Cafe Jacqueline
(415) 981-5565
1454 Grant Ave
San Francisco,
CA
94133
37.8003
-122.4072
Neighborhoods: Telegraph Hill, Northeast
What People Are Saying About Cafe Jacqueline
The Editor
Contributor
Citysearch
The Scene
With white walls, soft classical music and delicate lighting, there's not much to distract diners from their dates in this spare storefront space. Attentive yet unobtrusive service encourages a quiet, anticipatory mood; the relaxed pace demanded by the souffles (which are made to order and cannot be rushed) allows the mood to develop in the right direction.
The Food
Chef-owner Jacqueline Margulis' menu is made up most entirely of souffles, though a few standard starters, such as hearty French onion soup and a lightly dressed baby spinach salad, grace the menu. But sharing light-as-air souffles is why this achingly romantic spot exists. Savory souffles are big enough to share, from the classical Gruyere cheese souffle to an innovative pairing of salmon and asparagus, or prosciutto and mushroom. For desserts, forgo the bittersweet-chocolate souffle and get the fresh strawberry souffle, lightly sweetened and bursting with flavor.
User Reviews
foodielover
May 11, 2008
A slow, leisurely meal where reservations are mandatory here if you want to be assured a seating. Located next door to Savoy Tivoli, middle of the block in a non-descript storefront with no menu on display. Expect to stay 2.5-3hrs to fully experience the food and have a conversation and HEAR the people you are dining with. There are 8 tables for 2 and 3 tables for 4 (that's the crowded area) and one table for 6. Because it takes so long to cook and eat the souffles, I saw the waiters turn away folks w/o reservations. I started off with a lovely French red wine and tasted the onion soup (still salty), butter lettuce & red bell pepper soup du jour - all good. The crunchy, delicious, hot out-of-the oven French bread reminded me of the ones in Paris. The lobster souffle had chunks of lobster but not enough according to my spouse. I thought the savory souffles were saltier than I remembered. Our favorite was the brie & broccoli souffle but nothing compared to the organic strawberry (specials of the day - including morel mushroom & truffle souffles) for dessert, a tad too sweet at the bottom. It was all easily shared by 4. I concur w/an old saying, "Kings wait for souffles, souffles do not wait for kings." The dk curly hair waiter can be gruff, but he was courteous to his customers. The silver-haired waiter is the friendlier one but neither will engage in extended conversations w/the customers. Souffles here are on the "runny" side than "pudding" side but so much better than the overcooked ones which have the consistency of a cake rather than souffle. Chef Jacqueline is a petite, mature woman now. She has 2 helpers in the tiny kitchen area and you can see her when passing by to the outside restroom. I was told she's enjoying herself too much to be thinking of retirement, and I hope not for many more years. I have never left unhappy after dining at Cafe Jacqueline and will miss her souffles when she does retire one day.
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melanie seymore
April 25, 2008
OK- This place may not have all of the fancy decor of a 5 star restaurant but I got over that very quickly when our food arrived. First let me say this is a great place when you want a romantic spot and you want to hear the words of your dining mate. Our waitress was quite friendly and made some wonderful recommendations. . I would recommend getting one souffle if there are just two of you dining because they are big enough to share. Plus they offer a bread basket prior to your souffle arriving to your table. Also no one will look at you in disgust if you decide to eat right from the serving dish rather than your plate. We also had their lemon souffle for dessert. As a professed chocoholic, I must say this was quite sumptuous and severely curved any cravings of chocolate I had. Sorry for those of you who had the rude waiter. Our waitress/ souffle efficianado was nothing but wonderful. I don't regret going here at all and I plan on going again! Oh and one last thing. We took a cab there. When it was time for us to go, a waiter went and got one for us. I do mean that literally. He went out into the street and about 10 minutes later a cab arrived with him in it. He got out and held the door open for us, told our driver the name of our hotel and off we went. Talk about service!
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PaulW1
January 21, 2008
I would echo Danielle L's thoughts. The service is just abominable. Let me recount my experience for your reference. My first time to Cafe Jacqueline was about 2 years ago. The decor was less than spectular, but it was a charming little house structure with tall ceilings. Romantic and intimate in an old-fashioned sense. The food that time was good. I remember the souffles were good, but I was not in awe with them. There're lots of great restaurants like La Folie and Gary Danko in the city where they also serve excellent souffles. Of course they also come with different price tags for an entire meal, of course, but cafe Jacqueline is certainly no bargain. I remember walking away feeling pretty good about the place. Not spectular in any sense, but good. This time the experience was different. We arrived early at the restaurant. We had made a reservation at 8:30 pm for desserts, but our dinner ended early at night, so when we got to Cafe Jacqueline, it was about 8:10 pm. What I'm going to tell you about the subsequent experience will be *shocking*. The waiter (most likely the same waiter as Danielle L. spoke about, since this kind of rude service is very hard to find) came to us at the door, and asked for our reservation. We told him we arrived early and he told us there wouldn't be a table available until 8:30 pm, which is completely understandable. He then tried to convince us to cancel our reservation and go elsewhere. Yes! He told us to go elsewhere, because we arrived 20 minutes earlier than our reservation. He didn't ask us to take a walk and come back in 20 minutes (it was freezing cold outside) for our reservation. He told us to cancel the reservation to go elsewhere. He then tried to physically gesture us towards the door. Bottomline, worst service ever. The waiter kicked us out the door simply because we were 20 minutes earlier than our reservation.
read full reviewThe Details on Cafe Jacqueline
Know Before You Go:
With only a dozen tables, reservations are a must. Since souffles are created one at a time, be prepared for a leisurely meal.
What to Drink:
The wine list offers many reasonably priced French selections by the glass, half-bottle and bottle.
Category:
Payment Methods:
American Express, Visa, Discover, MasterCard
