Carly G.
Yelp
Let me first say that I rarely write reviews, but my experience at Al Grottino in Capri was so on another level that I had to let you all know. This is a very special place, the kind of amazing family oriented Italian restaurant that you dream about eating at.
The owner, Jean Franco, mans the ship every night and treated us like we were a part of his family. At a glance Al Grottino looks like nothing special -- small indoor dining room with not-so-hip torquoise table cloths -- but as soon as you sit down you slowly realize you're in for a magical evening. The menu has a lot of items on it, and so we decided to trust the staff and just tell them what we were in the mood for -- they took that and ran with it.
For antipasti we had the Octopus Carpaccio and it was phenomenal -- very light and the perfect way to ease into an adventurous local dish. Pasta course we had the Gnocci Bolegnese, only way to describe it was "umami". For secondi we had a special pork cutlet with wine / caper / green olive sauce that was unexpectedly delicious. Jean Franco poured us a half glass of wine with each course he selected to be paired. We eat at amazing restaurants in San Francisco all the time and this place was easily better than the best neighborhood Italian restaurant in North Beach.
For what it's worth, we were waking down past Al Grottino on our last night in Capri and Jean Franco spotted us, called us back into the restaurant for glass of Prosecco on the house and we ended up spending the rest of the evening there -- we had a ravioli appetizer and the seafood pasta special, both to die for. Can't say enough about the service, staff, food, atmosphere, and just down to earth vibes. That combination can sometimes be hard to find on Capri, so this place is a diamond in the rough.