Spruce

03/10/2008 Posted by anothersanfranciscofoodie

We were initially impressed by the dining area (cavernous) and the relative quiet. However, we were very disappointed by the menu (not many appealing choices), the food (chicken was tasty, although not exemplary, but the venison was tasteless and the desserts were just so-so) and the horrendous service (there were large gaps between courses without the waiter offering any explanation). It is too bad since the neighborhood could use a classy restaurant; however, we will not go back, especially with those prices. There are so many better choices in the city!

Pros: Ambience and placement of tables

Cons: the food, the choices and the service.

03/07/2008 Posted by Paddyb62

We also got to the restaurant 20 minutes early as recommended and were seated at our reservation time. It took about 15 minutes before a server came to our table to ask if we wanted drinks - by this time, we had already read the entire menu and were ready to order. Our waiter, Charles, and sommelier, Andrew, were both great. Very knowledgeable and fun. The food on the other hand, was mediocre at best. The handmade cold cuts appetizer was really good but the scallops appetizer was just ok. I had the venison with red cabbage and spaetzel. The venison was cooked to perfection, but the red cabbage was overseasoned with cloves or something that was very overpowering. The spaetzel was panfried and had the consistency of styrofoam with absolutely no flavor. The cheese plate had large portions, but they were out of several cheeses so they substituted with larger portions of one of the other selections. The bill was a whopping $300 for dinner for 2 with appetizer, entre, bottle of inexpensive wine, and cheese plate. All in all, I was disappointed after reading all the great things, especially in Wine Spectator. With all the great places in San Francisco, I would go elsewhere for a better value.

Pros: Friendly staff

Cons: Expensive for mediocre food

03/05/2008 Posted by jgc63

We went to dinner on a Tuesday night and had a disappointing experience. Based on everything I had heard and read I expected more. We arrived 10 minutes early for our reservation and were not seated for 30 minutes. Our server was not particularly friendly. He brought the wrong first course for one of our party and the wrong main course for another. My soup was just lukewarm and the Dorado was nothing special. We ordered dessert(which was very good)but were never offered coffee or tea-we had to ask for it. I would not recommend the restaurant to my friends.

Pros: good dessert, unique decor

Cons: uninspired service, average food

11/24/2007 Posted by teabox

I had lunch here recently with a friend. We ordered the charcuterie plate, the house burger, mussels, and house coffee to finish. Everything was lovely and dainty, except for the mussel. The charcuterie plate is not the type of shiny and marbled workingman's indulgence gloriously slathered across a wooden block like one gets in European countries, but much more controlled and refined. I would claim the duck liver mousse the best thing since butter on bread had they not already served the rich-like-cheese butter that made me calm down and put things in perspective. The hamburger was excellent with white cheddar, came with sliced tomatoes, sweet and tangy pickled zucchini and onion on the side, which were crisp and refreshing, and which you would need to cut through the burger's meaty richness. The mussels, I don't really know why I ordered the them except maybe to see if the restaurant could do any wrong, too often good restaurants do bad mussels. Mussels are like mackerels and sardine, when they're good they're awesome, when they're bad no amount of wine, garlic, lemon, or butter could save them. I'm one to love my seafood to taste like seafood and not "chicken from the sea" but these mussels reminded me of dead unidentified sea animal carcass by dirty piers, and should left the kitchen in the other direction -- into the green compost trash bins. I know I was asking for it, but hey, maybe they just had a bad seafood day. I would go back to the restaurant in a heartbeat.

Pros: food, encyclopedia of a wine and spirits list, formal ambience

Cons: formal ambience

09/20/2007 Posted by nafeyla

I was totally impressed with everything about Spruce; the wait staff is highly knowledgeable and attentive, but not too attentive (I can't remember our waitperson's name, but she was Russian, and deserves personal kudos for her social grace and perception re the art of waiting tables), the wine list is fabulous and very fairly priced, and the food, the food! Mark Sullivan has outdone himself. The polenta with short rib sugo was outstanding; the bavette steak cooked perfectly, the desserts (William Werner's, I believe) mouth watering. I also loved the seating...booths set into the wall for comfortable side-by-side dining, tables well spaced, a fireplace, excellent bar both for choice of libation and atmosphere...hey, I'm going back again. And again. Definitely one of my new favorites.

Pros: Service, food, ambience, wine list

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

09/19/2007 Posted by stevesink

We had a fantastic dinner. The service was excellent as well as the dinner. The highlight of the evening were the desserts. They were perhaps the best we have ever had. Don't forget the wines..... some very unusual and hard to find wines. Our group highly recommends Spruce.

Pros: Desserts, wine list, entree.

Cons: Hard to find a taxi when leaving. The front part was a little noisy so were moved to the rear dining room

08/25/2007 Posted by drewzak

Stylish spot in Presidio Heights: I went for the first time recently with a co-worker. It was a Thursday evening about 7:00 and crowded - no tables available. As crowded and busy as it was, all of the staff I met, from hostess to bartender to waitress were exceptionally warm and helpful. The bar's not the most comfortable place to hang out when it's standing room only, but it was worth the wait for foo. I had the gazpacho and duck breast; both were lovely. Spruce is one of my new favorites.

Pros: Food, service, ambience

Cons: A little congested at the bar

08/15/2007 Posted by sfochica

We went to Spruce this week and while making the reservation was a very disorganized process, the evening was certainly well run. The service is superb - our waitress was very nice and approachable, making great recommendations. She was obviously very well acquainted with the menu. The food was wonderful. The pork tenderloin was about the best I've had of late - very tender. My fiance got the steak, which was good, but we both preferred the pork. The cheese plate samplers are a great way to start or end the evening. The cesar salad was good, but fairly ordinary. We sat in the back room of the restaurant, which has no windows and it is a bit stuffy there - more appropriate for the older crowd. Try to sit up in the front half of the restaurant if you want things a bit more lively. We had read about the restaurant opening in Daily Candy, and were suprised about how upscale it was, as the write-up made it seem more casual. So be prepared. Overall, a great night vs. other similarly priced restaurants ($25-$35 per entree, $10 per salad/appetizer).

Pros: Entrees, Wine List, Service

Cons: Ambiance, First Courses

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

08/13/2007 Posted by fillerupfun

As I have eaten at the Village Pub in Woodside (sister restaurant of Spruce) on several occasions and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was very interested in checking out Spruce. We were just as impressed with Spruce as the Pub in regards to the food - we had a salad (accompanied with a crustini spread with olive tapenade - yum) and our entrees were the steak with duck fat fried fries (wow, tasty) and the pork tenderloin (I have not had pork this great tasting in a long time) and it included a crispy end piece (SO flavorful). The service was excellent, a bit attentive for us at times, but overall it was appropriate. The sommelier walked to each table to assist with questions as there is a huge book of wines available (can be overwhelming to view all the wines) - we found him to be a bit more attentive to one member of our party, rather than both of us... towards the end of our meal we found it a tad 'much'. Overall, we will definitely come here again as the food was excellent and the overall ambiance was great. One other item I forgot to mention... when we received our wine, a Pinot Noir, it was perfectly wine cellar chilled! We thought was fantastic - it was the first thing I noticed when I tasted the wine. Very classy.

08/11/2007 Posted by mikasaitoh

In an expansive space with soaring ceilings that still manages to feel intimate and warm, the decor is ultra cosmopolitan with Manhattan-like chic. Great bar scene of the beautiful people from Presidio Heights and Pac Heights. It was hard to find anything inviting on the menu (watermelon salad with cured sardines?), the heirloom tomato gazpacho was quite ordinary and expensive, the caesar salad bland, and the Moroccan-spiced chicken entree is prepared poached, making for a strange undercooked texture. Excellent, seasoned, professional service and a surprisingly quiet ambiance that enables talking at normal tones!

Pros: Super chic space, excellent service, happening bar scene, valet parking

Cons: Odd menu, strange dishes