Jake’s On Market

Re: the bitter note on your door when you closed. If the staff had truly put «all of their efforts into giving each guest a great experience» you would still be open.
Don’t try to guilt trip me by mentioning twice in the letter that you have a family. You already broadcast to the world that you named the restaurant after your son. That doesn’t obligate anyone to eat mediocre food at inflated prices, sit in uncomfortable chairs, and be ignored by your staff.
You could have used Unilocal as free market research. If you had upgraded the chairs, tightened the menu, and trained your staff in response to the Unilocal reviews, you might have survived.
With no restaurant experience, you took a huge risk opening such a large place in such an expensive neighborhood. I’m sorry that it didn’t work out for you, but when you can’t even fill a place for brunch in the Castro, and your bar is empty on Saturday nights, you have a serious problem, far beyond anything that Unilocal reviews could have caused.
If the Unilocal reviews had been raves, you wouldn’t have complained about them.

UPDATE: Some do NOT like my HONEST REVIEW. it is NOT my fault that the place was a disaster, nor that the food was awful… I was NEVER going to write a review but after the place CLOSED… why not… i paid $ 40 for a LOUSY MEAL… I didnt cook it… I didnt serve it… The review is HONEST… JAKES reaped what they sowed.
Here is the original review I wrote AFTER they closed:
Months ago, I did not write a review because I thought the place was so bad that it would go out of business before I posted my review. Then I forgot about the place, because we vowed NEVER TO GO BACK.
So, after walking by and reading the pitiful letter posted on the door… I came back to Unilocal !
When we walked in months ago, my pal and I looked at each other and thought this clearly can not be a ‘gay’ decorated place. The ‘atmosphere’ was stark with horrible white hard wood chairs that stuck out like a sore thumb in the mustard-​colored walls. The spacing of the tables left a runway for the service persons. Have the owners ever heard of space planning? The whole dining area felt like one was eating in an open field. Probably because NO ONE was there. Hello. Bad sign.
Trying to get the attention of a waitperson was impossible. Pray tell why? Well, we overheard them talking about finding another job! REALLY! It was obvious that they were NOT going to get any tips with NO customers. So, they were openly discussing the fact that they wanted to bale out of this sinking ship…(that was the letter ‘P’ and not a ‘T’.) !
The food was exceedingly unimpressive. The only thing more bored than the food, was the server. Can one just toss the plates down on a table and walk away. Total disinterest in the customers dining experience.
STU S. got it right, if you’re not a ‘svelte and glossy cover boy’, you are ONLY going to be served ATTITUDE. But when the servers are openly talking about deserting the place, maybe it was just indifference… who knows? Who cares? We’re NOT coming back!
The disaster was caused NOT by the Unilocalers who honestly trashed the place for their overpriced and underwhelming food.
As we left the place, my pal turned to me and said, «What a dump. It will be closed in no time!». He got that right!

In all fairness, I never gave this place a chance because of all the early bad reviews on Unilocal (and to my shame, I confess that I didn’t bother to read all the wonderful 4 & 5 star reviews — only the bad ones).
A couple friends and I brunched there last weekend and it was surprisingly VERY good. Now in retrospect thinking of all the hateful things some queens say & write about our friends who work in the Castro, I regret that I listened to them and didn’t take the time to form my own opinion.
Sure, it wasn’t Frances (or 2223) but the food was solid (better than Eureka and a half dozen other places in Castro that have survived). Service was friendly and unhurried. C’est la Vie

It saddens me that I post this only after they closed.
I really did enjoy Jake’s food. I liked the spirit of the restaurant, the food was good, the wait staff was great, and I liked that they gave popcorn as an appetizer.
While I wasn’t a regular there, I did go twice, and always knew that we’d go back again.
Sorry you guys didn’t succeed…

It’s kinda funny. Someone had the nerve to call me a douche based on my non review review.
That childish letter tells me all that I needed to know in confirming where the email came from.
I’m sorry that the Castro is losing another resturant and people are going to be out of jobs. However, if this is how you’re going to treat and look at people– here’s hoping when I get back to SF next November– there’s gonna someone who really appreciates someone’s business

Now that the restaurant has failed, I will admit I biased my initial review — with an extra star. I saw the potential for a good neighborhood restaurant. The existing reviews seemed overly biased downward because Jakes wasn’t 2223. I’m updating the review in «Monday Morning Quarterback» mode in case the owners ever decide to revisit the reviews in a post mortem.
The service was terrible when they opened. The host was just downright rude. The servers seemed to turnover rapidly. After a few months, the remaining servers were competent. That isn’t a ringing endorsement. Your employees are the face of your business. You didn’t seem to do what was necessary to foster or retain the best talent.
The food quality was good at first. However, it seemed the more often I dined there, the food became mediocre and uninteresting. It never descended into bad. But eventually the urge to return to Jake’s never rose above other options.
The interior felt like a cafeteria. If I were operating the restaurant, the level of reviewer angst on this topic would have compelled me to consider SOME sort of change. The white chairs dragged down the dining room in my opinion. Replacing them with a classier seating option like wooden chairs could have warmed up the room. Adding window treatments to the front windows would have helped as well.
As things settled down after the rush of opening, the dining room became consistently empty. The promotional tactics used to drive business seemed desperate.
Overall, your customer base was telling you exactly what wasn’t working. It’s really hard to take criticism on something you pour your heart, soul and wallet into. I hope the owners are able to take this experience as a valuable learning experience and not as a bitter pill.

Okay, I feel a little wierd writing a review after a place has closed. In fact, I’ve never written a Unilocal review… I feel that I want people to patronize a restaurant and come to their own conclusions. And had it not been for the «goodbye» message (or «f*** you» message is more apt) posted to their front door, I would not have written this. (I’ve posted the «message» in the photos above.)
I’ve been to Jakes four or five times. I live a block away. And I am sorry, truly sorry, that the owners couldn’t make a go of it. Nobody more than I routes for a restaurant to make it in my neighborhood and, sadly, we need more good restaurants here in the ‘Stro. 2223 fit that bill… Jake’s did not. Their food was mediocre, at best, although certainly not horrible. But I never understand why our decent, busy restaurants close and are replaced with sub-​standard food and service. The prices at Jake’s were way to high considering the complete lack of quality and subpar service.
At one point, while dining with a couple of friends, one of whom owns a winery up north, my friend had phoned the manager beforehand saying that we were dining there and would love for him to taste some of his wine… that we’d be bringing a bottle in. The manager said he’d be there and would meet with him. We were there for two hours (owing to the long wait for our food) and the manager was not there and did not bother to show up. Now, I realize that he wasn’t obligated to buy, or even taste my friend’s wine, but the fact that he didn’t bother to show up or leave a message with the host expressing his regret was the height of unprofessionalism. after all, we weren’t just trying to feature the wine in the restauant… we were customers… we were neighbors.
Even after that, we went back several times and each time, the quality of food and level of service were not reflective of the price we were paying. I have never told anyone «Go to Jake’s… it’s great» the way I did about 2223.
And as sad as it is that yet another restaurant in our little neighborhood hasn’t made it, and again I’m truly sorry for the owners, perhaps instead of leaving surly, bitchy, catty messages on the front door complaining about their Unilocal reviews and even pointing out one in particular about the color of the shirts, the owner should have read those reviews during Jake’s short tenure on Market Street, taken them to heart, and made real changes to the food and service while they had a chance. But I guess there’s no going back now.

Why the hate? A full house at brunchtime on Saturday with good food. Is the service slow? A bit slow, and admittedly our group was unsure why. Yet each of us thought our omelette, scramble, and grits dishes were really good and thought it was an upgrade over the previous spot.
Rarely do I return to any restaurant, which is just an odd habit of mine, but when in passing I thanked the chef for a very good meal, he mentioned that the burger would be ground to order. So of course I couldn’t wait to come back and found some other folks nearby who were interested as well.
Another full house for weekend brunch. By passing on a more traditional breakfast dish, I was rewarded with a burger and fries that were good, for sure, though not great. Perhaps my palate isn’t refined enough to detect the freshness that should be inherent in a freshly ground burger. Or perhaps it was that the burger was cooked past medium. No worries, though, we all enjoyed our meals and I’ll continue to recommend the restaurant.

Three J’s.
1. Yours truly.
2. My five star sister Jen.
3. An underwhelming Jake.
Service was great. Space has been nicely updated since the 2223 Market days.
Food was just OK.
Parfait was served in a glass with off the shelf granola, fruit and Straus yogurt. Homemade black bean burger dominated the bun (it was falling apart) and lacked a memorable bite.
Fries on the side were the best part. Should have gone all in vs. just having two.
OK food usually gets you a three star OK rating unless the prices are too high. Which they are. $ 11.75 for the burger. $ 9 for the parfait.
Way too much. Other Unilocalers agree.
My sister is priceless. Jake’s just needs to be priced less.

I had brunch at Jake’s because every other place was busy. There was a reason Jake’s wasn’t busy. Here’s my problem: don’t overcharge me for mediocre American classics.

15-​August, Wednesday:
We came here without a reservation, so we started with a round of drinks at the bar as a table for 6 became available. The bartender was not at all confidant, nor even pretended to be so, in making my Pimm’s Cup as he looked up the recipe on the back of the bottle of Pimm’s, fortunately this drink is relatively simple so there wasn’t much room for error. It tasted descent, but confused bartenders worry me just a tad bit no matter how handsome one is.
The bacon mac and cheese tasted a bit rushed, some sweet breadcrumbs would have melded together the flavors a bit better but it was just overbearingly creamy, and doused in cheese and sauce.
The baked oysters, with cucumber also tasted as if it were birthed from the aforementioned mac & cheese and slightly burnt and withered instead of subtly charred. They were completely drenched in fat that was secreted from the cheese and not as refined as I would have preferred if lesser amount of it was added on much later during the bake process.
For my main entre, the bacon wrapped meat loaf was moist, but again overwhelming with the amount of sauce. Mashed potatoes weren’t fluffy, and the ginger glazed baby carrots were over-​cooked.
There appeared to be no culinary direction in any of the dishes I experienced here, and the chairs are a bit overwhelming. I felt as though I was going to be catapulted across the room with the slightest adjustment I would make in trying to make plastic feel comfortable.
Ay no se!

I would love to write this review about the food at this restaurant. After all, the main purpose of this establishment is to serve food. Really, all we got served was some attitude.
I was on a double date with my friends and we stopped by to try this new restaurant. Unfortunately, we didn’t even get seated because the host (medium height thin man with graying hair) thought it MIGHT get busy later. There are many holes in his theory, so let’s get cracking on tearing it apart.
The restaurant was nearly empty. Almost all of the booths as well as the entire bar area along were empty. The host tried to sit us at the small table directly in front of the front entrance. It was a cold night, so we asked if we could sit at a booth or table near the back. The host gave us a derisive stare as if to say we were delusional to think we were high class enough to sit in a booth.
After the withering stare finally came to a end (it was excruciating and altogether humorous), he informed us that it was going to get busy in about an hour. We stared at him blankly unsure of why this mattered to us at the moment considering there were copious amounts of seating areas. He then repeated that it might get busy so we were to sit at the table by the door. Again, color me confused. Finally, my boyfriend pointed to an empty booth and asked if we could sit there. The host, clearly annoyed with us at this point, said, «Well, that won’t be ready for an hour and a half.» I’m not sure why it would take an hour and a half to set plates and napkins at the table, but apparently it can’t be done.
After that, we stood in a group of 4 in an awkward stand off between hungry diners and snobby host. I feel like the host watched Pretty Women and decided to model his behavior after the bitchy shop girls in the fancy clothing store. Well, it didn’t work for Julia Roberts, and it didn’t work for us, either. We walked out and will not be going back.
I’d suggest the owner get rid of the host and start over with people who provide good service so that patrons can actually eat the food and judge the restaurant on what it’s really there for.

We came for a second time just give this new place a chance. (We eat out three or more times a week, so want to find decent places.) It was as bad as the first time. Service: unprofessional, uninformed and impersonal. Food: spotty, «fresh salmon Benedict» was bad smoked laches, precisely what the waiter said it was not, in a third rate Benedict prep.
Cocktail order came in the middle of the meal, really ???
We will not be coming back.
Hope it improves or this place will close.
RIP 2223, we miss you.

I LOVE Jake’s For Being OPEN LATE!
SITREP
The thing that sucks about forgetting to eat dinner during normal hours while on the road, is that the places that serve quality food past 9pm usually become less and less available, and more and more crappy with each hour approaching past midnight.
Jake’s On Market is one of those true awesome finds that has great food even late.
SETUP
Located in San Francisco’s Castro, Jake’s On Market is nestled among a lot of popular Café’s (for me Café du Nord and Lucky 13) where great drinking, awesome music events and fun dance madness occur — but these places don’t really serve substantive quality food items. And so that’s where Jake’s comes in.
MENU
For munchies, Jake’s On Market has their $ 10 After 10pm late night menu that includes «Bites for Two», with a selection including the Mac n’Cheese balls and the Crispy Calamari — two items I will be returning for VERY SOON. :)
There are also $ 10 pizzas, including a Rock Shrimp Pesto pizza and a Wild Mushroom pizza that our group pulled the trigger on, and these were DE-​LISH.
THE LOWDOWN
So for late munchies in San Francisco, I totally recommend that you check out Jake’s On Market!

Met my bestie here for dinner. We shared the Brussels sprouts salad. This really is a tasty salad. I love Brussels sprouts. But what really makes this salad is the poached egg and bacon. Both add the richness in taste when mixed in.
My entrée was the chopped steak. Grass fed ground beef, served medium rare. The taste was just delicious. Served over sautéed mushroom, with brocollini and sautéed spinach. I substituted the potatoes for spinach. Everything worked well. It was a delicious dish.
We luckily were there during their happy hour (5−7pm) so the malbec wine was $ 5 a glass. My friend had the chardonnay. At $ 5, I would be back more often.
Overall a great dinner with my bestie. Despite the negative reviews, I really like this place.

The food is not good.
We had the clams/​mussels to start things off and we were disappointed right away. The dense, piece of sausage (sliced on the bias) in the broth was not good. It tasted old.
I had the burger and it tasted like someone had just formed a patty with their hands and grilled it. It was flavorless. The accompanying fries were strange – overcooked, oily and tasteless.
We also ordered the roast chicken with mashed potatoes and spinach. Again, this was nothing special – it was if you were at home on a Thursday night and cooked this dish yourself.
The apple pie with ice cream for dessert was not good – I have never seen or eaten ice cream like this – it didn’t seem to want to melt and had a waxy, chunky mass about it.
But – the service was very good. Everyone from the host to our server was very friendly.
I’m going to hope that Jake’s is still experiencing it’s growing pains – it is still a new restaurant.
I’d like to give them another try.
PS: The «Stormy Weather» cocktail that I tried was pretty good – ginger beer/​spiced rum/​lime/​bitters.

I’d love to comment on the food, but unfortunately, we weren’t offered a table. We arrived at noon on Sunday. I saw 4 empty tables. After waiting several minutes for the host to arrive, I was asked if we had a reservation. When I said no, he just shook his head. When asked about the empty tables, he said those were for reservations and we came «at peak brunch time».
While I certainly appreciate that they were (theoretically) busy, I’d expect he would offer for us to wait at a bar, or give us a wait time. Instead, we were shooed away without any info or a request to come back later.
I live one block away. I walked to a lovely spot across the street where I was treated kindly and seated promptly. Suffice to say I won’t run back to Jake’s, where I was treated rudely for just requesting a table.

The new space interior is a cross between an ‘upscale’ Dennys and not quite a 50’s dinner. Skinny dude in front played with the lights the entire evening. A few minutes it’s so dark the customers were using iPhone’s to light the menu then suddenly the lights were full strenght for about 5 minutes. It was an endless loop. Annoying but that was just the beginning of his freakiness.
I went to try their burger, what a mistake. It literally crumbled out of the bun, the texture was like the beef you mix in mac & cheese. Even I know how to shape a burger. The fries were OK.
The bar tender/​waiter was friendly but the skinny old guy with glasses in the front was a freak. He was the rudest, strangest greeter I have have experience. I’m guessing this is his first time at a job like this. I’m glad I didn’t bring kids there. Because of that guy and the things he did we will never go back there again.

We had such a great experience here: from the bartender and fantastic drinks, to the super sweet server and great food, to the awesome chef Erik Hopfinger. Everyone we talked to was friendly, knowledgeable, and so welcoming.
We scored free street parking directly across from the restaurant, so we were a little early for our reservation. I was VERY glad we made a reservation, as this place was packed! We had a couple drinks, and chatted with the bartender. The drinks were well made, and the bartender was nice, (and gave some good recs for dinner.)
I had the, «East Coast vs. West Coast, «crab cakes. Delicious, full of crab, and not greasy. A lot of crab cakes are mostly filler, and flooded with oil, fortunately, these weren’t either.
My husband got the Maui onion rings, and while he liked them, he didn’t love them. I had one, and it was super crispy, and once again, not overly greasy, (which is saying alot for an onion ring.)
For our entrees: my husband had the ground-​to-​order hamburger. It was a cooked a bit more than he requested, and he later admitted he should have sent it back. Although, we both thought the flavor was good.
We had the chef’s AMAZING kennebec french fries when he was cooking at Circa, and they were some of the best fries either of us had ever had. That being said, we were both happy to see that the same fries came with the burger. They were as incredible as we remembered.
I was hesitant to order the crab and shrimp stuffed sole, since usually this kind of dish is really heavy, and often oily.
Our server assured me it wasn’t, and she was right. This dish came out very different than I had imagined. Instead of the sole being split open and stuffed, the crab & shrimp mixture was in the center with the sole wrapped around it. It also came with a small amount of lemon cous cous. Everything was cooked perfectly, the flavors complimented each other very well, and the portion size kept the dish feeling fresh and light. This dish was a hit for me.
We decided to share the white chocolate banana cream pie. I don’t particularly like white chocolate, so I was happy that it was mostly undetectable. The crust was really hard to cut through, but we both LOVED the flavors in it. I would totally eat the crust by itself. I think banana cream pie is supposed to have more custard and less bananas than this version did. I actually preferred it this way, since I’m not a big fan of cream pies.
Service was good throughout the meal, and the few hiccups were understandable given how new and how busy they are.
One of the best meals I’ve had lately, and I will definitely be back.
***There’s only one bathroom for the restaurant, and it was one of the cleanest I have seen.***

Get the brussel sprouts with bacon. It’s shredded (like a slaw) with the most amazing Hobbs bacon and really feels more like a salad. Yes, I’m quite possibly deluding myself, but whatever — clean plate club.
Crab cake duo is excellent and it’s clever that they present both east/​west coast styles.
I ordered their steak with truffle butter and argula. The arugula was a huge portion of leafy goodness sprinkled with pecorino romano… coupled with truffle butter, this dish is really a meal in itself.
Their house Pinot is also excellent and I believe organic.
Disclosure: I was a part of the friends & family soft opening so my meal was comp’ed. However, I will absolutely return for their meat loaf, revisit of the apps mentioned above and many others on the menu.