Too cramped
Monday, October 10, 2005
I used to go to Swan's every Saturday (you have to get there around 11AM to beat the rush), and got to being treated on a first name basis, but the family has been running this place since 1946 or so, and if they still haven't expanded to accomodate the perennial crowd, it means at some level they do not have proper respect for their customers.
The food is impeccably fresh, reasonably priced by San Francisco standards (I know, that's not saying much), and I have no qualms about recommending it. Obviously, their oysters are their forte, but their clam chowder is pretty good, as are their seafood Louis salads and their smoked salmon. I have never tried their soft-shell crab (too lazy to deal with it), but I took my mother once and one of the nephews took the time to shell a freshly cooked lobster for her. If you manage to get in, the service is great.
If you can't make it before the line starts getting really long, I would recommend you get their combo salad (a Louis salad with crab, lobster, prawns and shrimp, served with sourdough bread), easily the best value on the menu (one serving feeds two), and walk a couple of blocks up California Street (going away from the cable car line) to eat in the park.