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Firewood At Metreon
Category: Restaurants Italian Italian [Edit]
101 4th St(between Mission St & Minna St)
San Francisco, CA 94103
Neighborhood: SOMA
(415) 369-6199
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
100 reviews for Firewood At Metreon
Review Highlights
"The white wine cream sauce is so so tasty."
(in 6 reviews)
"the thin crust and the woodfired pizza is delicious."
(in 11 reviews)
"Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful House tortellini."
(in 9 reviews)
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100 reviews in English
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Review from Olma M.
Burlingame, CA
11/9/2009
It sounds so simple, but... I love their Margherita pizza and their caesar salad. I can't help it. It's the perfect meal so why mess with it?
You order and pay at the cashier, then bring your assigned number to a table. They'll find you once your food is ready. As far as food court dining goes, it's one of my favorites at the Metreon, right before a film or when I'm strolling around Yerba Buena Gardens. -
Review from David D.
4/15/2007
Firewood is a nice little restaurant in the Metreon food court.
I've been looking at the menu for years, and I've been wanting to eat here for a while. Now that the Downtown Center has blown away my resistance to high-price food court restaurants, it was easy to walk in and explore.
There were free olives at the table. Margaret ordered a Caesar salad, but it was more than a Caesar. It also had three toppings and roast chicken. The bowl was very large, and she enjoyed it. She also ordered an Aquafina. I ordered a pizza of the day, which had artichokes and fresh tomatoes on a cracker-thin crust. It was salty, but very tasty! My beverage was Diet Pepsi. The total for all of this was about $25.Listed in: Free School Downtown
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Review from Evan L.
San Francisco, CA
4/2/2008
So it would probably get five stars but honestly the reason I come here is because I'm usually avoiding the HEART ATTACK LOVEFEST that is Buckhorns. Buckhorns is totally my abusive lover and somedays I have to get away even though I convince myself that getting pushed down the stairs, or worse, getting a little heavier around the middle, is true love.
I tend to stick to the pasta here. The tortellini is awesomely bombtastic. I like the chicken version and the vegetarian one pretty equally. Usually I get the Firewood sauce (combo of marinara and cream sauce) but was pleasantly surprised when they f'ed up and gave me just the cream sauce. I like to pretend that heavy cream is healthy and we ALL NEED MORE CALCIUM IN OUR DIETS RIGHT?!?!
Yeah, this usually leaves me overwhelmingly full. It's located in the Metreon which is pretty much the most useless place in San Francisco but it's right by Yerba Buena Gardens and isn't as crowded as eating in the mall food court.
If there's one thing I hate more than calories it's crowds.
(Also, I don't have an eating disorder I swear. EVERYONE EATS A BOX OF OREOS EVERY NIGHT BEFORE BED RIGHT?!?! WITH MILK? CALCIUM!)
/crazyListed in: I WILL EAT YOUR…
-
Review from Racquel E.
Tracy, CA
7/24/2011
My hubby and I used to go the Firewood Café located in the Macy's cellar near Macy's Women SF. We had their fresh garden salad, Margherita pizza (fresh Roma tomatoes and basil) so light and thin, and their juicy herb roasted rotisserie chicken. We were sad when they closed that location, but now we've discovered there's one in the Metreon. We've dropped by a few times, and they were remodeling. Hopefully the remodel is completed, so we can eat there again soon. We really love their food because it's fresh, affordable, and delicious.
-
Review from Angela H.
Daly City, CA
5/24/2008
You often forget that the Metreon is still around, especially since the glorious Westfield across the street opened its doors. I remember, though, back when it was the bomb- with brand new theaters up stairs, cool eateries downstairs, and a kick-ass Discovery Channel store on the ground floor. Now those days are pass, with less foot traffic through the place and the Discovery Channel store having left a while back.
In any case, those eateries are still there, catering to movie-goers looking for a quick bite before their shows or tourists who wandered in and stayed. I came by to have food at Firewood because its just that much closer to work. I decided to have the penne with proscuitto, shitake mushrooms, and peas in a white wine cream sauce. The pasta was tasty, though the cream sauce was a little too thick and rich. Good with the side of bread that the pasta came with, but the sauce congealed if you didn't stir it around every once in a while. The "proscuitto" was probably ham because there was so much of it in the pasta- I can't imagine that they would use real proscuitto quite so freely.
3 stars for a decent meal for a decent price. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the 4% "health" surcharge that so many SF eateries charge nowadays, but I can understand why they did it. I would be back to try the salads, which looked huge, as well as the pizza, which looked decent. -
Review from Tram N.
8/30/2009
My guy ordered spaghetti w/ meatballs, I ordered chicken pesto pizza and it was the bomb! I love how the crust is not thick, oily, nor crispy.. it was just right..
What made it all the better was that I won a bouncy ball from the claw machine that night..Listed in: Get Your Carbs On
-
Review from Ann L.
11/10/2007
I decided to eat here for lunch since we were in the area for museums.
I picked:
Corn chowder soup $4.25. comes w/ 2 small pieces of baguette.
small side Caesar salad $3.75. Not enough dressing for me.
Ask for tap water get a huge glass w/ ice. Nice.
Total $8.70 w/ tax and they take credit cards.
Taste was ok, soup was better than salad. -
Review from Cassie C.
San Francisco, CA
7/27/2007
Geez people, be nice! Just because there is more than one location does not make this a typical chain restaurant, it's not Applebee's for goodness sake! I think this may even be independently owned, can you dig it? It is def four stars for what it is at this location- high end food court.
I still will never get over what a waste of real estate the metreon is, but I find myself often in the neighborhood or seeing a movie there. When faced with where to eat, this place is always reliable and reasonable. The people that work there are always so nice! They have great salds that come with nice fixings, but you also get 3 additional toppings. The salad is so huge and i think it's $7.25 + $2 for chicky. I have never finished and always have 2 meals out of it. The pasta is good and I may have to go for the pizza one day. Don't be afraid to try this place if you are in the freaky metreon (eat on the lawn if you are too creeped out in the Sony bubble). -
Review from Lizzie C.
San Francisco, CA
2/20/2008
What can I say? I love pizza. There's never a time when I'm not in the mood for pizza. I will eat pizza for breakfast, lunch, linner, and dinner. While I do have my choice favorite pizza places in San Francisco, I love Firewood at Metreon for their Italian sausage pizza. It's tasty and thin crust and it's just the right size for me.
They have some other good pastas and stuff, too, but I will take their Italian sausage pizza any day. -
Review from Phoenix R.
San Francisco, CA
8/24/2009
Only THE-BEST-SALAD place around. The salads are absolutely massive and the topping choices are abundant and always delicious. When I eat a salad, I want to eat a massive salad. I have the expectation that I should be able to be as full after a salad as one would be after a pasta dinner.
Oh man, I'll have to cut this review short because just the thought of Firewood's salads piled high inside one of those perfectly enticing glass bowls is making me salivate.
I have never strayed from the salad to personally order any other item off their menu, but some of my friends have ordered their pasta dishes and I sampled. They too were delicious, but honestly-- drop what you are doing right now and go veg up. -
Review from Vivian C.
3/29/2009
This should really get 2.5 stars, but the good math student in me can't help but round up.
This place was surprisingly BAD. It's like a glorified mall food court meal, or like a more terrible version of Pasta Pomodoro. I guess that's what you get when you're in need of a quick bite before a movie at the Metreon.
We came here tonight for dinner before a movie, and as soon as I saw the menu, I gave it a loud, resounding blah. Pastas, pizzas, salads, soups. So terribly generic. It wouldn't be fair to compare this to, say, Chez Panisse or anything else extraordinary, so I'll compare it to similar, food-court-ish eateries.
WIN:
+ I like the fact that you just order and then they bring you the food. It cuts down on unnecessary, extra service.
+ It does have all your standard, safe, non-frightening foods, so I guess if you're a tourist (and yeah, if you're here, you're probably a tourist) in the area, you'll have something reliable to turn to.
+ It's pretty quick, and it's conveniently located if you're in a hurry.
FAIL:
- I think it's pretty expensive for very generic-tasting, mediocre food. And the portions are pretty small.
- Their special Firewood Sauce (a blend of cream and marinara) tastes like something I'd be able to make myself. Why should I pay money for something I can whip up quickly with my own ingredients?
- And finally: FOOD NOT TASTY. TOO SALTY. DO NOT WANT.
Recommendations: There are much better places you can eat at if you're at the Metreon. Better yet, movie theaters are generally more lax these days about bringing your own food into the theater, so I think you should do what I do and bring a Vietnamese sandwich with you into the theater. Go with a girl and ask her to hide it in her purse. Just make sure to clean up all the crumbs after eating. -
Review from Brad L.
Hayward, CA
12/2/2007
Didn't have time to go anywhere outside the Metreon before the screening of "Southland Tales" I was attending started, and this seems to be the consensus pick. As far as food court nosh goes, their wood-oven pizza margherita pizza was way above average. Of course it didn't compare to high-end places (or to my own efforts, recipe coming soon): they don't crank the oven up that high, which is good for the environment, not so good for crispness. And they really should be using canned tomatoes if those are the best they can get this time of year. But it was still wood-oven pizza, which would require incompetence or poison to not be good. They're competent, and I'm still alive.
As for "Southland Tales", The Rock had much more chemistry with Mandy Moore than with Sarah Michelle Gellar. -
Review from Rei E.
San Francisco, CA
4/4/2007
I would probably give this place only three stars, but because everyone is bashing it so hardcore, I feel the need to balance things out.
The pasta and pizza was good! I had a great date here before going to see a show at the imax. I would have much rather been sitting at LJ's sipping a martini, but they are closed now!!! TRAGIC!
The salads look huge and delicious but I have not tried one just yet. For quick and mostly tasty fare before a movie, this is worth it. -
Review from Anne d.
Fremont, CA
8/27/2007
They serve wine here. That is a good thing for my coworker Carole. She was in need of a midday stress reliever...one glass of pinot grigio did it! We had the mushroom pizza, with some of your more exotic mushroom choices (shittake for one), not just your average mushroom. Yum. Good sized salad shared by two.
It is the Metreon, it's close to work for lunch excursions, so it is what it is. Basic, but decent food at a high price. -
Review from Yanny S.
San Francisco, CA
1/11/2008
I wasn't impressed by this place. I came here at dinner time with a large group, so I got a good look at all the food. The servings seemed small considering the price and the quality. One woman said she had so much food; yeah, she ordered two separate items!
I ordered the quarter chicken and potatoes off the kids' menu. It was a decent amount for the price and the fact it's supposed to be kiddie-sized. People seemed to love the chicken, but I didn't see the big deal; it was nothing spectatcular.
They get points for bringing the food out so fast. But a part of me wonders how much of it was already pre-made and ready for ordering. -
Review from Katie C.
San Francisco, CA
7/30/2009
Yup, saw the same mouse as someone below. Or worse, perhaps it was a colleague, because I was in on a weekend. They're running a better operation than the staff behind the counter, whose response to the mouse clan notification was laughter.
Wouldn't have given more than 2 stars regardless because who wants to pay $6.50 for a Sierra Nevada in the basement of a movie theater? -
Review from Jennifer A.
Austin, TX
7/8/2008
Hands down, this place has the best Margherita Pizza I have ever had, in my entire life!!
I still miss this pizza and still reference it when I have a bad batch here in Texas. I whimper a bit and just want to cry in my drink when I think of the pizza I'm missing out on.Listed in: Bay Area Stuff
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Review from Nushaw G.
Santa Barbara, CA
11/9/2008
yum yum. The pizza was good (from the rest of the reviews, i gather that the pasta stinks). The Soup de'jour was good too: Cream of Mushroom. I'd eat here again if, like last time, I was in a hurry and needed some good fast-casual eatz.
I also lost my wallet here and they kept it. nice ppl -
Review from Corey C.
San Francisco, CA
10/8/2006
Yes, I know it's a chain, but it's tasty!
I highly recommend the tortellini with the Firewood Sauce - it's a very delicious pink sauce, which is my favorite kind. Alternatively, they have tasty salads, which you can ask for any combo (I recommend the apples, walnuts, and blue cheese, with balsamic vinaigrette dressing).
Plus you get free olives while you wait! -
Review from Sssshhhhh L.
San Francisco, CA
12/19/2008
I always get the half honey di-jon glazed chicken. I also like the house tortellini.
Staff is friendly and quick.
And yes, they do charge the 4% restaurant health care fee here.
I was looking at my receipt and there is a 5% discount for ordering over the phone for pickup? I've never heard of that before. I need to do this more often.
I do have to warn you if you eat here, do NOT eat the oilves in the little dish on the table. I made that terrible mistake one time. The olives tasted funny and I was feeling really sick that night. -
Review from Yamil A.
San Juan, PR
8/20/2007
I've been here several times, the first place that pops into mind while hungry at the Metreon...
Between movies yesterday evening, we had a half chicken plate and 2 orders of their chicken tortellini. Everything was great, the chicken a little drier than usual, but good nevertheless.
Their pizzas are very good too and they include free marinated olives on your table.
Meal for 3 including 2 beers came out to be about $42. I thought it was reasonable, it's good food at a food court! -
Review from John D.
Honolulu, HI
8/2/2006
Firewood is one of a half-dozen or so overpriced counter service restaurants clustered together under the rubric "Taste of San Francisco" at the overrated Metreon.
I ordered a green salad ($7) with chicken ($2.25) which cost a round 10 bones with tax. Yikes! Salads come with your choice of 3 extras, so I went with beets, mushrooms, and broccoli. And that's exactly what I got, no frills. Four choices of dressing; I went with creamy garlic.
I think the dressing was good, although there wasn't enough of it to tell for sure. There were a couple small pieces of tasteless bread on top of the salad. At least it was large. As I was finishing off the last few bites, I noticed a bus boy put a little dish of olives (a gourmet variety) on the empty table next to me. What, free olives? Where's mine??
I reached over and grabbed the dish and ate them with my salad. It was a nice augmentation, albeit too little too late.
Do your wallet and your taste buds a favor: find a Pluto's instead--it's the same basic theory, albeit MUCH better AND cheaper! -
Review from Stephanie p.
San Francisco, CA
10/21/2008
3 1/2 stars!? Has everyone lost their tastebuds? I feel like I'm usually on the generous side with star ratings, but seriously-there's no way to put this more delicately-the food here sucks.
I've been here a couple times, my judgment compromised by extreme hunger pangs, and each time I am astounded at the tasteless, overpriced poor-quality meal laid before me. Regardless of appetite, I have never gotten through more than half of my meal or anyone I was with eat more than half of their meal. And I hang with good eaters. Both times I've been here, I've left (after paying like $12) to pursue other dining options. I want to un-eat everything I've ever eaten here. It "tastes" like dorm dining hall buffet food.
I feel really really guilty after one-star rants (which are few and far between for me... sorry), but I have a duty to my fellow man: don't waste your time here, folks.
If you are absolutely FORCED to eat here, I guess the least crappy thing I've tasted is the pizza. So I would advise going with that. I guess. -
Review from David R.
San Francisco, CA
1/30/2007
Firewood is Fantastic!
I love the salads here! They are enormous, fresh and fast.
I like that I can make my own salad with all the wonderful toppings they have. . . and they have draft beer.
They also have good pizza. I recommend getting one of their big salads and a pizza and splitting it, because it's plenty of food---and the prices are easy on the wallet. This is a great place to go before catching a movie upstairs.
Try the caesar salad with chicken, beets, candied walnuts and mushrooms----yummmmy! :P -
Review from kim n.
9/13/2010
Are they really under remodel or is that euphemism for out of business? I remember coming here when Metreon was first built, having pizzas after seeing the Moebius garage. Decent food I guess but it has been a long time since I've set foot in this area.
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Review from S G.
Santa Clara, CA
2/5/2007
This place is really good especially when you are tired of spending a ton on going out to eat in the city! This little place is in the food court of the Metreon, but the food court choices are much higher quality than typical mall food.
I am a vegetarian, so I got the veggie stuffed tortellini with marinara sauce. You pay at the register, they give you a number, and then they bring it to your table. Not fancy, but just right before a movie or when you dont want to pay for a sit down place.
They provided a perfect portion of pasta (not too big) with very fresh sourdough slices. The pasta was a little undercooked, but still yummy. 9 bucks for pasta in SOMA is pretty darn good. Definitely coming back here! -
Review from Stacy B.
Montebello, CA
7/27/2006
Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful House tortellini!
Can't Vouch for anything else there but this TORTELLINI is worth me travelling from L.A. to San Fran. -
Review from Dan D.
Foster City, CA
6/13/2009
The Firewood Cafe @ the Metreon is great! I come here about twice a week for lunch. While I can't speak on the whole menu, Their salads and pastas are great! The food comes very quickly (I order salmon and it usualy takes 2-3 minutes longer but no complaints). And they are incredibly consistent, I always leave with the same satisfaction.
I left one star off because it is a little pricey
Caesar salad w/ Salmon = $15
The Salads are HUGE! So I personally think it's worth it -
Review from Michael M.
San Francisco, CA
3/16/2006
I must confess I do like the Margherita Pizza and Ceasar Salad here. Nice thin crust, good amount of cheese and basil. Free olives on the tables! Not your standard food court.
But I went back recently, and it's gone downhill since. -
Review from Amy N.
8/11/2008
Surprisingly good food here! My friend and I had low expectations because it's in the Metreon, but we were craving Italian and they were the closest.
We got:
-Mushroom Pizza (Sautéed oyster and crimini mushrooms with caramelized onions and homemade tomato sauce)
-House Tortellini (Stuffed with roasted chicken and imported mortadella with fresh Parmesan cheese)
Pizza crust was really crisp and you could taste the mushrooms. I.e., they didn't skimp. The tortellini was FANTASTIC. The pasta was really chewy, and the inside was melty, soft, and really tasty. We got it with the white wine cream sauce, which made it even better. Usually tortellini is small and you taste the sauce more than anything else. Here they're plump and could stand on their own. So could the sauce, which I started dipping the pizza in.
If I'm ever in the Metreon and don't want to stray too far, I'm eating here. -
Review from Teddy d.
San Francisco, CA
1/31/2006
I love the food here. I usually get a pasta dish and a side salad or their daily sandwich specials which come with a side salad. They also have large salads with a lot of fixing you can choose. The service can be slow at times and can be very busy in the evening hours. It is a good stop for a quick bite before a movie at the metrion. Only 3 stars because of the service and the crowd.
Update: They now have sandwich specials for 7.95 that come with a salad and a fountain drink. A sweet deal..... -
Review from Alison B.
San Francisco, CA
2/7/2008
While I've never actually been inside the Firewood Cafe, I've had their food delivered for lunch a few times. Today, I ordered a garden salad with chicken, corn (cut off the cob!) and green apple slices on it. It was darn good.
The dressing-to-salad ratio was pretty much perfect. I appreciate not having to shake my box of salad to distribute the dressing myself (I always end up with giant blobs of dressing on half of it and none on the rest), so that was a big plus. -
Review from Vickie B.
San Francisco, CA
5/15/2007
While I prefer the Castro Location, Firewood Cafe provides an alternative to eating overpriced popcorn and soda while at the movies, or a nice sojourn from the museums around it (as we used it for). Rock Shirmp Tortellini is always wonderful. I usually get it with the firewood sauce (spicy marinara) but we chose the white wine cream sauce. It was scrumptious and the accompanying bread was soft. greek salad a nice side when both dishes are shared by 2 people. With two sodas, total was $17.89, roughly the same cost of two popcorns and two sodas.
I would advise against pizza at this location. I have gotten the proscutto and arugala pizza here and it was prettymuch salad on oven toasted bread. I have no repeated that mistake and advise against doing it yourself.
Great food court food! -
Review from Melody C.
San Jose, CA
4/15/2008
This is the place to get a huge caesar or garden salad with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, candied walnuts, roasted chicken and alot of lettuce in a huge bowl. That is good for lunch and dinner topped with two slices of fresh bread.
Today my so got one salad, one thin crust pizza with sausage and red peppers, and their signature pasta with cream sauce and corn.
It was all good food. Granted its not great food for the going price of $34.30 cents but it's fast, quick and decent if you're in a hurry.
In detail they serve
Caesar salad
Garden salad
chicken is 2.00 extra
with any 3 free fixings
onions, peppers
tomatoes
candied walnuts
corn
They also serve
Rock shrimp tortellini
Linguini with clam sauce
Roasted chicken with roasted potatoes
rigatoni with a creamy tomato sauce and sausage
Thin crust pizzas
Sandwiches - chicken salad, turkey on fresh ciabatta bread
desserts such as bread pudding and tiramisu
They also have cold sides such as - rice in grape leaves, corn salad, roasted eggplant, roasted zucchini, caprese salad (mozzarella cheese, basil, and tomato), marinated mushrooms, and a cucumber, tomato and onion salad in vinaigrette
Three cold sides = 8.95
There is plenty of seating, and they are fast. -
Review from Ken H.
Austin, TX
11/14/2008
I had lunch here during a conference when a local pointed me to the food court at the Metreon. The tortellini and firewood sauce were excellent for a quick food-court lunch. The Italian style bread was done well, and the bowls of olives at the tables were a nice touch. The restaurant has a by-the-glass wine menu that, while short, is above-average for San Francisco.
While they take credit cards, they do not take Discover, which is a shame. -
Review from Veronica G.
San Francisco, CA
9/27/2009
I loove the salads here. They are really fresh & huge.
Personally, I think 8$ or 9$ is a bit much for a salad, but hey, it's the metreon; everything is overpriced. -
Review from Ahsan M.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2007
Near my place, better than edible, and quick. You're basically eating in a food court so don't expect much. If you don't, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
As an aside, the food court-type places at the Metreon are MUCH better than anywhere in the Westfield. (That I have a position on competing food courts in SoMa depresses me.) -
Review from Melissa H.
Boston, MA
9/16/2007
Every time I've been at the Metreon, I've been running late for a movie, so I haven't been able to do much more than peek down into the food court area from the escalator.
I stopped in today and found that the Firewood was very good and extremely reasonable for SF. Most of the menu items were less than $10 - my total for vegetarian tortellini, an ice tea, and tax was only $11.10. (Firewood: If you are reading this, don't raise your prices!) The tortellini was excellent - stuffed with eggplant, sundried tomatoes and garlic - topped with the "firewood" version of the sauce (a delicious mix of marinara and white wine cream sauce). Overall, the place had tons of choices, vegetarian and otherwise - definitely recommended! -
Review from M N.
Stockton, CA
2/8/2009 2 photos
The food is very good here.
The staff members are sort of slow to warm up (perhaps we got them on a bad day, but that shouldn't matter) but they're pretty receptive to what you want.
The place was fairly clean, but I wouldn't eat off the plates supplied on each table with the bowl of olives or whatever they were. That just doesn't seem sanitary in anyway.
The Silverware is what you'd find in a hospital cafeteria, just pre-packaged fork and butter knife with a napkin. And even if you get a salad, you have to ask for silverware. At least we had to.
Portions are generous, and atmosphere is pretty good. I'll be back. -
Review from Jewel J.
Laurel, MD
10/26/2008
Sorry, this place is "awesome". OK well I don't know about the entire menu, but the House Tortellini with white wine cream sauce is so good. I mean so good. It's so rich that it makes me stomach hurt every time, but it is so worth it. This summer, I would WALK from the Hall of Justice (Bryant Street) all the way to the Metreon pretty much once a week just to get my hands on some of that pasta.
Now that being said, it's kinda expensive for the amount they give you. They could give me like 2 or 3 more little tortellini's for that price. That's all I'm saying.
