Arlequin Wine Merchant — Restaurant in San Francisco

If it wasn’t for the delicious food and the amazing job the restaurant workers did, this place would be a one star for me, which is very disappointing, since my friends and I were very excited to visit.

From the moment we walked in it was obvious that the staff was not excited to see us. The person working in the wine shop barely acknowledged us, and mumbled under his breath to let him know if we had questions. We did have questions, but they were all met with a cold and indifferent answers. We all felt very unwelcome and awkward with the front staff.

Regardless we wrote it off and thought the place is just quirky and maybe the staff is super knowledgeable and doesn’t have time to address the needs of pure mortals but maybe they know their wine…

Unfortunately even their wine recommendations were terrible…we tried the white flight and had a favorite, but wanted to try something similar. I specifically asked the guy working the wine bar at the time for something similar. First he gave me a red….when I asked for white. I wrote it off to him not hearing me correctly. Then we had a conversation about how I do not like sweeter whites, he suggested for us to try a Gewürztraminer, which was surprising since those are sometime pretty sweet. He assured me it was dry.

It was not…it was exactly what I asked for It not to be…and they charged me a corkage fee …which is also odd given the fact that this is a wine shop which offers bottles to be enjoyed in the garden. Needless to say we left very disappointed and didn’t even ask for a refund on our barely touched bottle since it seemed like too much trouble to confront the unfriendly wine shop staff. Very disappointed, Particularly in the wine staff that served us…

For anyone looking for a wine bar with a knowledgeable and friendly staff please go somewhere else, may I suggest the lovely Ebb and flow...

Wine can be intimidating if you're not an expert, but the friendly people and great collection at Arlequin Wine Merchant make the experience feel comfortable, fun, and unpretentious. There are almost always wines open for tasting, and they can be purchased by the glass. The store has a quaint and comfortable wine-cellar feeling with tables interspersed between crates of wine, avoiding the feeling that you are closer to a stranger next to you than the company with whom you arrived.

Arlequin Wine Merchant is connected to Arlequin Cafe - an act of true genius, allowing you to order something delicious from the Cafe and have it with something nice to drink from the Wine Merchant. On nice days, you can enjoy food and drink on a lovely patio in the back, or on-street seating out front (a favorite spot for dog owners). The Arlequins are a perfect mid-day pause for a Hayes Valley outing. Their proximity to the Performing Arts garage means you can stop for lunch, buy wines, and drop off your bags at your car before venturing...

I wish we had not ended our evening here. My wife and I had our first night out together since becoming parents. We had a nice dinner and thought to follow it up with some wine tasting and maybe buy a bottle for our friend who was baby sitting. We arrived at 820 and staff said they have last call at 9. The wines were good and we finished our flights at 904 ready to buy a bottle or two at which point the staff came out turning off heaters and encouraging people to leave. We asked if we could buy a bottle and he laughed at us saying “we’re closed, we’re so closed”. On our way out we found the door to the store locked and closed. He should have said doors close and you GTFO at 9. I tipped that dude 20% when we paid at the beginning. I wish I hadn’t. Plus the patio is infested with mice, we saw dozens so there’s probably hundreds of them. They’re cute and I wouldn’t have minded if the staff were cool and the vibe was right, but it wasn’t. I won’t...