Isa Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

The worst experience we’ve had in years of eating out in San Francisco. Summary: mediocre food and extremely rude service. Like really, avoid if you can. Story: we went here for a special date with my husband. Two waiters told us the intro about what a wonderful place we’re lucky to find ourselves in, and how all of the stuff is working here for more than 12 years. We ordered a dinner for two with wine, appetizers, and main courses. Our waiter recommended that we get foie gras for a starter as it’s their signature dish (and the most expensive at the moment), and told that it’s better to take two portions because one would be too small to share. As we really like foie gras and eat it quite often all over the world, we decided to give it a try after such an advertisement. Glad we only took one. It was served burned – literally, with charcoal patches. We tried it, figured out it’s inedible, and wanted to return it to the kitchen. The waiter refused to do so as we “started eating the dish”. Later, another waiter took it away without asking something or saying a word. The rest of the food was served with sour faces and in complete silence. You can guess that with such a friendly and nice ambiance we couldn’t enjoy the dinner and tried to finish it asap. The full price of foie gras was included into the check and stayed there even after we pointed out that we asked to return it to the kitchen, and it was taken away almost untouched. Waiters were simply rude and didn’t even try to smooth the situation out. We paid around $150 for probably the worst dinner we’ve ever had. When we were exiting the restaurant, a manager at the door asked us if we enjoyed the evening. I explained him what happened. He didn’t look shocked, and as “all of their stuff is working there for more than 12 years”, I think this is not the first - or the last - such situation there. The next day I received a phone call from their manager with the offer of an Isa gift card. To be honest, I have no idea what should happen to make us go there again, so the offer was declined. Even if every other place in SF burns down, I’d better cook over a campfire than return to this wonderful restaurant. Note: I waited for a couple of months to chill down and write a review without...

Dine About Town Menu! :) Third visit at Isa!

You come to Isa partly for the food and partly for the impeccable service. The waiter staff is very knowledgeable in the menu and is always there by your side for whenever you need ANYTHING. The bread basket was never empty and the water glass will always be at least half full. They have kind, friendly, and efficient. If I had my own restaurant, I would want to steal this waitstaff at Isa!

On to the food...

Lobster Broth - I really enjoyed this broth as it was very fresh and clean. It wasn't fattening and buttery as I would've imagined it to be. The prawns were a good addition to the dish.

Mussels - This dish was decent, but definitely not the most flavorful mussels I've had. Some of them actually had that fishy stench, but not a whole lot. The broth was good with bread though.

Crab Salad - Generous portion! There were four little salad cups with generous servings of dungeness crab meat. This was very refreshing and delicious!

Risotto - This was kind of a disappointment. It was rather watery and the amount of cheese made it too rich. In addition, I think that it could have used more flavor from the mushrooms.

Duck Breast - The meat was so tender that it didn't even taste like duck! I really enjoyed this dish and wished I had ordered this instead.

Steak - People at my table raved about the tenderness of the steak and the sauce. I didn't get to try it, but it sure looked yummy!

Scallops - Not a big portion for those of you who are hungry.

Creme Brulee - The consistency of the creme brulee was pretty good. It had the nice bitterness and caramelization from the sugar and sweetness of the custard. It would have been nice served with some fresh berries!

Semifreddo - Very almondy for those who like that. It tasted somewhere between a cake and ice cream. Can't really pinpoint it, but don't think I liked it very much...

Overall, the food and service here is great. Would definitely...

Got to the restaurant early. Checked with with the host( older man with glasses and a mustache). He sat us outside rather than inside. Waiter came by to explain the restaurant week pre fix menu and took orders around 520pm. Asked for an iced tea.. we don’t iced tea. How about a Diet Coke. Never got it. Soup came out first: potato soup- bland and flavorless, laced basic seasoning. Lobster bisque- not good at all. The bust person came by and took the soups away didn’t ask how it was or anything. Didn’t even realize the soups were Un touched. 610pm: Crab salad came out next- that was okay. 3 piece of hamachi with 3 slices of jalapeño- that was ok. 615pm- told our waiter we needed to leave at 645pm- he said not possible- our dinner takes 1.5 hours. No apology, no alternatives given just “not possible” walked away. Then the host came by and asked if we were in a hurry? I said we need to leave at 645pm. He said our “chicken takes 29min to cook. We cook all our dishes one at a time, fresh! “ I said we got here at 515pm so 1.5 hours we should be done at 645pm. We were missing two appetizers, all entrees and all desserts. The host said “ okay” walked away. No apology, no asking if we wanted to box the order, nothing offered. 620pm- the remaining apps came out. 630pm- chicken came out, 635pm asked for our check. The steak came out and we asked for it to be boxed. Looked at the bill- charged us for everything. Also try to charge us for a second cocktail we never got. I said we never got the desserts. He said “ I have no control over the menu” again no apology, nothing! But wait you guys cook your dishes one at a time so it’s fresh so if we didn’t get the desserts why is it on the bill…?

I understand you have to make money but at what cost? Will ever go back to this restaurant. Will never recommend it to friends or family. Will definitely tell everyone I know how terrible our...