by Kay D. on Overall, I feel like the food lacked freshness. And the entrees were either overcooked or over saturated in oil. What I liked: Independently owned, longstanding neighborhood history, and A LOT of waiters with Italian accents that flirted shamelessly with every child in the dining area, and there were a lot of children. And, yes, after 24 hours, my breath still reeks of garlic from the infamous bread. The ambiance is fantastic for families. But we were disappointed by the quality of the food. I try to stay focused on the positive and the facts; so, here goes. The pickled veggies are standard and I've had the exact same at a pizza joint in Salt Lake City. Nice on a hot day! We started with the Caprese appetizer. It was average but unexpectedly included pickled onion rings and the most capers I've ever seen on a dish in a restaurant. Pickled does not equate to fresh. My friend had the veal saltimbocca. He said it was "OK.". What I tasted just seemed like a lot of corn starch in the sauce which didn't quite hide the dryness of the veal. Recently seeing that Alfredo's has a thing for capers, I chose the evening special which was sea bass with a caper and lemon sauce. The entree came out swimming in red tinted oil and the texture was off for me. Mushy. I did get an extra plate and pour off the oil (I know, not so classy!). The non mushy pieces of the fish dish did taste OK. after I added Parmesan cheese and I was not disappointed by the mass of capers. I was still grossed out by the other 1/2 of my oil saturated fish though and, for the price, expected the fish to be fresh. I had 3 pre-frozen pieces of fish that looked like the ones I get from my grocer's freezer section. I'm not that great of a cook and I've done better with my fish at home. One last thing that I can't let go: We were told of 1 special. After we received our entrees, when the table next to us was ready, they were told of 4 different specials, one of which was Risotto and I would have TOTALLY gotten that instead! I think pasta would be the way to go here.
by Caroline C. on As others have reported: the all you can eat sushi experience is a shit show. We arrived for our 9:30 reservation and were told it might be 20 minutes before we were seated. So, right there, you get off to a bad start. After about 30 minutes we were suddenly told that we couldn't stand where we were standing and ushered to another area. Another ten minutes passed before we were seated. It was, at one point, suggested that we buy drinks to pass the time. One key way to keep hungry, hungry people from being in foul moods when made to wait? Comp them a stinkin' beverage, don't suggest that they happily endure your unpreparedness Eventually we were seated. And our waiter promptly asked us what we wanted to drink and took our order, but the fact that one of our party was allergic to shrimp threw a new wrench into the works. While, having had limited food service experience, I understand that this sort of 'all you can eat' deal necessarily leads to a frenzied environment, it truly seems like they could have prepared for the possibility that someone with an allergy might want to participate. They hadn't...and originally told my friend that they could not guarantee that any sushi wasn't contaminated, but that she was free to order off the kitchen menu, which was, you know, not what she came and waited 40 minutes to do. The situation was positively resolved, but it wasn't without a fair amount of tension and stress. The sushi itself was fine considering the strain all the sushi chefs were under (you don't go to an all you can eat sushi experience expecting the most perfectly rolled maki of your life). I don't want to sound too grumpy, I do understand that this restuarant probably functions much better under normal circumstances...but the fact that we weren't comped a roll or drink after a 40 minute wait and a 10 minute period in which one of our party might not have been able to eat without risking her life is, well, really annoying. (All that said: our waiter was great and management did the best they could, I'm sure) The end.
by Alina Weitzman on Hercules and the Love Affair Came through playing music here. Nice lounge upstairs, where drinks are are served; Gets up the nerve to flirt with skirts, Of which there were plenty, for SF, at least. Less than back East, maybe, but by not that many. We moved a bit: bob left, pop right -- Too crowded, I'd say, for dancing proper. But a boisterous crowd is it's own reward And for the band to feel adored.
