Soma Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in San Francisco

I have to say that I’m pretty disappointed for a first time customer. The wine was the best thing we had, aside from the cake that clearly was not made in the restaurant. We got the calamari as an appetizer, no flavor whatsoever in the batter. That came with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce, which of course I enjoy both but Italian? I think not. Where’s the marinara? A nice lemon garlic aioli to make that calamari sing? Super bland, obviously frozen. Wouldn’t recommend. We also had the gnocchi dish, and chicken piccata. The gnocchi was drowned in olive oil. It was the only thing that I could taste and left a nasty film on the tongue. Mind you, gnocchi is one of my FAVORITES when eating Italian. And the piccata? The mashed potatoes came out ice cold with the meal and lacked any flavor, and the sauce was extremely bland. As someone that regularly cooks, I was very disappointed. I do not call myself a chef because I have not yet earned that title, but I know the difference between cooking with love and passion, and just straight up laziness. I’m sure the cooks present had nothing to do with the recipes, I don’t blame them. And the rest of the staff was wonderful and took great care of us. I just thought the food was...

A crooked, unpleasant experience. Rami took care of us at the SOMA Restaurant & Bar (85 5th St, SF), which serves some of the worst cocktails in the City. Patrons beware: along with identity issues (the current menu is pseudo-Italian, under the guise of "Californian cuisine."), everything we ordered was practically inedible (especially a dish we didn't order). The fried calamari was disappointingly overcooked and chewy, and the 'margarita' pizza felt like a joke, which I think sums up our experience at this place, a contemptuous joke.

I would have given SOMA two stars if It weren't for the fact the server argued with me about an order he curiously misplaced, serving us the "short rib" pizza (most expensive pizza on the menu). He never "gets it wrong", he argued. We paid for it anyways, and by far this was the saltiest, most unpleasant pizza I have ever eaten.

Crooked business practices (-1 star), practically inedible food (-2 stars), and disappointing cocktails (-1 star) leaves SOMA's "restaurant & bar" with a single star rating, suiting for a place where you walk out with a bad taste in your mouth, both literally and...

My coworkers and I went here for happy hour recently. We called the day before because there was a big group of us. The host was confused when we said we reserved a table, because they don't take reservations for happy hour. Not sure if the big table the host took us to was reserved for us or it was coincidentally available.

The happy hour drink prices were reasonable, but they were watered down. Even the wine tasted like it was watered down. But the food was delicious. There's a variety of plates to choose from, and the platter had many of the appetizers (two of each) for $13.

What I didn't like about dining there was that it was so hot! I know that many places in the city do not have A/C, but it would've been nice to get at least some fans to get the air moving. It was hot and stuffy.. Luckily, someone opened the door to the lobby of the hotel that the restaurant is connected to, so there was some breeze.

If you dine here for happy hour, I suggest getting the beer and the food only. Don't waste your money on the well...