Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

Dungeness Crab Pasta Carbonara 5/5 Maine Lobster Roll 5/5 Dungeness Crab and Shrimp Cake 6/5 BUT!!! The hospitality wasnt close to overwhelming. Our server must have been experiencing burn out from all the regulars that just want to have lunch.

Maybe she could have been managing a lot of tables? I dont know.

She was kind enough to warn us that the German (No-Hop) Pilsner was a little sour. But im sure that was just to prevent her having to send back a full beer and throw her off her groove.

I personally loved the Sea Serpent IPA because I prefer an IPA without a ton of residual sugar.

The Belgian wheat ale was also very nice. Super crispy.

The Carbonara was delightful, but I was served an Italian Sized portion. Whereas the lobster roll came with fries and coleslaw... Maybe consider providing a choice of a cup of soup or salad before the pasta?

Since I wasnt satisfied, I chose to try the Crab and Shrimp Cake. We tried to get our servers attention, but she was (probably) very high strung with tasks.

So we asked a nice gentleman who was visually aware of us. (He was dressed in all black, and had 4 inch long wavy hair) We asked if we could put in an order through him and he apologized and said he would get our server.

Five minutes go by after he made contact and still our server was just doing her normal rounds. As she came toward us, she turned back and spoke to the people next to us (who showed up after we did and had already ordered) asked them if they needed anything and THEN turned to look at us. And we finally were able to put in the order.

She had the "idea" to warn me that the crab cake would come with a salad... And i almost told her, "And you think that because of my hefty build that i would be horrified by a salad???" But i knew that servers can still spit in peoples food, so i was nice and said, "yes please."

When time came for her to pick up our credit card, she arrived to us, turned around again, picked up the more recent customers check and walked off while we were visibly ready for her to pick it up.

Another very nice man in a white shirt and black pants noticed her mistake and picked ours up and went to process it.

Im sure she noticed that so she came back and asked if he picked it up as if she expected for him to pick it up for her....

We had to stick to our guns and subtracted the SF Mandate Fee from her tip.

There are no name tags, so i dont know how she spells her name, but im not going to say her name completely. It starts with an "EE" sound and ends with an "N" or maybe a silent "E"(Thats for you management staff)

HOWEVER!!! The food was so fantastic that we still want to come back in the near future!...

Ok, I know this is a beloved SF favorite, but it fell a little flat for me. Here’s why:

First thing you have to know, the food is pretty good, but not amazing. We stuck to seafood, and for the most part were happy with our choices. The calamari was fried perfectly, and the aioli on the side was to die for. The sourdough bread was fresh as could be, and came out still hot!

The main dishes though were pretty much just ok though, if I’m honest. The fish and chips were good, but the fish to chip ratio was a little off for my taste. For $21 I felt like I should have gotten a little more fish versus the mountain of fries. The crab carbonara was also not what we expected. While the flavor of it was actually very good, it felt almost more like a scampi than a carbonara. The texture of the sauce was quite watery compared with what I’m used to -most likely due to the addition of the crab. My recommendation for this is actually pretty easy: rename the dish. The pasta was perfect, and the flavor was GREAT, just not really carbonara.

In summary for the food: You have to know, that the prices reflect the location, and not the food itself, period. But the ocean views are worth it.

The last part of my review is the restaurant itself, and here’s where I think locals may not like what I have to say:

Some may call it charming, I call it dated. The downstairs lobby is actually quite interesting and historical, and I’m excluding it from my review -it’s worth seeing. The upstairs dining room with the gorgeous waterfront views… is not much to look at. There are charming sconces that have little scenes on them, but they’re quite dated and the majority of the dining room feels really bland. For a quick fix, I would suggest painting more walls in a darker color, as it would make the views themselves really pop. (Think of a tv in a dark room) and replace the lighting with something more streamlined and modern. The pressed linen napkins were a nice touch, but feels unnecessarily formal for the rest of the setting. I did like the little oyster window from the kitchen, I thought that was a really cool touch.

In summary: really glad that I tried this SF staple, and I really feel that locals and visitors alike should still check it out. As always my reviews are meant to be honest, and in the spirit of offering constructive feedback for...

I have been to the Beach Chalet in the past and been quite satisfied with the food, the service and the view. When we visited today, we tried the rear downstairs area for the first time due to longer waits upstairs. We were bringing relatives with us who were first time visitors. The restaurant was busy on a Saturday afternoon so there was a reasonable wait which was understandable. The trouble started once we were seated. The wait for our first visit from our waiter was longer than it should have been. There was no initial visit to take drink orders. 10-minutes after sitting down we ordered our food that drinks. Again, it took quite some time to get our drinks. When our appetized showed up, it looked great and we asked for plates so we could share. Seven minutes later, still no plate and one of us went to the desk to obtain our own plates! The chicken wings would have been better when they arrived hot... When our entrees arrived, only three of four were delivered and our guests were nearly halfway through their meals when my wife's meal finally arrived. I also had to ask to have my crispy fries replaced because they were barely warm when they arrived with my steak. The food itself was quite good. The delivery was far less so.

I made it clear to one of our servers that we were having a very frustrating experience and we also informed our primary server that the staff had really fallen short. Frankly, I was expecting the appropriate gesture of a reduction of our bill; perhaps a complimentary drink at the least. No, no adjustment whatsoever. What we experienced on this visit was nowhere near the value of the $137 bill that was delivered to us. The bill was the sole item (except for the replacement fries) that showed-up to our table in a timely manner. Not a day for the Chalet to be proud of and somewhat of an embarrassment for us having recommended the restaurant...