I love this place, I really do. The people watching cannot be beat. I hadn't been there in years until my boyfriend and I went in for a morning after Bloody and burger on the Union St Festival day and left 8 hours later. It was the first time I ever recognized being in a full scale Cougar den! And I am a 40--something who was dated the occasional young stud myself. I couldnt look away! We just kept calling new groups of friends in to join us. Anyway, the Bloodys are very good and the Balboa burger cant be beat. read more

Since I work in the Marina and hang out there way too much I have been pleasantly surprised to find many of the people there super cool, and not to be generic Marina assholes that give the area such shameful reputation. Many spots maintain a sense of charm and city cool, but the Balboa is not one of them. This is a very, very Marina scene. Ya know, cougars with shiny botox, guys in pink La Coste shirts with the collar flipped up, girls who carry small dogs in Marc Jacobs purses, it's just an irritating display of unmerited pomp and circumstance by uber rich snobs. That sucks, because the food is decent, I like sitting outside and having Bloody Mary's and a burger, but I just find myself getting more and more agitated at the idiots who frequent it. I realize it's an institution, and I do like the bartenders, (they make a killer Irish coffee), the service is always good, but I'd rather blow my dough elsewhere than to spend that much time around people who actually find 'The Real Houswives of Orange County,' admirable. Still, if cougar hunting is your game, then bring a gun!! read more

Ok so Balboa, Considering I always end up at this place late night after the club, I figured I will actually try it for dinner. I have been to balboa several times for a hang over burger, which by the way is ok. For dinner I ordered the special of the day a meatloaf with a chili sauce and mashed potato. For the app. we had lamb chops with rosemary and garlic sauce and a greek salad. The dishes were satisfying but, I have had better for the price. Service and the atmosphere are also good. But Balboa is better off just sticking to the night life. read more

OK, this is the quintessential "why I both love and hate SF" type of place. The food is rather mediocre, a great burger, decent drinks, and ok bartenders and staff, but the people, the men and the women are mostly local, typical, provincial "SF is awesome--LA sucks" kind of folks. Of course, yes, the men hit on the women--why? Because generally speaking, men that are old enough to have been staff assistants in the JFK administration, have an affinity to younger, arrogant, haughty, marina chicks, half of whom look as if they hang with the Paris Hilton/Lindsey Lohan circle. Personally, this is my fantasy: I'm sitting at the bar, scanning the NY Times with my tasty, bunless cheeseburger and diet coke, and in walks Nicole Kidman; I tell her it was great that she split on wimpy actor dude , little Cruise man; there's instand kharma, we french-kiss, and she takes me off to Clown Alley and we fall passionately in love. Look, I'm that kind of man. I made love to Oprah last year and she bought me a Cadillac. read more

The office staff went to lunch and brought back a Balboa burger for me. It was delicious! Awesome! Outstanding! Really satisfying! I have had the Balboa burger before. Yet this time the staff surprised me with a deluxe type burger. I say this because the burger had extra mushrooms, onions and avocado with cheese and beacon. The mushrooms and onions are sauteed with so much wonderful flavor. And the cheese was the best cheddar and the beacon, well it was top quality, far superior to the beacon at supermarkets. Oh and the fries, they are wonderful too. The are shoe string style fries, really good and with the Dijon mustard and dill mayonnaise the fries are a wonderful compliment to a great burger. read more

We got in early on a Thursday evening for dinner so we had decent service until the end of the meal. We had the tuna tartar as a starter and boy it was boring. Next we both had the chicken and it was great. They need to improve the tuna or take it off the menu. read more

Great cocktails to cure the worst hangover! Pimm's Cup and Bloody Mary are two good suggestions!Love their Eggs Benedict and Waffle with fresh whip and berries. The servers are dressed in white, kind of has an old hollywood feel when you walk in. read more

Jesse was extremely rude. I asked if they were open during the lockdown and he said yes. I asked if they are in the Napa valley area and he immediately hung up on me. Then I called back and he said "I'm not entertaining any questions about Gavin". I never mentioned him. Horrible service. Won't get my business. read more

Their brunch is great, the bar is fun, and the people watching on the weekend is stellar. I recommend eating a burger and grabbing a bloody mary for brunch. If you go on a Friday night, it's gonna be packed. But it's worth watching all the pretty faces, strange people, and locals all in one place. read more

Very bad experience from the lady server and security that works there. They ruined our night by accusing us for offending security that is not true at all. Server came with the bill and ask us to apologize to security lady out of nowhere and with no reason!!! We were in shock! Called the manager very nice lady, she tried the best to make our night better but the damage was already done! And all happened just because we ask the security lady about the working ours were she politely answered, and we did not see this is coming! She obviously likes drama for no reason, server so not professional took action without telling the manager what happened acted like she is the manager even she obviously not close professional to be one !!! Terrible and stressful experience! Pls don't ask the security lady for working hours if u plan to visit this place read more

Never mind the cougars, come here for a chill relaxing brunch or lunch during the week. Sitting at the bar you always get prompt service, but sitting outside seems to award you with surly attitude and forgetful service. My favorites are the Calssic Bar Burger or the Benedict with French Fries. The place has been around for 20 years, they must be doing something right. read more

Technically, and I hate to admit this, I'm a cougar-in-training. This is one of the places that pops to mind when I think of cougars. Balboa Cafe is one of the bars in S.F.'s triangle but every time I've walked in, I haven't stayed for very long. The crowd's on the older side and although well heeled, it makes me feel as if I've walked in on a party full of people my parents' age. Hmm...not ideal when you want a drink. Despite this, the place itself is a renovated quintessential San Franciscan bar with a long and narrow layout. Great for older folks but not for me, for now. read more

After living in this neighborhood for 17 years, the bozos behind the bar at night still don't know my name. The next time they count my change will be the first time. Heaven forbid I ever get a "thank you". I enjoy lunch at the Balboa much more than the bar crowd, which is filled with cougars and people who think their perspiration smells like cologne (aka The Cologne Club). read more

I'm writing this review with 5 stars attached based on my Sunday brunch visits so I cant comment on the busy weekend night 'cougar scene' (I didn't even know what a 'Cougar' was before I started coming here two years ago). Balboa has to have one of the best brunches in town with very decent prices (drink prices good too) - very decent food and the service so far has been top notch. Sunday's start filling up early with families (not necessarily many children) simply enjoying themselves. I would swing by more often if it wasn't on the other side of town for me. Great job Balboa! read more

We came a on a busy bay to breakers Sunday for brunch. We had a Bloody Mary, a breakfast burrito and eggs. Food : Really good and fast served Drink : The Bloody Mary was good too. Spicy, lots of celery salt on the glass, big celery stack. Service : not amazing, the drinks arrived after the food and we had to ask for it. Would definitely come back read more

Great spot for brunch! I visited for the weekend and my former boss recommended this spot to me. It was delicious and has outdoor seating! Get the eggs Benedict :) read more

Balboa Cafe - Brunch outside :) - Bars Near Me - San Francisco, California

Their brunch items are delicious. Pricing may be a bit high for the quality/amount, but be prepared to spend ~$17 on a regular brunch dish. Bloody Marys are great here. Our waitress got us a side of bacon to put in our drinks - great. Service was really good, they have bus boys walking around making sure all is clean and your water is full. Only thing I thought they could do better is put the prices on the menu for each item. We got our bill unknowingly charged $10 per drink for 8 drinks. read more

Was visiting SF from Australia and had a couple of great nights at Balboa. Great fun, and is a great place to meet some really cool locals. The bar staff were exceptional with speedy service and very generous with their measures. Thoroughly enjoyed this place every time we dropped in for a few!! read more

I really love the vibe here and the bartenders are great. Balboa salad was fresh and delicious. The waiters should be aware of what's going on around though. Called them like many, many times, hard to get noticed. read more

Love the food at this place. I've been here for weekend brunch and regular lunch. Steak, waffles, everything is great. Good old fashioned American bistro food. Scott M is an excellent server. Attentive, friendly, gracious and not pushy. He treats the kitchen staff with respect. I had no idea about the Balboa's reputation as a cougar bar. Might be fun to drop by with the wife, watch, and make fun of people. The patronage during lunch/brunch is a good mix of hipsters, regular folk like me and old school senior citizens in their Sunday best. Classy, but not too classy. read more

I mean, really?? No green beer for st. Patty's (thank god I had a bottle of food coloring in my pocket) and waitresses that are bitchy even for NYC standards. Thanks but no, thanks. (a crowd is NOT a good enough excuse for crappy service. This is your job; deal with it. I was actually pushed by the staff and dropped a shitload of liquor on someone's leather jacket...) read more

I stopped by the Balboa Cafe for dinner. I ordered the Steak Frite medium rare. I was served the Ny steak. The steak was overcooked, and the side gratin temperature was off. I am not impressed. read more

My go to for a good meal across from the office! Their service is excellent, and the staff is awesome. This is definitely a spot where local folk go. Everything from the burger up is delicious. Surprisingly bustling night time bar scene as dining tapers down. read more

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POC BEWARE!!! This place is racist and accepts racist patrons. My friends and I (4 POC) tried to get a table to order drinks only. The hostess unemotionally stated there was no tables but we can order drinks at the bar and wait for an open "non-dinner" table. We got on the waitlist and went inside and ordered at the bar. We waited around 5-7 minutes to be helped. The bar tender, a older white man with grey hair, complained that it was busy to his coworker then was so annoyed that we were even ordering. Rolled his eyes and sighed audibly. He made our drinks and handed them to us without telling us which drink was which. When we asked he was annoyed again. One drink, a margarita, was no nasty no one could consume it. We didn't complain because he was already visibly annoyed by us. While we drank our drinks, we caught him laughing and happily chatting it up with a white patron and even took a selfie with her. At this point we had decided we wanted to order food and asked the hostess for a "dinner" table. She asked us 3 times if we were sure, which we confirmed each time. We were at and I went to the bathroom. Whilst in the bathroom a male walked into the females bathroom and told his friend "there's brown girls then there's white girls" I walked out to tell my friends who stated that 10-15 minutes had past since we had been sat and NO ONE had even looked to see if we had been served. We decided to leave and informed the hostess with the cut eyebrow and all she said was "sorry about that" and immediately moved to help the next people in line. Do not come here if you are POC. Absolutely NOT welcoming for us. read more

Went to this place for the first time yesterday and it was amazing! I've always heard good things but never been before. I loved it. Got the seared ahi tuna salad! Their was no wait for lunch and the food was served fast. Great service and not bad prices for this area of the city. read more

I keep coming back for more! This is a true American pub that has fantastic food and the bar turns into quite a fun scene at night.

Host was super polite and welcoming, service was great ! I had the Balboa burger was really good can't speak fo the drinks as I had none. With everything that is going on being treated with respect and good service has been incredibly hard.I highly recommend this place! read more

Came here for a friend's baby shower, and had a great time. We had a nice table and good service, and we were able to stay as long as we needed. The food was good - get the blueberry lemonade! read more

classy spot, Burgers and fries are very good. classy bartenders. Of course it's crowded and if it wasn't you wouldn't go there. read more

Pluses: usually fairly lively good service patio minuses: lots of stiffs read more

Good eats, but this place will always have some bad asoociations because of the incident with the former SFPD Police Chief Fagan's son. Chief Fagan was a great person, though. It wasn't the cafe's fault, it just happened to occur outside their place. Back to the eats ... nothing short of excellent. This is where the locals go. read more

Ok, this 5 spice margarita is delish! Also the grilled artichoke! Yum. Too many fruit flies though. The need fruit fly candles. read more

Balboa Cafe - Bars Near Me - San Francisco, California

The people are so nice and the chicken paillard is to-die-for. I also love the fries- so delicious. the ice cream sundae is my favorite dessert. I go all the time and never get sick of it!!! they just added the chicken panini and i have it at least once a week. the staff is also so kind and helpful. Great customer service. I love this restaurant - an SF staple!! Balboa also has very comfortable hats, hoodies and crew necks & I wear mine all the time! (they are also doing a great job social distancing!) read more

The bartenders were an absolute nightmare the man with the short hair in a pony tail and scruffy face kept making very unwarranted sexual comments towards the women at the bar claiming if there wasn't a counter in between them they'd be in trouble. Not sure what this meant but I watched the girls leave immediately. While the girls we were with went to the bathroom he assumed we weren't with them and threw out all their drinks and refused to make them new ones when wither returned. I wouldn't come here as a woman unless you are looking for the thrill of being with a grown boy on the wrong. side of the #metoo movement read more

We went here for a late afternoon lunch last Saturday and sat in the bar area, unfortunately the dining room was closed until 5pm. The food was good, calamari, oysters, crab cakes and the drinks delicious. The crowd was interesting, great people watching and the staff meh. I wish we would have sat at the bar, the bartenders seemed to be much more attentive. read more

Once a must visit San Francisco icon, the Balboa is a shadow of its former self. Too bad. Expensive and mediocre food, and a distracted waiter (although the veteran bartender is a pro) who failed to bring bread, failed to check in periodically, and was focused on something far away, "served" to spoil what used to be a special place. So drink there, but eat elsewhere, like at Perrys. read more

The Balboa Cafe is always a safe default choice whenever my friends and I are in the neighborhood and need more time to decide where to go and what to do. The mocha is really good. The bar is pretty good. The staff is generally friendly. And it's interesting to check out the crowd, which generally consists of folks from all walks of life and from everywhere. There is always good energy here. I love the crab cakes; they are a must. The Balboa burger is really good but whether it's good or so-so when it comes out of the kitchen depends on who cooks it. The fries are decent. The rest of the food is mediocre. The ambiance is nostalgic and always familiar. read more

this joint has the rep of being theeee cougar bar for the marina. meeeeeow! lots of older gals scoping out young marina's fresh meat wearing abercrombie jeans and leather flipflops. why was i here? pure default for a friend's bday drinks who wanted a happening place and it sure was packed! i don't recommend a backless dress since tonight was the first time i have had the most of amount of split ended hair being flung side to side by girls. the bristly feeling against my back was...pure ugh. with the narrow layout, we were squeezed like sardines. one girl finally tied her hair with a pink terry cloth ponytail holder after i kept holding out my left hand out. thank you! another, was a giggly blond whom i put up a defensive right hand from her flinging hair bob. at least that one was silky. things we deal with being a shortie. thank goodness for alcohol. i was ready to start a serious barfight. so yes...prob not my regular haunt but if you are into younger white dudes ... do swing by. read more

Killer ambiance. Super fun atmosphere! Food is sneaky good even though it's known for its bar antics. Wait staff is extremely attentive and you don't wait for drinks long at all. Their burger is astounding! Fries just mediocre. They almost always have Pliney the elder beer which is amazing. read more

I didn't know that Yuppie Barbie had this many different outfits available for her to wear.