Bistro Gambrinus — Restaurant in San Francisco

Great atmosphere bad food. I decided to come in here for an early dinner around 5/6pm. The atmosphere was very nice and had a good vibe. The bartender greeted us very politely and told us to sit anywhere. We ordered a hummus plate as a starter. This was an incredible tasting appetizer with some of the better hummus I’ve had. The pita had some black grill or oven soot on top but it wasn’t a big deal and it was still fantastic; the olives, cherry tomatoes, and cucumber were all very fresh and tasty. For a main dish I ordered their basic burger. My food came out in a timely manner and presentation wise it looked great. The fries were indistinguishable from McDonald’s but in a good way, they hit the spot! The burger on the other hand was one of the worst I’ve ever had. The patty was inconsistently cooked with pockets of pink but large sections closer to medium well (ordered medium). The patty was very fatty and chewy eat bite taking at least a minute to get down. The bun was also toasted poorly and chewy as well. The biggest offense though was the produce. The tomato slices on both burgers we ordered were very much not ripe, the pickles were discolored and tasted rather old, and the lettuce was also chewy and had specs of black all along the edges (not consistent with usual wilt). This seems like a great social place to get drinks and appetizers but if you want a full meal I’d recommend you...

This was probably the most annoying experience I’ve ever encountered at a San Francisco restaurant. The food was marginal at best but the real issue was that one person (who I believe is the owner) attempts to serve everyone in the restaurant. As you can image the service was poor but the real kicker is that they include an Automatic Gratuity of 20% and we were only a party of three. Furthermore, they suggest that you tip an additional amount on the credit card slip hoping you may have missed the automatic gratuity on the bill since it was in such small print. And if that isn’t enough, there’s a 4% additional charge on the total bill if you use a credit or debit card to cover the discount rate they pay the bank which is probably lower than the 4% they are charging the customer. Talk about feeling like someone got in your pocket. No thanks!...

It's been a while since I've been to Bistro Gambrinus (ever since moving out of state), but all I know is that if Neil is still running the place, it is an amazing place to eat and drink. I spent many hours in this place over the course of two years while I live a couple of blocks away. It's a very unassuming store front, but the food is incredible and the drinks always hit the spot. I've never before or since had a place where I felt so at home. A friend and I used to frequent this place after work or for a game over the weekends, and we'd always have great conversations with the staff and other patrons. When friends talk about visiting SF, I always recommend Bistro...