Citysearch Editorial Review.

by Patrick Heig

A striking view of the bay provides a beautiful backdrop to a chic, lofty dining room and a bar backed dramatically in lapis-blue. The crowd is often a bit random--tourists from the piers and Ferry Building, special occasion couples and groups there for dinner-with-a-view, and downtown boozers who make the trek for Butterfly's great happy hour deals. It's hard to tell if former Chronicle "rising star" chef Robert Lam's menu is more Californian or Pan-Asian, but with dishes like duck confit spring rolls, kalua pig lettuce cups, and whole-roasted fish there's something for everyone. Later at night, Butterfly transforms from restaurant to bar, with a DJ and dancefloor, thought because it's so far from other nightlife areas and often charges a cover, is very hit-or-miss.

06/28/09

Great Restaurant on the SF Waterfront

by PamNewcastle

We stumbled on this restaurant after taking the Alcatraz Tour. We felt very lucky to end up here instead of in some tourist trap. The food, drinks, service, and decor are all very good. We ordered from the brunch menu, which is excellent.

• Pros: Great drinks and food
• Cons: None

08/22/08

Go here!

by foodieSS4K

I?ve been here before and each time, I have had a very pleasant dining experience. On top of that, did you know this restaurant is teaming up with StreetSmart4kids? It?s actually really cool what they?re doing. I just heard about how SS4K is a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged teens stay healthy. They are running their ?Dine Out and Donate? campaign here (as well as approx. 70 other restaurants in SF) during October and early November. After having a fabulous dining experience, just fill out the donation form when paying the check (minimum donation $3). This is perfect for people like me, who love to eat out all the time and also like to give back to the community. Check it out for yourself on the StreetSmart4Kids website!

02/15/08

Odd Pairings of Ingredients

by siciliana

Dill on hanger steak? That didn't work for me. The food was incredibly salty.

Great drinks. Great service. Beautiful interior.

• Pros: Many dishes are flops.
• Cons: Great drinks. Stunning interior.

11/18/07

worst service ever!

by mhanafy25

i had heard amazing things about this restaurant. unfortunately, the experience proved to be the complete opposite of all my expectations. first, a group of 6 of us arrived for brunch and waited a good 30 minutes in an empty restaurant before any server just as much acknowledged our table and offered to bring drinks. The waitress was unapologetic and oblivious to the fact that our table waited for so long. As they eventually brought our food out, i would say that 2 dishes of the 8 we ordered were up to par with my expectations of a somewhat classy dining setting. throughout our meal, our waitress seemed to be completely inattentive to our needs, and the whole experience, in general, made for a waste of dining energy. let this be my experience and not yours. butterfly is most definitely not worth the hype.

• Pros: you can easily seat a large party
• Cons: service was horrible.

10/31/07

I'd love to tell you about the food...

by mcrow309

...but, I can't. I can honestly say that my experience at Butterfly was the worst I had in San Francsico. My friends and I stopped in for an impromptu lunch...the restaurant was half empty and the hostess still attempted to jam five people at a four top. After requesting another table we sat for almost 20 minutes with only the water and edamame brought to us by the busboy...thankfully, somebody at Butterfly knows how to do their job. When we politely inquired if someone could take our order we were told "I'll get someone to you in a minute" After 10 more minutes we all got up and walked out. Only then did the manager make any attempt at service. Too little too late. I'd love to tell you abou tthe food, but we never even had a drink, well, except for water. Thankfully, Houston's across the street was more than accomodating, and although a chain, was a great restaurant experience...a complete 180 degrees from how we were treated at Butterfly.

Don't go to Butterfly!!! And they can be sure I will continue to tell people about the experience I had there.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Poor service

10/16/07

We couldn't have loved it more

by frnchmani9

We recently threw a 30th birthday party here. We rented the resturaunt and Ryan was fabulous. He did everything we asked and did it well. He was the best party planner I have ever worked with and I highly recommend stopping by and checking it out.We started with appetizes,dinner and drinks for 35 people. We walked in and it was breath taking, the resturaunt was exactly how we wanted it and everything was flowing perfectly. The 3 course meal wowed the group. They had their choice of whole fish, risotto, lamb shanks, or filet migon. Dessert was chocolate torte & coffee ice cream, banana bread pudding w, carmelized bananas & macadamia nut brittle, or vanilla creme brulee w/ berries. After the dinner they transformed the resturaunt while we relaxed with drinks and photos. The view was spectacular, the whole side of it is windows overlooking the Bay. The resturaunt was transformed for the fashion show and performers and the party started. The drinks were flowing the food kept coming all night. We had valet parking, and staff working the door for security. Everyone of the staff members was extremely accomidating and even thought to bring out extra appetizers as a two in the morning snack. The cigar bar on the deck on the water was a huge success as well. Like I said I have nothing but wonderful things to say about every one of the people at the butterfly that helped have a great night.

• Pros: service was fabulous, food was spectacular, nothing but good things to say

09/21/07

Don't waste your palette on this sad excuse of a restaurant

by latina415

I had originally made reservations for dinner, but after tasting the appetizers was completely discouraged to order anything. Besides extremely salty pan-fried noodles, the waitress was a word away from getting a drink thrown on her.......FYI - This place is great to get drinks ...

• Pros: The bartenders are great and the view isn't bad either
• Cons: Food....

09/09/07

Great place to dine with a view without being in a tourist trap.

by hotelo

Just enjoyed one of the best dinners in a view restaurant. Every thing was great about the restaurant. Very relaxing atmosphere and very friendly and well trained wait staff. The appetizers were incredible. I recommend ordring a few and sharing. Entres were well portioned, great presentation and very tast. The place is a bit on the pricey side but the value is there. Desers were incredile and good to share as well. I was hisitant to dine here after reading a couple of the negative reviews but the reservation was already made for us. Glad we went. Don't know what happend to the people with the bad experience. Maybe an off night perhaps. Worth a try. Try to reserve before it gets dark so you can enjoy the view

• Pros: great view, great staff, great food
• Cons: not close to other places if you want to hop arround .

08/09/07

Avoid at all costs; disgusting food, overpriced, gross

by rfsanchez

This restaurant deserves to fail. It's overpriced and gross -- not sure where people get the idea that it's a decent restaurant. The food was greasy, oily, overcooked and made me sick -- the same kind of sickness that you get when you eat too late at Applebee's and they haven't changed the grease trap. The chef also has no idea what to do with beef -- we ordered a "kobe beef" burger where you couldn't taste the beef but merely the oily drip, and had some hangar steak that came chopped up in tiny, burnt little pieces that were more "well done" or even "crisp" than the rare and medium rare we ordered. As for salads and vegetables, the tomatoes were colorless and insipid -- and this right in the height of summer when you can't turn around without bumping into a juicy, sweet ripe heirloom tomato. Whatever food was acceptable was pretty standard applebee's stuff -- fried calamari, a potato gratin consisting of cheese and flour (no artistry there whatsoever). The appetizers seemed more acceptable, if only because the chef shares SF's obsession with pseudo-fusion food and so thinks that anything fried can be made fancy by the addition of chipotle, lemongrass or both.

On top of that, the service was slow and took way too long for food that was utterly simple.

Please, avoid at all costs! Save yourself the money and go to applebee's. and if you do go, bring some alka-seltzer to cut the grease afterwards.