and City views and its “feel free to speak Italian with us” atmosphere.
Insiders Note: Angelino’s founders have a long history of volunteering at local non-profits and supporting the Sausalito community. If you live here, please take the time to thank them. Eating here would be an even better way to show your appreciation for folks who help the local community.
The restaurant is just across Bridgeway from the Bay and has a wide view of the San Francisco skyline in the distance, but only the tables near the front and outside on the sidewalk really get the full impact of this vista.
The southern Italian cuisine is authentic and the food is well prepared. The dining room is not large and the setting is classy — it reminds us of being in Italy when we come here and the building is close to 100 years old. Service is pleasant and efficient. Their view may not be as open as Scoma’s across Bridgeway, but I think their house-made pasta is better.
This is a place where if you wanted to order and speak only in Italian there would be no problem. OK, they might have to swap servers, but this is a lot better than a lot of Italian food places across the country where the server thinks “Firenze” is a fragrance for women that’s sold in drug stores.
For many of their dishes they make the pasta by hand in-house — ask your server about the dish you plan to order. The pappardelle I had recently had the “feel” you can only get with pasta that’s fresh-made. The mushrooms were likewise fresh and the texture was wonderful.
I would also love to pass a City ordinance that only sports cars can park in the spot in front of Angelino, and never SUV’s. If a low-slung car is in that space it opens the big view for two or three additional tables.
On a nice day consider this place for a very late lunch or an early dinner. Especially in winter, Angelino’s front tables have a view of the San Francisco skyscrapers bathed in the sharply angled light of the last hour of the day. The colors and shadows change every five minutes, and it’s a beautiful show.
Fun fact: The phone number for Angelino today is (415) 331-5225. That happens to be the same number as 331-JACK, which originally was assigned to the building over 50 years ago as a marketing technique for its then-current occupant, the Jack London Restaurant and Bar!
Something else that people should know about Angelino? Have proof that the UPS driver is trying to blackmail the restaurant by constantly blocking their (great) view with his %^$##%# truck? (We’ll testify as witnesses at the trial!) Disagree with any of our suggestions? Please let us know!
