San Francisco Restaurants

Chez Spencer

Chez Spencer Review

A semi-industrial neighborhood, with an OfficeMax outlet a nearby neighbor, is an unlikely location for an upmarket French restaurant. Yet that's where you'll find Chez Spencer. Tucked into a former warehouse, boasting arched beam ceilings, polished concrete floors, a wood-burning oven, and a full bar, it attracts diners from all over the city. The menu—foie-gras torchon, grilled steak with morels and truffled butter, smoked duck-breast salad with a poached egg at its center, warm chocolate pudding cake—is meticulously prepared. The wine list, small and mostly French, is carefully crafted to match the food. There's patio dining, too, with plenty of heaters to keep you warm. The downside of Chez Spencer? The chef needs to tinker with the menu occasionally to keep regulars interested.

    Restaurant Details

  • No lunch.

Member Reviews

  • everdin, from San Francisco
    3/16/07

    I have eaten at Chez Spencer a few times, the food has been ok for the most part, rarely great. Tonight was my worst dining experience in 10 years in San Francisco. Our waitress was clearly not focused on our party...... We had to wait repeatedly for service, including an embarrassingly long wait (>30 minutes) after finishing our main course to order deserts. I received the bill with an automatic 18% gratuity which I refused to pay and left a 10% gratuity instead, a generous tip for mediocre service. While leaving the restaurant with my guests, I was accosted by our waitress on the sidewalk in front of my guests, demanding to know "if her service was so lousy that she should only be receiving a 10% gratuity" (in this case, $55 on a $540 tab). A low class act for a restaurant that pretends to be high class. Will never go there again.

    Ratings details: Food: 3 | Atmosphere: 3 | Service: 1 | Value: 2
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