Cafe Du Nord

My friends and I decided to go here and I decided this may be a great place to hang out. Turns out, it was just okay.
This bar opens at 5PM. Usually, when they put up the sign outside. We went downstairs and it was completely dark. Probably because they were still opening up. Once we were settled, the bartender started putting lit candles around the area to brighten up the room. I wanted to tell her to light up the bulbs just a little. It was worse than Abercrombie in there…
Anyway, I ordered an Anchor Lager which was $ 5 — reasonable.
Oh, also the kitchen doesn’t open up until 6PM. With that said, we left and ate somewhere else.
I was told to give it another chance so… I may be back.

Hey i know this place has been in existence for 30 plus years and sime reviewers here complain that it has changed. I sure hope it HAS changed because life goes on and we want new and modern approach. Drinks here are awesome but expensive. Live music is cool. They have a room for a cute night date with dimed lighting and romantic feel. Bartenders are great. Crowd is friendly. I love their burgers too. Every time we get together with friends here we have great time!

This is my favorite burger in the city — by far. The cocktails are amazing; the ambiance is great; and you can’t find better comfort food. Oh, and there are bands in the Viking Room. If you aren’t hanging out here, you are dead wrong!

Had dinner at Café Du Nord once and it had a cool vibe. Food was good. Service was great. Music was fun. Drinks were awesome. Made reservations for a weekend when family will be visiting from out of town and really talked the place up. They were excited to take it all in. Just received a call from management saying that they have to cancel the reservation because they booked a private event… really? I find it classless and rude to cancel multiple reservations in favor of a private event just two weeks out. Poor scheduling, poor customer service, poor organization. Another reminder that money is king in gentrified SF.

Well, I certainly hope it has changed from ‘back in the day,’ when it was the big hipster joint.
Watered down «cocktails» to the point that I had three gin drinks and felt like I had three servings of tonic water.
Prices have no doubt gone up. Hope you get some liquor for your money, instead of just attitude.

To paraphrase Lina Wertmüller’s reaction to the Madonna version of Swept Away (crying out as she ran out of the theater):
«What did they do to my café? Why did they do this?»
The downstairs has been gutted of its irreplaceable Frisco vibe and replaced by some abominable, sterile and nightmarish «re-​model».
Let’s skip the plethora of negative adjectives and finish up with:
You folks should be ashamed of what you did to this place.

I was really in the mood for some loungey music, and we wanted dinner too, so we thought we’d give CDN a try after not having been here in forever. We started out in the main bar area, which had a great selection of bar seats and tables, but that wasn’t the experience we were going for. It would have been perfect if we were a group looking for drinks. We quickly found out the live music is only in the Viking Room, and we were lucky to get a table at 9:00. From that point on, it was bliss.
For starters, I asked one of the wait staff for a frankly high maintenance request — can you suggest any smokey scotches from this impressive menu that are not from Islay. The guy repeated to himself «smokey, not Islay», and said he’d go ask a bartender. One minute later, out comes a bartender with a bottle, a glass, and a story that made me smile. He had me at cherry wood. $ 14 for 2 ounces and I was sold.
We ordered a bunch of small plates — caesar salad, wings, crudo, brussle sprouts, and burger. Everything we ate was fantastic. Given that this was a live music venue, I wasn’t expecting much foodwise, but the food was so good, I would easily come back just for the food alone. Check this out for the crudo: mint, pistachio, avocado, paprika, fish.
Then the band came out — an etherial mix of electronica, piano, drums. Dreamy. Lovely.
Just perfect for a low key mix of music, lounge, and flavors.

Great. Good service. Love food taste so good.
Price kind of
make sense. San Francisco cost of living so high.
Go for good food.
Don’t like place too small. Order 5 dish small table cannot fit all.
Overall good 5 star

I love my dinner dates with Nina Y. because only we would have a conversation about the meaning of our Unilocal stars. Perhaps my five stars are not as coveted as hers, but I do think that the food and service at Café Du Nord are worthy.
I’ll start by saying that the Viking Room is not clearly marked, so unless you know where it is, it’s really difficult to find… even though it’s literally RIGHT THERE when you first walk downstairs into Café Du Nord. This was rather confusing and annoying for the both of us. We hadn’t even started drinking yet.
In the Viking Room, there is live music and romantic lighting. Perfect setting for a date. The music was way too loud at times, but we have no trouble yelling across the table. That seemed to annoy the couple sitting next to us, so they sat next to each other on the booth side of their table which made things super cramped for us. Again… annoying. At this point, I was just excited for the food and drinks because I was NOT impressed by this place so far.
We ordered a cocktail which I believe was called the White Knight. Super spicy and perfectly made. They’ve really mastered their mixology here, at least with this one drink. We came here for SF Restaurant Week, which started off with hot and cold oysters with mignonette. AMAZING. The hot one was surprisingly more tasty. The Billi Bi Soup with apple, celery root, and vadouvan was good too. And then of course the red-​wine braised short rib. I was in heaven and would come back to Café Du Nord to have this again. Our meal ended with an impressive ice cream sundae.
Overall I thought the food was excellent enough to earn five stars from me, though the experience otherwise was not that great. I would come here again but ask to be seated in a different part of the room. Oh and don’t forget to make reservations and stay in the main bar area for more fun and drinks!

This place is just a-​okay for me.
My friend Stefanie C. and I came during restaurant week and first off — I couldn’t find the place. The Viking Room isn’t very obviously. It’s this separate room in the actual bar area when you first walk in. Slightly confused.
Anyways, the room we were in had really loud music. I don’t mind it, but I’d like to be able to talk to my friend who I was eating dinner with — and not only that, can some of the waitresses tell people not to have both people sit on the booth? It created a really awkward situation for my friend who sitting on the bench to have almost not enough space.
The food though — on point. The oysters — both hot and cold — were good. I did enjoy the baked one better — so good! My first course was the soup — saffron and mussel soup. It was delicious! The celery root and apple was an interesting part of the soup — light crunchy parts to the soup. My main course — the red wine braised short rib — DAMN that was good. I’d go back for that. Also the drink — I love my drink,
Romantic setting with the candle light and the music, even if it’s loud.
Protip: reservations and get the short rib — I hope it’s on the regular menu!

Love this place.
Excellent cocktails — both on and off menu. The bar staff is knowledgable and I’ve had a very good experience with requesting custom cocktails. The food is good too. The parker rolls are out of this world! So buttery and garlicky and soft. The jerky is really good too. And the beef tartare is very light and airy.
The perfect hi-​lo vibe, not so fancy you can’t go in jeans and a tshirt, but makes you feel like you’re at a place Don Draper would pick up ladies at.

This review is for drinks at the Viking Room. We came here to relax before a show and get a couple drinks. Every drink we had was wonderful. The bartender was very attentive and skilled. I love well-​made classic cocktails with a twist. The band playing was so fun and charming. We’d definitely come back again and maybe try the food. Great place for date night!

Terrific. Super cool, great food, interesting wine list and badass cocktails. The service was also gracious and friendly without being overbearing. Loved it.

The food was great and the bartending service was absolutely incredible. Justice in the Viking room made me a lemonade from scratch when I asked if they had juice. He was on his game and extremely accommodating!

I used to come here 30 yrs ago. It was great! Now it’s clearly been redone by a group that thinks they are cooler than the local and want to rip people off.
It’s kinda french but not, the menu is all over the place. The drinks oh so fancy but they dont have the ingredience for a decent martini.
On the up side the bar tender was good.
Another good old lace bites the dust to make way for sf inflation and corporate greed. For real go down the road to Café Flore or Blackbird.

Atmosphere’s great. Very cool and hip. Great for a date night.

So to start… W o w. Phenomenal experience right when you walk through the bar. Absolutely gorgeous interior of teals browns and cream colors. The aesthetic is very clean Scandinavian and hunkering down at the bar for an Anchor Steam or a Cocktail is most enjoyable.
The staff is very friendly also and accommodating with making your experience positive and memorable. I was pleasantly surprised by the delicious quality of the food. Get some oysters and champagne after midnight for ½ off. In the back is a gorgeous sit down restaurant.
This place is a great spot to just grab a drink and have a conversation and it’s also very elegant and great for an intimate date night. Check it out. Next door is the Swedish American Hall, where Noise Pop presents great concerts. You should catch a show also in the restaurant; jazz five nights a week. By the way, great playlist in here too. Candles too.

Atmosphere’s great. Very cool and hip. Great for a date night and if you like jazz. My lamb shank was good. Cocktails were a little on the sweet side and I’ll be asking for suggestions for less sweet cocktails next time.

Okay, why did you have to ruin such an amazing place? I miss the cool concert venue with beers served out of real pint glasses and the whole historic feel of the old place. Now, this place requires ressies to go into the separated room to listen to music. I miss the old setup with tickets to a show and great bar scene. I’ve been to this updated spot twice now and it’s just not inviting like it used to be. I suppose they’re aiming for a crowd that’s not like me. Fair enough.

We went there on a weeknight, the bar was full and we got seated in the viking room, which has another bar and live music.
We came to check out the burgers, and wow, they were amazing. Cooked perfectly, served with think crispy fries and seasoned well. Also had the pickled beets for a starter which were great.
Definitely would come back.

I’ve passed through this place for too many years but before it was too dive but now it’s gorgeous dive. The drinks are top notch, staff friendly and the prices are right, check out the pics.

Love the dark ambiance, drinks are delicious and strong (I had the Cadillac Hotel and my friend had the Laffing Sal, we ended up swapping drinks lol), staff is on point, no complaints! This is the perfect place for an after 5 drink

Absolutely love the Viking Room here, which is a separate room for sit down dinner service and live jazz. Small menu, but versatile and delicious. I’ve been twice and had the burger both times. It’s excellent. The Parker Rolls are buttery smoothe; just make sure there aren’t an odd number in your party, otherwise you’ll be fighting over the 4 rolls per order. Oh, and the drinks rock.

We had such a great time here for my fiancé’s birthday! Fantastic service. I mentioned it was his birthday in my Open Table request and they sat us right in front of the music — and brought him a dessert with a candle after we ate.
I appreciated that the dining experience was non-​rushed. We were able to enjoy a few drinks and eat a coursed out meal for about 2 hours!
We got the oysters, steak tartare, their specialty rolls, the rib eye and cioppino. All were delicious! We nearly licked out plates clean.
Thanks for the great experience!

I went to the newly re-​opened Café du Nord on the weekend and was disappointed to see that you need a dinner reservation to hear the live music. As part of the renovations they added a wall separating the main bar area from the music area! So lame! This place used to be great for drop in live music but it’s become an exclusive venue that you need to reserve ahead of time.
On a related note, I had the cioppino and it was great… but overpriced in my opinion. Without the live music this place has low value for the dollar.

So the Bön Vivants absolutely nailed it with the new Du Nord. What more can you ask for from a place then delicious cocktails and food, awesome live music and a great vibe? Already have made it in 3 times since the new opening, which is saying something for someone who tends to mix it up. The prohibition jazz club vibe is classy yet unpretentious and the bartenders and staff are great. Definitely a big fan of the new digs and the attention to detail is evident in every element of the place– from the physical menus (and obviously the contents) to the lighting and décor, it is clear that someone has put a great deal of thought into every element that makes for a great experience.
Although I only had dinner one of the three visits, everything I had was on par with some of the best food I have had in SF. The chicken is up there with the likes of Zuni and the parker house rolls are obscenely delicious… definitely not to be missed. Also had some bar snacks and la tur cheese, which were great.
And finally the drinks… the drinks may be the best part. Super inventive and some playful riffs on the classics– similar to the design and the food. My favorites are the Roscoe Fatty and the Armory and Arsenal, but I really don’t think you could go wrong with any of the cocktails on the menu. Also have a really great glass of chablis and henhouse pale ale on draft, which are some of my favorites.
Can’t wait to come back for visit #4 (and from what I hear, the burger)!

The new Café Du Nord is a time machine to a classy 1930’s jazz club. The interior, the music (and their groupie dancers) were all straight out Sweet and Lowdown.
Cocktails are strong and delicious. But the burger is the real hero. Don’t make the mistake of sharing it like I did.
Great date spot. Looking forward to checking out Aatxe next door.

Went there last night, kind of late. The Parkerhouse rolls are amazing. Half price champagne bottles after midnight is awesome, and they do that. The place looks great. Glad I stopped in!