Cindy Tsai

I truly love the thoughtful design of this restaurant! Great ambiance! Service was also excellent and filled with attention. Best aps were the pumpkin puff and shrimps 🍤! Truly perfect in texture and taste! Entrée noodles and rice dishes were the weak point. But the halibut was delicious and cooked tender and juicy

Will McTighe

Beat my expectations! The burger in a baguette was tasty, the meat was cooked well. That is their speciality. The fish and chips was also solid (I am British so I feel qualified to opine on this). Starters were also good for a bar. The hazy IPA and wine were both delightful. Service was great - we had an engaging waiter and everything was timely. It was a fun atmosphere to sit at a spacious table but have the energy of a bar behind us. Caveat: we had the best table in the house - 6 person circular table immediately on the left as you walk in so it felt very spacious. Other tables were not so spacious!

Dom D

Oh, Balboa… a true Marina District classic! My family’s been coming here for generations and it never disappoints. The cocktails are always top-notch, the staff are awesome, and the food is excellent. It can get pretty wild on the weekends, but weeknights are a great time to run into old friends and family. Definitely worth a visit if you’ve never been, and always worth a stop if you have!

Daniel Flores

Balboa café is a local favorite for me. I’ve been coming to this place for over 10 years most recently I come and get lunch is here and meet colleagues for lunch and drinks. there buffalo chicken wrap is amazing. Happy hour is always a good time. It tends to get packed and super lively with a lot of locals. There espresso martinis are highly recommended. If you’re coming for dinner, plan ahead and make reservations because they do tend to fill up most nights.

+1

Lisa T K

Yes, the food is magnificent. The service is absolutely the best - even the busboys are smiling, polite and gracious, the waiters are genuinely nice. We were seated indoors and had caesar with shrimps and grilled salmon. Both were Michelin star restaurant level - in caesar, just enough dressing, plump juicy shrimps (large guys - almost scampi :)), and parmesan was served as a melted crisp - totally delicious :) The salmon was served on the perfectly grilled skin, perfectly deboned and perfectly succulent. Here is my only issue: the noise level. It's literally unbearable if you are seated inside - we finished our meal and talked for an hour in the car. I read a couple reviews and it's not only my issue - many people complain about the noise. So, the food is great, the atmosphere is amiable and friendly - but if you actually want to talk and listen, be seated outside.

Shanelle S

Popular spot known for espresso martinis in the Marina. Came here for dinner on a Friday evening around 9pm and it was pretty crowded. We didn’t have reservations for our party of four but we nabbed an inside table with a less than 5 minute wait. Outdoor seating with heat lamps is also available. The Mac and cheese was the crowd favorite. I did enjoy the poke nachos as well, though note that there is a lot of mayo-based sauce on top. The buttermilk calamari came in a huge portion size so that’s a good option for those groups that are hungry. We got a salad and risotto to round out the meal - those were alright. Service was pretty slow but it was a busy Friday night, so we just went up to the bar to try to pay the bill.

+5

Aditi Sharma

Always packed. Cocktails are decent, but expect a long wait before you get one. They really need more seating and better flow — but overall, the vibe is great.

Magali Gutierrez

I was excited to try Balboa Café, especially since it’s known for having some of the best espresso martinis in the city. The espresso martinis were smooth and well-balanced. Unfortunately, the food didn’t quite match the same standard. I had the salmon, which lacked flavor, and the paella was just average. Another downside was the cleanliness — the table we were seated at had a noticeably dirty tablecloth, which was disappointing and took away from the overall dining experience. Great for drinks, but the food and attention to detail could use some improvement

+1

Ziggy Geitheim

A lot of people seem to really like this place but the food was mediocre for the price and the chicken pot pie gave me food poisoning. The atmosphere is good for drinks on a week night but I’d avoid the food.

Ryan LaFrance

Walked up from one side and did not see the check in booth around the corner. bouncer thought we were trying to sneak in. Was not trying to use his big boy words instead decided to be a total jerk. So we left Fine by me. Food looked mediocre like a frat house dinner. Was only there to please the wife. Glad that bouncer was a an idiot, saved me from a garbage meal

Niti

I had a very disappointing and uncomfortable experience at Balboa Cafe in San Francisco. I went with friends during Santa Con. Initially, we were told Santa hats weren’t allowed, which was fine we decided to go outside and hang out the same way other patrons were. One friend went inside to get drinks while the rest of us waited outside. What was not fine was what happened next. Despite complying, our group (all people of color) was repeatedly harassed by their security team approached at least five separate times while standing outside doing nothing disruptive. At the same time, there were multiple other patrons around us, dressed in similar or even more elaborate Santa outfits, who were white and were drinking and completely ignored by security. The repeated targeting felt like clear profiling. It escalated to the point where one security guard clenched his fists and acted aggressively, making the situation feel unsafe and intimidating for no reason. We were singled out while others around us were left alone, and the difference in treatment was impossible to ignore. This was an obvious case of discriminatory behavior and a horrible experience overall. I would strongly caution people of color before coming here. No one should feel harassed or threatened simply for standing outside a bar while others are treated differently.

Jonathan Liu

I've visited Balboa Cafe a few times now. Overall, I cannot recommend it. While it enjoys famed status, the quality of service was pitiful. Service was virtually nonexistent during my most recent visit for afternoon drinks and appetizers. After being seated outdoors with our party of 4, we were not greeted by a server until we flagged one down ourselves. Water for the table was brought out 20 minutes after being seated. We did not receive our first order until nearly 40 minutes after initially being seated. You need a water refill? Good luck, babe. It was not lunch or dinner rush either, nor was it particularly busy that day. In total, we had 4 or 5 servers. Except for one, we flagged each down ourselves since the servers would just disappear for a while. One server closed out our tab mid-service since their shift was ending, so we had two bills. Another server who was passing by acknowledged us, then kept walking past us, dismissively waving his hand at us with his back turned as if we were a bother. Another server just forgot to put our order in. Yeah, it was pretty weird. Notably, the vibe wasn’t the laidback, less intrusive service one typically finds in parts of Europe, though. Nor was it the “order and get out of the way” but-not-in-a-rude-way at the grab and go dim sum places or taquerias in town. At Balboa Cafe, there was a distinct sense of entitlement and laziness among the staff, as if a MOD was not on site and the customers were a burden. The experience was damn near comical with how chaotic and rude the service was. After reading some of the other reviews to see if our experience was an anomaly, I now understand that these issues are a pattern that continue to go unaddressed. BIG KUDOS TO THE BUSBOYS, however - they were actually prompt and attentive. The busboys and cleaning staff deserve recognition for their hard work. Hopefully they get a bigger share of gratuity because it was clear that they were putting in work and trying to help while the servers were off to who-knows-where. Now, with the exception of the espresso martini, which was pretty good, the other drinks and food were average/standard, nothing special. The drink menu is extensive, so there’s something on there for everyone’s palate. We ordered some shared plates as well as a few rounds of spritzes, cocktails, and wine. Unsurprisingly, we had to ask for silverware ourselves when a random server happened to pass by, some time after the food was dropped off. Some final notes - outdoor seating could be comfier, but they’ve got bigger fish to fry. If you’re visiting SF, it might be worth visiting just to check it out, but Balboa Cafe really isn’t anything to write home about. If you must go, maybe try sitting indoors or at the bar for a better experience.

Steve Crick

Never been and won't go, because Gavin Newsom is a co-owner and and doesn't pay his employees $20 an hour. Unlike the law he put in california where all fast food employees get $20 an hour. Fast food employees that can't wipe them selfs properly, or get an order correct, but will probably give u food poisoning. But Gavin thinks he is to good to pay his employees the same as fast food. Screw Gavin Newsom

Stefan Runge

I wish I could review the food, but we never got to taste it. Our Thanksgiving experience at this restaurant was cut short by a pushy waiter who reminded us three times that our table was reserved, pressuring us to order food before we had even ordered a drink. After he declared he’d be back for our food order, we decided to leave. Fortunately, there are dozens of decent restaurants in the area happy to have our business.