by Peni Soo G. on Stars: Food: 3 Drinks: 0 and 1 Service: 5, 3, -2 Music: 4 Dancing: 0 Web site: -5 Food: You can get better and cheaper Ethiopian food at the restaurants on Telegraph Ave in Berkeley. (A premium for the food is ok since that balances out not paying a cover charge for the music.) 3 of 8 starters (Lentil Sambussas which we tried, a salad, and pita chips with dip), and 1 of 12 entrees (Vegetarian Combination) were vegetarian. The Sambussas and one order of the Vegetarian Combination were plenty for the 2 of us - in part because we went through a 2nd helping of injera bread - a spongy flatbread made with yeast and teff flour. (Teff is a gluten-free grain that offers a good portion of iron and calcium; it is much more nutritious than wheat and rice - though if you are looking for an even better substitute, go with quinoa or amaranth.) Drinks: 0 stars for the nasty grapefruit spritzer, and 1 star for the lame bagged tea. (Tea Ethiopian style - which this was not - is pretty sweet; the most memorable and authentic Ethiopian beverage is coffee - beans roasted and ground while you watch, and then filtered campfire style into small cups. This coffee is traditionally served to guests at the start of a visit - presumably to get the buzz going early.) Service: 5 stars for our server's demeanor and for the water refills, but 3 stars for her timeliness. Minus 2 stars for the manager (?) who told us that we had to move our dancing from the side to the "dance area" - even though that would mean blocking other patrons' view of the band, and dancing on the bands' cords. Music: The band played an interesting mix of funky jazz with R&B flavors, including creative arrangements of familiar songs; but, though they exhorted people to dance a couple of times, most of their songs were realllllly long, and way too complex for most people to reasonably dance to. (I quite enjoyed dancing to their music, and would dance to them again in a space conducive to dancing.) They were courteous about not playing too loud (though we still wore earplugs). They started much later than the 9pm start time that I was given when I called for info. The canned music between sets was insipid and did not inspire us (or anyone else) to dance. Dancing: 0 stars for not existing (see Web site comments below). While there may be a dance floor in the back room (through a door open in the distance until shortly before the band started, I could see what appeared to be tables and chairs on a hard-surfaced), the front room was wall-to-wall carpet. At least the carpet was low pile, so with our hard-soled dance shoes we were able to get some movement. The front room was a long, rectangular space bisected on the long side by the entrance. A large island bar partially surrounded by tables and chairs took up the right side; on the left side the band took the space along the front windows, and then two rows of tables and chairs took up the rest of the space. The tables could have been more creatively arranged to allow for dancing in front of the band, but then the servers would have had to compete for that space, and seated patrons wouldn't be able to see the band. There was initially plenty of dancing space down the short mid-section, but one song into the first set the servers brought out more tables and chairs from the back room, plunked them down into the left-side of that space, and placed 'Reserved' cards on top. We danced in the remaining space until late in the first set when the manager (?) told us to move our dancing to the dancing area - notwithstanding our protestations that the "dancing area" (a tiny slot directly in front of the band) was littered with the bands' cords (and chords). To add insult to injury, the party at the Reserved tables arrived late in the first set, consumed one round of drinks, and then left partway through the second set. Web site: Minus 5 stars for accuracy and currency. The home page of their Web site states "large dance floor". For us, that, combined with the promise of a good R&B / soul / funk band was the lure to cross the Bay. As noted under the Dancing comments, the front room does NOT have a dance floor, or even reasonable space for dancing. Until recently the calendar was not getting updated; you want me to make the trek across the Bay because you miiight have a reasonable band; for all that I know you might not even be open that night to the public. Now the calendar shows the January acts (though leaving one guessing as to the year), but the advertised band was NOT the band that played. Ya think that when I called to check on the start time of the band (also not on the site), and the space for dancing (my mistake to not ask specifically about a dance floor and its surface as opposed to 'space for dancing'), that the person who answered would have told me about the change of bands? Or maybe that the band would be playing in the (carpeted) front room???
by Patrick B. on I have managed to review all four of my favorite venues in SF and Cafe Du Nord ends up being the final one. Each venue has their very own unique qualities that I appreciate. First off i love the sound at this venue. The only complaint I can manage is if you go see someone play an acoustic set or something more quiet it can sometimes get drowned out by the obnoxious chatter from the back. The drinks are fairly priced and the bartenders are always making their drinks strong. The atmosphere always seems a bit more festive at Du Nord which in turn almost always means a great time. After the show if you are hungry there are plenty of places still open but the best place to eat at 2 am in the morning is definitely Sparky's. du Nord is one of those places that if you go to it to see a show for the first time it might not seem like anything special but much like Bottom of the Hill the more often you go there it will start seeming like a home away from home.
by Delmer Upton on I had a few pints (British standards, not American) and the mini-burgers. When I first got the burgers, they were raw on the inside so I sent them back. When they got back, they were cooked much better and the Smithwicks burgers went great with Guinness. 4 stars if they would have got it right the first time.
