There's always a lot of people here for all things eyes, particularly their eye exams. With the anesthetic and dilation eyedrops, be forewarned that it can be glaringly bright outside as an after effect of the eyes being dilated. I wasn't offered dark shades but it is advisable to bring your own to use after you're done with your appointment. I always leave this building seeing glares and blinded by the light outside. read more

Pacific Eye Associates - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Francisco, California

Amazing doctors and practice. I brought my daughter in to see optometrist Dr Ichimoto and am so grateful for her skilled exam. Her attention and recommendation led us to Pacific Eye Associates glaucoma specialists and saved her vision! My family history includes diabetes, and my sibling now sees Dr Zaidi for diabetic exams and treatment. Phenomenal care and great experience. This practice is very busy, but all staff are warm, helpful and empathetic. Worth the wait for doctors that truly care about your family's eye h read more

See all

Two and half weeks has passed. Follow up and met the technician who did all the tests required before seeing the doctor. The staff are kind, efficient and patient. They explained everything she was doing. Very pleasant experience. Now that I know I have dry eyes, I will need to add my twice a day routine for using a compress eye patch to help melt my oils around my eyes. read more

Pacific Eye Associates - This office is huge - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

I understand that I arrived late because I mistakenly thought my appointment was at 9:30 AM instead of 9:00 AM. That part was my mistake. However, when I checked in, I specifically told the front desk (Niah) that I was there for my 9:30 appointment with Dr. Emily. Instead of telling me I had missed my actual appointment, she had me complete paperwork and wait. I also noticed my date of birth had been entered incorrectly, and there wasn't even a simple apology when I pointed it out. After waiting for nearly two hours, I was finally told that my appointment had been at 9:00 AM and the doctor was no longer available. If someone had simply checked my appointment when I arrived, I wouldn't have wasted so much time. Mistakes happen, but poor communication and the lack of accountability or even a basic apology made this a very disappointing experience read more

Pacific Eye Associates - Waiting at the clinic after check in - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Francisco, California

Dr. Charleson and Dr. Zaidi are great and my favorite is Rida! She keeps it light and funny and makes sure the patients are taken care of.

I love this office you guys rule, had an experience when a pigeon attacked me and got debris in my eye and the Drs at pacific eye associates took great care of me. Shout out to Dr Ichimoto! She's awesome! read more

Pacific Eye Associates - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Francisco, California

See all

Dr. Linn made getting cataract surgery easy. All his staff are efficient and pleasant. And... I can see great now!!?

Large multi-doctor conglomerate-like eye care center. As others have said, plan on waiting a long time [too long] and not within a reasonable amount of time. While most doctors there seem good at their craft, the feeling connection can be lacking and at times even dismissive. You can feel like you're just being shuttled through. I switched to the Goodman Eye Center on Bush off Fillmore and couldn't feel more confident in my decision. Daniel Goodman is a superb surgeon as is his staff. This includes front desk people. Everyone there is of the highest quality professionally, caring, responsive and committed to their patients care. They get my highest recommendation. read more

I had been a patient here for 4 years, and after a bad visit with a doctor (who no longer works there) I stopped coming to this practice. I gave it another go after a 3 year absence, and was very pleasantly surprised. All of the nurses and my doctor (Dr. Zhang) were knowledgeable and informative. There was quite a delay and it was over an hour before I saw the doctor, but they were very apologetic and it wasn't a huge deal. read more

Had been a client of this practice for over 15-years. But nowadays their office has become utterly incompetent and dishonest. Routinely promised follow-up calls from the office and promised that tests would be ordered for me which never were. Their office attendants are very good at offering copious "I'm sorry you're having this experience, let me help you get this resolved" -- but then they never do what they promised. If you're looking for new eye doctors, keep looking and avoid receiving the inadequate medical services offered by these "Associates". read more

Dude, the people here are very welcoming and honest about my appointments, co-pays, and needs. I don't ever have to question wether or not I'm missing anything cause they do such a good job reminding me and keeping me informed. I'd definitely recommend friends to come here, especially cause I don't feel anxious being here like I usually do in Dr. offices. read more

I came in to see Dr. Ichimoto for glasses and she found a hole in my retina! She had the specialist look at it and gave me reassurance that everything was okay! Highly recommend this place. read more

The staff was very pleasant and well informed. The staff made it really easy to schedule an appointment. I had a really great experience. I would definitely recommend pacific eye associates to my family and friends. read more

DO NOT go to this office unless you have time to waste and patience to burn. This place is an absolute JOKE. Today, 7/11, I showed up for my appointment--only to be told there was no appointment. WHY? Because they rescheduled it without even telling me. No call. No text. No email. NOTHING. Just moved it to 7/18 like my time means nothing. I took time off work, drove all the way in from out of town, fought for parking, and walked into that office--only to be blindsided. And the worst part? This isn't the first time. It's happened before. I even called the day before to confirm, and told the staff member very clearly not to touch my appointment. She did it anyway. And when I called back to confront her, I got a half-assed apology like it was no big deal. Let me be crystal clear: I am DONE. This was strike THREE. Last time, I dealt with a condescending doctor (Dr. Yeh) who treated me like I was beneath her. And now this. Unprofessional. Disrespectful. Completely unacceptable. Then, that same visit the tech gave me a drop with my contact lenses on when he wasn't supposed to, then we had to redo everything!!! If you must go here, triple-check your appointment multiple times. But honestly? Just don't. They've officially lost my trust--and my business--for good. UPDATE: and I just got a call to remind me my appointment next week even though I had to cancel it this morning!! This is ridiculous. I had to call them again to make sure it's canceled. They said it is! They need to get their scheduling system together!! read more

I had a very good experience with front desk while checking in for my optometry appointment, Dr. Gee was very pleasant, will be returning.

I like my doctor here, but I feel that the overall experience has gotten significantly worse over time. I'm in the waiting room, waiting for an appointment that was supposed to start half an hour ago. No one told me she was running late, and when I tried to ask at the front desk they told me, "Go ask one of the technicians in the back." I couldn't easily find someone to ask, and anyway I don't really feel comfortable interrupting a technician while they're working. So I'm stuck with no idea how long I'll be waiting. I can be a lot more patient if I'm given a heads up or some communication about what's happening. I don't think that's too much to ask. read more

On 1/5/26 my dad (in his mid 80's) was seen by Dr. Zhang as an urgent walk in appointment regarding his eye swelling issue. That was the first time I've heard from my dad, how much he appreciated attention, easy explanation of his medical condition, and treatment recommendation from a doctor. Our BIG Thank You to Dr. Zhang for his service, Pacific Eye Associates for accommodating fast assistance with an urgent issue, and the front desk for always being responsive. read more

Hi, I'm back. This time for my mom, she was having issues seeing, blurred vision, watery eyes and tiredness. Her primary doc referred her to a specialist that sponsors at NEMS. The appt was with Dr. Charlson on a Wednesday (that is the day the specialist is scheduled). It literally took her 2 seconds to diagnose my mom. She used a small hand held magnifying glass to check her eye. Problem- my mom have heavy lids which over laps causing her tiredness. The heaviness of her lids are pushing down her lashes, into her eye, therefore, it's scratching her eye and causing blurred vision. She gave 2 options. One is to get new prescribed glasses or get surgery, blepharoplasty, which is removal of excessive skin. Of course, we opted for blepharoplasty. Just makes more sense. She made a referral, after 2 weeks, I called, made an appt at Pacific Eye Associates. Appt day came, as many reviews stated here, yes the wait time was longggggggggggggg! That's the minus half star. (You'll see what the other minus half is later) For my dad, it was fine. But for my mom, wait time was over 30 minutes to an hour, for all her appts. Finally, my mom got called, but they got her info wrong. She was called MR., because someone checked her gender wrong. I had to confirm all the info to make sure she was the correct patient. Rita, the assistant that helped us correct her info and early testing was extremely nice and apologetic. She understands the discomfort that some equipments are, very gentle, spoke very clear, when needed to used a bit more strength to position my moms head or direction, she was apologetic as well. She noted down all the medication my mom takes and informed us what she needs to stop taking if necessary. She gave us advice what my mom can do in the mean time, to help ease her eyes more. She's knowledgeable, explained what she's doing next, what these testes and what to look forward and results of my mom's surgery. We waited a good 45 minutes before seeing Dr. Charlson. It was cutting close to closing time. We spent about 30 minutes going over my moms eye issue, prep for her surgery day, what the surgery intel, instructions for care. I had a few concerns and questions as well. She answered them all with detail and care. Before we left, we were suppose to make an appt with her coordinator assistant (Johnathan Kwok) if he was still clocked in, however, he wasn't. It was a Friday, so I had to wait til Monday to call and make the appt. Monday came, I called during afternoon. I was transferred to him, took 5 minutes to make the appt. He asked if I would like to be emailed instructions and did just so. Surgery day came. Again, pretty long wait. A white male assistant, curly blonde light brownish hair, called us in. He was nice as well. Asked a few more questions regarding my moms eye issue and update her chart. Asked if she would like a Valium, I decline for my mom because she never taken it before. Idk the side effects she might have even tho I'm pretty she won't have side effects. But I asked her before declining. Her concern was more of the pain from the surgery, as long as they'll numb her, she was fine. Not sure if I'm allow to say it here but the Valium is free. We waited again in the waiting area, 10-15 minutes. Another male assistance called us into the surgery room. Don't remember if his name is James or Jeffrey. He was nice as well. Part 2 is a photo attached as my review is too long. read more

See all

AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS. As a healthcare provider myself, I am shocked and heartbroken by the complete lack of professionalism and compassion here. My appointment was at 3:30 PM -- I was taken in and dilated without ever seeing a doctor, then left waiting for over two hours with no communication. When I asked to speak with a manager, he arrived rude, dismissive, and unapologetic. He told me I'd be charged if I wanted the dilation reversed -- even though I never received any medical service. When I said I would share my experience publicly, he accused me of "making threats." This is unacceptable and deeply unethical. Patients deserve respect, transparency, and basic professionalism -- none of which exist here. Avoid, avoid, avoid. read more

Update: Over a year after the surgery I get a random text from a random Doctor saying I owe $69.92 to Stephen Lo, MD. It has a phone number and a link. I have no idea who that is or what it regards, so I assume its a scam. I got a follow up message so I call the number but still don't know if its a scam, so I won't provide any info. After a lot of back and forth, I ask the lady if she can see the phone number I'm calling from and she says yes. Eventually she verifies my name and DOB from her records, then tells me that the bill is for my cataract surgery OVER A YEAR AGO. 1. It's incredibly annoying that they are texting me in a way that no reasonable person would ever think is not a scam, 2. why a year later? and 3. it's just another mystery bill for this service that wasn't explained up front. Please read my full review to see how 1. I'm deeply unhappy with the outcome of my surgery and 2. how they just keep sending you random mystery bills. read more

One's experience at this office depends on who your doctor is and who the assistants are. The doctor I signed up with seems to be very good and does get excellent reviews on the whole. However, I can say that the staff is hit or miss. The front desk personnel are mostly terrible. The one clerk left me waiting while he and his coworker carried on their inane conversation. Yes. Do keep a patient waiting while you two act like the patient isn't firstly important and secondly doesn't exist. I don't know what this office's management considers to be professional and maybe I'm out of step with the times, but when I did work this would be considered totally unprofessional AND rude. That is in addition to when this staff member did decide to attend to me that he was not at all customer friendly. As for the assistants who perform those endless tests prior to one seeing the doctor? Well, I had one staff member who acted like she was so bored and frankly it showed. I get that they do this for practically 8 hours 5 days a week. But that is the job they signed up willingly to do, right? Then when one does get inside the exam room the wait to see the doctor may be like in my case over 30 minutes. But when the doctor arrives it takes only a five to ten minute tops assessment. I'm also awaiting paperwork promised two weeks ago. But I keep being told it's coming soon... read more

I'm sorry, but I do not recommend this doctor's office. (1) Phone Call / Appointment Scheduling: Staff doesn't answer the phones. I called trying to set an appointment, and no one was answering the calls. I received no response to messages, and ultimately was able to get through on the 5th day to get an appointment scheduled. The person who received my call said they have been short staffed and sorry about the issues. The doctor mentioned during my appointment they have 6 people staffed to answer the phones. Interesting. (2) Wait Time: You will wait a while to actually see the doctor and will probably only spend about 5-10 minutes with them. Appt time for me was 4pm. I checked in 4 minutes late (my fault, yes, I acknowledge this - I didn't plan enough time to get where I needed to go). I did apologize, and they said it was ok, I was still on time. I waited for maybe 20 minutes. A nice person came and got me, and did a quick test in the waiting room. They took me into a patient room, and did another couple tests and took images of my eyes with a digital camera. I found this a bit curious, but ok. I was expecting newer tech. They took me back into a different waiting room. I was then moved into a room where the doctor was going to see me. It is now 4:51 when the doctor came in to see my eyes. The eye doctor was pretty nice - she looked at the images, explained my condition, and gave me some suggestions for how to treat. The time with the doctor was maybe 10 minutes. This was the only positive part of the visit. (3) Selling Services: During the 10 minutes, the doctor suggested a service for $1500, not covered by insurance, and would be something I'd need to do at least once annually. This service is a tool that clears the oils from your eyes. I was shown a bunch of scary pictures of other people's eyes and infections that happened. I will note: my eyes look nothing like this nor did I see anything on the images taken that look remotely like what was in those scary pictures. Anyway, I asked for the details on the service and that I would research and contact if I was interested. Others have mentioned that this has happened in their appointments. Please consider getting a second opinion on the recommended services - if you are considering it. This seemed like a way to get some additional income into the office, directly from my wallet, and may/may not be something that a patient needs it. The trust that we have in medical professionals is pretty important and I didn't have it based on the experience of setting up an appt, wait time, and in session appointment to believe I was being given good advice. If you've had a different experience, then that is great. This was mine and I hope others can learn from it. If nothing else, consider getting a second opinion. read more

I have been a patient at this practice for at least 15 years. Today, after being on hold for 20 minutes, I was rather rudely told they have zero doctors available to check for my possible retina detachment. All the doctors took Xmas vacations at the same time so this week they are fully booked up. What is the point of going to a large medical practice if they have Zero doctors available for emergencies?? All doctors went on vacation at the same time? That is just pure stupidity. read more

Sad to say I too had an awful experience here. My optometrist highly recommended Danny Lin--who may be a good surgeon, I'll never know because the staff here wasted two hours of my time doing eye measurements at the beginning of my appointment. Lin -- at the end-- told me these would all need to be done again at another appointment before surgery because I wear rigid gas permeable contacts and they change the shape of your eye. It would have been so easy to let me know about this when the initial appointment for surgery consultation was made so that I could not wear a contact in that eye for the required time. Lin himself was pleasant enough but hurrying me about details and decisions that he said I needed to make about the surgery--decisions whose consequences I will have to live with for the rest of my life. There will never be a surgery, my dude. At least not at your office. read more

This place is a complete nightmare! I had an appointment scheduled for today (06/20/2025) and they had mistakenly scheduled it for this date in 2026. The procedure I'm having is extremely important and it's affecting my vision pretty seriously, andvtge doctor is out all next week. Then he started to get snippy with me and then just hung up on me! I called back and got him again and he started being nasty again. His is Billy and it turns out he's the office manager. I would caution anyone to stay away from this place. read more

I just paid to have surgery on my eye to improve near vision and now have to use glasses to see my phone but have terrific driving vision.

I waited a long time to get an appointment. The place always felt like an assembly line. Lots of people and chaos. I waited almost 30 minutes before someone came to get me. He was nice enough. He did an eye exam gave me drops then informed me it would be an hour before I'd see the doctor, there were 6 people ahead of me. He said It was the doctor's first day and she wanted to see as many patients as possible! So the back up was planned. I left without seeing her. Dr Christine Wang. I will never go to her again, so unprofessional and inconsiderate. read more

Had a great doctor who just recently retired from this practice and got handed off to someone else. Total disaster. The office was not crowded however I sat for 1:20 hr. with eye drops in my eyes waiting for the doctor to come in and provide a simple yearly check. Previous doctor I had only took 30 min max. Not sure what happened to this place. read more

Always over an hour wait. My appointment with Dr Christine Wang was cancelled three times before finally able to see her. I arrived 15 minutes early for a ten o'clock appointment and was finally seen by her at 11:20. No apology and spent about 5-10 minutes with me. I told her I had a new doctor who I needed her to send my report to. She blew me off and said I'll get that info later. She never did. I had to call the office to give info. And they transferred me to billing who is now charging me $15.00 to send to my new doctor. A complete nightmare visit. read more

If you need eye care, drop by this way, service and the doctors are nice there. You go translator there a unique translation. And he got a parking garage, so we don't need to find parking. Yeah it's very convenient read more

I have a terrible experience with this office. I've been trying to get an appointment for weeks. Every time I called, the rep would give me a different reason to wait and not schedule an appt. for me, either we didn't get your referral or our office manager needs to review your referral. My primary doctor's office has faxed over referrals multiple times for multiple doctors in their office. It's ridiculous!! read more

I had an appointment scheduled (a year in advance) for 9:30 (7/29/2025) only to find out after I had checked in and received a text my appointment was for 11:00. I did not receive any prior notification it was changed. I was unsuccessful in calling the day prior and was unable to log into the patient portal to confirm my appointment (as I had done in the past). I later discovered they had some upgrades done but I was not notified until I attempted to log in. I could not create a login on the new portal; I had to call in for a link. The office was closed when I discovered the change. When I checked in, I told the receptionist I had an appointment at 9:30. I was checked in, but not notified my appointment was now 11:00. I decided to walk around the neighborhood to kill time. At approximately 10:30, I received a call that Pacific Eye was trying to reach me to come in an take the pre-examination procedure. Thankfully, I was outside the building and told them I could come up now (I never received any call, text, or email that anyone from Pacific Eye tried to reach me). I checked in again and they told me I could just reach out to a tech and let them know I was ready for testing. I waited about 15 minutes before any called me for testing (eye text and questions), then back to the waiting area. I waited another 10 minutes before the testing (images) which took another 10 minutes +/-. I was sent back to the waiting room for my examine with my doctor (another 30 +/- minutes before being escorted to the examination room. (I waited another 15 minutes in the room). The exam took approximately 10 minutes in total before I finished. I agree with what other reviewers said about the long wait times. I believe there could be a better scheduling process so the wait times are minimized. I have been a patient of Pacific Eye for 7 years, and the wait times have not changed; I have never encountered my appointment change. Other professional offices i am a patient/client, if anything, will reach out multiple times confirming my appointments and to confirm I will be coming. I have never had issues with my medical provider, only the procedural process. My entire morning and part of my afternoon was taken up by this procedural snafu. Please do better. read more

I met with Dr. Charleson for evaluation for surgical procedure in April. She assured me that her assistant would handle insurance and work with me ; however, when I met with him, he seemed to know nothing about authorizations. He told me I would probably not know if it was authorized until after the procedure, costing close to $6,000.00. I informed him that would not be acceptable to not have an idea of coverage. I asked him to call me after clarifying my information. I waited almost one month and did not hear. I finally called and left a voicemail , inquiring and leaving my cell phone, as I was leaving town. I never received a call on my cell. So, nearing the end of August, I called again to speak with Dr. Charleston. I was told I can not speak with the doctors directly. They referred me to the business manager, Billy, who was very abrupt, interrupted me , talked over me, countered everything I said with a denial or confrontation. I was very frustrated, and really not on my best behavior either. Billy finally hung up on me and suggested that I take my business elsewhere. I do not feel safe with this group. The communication is horrible. As a customer/ patient, I felt disrespected, ignored, talked down to. I question them as professionals. In this process, I questioned how often they are doing these surgeries, since staff seemed to have no knowledge about authorizations. I was concerned with someone working on my eyes who may have little experience, since staff did not seem to have basic info about authorizations. Scary group to work with , doesn't feel safe. read more

I wish I had seen all the 1 star reviews before bringing them my business. I must sadly say that my experience was also one star. The one star I'm giving is for the nurse that saw me and did the intake with me - - her name was Maci and she was lovely, but the doctor and the front desk person upon check out left a lot to be desired. Now granted, the doctor was polite but got my name wrong EVEN AFTER I corrected her and we discussed about names being mispronounced/misnamed. My name isn't that difficult, but she got it wrong on 3 separate occasions. Other than that, she was professional. Then, as I was ready to leave she said "I need to see you in one month to see if the meds that we've prescribed are working, and if not we will refer you to an allergist". I went out to the front desk to schedule my one month follow up and the receptionist said "the doctor said she wants to see you in 3 to 4 months, so would you like to come in March or April?". I said "Oh, I just saw her a second ago and she said only one month because she has to verify whether the meds she prescribed are working". He then says "Well it says right here 3 to 4 months, and she rarely writes mistakes on her notes, so do you want to come in in March or April!?!?" I said "I would like to come in in ONE MONTH, so let's please schedule a month appointment, and if that's too soon, then we can cancel and reschedule for March or April". He says "Well we need to speak to the doctor first before we schedule you in a month, and she's with a patient now, so why don't you go have a seat and when she's done with her next person, she can come out and let us know if it's one month or three months". I said "I just told you it's one month - - I'm standing right in front of you and it was a whole minute and a half ago that she told me ONE MONTH, so it's not like I got that wrong, and you're also NOT LISTENING TO ME" so I just walked out. I will never set foot in that office again - - talk about being invisible. read more

I have been Dr. So's patient for about 15 years. I was surprised to see so many negative reviews on Yelp and am writing to share my perspective. I feel lucky to have such a great doctor for my glaucoma condition. I have seen Dr. So about 60 times over the last 15 years. In addition to monitoring my condition and treating it with medicines, he also also performed several laser procedures. I find Dr. So to be knowledgeable, friendly, and compassionate. I trust him and his advice. His office is busy and I think they generally do a very good job accommodating many patients. read more

This office is huge. I think they have more than ten doctors working here and many staffs working here as well. I found this place on the internet for my mom. They have three front desk and the line moves so smooth. It only takes five minutes to check in. While I am helped my mom fill out the forms. It takes another five minutes to called her in. The staff Cheryl who is helping my mom. She is so attentive, friendly and helpful. It takes thirty minutes for four different eye test per eye. We only waited another ten minutes for the Doctor. Doctor Sung is very experienced and also a knowledgeable person. Highly recommend this place to my family and friends. :) read more

Pacific Eye Associates - Ophthalmologists Near Me - San Francisco, California

My wife and I both visited Dr Kathrine Gee recently, and she was exceptional. Very thorough, professional and yet friendly and warm. We are both fans for life! read more

This office is like a cheap clinic in third wold country. the doctors spend less than 7 minutes with patients and dont even know you as pacient after several visit. read more

I never seem to allow myself enough time for an appointment, You should prepare to spend up to half your day here.

Recently saw Dr. Charlson for a problem I was having with my eyes. I had to wait over an hour to see her (after the tech had checked everything else) and then she only spent a few minutes with me and was clearly not interested in the problem I was having. It was strange and disturbing to see how disinterested she was. read more