Altamirano Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in San Francisco

Hidden gem! Wow. For starters, the space has been completely renovated from the previous restaurant. We sat in the patio which is fully covered and heated. There is a separate bar in the patio and a really cool fire pit area for a good sized group of friends to enjoy some drinks. The service was the perfect amount of friendly and attentive and gave great recommendations. The cocktails were spot on. I ordered their version of an espresso martini and was surprised when it came out because it looked different but it was really good- one of the best I've ever had. My partners drink was also perfect. The food - we had the special cevice and the portion was large and served with purple potato chips. Yum. I could have stopped there. We had the crab which was very good, not my favourite but that was just preference. Then... The lamb. Fell off the bone and the sauce was so good we debated licking the plate! The location is unusual but worth the trip. There were some birthdays and this is absolutely a place for a special occasion but we've also decided that it would be a great midweek place to share a few smaller plates and enjoy the vibe. Keeping this place in the regular rotation. Can't...

Honest review from SF restaurant week: Good: Portions are large, service was decent(second half), and the appetizers met expectations. The dessert was great (some Peruvian tropical fruit ice cream). Now, the bad: It took over 35 minutes for the main courses (lamb shank and lomo saltado) to arrive — and that’s not even the worst part. We were the first to order and to finish our appetizers. In fact, we finished our appetizers before the second table even received theirs. What really upset me was that the group of four at that second table received their main dishes well before we did — at least 15 minutes earlier. The lamb had likely been sitting out for a while — it wasn’t hot, just room temperature — and had a strong gamey taste. The lomo saltado was quite average; the meat wasn’t very tender. Compared to the decent appetizers and great dessert, the main courses were a real disappointment No one checked on us during the 35-minute wait, although the service improved afterwards. Our waitress was changed twice, which might explain the service gap. There’s a mandatory 5% employee charge which I guess it’s the...

I was attending an event at my alma mater, USF, and my primary intent was to identify a privy highly rated dining venue = ALTAMIRANO! My inaugural visit and certainly won't be my last given my superlative experience! Initially, I was greeted by Raina/Jax whose customer service orientation can be described as friendly and engaging! On that aforementioned note, I met additional staff who echoed their predecessors' welcoming and accommodating manner: Elda, Jose, Chef Eric, Francisco and the manager, Ricardo! NOTE: I hadn't been aware that Altamirano had only been opened for less than 1 week. The ambience was comfortable, inviting and very nicely appointed! But I digress....I'm not as familiar with Peruvian fare but I couldn't have selected a better venue to orient myself. Each and every dish evoked incredulous exclamations! I failed to obtain a pic of the Yuca fries though, but you "get the picture"! Presentation/composition/quality were not mutually exclusive attributes of the dishes we ordered: Mancora, Yuca Fries, Corn Ribs, Salmon Brulee, Churro Sandwich. Suffice it to say that I will be...