Would you recommend a nice italian restaurant near the Marriot Hotel in San 
Francisco?

There appear to be several different Marriott Hotels in San Francisco.  I've 
assumed that you mean the one in downtown San Francisco, so the restaurants I 
mention are in that area.  This web page has a list of Italian restaurants in 
the downtown San Francisco area:

http://bayarea.citysearch.com/search?
type=grid&flavor_id=2&neighborhoods=214&cw1=53&histoindex_left=cw1&context=resta
urants&histo_name=Italian&start=1&sorted=recommended-desc&cslink=cs_sort_picks

Among the restaurants most highly rated by Citysearch's users and editors are 
Scala's Bistro at 432 Powell Street, and Puccini & Pinetti at 129 Ellis 
Street.  Both of these have mostly positive reviews from the site's users, 
although neither is completely free of complaints.  The link above also lists 
other restaurants with reviews, some including pricing information.  (Neither 
of the two restaurants I mentioned have pricing information listed).

SF Gate also lists and reviews restaurants in the Bay Area.  Seven financial 
district Italian restaurants received 2.5 out of 4 stars from SF Gate's 
reviewers, including Scala's Bistro, Puccini & Pinetti, and Kuleto's (which was 
also generally rated highly by the users of Citysearch, and is located at 221 
Powell).  No Italian restaurants in the financial district area received more 
than 2.5 stars.  For SF Gate's list restaurants and reviews, you can check this 
web page:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/search/rest_srch_wrap.cgi?
t=restaurants.tmpl&a=search&wdb=%2Fweb%2Fwais-indexes%2Feguide%
2Ffood&ty=Italian&cy=Financial&q=&Go=Go

If you were referring to a different Marriott Hotel, like the one at 
Fisherman's Wharf, both of these web pages should list restaurants in that area 
as well.  You can also clarify the question if you'd like me to look for some 
restaurants in a different area.  Here are the pages you can use to find 
restaurants in a different area, using the SF Gate and Citysearch web sites:

http://www.sfgate.com/eguide/food/
http://bayarea.citysearch.com/search?type=grid&flavor_id=2&sorted=rank-
desc&histoindex_left=cw1&context=restaurants&cslink=cs_generic_11_0

The author seems very knownledgable. The answer is specific and professional. I 
like this service.

If "dscotton-ga" is recommending places that he's never eaten at, you 
definitely shouldn't give him a five-star rating. If you are staying downtown 
(Union Square), whatever you do, don't go to Puccini & Pinetti -- it's probably 
the blandest, least creative Italian restaurant around. It might be better than 
the Olive Garden, but that's not saying much. 

My office is two blocks from P&P, and we actually AVOID it at all costs. There 
are a variety of other great restaurants in the neighborhood, including Kantaro 
Sushi (124 Ellis St.), and New Delhi Restaurant(160 Ellis St.).

If you absolutely want Italian, then go to Kuleto's (221 Powell). They were 
recently closed for remodeling, but I think they're open again, and they have 
great food. Good luck!

San Francisco's Italian neighborhood, North Beach, is not walking 
distance from the Marriott, but it is easily accessible via MUNI bus (you 
can catch the #30 Stockton in Union Square at the intersection of Stockton 
and Sutter and get off when you cross Columbus St.  Bus fare is $1.00 
and more info on this bus route is available at:
http://www.transitinfo.org/cgi-bin/muni/timetable?C=MU&R=30&M=D

The bus may sound like a hassle, but it's worth the wait to actually go to 
North Beach, which has many great restaurants and is a lovely place to 
walk around.  (You may prefer to take a taxi; my one caveat is that driving 
and parking in this area is *extremely* difficult).

My favorite North Beach restaurant is Caffe Michelangelo, at 579 
Columbus Ave.  It's a wondefully cozy and relaxing little place; a real 
"diamond in the rough".  Everything on the menu is excellent, and very 
affordable.  Cash only; dinner with wine will come to less than $15/
person.

I was in San Francisco recently and dined at Caffè Macaroni, 59 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, (415) 956-9737. Tremendous Italian atmosphere, unique setting, 
great food and service. Enjoy!:

http://bayarea.citysearch.com/map?mode=geo&lat=377961&lon=-
1224040&id=892482&fid=2