Penny Roma
Italian restaurant · Mission
3000 20th St, San Francisco, CA 94110
Highlights
Fresh pastas, crudos, and wine in a lively setting
Fresh pastas, crudos, and wine in a lively setting
"Ever tried to teach an old dog new tricks? As evidenced by our attempts to teach a three-year-old French Bulldog how to do anything besides sit (he just stares at us like we asked him to speak German), this is one of those things your mom says that’s annoyingly true. The Mission restaurant Central Kitchen changed up their menu, apparently hoping to move away from their reputation as an upscale neighborhood American fine dining spot, and learn some share plates and affordability tricks. And while they’ve gotten the sharing thing down (just like Thor and his ability to sit), Central Kitchen can’t shake its pricey and fancy training. Luckily, despite the changeups, Central Kitchen has kept a few of the things that we always liked about it: the location is prime, and the space is modern, but not in a cold minimalist way - there’s a big skylight, vines, and wood accents that make you feel like you’re eating outside. The menu is diverse and full of some of our favorite stuff to eat: burrata, avocado, pasta, pork. But we just wish there was more of it on the plate. Come to Central Kitchen prepared to drop a good amount of money on many small plates. The vegetables and things that come under the “larder” section of the menu are definitely the best of the bunch - they’re really well executed and full of flavor. But the pastas aren't as good as we'd hoped, and the bigger plates were also a bit of a letdown. One trick Central Kitchen has mastered though is the f*cking fantastic fry bread. We’re very pleased they learned that one. Ultimately, while Central Kitchen 1.0 was one of our favorite places to hang out, version 2.0 just doesn't feel the same. We’ll be back for drinks and a snack, but won’t be hitting Central on the regular for a full dinner unless the parents are paying or we start playing - and winning - online slots. Learning new things is hard. Food Rundown Fry Bread With Burrata The real pro move would be to show up at Central Kitchen, drink five to seven cocktails, order four rounds of this fry bread with burrata and call it night. The bread is like a savory donut and the burrata is phenomenal. Best thing on the menu, hands down. Beef Tartare Very peppery and very delicious. It also comes with some beef tendon chicharrones things which are addictive and 1000% terrible for you. Marinated Eggplant Sort of earthy and pretty good. Very soft roasted eggplant and crispy rice for some texture diversity. Not a must order but a nice vegetable dish if you’re looking to stay away from animals. Avocado A Mediterranean take on a vegetable salad, there are peppers and za'atar and yogurt and lots of sesame seeds in this small plate. We just wish there were more of it. This is a theme at Central Kitchen. Pappardelle Although the pork is spicy and good, the pasta is lackluster and the portion is quite small. This is fine, but not as hearty as we hoped. Salmon With zucchini and fried almonds, this is a solid piece of fish. Not huge but a good few bites for everyone if you’re sharing. If you got this as an entree though, you’d be frantically trying to get the waiter’s attention to order an additional fry bread to fill you up. Frozen Berries While this sounds like something you could eat out of a freezer bag, it’s actually quite good. The berries are cold and come with seed crumble and whipped cream. Very refreshing and light." - Taylor Abrams
"Penny Roma is the sister restaurant of Flour + Water, but it’s a bit more casual and serves more traditional Italian dishes like lasagna bolognese, agnolotti dal plin, and chicken al mattone. They still have Flour + Water’s DNA, though—so it should come as no surprise that the housemade pastas are always boiled to a textbook al dente, and well-coated in sauces you’ll want to sop up entirely with a hunk of focaccia. This plant-filled Mission spot also has great crudos and small plates that you should get for the table and enjoy with a glass of wine in hand." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong
"The sister spot from the Flour + Water team focuses on more traditional Italian pasta dishes, like bolognese and cacio e pepe. And you should expect nothing less than al dente perfection from this overachieving offspring. If it’s on the menu, get the rigatoni all’amatriciana—the slightly spicy tomato sauce and guanciale snuggled inside the pasta tubes gush out with every bite." - julia chen 1, lani conway, patrick wong
"This venue will host a pop-up from the team behind Bar Le Cote (Los Olivos) on Monday, August 4 as part of a guest-chef series organized by a local restaurant group; specific menu and ticketing details were not provided in the report." - Dianne de Guzman
"How Far In Advance Should You Book? Day-of or a couple of days ahead. Two weeks out for prime weekend spots. The more laid-back sister restaurant to Flour + Water is readily available for birthdays and kind-of-last-minute date nights. The Mission spot with a gorgeous courtyard serves classic Italian pastas, like tortelloni in fragrant brown butter and agnolotti dal plin we’d happily shrink ourselves down to nap on." - julia chen 1
