06/23/09

Always Impressive

by michaelvar

I've eaten at La Folie off and on since 1995 and they have always been "on" for me. Exceptional food, excellent service and great atmosphere. Their sort of recent dining room remodel has added to the ambiance. Truly one of the best French restaurants around.

• Pros: The food!

02/15/09

Not what I exspected

by tin_tin129

There was two dining rooms at La Folie. The entrance dining room is very modern and romantic and the other dining room were I was seated is old, bright and looked like a billiards pool room. When I walked in the resturant, I was really excided to sit down and have a romantic V-day dinner with my hon, but when the waiter seated us in the back room that I was unaware of my whole mood changed. I was angry and disapointed because the back dining room was totally different from the front room. I was even more mad when I notice that there were availiable tables in the front and they did not give us those seats. While seated in the back, I looked around and noticed that people that did not look classy enough were seated in the back. Food was okay, but dont try the frog legs. It was really dry and there was no taste to it.

• Pros: Food was okay
• Cons: Not romanitc and it was noisy

02/08/09

how I miss the perfect pairing of fresh foie gras and sauternes.

by diamondsrforever

Oh yes, if only all French restaurants in the city would follow your lead, I'd be a lot happier, and fatter, ha ha!

Oh how I miss the huge, fresh, French truffles you offer to slice over everything on my degustation meal. Oh how I miss the perfect pairing of fresh foie gras and sauternes. Oh how I miss the cheeses.

Oh, oh, oh!

10/29/08

My favorite restaurant in San Francisco so far!

by sanraoul

I recently went on a date at this restaurant and I was very much impressed with the food, absolutely fantastic!

It was nice too that I was able to get a reservation so soon since it was on the last minute, but I think they had a cancellation or something, because from what I was told, you're supposed to make a reservation well in advance to be able to dine here.

My date and I each had the five courses, one better than the other, if that's possible. I absolutely loved the fact that they weren't shy of showing the basket of fresh truffles to you. Those were a bit on the pricey side, but well worth it.

All in all, this is my favorite restaurant in San Francisco so far!

07/05/08

Francophile in Heaven!

by hypnotherapist

I am a Francophile in Heaven after our time at La Folie!

A tiny spot of France in our neighborhood!

After years of owning & operating my own French bistro, dining at France's stellar restaurants

over the last 30 years, and enjoying the French Laundry here in No. Calif...my

daughter and I wanted to experience France right here in SF this year for

her birthday. We were more than delighted with everything La Folie had to

offer... Chef Passot was often in and out of the dining room greeting guests, as the

chefs in France always do...the service was pristine, the food was

**beautiful and brilliant and artistically creative** and the wine was fine, French,

and well priced...and they were gracious about attending to my special food

requirements...and incredibly generous with the 3 amuse bouches prior to the

main meal service...and the petits fours after the dessert was served were scrumptious.

I will loudly toot their horn to all.

• Pros: beautifully presented plates; professional, considerate service
• Cons: brown decor...but what the heck...some

03/06/08

Generous portions, attentive staff

by ksiow

We dined there for my birthday a couple of days ago, and because we are on vacation with our children (6,4, and 2) we had to bring them along for our dinner. They have been to many fine dining establishments all over the world, but I am tpleased to say that the staff was attentive and understanding towards the children and brought plates for them to share some of the courses with us ( although we did order entrees for each of them)

My husband had the truffle menu, which although was expensive ( $165) , was worth the money given the amount of truffles that was given at each of his five courses. My ikura starter was impressive for its innovation although the roe could be a little fresher. The rabbit that I had for the entree was done well. ( although my benchmark for that game meat is still Alain Ducasse) My eldest had the duck breast which he pronounced very good, and the salmon the other two had was masterful.

Overall, it was a very pleasant evening, and the staff made us feel welcome, children et al.

• Pros: staff, food, portions

02/15/08

Disappointment on Valentine's Day

by foodguynyc

I'll say that everyone knows service is a little more rushed on Valentine's Day--every restaurant in the city is booked solid. That said, when paying $200+ pp for dinner, you expect a minimum standard of service, even if you are forced to eat a 5 course meal in 90 minutes or less. Our experience was rushed throughout, with every server/bus-boy staring us down every time they walked by to see if they could clear our plate. I'll leave out details except for the nail in the coffin--bringing the petit fours at the same time as dessert. Really, I think food snobbery should be commensurate with where you are dining and in this instance (the "best" of San Francisco), I found the move incredibly tasteless. I won't be fooled again by this place--the CitySearch and Zagat ratings are too high in all categories (food just "good", service terrible and decor was mediocre and cramped). Lastly, on the food, which should be the only thing one has to think about at a restaurant like this... The food was nothing special, paritcularly the lobster which had no flavor aside from 1/4 stick of butter it was cooked in. Having eaten at Fleur de Lys just a few days ago, I really see no comparison on any metric--go there, it's wonderful. La Folie does not deserve to be in San Francisco's elite and its hubris-driven pricing may have been the most offensive part of the whole experience. Oh, and to top it off, there was no one outside at the valet ($15) and a local policeman was giving those waiitng in their cars tickets for blocking traffic. Bravo!

• Pros: Few
• Cons: Service, Lobster, Volume

10/20/07

SFO at its best

by ur2nite

This place is amazing !!!. My boyfriend and I were visiting SFO (we are from NY) for my birthday and our concierge service recommended this place. We had reservations but we had to wait about 20 minutes for our table ? which was fine because they gave us complimentary wine for our wait. The food was amazing, delicious and every other positive adjective I can think of to describe food. When it was time for our departure, we asked our waiter to get us a cab and him and the chef actually went out of the restaurant and stood outside for at least 10 minutes trying to get us a cab. Having dinned at numerous amazing restaurants in NY, this place definitely topped all of the restaurants I have ever been too ? the food, service, and ambiance was impeccable.

08/25/07

An unhappy experience

by maguro

What do you make of the fact that the restaurant found by Trip Advisor to be #1 in this city, has 5 ratings of 1 and 1 rating o 2

as the most recent ratings? At least they are consistent. If you want to try foie gras, llimit the choices as it can be too much of

a "good" thing. It is overly rich and coarse in texture and not a pleasant flavor. Best of all is to skip it. Maybe if the average ratings were a bit lower and the prices not so high, one could compare it more rationally. But La Folie has a lot to live up to based on its

reputation which is not deserved. Just look at the reviews below. Uninterested service, very bad food (like something out of culinary school) and mediocre decor. It may have been the worst meal I have ever had -- and I was looking forward to it.

• Pros: Taxi knew how to get there
• Cons: Food, service, value, attitude, foie gras,

08/04/07

The name sums it all up! Avoid s'il vous plait!

by quarante_deux

The initial reservation person was quite polite and I even asked her about Gary Danko which she recommended; I should have gone there. We were seated promptly. The waiter took a very casual approach to formal dining stating that they did not want to force their conceptions on the public. But every chef has an imagination which is welcomed by the diners.

The tasting menu was very bad--why do 4 out of 5 reviewers at the start of the reviews say such bad things? The food was terrible

with mushy, foul tasting foie gras. The chef has a penchant for poached eggs which got me sick in two courses and not even the surplus for the grated truffles could help. Initially friendly, the waiter got busy with people who arrived later and we then were ignored (but I also didn't want any more courses). We waited 30 minutes for dessert. When I said I was chagrined, the maitresse d' tried to smoothe things over and asked what the chef might do. I declined but she insisted so I asked them to deduct the price

of the caviar (which was a result of eyes bigger than stomach on my part). She got nervous and said she would ask. Rather than address problem at the table, they did not make a change. I got a better deal than the man who was offered a 2nd dinner!!

• Pros: Dessert
• Cons: Service, Food, No Value