Hayes Street Grill

I had long wanted to go to Hayes Street Grill and very much looked forward to my dinner here. The result was extremely disappointing.
I’m not sure they deserve 3 stars. I give 3 stars to nice little neighborhood restaurants with acceptable food, good service, and moderate prices. Hayes was none of the above. Maybe ²¹⁄₂ stars.
OK, details, I had a 5 PM Saturday reservation. I was seated … and sat. And sat. I waited more than 15 minutes while everyone who had entered when I did, and people arriving later, were served. It was not busy, I could see servers standing around. I kept staring them in the face and they ignored me. Finally I started to get up from my seat and walk to them. Then someone came to my table. I said they had been studiously avoiding me, and he said not studious, just accidental. Accidental that I was the only solo woman there? You guess.
I ordered a cocktail, the beet/​fennel salad, grilled opah with both greens and fries, and asked for bread, and also ordered hot tea to arrive with my entrée. Drink good, salad very good, beets, fennel and radish in a tangy dressing. I was feeling a little better. The entrée arrived, good portion size, everything LOOKED good … neither the fish nor the greens were hot. Barely tepid. It was as if they prepared my salad and entrée at the same time and then left entrée sitting there while I ate my salad. If I had said anything they would probably have nuked it in microwave which would have made things worse. Neither fish nor greens hold heat well; a heated plate would have helped but plate was not heated. I gobbled my food fast in an unsuccessful attempt to finish dinner before it all got totally cold. I don’t go out to eat to gobble food; I don’t even do that at home. The food was still totally cold before I finished and my stomach paid later for eating so fast. The fries were fairly hot, crisp, not greasy, but fries don’t make the meal.
Also, when the waiter brought my entrée he asked if there was anything else. I had to remind him I’d ordered tea. When they started clearing the table they tried to take the bread plate although I had not finished the bread.
For dessert I got chocolate terrine with whipped cream and cherry compote. It was good, how could it not be, but very small portion.
When I spend over $ 80 on dinner I want it to be good and well served. I cannot recommend Hayes Street Grill and will not be back.

Love the great staff at Hayes Street Grill. They go above and beyond, when needed, to accommodate special needs. For us last week, that meant figuring out a way to make space for a group of 12 on just 2 days notice.
The food was delicious; the servers friendly, helpful and flexible for squeezing through narrow spaces. Felt like we were at a friendly neighborhood restaurant even though we 12 were from many parts of it he Bay Area.

Simply overpriced for the quality and quantity of food. I got the salmon with fries for $ 30. The salmon was tasty and cooked well and the fries were phenomenal, just a small portion. I’d come here just for the fries if that wasn’t weird. The dishes should be about $ 4-​$ 5 cheaper and this might be a nice old-​timer spot to frequent. The service was slow but it was a busy Friday dinner crowd so I won’t hold it against them.

Pro’s: Service was friendly and quick even though restaurant was crowded.
Con’s: Food underwhelming and just average. Between the four of us none of the meals had any sort of presentation value to them. You order fish then you get fish, fries, and a couple leaves scattered about your plate. You order sausage then you get two sausages, fries, and a couple leaves scattered about your plate. We got the steak but there was no sizzle. Food was good but plain. Meh.

The bartender did not know what «up» vs a martini with vermouth. That’s ok but then to be rude and argumentative was unacceptable.

A friend, my honey, and I recently treated my parents to a dinner and theater night. (This restaurant is in a great location for any performances near Civic Center — SF Symphony, Orpheum, etc.) Our show was at 7:30 PM so we opted for an early, 5:30 PM, dinner reservation. It turns out that my dad came here many moons ago (pre-​Yelp) and he said that it was just as great as he fondly remembered.
They accept online reservations although I wasn’t able to book a table for our group of five online. I’m not quite sure why because I called and got a reservation no problem. They called a few days prior to confirm, which I appreciated since I didn’t have an e-​mail confirmation or anything.
We started with a round of drinks and oysters. The oysters were good, nothing particularly memorable about them. Each of us also ordered a salad, except for my honey who went with the lentil soup. I stole a bite and I think he made a good choice, especially for a chilly winter night. For my entrée I finally decided on the scallops, served over kale polenta and delicata squash. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish, and while I would order it again, I got a bite of my friend’s crab cake and that bite was SO GOOD. Pretty much all crab, with little filler. Upon return, it will be a tough decision between the scallops and crab cakes. We also ordered a side of brussels sprouts to share. These were a bit disappointing because, although they were cooked just fine, I prefer the crispy bits of roasted sprouts.
Service was fabulous, from the moment I made the reservation to our exit.

Warm goat cheese salad and hearts of romaine with blue cheese were good. My Rex sole was drenched with butter sauce and could not taste watercress. Service was little off. It was very busy, but felt that there are better restaurants with this price.

we found this gem of a restaurant thru Unilocal and am happy to report back that it’s great! we went for an early dinner before the opera… the food was fantastic (esp the point reyes blue cheese salad with diced radishes) — i also had the crab cakes and my husband had the halibut that was perfecty cooked… we were exceptionally happy with our sweet server, ron, who was very exellent! we will def go back again and hope we are in ron’s section!!!

Had the paella. Fish was scarce and mussels and clams way overcooked. Ceasar salad very ordinary. Others had the halibut which looked like a better choice. Fries were great. This used to be a great restaurant. Now very expensive and not worth it. Arlequin, down the street, is better and less than half the price. Disappointing experience
.

I think it’s been at least 20 years since I’d eaten here, and a friend suggested we go. Was pleasantly surprised that the food was excellent, and better than I’d remembered it. Service very good and quite cordial, except that we were never offered any bread with the meal. Not sure if that was an oversight or considered an extra food item here. Would have been a 5 star review if we’d been served some bread after our orders were taken.
I had a salad with fig, melon, and yogurt dressing which was superb. I’d gladly order that salad again and recommend it. Also had the Pork Chop which was generously sized and cooked perfectly. The meat was tender and flavorful – about as good as a pork chop gets.
We did not have desserts, but no dessert needed. The two «dirty» gin martinis I had before and during dinner were well crafted.

Convenient place if you are headed to the SF Symphony afterward; they definitely cater to the pre-​show crowd. Classic, white table cloth, older crowd atmosphere. Our waiter was nice but totally screwed up our order; mixing up sea bass with halibut, various side dish orders and sauces. The food was solid but nothing spectacular (especially for the price). Given that there are a wealth of other options in the area, I would recommend trying one of those before coming here.

We were attending a comedy show at the Symphony hall, so wanted to find a place close by to have dinner before. You can’t really get any closer than this place.
It’s very old school and caters to the arts crowd who are going to the symphony or the opera. Great people watching. The food was good, but not really worth the price. Service wasn’t all that great-​we got more attention from the guy filling our water glasses than our waiter.

3 ½* Hayes Street Grill
320 Hayes
SF 94 102
Happening place, high noise level; tables are close together; recommend reservations
Near the Davies Symphony & Opera House; very convenient for performances
Hostess was less than gracious
Also, a lot of children were with parents and grandparents (some naughty; some nice) provided for a less than optimal ambience; some parents can be rather inconsiderate, do you think?
Nice wines by the glass; also have beer; and full bar
Great Caesar salad; I even loved the croutons which I normally don’t eat
Ono was good, but the sausages (served with arugula salad and fries) were the best
Waiter Justine was friendly
Bus person Luis was excellent and did all the heavy lifting in terms of food service
Very nice sourdough house bread
Delish apple crisp dessert
Nice after dinner coffee; but coffee drink from the bar was not served hot, try warm

The food was okay, but very basic, nothing I couldn’t have prepared better at home. My companion had the San Diego Yellow Tail and I had the Pork Chop, and they looked exactly the same with a vegetable and mashed potato side dish. We shared a crème brûlée for dessert and the crust was overcooked while the crème was uneventful and obviously straight out of the refrigerator.
The kicker was the bill … with the addition of two glasses of wine, we paid $ 96.00 before tip (the service, it should be noted, was excellent). For the food we received, the bill was astronomical, even for the Hayes Valley location. We’re willing to pay for a great dining experience, but this was the same meal we would have eaten at a lousy chain restaurant for half the price.

This shouldn’t be a $$$ sign restaurant, $ sounds better. A very important occasion in my life, my husband decides to try it, since they cater to the symphony hall. Well guess what! They need to change location, because they’re riding on the other restaurants coattails. I’ve ordered the fried oysters for my entrée, boy i tasted nothing… It was so bland, it had no spice, no taste. My husband didn’t care much for it. Strange combination for the appetizers, beans and shrimp, fries with everything. Wow!!!
Good God i can prepare this better than this chef, i’m French, i know what i’m talking about. I told myself maybe the dessert might compensate. Well the chocolate cake had an amazing and flourish introduction but it was a couple days old and the décor is long overdue.
Wood chairs and a some pictures on the wall depicting opera singers and glass on the table with a white sheet of paper for kids to draw on. Seriously!!!
The presentation for the meal was boring. Overpriced to booth, and you need a 4 weeks reservation to try this place.
Seriousement, ca vas pas la tete? C’est deguelasse. Absynthe is more refined and the décor is beautiful.
Never again. I do not recommend this place. Do try another, like the Boxing Room.

In a changing neighborhood, there are few things that are still the same. Hayes Street Grill is one of them.
This is the place you come to when you want a nice quiet lunch. A business meeting or a family meal before the opera, symphony or ballet. The menu is pretty standard.
We came here for a holiday work luncheon, you can call in advance or make an Open Table reservation. All 11 of us arrived at the same time and were seated in the main dining room. Service was quick and friendly.
About a little less than half the table ordered the dungeness crab special which was served cold and came with a side salad with pickled beets. I asked for a side of warm butter and my meal was complete.
The other half ordered the Steak with potatoes, the salmon and a couple other dishes. Everyone seemed to like their lunch and then it was on to dessert.
I picked the crème brûlée, which my ultimate cheat dessert. It came with a burnt top and completely cold. A total fail. Crème brûlée should be cold, yet the top is supposed to be hot and sugary. Not cold, burnt and disappointing.
We all enjoyed our meals overall. If I were to do it over, I would have went with the Hot fudge sundae instead.

I’m just not impressed by this place. The prices have remained the same, but the portions have completely shrunk! The fries used to come in a deeper bowl, and they now come in a smaller dish. I guess the smaller portion is better for my health, but that should be reflected in the price.
The mahi mahi was grilled well. Though the meat was cooked all the way, it wasn’t tough and pulled away easily. I was expecting a lot of tomatillo flavor from the salsa verde. I was surprised how deep green it was… it went well with the mahi mahi nevertheless. I got to try the chocolate torte and the meyer lemon mousse. Both were good, but nothing to rave over. Service was friendly, but I think it’s because they recognize my boss, a frequent patron and a pretty powerful lady.
I eat here once a year because my boss takes her staff here for a holiday lunch, but I’ve noticed that the age demographic is in the older range. Maybe I’m wrong since I don’t come here often, but it seems like that’s the crowd they cater for.
One other thing I noticed: I don’t like the fact that we don’t have plates for the bread. I guess this place is casual, but even Cheesecake Factory has bread plates.
This restaurant has been in San Francisco for a long time. If HSG wants to continue to stay in the city, they need to do some major changes to their menu.

I visited HSG for lunch on a Wednesday. I started my meal with a vegetable soup that was a special for that day. This is my second time visiting for lunch. Last December, I had a delightful dinner at the grill. On all visits and as with this time, I was pleased with the food and service.
The soup was so comforting. It came out at just the right temperature, which is how I wanted it – not too lukewarm but not too unbearably hot. The seasoning was spot on. It was a water-​based soup that complemented the main course. The portion was appropriate for lunch.
My main course was a white fish (I believe) paired with a vegetable medley, and topped with a divine pesto-​based sauce that I couldn’t get enough of! The fish was cooked perfectly. The medley had an assortment of cooked vegetables that brought out of the fish’s flavor. And the pesto sauce … well I would’ve licked the plate clean of it if there was no one else in the restaurant.
Service, like usual, is above average. The staff is efficient and the cooks know what they’re doing.
Also, HSG’s caesar salad is one of the best in city, along with its french fries :-)
HSG has a dedicated following and I can see why. You won’t be disappointed.

Not worth the money…
I was there a week ago before attending a show… I saw the prices on the menu… very high… but, it IS San Francisco… and I do not mind paying high prices for high quality food…
Unfortunately…I have had better meals at Red Lobster… the food was bland… portions small… and service was so-so…and I guess they don’t offer A/​C, because we were all hot and could not wait to get out… left there and thought about the bill I had just paid instead of the food…
Across the street I could have saved $ 100 and ate much better…
I will not be back

It’s hard not to really enjoy Hayes Street Grill if you find yourself there, invited — or urged to go — by others who love it. However, it’s easy to justify going elsewhere to eat high quality, well prepared seafood. Here’s why…
HSG has lineage and credibility. They’ve been doing simply prepared fish long before it was chic to do that. Kudos to Patty Unterman and her partner and team.
I’ve always found several items on the menu to enjoy, varying from clean to rich, crispy to raw… so you’ll have choices.
Another plus can be service, although I’ve sometimes felt it was a little phoned in (waiters of another era too used to doing it their way, or just walking around on automatic), it’s equally likely you’ll land someone ultra professional, warm and helpful. So it’s a very mixed bag for service given the prices. Today my father celebrated a very big birthday. HSG is an old favorite so we went. At the end of our meal, the barman, Rodil, treated Dad like visiting royalty. Wow, that was lovely. To make a very elderly man feel special when he hasn’t been a regular for years, and you’re not the server getting the tip… that was some classy on-​the-​fly service. Service was competent today otherwise, but it can lack warmth. It’s very personality dependent and I sort of wish that weren’t the case.
Prices, portions, value, execution. Here’s where HSG has trouble keeping my business — although it will always be a sentimental favorite. The prices are very, very high relative to things like portion (modest by American or even European bistro standards). Prices relative to execution, also feel high. While execution is generally good, there are mistakes that shouldn’t come out of a kitchen this seasoned (A far too heavily dressed Ceasar salad — and I’m a dressing nut so I practically never fault for heavy dressing; Fish that was sold as being medium rare, purposely underdone in the middle arriving instead well done; Prices — yikes… $ 28 for a small piece of fish and one side).
Pluses, besides usually very well executed fish and often good service… Location, Wine List, Generous pour of a single glass of wine (at least today it seemed so), and desserts…
Ok, stop the presses and open a pastry shop for the woman making the sweets. To quote my gourmande 11 year old. «That is the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten.» She’s probably right. It was *that* good.
I’d happily give HSG 4 stars if any one of those negatives went away, but I’ve been often enough in the last 3 years to see a pattern: Uneven service, varying from chilly and aloof (I don’t mean traditionally professional and restrained, I mean chilly and aloof), to warm and fabulous (Rodil: You added so much value to our lunch today, I felt ok about spending $ 240 for 3 lunches with tip). The prices are the really weighty issue. It’s so, so hard to justify that big a ticket on an entrée these days — in my opinion. If you’re going to charge that much per plate, there needs to be more consistency of service and execution.
Still… a sentimental favorite with awesome french fries, killer sweets, occasionally lovely people. Worth trying again to see if they up their game, or if they’re resting on their laurels. I hope it’s not the latter. Hayes Street Grill has no practical reason to fall down on its reputation for good food, well executed. Maybe there needs to be more attention paid by ownership? Are we getting tired, overstretched maybe?
Let’s hope they can pull it out and lift it up. I’d certainly like to bring that 3 Stars up to a 4 or 5. Rodil and the chocolate cake alone *almost* justify that… just not quite.
Good luck. :)