Il Massimo - San Francisc

Nice atmosphere, food is fresh and healthy. Service is a bit hit and miss, but quite family style.

I like Il Massimo del Panino. First, the food is great for lunch Today for example, I had a chicken salad sandwich panini. I had the panini toasted. I just ordered a 1/2 as the portion size is large Is so good. I had with it a very good dry valencia orange drink. Perfect combo. They also have a nice dessert area and teas. The price I paid was very reasonable. I ordered at the counter and one picks up there, but they still do a great job of offering very good and friendly service. I also like the atmosphere of the place. Its large, with a nice fireplace on the way in (its February so pleasant to have. . The wood tables are so nice. Its nice to dine there either as a solo diner or as a group.

Was walking around San Francisco, getting a bit peckish and spied Il Massimo Del Panino, ostensibly an Italian sandwich shop. (The name translates as The maximum of the sandwich . Walking through the long hallway into the main dining area, I noticed it was bustling for a Friday morning, as staff prepared for several weekend catering orders. I stopped at the pastry and coffee section to peruse a menu. Neither cheap nor too pricey, I decided it was better than McDonald 's. After all, a freshly made sandwich, with fresh ingredients, cannot be confined to just Subway. I approached the ordering counter and looked at specials, pre-made items and the like. I was greeted by a man I took as one of the owners, with an accent, but not Italian. I knew this because when I spoke Italian to him, he said he was not, but his partner is. Oh, well. I said I had a conundrum i choosing between the Veggie Bagel, for $4.95, and the Salmon Lox Bagel, $6.95. Now understand that I hail from NYC and saying Salmon Lox is akin to offering Asian Chinese, or Mexican Tacos. Is there another kind? I suppose one could nitpick and offer Turkey Pastrami as such a redundancy, but... whatever. When I asked his opinion, he of course offered up the more expensive of the two. And I was hungry, and I as curious as to how a SF Lox Bagel looked. And so tat was my choice. He offered me a seat, saying i would be brought my plate. I grabbed a local tabloid, sat and relaxed. My mind went paged through memories of Lox platter back east, to the presentment of the plate, and to the bagel, open-faced, layered on one side with cream cheese slices of pink-fleshed fish, adjacent to the other half of the cement doughnut, adorned with lettuce, tomato, onion and capers. Maybe a pickle spear to complete the long-ago fantasy? I was becoming hungrier and more imaginative, as I scanned the paper. A server approached, with a plate and my anticipation went hit a high until... I saw the offering. There, on a small, white oval, was a closed, semi-toasted bagel, encompassing smoked salmon and all the other appropriate trappings. Coming already encased was a bit of a let down, but what the heck. It was paid for and I was getting ravenous. I tucked into the first bite and felt a bit of surge, as the somewhat briny fish hit the taste buds. All the ingredients tasted fresh, but... no pickle, no garnish, nothing... extra? For $7.56, with tax, it was just this side of a let down. Oh, well. I ate, trying my best to savor the flavor before moving on to other victuals at other venues. I finished and lingered over my newspaper. No one ever came by to ask how I was doing, or to offer anything. And at that point, I was the only seated customer in the whole place. Would ever return there? Maybe. Unless I saw a McDonald 's first.

We were staying in the neighborhood, and walked by il Massimo several times, and finally stopped for a menu. We came back the next day for lunch. The panini were lined up in the case, ready for toasting, if desired, and salads were available by the generous bowlful as side dishes. We opted for lunch deals with a panini and a salad. The lentil/tomato/basil salad was fabulous, and the beets with basil in what seemed to be a lemon/evoo dressing. We were full after half a sandwich and a few bites of the salads. We sat out on the front sidewalk area for great people-watching. The leftovers were packed up and served as our lunch the next day at Yosemite, where a squirrel gave his full approval of the beets before I read the sign that said not to feed the little buggers. Anyway, having been in Italy several times, I found this place delightful. The counter service was friendly, the food fresh and delicious, and the atmosphere while eating lovely. The breakfast menu looked great, but alas, we will leave that for the next time.

Hidden gem, it's on a side street great sandwiches and salads. Not sure if they are open for dinner I had lunch there several times.