Nob Hill Italian Restaurant Will Take Over Stones Throw Space

Amidst news of neighborhood favorite Stones Throw’s impending closure comes another shakeup on Russian Hill: Italian restaurant Seven Hills will move into Stones Throw’s former location when its seismic retrofit is complete sometime next year.

Owner Alexis Solomou says the eventual move will give the restaurant, and chef Anthony Florian (Quince, Cotogna,) more room to expand its menu. The 45-seat dining room currently occupied by Seven Hills at 1550 Hyde St. (just over the Russian Hill/Nob Hill border) has provided only enough space for a tightly curated menu and wine list since it opened in 2010, says Solomou. At the new location, 1896 Hyde Street, Solomou says he’s planning to open up the back dining room, grow the bar’s footprint, and expand the kitchen to make room for larger projects like whole animal butchery.

“We’re definitely rolling the dice by moving our location,” says Solomou. “We have a pretty good following now.”

The restaurant opened with chef Alexander Alioto, scion of the Alioto clan, in 2010, serving a menu of rustic Italian food on a quiet stretch of Hyde Street. Florian took over in 2013 when Alioto left to open now-closed Plin; Seven Hills went on to earn accolades, including a 2016 three-star review from former SF Chronicle critic Michael Bauer, who raved about the pasta, and the meatballs, calling it a ”second-tier restaurant that in any other city would be the first tier.”

Expect Seven Hills to shut down for a few weeks ahead of its move, which is slated for the spring. As for Seven Hills current space at 1550 Hyde St., Solomou says he hopes to hang on to it and open a different concept there. It all depends on the results of negotiations with his landlord, however, so stay tuned for more details on what may (or may not) happen there.

• Stones Throw, a Russian Hill Favorite, Will Close January 1 [ESF]
• Seven Hills Climbs into Bauer’s Three-Star Club [ESF]