SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — A true San Francisco classic, Palio blends family legacy, handmade Italian dishes, and 35 years of warm hospitality to keep the Financial District feeling deliciously timeless.
For 35 years, Palio has been a fixture in San Francisco’s Financial District, an Italian restaurant built on family legacy, craft, and the deep-rooted belief that dining is about far more than food. Owner Martino DiGrande, son of an immigrant Italian restaurateur, says he was raised with hospitality in his DNA. As he puts it, “when someone walks in the restaurant, I view it like they’re walking into my home.”
Born and raised in San Francisco, Martino’s journey back to the industry was almost inevitable. “My father is an immigrant from Sicily and found a restaurant business because that was the opportunity for young immigrant kids,” he says. After working in his father’s restaurant throughout his youth, he eventually followed his own path downtown, where a chance conversation led him to Palio. “One day you’re gonna come and work for me,” the former owner told him. Martino replied, “One day I’m gonna buy you out.” Six years later, that’s exactly what happened.
MORE: Mom and Pop (and Son) restaurant Chapeau! brings a taste of Paris to San Francisco
In 2012, Martino took over the former Palio D’Asti and now runs the restaurant with his wife, Valeria, who serves as director of sales. Overseeing private dining, she keeps Palio’s two event spaces “full and busy” with everything from corporate dinners to weddings and anniversaries.
Together, they maintain the restaurant’s signature warmth and authenticity. Martino describes the cuisine as “Pan Italian,” drawing from both northern and southern traditions. He highlights “soul-filling food” made with Italian-imported flour, fresh pasta rolled daily, and wood-fired pizzas crafted by Denaldo, who has worked the oven for three decades. And then there’s the tiramisu-prepared by the same baker for 35 years – which he calls “the best tiramisu, hands down, bar none.”
As San Francisco experiences what Valeria sees as “the start of another boom cycle,” the couple is focused on honoring Palio’s legacy while welcoming a new generation of diners, “making sure more people know that we’re still here 35 years later,” Valeria asserts.
Learn more here.
Copyright © 2025 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Dining and Cooking