Balancoire

Fun Sunday brunch spot - food was gluttonously good and the music was pumping - that said the staff seemed really.... Slow - they do checks by hand and can't do math to save their lives - bummer

This is a review on the Thursday Night Salsa/Bachata dancing.
- Nice hardwood floor with seating on the edges
- No cover charge! The optional beginner class was $5
- WONDERFUL crowd. Unpretentious, beginner-friendly, but not without skills
- Good ventilation compared to other clubs (Still gets warm though)

This review is specifically for Salsa dancing "Salsaholic Thursday" night & bar service. You can't miss this spot right smack on Mission across from the green florescent sign "new mission" of what I believe is a movie theater.


Walking in met a friendly bouncer who later turned out to participate in social dance, that was a first. Cover was $12, and walking in saw a salsa lesson in session, seemed it was a basic level class. The place has hard wood floors and the space could accommodate ~ dozen couples dancing, with overflow to the back.


DJ was spinning real good salsa tunes! Didn't hear my fav Aguanele, but perhaps I should have asked. The dancers were multiple levels and the crowd was friendly, except for one guy that I have to call out. If you see a bald chubby guy, with goatee and glasses, give him some floor space, cuz he thinks he owns the dance floor. Lol..smh

Beverages at the bar were $10, the food menu had tamales and I thought the restaurant's name was French, but go figure. There was a Zouk performance ~ 11, was cool and entertaining!

Good floors, good music, dancing on 1, good crowd, first visit I give 3.75 stars.

See y'all on the dance floor!

Viva la Salsa!!

Ah Balancoire, home of Cat's Corner (where I take weekly Lindy Hop classes) and home of the world's unfriendliest bartender. She's like the mean cafeteria lady you don't want to piss off or she'll spit in your food. She has the luck of being surrounded by happy dancing people instead of drunk slobs, and she can't even crack a smile most of the time.

The first few times I came to Balancoire, I didn't want to try the food. I went out instead. One day I arrived to class early for a beer, and I was given some old, flat, lukewarm liquid from tap. So disgusting!! Speaking of beer, if I ever ask the bartender what beer she has, she points to the corner filled with bottles without saying a word. Everything at the bar is so hard to read. The beer bottles are far away. The food and cocktail menus have poor handwriting.

The upside of Balancoire is how often the menu changes. The food is actually not bad. I've tried the chicken quesadilla and philly cheesesteak and fries. Both were decent. I haven't tried the cocktails yet, but I like the creativity of the names and again how often they rotate. Overall I would never come here on a non-class night, but it's nice that there are food and drinks available before and after class so all of us can socialize!

Trying a new restaurant is always a gamble.

Even if a restaurant has 4257 reviews with an overall 4.5 star rating on Yelp, it's still a gamble. It could be an off night or maybe your waiter, Chad Bro is a certified douchebag ruining your entire dining experience. Or if you're like me, you chalk it up to probably walking into a different restaurant than everyone else because you had one too many whoo hooo cocktails during happy hour.

Balancoire is a new French Creole restaurant, lounge, and nightclub (formerly Blue Macaw) that opened less than 2 weeks ago. I've been closely keeping my eye on Balancoire and with just one suspicious looking review, I put it behind my list of 300+ bookmarks. That was until I saw a Yelp deal. Nothing like getting a deal on whoo hooo bottomless mimosas: http://bit.ly/100Gu4R. There's also a Groupon deal being offered: http://bit.ly/X2ryW2.

M E N U
Currently, Balancoire serves dinner Wednesday - Sunday and brunch on the weekends. Both menus seem limited but I was told more items will be added in the future.

The brunch menu: http://bit.ly/100GIZI.

The bar/dinner menu ($8-$24) has several apps: onion soup, hummus, eggplant dip, fried artichokes, etc and two entrees: spicy lime shrimp and steak. On the weekends, the bar/dinner menu is also available during club hours.

CASH ONLY. There's an ATM inside.

F O O D
For brunch, I opted for the Croque Madame ($11) which was ridiculously good. The French ham and swiss sammie was slathered with a sinfully decadent béchamel sauce then topped with an sunnyside egg: http://bit.ly/100GUIw.

What made this croque madam top notch was the bread. It was carblicous and carmelized at the bottom for a deliciously buttery crunch. Cutting into the yolk and letting the creamy richness bath the sammie is what took it over the top: http://bit.ly/100H1Uv.

Mr. NSS hates cheese (what a weirdo!) but he kept going in for a 2nd bite, a 3rd bite and a then a 4th one. Grrrr, get your own Croque Madame!

I also went whoo hooo bottomless for an additional $12. You have your choice of peach, raspberry and orange. I loved both the peach and raspberry.

S E R V I C E
The entire staff was very welcoming, friendly, and attentive. Our waitress, Sabine was a total sweetheart as was the bartender who I forgot to get the name of. Thank you for all those whoo hooo bottomless refills!

A M B I A N C E / D E C O R
Very minimalist and bare with a large communal table, two and four top tables in the dining area and a lounge area with sofas in the back: http://bit.ly/100H8iX. There's a full bar.

They have a live Zydeco band on Sundays for whoo hooo bottomless Sunday Fundays and DJs for club nights.

P A R K I N G
Difficult street parking. The nearest garage is on 22nd/Mission.

Balancoire is an undiscovered gem in The Mission. Solid grub (4 stars). Friendly service (5 stars). And....

Whoo hooo bottomless mimosas (5 stars)!

Will this be the Lime (RIP) of the Mission? Hint, hint to the owners!

P.S. - Burlesque dancers are slated for happy hour performances in the next month or so. Whoooo hooooo ( * Y * ) tassels!

My friends and I went here to check out the Warriors vs Cavs game after watching a movie across the street.

I thought it was an okay bar.

Ordered Moscow Mule and a $5 Margarita from the happy hour and thought that the drinks were average. Lots of alcohol though!

The band playing live was doing a lot of testing and I felt like it disrupted the whole experience since everyone came in to watch the game.

Decided to dive in and try a new place for brunch thanks to good ol' groupon ($12 for $25 worth), and I'm really glad I did instead of paying full price for everything.

I didn't think the food was THAT amazing. I've had better brunch elsewhere for around the same price, yet more filling and way more satisfying.

Got here around 12:30pm and had to wait about 5-10 minutes to get seated. It seemed like a busy place when I walked in with my mom and sister so I cut them some slack for not seating us right away (because clearly, there was no host at the door) No greeting, no nothing. We finally got seated at a table, waited a while for water, then finally got our orders taken down, then finally we got our food. None of the waiters checked up on us frequently, asking if we needed anything else or needed more water (because, I tend to drown myself in water pretty quickly). In other words, I wasn't a big fan of their service.

As for the food, my sister and mom got the crab cakes (Eggs New Orleans) and I got their Balancoire scramble. DIsappointed at the sausages that came with my meal because they were burnt! My sister also noticed the salad wasn't too fresh. Same with the dressing. My scramble was alright. Full of bell peppers and cheese but nothing amazing. Plus one star for the potatoes because they were seasoned pretty well. My mom liked the food, but my sister and I weren't so crazy about it.

Also, plus one star for the waitress who came and gave us the bill. I felt like she was the most helpful one by being able to process my groupon. I don't think I'll come back another time.

I like the karaoke here. I remember bringing a hat and really rocking out to love gravy one night here.

The brunch is really good too . It left a great taste in my mouth for hours after eating it.

They have tango lessons here too, they're only 10 bucks but I think there's a certain time when its free also.

The drinks are really good here too.

I wouldn't bother with reservations here tho.

Balancoire is an excellent venue that is one part night club and one part bar. The entrance is great, with chill bartenders and whatnot.

However, the real star are their shows. Their stage is just big enough for performances, and a second story makes for a great hangout area. Food is excellent too -- I got a large tri-tip that was cooked perfectly.

I'll definitely be back.

Balancoire was the last stop on our Friday night barcrawl a few weeks ago.

The service that night was unbelievably friendly and welcome! Estevan was our bartender for that night, and he really made our ratchet group's night. He also gave us free chex mix bar snacks and kept our party going with shots and a big smile. We must have been such an annoying group, so hats off to the Balancoire crew for dealing with us (apologies if you remember who we were...)

I heard that Balancoire also does drag brunches, which sounds super AWESOME! Their staff is just generous, open-hearted, and straight-up emanates "neighborhood bar" vibes! Their bar has lots of dancing space (DJ was spinning dance-y beats for our group, basically) and high-chair bar seating with romantic red candles too. I'd say the vibes are very seductive and retro at the same time.

I'd definitely recommend coming here if you're in the Mission and want a cover-free, crowd-less, and dance-able place to spend your night! We literally stumbled in after checking out the super bougie/long-line'd El Techo across the street. Balancoire is much more humble and friendly!

Balancoire is a hidden gem in the Mission District. I initially started coming to their Sunday Brunch to support my daughter who is one of their hostesses.

On my first visit, I waited in line 35 minutes, they were running behind with their set up. I hate waiting so I made a mental note. Food was sort of ok - some hot, some cold because it had sat too long. The General Manager is an excellent cook but he is doing far too many things to insure quality control.

The venue is perfect for a show but the interior is dark and dreary , in desperate need of a facelift. Service is a toss up - I watch some employees talk instead of working, no consistent standard of service among the staff....some are in need of training....more interest in the tips than quality service. The Drag Shows are exceptional and there are some fun things to do during the week.

Still the Balancoire appealed to the manager in me who has help build companies and tech start-ups from the ground up. I saw potential in an infrastructure change, new staff, better organization with a clear concise business plan....I could actually see Balancoire's income doubling and tripling if the owners were open to allowing someone to help them structure, plan , hire the right staff to grow the business.

The owners are both very pleasant people - always a smile and warm greeting when they see me. I took the time to visit Balancoire two consecutive weeks to observe what happens and the entire system needs to be re-vamped. Time management is critical, quality service always increases your costumer base. I offered my observations and suggestions just because Balancoire could become one of SF's hot spots and my daughter enjoys working there. I offered this assistance for free - typically, I would charge for a business assessment.

Balancoire is closing for renovations - so time will tell if this place makes the necessary changes. I hope they create a sustainable business plan - and revamp their operations so they begin offering their patrons an overall excellent experience.

Stay tune for an update, I will be back when they re-open