I regret to say that my experience at your restaurant fell short of expectations. Unfortunately, there was nothing authentically French about the establishment. The owners are not French, the chef is not French, and there were no French staff members.
I ordered two main courses, one of which was a meat dish. Despite the restaurant not being busy, it took a long time to arrive, and when it did, it was served cold. This was quite disappointing. Overall, I had a poor experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Josh Crown
My experience here was fantastic. I found myself in the marine district of San Francisco needing some water for my toddler. Isa was close to closing or maybe even closed, but the owner or gm was eager to help, and was very sweet to my boy. It was obvious there is great care given to the people that come into Isa. Definitely a place I would recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Navraj Atwal
Isa was the perfect spot for a date night the ambiance is incredibly romantic, warm, and intimate, making it such a special place for an evening out.
We started with the Baked Laura Chenel goat cheese appetizer, which was absolutely delicious and a perfect way to begin the meal. For the main course, the rack of lamb was outstanding tender, flavorful, and cooked beautifully. We also tried Le Burger, and it was just as impressive. Highly recommend Isa for a romantic night out or any special occasion. We can’t wait to return!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Avtar Tatla
10/10 experience, I love the new menu. Such great ambience with the family
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Simran Sidhu
We visited Isa on Valentine’s Day Dinner and had such an amazing experience. I ordered the Truffle and Wild Mushroom Risotto, and my husband had the Ribeye Steak both were absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly.
They also have a really great selection of wines, which made the evening even more special. For dessert, we tried the Crème Brûlée and the Chocolate Mousse, and both were incredible rich, flavorful, and the perfect ending to the meal.
Highly recommend Isa for a special night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Stella Haberman
We made a reservation for 9:30 on Valentine's Day specifically for the nicer part of the restaurant in the back patio. The man who sat us seemed overwhelmed and sat us not in the patio, but at a dirty table in the front. The table still had a dirty glass, food stains, and crumbs on the cloth from the last person. We tried to ask a couple times if we could move to a clean table and that we had a reservation for the patio, but they simply said it was full back there so they must have way overbooked more than the restaurant could handle. Our server was actually great but clearly overwhelmed. All the servers seemed very stressed juggling a bunch of tables. It was a fixed price on Valentines Day at 100/per person but what we got was definitely not worth the price. The kitchen was backed up so everything took a while. Small portions and the food did not taste fresh at all. Overall, a very disappointing Valentine's Day. 💔
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
John Halverson
Been here and loved it years ago, but it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. Food was objectively bad (grainy soups and sauces, unset custard, uncooked salmon dish served warm, etc) service was slow (1 hour from order to receiving first appetizer) and it was expensive. Paid $350 for 2 for one of the worst meals I’ve had out in recent memory. There are at least 5 great restaurants on the same block where you can have a great meal for a fraction of that, go to one of those instead. 2 stars because they were once worth visiting and maybe they were just having a bad night but I certainly won’t come back to find out.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Jed
Our party of seven really the enjoyed the fine food and service. We were well taken care of in a beautiful patio setting.
Dory
I have loved Isa for years, which makes this review especially painful to write. I was genuinely excited to celebrate my birthday here with my family after hearing they reopened on the 21st following renovations. Unfortunately, tonight turned into the worst dining experience I have ever had. We arrived at 6:15 PM for a party of six. The restaurant looked fairly empty at the time, yet our waiter was missing for long stretches. It took a long time just to place our order. From what we could tell, the entire restaurant appeared to be staffed by only three waiters, who also seemed to be bartending—though I'm not sure if that's normal. Our appetizers arrived relatively quickly, and the food itself was delicious. We finished our appetizers by 7:20 PM. After that, nothing. We then waited over an hour for our entrees, which never arrived. The waiter and manager explained that this was a “dry run” and that they were short-staffed, but at the end of the day, we just wanted our food. Large parties in the back should not have been our problem to worry about. By around 8:30 PM, we gave up. We paid for our drinks and appetizers and left—six people still hungry, on what was supposed to be a birthday celebration. I never thought I'd write a review like this for Isa, but tonight they lost a long-time loyal customer.
Elizabeth David
TL;DR: Undisclosed $100 per person fixed menu on NYE (with per-person deposit), tiny mediocre portions, zero accommodation, and the manager blamed us for his staff misinformation. We left hungry and frustrated. Do not recommend this place and will not be back.
We made a reservation for New Year’s Eve through OpenTable. At no point during the online booking process, or when we called, were we told it would be a fixed-price menu. We also had to put down a $20 deposit per person through. When we arrived, we learned it was a mandatory prix fixe menu for $100 per head with no option to order à la carte.
For context, their regular menu portions and pricing do not justify that number. Even ordering the most expensive item for each of the four courses would have cost less than what they charged. I understand holiday pricing, but there was no added value. There was no drink included, and not even complimentary bread. It felt like a complete rip-off, especially given the quality and portion size. The food was mediocre at best, and the portions were very small.
We also had a vegan person in our party, and this surprise fixed menu offered no flexibility for substitutions. Our server, Dylan, did not seem to know how to handle it. He suggested replacing the lobster bisque with bread while still charging the full price, which is clearly not an equivalent substitution. He told us there was nothing that could be done and that she would be charged the full price even if she did not order all courses.
The restaurant itself also felt tacky and poorly maintained. There was a leak from the ceiling that was dripping onto our table, including our heads and food. It looked nothing like the older photos posted here.
Finally, the service was cold and unaccommodating. The only exception was two older servers who were not assigned to our table but stopped by a few times. One was an older, cheerful Asian gentleman, and the other had white hair. They were genuinely kind.
Towards the end of the meal, the manager came by and asked about our experience. We explained that we were not aware it would be a fixed menu, and that our vegan guest was being charged $100 for a four-course meal she could not fully eat.
The manager then told us that only he had the authority to make an exception, and that we should have come directly to him instead of trusting what our server told us. He effectively BLAMED US for believing his staff. That is unacceptable. If the manager can authorize an à la carte exception, then staff should be trained to escalate situations like this, or at minimum to ask the manager. Instead, we were told flatly that there were no options, and then blamed for not bypassing the server. His response felt disingenuous and left an even worse impression.
Very cozy bistro style searing. Rack of lamb was delicious. And the sea bass presentation was unique and tasty. Limited wine by the glass options.
HES
Absolute Trash
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Rita
We dined in the back room and it was spacious. The restaurant wasn't busy on a weeknight and it was quiet with 3 other families in the room. We shared a lovely green salad. Hubby really liked his duck confit as it was crispy over risotto. My thinly sliced potato wrapped sea bass was tasty. We shared a crème brûlée and that was good too. Overall, food was very tasty. Our server checked back and was pleasant. There was a slight over charge on the wine which they corrected.
Gordon
Consistently excellent food and service with a wine list to match. One of our go-to places in our part of SF
jane
Wonderful evening – so glad I finally made it to this place that I've heard so much about. It's rare to find exceptional service like this anymore. That coupled with delicious fresh food with exquisite attention to detail made this an evening to remember in a warm intimate setting. 
I regret to say that my experience at your restaurant fell short of expectations. Unfortunately, there was nothing authentically French about the establishment. The owners are not French, the chef is not French, and there were no French staff members.
I ordered two main courses, one of which was a meat dish. Despite the restaurant not being busy, it took a long time to arrive, and when it did, it was served cold. This was quite disappointing. Overall, I had a poor experience.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
My experience here was fantastic. I found myself in the marine district of San Francisco needing some water for my toddler. Isa was close to closing or maybe even closed, but the owner or gm was eager to help, and was very sweet to my boy. It was obvious there is great care given to the people that come into Isa. Definitely a place I would recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Isa was the perfect spot for a date night the ambiance is incredibly romantic, warm, and intimate, making it such a special place for an evening out.
We started with the Baked Laura Chenel goat cheese appetizer, which was absolutely delicious and a perfect way to begin the meal. For the main course, the rack of lamb was outstanding tender, flavorful, and cooked beautifully. We also tried Le Burger, and it was just as impressive. Highly recommend Isa for a romantic night out or any special occasion. We can’t wait to return!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
10/10 experience, I love the new menu. Such great ambience with the family
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We visited Isa on Valentine’s Day Dinner and had such an amazing experience. I ordered the Truffle and Wild Mushroom Risotto, and my husband had the Ribeye Steak both were absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly.
They also have a really great selection of wines, which made the evening even more special. For dessert, we tried the Crème Brûlée and the Chocolate Mousse, and both were incredible rich, flavorful, and the perfect ending to the meal.
Highly recommend Isa for a special night out!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We made a reservation for 9:30 on Valentine's Day specifically for the nicer part of the restaurant in the back patio. The man who sat us seemed overwhelmed and sat us not in the patio, but at a dirty table in the front. The table still had a dirty glass, food stains, and crumbs on the cloth from the last person. We tried to ask a couple times if we could move to a clean table and that we had a reservation for the patio, but they simply said it was full back there so they must have way overbooked more than the restaurant could handle. Our server was actually great but clearly overwhelmed. All the servers seemed very stressed juggling a bunch of tables. It was a fixed price on Valentines Day at 100/per person but what we got was definitely not worth the price. The kitchen was backed up so everything took a while. Small portions and the food did not taste fresh at all. Overall, a very disappointing Valentine's Day. 💔
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 3
Been here and loved it years ago, but it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. Food was objectively bad (grainy soups and sauces, unset custard, uncooked salmon dish served warm, etc) service was slow (1 hour from order to receiving first appetizer) and it was expensive. Paid $350 for 2 for one of the worst meals I’ve had out in recent memory. There are at least 5 great restaurants on the same block where you can have a great meal for a fraction of that, go to one of those instead. 2 stars because they were once worth visiting and maybe they were just having a bad night but I certainly won’t come back to find out.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 1
Our party of seven really the enjoyed the fine food and service. We were well taken care of in a beautiful patio setting.
I have loved Isa for years, which makes this review especially painful to write. I was genuinely excited to celebrate my birthday here with my family after hearing they reopened on the 21st following renovations. Unfortunately, tonight turned into the worst dining experience I have ever had. We arrived at 6:15 PM for a party of six. The restaurant looked fairly empty at the time, yet our waiter was missing for long stretches. It took a long time just to place our order. From what we could tell, the entire restaurant appeared to be staffed by only three waiters, who also seemed to be bartending—though I'm not sure if that's normal. Our appetizers arrived relatively quickly, and the food itself was delicious. We finished our appetizers by 7:20 PM. After that, nothing. We then waited over an hour for our entrees, which never arrived. The waiter and manager explained that this was a “dry run” and that they were short-staffed, but at the end of the day, we just wanted our food. Large parties in the back should not have been our problem to worry about. By around 8:30 PM, we gave up. We paid for our drinks and appetizers and left—six people still hungry, on what was supposed to be a birthday celebration. I never thought I'd write a review like this for Isa, but tonight they lost a long-time loyal customer.
TL;DR: Undisclosed $100 per person fixed menu on NYE (with per-person deposit), tiny mediocre portions, zero accommodation, and the manager blamed us for his staff misinformation. We left hungry and frustrated. Do not recommend this place and will not be back.
We made a reservation for New Year’s Eve through OpenTable. At no point during the online booking process, or when we called, were we told it would be a fixed-price menu. We also had to put down a $20 deposit per person through. When we arrived, we learned it was a mandatory prix fixe menu for $100 per head with no option to order à la carte.
For context, their regular menu portions and pricing do not justify that number. Even ordering the most expensive item for each of the four courses would have cost less than what they charged. I understand holiday pricing, but there was no added value. There was no drink included, and not even complimentary bread. It felt like a complete rip-off, especially given the quality and portion size. The food was mediocre at best, and the portions were very small.
We also had a vegan person in our party, and this surprise fixed menu offered no flexibility for substitutions. Our server, Dylan, did not seem to know how to handle it. He suggested replacing the lobster bisque with bread while still charging the full price, which is clearly not an equivalent substitution. He told us there was nothing that could be done and that she would be charged the full price even if she did not order all courses.
The restaurant itself also felt tacky and poorly maintained. There was a leak from the ceiling that was dripping onto our table, including our heads and food. It looked nothing like the older photos posted here.
Finally, the service was cold and unaccommodating. The only exception was two older servers who were not assigned to our table but stopped by a few times. One was an older, cheerful Asian gentleman, and the other had white hair. They were genuinely kind.
Towards the end of the meal, the manager came by and asked about our experience. We explained that we were not aware it would be a fixed menu, and that our vegan guest was being charged $100 for a four-course meal she could not fully eat.
The manager then told us that only he had the authority to make an exception, and that we should have come directly to him instead of trusting what our server told us. He effectively BLAMED US for believing his staff. That is unacceptable. If the manager can authorize an à la carte exception, then staff should be trained to escalate situations like this, or at minimum to ask the manager. Instead, we were told flatly that there were no options, and then blamed for not bypassing the server. His response felt disingenuous and left an even worse impression.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
Very cozy bistro style searing. Rack of lamb was delicious. And the sea bass presentation was unique and tasty. Limited wine by the glass options.
Absolute Trash
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
We dined in the back room and it was spacious. The restaurant wasn't busy on a weeknight and it was quiet with 3 other families in the room. We shared a lovely green salad. Hubby really liked his duck confit as it was crispy over risotto. My thinly sliced potato wrapped sea bass was tasty. We shared a crème brûlée and that was good too. Overall, food was very tasty. Our server checked back and was pleasant. There was a slight over charge on the wine which they corrected.
Consistently excellent food and service with a wine list to match. One of our go-to places in our part of SF
Wonderful evening – so glad I finally made it to this place that I've heard so much about. It's rare to find exceptional service like this anymore. That coupled with delicious fresh food with exquisite attention to detail made this an evening to remember in a warm intimate setting. 
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