Photo: Sean94110/Flickr
Farina is kind of a rip-off. This is something many people agree on. Their $26-dollar plate of handkerchief pasta with pesto, while delicious, has been a frequent topic of conversation around town (even back when it was priced at $24), and the restaurant's only gotten more egregious with a list of entrées that start at $34 and a new 4% cover charge for bread and water — they're still paying off that expensive build-out to be sure. Now Michael Bauer pens an update review covering all of the above, and makes clear that the place is no longer worth the price. "When you're paying this much at a beautifully designed but casual restaurant in the Mission, the kitchen needs to be on fire at all times. It wasn't the case here." He even found his pesto cold and not fresh tasting as before; the vitello con salsa verde had a "stale, refrigerator taste"; and he says the entrées are about $10 overpriced. Before delivering the one-and-a-half-star blow (despite three stars for atmosphere), he concludes, "By the time you walk out the door, you can easily be more than $100 a person poorer. Considering the price and the uneven quality of the food, I'd walk to another restaurant." [Chron]
