Unfortunately Vega has truly lost its 5 star power from the past. This was once a neighborhood gem, with warm and friendly service, turning out great food, reasonable portions, and had a wine menu that went well. The Vega of today is one that has mediocre foods, tiny portions, nonexistent service (truly lacking and out of touch) and is a shell of its past. I came back to the neighborhood to experience one of my former favorite restaurants but this one is a pass until things get better. read more

Love this place a lot! Come here and eat calamari with beans, enjoy wonderful atmosphere, beautiful service! I'll keep coming back and bringing some people! read more

Vega is DELICIOUS. I recommend the gnocchi with mushrooms, the spinach salad. I didn't like the sardine appetizer because of the bones in it, and the mushroom pizza is good, a little more cheese than I'd like. I'd ask for light on the cheese in the future. The seafood risotto is delicious and I liked the capellini with crab, but wouldn't get it again. I've eaten there twice, and would return. I think the price is right for the food etc. Also I read in other reviews that they don't do great with reservations, so I called at 6:30 to confirm my 8pm reservation, and we were seated on a Friday within a few minutes of arriving (5 - 10), so no biggie there. Cheers! read more

Good food. The Rigatoni is wonderful. Good service. Lovely wine. Their special gnocchi with sausage and mushrooms is to die for. Staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. read more

Yum. Pizza to go on a Saturday night. Not locals. Loved the Margherita and the mushroom/truffle oil pizza. Both were incredible. And so fast!!! read more

Favorite Italian in the Bernal/Mission/Now area. Quaint atmosphere, amazing food, nice wine, reasonable prices

We had originally tried going to another Italian place and arrived to find it closed. The nearest one was Vega. I'm very happy we ended up here because it was delicious! I have the pizza vegetariana and my friend ordered the margherita pizza and added prosciutto. So delish!!! Try the house Chardonnay too, very yummy read more

Cozy setting. Quality, original food. Nice staff. Their reservation management can be improved though. read more

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We got takeout and they managed to miss one of the items we ordered. However the pizza and pasta were solid and everyone enjoyed. Great mix of classic dishes and ones with a spin. Would definitely come back! read more

We had to wait about 15 minutes but they gave us a free and very generous pour of the wine of our choosing while we waited and the wait was well, well worth it! Very authentic Italian food and very European feel. Definitely would recommend! read more

Omg! Second time here.. make reservation if you can. They are good at getting you in at the time promised.. so delish.. read more

Vega - Italian Near Me - San Francisco, California

The best little Italian spot there ever was! We got the fungi pizza and added arugula and caramelized onions on top and it was incredibly delicious. Support this business! read more

This place was so small it was perfect for my shoes collection!!! I love this hole in the wall resturant, Everything was good from the angel hair pasta with tomato sauce, it taste just MMMM YUMMY, pizza was great perfect crust and dessert the tiramisu WOW !!! I will Comeback again.. oh not to mention I don't know if it was just that night I went (WEDNESDAY) they had a special it was bottle of wine for 50%off so instead of getting 2 glass a wine.. we got a bottle that cost the same price. read more

I just had dinner there with my family. The food was decent but not great considering the prices. The service was horrible, they wouldn't show me the check but rather shove an electronic monitor in front of me and request a tip and decided to clean the table while I was trying get our leftovers together. They didn't bother to even give us a bag for the leftover. I waited tables for over 10 years and have never seen anything this bad. 1 star is too much, won't be going back again and I live half a mile away. read more

We come here maybe twice a month. The pasta is delicious. The salads are great. House wine is fairly priced and tasty. The service is good. The restaurant is small, dimly lit, and intimate. You will be shoulder to shoulder with strangers. Reservations aren't hard to come by, but don't let that fool you, it's a fantastic little restaurant. We will keep coming back. read more

Food and desserts were delicious and service is pretty good. Parking can be pretty hard to come by, so plan on circling around to find street parking. Atmosphere is pretty noisy, definitely not a "impress your date" place and seating is not very intimate, so it's pretty good for groups. read more

Quintessential mom and pop Italian restaurant. Casual enough for a weeknight dinner and nice enough for a date. The wine list is not huge but well curated. The menu is also not large but bigger than many places these days. I enjoy the grilled calamari, pizzas (with gluten-free crusts), and lamb chops. They have a small sidewalk area too, and even our greyhound has been welcomed. Recommended as a neighborhood gem. read more

Fantastic meal! Perfect lighting, comfortable atmosphere! Can't wait to return for a date night.

TLDR; Long wait for mediocre food and poor service. I really wanted to love this place because of the awesome Yelp reviews. I called to make a reservation for 2 at 8 pm and we weren't seated until 8:20. I totally understand this was a busy place on a Saturday night so I was being patient the delays, however the owner or general manager was trying to seat another couple at our reserved table because they no longer wanted to be outside. The staff told him that there was already a reservation and he was visibly upset at them which made us feel uncomfortable. Once we were seated, we were given menus but didn't get our order taken until 15 mins later. The waitress quickly asked what we wanted but then we noticed how promptly she took the orders of those next to us and even told them about the specials of the day which we weren't made aware of. My partner ordered the angel hair with crab and there was barely any crab. I ordered the gnocchi with pesto sauce and it was pretty bland. We were set on having dessert so we waited for the waitress to come by with the menu. Again, we waited and waited and saw how attentive the staff was with the 3 other tables indoors minus us. Other 3-4 staff members even looked at us and they could probably tell we were waiting for our waitress but chose to do nothing but stand around. I may not look like the typical client but I definitely know when to take my money elsewhere. read more

Went for a long time friends 60th birthday and we were not disappointed. The service was great, The wine selection was a good variety and the portions were great! read more

I want to start out saying the food is VERY GOOD here. That is not the problem. I will make this short. Reservation (on a MONDAY) made for 7P, table not ready, they'd let us know. NO-ONE ever came to let us know anything!!!! Standing outside in the COLD for a half hour (yes, now 7:30P!) and I have to go in to inquire........WTF?!?! They said there still are NO TABLES. Why on earth do you take a reservation when you cannot seat your customers??????????????????????????? They have no hostess to handle the guests. No apologies, no wine offered in the way of an apology.... JUST LEFT STANDING OUT IN THE COLD with NO IDEA of when we'd be seated. WE LEFT AND WILL NOT BE GOING BACK! read more

This is my go-to Italian restaurant in the 'hood. They've gone through different owners over the years but have the same menu (you can ask for dishes not on the current menu but on past menus) and same great flavor. The guy who sets/ cleans your table and brings you bread and water has been the same for many years and may be quiet but is fast and responsive. Some of my faves are the Insalata Romana, Rigatoni al Forno, and the Orecchiette alle Cime de Rapa. read more

Vega is the perfect date night spot. The atmosphere is dimly lit with votive candles and moss succulent frames hung around the small restaurant. You have to get the artichokes filled with goat cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, Fungi mushroom pizza and of course the best thing on the menu....THE BOSCAIOLA!! Gnocchi served with fennel sausage, mushrooms and truffle sauce!! Vega is a no brainer when I'm craving some good Italian!! read more

I absolutely love it here. The food is delicious. My favorite dish is their Paparadelle al ragu with wild boar. Oh. My. Gosh. So darn good. I find myself craving it often! The bread they start you with is absolutely worth "spoiling your appetite" for. So so good. It's perfectly done. Also try to save some room for dessert! The pistacho ricotta cake and chocolate cake are amazing! It's also just so cute and cozy inside. I love dining here as there's always a lot of action, the owners are fantastic, and the service is solid! Highly recommend. read more

Most important thing in this review is that 3 out of 4 of us were over the moon with their meal here Wednesday after the Van Gogh experience. I had fairly minor issues but enjoyed the dinner very much. The Caesar salad was a fail for me and my entree was veal scaloppine which, while delicious, was more like a veal cutlet than a thinly sliced scaloppine. Having half priced bottles of wine (maybe a Wednesday thing?) more than made up for these things, and again the fact that everyone else loved their pasta dishes so much makes 5* for me. read more

We paid a somewhat high price for three very basic pasta dishes. I asked for one dish to be made without cheese on top. The waitress was more than happy to replace it, but then they simply scraped off the plate and returned the same one without the cheese. read more

We came in Saturday night (made a reservation). We wanted to try few things-we ordered artichoke hearts with goat cheese for appetizer, pizza margarita, gnocchi and chicken - everything was amazing!!!! Fresh, tasty, they really know what they do. Great stuff and good vibes! read more

Ate dinner here late on a Saturday night and we were delighted surprised with Vega! Our female server was very friendly and provided great service from the minute we walked in. The ambiance is very cute and intimate with some great music playing in the background. We ordered a the Ricca salad to start, and shared the Gnocchi Alla Boscaiola/ Saltimbocca. Everything was delicious! Best Gnocchi we've had in awhile, and being Italian, I'd like to think I know good Italian when I eat it! The sauce with the Saltimbocca was so good we were using the complimentary bread to wipe every last drop of it. We had a couple glasses of their house Chardonnay, which was also surprisingly cheap (only $5/glass) and yummy. By the time the dessert menus came, they had already closed we were clearly the last ones in the restaurant. We still did not feel rushed and decided to share the Affogato-was a great decision! The espresso helped digest all the food we just ate and the ice cream and fixings hit our sweet tooth. We will definitely be back and look forward to trying the pizzas! read more

Excellent meal. A real gem. Service was good and all our dishes (muscles, stuffed Artichokes, boar Ragu, and calamari) were fabulous.

Great food but service could be better. Had 7:00pm reservation. Our party of four got seated at 7:30. Server finally came to our table at 7:45. Had to ask them several times to fill up water. Besides that, food was great and food came out swiftly. read more

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in SF. This is the place that I take friends and families to when they visit me in Bernal Heights. The restaurant itself is super cozy, a total neighborhood joint, and every single dish I've had here has been wonderful. The crab angel fire pasta is a must have! Every time I think about the buttery, perfectly al dente, crabby plate of pasta, my mouth waters... yes, it's that good. It's also super easy to make reservations (easily do it on Yelp), which makes this place a hit all around. read more

Love Vega. Great neighborhood gem. You can never go wrong here- consistently good, authentic pizza & pasta. Great wine selection as well. Been coming here for years- but just writing the review now because I'm selfish and wanted to keep this a secret. read more

A very charming neighborhood spot We felt a little cramped at the tiny table for two against a wall The margarita pizza was tasty And the New Years eve special, crab ravioli was good Service is a bit off as we sat quite awhile before anyone came for our order. And when they finally arrrived, they asked us to move, even though they told us to sit there, because they had forgot a party of six reserved the spot. And at the new table, once again, we waited ten minutes and finally we could place our order It might have been nice to offer an appetizer or a little something for the inconvenience..... show some class. She seemed very bored and blah I would positively get my next order to go and eat it at home, read more

Vega is the perfect neighborhood spot. The house red is great and so well priced. The house bread is warm and comes with an excellent olive oil. And you can't go wrong with pretty much any pasta dish on the menu. They always have great specials too! Overall, you'll have a great experience at Vega! read more

I was really excited to come here due to the positive reviews, but I walked away unimpressed. We made a reservation and still had to wait 15-20 minutes to be seated on a Sunday evening, which was a bit disappointing. I also thought the dishes could be seasoned a lot more - we had the rigatoni and a pizza to share, and I salted both of these, which I've never done before at an Italian restaurant. Overall, a cute and intimate atmosphere, but the food left a lot to be desired. read more

They don't honor the reservations customer make. Once you check in you still have to wait a long time.

Two of us ordered 3 entrees and an appetizer. Couldn't stop, all of it delicious. Great little spot with super attentive service.

Love this restaurant. Has a very New York vibe. Amazing service with a complimenting staff. Highly recommend.

Here's the story: it may look the same, but Valentina was recently taken over by the owners of Vino Rosso Wine Bar, and is now called Vega. And oh, what a difference some critical changes can make. First of all, the food is much improved, and much more consistent. They offer several varieties of thin-crust pizza, which is such a welcome thing in a neighborhood sadly lacking in pizza options. Our favorites are the Margherita and the Mushroom Truffle Oil. Secondly, there is an entire section on gnocchi. And they have truly nailed the texture of this hard-to-master pasta, which is so hard to do - not too mushy, not too springy, not too heavy, not too light. They know this, so they offer it in several different ways - with your choice of 4 sauces, or in a heartier main dish. We had the Gnocchi with sausage with mushrooms in a truffle oil cream sauce and it was the best dish of the night, by far. The protein based dishes are good as well. We had a mediterranean-inspired cod that was well cooked and flavored with tomatoes, capers, and olives - very bright and fresh, and a nice contrast to the carb-loaded pastas and pizzas. Service was very nice and accommodating - we mentioned that we had limited time and the food came out quickly, so we didn't feel rushed at all. Next time, I will try one of the wines from their extensive list. A nice makeover for the neighborhood's restaurant community, and the packed tables attest to its success thus far. And talk about knowing your customers - they now offer a Pizza Bambino night on Tuesdays, when you can get half price pizzas if you bring your kids. I will be back soon, and often - bravo, Vega! read more

Ten years since our first review, still serving fantastic, authentic Italian. Great service as well. Thanks!