Zuni Cafe

Recommends

newenglandtransplant

Joined 7 years ago

Still the Standard. Zuni is still the standard in San Francisco. We had reservations and were promptly seated. We took our drinks to our table and were not rushed by our waiter. We were allowed to finish our cocktails before ordering any food. Nice touch. We had some family from Boston visiting and they loved Zuni. Oysters, salad and fish graced our table. All were terrific including the staff.

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jah4

Joined 7 years ago

Have You Been to Zuni Lately?. The first time I went to Zuni was when I first moved here, almost 10 years ago. Although it was a great experience, I'd never think to go back, since there are always exciting new places opening. But I had some friends coming in from Boston last month, and wanted to take them to a real "San Francisco Restaurant." And you know - it is as good and as packed as ever. Everything we ordered, from the fresh oysters, to the salads, to the fish - was superb. The chefs clearly take a page from Chez Panisse, using fresh, local ingredients in their preparation that make the dishes really stand out. I had read other reviews saying that the service was bad, which is shocking, as we experienced no rudeness whatsoever. I won't wait another 10 years to go back!

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clydeharris

Joined 7 years ago

Charging $2.25 for a side of anchovies.... ...ordered a side of anchovies with my caesar salad during a recent visit. three wonderful anchovies arrived after I was halfway done with my salad. my check included a $2.25 charge for these precious lil things, which the waiter conveniently neglected to inform me would be an additional charge. how lame is that?

nickel and diming to drive this customer away....for good this time.

Doesn't Recommend

patrickbad

Joined 10 years ago

NO, No bad Zuni!!. I use to eat here after working late. I use to really like it too. But, what happened? We ate there recently and the food was OK. The service was nasty!! We ordered cocktails and recieved the wrong ones. When the waiter sent them back he brought the right ones after we finished our meal! THen to add insult to injury we had to wait 20 minutes to have it taken off our bill after we ate. THe Zuni burger I ordered came out med well after ordering it rare. But, I was so hungry from waiting forever for our food I went ahead and ate it. I'm sorry to say I will never return to Zuni.

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mkbauer

Joined 7 years ago

Best roasted chicken. I dine here so many times. And the roasted chicken is still the best in SF. Looking forward to go back there soon.

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LC foody

Joined 7 years ago

Nice location to dine with friends. The restaurant looks modern, bright and spacious. Service is professional. I must admit that I had high expectations with the rave reviews I had read before, but overall eventhough not everything was as expected, it was not a bad dining experience. We started dinner with drinks and some salads, and the soup of the day, all good. We had to try the roasted chicken that everyone had been raving about, it took almost an hour for it to be served which we attributed to the restaurant being busy (the menu does state that it'll take 30 minutes to prepare), but we were having a pleasant conversation and good drinks, so we didn't make a fuss about it. The chicken was slightly overcooked/dry, but the shoestring fries side dish were great. If we come back in the future we would definitely try the other entrees in the menu.

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babs77c

Joined 7 years ago

Great food, great atmosphere!. The best meal we've had in San Francisco - the food, the service and the atmosphere were unmatched. Highly recommeded.

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greasycrumb

Joined 7 years ago

Don't listen to the unrefined detractors!. If you're trying to decide whether to dine at Zuni and are given pause by the curious mix of great and terrible reviews, allow me to propose an explanation: The common threads of the negative reviews below seem to be bad service, limited menu and high prices. In terms of service, I find that Zuni's staff isn't snooty at all, rather the service is subtle; I loathe the falsely intimate, overly chatty service at many restaurants - that style is better employed at places like TGI Friday's. The servers at Zuni aren't going to pretend they are your best friend; they are serious about the food and act accordingly, in a professional manner. In terms of the limited menu, Zuni's onus is to use the freshest seasonal ingredients to capture them at their peak. Therefore, they can't have an enormous, unchanging menu. What they do have are beautifully-composed, seasonally proper selections (generally 5-8 entree choices are available). Finally, I think the complaints about the prices originate from diners not used to fine dining. Zuni's prices are fairly moderate for this genre of restaurant - far less than Chez Panise, Boulevard or Gary Danko. I've been dining at Zuni for a few years and have found it to be one of the most consistent restaurants in SF. The flavors are subtle and refined, and always delicious.

Doesn't Recommend

selmagur

Joined 7 years ago

VERY OVERRATED, OVERPRICED AND BORING FOOD. We went there with a friend of mine by hearing that it is a famous restaurant. Everything bad bad, the white wine we ordered which was an expensive one also came in 25 minutes u it was an empty Wednesday night and it was not cold, the salads were so small and not special, something you can dop at home, the food was very small in portion and so pricey. We were so hungry after paying 75 USDper person , we had to eat the bread at the table. Never recommeend it to anyone, it is a total LOSS OF MONEY, TIME and it can DEPRESS you with the BORING food.

Recommends

jbsquared

Joined 7 years ago

Whole Roasted Chicken is Fabulous!. Great atmosphere! Though the salads were very tiny, the giant whole roasted chicked made up for the dissapointment. It was simply succulent! It's the house specialty and the 60 minute wait went quickly...with the help of our heavy pouring bartender! Yummy drinks! Wish we liked oysters- they have quite a selection!