Longtime Mission staple Delfina, which has been open as an outdoor restaurant with Pizzeria Delfina pizzas and some limited menu items for some months now, is finally reopening its remodeled and expanded dining room this week.

SFist reported in November 2021 that Delfina was closing both Delfina and Pizzeria Delfina in order to combine the two spaces into one restaurant, but at the time the closure was only expected to go on for four months. (Delfina has not served indoors since March 2020.) As with so many things in our fair city, you have to take six or seven extra months on to such estimates, and here we are.

As chef-owner Craig Stoll and wife Annie Stoll tell the Chronicle, the reopening is Wednesday, October 26, and you will note some changes to the program if and when you return.

After closing Locanda at the start of the pandemic, the Stolls held on to the full liquor license — which is a hot commodity in the Mission District especially. Thanks to that, Delfina will now boast a full cocktail program and a new, seven-seat bar area at the front of the restaurant.

Delfina's new bar area. Photo: Albert Law


Chef Stoll tells the Chronicle this week that regulars will see a number of changes to the menu at the 24-year-old restaurant, not the least of which is the addition of house-made focaccia, which he's been developing with local bread expert Michael Kalanty.

The pasta pomodoro and grilled Monterey Bay calamari with parsley oil served over beans have both remained on the parklet menu, and will return to the new Delfina menu as well. But, Stoll has put out an alert to fans: One longstanding popular menu item, the roast chicken, has been replaced by new items.

As Stoll tells the Chronicle, "To have these things on the menu that you can’t change ever — it’s a good problem to have. [But] it’s a chance to start fresh in some areas."

One could see the chicken perhaps returning, someday, as a special. One entree (or "secondi") that has been part of the parklet menu seems a likely candidate to stick around: the oxtails "stracotto" with bone marrow and risotto Milanese. The full new menu is not yet online.

Part of the remodeled dining room has an arched, copper-lined ceiling. Photo: Albert Law

As for pizza, it will now be a permanent feature of the Delfina menu and will also be available for takeout and delivery under the Pizzeria Delfina name — however the two menus will remain distinct. The Stolls say there will only ever be two pizzas at a time available for dining in the restaurant — the extended menu of pizza options will be available for takeout/delivery only.

Hours, going forward, will be Monday, and Wednesday-Saturday, 5:30-10 p.m.; and Sunday, 5-9 p.m., with the restaurant dark on Tuesdays.

Reservations for the dining room are now available starting Wednesday on OpenTable.

Previously: Delfina and Pizzeria Delfina Closing 'Til March for Major Remodel, Takeout and Delivery Still Available