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Zuppa
Categories: Restaurants Italian Restaurants Pizza Italian, Pizza [Edit]
564 4th St(between Welsh St & Freelon St)
San Francisco, CA 94107
Neighbourhood: SOMA
(415) 777-5900
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Mon-Thu 5:30 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5:30 pm - 11 pm
Sun 5 pm - 9 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Trendy
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Heather Lee S. said: "This is a LONG OVERDUE review, but I'm keeping my promise. Sorry for the delay, guys! NOW: Speaking as a classically trained, professional chef (CCA '97), I'd like to THANK YOU for an exceptional delivery. 10/04/11 was my husband's…" read more »
492 reviews for Zuppa
Review Highlights
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"Al Ragu di Campagna - the best rigatoni I have ever had." In 12 reviews -
"The most perfect happy hour ever." In 73 reviews -
"...was really cool and super knowledgeable on the wine list." In 28 reviews
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491 reviews in English
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Review from Erin S.
San Francisco, CA
12/12/2011
Tried this restaurant on a whim (and a Groupon ;) and could not have been more pleased. Made a last-minute reservation and came hungry. Our server Amanda had terrific timing. We weren't in a hurry, and she never rushed us, but she was always around moments before we needed something. She was patient in walking us through the menu, making recommendations and answering questions. We settled on the muscles, Speck and whole chicken for two. There's a lot to be said about trusting the server and ordering what they recommend - everything was delicious.
I must say I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews. I've worked in restaurants for 10 years and while the food was delightfully seasoned, it definitely wasn't over-salted. I am not sure how anyone could leave this place hungry. I've got a heck of an appetite but the portions were generous and reasonably priced. Yes, it was cold but in all fairness the server tried to talk us out of sitting near the door. Yes the napkins left behind a lot of lint, but it certainly didn't impact our dining experience. It just gave us something to laugh about when we were leaving. All in all, a great experience. I'll definitely be back to try out their Happy Hour. -
Review from amy g.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 4/18/2012
Been here a couple times since and the wait staff ... well, they made us wait (water) and wait (bread) and wait (DRINKS!)... our food came out before our drinks! That happens once, fine, bad night. But wait, it happened twice. That's it, done.
Shame because I live close by.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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6/5/2011
This place was great. The wait staff was helpful since we didn't know what we really wanted.
The… Read more »
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Review from Lindsay L.
San Francisco, CA
4/14/2012
Came to Zuppa because we had an Open Table deal. Nice large space with tall ceilings, but it doesn't seem to make great use of that space and the tables are too close together.
We started with an arugula salad and grilled calamari with roasted potatoes and garlic. Both were good and showed some creativity in the ingredient combinations.
But I was seriously underwhelmed by our entree selections - first, pesto papardelle with potatoes and pancetta. The potatoes were barely noticeable, and the pancetta was diced chunks that weren't crispy, a serious problem for pancetta! Second, the margherita pizza. In my mind, a great margherita has thin crust and dabs of mozzarella with large pieces of basil. This had a medium thickness crust, grated cheese and very thin strips of basil. It was just a cheese pizza, really, which was disappointing. -
Review from Mercutio k.
San Francisco, CA
3/27/2012 1 Check-in Here
Stopped by for the happy hour after seeing the $1/oyster sign only to find out the oysters are the size of a mini-post it. Then when I read these past yelp reviews and find out they used to only be $0.50/oyster (which is more reasonable for it's tiny size), I'm even more fustrated. Also ordered the $7 happy hour margherita pizza, which was passable for the price.
The bar tender was nice and mixed a decent cocktail. But for oysters, which was the main reason I stepped into the place, it was just not worth it. Pass. -
Review from Jonathan C.
Sunnyvale, CA
5/24/2012
Went here for lunch and was surprised at the lack of people in the place. On that note, it was nice to hold a conversation without needing to raise my voice.
The staff was well informed about the ingredients used in their dishes and was able to answer my coworkers questions about the food (and now I know my coworkers can be picky eaters!). I had the pork ragu and it was delicious. Their triangle shaped-tubed pasta was a pleasant surprise and the sauce was great to use as a dip for the table bread.
My portion sized seemed deceivingly small but I walked away sated and extremely grateful that I did not have that sense of overeating.
Would happily go back to try out their other dishes. -
Review from Sato I.
Fountain Valley, CA
5/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
We went here because my sister said they had really good oyster for cheap during happy hour. We arrived pretty much right when they opened and the first thing the waitress tells us is that they only have 6 oysters left for the night. There was a couple sitting at the bar so either they had a field day with the happy hour oysters or this place doesn't stock many because everyone comes here for the cheap oysters?
Anyway, we get our 6 oysters (for a dollar a piece) and to my disappointment they were the size of a quarter. These small things should have been thrown back for being so small! When I mentioned that to my sister she said that 6 months ago, this placed had a lot bigger oysters and they had plenty of them.
Aside from the oysters, we ordered the pizza and a pasta dish. Neither of them were memorable nor something I would recommend as something they "have to get" when they come here. Come to think of it, most of the food we ordered here was forgettable (except for the mini oysters because they were mini)
San Francisco has so many good restaurants, I'm surprised that this place is surviving with this low qualify of food. I would pass on this place and look for something more exciting. -
Review from Bay G.
San Francisco, CA
2/29/2012
Lunch for two people was $55 plus tip. And for that price, we ate in a cold restaurant and were served entrees that were not hot. I finally ordered hot tea out of desperation to keep warm.
The light fixtures are oddly placed. I bumped my head on one when leaving the table.
The brussel sprout appetizer was good, as was the bread they brought to the table. But the lasagne was an unrecognizable lump covered with sauce.
The dessert menu included a chocolate hazlenut torte. What arrived was a brownie. They either don't know what a torte is, don't care, or pulled a switcheroo. I realize the waitress does not draft the menu or make the desserts, but when I told her that it was not a torte, she had no idea what I was talking about.
The scoop of gelato served with the brownie had ice crystals in it.
I can't think of a single reason to go back to this place. -
Review from Bilbo B.
Palo Alto, CA
4/1/2012
Worst food in years. Unbelievably bad. Like in a workers' canteen in the Soviet Union, in the middle of Siberia. And the kitchen smells likewise. And the furniture to match. Eek!
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Review from Anja H.
San Francisco, CA
2/9/2012
Decided to finally try this place for dinner on a Wednesday night. Didn't have a reservation, but there was plenty of room, so it was no problem.
The ambiance was nice, we were promptly seated and service was quick but not rushed. Someone appeared from nowhere each time my glass of water needed a refill, and no one came to bother when I was about to shove food in my mouth or was deep in a conversation, which is the typical mistake most restaurants make.
The menu seems very interesting, I think that I'll definitely come back to try some of the other options (cuisine is Italian, but the menu seems refreshing compared to the typical selection you'll see everywhere.. yet the must items such as pizzas are there, too) though this time I felt like having a salad. The only salad-ish option was a very simpe wild arugula salad with vinagrette, that seemed all too plain at first (just a huge pile of arugula, really, just looking at it) but was quite good. Not excellent but good. But I don't want to judge the place just based on this time, I will have to come back. A glass of wine with dinner and a cappucino to close, and I left the place content. Not excited, not disappointed, but content. -
Review from Diana N.
Union City, CA
2/6/2012 1 Check-in Here
Great happy hour menu! 75 cent oysters, can't beat that!
However, when it comes to dinner, I'm not a fan.
I went here with my boyfriend, and we weren't wowed. The service was slow even though the place was not full. What made it worse was the fact that when my steak came, it seemed as though it had been left out for awhile and was getting cold.
Appetizer:
-Calamari: ehhh: different. I was expecting the traditional deep fried squid. These on the other hand were bbq.
-Pizza: who can go wrong with oven thin crust pizza.
-Steak: like I said, it came out luke warm. BLAHHH
-Drink: Wine was ok. BF had beer that tasted like it had been in the back of the fridge for too long.
All in all I would say, go for the happy hour menu and NOT the dinner menu. -
Review from Erica T.
1/30/2012
The first time I came to Zuppa was about a year and a half ago with my friends for happy hour. Cheap oysters, wine and food. The oysters was awesome the first time I went......
I came here several times after and it just went down hill from there. Now that I work closer to Zuppa, the place is just meh. The oysters lost its touch (no longer contains meat and the prices went up from $0.50 to $1) and every time I come in to order something, the kitchen will tells me they ran out of certain ingredients to make that dish. For example, my table tried to order Strawberry Spinach salad and they ran out of strawberries (it wasn't even noon yet and there was no crowd of people in the restaurant), the dish ended up being spinach with walnuts.... FAIL.
All within the same day, our table of 12 ended up getting strawberries with spinach (with no strawberries). Some pizzas (and certain pizzas had missing ingredients) and assortment of fresh vegetables with mozzarella.
At the end, one person ordered one biscotti, (I do not recall the exact amount), but it was only 2-3 iches long. Prior to ordering, we assumed for the price you paid for, it would be bigger, big enough for him to share with some people. When we looked at it... we laughed and just let him eat the whole thing.
Sorry Zuppa, but you need to step up your game if you want to keep your customers coming. -
Review from Maggie C.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2012
It's been awhile since I've had such a bad dining experience.
This is like a loft setting and there's no ventilation what so ever, our clothes smells like a day old leftovers when we left the restaurant and we were there for less than an hour.
Menu is quite boring, the pasta was chewy and it sticks to your teeth, but the clam was surprising big and fresh.
We've also ordered the sausage/broccoli/garlic pizza and found too many pieces of hard broccoli stems on the pizza. The dough was lack of flavor and consistency.
I'm pretty surprise they have a full house consider their price and quality.
I will never return. -
Review from Kerry F.
San Francisco, CA
4/22/2012
Went here one night with our Google Offer.
Ordered:
Flat bread appetizer - this was pretty good, the olives were warm and pitless & the ricotta spread was also good.
Mushroom Pizza - definitely good, hard to mess up a brick oven pizza.
Side of beets - you get a lot of beets, a little too oily at the bottom but also good.
This place was good, not amazing, but good enough esp on a coupon. Easy to get reservations, no waiting, our server was polite and attentive. -
Review from Dale K.
San Francisco, CA
Updated - 1/3/2012
I had the Groupon $50 offer and it had been sitting around for a bit. Being that we were too tired to cook at home, we thought we'd use the darn thing.
Tonight, Tuesday night... made a quick RSVP on OpenTable...when we got there.. there was only one other table seated. And it appeared there we more there for conversation amongst themselves. The Groupon apparently doesn't work for Happy Hour items (which I had ordered). Also, the waitress, who took her time getting to our table immediately tells us that they are out of 2 main entrees, both of which we would have ordered.
The order of the appy salad (Caesar) was a bit slow and really simple... and you're charging me how much? The margerhita pizza was a bit too doughy.... although my lil' one seemed to enjoy it. The two pasta dishs that we did eventually have to settle with ... the linguige vongole and the paparedelle were terribly overcooked. It appeared that the paparedelle had too much sauce and actually seem to coagulate.... never good for a pasta joint. By the time we were done with the entrees, 2 more tables had been seated. One right next to us... when they learned that there was no ragu.... the guy seemed evidently perturbed.
Back to my original dilemma... I had to order $50 worth of regular priced entrees to redeem the full value. So we ordered a dessert to get us to exactly $50... the apple crisp. I tasted like gooey cinnamon gelatinous stuff.... with no actual apple pieces, and a scoop of what was supposed to be ice cream... absolutely no flavor.
Now that I used my Groupon... .I will never be back to Zuppa. End of story.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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3/5/2007
What's the difference between Buca di Beppo's and Zuppa's? "Bigger"... for BdB's, it's portion size… Read more »
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Review from Gene H.
Alamo, CA
3/25/2012
I can't speak to the quality of the food because twice this week, they "were full for the remainder of the evening" and they won't seat me. Yes, I am using my Groupon coupon and maybe that's why the host and hostess had such a "high-nose" pretentious attitude. I tried making a reservation for tomorrow evening, last day of the coupon, but they said they were fully booked. No sympathy or accommodations, just proudly proclaiming that I should not have waited to the last week to use the coupon. I saw some empty tables tonight...and I think they were saving it for the full-paying diners. What a bunch of scammers. If they come on Groupon again, avoid at all costs! I tore up my coupon tonight and swore not to step foot in Zuppa again. A dining experience all right, just the type to forget!!! By reading these negative reviews, maybe I did not miss much after all.
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Review from Savannah L.
San Francisco, CA
1/2/2012
The host was sweet, the food was good and we were served efficiently. The only problem was that I felt like we were on some sort of job interview, needing to make a good impression on our server/waitress to get her to hold up her end of the bargain...or at least, not spit in our food.
Yes, this is the foreign blond young lady with the accent (Swedish? German? Dutch? Sorry accents are not my expertise.) I kept wanting to believe that her "coldness" and "distaste for customers" was merely a cultural misunderstanding--after all, not every country thinks it's important to smile at customers. BUT:
* Customers at the neighboring table were also having problems with her. They said that this server lied to them about the availability of certain dishes to get them to order more expensive ones, and that basically their whole dinner was an argument with her.
Still, I like to form my own opinion. Unfortunately:
* We also experienced her disapproval of us requesting to see the Happy Hour Menu, and ordering some starters off of it, way in advance of the ending time. She basically commanded us to order more food. Gesturing at the portions that we'd be getting (saying that we'd only receive 5 mussels, etc)--but actually, the portions were more than twice as large as she suggested and we ended up over-ordering on both menus. (We received 15-20 mussels in the dish.)
* Then, as experienced by other Yelpers, she accused us of giving her a counterfeit credit coupon, embarrassing us in front of our guest.
* Lastly, she added in her own tip and we were only a party of 3. Just plain tacky. Ironically, we would have tipped her more just because that's just how we roll.
On a personal level, maybe I could consider this person as that quirky non-smiling European gal who just says EVERYTHING that is on her mind, unprovoked argument or otherwise. As a server, she is rude, makes dining stressful. It's clear that people are just dollar signs. Human niceties not necessary. You know, it was kind of like being served by a robot.
So in summation, we'll definitely go back if she starts serving in a robot costume to justify her act. Until then, we'll have to pass on the otherwise pretty good food and drinks. Us soft-hearted humans prefer a little politeness with our high cost meals. -
Review from Elena K.
San Francisco, CA
3/21/2012
Never. Ever. Come to this failure of a restaurant. They are scammers and will try and charge you extra on your bill for things you didn't ask for. Not only did they try to tell us that it was our fault for not noticing that they poured us the more expensive bottle of wine (same vinyard, twice as expensive bottle of wine), they forgot to send out our last dish and pretended like nothing happened. I've never had such awful service in my life (yes that is to you so called "manager" of the restaurant) and it was all over a terrible bottle of wine - and I pretty much never write angry yelp reviews, so that's saying something. Seriously, way better restaurants in the area, go to those cuz this one is just not worth it, Groupon or not. So disappointed!
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Review from Megan N.
San Francisco, CA
2/16/2012
We decided to go out for valentine's day very last minute and snatched the last reservations available at Zuppa. We thought this would mean they would have an energetic feel, but the long large table in the middle of the room never got seated. It felt pretty dull, boring and un-special that evening.
With that being said, our experience was good...not great. Our table was wobbling back and forth so we asked our server to fix it which she did, but also had to do for the table that sat down next to us (you would think they could fix this since it is obviously an issue for diners). The tables for two were way too close together and awkwardly spaced so that you had to duck under lamps in order to get to the other seat. Lighting was also awkward so that my husband had to sit with the light right over his forehead and the overall feeling was very drab. I usually love the industrial feel, but something is lacking in there (maybe it was just people). They were playing mostly blues which I loved.
Now for the food....Cocktails were good. the Funghi pizza was below-average. The pork ragu pasta was good and the pesto pasta was very good (best thing we ate there). The chocolate torte was good, bordering on just okay.
Our server was one of the best parts of the evening but overall we weren't that impressed. I doubt we'll ever go back. -
Review from Sandy L.
San Francisco, CA
11/27/2011
I was excited to try Zuppa when they had a Groupon deal and I love their sister restaurant Globe. Let's just say that it was a very underwhelming experience.
We ordered the Ragu pasta and the Bianca pizza. The pasta was way too salty and the pizza was mediocre at best.
I might give them another try for their happy hour specials. -
Review from Keilani L.
San Francisco, CA
5/1/2012
Having been a waitress myself, I try to be gentle when rating restaurants. Unfortunately, I just can't do it for this restaurant. This place sucks! S-U-C-K-S sucks. The service is absolutely horrendous. The food isn't bad but when it's served by people with bad attitudes, it makes my meal a little less pleasing. Oh, and on top of that, they've been closed down on several occasions by the health department for sanitary reasons. Ummmm...me definitely thinks NOT!
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Review from lisa b.
San Francisco, CA
10/21/2011
My friend made reservations here after dining at Zuppa once before. It was a very disappointing experience especially since I'm looking for restaurants in my neighborhood.
The service was lackluster, we were pretty much forgotten even though we purchased an expensive bottle of wine. The staff continually reached across me to gather plates- they need to learn service protocol.
We had to wave down our waiter multiple times including the bill of which he forgot to take off the groupon we had to use. You would think with the amount of food and wine we were ordering that we would have better service, but that wasn't the case.
The food was decent including the pizza, but the lack of service overshadowed the decent food.
Totally bummed because I was looking for a place in my neighborhood to frequent. -
Review from Carissa U.
Long Beach, CA
Purchased a GROUPON and finally made time to try this place for lunch. I did enjoy the look and feel of the place, but I thought the food was just meh.
We ordered:
Wild Arugula salad
Colazione - pizza with coppa, potato, caramelized onions, sunny side up egg
Salsiccia - pannini with house made pork sausage, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers
some pasta with prosciutto (forgot what it was called)
Warm Chocolate Torte
The food was ok. Salad was normal - nothing too special. I did like the pizza but wish they put more caramelized onions. I didn't like the pannini because I didn't care too much for their sausage. I felt the pasta was a little too salty for my taste and the torte felt like an expensive brownie with normal ice cream and not worth the $9.
Our server was really nice and they were pretty good on the refills until they sat down to eat too. Good thing we were pretty much done or else I think we would of been ignored.
Overall I doubt I'd come back to this place with or without a deal. Didn't feel it was worth it. Sorry Zuppa, I won't be back. -
Review from Captain B.
San Francisco, CA
12/21/2011
The short ribs were OK, but the sauce/spices overpowered it.
The apps were all pretty good: had some pizza, bread, mussels, etc.
Overall it seemed a bit too pricey for the quality and how long it took to be served.
The staff was very nice and friendly. -
Review from M A.
San Francisco, CA
3/26/2012
Not happy with the experience here. The staff is just rude. We came before six and supposedly they had no room for us at a table, so we sat at the bar, which is fine, but still it was strange, the restaurant remained half to 2/3 empty the ENTIRE time we were there. The restaurant is concrete and cold and uncomfortable. Not a good feeling is had in this space. We ordered an appetizer and pizza and they brought both at the exact same time and thought that was strange not only in the timing, but the fact that the bar is really narrow. Both items were hot so we had to hurry to down the appetizer while the pizza sat there getting cold. The pizza was doughy and undercooked and because of the timing, cold. We only came here at all because I had a Groupon, which the bartender very harshly asked while I was mid- bite to all at the bar "so do you have a Groupon ?" and when I said I did, looked clearly annoyed and proceeded to announce to all people at the bar "Anyone with a Groupon please give them to me now so I can process them"--although we had just started eating, I stopped to fish through my purse for the Groupon. I would have found this embarrassing, but everyone seemed to have a Groupon and sheepishly handed them over to him...At the end of the meal, we only went about 4+ dollars over our Groupon and I only had a credit card to pay that and the tip which I thought would be fine since they had already gotten $25 of my money from Groupon, plus the tip and balance would have been close to $20 or I would have made is so. The manager (I guess) because she didn't interact with us otherwise or introduce herself... tossed back my card to me and in a very rude manner said, "we have a $20 dollar minimum for cards" Which was not posted or stated anywhere...and again I had already prepaid them $ 25... We were then basically forced to buy more and ordered a dessert and some more wine--otherwise the bartender said that we could go get cash down the street (which was inconvenient) and that or ordering more was our "only choices". Actually in retrospect, I should have paid the remainder of the bill with the 5 dollars that I had in my wallet, and given him the remainder as his tip, which frankly from our experience is all the service people in the restaurant deserve. I really wish I had , as we ended up spending 40 dollars more just so I could tip the bartender/waiter that we didn't want to spend. I have since found out that asking a 20 dollar min. is against the MasterCard/visa policy and also illegal. They will be reported to MasterCard and Groupon for this. It seems this restaurant is struggling and desperate to make up any dollar with nickel and diming service. Obviously is just hastening their clear and evident demise given their recent reviews. I hate when restaurants accept credit cards and Groupons, yet somehow make the customer feel they are doing something wrong by using them. If I had actually had a good experience I would be back and spend loads in cash and on credit--SO much more than the few cents they were trying to save by 'enforcing" their un-posted 20 dollar minimum, which is something have never encountered in any restaurant ,only the corner bodega. I will never be back, not that this restaurant will be around much longer.... Not smart.
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Review from Clarice C.
Oakland, CA
2/12/2012
Lovely ambiance and very personable and friendly service from the host and waitress. We thoroughly enjoyed the BBQ calamari app and even ordered a 2nd one. The funghi pizza was great too, but the apple crisp dessert was not at all good or crisp for that matter. We'll definitely return, but may skip dessert next time!
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Review from Keith R.
San Francisco, CA
2/13/2012
I was underwhelmed. While the Calabrian pepper and pancetta pizza we split as an appetizer had a great crust, flavorful tomato sauce and yummy cheese, the peppers were disproportionately spicy and intense. The pasta with pesto and potatoes was lukewarm and not cooked enough. My friend's tagliarini with clams had manila clams so miniscule you could hardly enjoy them and the flavor of burnt garlic took over the dish. Drinks were good but nothing over the top. Our waitress couldn't have been less interested in us, and was not responsive when we complained about the cotton cloth dish towel-like napkins that shed a flaky dandruff all over our outfits. Not planning a return visit...
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Review from Diane Y.
8/12/2011
Try the roast chicken for two - unbelievably moist feast of deliciousness, with its juices dripping onto focaccia below. The cannoli isn't that great - the fried shell isn't so tasty.
So why 2 stars? They have $20 minimum which isn't actually allowed by any of the major credit card companies (Visa, Mastercard and American Express all have terms of service forbidding such minimums). I didn't know this beforehand, so I didn't bring cash with me. My waitress had the audacity to lie to my face and say that the credit card machine "wouldn't accept charges less than $20" and that I should go out (in the dark, in the ghetto, in 50 degree windy weather) and get cash from an ATM. I'm reporting them to my credit card companies, and you should too. The waitress' name was Karolina and she's blond. If you get her, ask for a different one, because she's horrid and pretty much ruined my dining experience. -
Review from Morris C.
8/22/2011 1 photo
I decided to come here tonight with a friend after we spotted the Passport card discount for a complimentary 2nd entree. Walker over Sunday at 7pm and the place looked about 60% full so we were seated right away. We were contemplating getting the chicken which seems to be one of their signature dishes, but didn't feel like waiting through the 40 minutes of prep time. My friend and I both happened to go with the Ragu di Campagna instead.
While waiting for the food, the bread (I believe it was focaccia) they brought out was quite good. It was super fluffy and had perfect absorption of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar mix. I'm normally pretty neutral towards foccacia+olive oil/balsamic, but for some reason I thought it was really good tonight. Our food also came out rather quickly (I feel like it was maybe around 10 minutes or so), and the portion size was quite decent. The flavor was really good, and the pasta, meat, and sauce were all cooked quite well. I'd never had triangle tube pasta, but I thought it was fantastic.
Overall, a pretty good meal. The Ragu is normally $17, but the passport discount really helped with the total bill for the meal. Next time I come back I'll have to try their chicken! -
Review from Mark B.
Daly City, CA
11/8/2011
Had the pork ragu and roasted cauliflower. Really, really boring. Service was professional, but the food was bland. Ragu had no depth... just ground pork in a blah tomato sauce and chewy pasta.. Cauliflower had been decently roasted at one point, but had sat out long enough to be mushy and lukewarm by the time it got to the table.
Last mistake: ordered a 15 year tawny port for dessert; received a crappy ruby port instead. At this point, I didn't care enough to send it back because I don't plan on coming back based on the food and the lack of attention to detail demonstrated.
Second and last time here. -
Review from Andrew K.
10/25/2011
I am writing this for my parents who had the worst meal of their life here. They bought one of those Groupon type things. They ordered two overpriced dishes - fish in parchment paper and steak. They came a la carte and were TERRIBLE. The fish was smothered in black pepper. Even my stepfather who loves black pepper rendered it inedible. They didn't use any other seasoning, including salt. The steak was so tough they couldn't cut through it. They took it home and had to put it in the slow cooker for 24 hours before they could eat it. When they shared their impressions of the food with the server, he was unbelievably RUDE. In reference to the beef being tough, he sarcastically said "too bad we don't have a sharper knife for you." This is unacceptable and embarrassing for San Francisco.
My mom told me to never go here, and I will not. I am trying to save you now! -
Review from Mikes M.
Berkeley, CA
12/18/2011
Had dinner here with some friends who treated us and had a Groupon coupon. I gave only three stars because the signature dish the roast whole chicken was dry and took an hour to be served.
On the other hand I thought the Happy Hour menu was quite reasonable for pizza's (only $7)! I liked the brussel sprouts and stewed chard too. I would recommend this place but come during Happy Hour for a nice bite after work with friends and a reasonably priced Happy Hour specials menu. -
Review from Rosie W.
9/1/2011
My team mate found this place and have been talking about oysters for, forever and when my team and I finally found time to go out a team outing, we decided to go to Zuppa's, mainly for their oysters.
5pm rolls around and we all start heading over there. As we approach the restaurant, we see a Zuppa sign at the corner (their front entrance is on a side street) and they were advertising their happy hour menu, including oysters for 75 cents. I was so ready to devour a couple.
We sit at the bar since our entire party wasnt there yet. I get a glass of wine. After 10 minutes, the rest of our team shows up and we get seated (we made reservations ahead of time). They give us the happy hour menu and it says - "Oysters, 75 cents - 12 max per person". Awesome, I think I'll have 12. The waitress comes over and we tell her we want 3 orders of the oysters (that's 36 oysters) and they say they're out of oysters. But we got there at 5:10, which means they were out of oysters before happy hour?? False advertisement? MAJOR MAJOR disappointment. Okay whatever, we already sat down and had a couple of drinks already, I GUESS we have to stay. Ok no oysters, maybe we'll order the other seafood dish they had - mussels. Guess what? NO MUSSELS EITHER. Now we're all sitting there thinking if we should begin our order with - "What do you have??"
We ordered a bunch of appetizers instead and the food wasn't bad, but the experience was just MEHH. If you want oysters or mussels, call beforehand to make sure they have it. -
Review from Roberta D.
San Francisco, CA
8/21/2011
Interesting to read how different all the reviews are. My DH has gone for lunch several times and always had great food and service. We went to dinner lastnight w/ the open table coupon (as did all the tables near us) and had a fabulous time. Our server, Amanda, was very knowledgeable about the menu and especially the wine list which was very helpful as I am pretty picky about which wines I like.
We did NOT get the Salciccia but other tables did and it looked and smelled amazing. We got the Funghi pizza - which was great! Just enough of cheese, mushrooms, caramelized onion and sauce and the crust was perfect.
We then shared the Pork ragu and assorted vegetables and all were cooked just right. The pork ragu was lighter than you might expect but full of fresh flavor. The vegies - potato, cauliflower, greenbeans, and beets were cooked and flavored very enticingly.
We had been alerted by Amanda that there were two special desserts that night so we'd asked her to make sure they were available. One, salted caramel banana ice cream was the best ice cream I've ever had.
The other, an almond semifreddo with chocolate sauce, was the best non-fruit dessert I have ever eaten in my life. The chocolate sauce hardened on the semifreddo leaving nice bits of of chocolate and almond in the light creamy ice cream.
I really enjoyed our meal and service. I am picky about Italian food and our meal was very very good and fresh flavors. Amanda told us that our slot, early evening Saturday was one of the best to come to as it was not too crowded but steady and she was right.
SO we had 3 dishes, two desserts, two glasses of wine and two coffees, and total would have been $88 plus tip without our coupon. This is in line with what we pay elsewhere. It's not a bargain at full price but very fair for what you get. If we went back we could easily get wine, two dishes and one dessert and be full and happy for more like $60.
And the reviewer who complained it is "ghetto" - where do you live? This 'hood is about as non ghetto as it gets here in SF. -
Review from Elaine Y.
San Francisco, CA
1/6/2012
Zuppa ruined food for me (for 3 days). Maybe a little dramatic, but I guess the intense opera soundtrack put me in a mood.
-
Review from Mariyeth C.
El Sobrante, CA
10/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Dinner with the Luus :)
I wasn't the one who ordered but I did really enjoy their food. -
Review from Kevin J.
6/28/2011
Marina meets SOMA and you get Zuppa. Definitely a spot for the SF elite who think they know good food.
Zuppa turns out some good eats for sure, but not memorable for me. The service needs a little work but at least my food came out when it was supposed to and tasted even better than expected. I highly recommend the Costolette di Agnello (Grilled Lamb chops) served with cous cous and an olive tapenade. If you're not too keen on pasta of a big entree split a house-made pizza.
Zuppa is a nice restaurant to visit but not one of my top picks. -
Review from Randall F.
Millbrae, CA
8/7/2011
This was our second visit to Zuppa and we decided to introduce to another couple. Too bad the food was inconsistently flavored and the very first time we had to send a pasta dish back due to being too salty and the replacement pesto pasta was bland and undercooked (pasta).
Our server during our first visit was much more interested in making suggestions from the limited menu. Our 2nd visit server seemed disinterested in making suggestions or she may have been new.
All in all, we had a good time despite some of the inconsistencies. I may or may not come back, perhaps during happy hour, but there are so many others to choose from, there may not be a need to try Zuppa's again.
The restaurant was full and everyone seemed to be having a great time. -
Review from Winnie H.
Alameda, CA
9/3/2011
Had happy hour and dinner there tonight. It was just ok. Parking was easy to find. My partner and I arrived a bit after 5pm. The workers greeted us and were very friendly.
Had the insalata di panzanella, ceasar salad, and mussels. Ceasar salad was ok, the mussels were pretty tasty, the panzanella was horrible. It tasted like it was a week old and kept sticking to our teeth. It had an old oil taste and should not have been served. The workers assured us that this was how it is served...I don't know, I have had better. I am disappointed they still charged us even though I barely ate it.
My partner had the pasta with mussels and clams which he really enjoyed. I had the lamb and cous cous. I am very disappointed. I should have trusted the yelp reviewers who said the lamb was bland. It was very bland. Probably the worst lamb dish I have ever had. The cous cous was tasty but I was still hungry after my meal.
I probably won't return. They seem to have good deals on the happy hour, at about 5:30 they ran out of their 75cent oysters, some people were bummed. Good thing I had a groupon, I would not have been happy if I paid $70 for that meal. -
Review from DANIEL T.
San Francisco, CA
The restaurant went quiet 2 times last night. And everybody turned and looked at us.
It used to be one of my favorite happy hour restaurant near my place but not after last night.
We were having happy hour here before movie night at home. THEY WERE OUT OF OYSTERS at 5:45pm. Flat bread, mussels, no name white wine, grey hound ... were all good. Waitress was the usual aloof no smile lady, whatever, she's tolerable. We were seated at the little bar top facing the open kitchen.
Towards the end of our happy hour, one of the kitchen staff accidentally pushed a pile of plates (stacked on top of one of those flimsy pizza stands) and the plates landed on Aimme and Doreen's glass of red and bottle of beer!! The whole restaurant froze.
Wine glass and beer bottle were completely shattered and Doreen was covered with shards of broken glass!! Dude in the kitchen disappeared. Pastry chef came over and apologized. Bartender immediately came over and gave Doreen a bottle of water. Danny the manager gave Doreen his business card and said if the stains don't come off call him.
But after that we were pretty much shoved aside cuz they wanted to wipe the bar top and floor clean. Didn't even ask if she was ok or hurt.
I half jokingly asked the waitress for the check expecting her to tell us it's on the house cuz the restaurant almost cut Doreen's pretty face in half. She said sure and came back and handed me the check folded in half without even putting it in the bill folder.
Aimee saw that and she went OFF, got a hold of the manager and screamed "You expect us to still pay for this after you spilt red wine on my $12,000 dollar leather jacket?!" granted she meant to say $1,200, the whole restaurant froze again, for a second time.
Danny asked if we were staying for dinner and he'd comp us but Aimee said we are leaving we don't want to stay and we are not paying for drinks your kitchen staff ruined.
Conclusion: Zuppa staff members as a collective are not trained to deal with crisis while making sure the customers are well taken care of.
I love the food, especially the whole roasted chicken. But this incident put a big dent on my experience with them. -
Review from Scott B.
San Francisco, CA
6/29/2011
This was our second visit to Zuppa. We quite enjoyed our first visit, sadly this time we were disappointed -- the food failed to deliver on flavour.
The highlight of our first visit - the Salsiccia - was the first note on our disappointing meal. We loved this dish - house made pork sausage with basil and pecorino in cast iron skillet - on our previous visit. It was one of the reasons we returned. However, it appears the recipe for the house-made pork sausage has changed, so much that it was bland. Fattening yet bland, not a good combo.
I opted for the Tagliatelle alla Liguria -- wide ribbon pasta, basil pesto, english peas, pecorino. Once again, the pesto lacked any real flavour, and the cheese was non-existent. I could visually see some cheese shavings, but I couldn't taste it at all. Not horrid, but definitely not memorable.
My husband had the Costolette di Agnello -- grilled lamb loin chops, cous cous, olive tapenade. The lamb was cooked properly, but not very well seasoned. We couldn't see the olive tapenade anywhere on the plate. The highlight of the dish was the pearl cous-cous. It is sad when the cous-cous is the highlight of the dish. I told my husband to send it back - he loves olive tapenade and it was not present at all. He's not a send-it-back kind of guy, however.
Drinks were okay.
On a bright note, our daughter loved her small margherita pizza. And the wait staff was very friendly and cheerful. But the food - especially with such a limited menu - needs to be revisited.
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