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B44
Category: Restaurants Spanish Spanish [Edit]
44 Belden Pl(between Bush St & Pine St)
San Francisco, CA 94104
Neighborhood: Financial District
(415) 986-6287
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 11 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
Sat 5 pm - 10:30 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-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Romantic, Casual, Intimate
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
614 reviews for B44
Review Highlights
-
"This is the most awesome paella that I have ever had." In 343 reviews -
"For dessert, I got the chocolate hazelnut ice cream." In 10 reviews -
"But the squid ink just puts me over the top." In 57 reviews
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613 reviews in English
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Review from Tony L.
San Jose, CA
5/12/2012
Ceviche - The combination of scallops, shrimp and octopus with just the right amount of citrus was absolutely delicious! A great appetizer to start off a wonderful meal.
Sautéed mussels - The mussels were so good, we ordered an extra serving of it towards the end of our meal. I could probably eat three helpings of the mussels just by myself.
Roasted & stuffed piquillo peppers - Eh. I was expecting a little more flavor from the peppers themselves, but the seafood stuffing and sauce completely overpowered the little piquillos. Don't get me wrong, the sauce was great, but felt the peppers should have been the star of the dish.
Stuffed baby squid - Pretty good, but doesn't stand up to the grilled squid at Zarzuela. Sorry, the bar was set high before I even got to Belden Ln.
Cazuela sea bass - Beautifully cooked to perfection, and delicately flavored. I'm a huge fan of sea bass, and they definitely delivered.
Grilled angus t-bone - I'm usually weary of ordering steak, especially when we usually grill 'em at home (and nail it). It's probably sad that I never expect too much when I do eat out and order steak. The t-bone was above my expectations, but my expectations are low, so take that with a grain of salt.
Paella B44 - Passing grade, I've had better. Maybe I was just too full at this point to really enjoy a starch-heavy dish.
SUMMARY
We came here for dinner and were VERY satisfied. Honestly if they had a kick-ass Paella, it would have easily bumped this review up to a fiver. If you've never been to Belden Lane, I suggest you come check out B44 and forget that you're in SF. It seriously feels like a foreign country in this quaint little alley (in a good way... a REALLY good way). By the way, they have strong tasty drinks here, as well as friendly, attentive servers. Kudos. -
Review from Darcy R.
5/5/2012
This place is located in Belden Lane. Cute alley full of different dining options and plenty of outdoor seating. I wanted to love this place because of the location alone.
Started with bread and olive oil. Our waiter wasn't too helpful in suggesting items, so we just picked a few dishes: shrimp and scallops, octopus and fingerling potatoes, cheese plate and duck and sausage plate. Scallops were tasty, but the shrimp and broth were lacking. Octopus was good although the dish seemed a little on the greasy side. Cheese plate extremely small, yet I did not finish it. Duck dish was different never had the combination before so that was a nice surprise.
I would recommend this place for drinks and that's about it. -
Review from Bumble B.
San Francisco, CA
4/17/2012
I ate here with some family members from out of town. We had a reservation and were promptly seated even though we arrived a bit early. The service was good - our waiter always seemed to appear just at the right time. We started off with some cocktails - my vodka martini was perfect. For for appetizers we all split some tapas - shrimp, a cured meat plate, and a few other things.
Not being a big seafood fan, I had the cassoulet for dinner and it was perfect! Others had paella and roast chicken - everything was delicious!
I'd definitely return in a heartbeat! -
Review from Sarah L.
San Francisco, CA
3/31/2012
I love Belden Lane. It's a great place for lunch meetings and happy hours with friends, as well as the occasional birthday celebration. Imagine my happiness when I discovered that there was a paella place.
The first time I went to B44, it was with a group of 13 people (for my birthday). Our waiter was nice enough, but he took forever to bring us our drinks, our food, and the bill. I chalked it up to the fact that it was a busy evening.
The second time, I went the same thing happened. The food was okay (and kind of cold when it got to our table), the drinks were so-so, etc. We had the same waiter from last time and it literally took 20-30 minutes to get our bill. A friend of mine went to see what the heck was going on to discover that our waiter was drinking a beer at the bar. Another five minutes later, we finally had our bill and of course, we had to leave tip because there was six of us.
Word of advice: go next door to Plouf. -
Review from Mark H.
Cary, NC
5/14/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Nice ambience. Had tapas for dinner with friends and everything was very good.
-
Review from Angela W.
3/25/2012 1 Check-in Here
Really a 3.5, but erring more on the side of 3, because I don't see myself going out of the way to come here. If I did, though, it'd be for that noodle paella!
Ate here with a bunch of girls for a bachelorette dinner. Service was pretty good and attentive considering there were so many of us. We got ceviche, roasted veggies, adobo shrimp, b44 rice paella, and noodle paella (Fideuà).
Personally, I was a fan of the ceviche, but you have to like octopus because it's heavy on that. The sauce really made the shrimp tapas, and made for great dipping for the bread (which was also tasty & abundant). The b44 was just ok for me - not too dry as I was afraid of - but the flavor didn't blow me away. The noodle paella really stole the show for me.. partly because I love noodle anything, partly because I've never had it before, and the aioli just made it for me. It was creamy, indulgent, and the flavors really hit the spot. -
Review from Jean-Guillaume D.
San Francisco, CA
I've never tried Spanish food until i came to B44. I always heard the famous dish «Paella». I was actually going to go to Café Bastille right next door I decided to try something new to so called life. The hostess greeted me so generously and in a way made me try this place.
The restaurant is in my favourite alley "Belden Place" where I can have the European flair atmosphere.The decor of the interior is in a way classy. I like how the candles shine on each table.
The starter. The cheeses were beyond overall. I enjoyed all of them except for the fig bread, but that was just me. It was a very different starter I've had and it's cool how they serve it in the cutting board. Overall I was satisfied with my starter.
The main dish was interesting. I never had something like it. I can't recall the name of the Paella but it was really good. Also it's fun how they serve the bread in buckets. Since I am of Portuguese origin (right next to Spain) Spanish food is similar in a way. But I never tried Spanish food in my life especially here in California. I even tried to make Paella at home.
The waiter kept checking up on me if i needed anything at that was a plus and kept filling my glass of water, I appreciated that.
Okay, I absolutely fell in love with the "Crema Catalana" it's a Spanish version of Crème Brûlée. I prefer the Spanish one.
Also i had a pleasant brief conversation with the hostess about the food and Spain and Catalunya.
I recommend this place to anyone that likes to take risks in food as well as I.
The only thing is that the prices are extremely high, but for me having Crema Catalana was worth it.
I will definitely come back. -
Review from Bobby R.
Daly City, CA
5/12/2012 1 Check-in Here
I'm a little bias because I love Spanish Cuisine. I was meeting up with my gf and my other friends for a Friday night cocktail hour. As I was seated, I immediately wanted a drink. I ordered a Pisco Punch. Was just the right amount of mix, and could taste the alcohol in the drink, which is always a good sign. At first I wasn't going to order anything to eat, but good thing I decided to. I ordered one of their tapas, I'm not sure if I remember exactly, but the angus catalone (not sure of spelling). It came out piping hot, and had some great flavors going on. The cheese, and meat went well together, with the right amount of salt. I did not have to do anything to it, and probably finished it in 5 minutes. The service was "ok", but they were close to closing, and I know they wanted to get the check closed so he could leave, so I get it. I've eaten here before, and it appears that everyone truly enjoys the food.
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Review from Kurt P.
Fairfield, CA
3/27/2012
Had dinner here twice while at a week-long medical conference.
Just. Wow.
Cool space, decor and palette.
Food across the board is very good.
Catalan-a-go-go.
Best paella I've found yet in SF, squid stuffed with fennel sausage cooked in its ink, shrimp and scallops in romesco, Ahi with lentils and cava vinaigrette. You really can't go wrong with anything on the list. Olivella has mad skills.
If you're not hip to the tableau of Spanish wines, the staff we met hit the perfect labels for us. We usually lay out our preferences and let the staff bring something out. We've had very few misses with this approach. B44 hit it perfectly both visits.
Give it a go if you're in the neighborhood.
really. -
Review from Amy V.
San Francisco, CA
3/30/2012 1 Check-in Here
We came to celebrate National Paella Day but we missed it by a few days. My friend and I had a wonderful experience here. The bread was so good! The paella was cooked perfectly, the dessert was the perfect ending to the meal. The only problem we had was when we requested a table near the window. The host felt compelled to tell us it was a table for four people, not two. The place was not packed with plenty of tables set up for four people and I couldn't really understand why it was an issue. He told us twice. Other than that, it would have been perfect!
We ordered a roasted vegetable salad - Escalivada - a warm salad of red and green peppers, onions, eggplant, cabrales (a type of blue cheese), pine nuts and garlic oil. that was such a treat! The Paella is not to be missed. We ordered the Paella B44 with shrimp, clams, mussels, chorizo, chicken and vegetables. Soooo gooood! The dessert was one of the best parts of the meal! Pastel de cava con frambuesas -pistachio cake with cava mousse, raspberry filling, a delightful raspberry sauce and beautiful fresh raspberries.
http://madeitlikeamy.w...
We will be back again! -
Review from Sina O.
San Francisco, CA
2/14/2012
On Belden place, an alley way with a few restaurants that I commented reminds me of my times in Spain, as I say this I find myself in front of a Spanish restaurant.
It's a very romantic setting, and I wanted to like it, but the food was hit or miss and the waiter was horrible; awkward and a CREEP. You know, girls overuse that word...."creep"....guys dont use that word too often, so you know when they do, dude was a freakin c r e e p
Tapas:
Shrimp and Scallop - scallop was good, but shrimp was extremely bland
Chorizo - surprised, very tasty for chorizo
brisket was more like a ground beef mush
Paella just flat out sucked...tasted like a paella out of a frozen tv dinner, if thats possible...small itty pieces of "seafood" you couldnt tell what it was....and how do you get half the rice stuck to the pan like a noob when this is one of your main dishes, as you can then guess, rice was kinda hard.
The waiter was a really awkward, shitty waiter, and he really topped it off at the end...its like euro service where waiters dont get tips so they dont care or just flat out dont know how to do a service job right...except they do get tips here, and most waiters in SF know how to do their job well. If this guy isnt related to the owner, God knows how he got the job.
I joked and said I wonder if this is authentic european restaurant, are they charging us for the soda refills? LOL when i asked and in fact "we dont do refills", $3 a pop for each fountain ginger ale! Damn this was so authentic, I almost lit up my cigarette inside.
Waiter did stupid odd crap like insist on refilling the olive oil...and then never returning it. When we needed his attention, he would never look, and when he did n I made eye contact wit him, he gave me an odd look..dunno how to describe it...surprised baboon? and then continued his odd ways. Cant remember every awkward thing he did, then again, im trying my best to forget. When I come to a restaurant I want to feel comfortable, not get that weird cold sweat that gathers on your neck when your constantly in those awkward situations.
----Automatic 1 star downgrade, the worse was when he brought my date a drink towards the end, he whispered something very creepy in her ear. I asked her "did he just say what I thought he said?" we were both in disbelief and disgusted...I lost my appetite after that. Tried to forget it, still kind of shivering recalling it. If I wasnt having such a wonderful night I would have done something about it. Honestly even if food was great, could not come back. But food is not great either.
...
*shivers* -
Review from Lily R.
San Francisco, CA
3/31/2012
I like the ambiance of Belden Lane, which is probably why a lot of these places get a good amount of business.
Food:
OK, it was lukewarm when it got to the table outside. (which I am pretty sure was the lack of wait service).
Ambiance:
Check
Drinks: Not good.
Service: Our table waited 20-30 minutes for our bill, we told several of the servers bringing water to find our waiter (he had been missing for about 40 minutes). Finally when someone from our table walked into the restaurant to get the bill, she finds our waiter sitting at the bar having a beer. Gratuity was included at our table of 6.
Go next door to Plouf. Where the food & drinks are better & servers don't take bar breaks during your meal. -
Review from Andrea L.
San Francisco, CA
5/1/2012
I found the starters and Tapas way more rewarding than their Paella.
-
Review from Larry S.
Guerneville, CA
3/13/2012
B44 is tucked away in a alley, which means good luck finding parking, With outdoor seating I imagine it would bie awesome to dine on the alley patio....
Very good sea food based menu, mussels, squid and octopus cooked so well that they taste meaty and delicious, not chewy like mucus chunks when your sick. Service left a little to be desired I went a good 25 min with no beverage refill, I was so thirsty I contemplated raiding the table next to us.
Prices are slightly higher than the average Resturant, easily $20- $35 per person, but worth every penny. I hear this place gets packed, we were here on a sun about 5pm or so and were one of four parties. Very quiet and relaxing. Did I mention this diamond in the ruff is in a Alley?... -
Review from Jennifer S.
Oakland, CA
1/27/2012
San Francisco is a city of amazing food. B44 belongs in Indianapolis.
Given its incredible location on Belden Place and its Spanish roots, I wanted to love B44. Unfortunately, the food is pretty much revolting. Here are my thoughts:
- Setting/Location: Awesome. Belden Place is a really cute hidden alley way in the financial district that feels a bit like Europe in SF. At night there are fairy lights every where, and it is really very special. B44 is right in the middle and has a great spot. The outdoor seating would be awesome if SF were ever not freezing at night.
- Food: Yuck. We had the octopus, Catalan salad and Paella. The octopus was greasy and slimy. The Catalan salad was boring and the cheese/charcuterie were low quality. The Paella was dry, the seafood was old and decrepit, and I am honestly SHOCKED that I did not get food poisoning the next day from the green looking clams.The one redeeming dish was the delicious dessert we shared, the cava mousse. Very creative and shockingly amazing.
If you're going to go to B44, I would recommend you stick strictly to drinks and dessert, and enjoy the atmosphere. -
Review from Sunny D.
2/19/2012
At first I was a afraid, I was petrified ... of letting my out of town date pick the place we should go to eat at ... what did this LA punk think he knew about SF dining?
Cheers to not allowing my type A personality show its full blown colors so early on in the courtship, and deciding to "go with the flow".
The adorable (take me to europe!!) alleyway the restaurant is tucked away in allowed me to take my first sigh of relief. Ordering and devouring the baby squid stuffed with fennel sausage cooked in its own ink allowed for the second sigh of relief. yum.
Realizing that the next 3 hours of dinner would include a gentleman, laughs and good conversation allowed for the third wonderful sigh of relief ... Amen to boys that have been raised right.
Go, it's a definite add on to the list :) -
Review from Elaine S.
1/29/2012
Tried this place out during SF's Dine About Town 2012. The prix fixe menu was a pretty good deal with some different options and decent portions.
The entrance to the restaurant is down an alley, which makes the place seem pretty hip/romantic/European.
This was my first time trying paella, so I don't have anything to compare to, but friends said that the rice would end up a bit brown and crispy at the bottom where it hits the skillet, so I was looking forward to that sort of toasted rice goodness, but alas, it never appeared.
Make sure that if you are in a group ordering several courses, that your courses actually appear. My appetizer somehow got lost in the mix, and it was only after the second courses were all out that I realized I had missed my first. Our server quickly took care of the problem.
Overall the food was good, but not great. Excellent cocktails. Friendly service. -
Review from Tawny R.
San Francisco, CA
4/3/2012
Great location, nice ambiance, delicious food and pretty cool wine list. I loved the seafood paella. The only thing I would change? The boring video of a man speaking; not so good when you're a woman using the ladies room. It scared me! They should go for something pleasing to the eyes and ears, like footage of a fashion show with great music.
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Review from Amy S.
1/5/2012
Tried:
Arros Negre
APERITUS CALENTS (squid)
I expected better paella. Mines was a bit dry and the flavor was unmemorable. They had a problem with their radiator and it was emitting a burnt plastic smell when they turned it on. Appetizing much? -
Review from Domenico B.
Laguna Niguel, CA
4/9/2012 1 Check-in Here
Nice ambient in a hidden street! Good paella!
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Review from Jared L.
CA
12/31/2011
I love tapas. I think the idea of many shared, small plates is great for any dining experience. With that being said, B44 certainly fits my interest. In my time in Barcelona, I tried to frequent as many tapas bars as I could.
My personal standouts of the tapas were the B44 ceviche and a scallop/shrimp dish. I may have OD'd on seafood when eating here, but it was really enjoyable. The seafood was really fresh, prepared quite well, and was very flavorful.
I also was pretty impressed by their pa amb tomaquet (pan con tomate). I literally ate this at every restaurant/tapas bar in my time in Barcelona, and it's definitely one of my favorite dishes. It's so simple and delicious! I think they did a pretty good job with the pa amb tomaquet, and really had a good amount of the tomato spread/olive oil on the bread as well!
Speaking of bread, their baguette with a mixture consisting of olive oil, vinegar, and anchovies was really quite good. I literally could eat just the bread with the olive oil/vinegar/anchovies as a meal. It was that good.
I also tried the B44 paella, which was decent as well. Nice portions, and quite a bit of seafood.
Lots of seafood yes, but I love seafood, and it was pretty fresh. I can say that this is one of the better tapas/Spanish/Catalan places and had me reminiscing on my good times in Barcelona.
However - what's up with the Real Madrid highlights on ESPNDeportes that was playing by the bar? Seriously - this is a Catalan restaurant - should be showing FC Barcelona highlights! Haha, not that big of a deal, though, just an amusing observation.. -
Review from Paul N.
El Sobrante, CA
12/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
Finally I had time to have lunch with a good friend in the City. We both walked around at Belden Place to see might be good for lunch.
Our Eyes fell on B44 and we walked inside, everything looked perfect. It looks clean and the lists of drinks are ok. We decide to get something from the Express menu so that it did not take too long.
We found quickly out that our waitress was not customer friendly. Our rule:"Do not work in a restaurant if you can't stand for your business"
We also found out that the Express menu was not EXPRESS. After 30 minutes, we asked about our order, and were given mumbled excuses which neither of us could understand. Repeatedly. Finally 5 minutes later our food appeared. I must tell that there was nothing wrong with the food but because of this grumpy service they are not going to see us back. -
Review from Susy C.
This place DEFINITELY took me back to Barcelona.
Loved the cheese plate and crema catalan, both of those are worth ordering again and again.
Would love to come back for some Iberico ham... alsdk fj;akjflaj;slkjlskadj nom. -
Review from Jonathan L.
Redwood City, CA
2/18/2012
B44 was mediocre at best. We were hoping for more given pictures and reviews that we saw, however each dish and we had was only average. Given the great choices in San Francisco we likely will not be back.
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Review from Annie W.
10/16/2011
Great ambience although you can't help but feel a little touristy. Nonetheless, great place for al fresco when the weather is right.
Their bread was on the dry side but the accompanying olive oil with whatever herbs was addicting. We ordered mostly seafood dishes and the only winner was the warm octopus--soft and savory although drenched in a tad too much oil. The sea bass was not as buttery smooth as I had hoped and neither were the scallops and shrimp appetizer. A bite of my friend's paella (b44) was nothing amazing although it seemed like portions were skimpy.
I was annoyed that our server tried to con us into getting another main dish instead of an appetizer dish for an entree. We ain't stupid, my man! -
Review from Gabriela G.
San Jose, CA
1/3/2012
B44 is located in an alley way (between Bush St & Pine St) a few blocks away from Union Square. We (party of 4) dined there for dinner on a Monday night. The interior décor is warm with red light shades hanging from the ceiling and red/orange walls. Although they do not serve sangria and the Spanish wine selection is very limited the cocktails were fairly decent. We ordered the following dishes:
Appetizers:
- Ceviche of shrimp / octopus / scallop
- Spanish cheese / quince paste / fig bread
- Plate of cured meats Jamon Serrano / chorizo / lomo embuchado
Main Course:
- Half roasted chicken / mushrooms / vegetables / chicken jus
- Arros Caçadora - Chicken / rabbit / pancetta / mushrooms / rosemary / parsley picada
- Special of the evening: T-bone Steak with mashed potatoes
Dessert:
- Cream puffs with chocolate ice cream
Bill was approx. $200. The young server was a bit unknowledgeable to details on the menu and had a hard time identifying which cheese's we were having. He only mentioned the special after we asked and offered bread only after asking. Overall dinner was good and I would return if I was in the mood for "Catalan" style tapas. -
Review from Joseph D.
San Mateo, CA
3/8/2012
Great food and atmosphere! The staff was all very nice! I had the steak with chimichurri!! It was delicious.
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Review from Allie E.
Danville, CA
10/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
Spanish small plates!
Somehow I always end up choosing this restaurant when I go to Belden Place...
It's pretty good but not worth the price.
I definitely suggest the ceviche, sauteed scallops, and sauteed mussels.
The B44 paella is full of good seafood but a little on the dry side. It also has a very spanish flavor, but it's good if that's what you're into.
They serve bread with olive oil and olives!
Service is decent.
Overall, A-OK! -
Review from Sinisa N.
Irvine, CA
4/23/2012
Food was very good in general, excellent Serrano. Didn't care for the atmosphere but was accompanied with a good group of friends so it didn't matter to me. I would go back.
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Review from Gevorg G.
Glendale, CA
3/9/2012 4 photos
Nice ambience, really good food, wine selection includes Spain.
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Review from Quentin D.
San Francisco, CA
3/8/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Great paella, prompt service, great wine from Catalogna. Cosy atmoshere too. Maybe slightly overpriced.
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Review from jasmin t.
San Francisco, CA
2/16/2012
Came here for a bday! Food is ranked btw 3.5-4. Everything was good. It has to be the best spanish restaurant to date since my trip to Spain. I'll be back, but just a word to the wise, they really need to hire smarter waiters. We had 13 people, we divided the order btw 4,4 &5. For some reason, my group of 5 kept getting our tapas n entree mixed up. The waiter order 2 tapas wrong n one entree wrong. The one person who got her entree wrong has to wait 20 minutes or her right order to come out. By then everyone was already done eating. :(
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Review from Maggie C.
San Francisco, CA
9/8/2011
Atmosphere is nice - they have super warm heat lamps for their outdoor seating but it seems a bit crowded.
I expected their bread to be better, it was dry and rock hard....not a big fan so far.
Then the apptz came, the warm octopus was tender, seasoned well but portion was tiny (it's tapas size so I'm ok). The cheese plate was pretty good, it includes different flavors/textures of cheese but again, the lack of good cristini/bread had let this plate down.
The main star - Paella. We've ordered one with noodle (squid ink) and one with rice (B44). I can't say I was thrilled as the noodle one have sad tiny scallops/calamari pieces in it but the squid ink was soaked in by the noodle which made this dish shine. On the B44 rice Paella, it was totally boring, salty and yes, salty, very salty.
I felt super bloated the next day.....
Service was alright, really nothing to be excited about. There are plenty of places in the Mission that offers better Paella.....
OK to skip! -
Review from Kay A.
Fremont, CA
1/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
DISAPPOINTING : (
We visited this place a few weeks ago when we were in the City before Christmas doing some shopping. There were 4 of us and there was a 15 minute wait if we wanted to sit inside (which we wanted to since it was freezing out). We waited about 20 minutes and then the hostess said it was going to be a lot longer so we could wait longer or sit outside under the heaters. We were starving, so we decided to sit outside under the heaters. The heaters turned out to work pretty good, but it was still too cold in our opinion to be outside.
Our server was so-so, he appeared to know the menu...at first. He suggested a wine, and we ordered a bottle, but then he brought us a different wine (from a different grape, region, everthing) and said that they ran out of the one we ordered but this was even better and more expensive, but he would give it to us for the same price. It was okay, although we have had much better wine for $50-60. Not impressed.
We ordered our food, again going by our server's recommendations, only to be completely disappointed. The paella was terrible, the worst any of us had ever tasting, and keep in mind some of us have been to Barcelona before. The food had no seasoning and was bland. It also was missing all the seafood the menu said it came with. The salad was so-so, nothing special by any means. The bread appetizer was just weird. It was toasted bread, but it was cold and wet! GROSS! The oxtail tapa's were so-so, again we have had better.
When the server asked how everything was (after noticing that we didn't eat even a 1/4 of our food) we shared our feelings. He said that he loved those items (he should, since he recommended them to us) and that was all that mattered. How rude!!! He even attempted to charge us full price for the bottle of wine he substituted for us and had told us in the beginning we would only pay for the price of the wine we had originally ordered. I would have been fine with this, had we actually ordered it, and had it actually been good!
Overall, a HUGE disappointment. Those of us in the group who had been in the past even said we won't be returning.
Bad service, terrible food, won't return! -
Review from Anze U.
Willow Meadows/Willowbend, Houston, TX
2/29/2012
I was visiting San Francisco and my friend took me there. I had the best paella/risotto i have had in a long time! (black risotto with squid ink) I was really impressed. Its tucked away nicely for a romantic date. I think this place rocks!
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Review from Jen J.
Berkeley, CA
1/7/2012
Not really a Spanish restaurant, but a Catalan restaurant. Basque restaurants already do it, so I think it might be more honest for a restaurant like B44 to specify itself as such.
They did not have many Pan-Spanish plates (Pan as in the prefix) but there are some tapas from other parts of Spain and paellas (Valencia) besides the dishes from Catalunya. I ordered the Valencian "arros negre" and it was decent but nothing special, especially because of the high price.
The Catalan waiter was very rude and short (in manners although he was also short in stature, but so am I and that's not a bad thing :))
My partner had a confit of rabbit and also gave it just high passing grade (C+ to B-).
Overall, if you are going to spend a $100 or more in a dinner for two, there are better restaurants in the Bay Area. AND you can eat better tapas somewhere else with far less money and with plenty of dishes from other parts of Spain (more of a Spanish culinary experience and less of a regional experience). And finally if you want Valencian paellas, in my own experience 80 % of Catalan restaurants (4 out of 5) give you way too rich (oily) and with way too many competing flavors. The valencian ones are more rustic, sincere, less "floral" or "snobish."
Anyways, those are my two cents of this "yuppy" dive.
PS: The wine was amazing though. We had an amazing Malbec with our dinner. The decor and palette of colors at night reminded me very much of some bars I went in Barcelona frequented by the football team supporters (a lot of purple, red, and yellow). The tapas at those bars were way cheaper and better (the ambiance and decor at night should be either improved, or they should lower their prices to match the existing Barcelona F.C. theme). -
Review from Brian B.
San Francisco, CA
2/9/2012
Great food, great atmosphere. Get the ceviche and the b44 paella they are both very good. Thanks, B44!
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Review from Darrin C.
San Francisco, CA
10/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Great paella. Cute waiters. What more could you ask for?
Will have to try again, and will add a star if they are consistently good. -
Review from Vicky L.
Cafe Metropol, take note: THIS is how you do a good $18 salad.
B44 was a spur-of-the-moment lunch decision, and as I perused the menu (tapas, paellas, salads and sandwiches), the chicken breast salad jumped out at me because it was a warm, sunny day and we were sitting outside.
I expected a similar experience to the one I had a few weeks prior at Metropol, where the salad was pricey and unsatisfying. Instead, I received a delicious, tender, sliced chicken breast seasoned with almonds, a mound of lemony couscous, and a small pile of mixed greens drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. Flavors blended in perfectly, and the couscous and chicken made for a great protein filler so I wasn't left hungry.
Love the complimentary crusty French baguette pre-meal, the selection of food, and the attentive service. B44 is definitely a great choice if you're looking for a cute, laid-back lunch spot that's not your typical grab-and-go.Listed in: Financial District Lunchtime
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Review from Alysha M.
7/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
I met some friends who were eating here. I sat at the bar & had some drinks.
Worst service ever! Bad vibe. Had to ask for water three times. And, it wasn't even crowded! No "hi, bye, thank you's," nothing.
I heard from my friends that they waited almost an hour before their drink order was taken too. Then the food took just as long & the food runners just put the dishes down wherever, not even giving it to the person who ordered it.
No thanks!
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