The Waterfront Restaurant, San Francisco, California Restaurant Details

Food:

I booked a happy hour for our team here at work with almost 30 days in advance, and they canceled it on me due to me needing to push it back by 30 mins! The time change wasn't even confirmed yet, and they were not willing to take my group in. NEVER work with Cheryl, or the Manager there. What a horrible customer service experience. Shame on them!

Food:

We ate here on the 4th of July. Fabulous experience. Fish and chips elevated to new hights with a gorgeous fresh frisée salad perfectly dressed and asparagus and chips from fresh potatoes, 2 types of bread and butter with a sprinkle of salt. The service was excellent as was the view. We can't wait to come back to the Waterfront. I'm glad I don't live closer because I'm not sure if ever leave. Thank You for a wonderful experience and making us feel like we were so special while surrounded by so very many people for the holiday.

Food:

We ate here on the 4th of july, and it was my birthday. I made a reservation for 10 and said I want it at 8 but they said it has to be at 9. So I said okay. When we got there they too 30 mins just to give us a seat. When we got our table of course we all catching up and waited for my other family members to arrive but our waiter is giving us a baaaaaaaaaad attitude, I told him that my family will arrive in 10 mins but he's asking me every min which is sooooo rude. Just on our table, yall made $500 and we all feel like we're being rushed?! I didn't finish my food, didn't even finish half of it. I was gonna bring it home but I was counting my money when I looked on the table my food was gone. So I asked him if he threw my food "he said I asked you but you didn't say anything" exactly because I didn't hear him. It's okay if the food is not pricey, but it is. Bad bad bad service, I really appreciate them giving my request for where my table at but the food service or our waiter was really bad, never again. Paid $500 for badass service. Wasted my money.

Food:

So part of me wanted to give this place a 1-Star review, but that would be unfair.

About two weeks ago I took a friend who had just arrived in town to Waterfront Restaurant so that she and I could enjoy a nice meal, and a bottle of wine on the bay. From the moment we arrived, until the moment we left, the service was uneven. Granted, we arrived at the blue-hair dinner hour of 4pm, so I can understand if there was a break in shifts from their better staff.

We ordered a bottle of white wine, oysters on the halfshell, the beet salad, seafood pasta, and swordfish.

Overall, the service was attentive, and courteous. The oyster shucker could use some serious practice. There were several broken shell pieces in my oysters, and the flesh of the oyster was not separated from the shell. This made for an awkward dance in attempting to elegantly eat one of my favorite bivalve mollusks.

The beet salad was good, but if they had screwed up this very basic salad, I would have dropped them down to one-star. My friend enjoyed her seafood pasta, but given how everything else tasted in my mouth, I just didn't even want to bother presenting my palate for another disappointment.

I'm a diehard swordfish fan. Whenever I see it on the menu, I usually order it. 9 times out of 10. I've had swordfish at some of the finest restaurants around the world, and some of the best hole-in-the-walls. Sadly, the swordfish I had at Waterfront Restaurant was the worst preparation I've ever been served. And that's not an exaggeration.

The swordfish was woefully undercooked. Yes, some fish can be cooked, or even just seared, and that works perfect. However, with swordfish, and the nature of the texture of the meat, it requires a delicate and thorough cooking in order to leave a flaky, falling apart swordfish steak. When I first dug my knife and fork into this piece, I had difficulty cutting the meat, and the still cold tendons made my job even harder. This led me to do something I have not done in over 15 years: I sent the plate back. I simply asked for a properly cooked swordfish steak.

The server was gracious, and returned minutes later with another piece of swordfish. However, this piece of fish was COOKED EVEN LESS than my previous plate. I simply did not touch the food. I didn't ask for a refund, or to have the item removed from my bill. That's tacky. But, it prompted me to make mental notes for this review.

Bottom line: Avoid this restaurant at all costs. They need new management, more refined decor, more comfortable seating on the patio, and a completely new kitchen staff. There are literally hundreds of better seafood restaurants in San Francisco that offer better food with less compromises.

[NOTE: Upon review of my bank statement to see what the charge was for the meal, and I couldn't find it. My guess is the restaurant removed the charge after the fact. While I do appreciate that, I think they should have communicated that to me at the time.]

Food:

Happened to stumble across this nice restaurant while on a stroll to the Marketplace.

Went on a Sunday around 3pm. The restaurant had a nice, clean, quite & beautiful atmosphere. We dined upstairs and had a wonderful view of the water. We ordered the Lobster Sandwhich, Seafood Salad & Lobster Mac & Cheese.

The lobster sandwhich was AWESOME! It was a large portion (they must have changed the size since the previous reviews) Seafood Salad had a wonderful lemon based vinaigrette dressing. (A little pricy on the salad, considering the size, but delicious never the less. Lobster mac was good as well, but not to die for. Our food came out quickly and our server was attentive. Only issue was we ordered sodas that came in SUPER TINY glasses with lots of ice and were charged $3.50 per glass (no refills) so we paid $14 for about a can and a half worth of soda. Overall a wonderful restaurant, except for the pricy sodas! :)