Bobo's — Restaurant in San Francisco

TLDR; you can get good steak and delicious seafood in one convenient place called Bobo's.

What makes this place special besides their interesting decor is the fact that you can get a solid surf and turf here that doesn't disappoint. It does come with a price tag but it's not bad if you're looking at other $$$ steakhouses plus I bet their seafood is better ;)

I recommend reserving to avoid a wait. It easy and you can use opentable so no excuses! The restaurant is hard to miss with its vibrant color and of course the jester logo. They also have complimentary valet or you can chance it with street parking.

The menu is pretty simple. They have a seafood, salad, and steak section plus some other stuff. You are a fool if you don't get one seafood dish. If you're thinking about getting a steak to share and adding a crab to it and maybe the mussel and shrimp platter as an appetizer... Do it but definitely go with the double shrimp, mussel, and full crab platter and a steak. You get more food at a better price! And yes, that is a lot of food for two people but soooo good :)

Shrimp, mussel, and crab platter: I'm not 100% sure platter is the correct dish name but it was served on a platter that was sizzling so I'm using it. They're all cooked in the same sauce and served as one dish. Garlic, butter, and seafood is a match made by the gods because very few things can beat it. The dish was delicious and that crab was cooked perfectly. The double platter is definitely meant to be shared by 4 people and way too much for 2 people but I wasn't complaining. Though I loved the crab, the shrimp was my favorite.

Side note: you also get this amazing crisp bread rubbed with garlic and this was low key my favorite dish.

Bone-in dry aged New York: my new rule in life is to always get dry aged steak. This wasn't as dry aged as I would like it but it was a solid steak. They only cook their steak one way and that's medium rare. I found my steak to be more on the rare side so it was a little chewier than I would like but the flavor was simple and tasty.

I also got the mushrooms, twice baked potato, and lobster bisque. The twice baked potatoes was good but not worth it for me. I didn't like the lobster bisque because it was really a lobster curry soup with a few pieces of lobster so unless curry is your thing, I would pass. I did however, enjoy the mushrooms immensely. It was intensely juicy and flavorful.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here and would definitely come back for more seafood! The service here was great. The staff was friendly and attentive. Definitely worth trying if you want great seafood with some good steak...

Severely let down on the quality of food. I’d classify my partner and I as gastronomes and I’ve been cooking myself for 16 years. My partner raved about having gone to this restaurant “10 years ago,” so we opted to try it together for our upscale date night spot.

When we choose a date night spot, we opt for the full experience. First, the wine we chose (~125 bottle) was not the vintage listed on the menu, it was younger than listed. When addressed, the server said they’d run out of the other bottle but forgot to update the menu. He did, however, bring a decanter when asked.

The yellowtail carpaccio was delightful albeit a bit sauce-drenched. A hopeful way to open the meal.

Upon delivery of our steaks, I was intrigued. There was little to no crust on either of them, despite the website claiming delectable pan-searing methods. We sliced in, expecting medium-rare perfection for how expensive the cuts were. The filet was bloody and my ribeye was over-cooked.

We asked for the filet to be cooked to temperature. And what happened next was atrocious. The server took the meat back to the kitchen and the chef cooked it center-side down. When brought back out, it was two halves, hardly changed but for a sear down what used to be the middle. A horrendous way to mutilate a dry-aged steak.

The flavor wasn’t anything to write home about. There were no profiles of herbs or garlic which the website touted. Honestly, I’ve reverse seared better steaks on my own cast iron.

The half crab add on was incredibly fishy. When asked if it was previously frozen, the server reluctantly stated it had been. Again, not anywhere near worth the mark up on cost, and particular during crab season! Do yourself a favor and find a local fisher person, buy directly, boil the crab at home.

The mushroom side was the star of the entrée, honestly. They were flavorful and had marvelous texture. The baked potato was boring- it tasted like mass-produced, imported produce, not worthy of the Top 10 Steakhouse rating by USAToday.

We were wary of the dessert menu because of the inconsistency throughout the meal; however, we went for the mango panna cotta which turned out to be a quite pleasant and refreshing way to end the meal.

Overall, we spent $500 (wine, app, 2 entrees, 2 sides, dessert, tax, tip), expecting the experience and quality to be on par with other fine dining restaurants. For example, last month, we spent the same amount for 3 people to do the bar tasting menu + wine pairing at Commis in Oakland.

What we found is that Bobo’s has fallen far from where they were “10 years ago” and could drastically use...

Your business is only as good as your weakest link...Robert is your weakest link.

The steak, the crab, the sides, and the drinks were great.

However, this restaurant doesn't get a one star because of the food. It gets a one star because Robert was a smart ass that left a bad taste in our mouth. When asked about portion sizes and whether or not they would be appropriate for our group he stated, "Well, I wouldn't know. I don't know how much you can eat." with a grin on his face. He continued on after we asked him more about it and refused to give us any sort of indication about portion size. He couldn't dare give any sort of advice to first time diners at this restaurant. Just tell us in your best opinion whether or not it will work for us. Make a guess. Take a stab at it.

We continue with our order and move on to entrees. On the menu, it clearly suggests that the steaks should be cooked medium rare. Robert asks us for the cook of our steaks, "how would you like that cooked, medium rare?" Sounds great to us, we will all have ours that way. However, one of the ladies in our group decides that she doesn't want the steak that rare and would like it medium. We get his attention and she asks for the steak medium. "That's already what I wrote down? 3 medium filet mignons and one medium rare bone-in New York." Nope. That's not what we ordered and we all knew it. Yet again, he absolutely insisted that he wrote it down and heard it correctly, yet again with a smug smart ass tone in his voice.

By the way, Robert, my New York came out medium to medium well. Hardly any pink on the inside, but I didn't dare mention it to you in fear of you coming up with some "holier-than-thou" response from you about how it's cooked perfectly.

Robert, if it were up to me, you would have been lucky to receive even a penny for gratuity from me but luckily our gracious hosts had decided otherwise. Even the best tasting steak in the world could not have compensated for the smart-alec tone you had in your voice all night. I refuse to give this business any more than one star and if I were able to, I would give them zero.

Service is key in a city with a hundred restaurants...JUST...LIKE...YOURS.

If you want great crab (and probably great steak), great service and a great view go to the Crab House at Pier 39. I've never been disappointed there and doubt you...