Fisch & Flore — Restaurant in San Francisco

I’ll begin by saying I’d had several nice meals since this long-shuttered establishment re-opened, but all of that was undone in one terrible night.

I brought a large group of friends for a weeknight dinner. When we arrived we ordered an pricy bottle of champagne. The waiter served it, and then explained that the kitchen was out of more than half of the entrees including all of the fish dishes. Felt a little bait-and-switch with the expensive bottle already open, but fine. We ordered a combination of things including starters as mains for a few of us.

After the first course was served, the waiter returned with “bad news”: The starter I’d chosen for my main was also out. I gave up and said I would just have nothing for dinner. The main course was served and one of my guests got nothing – he had also ordered the same starter as me, but the server didn’t tell him or give him a chance to order something else. We complained and the waiter told us he thought I had been coordinating everyone’s order and when I chose to have nothing he assumed my friend did as well.

I asked to speak to the manager, to which the server responded he was the manager.

As my friends continued eating, a gentleman came out from the back and said he was the owner. From the opposite end of the 8-top, he proceeded give three half apologies, each time saying “I’m sorry, but…”. First “it’s Tuesday”, then “we didn’t expect you all to come in at once,” and finally “what do you want me to do.”

At this point I was flustered. His tone was all wrong and he offered nothing tangible to make up for the poor experience. I told him heatedly that what I wanted was for him to genuinely apologize and to think about what he could do to make up for the bad experience. He was yelling at us at this point and said we were welcome to leave.

He went back to the back and soon after the check came. No further apology. No further action to make the terrible experience right. And most importantly, no acknowledgement of how poorly he and his staff had handled the situation.

It pains me to not return to this establishment because I live in the neighborhood and love the space, but the total disregard for his customers disqualifies the owner from my patronage. I encourage everyone else to avoid this place because of their toxic owner. Hopefully when they close a better business will emerge...

I'm sure some of you guys remember the good old cafe Flore and the various memories it held. It was certainly the place to see and be seen but it was also a cozy place where one could just enjoy a cup of coffee alone. So seeing this place reopening with much of the same layout and roof structure is certainly a joy. The decor fits and gives a nice combo of trendy and stylish without being over bearing. As the new owner held onto the old metal roof structure, the place does get super noisy. Sounds from every table bounces off and u better be ready to raise your voice which adds to the problem. If you decide to eat at this place also make sure you are not close to the door. Cold San Francisco evenings can have a chilling effect on the dinning experience and if you are like me I don't like to eat dinner while wearing a coat nor do I like to freeze while doing so.

Now to the food We ordered the smelt, octopus and seafood pasta. The octopus was outstanding, crisp yet tender perfectly cooked and the couscous rounded out the sweet potato puree. The seafood pasta al Dante and shrimp and squid a nice blend to the bisque flavor they used to quickly blanch the pasta and add some extra flavors. The smelt needs work, it was not crispy enough and a bit too much on the fishy side and it didn't bring out that distinct smell texture..... Food quality is good, portion size to price is a bit on the small/high side as three to four dishes per person are recommend and that will run...

Congratulations to this restaurant and great staff for opening! I’ve been staring at this property for years on my walks imagine how nice it could be, and this place met expectations!

They have a beautify patio with a nice gas fire place, and the inside feels very intimate and upscale. I’m obsessed with their floor.

My only qualm is that I made a reservation for 4 about a week ago, but when we showed up, the hostess offered us bar seats for “20 minutes to start” and we’d later be switched to a table. Unfortunately the table wasn’t ready until over an hour after we sat down, and well into our entree course. Tbh I’m just going to chalk this up to growing pains of a new restaurant (I’m really rooting for this place), but I just wanted to provide the feedback that if I have a reservation with no specificity about seating types, I expect a table, especially for 4.

The bar staff, especially Carlos were wonderful. They made sure we were comfortable and even comped a dish because we couldn’t get a table.

Carlos had great drink and food advice, and was nice enough to make us drinks that weren’t on the menu.

The food was very tasty. Very much small plate vibes, but they do have a few entree sized potions, including the seafood linguine, which we loved.

Overall I really enjoyed my experience here, and I’m excited to go back! Thanks...