Chotto Matte San Francisco — Restaurant in San Francisco

We came on a Thursday night. It was beautiful weather and we had reservations for 2. We saw the host, and we came for my birthday, and my husband noted it on our reservations. We were given the option to sit inside or out, and they let us sit outside. It was beautiful.

The host sat us down, asked us what kind of water we wanted, and said she'd get it for us. But I'm sorry to say, she did not get it for us, nor did she ask someone to give us any. I've seen a 3-4 people walking around filling water at all the other tables. 10 mins in, we weren't greeted or given water. I had to ask one of the guys with the tap water jug to give us some water.

Another 5-6 mins later our waiter finally came by. She had a waiter who is training watch her. She didn't introduce him, which we thought was odd. The menu is simple to navigate, which I liked and had a good variety of small plates, appetizers, a la carte, sushi, and tasting menus.

She first asked us what we wanted to drink, I had a glass of Moscato ($13), and my husband had a non-alcoholic drink. Unfortunately, what he wanted was sold out. So he choose another drink, which was fine, it wasn't anything special.

Angus Rib Eye (12oz. $60) - It was good, but nothing special. Seasoned well with salt n pepper, a very thin piece, cooked perfectly, with 2 sauces on the side. It was already cut for us and that was nice. Probably not something we'd order again

Wood Fired Brussels Sprouts ($11-13, I forgot how much) - These were really good. Seasoned well, and charred.

Baby Back Ribs ($21) - These were very good, but not fall off the bone. I think it could be cooked a little bit more for it to be more tender.

Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice ($21, 5 pieces) - this was small, but flavorful, and crispy.

Soft Shell Crab Sushi Roll ($21) - Very good, and they had a nice daikon/radish wrap on the outside with the extra crunch.

Disappointment: they didn't give us/serve us any soy sauce for any of our sushi. They gave us wasabi and ginger.

Then since it was my bday celebration, my husband asked to look at the dessert menu just in case I wanted something. I wanted to share the Japanese Souffle Cheesecake with my husband since we were pretty full. Again, they were out, and our waitress failed to tell us after she dropped off the menus for us to look at. I was actually pretty disappointed. I think this is protocol of telling your customers what is not available when handing a menu out.

Anyway, we ended up choosing Churros with the Hazelnut chocolate dipping sauce and my husband got a latte. Out churros arrived, and it was hot, there were 4 pcs, and was about 6-7 inches long, so it was decent size for dessert. The first two pieces we grabbed were warm, so it was nice. It was crunch and semi soft in the middle. But when we grabbed the 2nd two, it tasted stale. It was already cold and hard I really don't think they gave us old food, but I do think theres a possibility that they gave us some that they previously cooked, and put it in back of the first two that were freshly fried. It was unfortunate. We only had two bites, so we left the rest on our plate. Our waitress came by and asked how it was, and I was honest, the first two were good, and the 2nd two were stale. She didn't do anything, she barely apologized for it, and she didn't take out food away. But that time, we noticed my husbands latte hasn't arrived yet and we almost finished our entire meal.

She ended up getting us some mochi ice cream, which I think were packaged mochi, to apologize for our churros.

When we got the bill, she told us the mochi was 'on the house' since our churros weren't good, but they did not take off the churros. I was really upset. Any common sense, the mochi didn't even need to be on the receipt.

And FYI...Healthy SF % has gotten up, 8.5% now, on top of tax, 8.63% of the total on your bill. All in all I wasn't entirely happy. I wouldn't mind trying one more time, if some of this were fine tuned. Lastly my waitress did not acknowledge...

I had a TERRIBLE overall experience at Chotto Matte hosting my fiancé's birthday dinner event. I carefully selected the restaurant based on its reputation for an upbeat atmosphere and quality dining, but the evening was nothing short of a disaster, primarily due to the poor service and mismanagement by our server, Roberto. To start, earlier on the day of the event, I informed Nicolas that two guests had fallen ill and would no longer be attending. He acknowledged this update and assured me the adjustment would be made. However, upon arrival, the table was still set for 16 guests, and at no point was this addressed or explained. To my shock, we were still charged for 16 people despite giving ample notice of the change. The issues only worsened from there. I was explicitly assured that the private dining room would not be secluded from the rest of the restaurant and would still be within the vibrant ambiance near the DJ. This was a key factor in my decision to book at Chotto Matte, and I even hesitated to place my deposit based on these concerns. However, upon arrival, I quickly realized that this was misleading, as the space felt entirely disconnected from the main restaurant. The issues only escalated from there. Despite making it clear that I was hosting and covering all costs for the evening, Roberto immediately began discussing pricing with my fiancé, stating there was a $1,000 drink minimum. This was completely inappropriate and undermined the surprise element of the celebration. I had already informed staff and guests that I would be handling all expenses, and I explicitly instructed him not to mention costs to my fiancé. Furthermore, I was never informed in advance that the $159 per person menu would consist of shared plates. Not only was this lack of transparency frustrating, but the execution was chaotic—dishes were scattered randomly across the table without explanation. It was only when I inquired that Roberto vaguely explained the sharing concept, justifying it as a way to "save plates," which is an unacceptable response given the price point of the meal. Adding to our disappointment, we requested the music be turned up to align with the lively atmosphere we were promised—this never happened. The most egregious failure of the night, however, occurred when the bill arrived. After our initial issue regarding the discussion of costs, Roberto personally assured me he would prepare the bill according to my instructions and confirmed that I would be the one handling payment. Yet, when the time came, he disregarded my clear request and allowed my fiancé to see and pay the bill. This was beyond unprofessional and completely unacceptable, embarrassing me in front of my guests and spoiling the carefully planned surprise. To make matters worse, upon reviewing the invoice this morning, I noticed we were charged a $656 "unmet minimum fee." At no point was I informed we were short the minimum for food/drinks and had I been made aware, we would have simply ordered additional drinks rather than paying a pointless fee. I was beyond disappointed with the service we received and feel completely misled by the promises made when booking this event. With all the "services fees" and a bill costing almost 6k, to say the evening was a failure would be putting it lightly. The lack of professionalism, transparency, and respect for my explicit instructions was inexcusable AND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO HOST...

UPDATE: was contacted by the restaurant and upon seeing what they will do to resolve the matter, their “solution” was inviting me back to spend more money and offer 50% off. The smart thing would be to have have taken an the dish out of the bill that was the original issue, or comp the app we ordered, or added an extra item to the dessert. If that initiative was taken I would consider maybe returning. But to ask me to return and spend another $350+ with zero guarantee of anything going correctly is absurd. This place is the absolute worst. Poorly managed and no hospitality at all.

I was hoping to have a great experience at this new restaurant and was sadly disappointed as it did not live up to the hype at all.

The dishes looked pretty but not any one stood out except the overcooked hard squid that we literally could not bite or cut.

Many issues throughout the night, first no one, including our server did not introduce themselves. Second, the legs of the squid were so hard that we could not bite or cut them. We kindly asked if the legs were for decorative purposes as they were inedible because we had not experienced a preparation like this before. Our server said he would ask the kitchen and a little while later, a tall blond gentleman (also did not introduce himself) came back and said that he was notified we had an question with our food. We explained the experience and he said that we could no longer eat the dish as he had to take the plate back for the chef to inspect to determine if the dish was overcooked and if it was, they would try again and bring another plate out. About 5-10 minutes later, the same man came back and said that the cook agreed that the squid was overcooked and would make us another serving. After another 15 or so minutes and they bring out a dish of just squid legs they remade. They were just as bad as the first and because I care about the squid life, I said they were better than the first even though they were just as bad as the first.

It was not made clear whatsoever that they would make it right, nor were we given clarity as to who our server was or who the blond man was.

We received our bill without any consideration as to the negative experience. We paid full price and pressured to provide a high tip in addition to the added SF tax as the server towered over us while we wrote our tip.

We passed by our other servers and the blond man on our way out and were not acknowledged, evidenced by the group of employees standing in a circle chatting amongst themselves and laughing.

As someone who works in hospitality and has experience serving others, this experience at Chotto Matte was appalling. For spending $300 without any alcohol I expect sincere hospitality. But you know what, we still provided a 25% tip because it is the right thing to do.

To be very clear, we were extremely kind and nice to every employee during our bad experience. If I had not been, the service would have reflected the same unfortunately.

Will definitely not be back based on service alone.

And in case you missed it again, which it appears you did, evidenced by you ignoring the situation completely while we dined, you’re welcome for bringing that leak from the ceiling to your attention that is visually and obviously leaking onto the table right next to us, which you ignored and did nothing about as it continued to...