by Dmytro A. on Nick's Way? Nick's Way??? You put guacamole and sour cream on a taco, and have the balls not just to charge for that, but to pretend like y'all though it up yourselves?! Outrageous. Angering, even. The tacos are overpriced, they charge a billion dollars extra for basic things like guacamole and sour cream (aforementioned "Nick's Way"), and the tacos are really only on the plus side of mediocre flavour. Because of the extra charges for guac and sour cream, the Taco Tuesday deal isn't really a deal at all. Nor is it worth waiting 45 minutes in line. Oh, this place is cash only and the ATM outside is frequently out of order. Hell, even the (men's) bathroom is uncomfortable because there's that mint and handtowels guy looking for tips for offering you mints you don't want, and handtowels that you would rather grab yourself. When's the last time HE washed HIS hands? The only plus to Nick's is the bar. The bald guy is super friendly and takes great care of you, and one of the female bartenders looks like Eva Mendes. They have good happy hour prices too. If there were a single other establishment in Russian Hill selling tacos, we wouldn't have to suffer this artificial hype for Nick's. For $1 tacos that blow Nick's tacos out of the water in terms of taste, and don't charge extra for basic condiments, go to Taco Tuesday at the Blue Light Cafe.
by Jenice Volin on I can't really review anything except the special chocolate fondue, but it was so good that it deserves it's own standing ovation. Dante's has always piqued my interest. From the outside, it looks like this little house with old street corner lamps surrounded by tall, mirrored skyscrapers (which is exactly what it is). How different, I would think. Then a friend told me about the alligators and pirate ship inside, and I knew that I HAD to get there. Someone in my food group heard about this special chocolate fondue that has to be reserved in advance - we're talking at least a month in advance - so I opted to go that route to see this magical play land of Captain Sparrow. The ambiance was exactly what a pirate pub might look like inside. Wooden floors, walls, chairs, tables - it was like a forest without the leaves. The pirate ship loomed over our table as we listened to Dante give a long speech about his restaurant, the chocolate, and his life in a boxcar. Seriously, Dante gets a hell of a lot of brownie points for being awesome. The chocolate fondue comes with a grocery store's worth of produce. No lie. Two whole pineapples, a million grapes, a billion melons, a plethora of strawberries, piles of marshmallows, and an impressive pot of chocolate sat before us. Now this isn't your average chocolate fondue. It's not even Dante's average fondue that you'd order after a meal. No, this chocolate is stirred by hand for an entire day. This means it's only ever touched with a wooden spoon, stirred to perfection, and only a specific chocolate is used (they don't use the chocolate in their regular orders of fondue, for the record). It was AMAZING. I'm not a chocolate lover, I'm not even a chocolate liker. But this stuff was like ambrosia. Some of us found ourselves plucking leaves off the pineapples to use as spoons - or shovels is probably more accurate - to get as much chocolate in our mouths as we could. Dante's had turned into Willy Wonka's playland, and we were the kids with the golden ticket. I hear the regular food is good. I've hear the bartender does a great job. I hear the standard dessert is excellent. But I can't speak for those. What I can tell you is that you're crazy if you don't give this a shot. Get 11 more friends together, call up Dante's, and set up your hand-stirred chocolate fondue date with heaven. Don't be that crazy person. Just don't.
by DJ M. on Geno who is really Joe started with $6.00 in his pocket when he first opened his business. His wife and son named their first born son Geno who now works with his father. I thought that was a cool story to share. My visiting daughter and family wanted to try some "famous cheesesteaks", so off we went to the two big rivals, right across the street from each other. The family was all waiting for my daughter and I at Pat's, while we were at Geno's. I'll start with first impressions: My daughter desperately needed to use the restroom and Pat's told her to go over to the park adjacent from them! We did and there was no restroom! Geno's was right there, so we asked them and they slipped her into the back and left her piddle. She came out saying wow this place is so clean! Now we get to friendliness, cleanliness and decor. Pat's is old and dirty and has not spent one dime of their profits to stand out in these three fields. Geno's on the other hand has put a lot into these areas. Now for the cheesesteaks: Even though we were all headed to Pat's, my daughter and I were so impressed with Geno's that we ordered our steak and fries there. The other five in our party stayed at Pat's. My daughter and I took our order from Geno's over to Pat's to eat with the others ( tacky for sure and I would have rather ate at Geno's because of the cleanliness and decor). First of all to order a sandwich and fries at Geno's, you must order them and pay for them separately at 2 different windows, I can see where this works for them at busy times, but we were the only ones there. The meat at Geno's is much, much better than at Pat's. Everyone, but my stubborn son in law agreed. The bread is better at Pat's. The onions are raw at Geno's and sauteed at Pat's. With a grilled sandwich I would have preferred the sauteed, but I did order a cheesesteak hoagie, so that may be the reason. Pat's uses more cheese. I had provolone. All in all, if you add it all up, Geno's definitely has the better of the two cheesesteaks and wins hands down for decor, cleanliness and friendliness.
