Magnolia SF - Haight — Restaurant in San Francisco

I had the very best fish and chips at Magnolia a few weeks ago. The fish was crunchy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. Three large pieces. But this review isn't about that meal. I went back to Magnolia about a week ago. Same order, to go. When I got home, I was disappointed to see only three small pieces of fish. It was almost Magnolia's closing time and the order reflected that. Scraps from the bottom of the fryer. Still, I ate it and it wasn't bad. Just not enough! The next day, I stopped by and told the manager what had happened and showed him a pic of the disappointing fish. He apologized profusely and quickly offered another order for me, on the house. He also spoke to the cook. He didn't ask for a receipt or anything like that. The order I received that night was just like I remembered from my first visit there: perfect! This place has integrity, something that is increasingly rare to find. I recommend Magnolia 100% and I will be back! (All this talk about the fish and nothing about the chips? Well, the fries were not my favorite. They were shoestring fries. Typically the fries I've had with fish and chips were like steak fries—large wedges of potato. Good for soaking up that delicious malt vinegar. I would recommend that Magnolia switches over to...

Went in 09/06 while the street fair was on. The spot was very busy, and the maître d was efficient but lovely. We spend a few minutes at the bar waiting to be served. Standard, no problem. Gave us time to pick a beer off the blackboard anyway.

Eventually, a bartender about 5’10 or 11, mullet-like brown hair and a ginger beard, on this day wearing a backwards cap, slapped a paper menu in front of us and tossed two coasters across the bar without even looking at us, while engaged in conversation with a colleague. He then walked away. When he came back not only did he fail to offer a simple hello, he simply stared at us until we ordered. He didn’t ask if we wanted to close out (we did by this point) or run a tab, literally nothing.

When a place is busy, service drops. That’s normal. This was plain rude. If you get a ginger bearded server who thinks he’s too good for the people he’s serving, don’t tip him until he learns the basics of customer service. The servers around us seemed to be doing a great job, and the beer was fine, hence a two star instead of a one star rating. Management, I would let this guy go...

Used to come here a lot back in the day. Its been here over 20 years. It was originally a very haight street and SF style of place with lots of grateful dead inspired art and themes everywhere. Typical pub grub and cool hippie vibe. Then about ten years ago they remodeled and changed up the concept some what, going for more upscale food and gastropub style menu. The prices went up considerably. They were clearly going after the newer techie and hipster types. Beer remained pretty decent but expensive. $17 for a growler fill is a lot. Most of their beers are English style. Then about a year ago they went belly up and got bought out by new Belgium. So popped back in after it being here a while to see what's doing. They still have their two flagship beers. But now they are starting to branch out into some other styles. They had some new sours and a dry Irish stout. Also doing some newer style ipas with adjuncts. Did not have any food this time. Bar tenders were very talkative and friendly. Their kolsch is still really good. Four stars for keeping some good ales and being...