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Isa
Category: Restaurants French French
3324 Steiner St(between Chestnut St & Lombard St)
San Francisco, CA 94123
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
(415) 567-9588
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 5:30 pm - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 5:30 pm - 10:30 pm
Sun 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Romantic, Classy
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
1112 reviews for Isa
Review Highlights
"Brioche and foie gras, I am in eating heaven."
(in 212 reviews)
"Flat Iron Steak-wonderful flavor & yummy potatoes."
(in 149 reviews)
"Dungeness crab salad was absolutely delicious."
(in 87 reviews)
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1112 reviews in English
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Review from Stacy S.
San Francisco, CA
2/7/2012
Isa is definitely one of my favorite french restaurants. My BF and I have tried multiple items on the menu and we were never disappointed. The potato wrapped sea bass is a must and the pasta is always cooked to perfection. The free bread is awesome- always warm, crunch and soft on the inside.
Great date place! -
Review from Evelyn S.
2/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
Take your girlfriend here on a date, and I promise you you'll earn extra brownie points for this! The ambiance of the back patio seating, which includes soft white Christmas lights entangled in the structure, dim candlelights, cozy tables/chairs, just oozes romanticism and Parisian.
Came here for DAT and ordered:
1. Salmon Carpaccio - Salmon was extremely fresh, and was nice & thick.
2. Duck Breast -- Meat was medium rare, and very tender, but the bacon and sauce was a bit too salty.
3. Grapefruit Granite -- Never had something like this before, and was not disappointed! Grapefruit flavor was sour, sweet, and tangy. Flavor was lost after a few bites though, and was more icy.
Main negative of this place: extremely slow service. Don't get me wrong, I love taking my time wining & dining, but not when I have to feed my parking meter 3 times for an unexpected 2.5 hour dinner.
Other Tips:
1. Small restaurant, so reservation is needed!
2. Parking is extremely limited in the Marina, so bring lots of quarters for the meters! -
Review from Wayne L.
Millbrae, CA
2/7/2012 1 Check-in Here
Ambience
When you walk into the restaurant, you think its a small cafe with an open kitchen. A few small tables on the right. Then when you walk further into the restaurant you will see more tables on the left, and when you walk further in, you walk into a expansive area, the backyard. The backyard has tables, a deck and heat lamps. The entire area is enclosed by a canopy and neighboring fence. It's unique and cozy. My special date and I sat at a table on the deck. Though many other parties were there, it was not noisy. We could hear each other speak clearly without effort. When we were seated, they immediately pour complimentary wine into our wine glasses. Nice! And so were the wines.
Food
It was Dine About Town, so we ordered a crab salad, mussels, iron plater steak, roast duck from the set menu. My special companion drank a Number Seven cocktail of mixed fruits. Sometimes fruity cocktails can end up tasting like cough syrup, but not this time. The crab salad was made up of shredded crab and thin slices of pear all on top of romaine lettuce presented on a long thin plater. The servings seem to be lacking or more to the point wanting more. The mussels had a nice seafood bisque sauce that's light and tasty. Save the sauce for bread dipping. Yum! The roast duck was served sliced. It was not over cooked as many places do. It had a chewy texture just enough, but not so it's annoying and distracting.
Service
The waiter was pleasant with a bit of a humorous sarcastic edge. It seemed as though it was part of the show. He was helpful, polite, and attentive. He gave us tips immediately. Many times, I would has for the service staff for their take on the menu since they sampled the food.
Parking
Horrible, but we managed to find parking within a few minutes on Lombard St. probably because I brought my parking fairy.
Enjoy! I did. -
Review from Le D.
San Francisco, CA
2/4/2012 3 photos
This place is excellent! We went here for Dine About Town and the place was packed. The service was extraordinary, even though I was late (as usual) we were able to get seated immediately. I ordered the dungeoness crab salad for my appetizer, the steak for entree, and the creme brulee for dessert. The salad was fresh with plenty of meaty crab pieces sprinkled all over the top. The steak was decadent and juicy it left me wanting more. My friend ordered the duck and I can honestly say, it was the best duck I've yet to have in the city. They even gave us a complimentary glass of wine for DAT.
As it turns out, they have a regular prixe fixe menu during the week that is a little cheaper than the DAT price, although I wouldn't mind paying full price for the quality and service this place gives! -
Review from Jenna Z.
What a good experience! I came here for Dine about Town like many others. I also went to Fringale (not so good...), but Isa is definitely the winner in my Dine about Town experience.
Let's just start with service. I had an 8:15pm reservation on a Sunday night, came in 30 minutes early, and they seated us 10 later. It was busy but I think with the awesome service they had, people rarely had to wait during their dining experience. There was seating in the front and back of the house, I prefer the back b/c it feels more cozy, warm and less busy than the front.
Appetizers: Dungeness Crab Salad and Salmon Carpaccio (they were out of mussels... boo). My favorite was the crab salad. It was the perfect first course. Light, refreshing and not over powered with vinaigrette. There were slices of apple, avocado, and grapefruit. Though I wish there was more grapefruit, I still enjoyed it overall. The salmon carpaccio was the bf's fav. I though it was good. It tasted fresh, and not over whelming with the sauce.
Entrees: Duck breast and flat iron steak. We ordered medium rare... and they seriously mean it! At some restaurants I order medium rare to get it pink in the middle, but nope, this joint does it precisely to the description! Look at my pictures, they were perfect! Our favorite was definitely the duck. The steak wasn't anything special, I wish we tried the risotto or the scallops but the bf didn't want to pass up steak -.-''
Dessert: Semifredo amaretto and vanilla bean creme brulee. The semifredo came with amaretto ice cream and cookies. This was definitely very delicious but quite sweet. After eating a few bites of this and trying the creme brulee, we couldn't taste the sugar in the creme brulee, haha. The creme brulee was very good, I appreciated the thick layer of sugar on top with vanilla bean at the bottom.
Service: OMG this is my favorite part. My top five places for best service, no joke! I actually enjoyed overtipping them. Our server didn't bother us much, came by to ask if we needed more wine or the occasional "how's everything?" What really set the record was their actions, our bread basket was never empty! They didn't even ask if we wanted more bread, just refilled it :D Our water was never near empty, always refilled when less than 50%. Plates were cleared immediately. After our entrees were finished, they removed the place mats to reveal a clean table for dessert. Seriouly, BEST SERVICE EVER!
I am definitely coming back, even if it's not Dine about Town. Oh and we had a free glass of wine, sweeeht! -
Review from J Chiller C.
San Francisco, CA
2/9/2012
This place has nice ambiance, but the food was mediocre and expensive. Maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes, but our experience wasn't good and I will not be going back there. We had to send back the PEI mussels because they weren't fresh. I had couldn't hardly finish even one mussel. We had some kind of appetizer with navy bean that was very bland. The yellow fin tuna was pretty good. The butterfish I had was not too bad, but along with the truffle risotto, it was way too rich and repetitive. Both dishes had the same kinds of mushrooms. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this place. We ended spending over $100 on a meal that was mostly disappointing.
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Review from Veronica C.
San Jose, CA
2/2/2012
Yum! A new DAT favorite!
I decided to take a backseat to the DAT planning this year and let my other friend take over. Boy, I'm sure glad she did! The main reason we chose this one was not only the menu, but the free glass of wine, which turned out to be an Argentinian Malbec. Not too dry, pretty smooth.
Our waiter explained to the 4 of us that they served all their food family style. Perfect! We chose 4 items from each section, so we got to try a little bit of everything! Our servers were excellent at refilling our bread basket (although why did they only give us 4 pieces at a time??). That bread was mighty good. Crunchy crust, soft and warm middle.
For appetizers, we had the Laura Chenel goat cheese. I'm not a huge fan of goat cheese, but it was manageable and I liked how they played on the typical mozzarella with basil and olive oil. Unfortunately, they were out of the pei mussels, so we substituted for arugula salad that was supposed to come with persimmons (which it did not). Slightly disappointed with the apps overall, but the entrees made up for it. The other apps were the smoked salmon and dungeness crab salad.
All the entrees were delicious, with the truffle risotto being my favorite. I think my palette is changing... as I didn't feel like any one dish was particularly salty, but I felt like ingesting all of it together was a big salt intake. The flat iron steak cooked medium rare... delicious! The duck and the scallops were perfectly cooked, and all the sides (fingerling potatoes, green beans, brussel sprouts, etc) were also good.
Lastly, we got to try all 4 desserts. I'm not a huge grapefruit fan, but the grapefruit granita (or a glorified snow cone as I like to call it) tasted exactly as you would expect grapefruit to taste. Nothing else particularly extraordinary, but the vanilla bean gelato and the creme brulee were good, and the semifreddo amaretto (like a frozen mousse) slightly better.
Overall, a very, very satisfying meal with fantastic service! Rounding a 4.5 stars up to 5! -
Review from Jo L.
South San Francisco, CA
2/1/2012
We came here for the dine about town menu.
Service is good.
Food is great.
Will definitely come back for the quality of food.
Since we are a group of 6, we got to try a lot of food.
Appetizers - crab salad, good. goat cheese, good. Smoked salmon, alright. Mussels, big plate and cook perfect, yum!
Entrees - duck breast - rare and yum!! Steak -rare and yum!! Seared scallops - perfect and yum yum!! Fish- didn't try but I heard it's good.
Dessert - love the semifredo almond, it's something different. They had gelatos and cream brulee which is alright like it should be.
I'll definitely come back mainly because I trust how they cook the scallop, duck breast and steak... I love it when a chef knows how to cook these items perfectly.
Service is good too... almost forgot to mention. -
Review from Margaret K.
San Francisco, CA
2/4/2012
Party of 4.
But wait, I came here with 14 people and we had no idea how inappropriate a group of our size was for this restaurant. Understandably most restaurants in SF on a Friday night will have challenges with such a big party, but Isa's stands out as particularly ill-suited for dealing with more than 4 people per table.
In explaining the ordering process (1 starter, 1 entree per dinner suggested), our waiter noted that all dishes would come out as ready from the kitchen...eluding to a situation where we were preparing ourselves for a full on fight to ensure we at least got a bite of the dish we ordered. The anxiety and anticipation of the process, apparently due to a very small kitchen, had us uncomfortable and somewhat bemoaning the forthcoming meal. Most concerning: we had three people with dietary constraints: 1 vegan, 1 allergic to acids & vinegar, 1 fish eating but otherwise vegetarian. And this is a heavy on the meat (especially bacon even on the vegetables) kind of place.
Food comes out in fits and starts, and floods the table in random places. In spite of the harriedness of everything, everyone seemed to have plenty of food. In fact, we ended up with way too much food and had two large to-go bags for a couple of guests. The bad thing about this way of serving (especially with a large group) is that it's hard to ensure people get enough of the dish they really wanted, and truly tricky for those with dietary limitations. The other challenge was the lack of pacing: we went from 0 to 100 in terms of waiting for food for a (sigh) while, and then it felt like a contest to see how many plates the multiple waitstaff could bring and place in the course of 30 minutes. Ambiance it was not.
Overall the food was not bad, and the wine list is fine (no hard alcohol), but the experience in general left me with no desire to return on a more intimate scale. Funny side note: our waiter told us over and over again how their "process" of random service from the kitchen is tried and true for 10 years, as if to convince himself it would all work out for us.
The best: we all had enough to eat. No blood was shed over the few veggie items ordered. Heat lamps were on for most of the experience, helping the "rustic" dining space (drafty, cramped, super loud) feel more comfortable. This was a company dinner, so also was happy that the tab was not on me.
The worst: waitstaff that consistently leaned over me multiple times to pour someones water, drafty room (I was lodged into the end of the table right by the wall), hard to hear conversation across the table, and food that didn't sate me enough to get over my discomfort.
Pricey for what it is, and not sure I would call this French cuisine, with the exception of the foie gras (which I of course don't eat as I'm the pesky fish eating vegetarian), and not really a place I would go across town to experience again. -
Review from Sharlene C.
Los Angeles, CA
1/30/2012 Seated via OpenTable
Came here for Dine About Town on 1/28/12 with my boyfriend for a date in the city (: We both ordered different dishes and shared everything so that we could experience everything! We were seated in the covered patio in the back. There were heating lamps, but it was still a bit chilly, so I kept my coat on for most of the meal. Waiters promptly brought out the (slightly toasted!) bread and promptly replaced it as soon as it was empty.
First course: I had the Dungeness Crab Salad and it was SO good! All the flavors were well-balanced and fit together so well! My boyfriend got the Salmon Carpaccio. I had a bit of this, but I'm not a big fan of raw fish, so I didn't enjoy it quite as much. He loved how fresh it tasted though!
Second course: I had the Seared Scallops. This probably had to be my favorite dish of the night. The scallops were so delicious and tender and I wish there were more than 4 pieces! The potatoes and brussel sprouts that came with it were good too, and the sauce with the truffle oil was amazing. We were scooping up the sauce with the bread so that we could savor it more. My boyfriend got the duck breast, cooked to medium-rare. This was my first time having duck that wasn't prepared asian-style, but I wasn't disappointed! I never knew that duck could be so tender and work with these other flavors!
Third course: I got the Semifreddo all'Amaretto, which was basically like a frozen almond custard with cookie bits in it. DELICIOUS! My boyfriend got the Grapefruit Granite, which I personally did not like (but only because I don't like grapefruit). He's a huge fan of grapefruit though, so he totally loved it.
We each ordered a drink with our meal. Boyfriend got the Zinfandel to pair with the duck breast. I normally don't like the strong taste of red wine, but I had a sip and it was pretty good! Very smooth (: I ordered the Number Seven soju cocktail. Was good, and finished off the meal nicely.
Waiters were attentive and prompt! Overall, enjoyed my experience here and the overall ambiance was perfect! I'm excited to come back to try their full menu one day. -
Review from Megan L.
Updated - 1/29/2012
*Warning before doing DAT here* I highly recommend Isa but coming for DAT is not worth it unless you take advantage of their free wine. They normally have a $30 prix fix menu on Sunday-Thursdays with pretty much all the same offered dishes.
I took off a star (sorry!) not because of anything terrible, but because I wasn't really wowed by any aspect during my most recent visit. I still stand by my first review but I have 3 things to add:
1) Looks like they don't have a liquor license here. They only have a very limited list of unimaginative soju cocktails.
2) They also insist that you share your food here. Like REALLY REALLY insist. I'm guessing this way there's less pressure to have your food come out all at the same time.
3) To add to my recommended dishes from my first review, the salmon carpaccio with the crostini was excellent. The duck breast entree also gives you more duck than what most restaurants will serve.
The atmosphere is still great, and they seem really accommodating for larger groups. I'd still recommend this for a nice birthday venue if you're planning to go out in the Marina afterwards, but buy cocktails somewhere else.Listed in: All-time SF Restaurant…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/13/2009
Yum yum yum, this is easily one of my favorite fine dining places now. We were seated in the covered… Read more »
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Review from Andrew C.
1/29/2012 1 Check-in Here
Isa proved to be even better than I had expected. Everything from the ambiance, to the friendly waitstaff, to the delicious food...it was a perfect night!
Another point that I feel is important...this isn't just one of your restaurants where you're paying for an expensive meal and you leave hungry and need to stop by in n out after...you get large enough portions to get knocked into a food-induced coma.
I came here with the gf to try out their Dine about Town menu, which had a huge selection to choose from for both the appetizer and main course.
Starters: Salmon Carpaccio + Dungeness Crab Salad. Fresh, long strips of salmon with capers, lemon creme sauce and some egg to go along with some bagel chips. If you're a fan of raw salmon, this is a MUST GET. The dungeness crab salad had large chunks of dungeness crab combined with some other interesting ingredients that I felt mixed well (avocado, taragon, grapefruit, apple).
Entrees: Flat Iron Steak - tender, tender pieces of steak with string beans and potatoes to accompany. Duck breast - Again, sizeable portions of duck breast to go along with a tasty salad.
Dessert: Grapefruit granite + creme brulee: I wasn't a huge fan of the creme brulee, but the grapefruit granite was described as a grapefruit sorbet, but it was more like a shaved chunks of ice with (natural) grapefruit flavoring.
Definitely a must-try! Parking can get a little tricky because it's on a small street, but it's well worth the trip! -
Review from Eve K.
1/30/2012 1 Check-in Here
Unpretentious but cool open neighborhoody Marina spot that's great for Dine About Town. 3.6 stars
Food: 3.5, Service: 3.5, Atmosphere: 3.5
Cost to worth it rating: 4
Return worthiness: maybe
Highlights:
- Great dine about town deal: the standard $35 3 courses with a good amount of choices but weeknights they also add in a glass of wine (of their choice)
- Patio: covered patio in the back gives it a casual, open feeling
- Crab salad: no mayo to be found which is just my style. Fresh, light, and delicious cups of crab-filled lettuce paired with avocado, apple, and grapefruit which gave it a nice balance of richness and freshness.
- Scallops: well cooked and enjoyed the bacon, brussel sprouts, and mashed potatoes it came with
Lowlights:
- Solely the dat menu: in case you wanted something else that might be an issue
- Semifreddo: don't think it was as much a knock on them as me determining something in between an ice cream and a solid texture isn't my thing even if it's flavored with amaretti cookies which I love
- Felt bit rushed with them frantically serving so many tables
Had a fine night there and wouldn't mind that crab salad again, but didn't quite make it on my list to rush back to. -
Review from Montana G.
Novato, CA
2/2/2012
I ate here during the Dine About Town weeks and it was great. It was a fixed three course menu for $35. I had the scallop entree and it was awesome... And the dinner came with a free glass of wine! Service was nice also.
A great location to take a date. I will definitely be back in the future! -
Review from Stanley L.
Oakland, CA
1/22/2012
Here's a review for Dine About Town lurkers.. more like a full menu listing..
Late dinner on Sat. for party of 7
SERVICE: Great service. Hostess gave us updates and options. Waiter was knowledgeable about the menu. Service was on point.
FOOD: Isa has a prix fixe menu regularly. The DAT menu is actually 6 apps, 7 entrees, 4 desserts. The dishes are great for sharing.
Appetizers (salmon carpaccio, dugeness crab salad, butter lettuce salad, arugula salad, Laura chenel goat cheese, PEI mussels) -- I recommend everything but the crab salad -- the weakest dish on the appetizer list. Might have been better if it came out before the stronger flavored dishes.
Second Course (scallops, seasonal fish, spaghetti, truffle risotto, range chicken, duck breast, flat iron steak)-- we have everything but the steak and doubled up on the duck breast.
Seasonal fish is petrale sole. Everything was excellent. I don't normally order spaghetti or risotto, but like William Hung, I have no regrets at all. Each plate was very hearty -- the duck breast was one of the bigger plates.
Third Course (Grapefruit granite, semifreddo all'amaretto, vanilla bean gelato, vanilla bean creme brulee) -- we had everything but the grapefruit. Semifreddo is very almondy, if you're into that, and goes well with expresso.
PRICE: Prix fixe ~$35. Mix drinks $8-9. Tip included for larger parties. Damper -- they have a 3 course prix fixe for $29. I am sure the DAT is a better deal... I hope.
TIPS: Make reservations early. Parking can get difficult. Isa has parking reservation service but we didn't try it. Happy hour before 7pm -- $5 drinks. Free wine glass per prix fixe Sun-Thurs. Choices for vegetarians were delicious! Kitchen is small -- our dishes came out a few at a time which was great for sharing.
CONCLUSIONS: Definitely a good choice for DAT. Great choice if you have a vegetarian friend. Flavors match like Pixars Ratatouille. Breathe the same air as 49ner's great Joe Montana! -
Review from Linda L.
San Jose, CA
1/23/2012
Came here for Dine About Town with some friends, we were seated outside in the covered patio. The ambiance is great, it was a lively environment (not super dimly lit and hush quiet). The only downside is that we were sitting along the "wall" and the rain was dripping down onto the backs of our jackets. :( Service was great though, waiter was friendly, and they were absolutely fantastic(!) about refilling water and bread.
Okay onto food, first of all - the bread was fresh and still warm when it arrives on our table. Great texture and so good, I think we ate a couple of baskets of that alone. :)
Appetizers
-Steamed mussels: this was a sizable portion of mussels in a light tomato sauce. It was seasoned well and the mussels were tender.
-Crab salad: crab and fruit on a butter lettuce. The presentation was fantastic, the taste is sort of what it sounds like. Not bad.
-Salmon carpaccio: I don't have a lot of experience with salmon, but I tried it and it definitely tasted fresh and had a good texture.
-Goat cheese: maybe we're not huge goat cheese fans, but this one didn't go well with our group. It was just very strong. Maybe it grows on you?
Entree
-Seared scallops: scallops were definitely good and well cooked. I would only recommend this dish if you like brussel sprouts though (because you get a ton!), but the plus side is there is real bacon on top :D
-Mushroom risotto: this was delicious, very rich but not super dense. I think it also had truffle in it, yummy!
Seasonal fish: ours was the petra sole. This came out great, it had that perfect flaky texture.
-Duck breast: I am neutral on this, the meat was tender (but my opinion is slightly biased since I don't like duck that much).
Dessert
-Creme brulee: this came out in a relatively deeper dish, and had a thick shell of caramelized sugar on top that for some of us was pretty burnt. I personally don't mind that burnt taste and I like when the shell is thicker, but it depends on if you like it that way. the creme itself was really smooth and in the middle in terms of light or heavy.
-Vanilla gelato: can't go wrong with ice cream! :)
-Amaretto semifreddo: not a huge fan, but it was interesting to see what a semifreddo was (like a semi frozen custard).
Overall great dining experience! -
Review from James Q.
San Ramon, CA
1/17/2012
We have a new Gold Standard for eating establishments in San Francisco or the general Metro area! We went to Isa, tonight, on the SF Dine About Town program where participating restaurants offer Prix Fixe menus - 3 course dinners for $34.95 and lunches for $17.95. Wow, this is as good as it gets!
Unlike most places, they have a very good assortment to choose from for each course. We never felt constrained in anyway. And, the way they serve the courses, they are intended/designed to be shared - a really nice way to dine with friends.
We were a foursome. We started with 3 orders of Crab Salad and 1 Steamed Mussels. Both were fantastic and easily shared. They were both generous portions with lots of crab on the salad and plenty of mussels in a fantastic herbed broth. We all shared and we could not leave the broth alone as we sopped it all up with the wonderful, endless bread.
Our mains were 2 Duck Breast w/Sautee Spinach w/pine nuts and bacon in a wonderful Balsamic sauce - a terrific and satisfying combination. We had one Truffle Risotto and one Seared Sea Scallops. Again, we were totally thrilled withe quality of food and the wonderfully efficient and warm service. The duck was tender, moist, full-flavored - done perfectly. The scallops were also done just right with a beautiful sear with perfect interiors. The risotto was just as good. You could, genuinely, taste the truffle! Texture was perfect.
Our desserts were 2 Creme Brulees and 2 amaretto Semifreddo. The latter was good but the Creme Brulee was the best I can recall having in a long long time - perfect vanilla flavor, perfect texture - creamy/custardy and nice caramelization of the sugar top.
OH, AND DID I MENTION THE FREE GLASS OF WINE THAT CAME WITH OUR MEAL??!! It was a very nice, smooth glass of house red!
I think you can tell how excited and how much we enjoyed this dinner tonight. We're all the way over in East Bay but we would come back in a heartbeat! There is no better value in the Bay Area!
And the service was really great. Raoul really took superb care of us. He's an efficient, friendly, helpful fellow from Spain! Everyone was so very gracious and we really felt welcome! These people "got it right" - in spades!
If you in the area, you owe it to yourself to try this super place. And tell Raoul that the Asian with a crew cut said "hello!"
Jim -
Review from JFer C.
Sunnyvale, CA
1/23/2012
Dine About Town Experience:
Salmon Carpaccio - wish the salmon were colder. But this dish is better than the mussels, which i find not very fresh.
Truffle risotto - this is delicious! Your party must try this! The iron steak was good too.
Semifreddo all' amaretto- almondy. Pretty yummy, better than the creme brulee!
Portion is small. Normally after eating from Dine About Town menus of other restaurants, I'd be stuffed, but I did not experience this feeling from eating at ISA. If you are a guy and are super hungry, do NOT come here.
In summary, the food here is decent, but nothing stood out. I would NOT come back unless I'm being dragged to dine here, or when a glass of wine is being served complementary. -
Review from Amy C.
Newark, CA
1/26/2012 1 Check-in Here
My boyfriend & I came here for dinner on Monday night. I've always wanted to try this place based on their 4 solid star reviews on here. Made reservations for 6:30pm. We got there a lil bit earlier than 6:30pm, but got seated right away. The host lead us to the backroom which is like an extension of the restaurant. It's like a tent with string lights strung on the ceiling which gives it a romantic ambiance.
Dine About Town was going on so we went with that. We both got the Dungeness Crab Salad (Yum!), Flat Iron Steak (Bf said it was bit tough to chew; if it was ribeye steak- it would be mucho better), Creme Brulee (very hard top), & Freddo de Amaretto dessert (Almond-y flavor ice cream which was pretty good).
We found street parking right in front of Mel's Diner which was pretty easy.
Service was friendly & pretty fast. Oh & free glass of wine when you go Sun-Thurs during the DAT. ;) -
Review from Debra T.
1/15/2012 4 photos
We decided to come here for their special four course NYE deal! It was only $49 which was really cheap. I had Maine Lobster Broth with Prawns, Organic Loch Duart Salmon with Lemon, Creme Fraiche & Capers, Truffle Risotto with Baby Shiitake, and a Semifreddo All Amaretto.
Overall I give Isa three stars... Food was delicious but I felt it was mediocre and that I could have had this type of food somewhere else. While the food was presented beautifully, there was nothing special about the taste of each dish. I guess I was expecting a "wow factor" and I did not get that here. Also my cousin ended up with really bad food poisoning at the end of the night. Not cool! -
Review from Michelle Q.
San Francisco, CA
1/21/2012
There was very little leeway with me when it came to picking a restaurant on the Dine About Town list. I HAD to go to Isa. I'd never been, but Isa had the appeal of having 5-6 options per course (all of which sounded AMAZING) so I was immediately sold. This meant settling for a 9:45pm reservation, so I walked into Isa starving and ready to chow down.
Upon arrival, the place was packed! A good sign, I guess, but remember it's 9:45 and was ready to die of hunger. I was a little miffed, but we were promptly seated after 5 minutes or so. Our waiter was soo cute. He was this cute little old mad with the heaviest accent ever. He started speaking and literally the only words I could understand were "share" and "have fun" which in my mind didn't really equate to having a "fun" time, but I nodded my head and convinced him I was enthused.
For the first course, I had Salmon Carpaccio and my friend had the Steamed Mussels. Each dish came out individually, which really did mean we were going to share everything--a nice twist which meant I got to try everything AND this 3 course meal turned into a 6 course one. The Salmon Carpaccio was delicious. Nicely seasoned and incredibly fresh and melt in your mouth tender. I didn't think the mussels would top it, but they were seriously the best mussels I have ever eaten. Hands down. Period. Perfectly PERFECTLY cooked and they were soft and plump and flavorful--so much so that they really tasted like oysters. I had died and gone to food heaven.
For the second course, I had the Seared Scallops with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon in Truffle Sauce and my friend had the Duck with a side of Spinach in a Balsamic sauce with Potato Roti. Both were absolutely amazing. The scallops were seared perfectly, the potatoes sweet and smooth and garlicky, and the brussels sprouts were tender and only slightly bitter. The duck was a perfect medium rare and superr tender.
Our choices for dessert, Creme Brulee and the Amaretto Semifreddo, were the perfect caps to our meal. The Creme Brulee had a nice, thick sugar crust and the perfect creamy filling and the Semifreddo was like a soft icecream with cake mixed into it.
The wines we tried were fantastic! I had the Riesling and my friend had the Chardonnay. Totally girly, but both were sweet and not too dry.
I would definitely return to Isa, any day, any time. And the Dine About Town menu makes this meal a great deal at $34.95! The only thing is, I wish we had come on Sun-Thurs so we could have gotten FREE glasses of wine, but for a fabulous meal, I really didn't mind spending $8 on a great glass. Even though parking is rough, I can't deduct any stars for this outstanding place because my experience here was absolutely phenomenal. -
Review from Lauren R.
Palo Alto, CA
1/20/2012 1 Check-in Here
Tried this place out last night after seeing I listed on the "dine about SF" website. We had a great time!
We had a reservation so I am not sure how they handle walk ins. The main part of the restaurant is fairly intimate. It looked like there was more seating in the back, but we were seated in the main area.
The staff is extremely hospitable. It seems to run like a true team with everyone helping at every table. They were all extremely attentive, warm and friendly. They made great conversation with us and made sure we were comfortable and happy.
The food isn't too shabby either. The plates are smaller than typical American restaurants, but they are meant to be shared (family style) even though everyone orders their own dish. Hopefully you go with people you like, haha! The salmon carpaccio was unique and tasty. Due to an allergy, I couldn't try the crab salad. My fellow table members said it wasn't bad. The goat cheese was truly a surprise as a dish, but we loved it. Mushroom risotto was sooooooo good! The scallops were accompanied by mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts. They were tasty, but not as substantial as the other dishes we had. We also had the steak, which was extremely filling and flavorful.
We are glad we got to experience this place through "dine about". -
Review from Elaine N.
Oh how I loathe San Francisco, but for odd reason the monster keeps dragging me here. I came to Isa to experience their Dine About the Town menu and it was a wonderful experience. Great food, outstanding service, and comfortable decor. On the menu you get to choose a variety of items for your 3 course meal. I encourage you to mix it up with your date that way you can try all the dishes. For the appetizer I had the salmon which was very fresh, a perfectly cooked duck for the main course, and crème brûlée for dessert. Two complementary glasses of wine was also given to us, but what won me over in the end was the bread. They keep bringing it and asking us if we wanted more. Now that is quality service. I would definitely come back to try their official menu items.
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Review from Derrick C.
Buffalo, NY
1/8/2012
Note to ALL: all menu items are "SMALL DISHES" meant to be shared. So instead of ordering one entree/pp, we ended up splitting 6 different dishes and ended up spending 2x as much as I had intended. Ultimately still a fantastic meal but it will cost you big bucks. Also, stock up on bread b/c you're going to want to mop up a lot of these plates.
1st tier of awesome: the foie gras with strawberries, rhubarb & brioche, the veal sweetbreads, and the mushrooms. Normally not a big fan of foie gras in the few times that I've had it but this shit blew my mind partly b/c the sauce is divine. They basically made a homemade jam that goes so well w/ the fatty liver. #1 plate to mop up w/ bread. The sweetbreads, which I found out are usually either thymus or pancreas (delicious!), were also special. And the local mushrooms were the best mushrooms I've ever had - there were a variety of maybe 4-5 different types all simply sauteed w/ garlic but made me want to steal their garden.
2nd tier of awesome: potato wrapped seabass, oysters with spicy orange mignonette, and the flat iron steak. These were all good but not on the same level as the ones above. Stupid Yelp for highlighting the steak - don't get me wrong, it's perfectly well done but it is nothing special when you look at the rest of the dishes.
Time to starve for all of next week. -
Review from Helen D.
San Francisco, CA
1/17/2012
Summary: Not top 10 in SF, but definitely a good meal!
We went last night for Dine About Town (3 courses for $35). On a preliminary review of their website, one can see that they normally offer a prix fixe (3-course meal) for $30. Yes, the Dine About Town has more options, and Yes, they offer a free glass of wine (a red of their choosing) with the Dine About Town menu - however somehow I felt slightly jipped (buyer beware: Flora in Oakland is also pulling this same trick for Oakland's restaurant week).
Moving on to the important stuff, though...
F O O D
- The butter lettuce salad (blue cheese, pears, walnuts) was a solid salad. Flavors held well together, sizeable portion.
- I heard the crab salad with grapefruit was fantastic as well.
- I ordered the scallops with mashed potatoes, bacon, and brussel sprouts in truffle sauce. With ingredients like that - how could expectations NOT be sky-high? Unfortunately, it fell a little flat. Brussel sprouts at firefly are much better. Scallops seemed to be in that weird spot between seared and cooked which, at least for me, was not a happy medium.
- I heard the duck was great - except that it came a little on the rare side (even when asked to be cooked medium).
- We both thoroughly enjoyed the semifreddo all'amaretto for dessert. It's a large portion, and is extremely well done (perhaps I'm just a sucker for semifreddo, though).
S E R V I C E
Fantastic. Really. The waiter was friendly, knowledgeable, attentive.
We'll likely return at some point, it was an enjoyable meal - however this wouldn't be my go-to spot for a special occasion or for a visitor from out-of-town who only has 2-3 days to taste SF. -
Review from Jimmy N.
San Francisco, CA
1/8/2012 1 Check-in Here
Outdoor seating with a canopy and heatlamps. Felt like we were indoors. Very nice.
Waiter was working hard for his tips. Selling us bottles and bottles of wine, which some of us fell for.
We had a little of everything, tapa-style:
Pt. Reyes Oysters - Fresh oysters, can't go wrong.
Crab salad - Nothing special, plenty of mayo.
Foie Gras - Get some before they're banned!
Potato wrapped seabass - Delicious, melts in your mouth.
Rack of lamb - Perfectly cooked, will order again.
Flat iron steak - Not bad.
They have a prix fix menu as well, if you prefer. -
Review from Sam X.
San Jose, CA
1/21/2012
Awesome service, but I'm not too sure whether I should call it a 'french' restaurant.
The appetizers come with the $34 package dinner meal is very delicious!
The main course is however only so-so when it comes to taste. Perhaps I was expecting more than that!
Dessert is also not bad.
They did charge me $18 when I bring my own bottle of wine, but I mean are you serious!? Your menu of drinks don't even cost $18. That's not fair and people just want to have their own preferred alcohol
About $85 for a 2-persons dinner meal (tips and tax included). I think it's OK for a french restaurant, but I seriously don't think any of their meals are french except the appetizers.
At the dress code, it said "dressy", but everyone around us is only dressing up casually.
But I do like the guy who takes call for reservation. Initially I asked for 8:00pm but they said no more spot for me. Then I asked again whether I can be on the waiting list. He said yes, and 30 mins later he actually call me back and told me there's now an opening for table of 2. I'm very impressed by his eagerness helping the customer! Thumbs up for that!
Overall it's not bad and considerably cheaper than other 'french' restaurants in the area. Food is ok but I think I'm having an usual higher expectation when it comes to taste on food. -
Review from Vicky L.
Things that make me feel decidedly "French":
1) Striped shirts.
2) Berets.
3) Baguettes.
4) France.
5) Isa.
Isa isn't my style of dining, because it's slow (the waiter will take some time to explain to you why they take their time preparing the food, so you should share all the dishes), it's expensive for what you get and taste, and it's too rich for my stomach to handle (for example, the potato-wrapped sea bass could be so much tastier if it wasn't so salty, because the fish was very delicate and tender, and potato was a nice complement). The heated outdoor back patio is very cute and since we arrived early, it was pretty empty.
I much prefer rustic French food, which Isa is not. But at least for an hour, I did feel like I was transported to a land of high calories and slow times.Listed in: Greek Life Central - aka The…
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Review from Jeana K.
San Francisco, CA
1/29/2012
I'm breaking my one-yelp-a-year for Isa. Hands down one of the most romantic, delicious dining experiences in SF. Always and forever. :)
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Review from Maile N.
1/29/2012
Isa!! Finally!! I've heard about this place for years and finally got to go during the January 2012 Dine About Town. Good times! It was packed on a Wednesday evening at 7PM - woo! Good, solid food, and the $5 happy hour wine until 7PM is not bad either!
Dinner consisted of:
* Steamed Prince Edward island mussels with garlic, white wine, parsley & grilled bread (Yummy, big, healthy portion of nicely cooked mussels, gone gone gone in seconds - my friend doesn't like seafood, so it was gone gone gone in my tummy quick!)
* My friend got the Baked Laura Chenel goat cheese with basil pesto, tomato concassée & pinenuts (wow, this was velvety creamy tasty - I would definitely order this again too! I placed the cheese on bread and dipped it in the mussels sauce - mmm!)
* For my entree, I ordered the Seasonal Fish with artichokes, tomato confit, olives, basil & zucchini (I forgot what kind of fish it was, a mild white fish that was cooked just right, I couldn't finish it all because I got full from the mussels, bread and cheese - the fish was good though, solid)
* My friend ordered the Grilled golden gate natural angus flat iron steak with haricot verts, fingerling potatoes, moutarde verte & bordelaise sauce (I tasted some, solid, cooked to her liking)
* For dessert, I got the Semifreddo all' amaretto (mmm, refreshing, tasty) and my friend ordered the Vanilla bean gelato with biscotti (cool, creamy, loved the biscotti)
All in all, a solid dining experience, and I would recommend Isa. Attentive service too; bread and water were generous and with our Dine About Town meals, a lovely glass of Malbec was included - I'm all for that! Merci beaucoup! -
Review from Matt M.
San Francisco, CA
2/2/2012
Yes. Do it. Totally worth it.
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Review from Tara L.
Holly, MI
1/12/2012 2 photos
Yummy food!! Husband and I came here with a friend of our's over the holidays and had a fantastic time. Our friend had recommended this place, so we were excited to try this little spot near the Marina.
Like previous reviewers have stated, the food are all small plates, so they are meant to be shared. With that being said, the three of us split the following:
- Dungeness Crab Salad
- Grilled Local Calamari
- Steamed P.E.I. Mussels
- Truffle Risotto
- Halibut with Artichokes, Tomato Confit, Olives, Basil and Zucchini
- Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast
All were great, with the exception of the Truffle Risotto. IMO, it was oversalted, had too much cream and butter, and the texture was past the recommended soft chewiness.
The Duck Breast was tasty, and a little on the rare side. I had never eaten Duck Breast being slightly rare, but it was really yummy. The accompanied tossed salad provided the tartness to offset the smokey flavors in the duck. A total winner, I'd get this for myself next time.
The Halibut was well seasoned and cooked well, with not too much butter. I enjoyed the basil zucchini flavors with olives, total umami.
The rest were well done, and throughout the entire meal, we marveled over the freshness in ingredients with great technique. Often times, you go to a place that doesn't get both right. Isa does it right, and at the end of the night, we were very happy with our meal. Service was attentive without being stuffy, and the atmosphere of the restaurant is really warm and lovely. We didn't opt to sit outside on the patio, but I'm sure it is just as lovely.
Another side not of great service, Husband and I got there early and had to wait for our friend to arrive. The hostess was super sweet, and told us that we had nothing to worry about in losing our reservation. In fact, she let us pick our table, and she kept it open as many people starting flocking into the restaurant! It was a really sweet gesture, and we appreciated it much. As we waited, the bar staff offered us some drinks, but all I ended up getting was water. Next time, I will try their fresh-squeezed juices.
Anyway, it's a good thing that I don't live close by, otherwise, I'd be here every few weeks! Next time I'm in town, I will definitely be coming here again.
You should go....NOW! -
Review from Jane N.
San Francisco, CA
1/26/2012 8 photos
My first Dine About Town experience and OH.MY.GOD...so happy I went to Isa! Ambiance was great, not too loud but definitely lively and you could have a conversation without yelling at each other. Servers were very helpful and dishes were ALMOST perfectly timed when coming out (had to tell them to slow it down in the middle of the entree section). But they kept our bread bowl and wine glasses filled so I can't complain.
Came here with 3 gfs and decided to go family style to take advantage of all their offerings and pretty much went with everything our awesome server, Jared, suggested.
Apps-
Salmon Carpaccio: My favorite of the apps we got. Salmon was so deliciously fresh and the toppings complemented it very well.
Goat Cheese: Another good one but you definitely need to eat this with the bread, otherwise the cheese overloads you unless you like that sort of thing.
Dungeness Crab Salad: I also liked this dish. It served with grapefruit as a topping and I'm not a fan of grapefruit, but I couldn't really taste it so the crab wasn't overpowered like other reviewers mentioned. Maybe we got a grapefruit-less one?
Mussels: Mussels were average but the highlight was the consistent dunking and soaking of the bread in the amazing sauce they use.
Entrees-
Seared Scallops: TRUFFLE OIL! That's what made this dish so amazing. Gave the mashed potatoes and scallops a great, extremely addicting flavor.
Duck Breast: Was really excited that this came with a salad since almost everything previous had been very heavy. Duck was good..not too red and the potato thing that came with it was a surprising delight.
Truffle Risotto: Again...truffle oil. Can't get enough of the stuff. The mushrooms do overpower everything else though so if you don't like mushrooms, don't get this. But if you do, definitely get this!
Flat Iron Steak: Before coming here, I was so excited about the steak because I needed me some red meat. Since this was the last dish we got, we were all sooo full by then but when this came out, I couldn't stop myself from drooling. It was cooked PERFECTLY medium rare. Tender and succulent and delicious. Again, very happy that this came with veggies too.
Dessert-
Grapefruit Shaved Ice: Like I said, not a fan of grapefruit so I only had a bite of this and left it alone.
Creme Brulee: I don't think I've ever had a bad creme brulee, but this was seemed particularly good. Creme brulee is creme brulee to me though, I'm indifferent.
Vanilla Bean Gelato w/ Biscotti: Vanilla Bean flavor wasn't too overpowering so very good. Again, this is something almost everyone could like.
Semifreddo All'Amarretto: MY FAVEEEEEE. Almond ice cream was so so SO good. I was so sad that I was too full to finish the rest of it and that it had to go to waste :(
I have no bad things to say about Isa so stop reading reviews and just go try it out! -
Review from Makoto T.
San Mateo, CA
2/1/2012
I like this restaurant a lot. I went there with my girlfriend last Saturday. I didn't realize that they were only doing dine about town and had only one menu for everybody. Of course, there were different choices. Food is very good. I had the duck breast which was cooked just right. The Dungeness Crab Salad was terrific. My gf had the steak which was ok although not very impressive. Service is great. I had been there a few times and the restaurant was always packed. One advice is that parking is not very easy in that area and you probably need to allow some time to look for parking.
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Review from Ning T.
Santa Clara, CA
1/9/2012 2 Check-ins Here
This is a way overdue review but the fact that I still think about it must mean that Isa was worth it. The other reason was because I went for the last dine about town and they are part of the up and coming one.
It is worth it! I brought newbies to the dine about town experience and they loved it. They loved it so much they came to Isa twice! All of the dishes were delicious and they were not kidding when they said that the risotto was well done. After watching contestants being ousted on cooking shows for bad risotto, this must have been really well done.
Desserts were delicious as well. Though we all took a bite of each other's food, what we really wanted was another plate of food. It was so delicious, and the staff super friendly. There were no complaints and the outside dining area was full of lights and great for a romantic dinner or just a good time with friends. -
Review from Jeanette L.
San Francisco, CA
12/21/2011
Oh, wow! Absolutely everything we had was AMAZING! I love that it's family style and the pace of the meal was perfect. You would just be finishing up one dish and another one would be set down on the table. So many delicious dishes to sample! And they have happy hour from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. so we saved some money on our champagne :)
Here's what we ordered and my ratings:
Dungeness Crab Salad - a great starter
Maine lobster broth - I'm not big on sea food but everyone at my table loved this.
Foie Gras - You MUST order this! It was totally delicious and a HUGE portion!
Scallops - delicious!
Truffle Risotto - definitely a must order as well
Rack of Lamb - was really good
Sweetbreads - I wasn't all that impressed. You can skip this one. -
Review from Janetto L.
San Francisco, CA
Great food in the Marina District at very affordable prices! I love how all portions are meant to be shared and served family-style.
Prix fixe meal from Sunday - Thursday is totally worth your dollars. $29.95 for 3-courses, totally a steal! However, minus 1 star for the their selection of desserts, but no need to fear, you can add an extra $2 to select a dessert from their regular list. When Dine About Town comes around in January and June, they have one of the best DAT deals too, I always love seeing them as a participating restaurant.
During my recent visit, the truffle risotto with baby shiitake, hon shimiji mushroom & reggiano and Sea of Cortez wild prawns with parsley, garlic & lemon were probably the highlights of our meal. The grilled flat iron steak with moutarde verte & bordelaise sauce was also cooked very well + a good sized portion too.
Whether it's a nice night out on town or just a simple meal, Isa is a great place to be! -
Review from Alex D.
San Jose, CA
12/28/2011
Hands down, one of the best dinners I've had to date! My grandparents and I consider ourselves to be total wine and food snobs and we all left Isa last night saying how amazing our meal was. I recommend asking the waiter whats good. we did and he couldnt of given us better plates. AMAZING! 5 stars :)
*Try the truffle risotto- cant go wrong!* -
Review from Cindy L.
San Jose, CA
12/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Been here twice. The food here is amazing, but the portions are pretty small. The service here is the best of the best. Every 5 minutes or so, a friendly waiter would stop by our table to see how we are doing.
I highly recommend the Dungeness Crab Salad. It's sooooo good! -
Review from Erika C.
Updated - 12/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
Wow.
We had our holiday dinner here tonight (party of 55). Sameera, the owner, was responsive and helpful. She was also there that night. If you ever need to organize a huge group dinner, you will not find a better person to work with than Sameera. I would easily recommend Isa to anyone, for anything from date night to taking out your parents to group celebrations. The food is very good for the price. This is my third time here and I will be returning.
Everything went without a hitch. Sometimes, when you have a large party, the quality of the food or service will suffer. This did not happen. There were plenty of waiters and the kitchen kept the food coming. We took a welcome break after the entrees then plowed on to dessert. The timing was perfect, the food was hot, and there was plenty to go around.
Since we had a huge group, we were seated in the back patio and Isa had to go with their shared menu for groups. This basically consisted of six courses (see below, and keep in mind that the food came out to all 55 people at once), and everyone got to dig in. Your dollar will go far here. About the back patio -- it was a December night in SF, and even at 45-50 degrees outside, the patio was perfectly warm.
First
Baked Laura chenel goat cheese with pesto, tomato concassée & pine nuts
-- Good; I ate this with the fresh bread served at the table. It needed a vessel. I couldn't have eaten just a giant piece of cheese.
Butter lettuce salad with apples, candied walnuts, watercress & roaring forties blue cheese
-- Delicious. I've had this type of salad before and sometimes the dressing is overpowering, but at Isa it was just right.
Second
Seared scallops with brussel sprouts, bacon, mashed potatoes & truffle sauce
-- It was weird, they ended up serving this entree last. The scallop was overcooked (probably because they were cooking these for 55 people) but I didn't mind. The flavors were really good for this dish. The brussel sprouts could be a tad less mushy, especially since mashed potatoes were already on the plate.
Spaghetti with himalayan truffles, tomatoes, basil & parmesan cheese
-- This was a really simple dish with clean flavors. A lot of people liked this and cleaned it up.
Grilled Golden Gate natural angus flat iron steak with haricots verts, fingerling potatoes, moutarde verte & bordelaise sauce
-- This was okay. The best part of it was the potatoes, which were really flavorful and crispy. The meat was a little underseasoned.
Third
Crème brûlée
-- Standard fare. It's hard to mess up creme brulee. That said, it was a solid one.Listed in: Grand Prix Fixe $25-$39, Date Night
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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9/6/2011
I feel like I haven't had enough of the menu, even though I've been here twice and eaten everything… Read more »
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