Boudin SF — Restaurant in Walnut Creek

9/9/18 - FIVE STAR

The clam chowder bread bowl was my favorite SF treat.... until today!!! A re-visit to Boudin's by Fisherman's Wharf taught me that thinly sliced sourdough bread crisps smothered in their spinach-artichoke-and-huge-chunks-of-fresh-crab-dip is better than ANYTHING else I've eaten in the City. Ever!!! Don't get me wrong: my boyfriend and I shared an amazing clam chowder bowl here before our real lunch, then ate off each other's plates of Fish and Chips (his lunch - so freaking tender and perfectly fried with thin fries on the side) and a Crab Sandwich (my lunch - which I'd highly recommend - and I liked it even better than Fenton's in Oakland, which until today was my fave crab sand.) But the starter our table shared blew me away! Best appetizer ever. We honestly sat there planning our next trip here for more drinks and spinach dip.

Service was great from checking in at the reservation desk to picking up our bill at the end. The assistant manager Kelly introduced herself which was awesome, and her staff was just as insanely attentive to detail as she was, even by bringing out a little extra salt to me for my Bloody Mary. Our server Evelyn checked in on us just the right amount. Not too much and never left us hanging trying to get someone's attention. With great service came great food! My bff's grilled trout lunch should also be mentioned, but maybe not before our perfectly spiced Bloody Mary's, (and I can't leave out the bread they brought to our table). Everything was perfect. The view from upstairs is great, so there's that, IF you want to look up from your plate of delicious food!

I think whether you're a tourist or a kinda-local (we're from East Bay), Boudin's is one of those family-owned businesses that cares about their customer experience, and is seriously on-point. If you're not in the mood to battle a seagull or a panhandler for someplace to sit and eat a bread bowl outdoors, stop in here and eat at a luxe table with a killer view and spoil yourself with some of the best food and drinks you can find around this...

I've been here maybe a dozen times, usually grabbing a quick lunch to-go, and actually most my experiences were fine. A lot of the food suffers from chain-restaurant issues where it's obviously pre-made, but whatever, it's a fine place to grab a quick bite.

However, DO NOT order the french dip; or if you do don't walk away from the counter, open your bag and you will not find any horseradish so ask for it right away. I have ordered it 5 times from this store over maybe a year and not ONCE was it included (I kept forgetting to say something when I went to pick it up).

The last time I ordered it I remembered and stepped to the side and dug through my bag looking for it, and surprise it wasn't there. I then went back to the cashier and emptied my bag out in front of her and explained this had been a recurring thing for me. The cashier then went to talk to the line and the few people waiting for their food heard this exchange: "The customer says he's missing the horseradish for the french dip sandwich." "Oh it's DEFINITELY in there, it's just at the bottom so he wouldn't see it. Tell him it's in there and he's good to go" "Well, he emptied out his bag onto the counter and there wasn't any in there..." "It's in there, I made it myself." "Can I just get more to give him?" "Ugh, FINE, here!" Yeesh, felt bad for the cashier. Obviously I have no idea if it was always the same guy making my french dip or if nobody there can ever remember it, just always seemed weird to forget to me since that's one of the only ingredients...

Want your order which consists of just 2 bread bowls and soup in over 40 minutes? Then this is your place.

It's unfortunate that I have to write this review as I was just raving about the service I got from the manager. I actually had an issue at this location with getting a refund for an item that was out of stock and a former staff member who did not want to help me with the refund (found out it was his last day when I was there). Rebecca was very sorry about the situation and provided a gift card which has my refund and a little extra to cover lunch. I felt that her response was great and I wanted to give Boudin a second chance. Today was a bad day to do that as my order of two bread bowls of clam chowder to go took over 45 minutes to get and that was only because I brought it up. When I had left I noticed my order was wrong and was missing the bread bowls.It also seemed as if my order was missed because people behind me in line were getting their orders. It's unfortunate that it seems this location is really understaffed and they're struggling keeping up with high volume orders. I used to work at a bakery years ago that was similar and understand how the lunch rush can be, but I think simple orders such as soup can be prioritized. A soup is already prepared and only requires to be put into a. To go container as compared to a sandwich which needs multiple ingredients to make it. I really hope this Boudin can get support staff to help as I know I was not the only customer who was not happy with the...