A16, Italian restaurant in Marina District, San Francisco, US
A16 is an Italian restaurant on Chestnut Street in San Francisco, focused on the food and wines of southern Italy. The kitchen runs a wood-fired oven for Neapolitan-style pizza alongside handmade pasta dishes, with fresh California produce woven into the menu.
The restaurant opened in 2004 and took its name from the A16 motorway that runs between Naples and Canosa di Puglia in southern Italy. That choice of name was a clear signal from the start about the region the kitchen intended to draw from.
A16 holds official certification from the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, meaning the dough, ingredients, and baking technique follow precise rules set in Naples. The wine list focuses on southern Italy, featuring bottles from regions like Campania and Sicily that are rarely seen on menus outside Italy.
Reservations are a good idea, especially on evenings, since the dining room fills up quickly. Those without one can try the bar counter, where seats are often available without a wait.
The wine list has earned multiple awards from the James Beard Foundation, which is rare for a restaurant outside Italy that focuses so narrowly on southern Italian producers. Many guests come specifically to explore bottles that are hard to find anywhere else in the city.
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