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City Grill
Category: Restaurants American (Traditional) American (Traditional) [Edit]
1049 Terra Nova BlvdPacifica, CA 94044
(650) 359-9653
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
20 reviews for City Grill
20 reviews in English
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Review from Tasha V.
Pacifica, CA
9/18/2011 2 Check-ins Here
I really like this place. My 6 year old son and I moved out here over a year ago and he goes to school nearby. We stop by once in a while and it is "our spot". He even calls it "our grill". It's a diner type of place and for what it is, the food and prices are GREAT! Also, the kids menu is very inexpensive.
Reallyl like it! Great local spot that doesn't break the bank! -
Review from Prodigy F.
Pacifica, CA
1/20/2012
Had my worst hash-brown ever
+
Had my worst meatloaf ever
+
Had my worst prime rib(overcooked) ever
+
Had my worst onion ring (burn) ever
=
Sorry, I'm not coming back -
Review from Baby S.
Pacifica, CA
6/22/2011
We used to be very loyal to this place, back when it was located at the back of the valley in the corral location, and then when it was briefly on Pedro Point- this was a long time ago, when the nice lady named 'Chum' ran it. But the more recent version(s)- from being understaffed, forgetting parts of the order, and having been overcharged more than once- probably was a mistake both times but... to one time in 06 when I got very sick from the food (people say it was probably the salad dressing and not the steak)- well, I think we have given this place enough chances.
Maybe if we didn't have memories of how it was before we wouldn't be as bummed out. I'm sure if you are just going for burgers or something that can't be 'cheaped out' on that badly as far as ingredients, like burgers or ham and eggs, it's probably fine (don't have the chicken piccata). -
Review from Augy D.
Pacifica, CA
5/18/2011
First of all let me say that the reviewers that gave City Grill 1 or 2 stars are incorrect..
My wife and I have eaten at City Grill at least every weekend for the past 4-5 years. Sometimes going back the same day for another meal. It has always been consistently great!!
I am a native San Franciscan, born and raised, but I have also lived in Pacifica for about 25 years. Needless to say, I always believe in getting good food for a decent price. In these hard economic times there are many Bay Area restaurants that still try doing things the old, archaic way...assembly line style...get 'em in, pretend to be warm and then slap the bill on the table before you've finished your entree.
Not at the City Grill. The owners and the staff are friendly, warm and courteous.
Now the food...
So good! Their breakfast is typical American fare with eggs, omelette's, bacon, french toast, etc., etc., etc, It always comes out piping hot and fresh, served by a friendly, attentive member of the staff. I recommend the omelette's. They are made huge and chock full of ingredients. If you order a ham and American cheese omelette...it will have more the enough ham and cheese just waiting to burst out of the eggs. Their specialty is the home fries that accompany most of the breakfasts. They are also freshly prepared with onions and spices. Yum!
The lunches and dinners are also delicious. Again, this is common American fare. If you're looking for fancy...go to an overpriced San Francisco restaurant...
I've had most of everything on the lunch menu and all their sandwiches are piled high with meat, cheese, veggies, etc., etc., etc. Every lunch comes with your choice of potato salad, cole slaw or french fries. I recommend the fries. It's a huge portion of thick-cut fries that I can never finish and they are cooked they way fries are supposed to be...not greasy.
They serve a tasty cheeseburger with two slices of cheese (if you want cheese) and plenty of fresh veggies to top it off on a fresh bun. This place serves beefsteak tomatoes and iceberg lettuce with their burgers, not some wilted Romaine lettuce or tasteless tomatoes. They are always cooked to order. It's not uncommon to have a meal there and watch burgers flying out the door for pick-up. By the way...you get the same amount of food with take-out as if you were dining in. Also, try their club sandwich. It's delicious and chock full of meat.
The dinners are a bit pricier, but let me tell you what you get...
You start with a homemade style soup, then a dinner salad (made with all the afore mentioned veggies), and then the entree which includes a fresh baked potato or rice, fresh steamed veggies (broccoli, zucchini and carrots) which is accompanied by a fresh basket of bread and butter.
Here's a few I recommend...
The roasted tri-tip is perfection on a plate. At $14.95 it is a steal. The meat is always tender and cooked the way you ask for it and you get a huge pile of meat!! The prawn skewers are also great, but you have to ask for it by name because it's not on the menu (only a seasoned CG veteran would know this). They are always big, juicy and grilled piping hot. I am very leery of eating seafood at a restaurant, but not at the City Grill. Their meatloaf and chicken teriyaki are good too. My wife especially likes the prawn scampi and salmon.
Now on to the drinks. The coffee is always fresh and they serve it all day. The ice tea is fresh brewed with a lot of ice, not the Nestea crap that comes out of a fountain. Most places you go, the ice is melted in your cup before it hits your table and you have to ask a disinterested server to bring you a cup of ice that may get to your table when they're damn good and ready. They make the best shakes that I have tasted in a long time. It's not vanilla ice cream with whatever flavored syrup you ordered. If you order a chocolate shake...it's made with chocolate ice cream. If you order a strawberry shake...it's made with strawberry ice cream. They are consistently thick, but not so thick you can't suck 'em through your straw. The downside is that it takes a little longer to prepare than your average pull-from-a-premade McDonald's tap. Believe me it's worth the few extra minutes and they give you all the excess malt that was made.
What makes this place special is the service. Everything is cooked to order and they bend over backwards to satisfy every request. Cindy and Dennis, the owners, are committed to keeping the quality food at a reasonable price. You will never see them or their staff without a smile or a warm "hello". If they can, they will meet you at the door and open it with a friendly feeling as if you were part of their family. In fact, I am wheelchair bound and some one always helps my wife to pull the wheelchair out of the trunk of our car and wheel me right to our waiting table.
Lastly, they can tend to get busy. Don't get pissed and leave. You'll be sorry..... -
Review from Chris T.
Hayward, CA
4/15/2010 7 photos
The only way we learned about this place was from a Pacifica local me and some friends knew from surfing. We were in the mood for something different after getting out of the water and he told us of one of favorite places to get a little grub. This little greasy spoon was in a quiet little strip plaza, and quite honestly I would have had to become hopelessly lost if I were to have the remote chance of stumbling upon this place.
One thing I really liked was the fact that they serve breakfast till 3 PM. I had the Hawaiian breakfast which was eggs, corned beef hash and sausage over rice. A very rich and hearty meal but after being in frigid water, dodging the close-outs and dealing with the biting winds something like this is a great way to warm up your tummy. Some friends of mine shared some hot wings which were fried and tossed in a vinegary Tabasco like sauce, pretty good. My friends had some pretty decent burgers, they came pretty well cooked, word of warning the double burger sizes are huge!!! Also their fries are pretty damn good too! Price wise it is a little more then I would normally spend for breakfast, but having breakfast for lunch it is OK, but if you think about it, considering the massive portions I guess it justifies the price.
If you need a nice quiet place to unwind and catch up with some friends sitting a booth, it might be worth a stop. -
Review from Coyote B.
San Francisco, CA
7/1/2010
My mother and brother seem to like this place, but for me, a big no.
I had the cajun catfish, which tasted like overly salted teriyaki catfish. The lettuce in the salad tasted stale and old. The split pea soup was okay. This place is a pretty long drive from the center of San Francisco to a dilapidated shopping center in Pacifica.
My brother had the prime rib and Mom had the meat loaf.
I would never take my friends here. -
Review from Matthew D.
Tempe, AZ
6/14/2008
Let me prop this place up a bit. City Grill is tucked pretty deep into the valley, but don't let that stop you from going there. This place serves really AWESOME hamburgers and hot dogs (both with and without chili). I haven't had anything else here but I don't need to. If I'm jonesin' for a chiliburger, I go here. This is THE PLACE in Pacifica (and a few adjoining towns) for this kind of fare. They are also the only restaurant around that will serve RC Cola, which really goes nicely with your meal.
Go to City Grill, get stuffed, and be happy. -
Review from C. U.
Pacifica, CA
Updated - 6/24/2011 2 Check-ins Here
We're locals who go to City Grill every weekend. Cindy and Dennis go out of their way to make sure you always get what you want and they are very kind in accomodating my dietary needs when I need them adjusted. The dinners are a great deal as one previous reviewer mentioned, you get home made soup, salad and entree all at very reasonable prices. Specials are creative. They make a great burger and their clam chowder is delicious. Breakfast is always fantastic! Try the Eggs California if you are a benedict fan but want something lighter. We continue to be fans of what is a consistently great deal in our pacifica valley. Thank you Cindy and Dennis!
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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5/23/2010
We are locals as mentioned previously. We go to City Grill many times a week. They ownership… Read more »
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Review from Tom D.
Granville, OH
4/12/2009
I live down the street from the City Grill and my wife and I eat here 2 or 3 times a month. We usually get one of the specials for dinner. They make a very good New York steak. Their spaghetti is also tasty. My wife loves the seafood, especially the calamari steak.
All dinners come with a basket of bread, a cup of the soup of the day and a nice salad.
The prices are very reasonable.
Breakfasts and lunches are an even better value and are also very tasty. I love the cheeseburgers and fries -- hard to beat! -
Review from B. C.
Pacifica, CA
12/16/2009
Tried this place last night and had a decent burger, good fries and great onion rings - which alone pushed this from a 2 star to a 3 star rating, 'tis the season, I'm feeling generous - 2 burgers and a couple of sodas set us back $23 plus tip. Looks like it may be a better lunch stop than dinner destination. We ended up with the burgers because the dinner menu did out-price ($12-24) the clean, but truck-stopesque venue. Could be the dinner entrees are up to snuff, but if I'm going to drop $20 per plate, I want some ambiance.
UPDATE: Hit this joint again, for breakfast this time, and they served us a decent meal at a good price, everything came out fresh and hot and the coffee was pretty good too. The middle-aged woman serving smiled when she seated us and made us feel like she enjoyed having us there - which goes a long way in my book. -
Review from Penguin S.
Pacifica, CA
1/9/2010
I can't believe I let over a year go by without trying this place. It looks like such a dive from outside. But let me tell you, this place is the awesome. It's nothing to look at. It's not fancy. But if you want good food...
First of all, I've not seen a club sandwich this big in YEARS! This is how to make them. It was so big, you could hardly get it in your mouth. It was full of meat and was cut so perftectly, I thought you could cut something with the edges!
The roast beef sandwich was huge and full of tasty roast beef.
The burger was fantastic, cooked perfectly, fit the bun well, and the fries are the way fries should be, hot, crisp and thick.
My biggest gripe about City Grill was that they bring out baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil. First of all, potatoes should not be cooked in foil, the oil only adds calories. Spuds in a 350 oven for an hour is perfection as far as cooked spuds go. But to present a baked potato in tin foil on a plate says that you are low class. And even if you are low class, take it up a notch! Take the freakin' foil off the potato before you present it to the table!
Finally, I'll add that I was shocked to see how busy they were. Maybe because it was a Saturday, but there were 30 people I saw eating there, and I must have seen about that many entrees going out in to go orders. Good for you, City Grill!
Oh, and they serve brekky until 3pm. So I'll go back to try that out next! -
Review from Larry A.
San Francisco, CA
9/2/2009
Hidden in the quiet valley of Pacifica is strip mall in dire need retail mainstay. The stores that anchor this "mall" is a grocery store and City Grill. My wife and I decided to venture in here for lunch yesterday after looking at some properties.
I've read the other reviews about pricing but decided to check it out myself. I didn't think the lunch menu was overpriced at all. The burger I had was cooked to order and very generous in size. Tasted great. Price was decent too. Wasn't crazy about the potato salad, but I'm very picky when it comes to salads.
I took a look at the dinner menu and agree that some of the pricing is a little on the high side. I don't think the decor or service warrants any dish over $20. Perhaps a change in the decor would justify the dinner prices. -
Review from Caroline L.
Pacifica, CA
6/22/2011
I used to frequent City Grill a few years ago when I lived in Pacifica and after moving away and now moving back to Pacifica I decided to try City Grill again. It was just as good as I remember! The decor is not the fanciest but the food is great diner food with big portions. They also have many menu items with avocado and are not skimpy on the avocado portion as you get half an avocado. The quality of the food is great and they have lots of items to choose from. I love their breakfast (served till 3pm every day)! My husband once ordered the double burger and it was way too big but he couldn't stop from eating it all.
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Review from Steve N.
Pacifica, CA
11/11/2007
City Grill serves up some pretty typical diner fare. I've only eaten here for breakfast and lunch but I've always been happy with my meal. The breakfasts I've had here were fine and the patty melt I had at lunch yesterday was good and it was nice that they offer onion rings instead of fries (for an additional price). Super convenient because it's close to my house.
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Review from Shawna W.
South San Francisco, CA
12/5/2008
City Grill always has good service. You get both soup and salad with an entre and big portions. Their food is always really good. Their soups are home-made and we think they have the best Clam Chowder in the area. Its a great place to take the family.
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Review from Dana F.
Pacifica, CA
4/9/2010
Friendly, good chicken terriyaki, onionrings, soup and hamburgers... but steer clear of the desserts.
This is the fav restaurant of my boyfriends brother and we eat there many times with him. All of the appetizers and entrees I've had are good, but the few times I've seen any desserts its obviously frozen junk ordered from some cut rate factory. I would rate lower except that food actually made there and the service had always been very consistent, a rarity in pacifica. Also their soups range from very good to excellent.
Would rather they completely axed their dessert menu with just scoops of ice cream than what they currently have. -
Review from Jeanne M.
Pacifica, CA
8/10/2009
My breakfast was fine, but I don't know that I'll be coming back. I had a spinach, mushroom, onion and cheese omelette. It was good sized, but it had hardly any cheese. It came with home fries/potatoes, which were pretty good. The omelette was $7.95 + tax + tip - which ends up being a $10 breakfast - without coffee! I thought it was a bit overpriced for what it was. I guess I'm used to going to breakfast places where my meal is truly YUMMY. I might give it a chance again, but it's clear across town from where I live and I personally don't think it's worth the drive. If I lived close by, I might try it again.
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Review from Mona U.
Pacifica, CA
2/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
It is hard to say anything really nice about this place except it at least appeared clean. I ordered a Caesar salad, which the waitress asked me if I wanted thousand island for. She obviously did not know what a Caesar salad was. It ended up having way too much pepper on it. My son had the spaghetti and meatballs, which had almost no flavor. It was kind of like watered down unseasoned tomato sauce poured over spaghetti and processed meatballs. I was glad he only ate a bite of the processed meatballs. I couldn't even stomach his left overs. He also had a small side salad with olive oil, which you'd think couldn't really get screwed up except the waitress tried to charge it as a full sized dinner salad instead. The only nice thing about being there was the company I was with. Other than that, I'm not ever intentionally going back. It's too bad, cause I would really like to see some good business in the little park mall that it's in.
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Review from Doris L.
Pacifica, CA
11/20/2010
We became locals 4 years ago and originally started coming here for their cheeseburgers and fries made to order. We have since found a few other items that are honorable mentions, such as their Boston clam chowder (all of their soups are good.), prime rib and their rancher's breakfasts. Don't be afraid to ask about how a dish is prepared or for your dish to be slightly tweaked (e.g. if you want more cheese on a particular dish, or if you are looking for your prime rib to be a little more marbled, etc.), as they seem to be very accommodating in that way. The new owner is gracious and very attentive to her customers, just as another reviewer has said, and I agree. The new management continues to improve upon their menu by offering new breakfast and dinner specials, which speaks to their desire to improve the dining experience for its clientele. If you are looking for great homemade food and genuine customer service with a smile, give City Grill a visit. It may soon be habit forming!
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Review from Matt S.
Pacifica, CA
3/12/2008
I'm local and have a strong preference to try and keep as much of my business in the community as possible - but good grief this place served one of the worst AND most overpriced meals I have ever had the displeasure of eating. I had dinner there yesterday and the meal was horrific and grossly overpriced. (BTW - I should probably have been warned off by all the health code violations posted in the window, but see point #1 - I was trying to support our local places.) Anyhow my wife and I tried their special and one of their burgers, along with an appetizer and all were some form of horrible. Their rib-eye steak special (~$24+tax+tip) was a small, fatty, thin, tasteless, fried steak. (Think the kind you can buy at Safeway for $2) Also the Veg that came with the steak tasted as if it had been fried, though it wasn't supposed to be - somehow it was covered in oil. The jalapeno poppers appetizer had no flavor - how long those must have been sitting around getting freezer burn to have NO taste I am afraid to imagine. And probably the best part of the meal was the burger - it was overpriced but not as awful as the rest.
On the positive side - the french fries were actually decent. Nice texture and good crunch / warmth to them. Though this meal set me back almost $50. I could have gone to a really tasty place - instead we ate here and quite literally were almost ill due to the nastiness of the food.
