Pre-New Year’s Dinner in the Castro at Starbelly.

With the recent visit of @LifeWithAWhisk for the Xmas holiday – we decided to bring her out to a few SF favorites around town since we’d been cooped up in the house for the majority of the holiday. On her last evening in SF, we took her to Starbelly.

Half Rotisserie Local Chicken

Starbelly, sister restaurant to SF staple Beretta, proved to be an ideal location for a cozy Sunday night winter supper. This resto, given its menu of Italian comfort classics with a contemporary and Californian spin, is constantly busy and bustling with small groups and couples filling the tables. The menu is easy to pick from and Starbelly offers a balanced selection of microbrews (draft and bottled – including one of B4F’s favorites: Hitachino Nest White Ale), wine and non-alcoholic selections – just don’t come here looking for liquor, spirits or Diet Coke because they don’t have any.

As a preface, since we don’t believe in giving “star” ratings, we’ll  let you know what we recommend and whether we’d come back. Our dinner for six consisted of the following:

Salad: Little Gem Lettuce Caesar with Avocado & Starbelly Bacon ($6)

Artisan Pizzas:

• Starbelly Bacon, Jalapeno, Arugula & Green Goddess Dressing ($13)

• Market Pear, Blue Cheese & Wild Arugula, adding Spanish Ham ($14+$3)

Plates:

• Fresh Spaghetti, Starbelly Bacon, Jalapeno, Tomato & Basil ($11)

• Half Rotisserie Local Chicken, Warm Potato & Winter Spinach Salad ($16)

Vegetable: Cheddar Grits & Wilted Winter Greens ($6)

Dessert: Caramel Pot de Creme

Bacon, Jalapeno, Arugula & Green Goddess Dressing Pizza. Bacon's the shining star of this pizza.

Starbelly Bacon, Jalapeno, Arugula & Green Goddess Dressing Pizza – The quality of the pizza crust is very similar to Beretta and the green goddess dressing was what really made the pizza memorable with its zesty flavor in combination with one o life’s pleasures: bacon.

Spaghetti with Bacon, Jalapeno, Tomato & Basil – perfectly sweet and tangy sauce with the spicy kick of jalapeno and the fattiness flavor from the bacon. Excellent swirl-the-pasta-around-the-fork capability.