Zarzuela

I will never forget celebrating my 26th birthday here and having the whole restaurant sing happy birthday to me... and the delicious chocolate espresso roll cake that ended the night.

This little gem is romantic, great for dates and food is consistently delicious.

When we go, we get the tortilla espanola, iberico jamon with tomato bread, the quail, lamb chops and short ribs are all good. We don't get the paella because it is just not the best thing on the menu.

Only down side is they don't take reservations, so go early or late!

Wonderful food in a nice restaurant that serves tapas. Everything we ordered were delicious. The service was efficient. There were many food choices available.

The standout dishes we tried were the stew, tripes, calamari in aioli and paella.

Definitely a must come back again place.

Delicious Tapas, not Patas!

Give me a couple of glasses of good sangria and I confuse tapas with patas (legs) before you know it, but forget me! Zarzuela has been here for so many years and the place still buzzes come dinner time!

Every time I go there I tell myself I want to have their paella, which is made for two and takes 30 minutes to prepare, but then I start with their sangria and tapas and before you know I am too full to have anything more, not counting dessert of course! By the way, talking dessert, they serve one of the best flans I have ever had in the Bay Area!

As for the service, excellent! Most of the servers have been there for years and know the menu inside and out. They are very helpful if you have questions and are sure to get you exactly what your tummy desires in nice little delicious plates!

I convinced my coworkers to check out Zarzuela, which my fellow Yelpers helped me find as one of the best places in San Francisco to eat one of my all time favorite dishes: paella. Zarzuela didn't disappoint.

Upon ordering the paella (and reading the menu), you're warned the paella is made fresh, for you, and that it'll take 30 minutes to cook. Not a problem for me (I'll wait that long for some good food). For starters, we dined on the complimentary bread and olive oil for a bit before ordering dates wrapped in pancetta (they are a definite must try here).

The paella was cooked to perfection! The rice was moist and soft, yet not turned to mush. The seafood mixed in was all tender (clams and shrimp tend to get rubbery when over cooked). The saffron was used to perfection: giving the rice it's golden yellow hue and slight floral like scent which came through the brine smell of the seafood. It was a pleasure to devour.

A warning: online, the paella is listed at $17.00. That must be a lunch price or something, because when you're in the restaurant at dinner time, there is no other option than the $36.00, serves two, option.

Ultimately, the food was amazing. The service left a little to be desired (our waiter seemed a bit to pretentious for me, and hated the fact that our group wanted to split the check, and refused to split it more than four ways). When asked about some of the menu items, he seemed overly bothered that we didn't know about the dishes. So, four stars was almost three for that reason, yet might have been five if he was nicer.

I love it when I find a great neighborhood Spanish tapas place. This restaurant is nestled in the middle of Russian Hill (Union and Hyde) and just serves great tapas.

My friend and I ordered a couple of the specials (fried smelt and padron peppers) as well as the dates, shrimps, octopus, squid, paella and the crema catalana. In short, it was way too much food but we wanted to try everything (I ended up taking a doggy bag home). Everything was on point. The octopus was the house specialty and I really enjoyed that. The paella was cooked perfectly (not sure if this is the best I've had but it's up there). To me, the most special tapas was the fried smelt. I wouldn't hesitate ordering the same items the next time I'm here.

Everything here is nice and rustic. The restaurant itself and the music they play literally makes you feel like you are in Spain (and I've been). The service was nice and attentive. The above meal plus a glass of wine including tax and tip costs about $80 per person - it's about what you would expect to spend to eat a nice dinner in SF these days. Highly recommended!!!

We come here every single time we are in the Bay Area. Zarzuela has become family to us, and it is no wonder, with a two decade history and the consistency throughout the last 20 years.

On this recent visit, I took photos like I always do, and owner/maitre d' Andy came over and said "you must have 1000s of photos by now".

My son always gets the crab bisque, as he has done so for the last 15 years. The boquerones is my favorite, as are the gambas ajillo. We always order the jamon Iberico with pan tomate, as well as pulpo.

We've since moved away from the paella Valenciana, and now order the soupy paella instead.

Eating here is like coming home for a glorious home cooked meal.

This is a like a hidden gem in SF, I don't get why i didn't discover this place sooner. My friend Adna Y. recommended this place, and you have to understand i had my doubts before i arrived. Not because I don't trust her, well maybe not completely, but she does usually pick a place we don't all like. But times have change and know i call her "Oh wise one". This place was the jackpot

We arrived fabulously late as our other friends were waiting. The host wasn't going to seat us until the whole party arrived, which i understand. Upon entering this dimly lit restaurant I notice there are different types of customers here. You have families, couples, friends and people here on a first date. So far I'm loving the ambiance.

We started out with two tapas
Mejillones Al Azafran - which was the Mussels sauteed in white wine, garlic, tomatoes, onions & saffron. This was cooked well, and the sauce went perfectly with the mussels, it didn't over power the flavor which was good. I actually don't even like mussels but this turned out to be well liked by all the people in m party.

Calamares A La Plancha Con Aioli which was Grilled squid with aioli. I really need to stop sharing food with my friends. It just breaks my heart to see such good food go into other people's stomach. This was by far my favorite dish of the night. The octopus and the squid went so well with a the Aioli sauce, It was very creamy and a a perfect pinch of sweetness to it. You can feel that it was cooked with love. I fell in love with this dish.

For my entree i got the
Costillas Breseadas A La Cerveza which was the Short ribs braised with beer, onions, garlic and tomatoes . This came with mashed potatoes, and the ribs was so tender I didn't even need a knife.

you can also get the dish for couples, for the price of 36.00 it's not bad. It's paella with mussels and calms.

I would totally come back here, but i have to admit parking was hard. I would recommend taking a Taxi here if you want to avoid trying to find parking. You have to get the Sangria here no matter what. It was so good and its freshly made at their restaurant. I'll be back!

tl;dr - delicious tapas at an affordable price

Came here with 4 other friends on a Saturday night around 7 pm and was told the wait would be around 45 minutes for our group of 5. That was pretty accurate and we ended up getting seated a little before 8. In the process of waiting, I did notice all the smaller groups of 2-4 people got seated much more quickly, so I would recommend coming here with 4 or less people to get seated faster.

There is a main dining area where the tables are placed very close together and I can imagine would make for a loud dining experience, but luckily we were seated in the back where it was much quieter.

Two people in our group weren't too hungry so they did their own thing while the three of us split a couple tapas family style. We ordered;

Croquetas de jamon y pollo ($7.25) - ham and chicken croquettes. I love getting croquettes at tapas spots and these really hit the spot

Gambas ajillo ($9.25) - shrimp sauteed in garlic and olive oil. The garlic flavor was strong so I'd recommend ordering this dish if you like the combination of shrimp and garlic

Pulpo a la gallega ($17.95) - poached octopus and potatoes. Zarzuela is known for this dish (there's even a framed SF Chronicle article about Zarzuela by Michael Bauer in the waiting area that specifically calls out this dish) so I definitely knew we had to order it. It did not disappoint as the octopus was some of the most tender I've ever had

Paella a la valenciana ($36) - Spanish rice cooked with seafood, chicken, and vegetables. Serves two according to the menu. I love paella, and after many disappointing encounters with paella dishes in the city, I am happy to report that the paella here is legit and has the saffron infused flavor I expect from this dish. There was a generous amount of seafood and chicken as well. By the end of the meal I was super stuffed but still coludn't help picking away at the rice in the paella because it was so good!!

I would be remiss to not mention the amazing service we received in my review. I forgot the name of our server, but he was very attentive and accommodated all of our requests with a smile on his face. He was very knowledgeable about the menu; almost everything we ordered was on his recommendation and none of the dishes disappointed. In addition my friend asked for a wine recommendation from him and loved the wine he selected, so he knows his wines as well.

Parking is all along the street, and on a busy Friday/Saturday night is hard to find. I ubered here but another friend drove and she was lucky enough to find a spot 2-3 blocks away.

After tax and tip I paid about $38 for my meal (including a sangria).

Zarzuela or you mean Rawrrrzuela because their dishes have a great kick and punch to them! And where do I even start with their sangria?

Don't get me wrong Spanish Tapas can be pricey for small portions, but Zarzuela has fairly priced portions if you're in a bigger group, it will screw you if it's 3 or less! Just getting staples like the patatas bravas, Serrano ham, or the mushrooms championes will hit the spot, but add the paella and the callos a la madrilena (sautéed tripe) and the paella valenciana (mixed seafood and chicken paella) and those are true stars!

The servers are really nice and they are very knowledgeable based on what you like. Told them we like very saucy and flavorful dishes and they hooked us up. I would highly suggest coming here with a party no more than 6 as they serve bigger parties a little slower.

Welcoming neighborhood restaurant! Lively atmosphere! Dim lighting! Wonderful place to relax for hours sipping, nibbling and chatting!

A nice wine list Z had, the choice of Deobriga, Tempranillo, Rioja 2011 went perfectly with their tapas and paella!

Exquisite were their tapas: 1) outstanding was their Grilled Squid with Aioli 2) oh so sweet and lovely was their Langoustine with Garlic, Olive Oil, and Lemon Sauce; 3) unique was their Braised Quail!

As for Z's Paella a la Valenciana: delicious it was on its own with plenty of flavorful white rice and nicely prepared seafood and chicken; yet, missing I was of the taste of saffron, chorizo sausages, bits crunchiness of rice for this classic Spanish dish!

All in all, a fun evening it was! Without hesitation, I would consider dropping in for their tapas when I'm staying close by in San Francisco next!

Cheers!

I made a terrible decision to walk to Zarzuela from Montgomery, and I'll just say that the hill up to the restaurant is no joke. You'll find yourself in a quiet little neighborhood where Zarzuela's historic, worn look fits in perfectly. Inside, the tables are packed tightly; I was seated right next to the host podium. I arrived around 7 on a Friday and was seated immediately, but after another 15 minutes we noticed that more people started arriving and were given wait times of 30-45 minutes.

We ordered the house sangria, seafood paella, which is supposed to feed a minimum of 2 people, and the chorizo (sausages in wine sauce). We were also given bread, olives, and dipping oil while we waited. The sangria was good, though I didn't think it was spectacular. Sausages were the same, although we had fun dipping our bread in the wine sauce after we were done with them. I mean, they're sausages, which are basically a level above hot dogs. How fancy can you get?

The paella is where these 4 stars come from. It was a steaming feast within a cast-iron pan. I turned the rice over, and it belched these huge puffs of steam. There was a riot of colors from the shrimp, clams, chicken, etc. And the best part is scraping the crunchier rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan. So good. Of course, ordering this means that I didn't really get the "tapas experience," but I feel like I got enough variety out of this single dish. I wouldn't have it any other way.