Nopa — Restaurant in San Francisco

We love Nopa and have been longtime regulars but our experience last night was beyond horrible. I had invited some close friends new to SF for dinner at our favorite restaurant. There were 5 of us. We ordered our cocktails and then put in our order for numerous appetizers and a few main courses. I had asked the waitress if she wanted me to order in stages so we could pace the meal or if she wanted me to put the whole order in. She told me it was best to put the whole order in and she would pace it for us. I let her know we really wanted to catch up and not to bring the food out too quickly and we wanted to have a leisurely meal. She assured me she understood and would pace them. Our dishes came out with WAY too much time between them and we were often sitting with our wine bottle and glasses empty with no one coming to ask if we'd like more cocktails or wine. We would sit for over 20-30 minutes with no food or drinks. When our waitress would approach our table she would visibly roll her eyes every time--sometimes even twice to make her point clear. Everyone noticed and commented on the unprofessionalism and hostility. We didn't let the horrible service ruin our evening but it was an embarrassment for the restaurant and for me since it was clearly directed at me/our table. We did order a lot of food and we would have ordered more drinks had someone come to our table.

1. I know it is difficult to find good or any staff lately but this waitress was so disrespectful and hostile. She shouldn't be working in the front of the house.
2. We don't go out as much as we did before COVID because we have found entertaining at home so much more fun, less stressful and less expensive. This experience reinforced this belief and we will probably continue to entertain at home for a fraction of the price.
3. Our friends who are young, successful tech women and new to the area had never been to Nopa and will surely never be back. They were shocked at the unprofessionalism of our waitress. And I'm sure when they share their experience with their friends and colleagues and it won't reflect well on Nopa.
4. Because we languished so long at the table, I'm sure Nopa lost revenue on seating our table a second time that evening which is unfortunate.
5. Many of our favorite dishes like the rotisserie chicken and pork chop have been removed from the menu and haven't been replaced with anything as fantastic. Only a couple of the 10 or so dishes we ordered were notable.
6. Nopa was always famous for their cocktails and about half our cocktails were not very good. For instance, Aviations are made with Creme de Violette which is purple and our cocktail was bright, hot pink.
7. Looking back I wish I had ordered our meal when we wanted each of the dishes and course served instead of at the waitresses discretion. The slow and hostile service just felt like a big F-you.
8. It was an expensive night out and to have the waitress blatantly try to humiliate me in front of my guests left me with a really sad feeling.
9. As much as we love Nopa, we probably won't be back for a LONG time and then we will sit at the chefs counter where we aren't at the mercy of a surly and unprofessional waitress.

It's just too much money to be...

Nopa is a legend and as all legends go, sometimes a little hard to get a reservation. We accidentally scored a Saturday brunch reservation a couple hours before. Perhaps a cancellation. Tip: Check the Open Table app before you rule Nopa out.

For our 1.30 pm reservation, we reached by 12.45 pm and checked in. The hostess said there is a possibility that a table may be ready sooner. We walked, ordered some coffee at Sight glass and got a text message that our table was ready by 1.10 pm.

The brunch menu is a simple affair. They don’t allow substitutions, they do not have non dairy milk, and if you are vegan who cannot make an exception, Nopa is not the place for you.

Their drinks menu runs 3 pages, and their brunch menu is half a page.

I start with some sencha tea $7, a little too earthy for my taste. Go for a cocktail or their Sparling water bottles from source in Mehico.

Our first order of apps arrives within minutes:

Sourdough Focaccia - Artichoke, lemon, green olives and burrata- $6 - harder to share. Bread was fresh but didn’t have as much flavor as I expected.

We also for an excellent Cucumber Salad with green cabbage, beets, basil, chick peas, feta and lime vinaigrette - $14. Fresh, refreshing and great plate to share.

For mains, we get 2 orders of the King Salmon Lox - Black garlic bagel, red onions, capers, cucumber, English peas and herbed riccota - $17. This is a deconstructed dish that you prepare to your liking. The bagel is baked fresh at Nopa and the marinated vinegar onion make this an outstanding dish. The salmon is as fresh as it gets.

Another entree on our table was the Wood grilled burger with pickled onions, French fries and basil Parmesan aioli - $19. The server mentions that since their meat is high quality to go for medium rare or medium, and not beyond that. I am told the dish is simple but flavorful and hits the right spots. I try the aioli, pickled onions and excellent French fries that taste like they were fried in herbed oil - heavenly.

As we are celebrating an early birthday, our wonderful server gets us a lemon sherbet dessert - a scoop of ice cream - with a candle - on the house.

Overall, a simple menu that combines fresh ingredients and great execution to deliver a memorable brunch. We will be back, if we can score another accidental...

The food is exceptional and somehow the service is even better. I booked NOPA for dinner for my husband and I's first anniversary dinner while we were in SF. We had a reservation for 8:30 and were shown in to our table right away. Our server was friendly and very helpful. He took our drink order right away. I got the Summit and my husband got one of the beer free beer cocktails, which are such a neat idea. I have celiac disease, so when our server returned I asked him to go through the menu for me to show me what could be gluten free. He went though the options rather quickly, but thoroughly. I ordered the butter beans and the pork chop. My husband ordered the ricotta toast and the roast chicken.

The appetizers arrived quickly and they were delicious. I'd never had butter beans before, but they were basically a delicious bean lasagna with melty cheese. My husband throughly enjoyed his ricotta toast. . Dishes were removed promptly, but not before we were both done. My husband order a second beer cocktail and our server suggested a cocktail for men based on my previous choice. At this point, things got a little strange. The sever brought me a dish for my olives, and while I was pretty certain I hadn't ordered anything with olives, I didn't think anything of it. Then our mains arrived: my husband's roast chicken and a vegetable tangine for me... I immediately told then staff that that wasn't what I had ordered. They swooped that dish out of there so quickly it was incredible.

And here is where my experience at NOPA became phenomenal. My server came to apologize. The manager came to apologize and gave me an ETA on when my food would arrive. He told me that they'd send up a salad in the meantime while I waited. The salad arrived very quickly, and OMG. It was actually my favourite part of the meal. It was the chicory salad with Roasted cauliflower, and while I normally do not enjoy salad or cauliflower I could have eaten 100 of those salads. When my main course arrived I set the salad aside, and the main course was quite tasty, but MAN THAT SALAD WAS GOOD. My husband also raved about his roast chicken.

For dessert my husband and I both got a glass of port. He got the quince sorbet and I got the chocolate mouse. Both were delicious and unique.

We will...