Chez Spencer Restaurant & Bar
San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 864-2191
- Price:
- $$$$
- Cross Street:
- Folsom Street
- Hours:
- Mon-Sat 5:30pm-10:30pm
Editorial Review for Chez Spencer Restaurant & Bar – by Citysearch Editors
The Scene
A vast industrial space with soaring ceilings and concrete floors is warmed by a wood-burning oven that anchors one wall and by an open kitchen tucked in the back corner. A front patio, with a white-picket fence and cozy lighting, is a world away from the gritty back street outside. Expert servers know when they're wanted.
The Food
A vibrant menu features inspired examples of modern French cuisine. Some very tasty dishes, like steamed asparagus with truffle emulsion and an heirloom tomato and roasted beet salad, celebrate the ingredients with the least distracting of preparations. But it's the chef's way with sauces that really gets hearts racing. Exuberant desserts, like toasted coconut pot de creme, only strengthen the fuzzy feeling induced by a nearly flawless meal.
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Insider Tips
What to DrinkAn interesting drink menu offers updates on classic French cocktails.
Where to SitFor a romantic tete-a-tete, ask for a table on the welcoming patio.
User Reviews for Chez Spencer Restaurant & Bar
06/30/2008 Posted by ews
Dined at Chez Spencer for first time this week, after hearing many friends rave of its atmosphere and excellent food. Ambiance was intimate and certainly not over the top, mixing industrial comfort with a solid formula for service excellence. Steak was one of the best I’ve had this year. Cosmo from the bar was average. What I give low marks in this review is the seemingly excessive $30 corkage fee. I can understand $20, even $25, but $30?
Pros: Cuisine, ambience
Cons: Excessive corkage fee
01/24/2008 Posted by citydavid
This is the dining experience that has motivated me to write my first review ever. Unfortunately, the good food is overshadowed by the almost humorous service at this restaurant. After being seated, it was 30 minutes before our waiter even paused at our table to see if we had any questions. We ordered drinks and he disappeared without giving us a chance to order. A fee minutes later we flagged him down to order dinner and he didn’t have a pen and raced off, presumably to get a pen. He made a detour to the bar to bring back our drinks and came back, with one of three drinks incorrect, and still didn’t have a pen. He went back to the bar to fix the drink an came back-still without a pen. I’m totally serious. At this point I approached the manger to let him know that our server was having some serious issues. He said he’d keep an eye on our table. The meal was good and shortly thereafter was asked for the check. About two minutes after giving us our check he came back and gave us someone else’s check with their credit card-all ready to be signed. I got up again and brought this to the manager. The most disappointing part of this comedy show was that the manager never apologized, didn’t offer to comp anything-nothing. It was as if he really didn’t care that the service was so bad. So, the food is good but there are plenty of other French places in the city with good or even better food - and excellent service. If I had been paying the bill I would have given no tip whatsoever.
Pros: Decent food and nice environment
Cons: Hard to beleive how bad the service is
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