discount dining at Fior d’Italia

I bought a $50 gift certificate for Fior d’Italia off the KOIT radio website. It only cost twenty dollars on their dining deals link. I had heard of this restaurant before. Plus I’d seen advertisements on the tops of cabs claiming that it was one of SF’s oldest and best Italian places. I believe in advertising! I held onto the gift card for a while and then one day when my hubby and I were in the neighborhood (sort of Marina and Cow Hollow near Fisherman’s Wharf) we decided to go. Being the discount hound that I am, I called and booked a table from my cell phone on OpenTable to get a few points towards a gift card they offer. I was on a discount roll! To top it all off I asked about the corkage price to bring your own wine. Lalo, the Fior d’Italia manager quoted an eighteen dollar fee. Then he mentioned the special of the day was a halibut dish that sounded great: halibut steamed with butter, pine nuts and garlic, which had me salivating. So I booked a table and off we went.

bring your own wine and pay corkage

The weather was nice for San Francisco: not too cold and not too hot. Since we were a trifle early, we checked in, left our bottle of valpolicella at the restaurant, and then went for a short walk around the wharf to see the ocean. It was so nice. We chanced upon a guy posing his dogs with tourists for a $5 fee. The dogs were adorable, wearing little hats and sunglasses. Nearby, a reggae band was playing. We checked out the huge Boudin’s sourdough factory and museum. I don’t get down to the Fisherman’s Wharf area enough. Usually we only go to eat there with people from out of town. We like Fisherman’s Grotto with its combo of locals and tourists and pretty good sea food run by old Italian family.

So, back to Fior d’Italia! Lalo said, “Welcome home,” in that oh so Italian celebratory way upon our return. He gave us a tour of the place. Apparently the current spot is like the fifth or sixth location as they’ve moved around the city a lot since the turn of the century and all. There are private rooms available by reservation. We saw charming black-and-white historical photos of Italian weddings with hundreds of people celebrating and eating.

We picked our table in the front by a window so we could people-watch between bites (parroting my French Women Don’t Get Fat philosophy) It was mostly glamorous ladies with fancy dogs strolling along in an almost Parisian manner.

We ordered the recession special; a four course dinner for just six bucks more than the price of an entrée alone. Besides the entrée, you get a Cesar salad which was crunchy good though my husband said it was a bit small, a bowl of nice minestrone soup with soft potatoes and carrots, and dessert, in my case, a big creamy tiramisu. Not surprisingly, the wine that I brought was fantastic. Also a deal, my husband bought it for like five bucks in Europe and smuggled it back in his suitcase! The valpolicella was smooth and velvety. I had one glass with each course.

I ordered the pasta with veggies and my husband got the special halibut. Both were delicious. Our server, Israel, was good, and Lalo positively doted upon us. The bill came to around $85 but with the fifty dollar discounted gift card, it turned out to be only 35 bucks plus tip (not counting the $20 investment for the card). I always try to do corkage to save a bit of money which also lets me drink wine that I know I’ll like. Other restaurants also offer corkage as an option: Jardinière’s is $25; Piperade’s, $20; Kokkarri’s, $20; and some places are free. I recommend that you call ahead to ask about the corkage fee and any related rules. More on corkage deals to come in another blog.

Try Fior d’Italia sometime. They have specials every day on really good traditional Italian food. I didn’t take pictures because everything was so delicious I ate every bite before I could whip out the camera! I know, not very French of me! I tried!