by Linh V. on Went here on a Saturday Night. First off, I'd like to say that im not a korean, nor am I some rich guy that loves to "pop bottles". I am a just your normal 2 times a month weekend partygoer. Circle was the planned place to go to. My group had equal amounts of girls (very pretty too). First off, just know that in order to get in you should arrive at like 10pm or purchase a bottle or reserve a table. The bouncers are quite assholes and wont let you in if they dont like you. I had a huge group and they had the guts to single out a member and not let them in. There were obvious couples and the bouncers had the guts to try and split them up. What the hell is wrong with you? ...half of the group didn't make it in. How I got in? I got in because a friend knew the actual owner. What the hell? Circle doesnt give a shit about your party, your event, or you. To make it inside you better grease the club really good. That fat f*cking korean owner/promotor (joe?) can go suck my d*ck. The only saving grace is that they have a sick DJ. The DJ is the only reason that place survives. Lots of DUTCH HOUSE! I LOVE HOUSE ESPECIALLY DUTCH HOUSE. Someone should lower the volume though. very decent space and very accessible bars. Fairly priced drinks. Mandatory coat check does kind of suck. I was forced to check in my blazer for $8 bucks. IF YOU DONT GET A BOTTLE OR TABLE, you better know someone cuz your party will get split or shut down. Am i gonna go back to Circle? F*CK NO. I will go to a place where they treat you like a human being. If you like to beg and plead bouncers to get into a par-club, at most, to spend serious dough go right ahead, I know I wont.
by Lynn N. on Mexican Martinis, yes. Service, okay. Everything else, no. * Booths in the downstairs bar are only made for people without legs. There is NO room under the table. * This public restroom has the softest toilet paper of any public restroom I have ever been to. Good call on the Charmin Double Roll Trudy's!
by Ned Thyng on When you walk in here, you will probably dig on the old-fashioned atmosphere, low lighting and ritzy velvetty wallpaper. The front room is basically a dive bar converted into a restaurant. Moving toward the rear, there is a cozy, secluded little alcove with one table in it (where we sat) to the left and then you emerge into another dining room with an old stage at the back end of the joint thats been converted into a dining area as well. Its a unique old school place, surely a bit of Divisadero history frozen in time. But I smell like rotten vegetable oil today and I think I know who the culprit is. Let's talk about the food. You know, the cuisine, the grub, the chow, the sustenance, the fare, the provisions, the vittles, the reason we *really* Rateclub for, eh? So we started with a bottle of tej, traditional ethiopian honey wine. Dinner consisted of the beef special, the mild chicken special and the lamb stew accompanied by collard greens, lentils, stewed potatoes and carrots, split pea porridge and injera. The owner rebuffed us upon request for yogurt sauce, explaining that this is an eritrean condiment, not ethiopian. That was fine, and I recalled that the Blue Nile in Berkeley, also Ethiopian, also did not serve yogurt. Well, maybe it has to do with the historical animosity between the two countries, but then she went into a total diatribe about how we shouldn't eat at eritrean restaurants that serve yogurt because they make it at home in batches and ferment it unrefrigerated in their living rooms and that we could get sick off of it. Uhhh, ok. Not sure if that's verifiable, but take it for what its worth. Anyhow, the stews struck me as a bit bland and underseasoned, and weren't in the rich berbere-based sauces that typically serve as the base for this food. The only really good dish was the beef. The lamb was a bit chewy and fatty, the chicken was bland and had virtually no berbere sauce. One of the best parts of an Ethiopian or Eritrean meal is that the injera blanketing the bottom of the platter soaks up all the rich sauces. yum. Not here though. These dishes seemed more pan fried than stewed, and were oily. Very oily. Even my novice Ethiopian sensibilities were offended. There are too many other intriguing East African places to try - especially if you are willing to trek to the East Bay - to come back here. Sorry....
