Levende Lounge | Restaurant | Bar

03/06/2008 Posted by yogamanic

While the food is consistently palatable and innovative, especially for groups of friends who want to share and sample a variety of tastes, the service and general attitude of the staff is half-assed and unacceptable to me. We went recently on a FRIDAY evening. We made reservations although the place was mostly empty. BAD SIGN! There was a big communication problem amongst the front of house staff which resulted in our having to wait almost an hour before our order was taken. The hostess shrugged her shoulders when I asked if we could order from the bar so that we could finish our drinks before going to our table. "That's not how it works" she said. Oh really? Finally, when she did arrive, the waitress looked at me like I was from Mars when I reminded her that we had been waiting almost an hour.There is a reason this place was empty the night we came. We spent a lot of money, but sadly for the owners, your staff don't care about the customer and we won't be back.

02/10/2008 Posted by MarLev

I'm just going to list certain concrete factors that make this place so awful and not worth spending your time or money on. I actually have a lot to say but have to limit it to 100 characters, so here it goes..... 1. Ridiculous service..hostess called my friend who had reservations a week and a half ago to tell her that b/c the restaurant is overbooked, we only have our table for 2 hours. Later, b/c another party was running late, we ended up staying at our table as planned, but seriously who does that? 2. The busboy dropped a fork dripping with sauce on my expensive dress and felt it was unnecessary to apologize or even acknowledge that this happened. The manager assured me he would talk to him and can reimburse my dry cleaning bill; however, the busboy who circled around me a couple of times afterwards, never came up to me to personally apologize. 3. My friend and I ordered the Filet Mignon and our potatoes were pretty much raw and completely inedible. We informed the waiter, who brought us back a plate of cooked and seasoned potatoes. Why did we have to send our plate back? Why couldn't the potatoes be cooked properly the first time?

Pros: Pretty good drinks

Cons: Awful Service

11/16/2007 Posted by cjglynn

If you read the CitySearch reviews after September 2006, you may assume Levende is going down the drain: not so!!! Went to Levende tonight, and the atmosphere was cool, the crowd hip, and the food great. For those of you that value CitySearch reviews, in Levende's case, I urge you to dig a little deeper. Take a look at the profiles of the "different" CitySearch users that supposedly had a bad experience at Levende: mabo29, dhilly, sflany, nadsinger, mpact, leonsf, adsfgh456, kellyk458, ddavidson25, gparks, and ttervis all have (as of tonight, 16 November 2007) only reviewed one (yes, one) place -- Levende. Methinks something is "wrong" (CitySearch review guidelines won't let me put the correct word here) in the state of Denmark. It is unfortunate that Web venues like CitySearch give malcontents an unbridled outlet for their perceived grievances. I am all for posting negative comments for restaurants that fail to deliver. Check my profile, I have done so. But to spuriously immitate many different users to get your point across devalues the entire CitySearch experience and unjustifiably punishes a business. Levende is good, great almost. It is certainly not perfect, and it is certainly not "a sinking ship." I urge all smart CitySearch users to evaluate the parties from which negative comments come -- not just in the case of Levende, but in the reviews of all restaurants -- and make their own, informed decision. In the spirit of full disclosure, I do not personally know the management or investors of Levende, nor am I involved in any way in the day-to-day or financial operations of Levende.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

11/11/2007 Posted by rachaelsee

As someone who enjoys dining out and great service I have a couple of things to say. The service (at the bar) at Levende was very disappointing. The food however, was great! I had a group of 8 arriving and arrived first with my husband - we were celebrating his bday. When we sat down at the bar the bartender was short and rude and seemed very disinterested in serving us. When another bartender asked if she was serving us she shrugged us off on him and he took our drink order. He seemed cordial and much nicer. However, later when the rest of the group arrived we ordered ceviche - which came with a tiny handful of chips and fried plantains. It was delicious - however - when sharing with 4 others, the chips were in short supply. When we asked for more chips to finish the ceviche - we received a tiny bowl with about 4 chips. Again, not enough to share. So we asked for another and again they brought literally 4 chips. So, one more time and finally the bartender asked "are you kidding?" I found it rude and embarrasing. I would have happily paid for an order of chips if he had suggested it. We spent over $500 that night...I did not appreciate the service at the bar. The restaurant was fine and everyone raved about how great the food was. The lobster shrimp appetizer was great - the mahi mahi was very very good and the mac and cheese was to die for. I would suggest new bartenders.

Pros: Valet, Ambience, Music

Cons: Location strange, bartenders are rude

09/30/2007 Posted by mabo29

Hmmm...can all these reviews be true? Yes. I believe so. Went there on Saturday night and had the worst service and the worst drinks EVER. Honestly, who does the hiring here? Bartenders that are rude, and drinks that don't taste like anything that is described on the drink list. I wish I got that bartender's name. No customer service whatsoever. Hire some real bartenders that have some idea of what the new drinks are, and get rid of the old grumpy ones behind your bar. Funny..dinner service is usually good, but skip the after dinner drink at the bar. Your whole dining experience will be ruined. Especially if the bartender that I had is there. Honestly, between the reviews that I've read here and the horrible service that I've recieved, this place is just a sinking ship.

Pros: dinner service, ambiance

Cons: BARTENDERS,SERVICE, DRINKS

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

09/06/2007 Posted by ttervis

Went here this past Saturday, and well ..did not enjoy my experience. Service was oh so slow, and drinks were not good at all. Bar staff could be so much better. they all need hospitality training and more bartending experience. Drinks could be so much better there. I wouldn't mind paying the price of these drinks if THEY TASTED GOOD. Don't waste your money at the bar.Ther are so many other places in SF to spend your money on "SPECIALTY COCKTAILS". To the gentleman who made my drink..this review is for you.

Pros: music, nice decor

Cons: drinks,customer service

08/26/2007 Posted by dhilly

Went here for Sunday Brunch, and it was the worst that I ever had. I often come here for it's food and it's service. I USED to come here for the drinks, but after today, never again. I agee with the previous review, the drinks were TASTELESS, and the bar staff was very slow. It didn't seem that crowded in there, yet, my drinks took awhile to make(?), and not to mention they were WATERED down, and the food was COLD upon arrival and well, mediocore. The "specialty cocktails" are not SPECIAL at all. Their mixologist needs to keep up with current cocktail trends..weren't those drinks on last year's cocktail list? Maybe I just have to go there on a different day/night? Different staff, maybe different service and better food? Hmmm...

Pros: ambiance, hip crowd

Cons: staff, service

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

08/19/2007 Posted by sflany

Don't go On Thursday nights! It's packed alright, but the crowd is awful! It looks like a club that's desperate for business! My drinks were water, with a touch of alcohol (to add flavor), the bartenders made drinks like they just graduated from bartending school, and they provided no customer service. I remember when Levende was a great place to dance, drink and have a fabulous time... Now, this place is starting to show it's" wear and tear". Change the drinks, change the music, and while you're at it, change the bathrooms..it was filthy!

Pros: decor

Cons: drinks,customer service, clientele

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

08/15/2007 Posted by nadsinger

My girl really wanted to go out the other night, so we decided to go to Levende. Start off with some drinks, and maybe on to dinner...WRONG. First of all, the host was on the phone when we arrived, so instead of greeting, we just got a "look". So, after standing there hoping to be seated, we took it upon ourselves to find a spot at the bar. Second, it wasn't that crowded, so it SHOULD be easy to get drink...well after waitng for the staff to stop "playin' around" my girl finally got her drink. She wasn't too thrilled about her drink, and when I told the bartender that she didn't like her drink, his reply was," Well, it's what she ordered." so,I replied,"Yes, it's what's she ordered, but she wanted a drink from a bartender, not one in training.." We skipped dinner, paid our bill and left. I didn't want to believe the reviews, but after my own personal experience..

Pros: music, ambience, prices

Cons: drinks, no customer service

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful

08/14/2007 Posted by mpact

I enjoy Levende's food, and the decor is very alluring and pleasing to the eye. I have dined at Levende several times and I have always had a wonderful time with friends.... But, the most recent time that I dined at Levende, I dined at the bar, and my entire dinner was spent listening to the staff complain to their co-workers, and to to other bar patrons about how the staff is being mistreated, how their tips are being shorted, how horrible mangement is, and how this placed is going down the drain, blah, blah, blah. And there went Levende's ambiance. Just like that. My date and I tried hard to tune them out, we evened ordered a drink to get the bartender to focus on something else other than complaining. I wish that it could have been different, cause' we would've had a better time, because like I said, the food is enjoyable. So, the next time I'm in the mood for Levende, I'll skip the depressing Mission district, and head over the bridge to give Levende East a try.

Pros: Great food

Cons: Angry staff

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful