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Category: Latin American [Edit]
Neighborhood: MissionMon. 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Tue-Thu. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tue-Thu. 5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.
Fri. 11:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fri. 5:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sat. 12:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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Last night, Mari C. and I embarked on one hell of a date night.
Prior to being her +1 at the Eat, Drink and be Gamey Yelp Elite night (because i'm not elite- NUDGE NUDGE, HINT HINT), MC had the brilliant foresight to swing by Limon for a small bite (because apparently acquiring food at these said events is a feat in itself)
Let's just say, MC's a cheap ass date. $9 later, we had split a quarter of the most succulent roasted chicken I've ever had along with 2 side dishes of a salad and some amazing yam fries with dipping sauce.
Service was fast, attentive, and friendly- they didn't at all seem to mind we were hoggin a 2-top for $9 worth of grub. (Granted it was 5:30pm and there were about 3 people total in the place)
I would have given 3 stars for the sake of coming back and adding some more, but the hostess' gorgeous Latina Farah Fawcett hair at the front is worth a star alone. Makes me miss my long locks...
Cannot wait to come back for more!
There are some places that can treat you like shit and you'll keep going back because they are otherwise amazing. This is not the case with Limon.
I like to believe that reservations mean that a table will be ready and waiting for your party at or near the time of the reservation. Apparently, my definition is wrong wrong wrong.
We had reservations for 7pm for a group of 7. At 7pm, we had all arrived and were sitting in the "lounge" area, chatting away and giving well-wishes to the birthday girl. We realize we've been waiting a while, and look at the clock. It's 7:36. We are still in the lounge. And there are people walking right in and being seated. If they all had reservations, the restaurant must have been backed up since 1pm with the number of people they sat in front of us. We had finally, after over 30 minutes, been offered drinks. Great. Lovely. Please, bring us drinks and then forget the birthday girl's drink. You will? Oh thank you. Just what she wanted.
At 7:50, we ask if we could just eat in the lounge. They allow us this small convenience, and we push together a few of the tiny tables and all hunker down to look at the menus. We are offered water. We say yes please to the water. Many minutes later, the waitress comes back and tells us that they're "working on our water." Excuse me? What does that even mean? Where in the universe is this water coming from that it has to be worked on and we still don't receive it for another few minutes after that clever announcement? Is there only one person that can pour water? A few minutes after we receive water, we receive BREAD! Yes! We have now been at the restaurant for over an hour and we have gotten in 1 drink order, bread, and water.
Shortly before we receive our food almost 2 hours after our slated reservation, we are offered to sit at a table. Considering this is a staff that has to work on things such as water, we did not want to confuse them as we were hungry and close to having this birthday party Donner party style. So, we suffered at the cramped tables. I have back problems. Thank you, Limon, for adding on to my chiropractic bills.
The sangria was delicious. The chicken was tasty, but chicken all the same. And, the truffle-infused macaroni and cheese was divine. Not technically divine. I think if the truffles were plucked from the Elysian fields by the gods themselves, the mac n cheese still would not have made up for the horrible service.
After we had food, we waited far too long for the check. I considered faking a seizure, but I doubted it would get us any attention.
It was now 9:30. We are late for the second half of the birthday celebration. The manager brings out two desserts which are flour-based (we'd made it clear that the birthday girl and another in our party could not have gluten) and 7 spoons. Are you fucking kidding me?
Thanks Limon, for giving me more reason to hate.
Went there with a party of 11 on a Saturday night with a reservation. When we arrived, they were extremely busy and very disorganized. It took 15 minutes just to get a hold of the hostess and we didn't get seated for another hour and half. Now,that's a long wait with a reservation! The manager finally aplogized and sent over a few apps.
The food was okay... nothing spectacular. We had the Ceviche Limon, Grilled Ocotopus and a Peruvian Sashimi combo with Ahi, Snapper and Ono. The grilled chicken with sweet potato fries (complimentary) were good, but also not extraordinary.
Given the long wait and the chaos for just okay food, I don't think I will be back anytime soon.
We have Sunday night reservations here for 7:00pm. I arrive with my friend 5 minutes after 7 and we are the last to arrive in our party. Our party is seated in the lounge area and we are waiting and chatting and really having a good time of it.I was not keeping track at the time though it seemed like 30 or 40 minutes after we arrived that they ask if we would like drinks. I order the soju sour -- it is tasty.
This is when I start noticing the time. About an hour after our reservations, the manager comes out and says that some folks had to be seated. We ask to be served food and they let us sit at the kiddie table to order food. We order food and plead for water. About 5 minutes later, a woman comes and explains that they are "working on water" for us. Five minutes after that we get water. The place is packed and I can understand being strained on staff. 70 minutes between arrival and water is absurd. We see the waitress one more time before our food arrives so she can take another drink order which I decline though others get wine and sangria.
At 8:50, 50 full minutes after ordering our food, it finally arrives. At this point, the place is mostly empty so you would think the help staff would be more attentive. No, the manager is in the back talking to what appears to be one of the cooks as they chat near the entrance to the kitchen.
Everyone dives into their food. All conversation stopped for at least 10 minutes as the hungriest people in that venue begin to gorge. I had the chicken and peppers with mac & cheese while my friend had the snapper. We shared. The snapper was ok though the dipping sauce was excellent. The pepper/mushroom mix with the chicken was very good. The chicken was tasty though nothing special. It tasted like chicken. The mac and cheese was excellent.
We start enjoying ourselves at this point since our minds have been taken off of the hunger pangs. We are all laughing and having a good time. Maybe too good because though the waitress did not appear to have any other customers and the hostess had few new heads appear in the door, we could not get their attention or the bill. We are supposed to go the the orbit room to meet other friends at 9:00 and it this point it is 9:30. Finally, we get the bill, pay way too much money for the abuse we've been served by the staff, and excuse ourselves from the restaurant after rejecting their offer of some kind of cake.
My advice: order the mac & cheese to go over the phone. Flip a coin. Heads you go get it, Tails you make them eat it.
Oh sigh, what a dump. I had really high hopes for it, but I guess I'm just a spoiled bitchy birthday princess who thinks reservations count for something. I'm just silly like that.
Got a reservation for 7 people at 7 p.m. on a Sunday. Sure, 7 is a weird number for a party, likely to require a specific seating arrangement that may require 2 tables near each other to vacate simultaneously so we could accommodate everyone. WHICH IS WHY WE MADE A RESERVATION. I feel like we did our part to make this arrangement work.
We arrived a bit early and waited in the lounge for the rest of the party. Now, when I arrive early, I have NO PROBLEM waiting for my reservation time. When the rest of my party isn't there yet, I have NO PROBLEM waiting for the rest of them before we sit down. I also have NO PROBLEM being offered a drink while I wait. Guess which of those things didn't happen? And if it had been, say, 10 minutes until we got a table, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But after 45 minutes elapsed and we hadn't even been offered beverages, it seemed like something was wrong.
A party of 3 was sharing the lounge with us. They also had a 7:00 res that was being ignored. At least they got drinks.
Multiple times during this wait, my friend asked the hostess and the manager on the floor when our table was going to be available. "Soon! Someone's leaving right about now!" Which means "if we tell you something, you'll eventually shut up."
FINALLY the extremely green server came by (no apology for ignoring us) to get our drink orders. We were finally offered drinks as we waited. After being there for 45 minutes. On my goddamn birthday. And the server FORGOT MY DRINK. ON MY GODDAMN BIRTHDAY.
It's 8:00 by now. We pulled the manager over and he gave some windy excuse about "well, there were *people* who showed up without, you know, reservations *on the actual books* and they *had to be* accommodated." So because we are the mere hoi polloi with one of those lowly "on the books" reservations, we don't get a table. OK then, we're eating in the lounge. They obliged: brought us dinner menus in the lounge, shoved all the little tables together, and we ate there.
We got water at 8:10 p.m. *fucking tap water* took 70 minutes to get to us. Perhaps they were waiting for the iceberg to melt.
We got our entrees at 8:50. I balanced by plate on my lap. On my - that's right - goddamn birthday.
How was the food? Completely delicious. Ceviche, octopus, porkchop - all great though a bit too salty. Which wouldn't have been a problem if my water glass had been refilled. My dining companions loved their snapper, chicken and mac & cheese. So yeah, the food's tasty.
The manager brought us two tiny desserts in a lame attempt to make amends. Wow, asshole, thanks for the cakes that I can't even eat. Thanks for 2 fucking desserts for 7 pissed-off people. Can I shove those up your tight ass? No? Then I'm sending your pitiful gesture back.
We had to ask for our bill 3 times. During this time, we thought quite seriously about a dine & dash. They don't want to take our orders, and it doesn't appear like they want us to pay, either. It was $300 for 7 people. They forgot to put a couple of our drinks on our bill, but that was an oversight and not a comp. Thanks, fuckers.
This is the only time in my life I haven't tipped waitstaff. It was abysmal service.
Lessons learned:
*awesome ceviche!
*I'm not important enough for Limon to honor my reservation!
*I should have brought my own booze! And gone across the street to La Cumbre and gotten my own food, too!
*I'm never coming back here EVER EVER AGAIN.
When will the hype die? Because this shithole ain't worth it.
Thanks for ruining my birthday, Limon!
The one star is for the food. That is, this place would get negative stars for the service and management, but the food was excellent and that brings it up to one star.
Our birthday party/evening was seriously affected by the wait staff management here. Our 7pm reservation for 7 people was ignored, apparently the hostess just kept seating people in front of us and "forgot"? At 7:45 I asked what the situation looked like and she said that she was waiting for tables to turn over. I asked her, "multiple tables"? Apparently she hadn't even started the process of allocating two tables to be put together, but was still giving priority to other folks.
At 8pm, they offered to serve us in the waiting area. At 8:50pm our food finally arrived, in the waiting area. By this point, the rest of the restaurant had largely emptied out, so you would expect that the service would get a little better. As our dinner was being served, and the restaurant was largely empty, they offered to move us to a regular table. At this point, given the delays in service, lost drink orders, lack of refills on things as simple as water, we respectfully declined, because we didn't want anything more to confuse them.
Our group ordered the whole fish, which was very good - 8/10.
The pork dish was very good - 8/10. The chicken dish--the chicken was unimpressive, the peppers were great. The mac and cheese that was served with the chicken dish was a 12 out of 10. Absolutely fantastic and to die for.
You would think that with the reservation screw up they would pay attention to making the rest of the experience good, but follow on service was absent, food was slow to arrive, drink service was nearly absent.
I have no idea how so many incompetent service experiences could happen at the same time. Mistakes happen in the business, and how someone reacts to those mistakes is the kind of thing that builds customer loyalty. In this case, the management's response was slow, poor, and did absolutely nothing to repair our faith in this establishment.
At the end, the manager offered us *two* cake based deserts for the seven people in our party -- which was amusing in itself, since two of our party, including the birthday girl, specifically asked which items on the menu were gluten free.
I have never been so disappointed with the service and callous inattention at a restaurant. The kitchen is excellent, but the management of this restaurant should be terminated with extreme prejudice. We will not return despite the heavenly mac and cheese.
Reading other yelp reviews, clearly this restaurant has a history of ignoring or screwing up reservations. The management simply doesn't care. There are other great places to go in the Mission.
Thanks Limon for screwing up our friend's birthday.
Remodel the bathrooms, not the lomo saltado.
This place was amazing before, now I find it just alright. I went and had the lomo saltado it was a sad shell of what it used to be. Low on flavor but high on salt. It seemed as if they just poured soy sauce all over the dish. Not kidding. The people I dined with enjoyed the fried red snapper, however, they said it did not taste fresh.
Pros-
Nice ambiance
Clean
Colorful and creative plates
Sangria
Good service
Unique dipping sauces
Cons-
Signature dish Lomo Saltado is not what it used to be
Food was competent but underwhelming
Its a hip place to get drinks or impress a date but the food is not as good as it was before.
My lord, gotta love the q-mark heads hating on this place. I came here on a date seeking a change of pace in the Mission, and Limon really hit the spot. Let's do the run-through:
Ceviche - Outstanding and the best I've had. This is why you come here.
Chicken w/ Mac and Cheese - Good chicken, great MnC. Super creamy and rich with a slight stinkiness.
Porkchop - Very salty, but can't complain. The chopped cabbage and bacon underneath was a great complement.
Drinks - Mojito was tasty, mule not so much. Wish I were a wine drinker.
Desert - See pic. Tastes as good as it looks.
Atmosphere downstairs is great, so the bland upstairs is a little disappointing. The concrete walls and door that won't shut combine for an echoey sound, so not the best for a group of you want to clearly hear everyone else. Service was fine, but be forewarned there isn't much room here. Cruising in on a Thursday night around 8, we got the last table upstairs.
First of all, I want to express that I do feel bad for giving this place 2 stars after reading all the great reviews but the food was truly a big disappointment. But I must emphasize that the service was outstanding so on that alone I would give 5 stars! Everyone from the host, to the server, to the "self proclaimed" sommelier and every other title you can think of gave their 100% to make our dining experience a great one. And I must add that we were a group of 7 rowdy adults so patience was definitely a virtue!
Now onto the food and the drinks....
Ceviche - The mix of seafood was decent but the sauce was way to vinegary and too limey.
Chicken Skewers - SALTY!!
Grilled Octopus - The thickest tentacles I've ever seen...not quite tender enough, still on the tough chewy side.
Yucca - $5 for 6 giant french fries?!
Beef empanadas - Probably the best item we had on the menu.
Red Snapper - It was great presentation and texture of the fish was perfect...slight crisp on the outside but yet kept its moisture on the inside but unfortunately it was tasteless. I'm not so much of a fan when you need to constantly dip something in thick sauce.
Steak w/french fries - Flavor was good, meat was tender but lacked spark...nothing to rave about and at $22 you can get better else where.
Capriahana - $9 for sprite with lime juice and sugar?! Where's the alcohol?
Overall, I was really disappointed in the quality and the quantity of the food for the price you pay. For great Peruvian food and drinks, I will stick to La Mar...a bit pricey but never a let down!
I stumbled upon this place with my roommate on a regular weekend day, and thank goddess we did. It was a delightful and unexpected experience.
Location: Great location in between 16th and 17th and Valencia. Trendy, diverse and tons to do. Tons of bars, shopping, sex shops, etc. Perfect for taking friends out to eat.
Space: Pretty nice space. Not great or particularly interesting, but pretty tasteful. I've seen it before. Kind of that modern, Thai feel... even though it's a Peruvian restaurant. Lot's of tables, which is good.
Ambient: Pretty bougie in there. But at least it's diverse bougie. Age range is 25-45. Nice, descent, crowd.
Service: Really nice, cordial and fun service. Our server was a bit cold and then warmed up to us and made great rapport.
Drink/Food: The food was quite delicious. The ceviche, las empanadas, everything was really good--EXCEPT the couscous. Don't order the couscous, it's boring and not up to par with the rest of the food. The Sangria is sublime. It's not sweet and it's more velvety. It hits you without you knowing it, and that, that is what it's all about.
Overall: Great place to have a nice descent, yet exquisite, not too pricey and diverse dinner. There's tons to eat here, needless to say that we made it through the whole dinner with just appetizers. Definitely a place to try out.
**Limon, you're now on my permanent Mi-ssi-on ro-ta-ti-on**
(Forgive me Yelpers, you have to get to know me. I'm just goofy)
Someone please kick me for not trying Limon before. Really. I used to walk by for years (before they closed) and wonder why it was so busy. I guess I always assumed that Peruvian food had no vegetarian options, as my San Francisco experience had always proven that to be the case.
Better late than never though...
Shitake mushroom ceviche alone had me hooked. It was all uphill from there. Quinoa (with veggies) was the most impressive quinoa I've ever tasted. It was so rich and I'm still trying trying to figure out how they cooked it. Last thing for me: Yuca fries. With chimmichurri. Need I say more?
I had to go for one of the more exotic desserts: coconut prepared three ways. A little too sweet for my taste, but can you really go wrong with coconut? Coconut maki was marvelous.
Factor in yummy sangria, a sleek and lively atmosphere, excellent service, and whaddya know...we arrive at a five-star review!
why do people keep coming here despite craptastic service? the food is pretty and tasty. the drinks are also pretty and tasty. the clientele is generally pretty and i suspect if you licked them they too might prove tasty. like many who complain herein my party's experience was one of being ignored in every possible way by the waitstaff and finding they and the management blatantly unapologetic about it. it was so bad it was almost funny ... except it wasn't. i was almost too annoyed to notice the food was good.
it is my wild fantasy that Limon's kitchen staff will someday go rogue, ditch their heinous/good-for-nothing waitstaff/management and begin operating out of a repurposed taco truck on the streets of the Mission. also, that they will abandon the ridiculous/superfluous accent in the name - was there really any risk of folks calling it LY-mon?
Came here for dinner this past Saturday with some old friends, one who was visiting from LA.
My initial impression was pretty good. There was a good vibe going, and the staff was pretty nice. But then I found out they screwed up the reservation. Wrong time, wrong amount of people. Not a huge deal, b/c they just fixed it. By fixing it, it's just crossing out the time and number, which looking back isn't fixing anything. Reservations don't seem to mean anything here. There were 3 groups including ours that had to wait over an hour after the reservation time.
Anyways, on to the food. The ceviche and empanadas are money. Must haves. They are absolutely incredible. A little expensive for what you get, but not outrageously so. For entrees, we had pork chops, chicken, and a red snapper dish. All of them were very well done and well presented. However, the pork chops and chicken were dishes I could have easily done at home. When I go out, it's nice to have things that I can't throw together in my own kitchen.
For Limon, that's the ceviche and empanada, and that's about it.
If you are a large party (like we were) be prepared to wait. At least an hour. As Dietrich H mentioned below, reservations don't seem to mean anything here. We had reservations this past Saturday for 8 at 8pm but was seated at 9pm.
The food is pretty good here (lomo saltado, red snapper, empanadas, ceviche) but I think it would have been a more enjoyable experience if Limon knew what the heck a reservation was and I wasn't left feeling so hangry! I was ready to eat a philly cheesesteak across the street and I don't even like cheese!
In the future, I'll stick to La Mar when I'm hankering for some Peruvian food or cebiche.
I was on the wagon, with my parents and hungry. Three of the worst things you can have happening in life as far as I'm concerned. The only thing that was going to solve this was ceviche with lobster, crab and scallops. Damn that was good. I also had the grilled octopus - excellent! You can't really go wrong with what I ordered. Service was good and the renovated space looks nice.
I had been looking forward to coming here for a while; the first time I came by, they were closed for renovation.
But last night proved very disappointing. We were seated about 15 minutes after our reservation, which was fine understanding that this was a busy restaurant.
But after we got seated, and ordered, the bread and water took 15 minutes to come (I had to remind our waitress, too). And 15 minutes later, there was the ceviche. And 30 minutes later, there was the main course. Quite depressing, considering the table next to us was seated at the same time and was gobbling up their red snapper and ribeyes during our 30-minute wait.
Also, both the ceviche and the boring chicken entree we overly salty.
Is the cooking staff here underpaid? Are they understaffed? I'm not sure, but for a 4-star Yelp rating, this place sucks. On the bright side, our waitress was nice.
Maybe my experience next time might be better, but waiting for an hour for your food on an empty stomach can set you on the wrong foot, which is why I won't choose this place for another meal.
Limon is all glimmer and no gold.
Hadn't been since the reopening post-fire, and we were painfully disappointed.
Service was fair at best - both to be seated (way too long with empty tables...the "your table is being set" only works so many times) and also during the meal. Certainly below par.
Food was acceptable, though nothing we will be back for (too many good restaurants in the city to enjoy).
Ambiance gets a solid D. We unfortunately had the misfortune of being seated in the upper section. The HVAC kinks (maybe this why there originally was a fire?) leaves it far too hot and stuffy. With a low ceiling on the second level, if it is even half full the noise level will be absolutely brutal (they haven't put anything in to help dampen the sound, and as a result the setup really ruins an otherwise mediocre dining experience).
Sit on the main level, or don't bother. On second thought, just don't bother.
Wow, I can't believe that when I first came here I wasn't a fan of wine!? What on Earth was I thinking!??!
The ceviche limon is still hands down my most favoritestestestestestestestestst thing here. Also had another appetizer this last time around but I honestly can't remember what it was! Dammit!
Ordered the lomo saltado which was EXCELLENT. I've had really bad lomo saltado at another place before (and it's not defunct, thank goodness) so this made up for it.
What I also really loved?? The bottle of 08 Tomero Malbec. MmMmMMm red wines are like my weakness now.
Oh and the side of truffle mac n cheese that came with the pollo? SUPER DELISH ON HIT BOOM!
Went with a rather large group for a birthday dinner.
Not a fan of wine but the sangria was good. I…
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I can understand the complaints about portion sizes. However, that can be easily rectified if you make sure to order some type of protein from the entree menu.
Three of us ordered 1 entree, 1 ceviche, 1 appetizer, 1 of the other category, and one side, and it was enough, and only $23/person.
Everything was delicious, and very carefully prepared; so tender....
Let me tell you, I love Peruvian food. And, this place does it well in terms of their Lomo saltado, but the atmosphere is mediocre. Last month was the first time back since the remodel and they stuck us up in the loft by ourselves, AGAIN. I was hoping the air flow would have improved since the remodel but the smoke from the grill still rises and the air conditioning is blasted to make up for it.
They have a great list of wine but kinda skimpy on the South American options for a Peruvian restaurant. They were out of the one Argentinian bottle we wanted to order.
We were so excited for the oyster shooters but they were tiny and way too salty of shot. All the other appetizers were great and the service was great but the atmosphere needs improvement. For an anniversary dinner, I was let down. I MIGHT return but only for the lomo saltado and dessert. Oh, and the ceviche is pretty good from the last time I went to Limon.
I wish I could recommend Limon, but based on our experience I can't. The food itself was good, but the overall experience was genuinely lacking. When they called to confirm our reservation, they had the wrong time for our party, but told us that it would be no problem to seat our party at the correct time. We arrived early, got a drink at the bar and waited for our table. And waited. Then we waited some more. You get the picture. We were finally seated nearly an hour and a half after the time of our reservation. All we got from the manager and the hostess was a shrug and a 'welp' smile.
It's a shame when a kitchen offers such nice food but is so poorly served by an incompetent, uncaring or unprofessional front of the house. If they can't honor guests' reservations, they should stop taking them. And if they take reservations and can't honor them, they should go out of their way to apologize to their guests. Limon has clearly not figured out this part of the restaurant-goer's experience. In a city and neighborhood with so many great offerings, I can't see returning here.
Came here for a classy bachlorette dinner and it was a fantastic choice!
There were 20 of us and we had a set menu, which catered to meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans. The menu consisted of a ceviche starter (or salad for vegans), appetizer, entree and dessert. Each course had 3-4 choices and being the calibre of restaurant it was, I was surprised with the serving size and we were plenty full and padded for the night of drinking ahead of us.
Our group was seated upstairs, where there were several celebrations also happening. A great crowd and it created a happy and cozy-loud type ambiance.
Outstanding dishes? I loved the limon ceviche, pumpkin ravioli (it had a little spice from ginger in the filling! Superb!) and the chocolate lava cake.
Will absolutely go back and damn, why haven't I come here sooner!!
This restaurant comes as close to perfection as it gets, but a few missteps cost it half a star.
The Rosco's Chicken with Gruyere Mac N Cheese was to die for. This thing hit a grand slam in my book and was a large reason why I wavered between a 4.5 and 5 stars. If foods could be juiced, I'd get the feds to check if they are sneaking a fast one by us. The chicken actually compares well to Zuni's roast chicken. The Mac N Cheese was probably the best I've had in my life. The slight stinkiness of the cheese complements the buttery cheese over soft tender macaroni.
So the juiced chicken and mac n cheese hit a home run, why not 5 stars? Let's start with the sangria. The Sangria tasted heavily watered down and was served with ice. Not sure what the rationale is, but it's poor form to serve wine or cocktails with ice and the same is true of sangria. The ice watered the drink down substantially.
The ahi tuna appetizer was very uninspired and too salty. Generally, the ahi tuna tartare trend is a good one or two years beyond it's prime. In consulting this is called a cash cow.
The Ceviche de Martini was excellent. It was a well balanced ceviche that innovates by adding a creamy yellowish sauce to counterbalance the sharp sour of a ceviche.
Other good dishes include their interpretation of a paella (risotto with prawns) and a fried fish with curry.
Great place to celebrate something special, and certainly a place worth celebrating.
Stumbled upon this place while walking with a friend down Valencia Street yesterday- looked very classy from the outside and was quite fancy on the inside- not what usually comes to mind when I think of Peruvian dinning, but was very intrigued.
We sat at the bar and had a refreshing carafe of sangria. Ernesto, our bartender, was very attentive refilling our glasses whenever they were less than half full. We shared the empanadas, so good that my friend ordered another one to take home for the hubby.
I would give this restaurant five stars for the customer service; friendly would be an understatement.
I really wanted to give the re-opened Limon a good review. I enjoy the Limon on S. Van Ness because it is consistent and friendly.
We were seated upstairs and waited at least 15 minutes before a waiter approached us. Obviously, they don't have enough staff to provide service. Our food was brought to us approximately 10 minutes after the table that arrived after us was served. We ordered seviche, grilled octopus the quinoa salad and the steak. The best dish was the seviche. All the others were incredibly over salted and unremarkable. The octopus was 4 small pieces of huge tentacles and was tender but not of the highest quality. Try the grilled Octopus at Kokkari if you want
to enjoy top notch grilled octopus. I have to add that we love octopus and have grown up eating.
Given that service was practically non existent we decided to skip dessert.
All in all this was a very stressful experience for us.
My suggestion to the owners is that they work on their over salting and
their staff problem. Given their good location they will probably have no problem staying busy but in San Francisco this diner has many other positive restaurant choices. Good luck.
Ceviche was pretty good. Rib eye was way over salted. Red Snapper was served, "fish nuggets "style. Service was mediocre. Hopefully, they will get the kinks worked out soon.
Overall...Meh.
On my visit to San Francisco, my friend recommended Limon for dinner. The website was under construction and I felt a bit hesitant to try the restaurant before viewing the menu selection. I read the reviews on Yelp and Limon received excellent ratings across the board. It was between La Mar in Embarcadero or Limon, and we went to the latter.
The service at Limon was excellent. We were seated promptly in the upstairs lounge and greeted enthusiastically by our server. He recommended several great dishes. I chose the Pollo Latino, which was amazing. Having been to Peru recently, I can say the cuisine at Limon had some American blend, but nonetheless it appealed to my taste buds. The wine and plate of sweet potato fries were great complements to our meal.
There was a little mix up here, and my friend thought we were going to Limon Rotisserie. We actually made reservations here and were a little surprised by what we found (not in a bad way).
Walking in, the place has a very cool, loungy and trendy vibe. The hostess was very nice and the service was overall very friendly. That's always a plus in my book. We headed up to our table upstairs which was a bit quieter. It definitely felt a lot more comfortable than if we were to sit next to the bar.
We decided to start the night off with some sangria, which was really good! Very refreshing. I wanted to give their oyster shooter a try and I'm glad I did. I don't know if I would get it again ($3) for a shot of oysters, but it was tangy and light. On to the main course: Ribeye steak. Steak was cooked perfectly, medium rare. I couldn't tell what was on it, but the spices mixed very well with each other. My buddy had mac and cheese on his side but I ended up eating probably half of it. Big fan.
Good service, good food and I would probably come back, but not too soon. "money ain't a thang" doesn't apply to me.
Superb Limon Ceviche
Attentive Service
Good Come back
Food: 4 stars
We started with a couple of different ceviches, both of which were good, if not totally memorable. We had 7 people in our group and ordered 4 ceviches, which was just about the right amount as far as appetizers go. For dinner, I had the pork chop, which was delicious. It was well seasoned and cooked perfectly. Definitely a highlight. We did try the mac and cheese, which had been recommended by several people. It, like the ceviche wasn't bad, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it either.
Service: 2 stars
We had a group of 7 coming in for an 8:00 reservation, which I had made on Monday. We arrived at 8:00, but didn't get seated until 9:30. Look, I understand that you won't always be seated right at your reservation time, but 90 minutes is a joke. To make matters worse, Limon has very limited bar space, so there isn't a lot of "overflow" room for those parties who are waiting for a table. We basically stood by the hostess' desk the entire time. I felt bad for the hostess, who was polite, because there wasn't much she could do (other than offer us wine or an appetizer for our patience, which she didn't do).
Once we were seated, service was fine. No complaints. The long wait left a bad taste in my mouth, though. I would definitely NOT recommend Limon for a group, unless you're coming early in the evening or at off times. The food, while good, certainly doesn't justify the wait.
To sum it up: the food is ok, the service is ok, and there are a TON of better restaurants in the Mission (even right across the street).
So they are back open after their fire mishap. Seems like they need to work out the kinks again. I have always found this place a little uninspiring. They are good at getting the Marina crowd to come to the "hip" Mission. The people sitting next to us were seated before we arrived and still hadn't received their food after an hour and a half.
The Rib Eye was a poor quality piece of meat that was peppered and salted to oblivion to disguise it. My companion had the Red Snapper which was good.
We were there to use a gift certificate that someone gave us about 2 years ago. When we went to pay for it the manager said any money we didn't use would be lost because the gift certificate was so old. He didn't seem interested in our comment that it is illegal to expire gift certificates in California (http://www.legalmatch....). It was also not possible for us to use the gift certificate until then because they were CLOSED for a year.
We won't be going back.
Had dinner at Limon and it was AMAZING!!!!!! the food was incredible and we enjoyed it so much! i will be there every week! love the people that work there. they are so nice!
Good Job!
we came here to attend a birthday dinner. the place was completely full, and bustling with energy on a saturday night. we were told that dinner was at 8:30, and were seated close to 9:45. now i feel that the organizers said 8:30, with an actual later reservation, to ensure the lagers and stragglers would get there at a decent time. the bf and i were not in the humor to wait in the crowded bar area. every minute or so you had to adjust yourself because either a waiter or patron had to pass by. we opted to wait outside and enjoy the fresh air.
they did the best they could to accommodate our party of 17. we were seated at the loft with several tables assembled together at the back wall. we were crammed, but the birthday girl did not want to split up her guests. we had to play tetris with the tables when the people sitting against the wall had to get up to go to the toilet, and what not. it was a definite fire hazard.
the wait staff worked hard on getting each course out, changing plates and silverware, and attending to the never ending requests of our group. the bf and i shared the ceviche limon, had an oyster shooter a piece, and feasted on the snapper dinner. our party had numerous desserts, of which i'm not sure of, and all were tasty with pretty presentations.
this place is definitely not an intimate spot, but the presence of a roaring crowd speaks for the food itself.
Delish! Highly recommend it! Nice vibe, great service and FABULOUS FOOD! The ceviche is UNREAL!
May have just entered one of my top 5 go-to's!!
I had only been to Limon once before the fire came. It was a fabulous experience with freakin' awesome food. Tartar de Atun, fresh ceviches, good wine list.
So of course Mister B and I were excited that it was back! We went there on a monday night for Mister E's birthday. Maybe it was because it's hard to get fresh fish on a Monday night, I don't know, but I was pretty underwhelmed by it this time 'round.
Ceviches were a little forgettable in flavor, and portion sizes small for the price in my opinion. And I'm perfectly ok with bite-sized portions, as long as they deliver. Sadly, I did not see the Tartar de Atun. Bring it back, Limon!
Staff is still awesome, and the overall ambiance of the place is nice, it kinda looks the same as before though I think they now have a ceviche bar in front.
I'll report back after next visit.
Thankfully this place is back and even better than before!!
Oyster shooters are marvelously delicate with a strong finish. Get 2 each!
Octopus is the best in the city - don't be afraid of trying them. It doesn't taste like chicken but if that's what you want go to KFC please and leave this for the delicate palates of my friends.
Now, to continue, the pollo is good but the whole snapper is amazing. It is fried but totally worth it. Melts in your mouth with a dipping sauce that you cannot leave alone. Better than before.
Value, flavour, service is great.
yucca fries are amazing.
What a sexy fun place. The service was wonderful, knowledgeable. Killer food, try the oyster shooters. I had the ribeye too which was wonderful. I will certainly be going back there
I liked Limon a lot before the fire.
Friday night I went and was very disappointed. The place looks great, and was hopping. I was excited! From stepping foot in the door, it was all downhill.
We had a reservation - it took them an hour to seat us.
We were sitting upstairs, and it was so loud we could not hear eachother speak.
At various points in the night the room filled with smoke, which made us nervous considering Limon seems to have fire control problems.
Service was veeeeery slow. We waited 20 minutes for our apps, and another 35 minutes for our main course. The first person we ordered dessert from forgot about it, and we had to order it from someone else.
The Pork was raw. Um, Yuck.
The food in general - ok, but for the same money we could have gone to Conduit, or for a tenth as much we could have gone to La Tacqueria. So, yeah.
Luckily the company was amazing, and the sangria pitcher was large.
I was in Limon last week and have to say it still remains my favorite Peruvian restaurant. I was a frequent customer at Limon before they closed and was so glad to see that they reopened. Although some of the menu has changed, they still have a few dishes that they had before. The new additions to the menu are wonderful and I think it is a great change for the restaurant. A few friends and I ordered several ceviches and entrees and cannot say a negative things about any of them. We had a great time and a great meal. They also have an awesome and reasonable wine list that compliments the menu perfectly.
In addition, my friends and I thought the staff was amazing. From the hosts to the servers and even the people who brought us our food were very nice and knowledgeable about the food.
Besides all the eye candy working there, the cocktails are the shit.
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Mission
Category: Latin American
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