The West Portal location of this SF mini-chain focuses on fresh ceviche and Peruvian seafood standards.

(877) 558-4432

24 West Portal Ave (Ulloa Street)
San Francisco, CA 94127 37.7406 -122.4663

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Neighborhoods: West Portal, Twin Peaks West

FRESCASF.COM

Hours:

Mon-Sat 11am-10pm

Sun 11am-9pm

Price:

$$

Last updated 10.14.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, Discover, MasterCard

Cuisine:

Caribbean, Seafood, Mexican

What People Are Saying About Fresca

The Owner

Fresca

Owner

Fresca is a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco offering a ceviche bar. At this restaurant, you will find a nouveau Peruvian cuisine, a modernized style of Peruvian food crafted by Chef Jose Calvo-Perez. Fresca keeps the Peruvian cuisine alive by keeping all traditional Peruvian ingredients and incorporating them into all their creations.Our intention at our San Francisco restaurant is to create and to prepare a distinctly advanced kind of cuisine, while nonetheless conjoining our patently Peruvian approach with a manner of purity and simplicity in the approach.Fresca buffet catering services…

Provided by CityGrid

Read more from the owner

Featured Review

Chelsea Lin

Contributor

Not a half block from busy West Portal Station is this warm and inviting space serving up seafood done numerous tasty ways: as a citrusy ceviche, pan-roasted on a bed of wilted spinach, skewered and grilled, crusted in panko and fried, made into a creamy chowder or a spicy stew. Peru's long coastline means the South American country specializes in flavorful seafood, and patrons to this lively restaurant form lines almost as long to get a taste of it. For those who prefer turf to surf, juicy meat dishes are also available: lomo saltado (wok-fried steak strips), aji de gallina (pulled-chicken…

Editor's Tips

Know Before You Go:
The two other outposts of Fresca are located on 24th Street in Noe Valley and on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights.
What to Drink:
The sangria, by the glass or pitcher, is sweet and filled with delicate dices of fruit, making it a popular choice with the heavy dishes.
Look Good:
Call ahead for a table--you'll need to on busy nights, and this is the only Fresca location that doesn't accept online reservations.
4 Star Rating: Recommended

02/09/10

This is so strange, really!

by henriettaolson at Citysearch

This is so strange, really! Sometimes like several weeks ago, the food is absolutely fantastic from Fresca. Other times, it's completely dog food!

I don't know what the deal is other than they must have different chefs at different nights. I wonder which nights are the perfectly magical nights huh? I need to make sure because it does get pricey and some of the off nights are really awful.

3 Star Rating: Average

12/11/09

Fair warning.

by ninersfan2 at Citysearch

First of all, any restaurant that makes me have to search for parking at West Portal has to be good. Coz everyone knows you have to circle the block several times and do that about four times and ypu're about ready to move on.

Anyway, their steak dish is very good. The stuff with seafood just ok. Mainly because it can get a little fishy at times. Fair warning.

1 Star Rating: Poor

12/09/08

The second worst ceviche of my life

by Carlitos77 at Citysearch

Me: Borned and raised in Peru so this tells you I know what Peruvian food tastes like, smells like and looks like. My girl Julie and I just moved to the Bay from LA and we love ceviche. We ordered a ceviche the first time and it was not bad but it could have been better. The second time the plate was smaller, the ceviche was dry, no juice at all and the quality of the seafood was terrible. The service is great, the place is clean and nice, but don't go there if you are looking for authentic Peruvian food. They serve you chips and salsa, what da hell? It is a Peruvian restaurant!!!!! get it right. The pescado a lo macho was better than the ceviche, I gave it a C+. Ceviche F. We also ordered the sangria and I liked it, so we gave it an A.

  • Pros: Great service and the staff is on the clock
  • Cons: Bad ceviche, quality of food is questionable, what are they making Peruvian or Mexican Food?
4 Star Rating: Recommended

03/01/08

The West Portal branch isn't bad

by foodielover at Citysearch

Do not understand how come folks are posting complaints about the Fillmore restaurant on the West Portal site. They're probably under different management because the West Portal service was pretty good. We walked in w/o reservations near 6PM and got seats at the bar, which is kind of a nice place to view the action in the kitchen. The yucca appetizer ($9)was very tasty, similiar to large thick country fries but not as starchy. It came with thin slices of marinated raw purple onions and a delicious spicy green citrus dipping sauce. I had the seafood paella ($22) which was very good. It had fresh mussels, white fish, sweet shrimp and clams all in a large bowl, There was so much that I had to take it home. The loco salido was delicious. Tasty marinated slices of beef mixed with fries and served with white rice. Didn't care much for the sangria ($6.50/glass) but their fruity beverage was refreshing. We were too full to try dessert but saw a flan pass by that looked good. Service was good, but perhaps we were so close to the kitchen, they couldn't ignore us.

  • Pros: Yucca appetizer and loco salido were very good
  • Cons: Make reservations on weekends as it gets crowded
1 Star Rating: Poor

03/01/07

Lousy

by salmon21 at Citysearch

Priced as an upper-end restaurant, the food and service here is amateur at best. Went to the Fillmore Street location. The decor and atmosphere seemed rundown; the tables looked like they would fit better in a breakfast place than at $27 entree restaurant. The waitstaff served like they had no experience or sophistication. They were always checking in when we didn't want them there, and were never there when we needed them. The whole tai snapper was undercooked--so raw it would not come off the bones of the fish, which the waiter did not offer to fillet even though he should have. Outside of that, the food was mediocre. The silverware was dirty. Despite the prices, there was no indication by taste or otherwise that the ingredients for the dishers were selected with care for quality. In short, this restaurant is pretending by its prices and menu to be a big league San Francisco, but it is not even close.

Message from Fresca

  • Original Fresca Since 1996
  • Authentic Peruvian Cuisine
  • Neighborhood Favorite

Fresca is a Peruvian restaurant in San Francisco offering a ceviche bar. At this restaurant, you will find a nouveau Peruvian cuisine, a modernized style of Peruvian food crafted by Chef Jose Calvo-Perez. Fresca keeps the Peruvian cuisine alive by keeping all traditional Peruvian ingredients and incorporating them into all their creations.

Our intention at our San Francisco restaurant is to create and to prepare a distinctly advanced kind of cuisine, while nonetheless conjoining our patently Peruvian approach with a manner of purity and simplicity in the approach.

Fresca buffet catering services are available.

Fresca
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