Mini-Restaurant Reviews

Here's a few reviews of places that I/We've been to in the last couple of weeks.

Zuni Cafe: We finally went there for lunch a couple of weeks ago. We walked right in at 11:45 and were seated immediatly, which was cool.
We both had the Caesar Salad, the Burger, and a mountain of shoestring potatoes.
It was all really good. Especially the burger. Thick, juicy, drippy, cooked right (medium rare was actually medium rare!!!) and the fries were light and crispy.
Out of 5 Unemployment Checks, Zuni rates a 4.
No website and not on Opentable.com.

The Slanted Door:
Located in the Ferry Building (as of now, it's moved twice already) this famous Vietnamese restaurant might the place that started the Vietnamese food craze.
(yes, it's a craze, don't argue with me on this)
It has great views of the bay, a lively and slick professionalism, and service that is always right there when you need them...and usually before.
The food was great. We had the Pho, 5-spiced chicken, sauteed spinach with garlic, and shrimp spring rolls.
While it's a great restaurant with a wonderful location, nice food and service, I feel that you could get close to the same food at any number of good Vietnamese places in the city, and the whole bay area.
My favorite is Ana Mandara, but like Slanted Door, the food is only part of the experience.
All in all, it's a great place to take out-of-town visitors and also for those on business meals.
Out of 5 Unemployment Checks, The Slanted Door rates a 4.


A quick description of my ratings:
1= eh, no reason to go back. (very few places will get this)
2= not bad, some items on the menu are worth having
3= decent, good, more hits than misses, but overall worth trying
4= a quality place, not perfect, but recommended for locals and out-of-towners.
5= the best of the best. Few places will get this consistantly, but individual meals may earn the 5.

Halfsies are permitted (4 1/2)


Mamacita
This is a follow-up to an earlier review, and while I couldn't remember too much about the specifics of that meal, this one will show the same attention to detail.
For example, we don't remember the appetizer that we ordered. Unfortunatly, the Mamacita website doesn't have the entire menu posted, otherwise I'd be able to tell you what we ate.
The entrees we remember. Broiled Salmon for me, and the wife had the Seared Rare Ahi.
That's the best I can describe it right now. Maybe I should take notes next time (Good idea!!!).
But here's the deal. We left the place raving about the food and we already had 3-4 dishes picked out for next time. The service is sooooo much better than the old Cafe Marimba that it replaced, so it also has that going for it.
All they need to do is start up the brunch and lunch menus and get their entire menu online so I can remember what the heck I ate.
The meal that night got 4 1/2 UE Checks. The service gave it the 1/2 point.