Cafe Kati

We used to love Cafe Kati but haven't eaten there in a few years but we decided to give it a try. At 6:15 on a Tuesday it was empty-at least we were seated promptly. The service was so odd that it seemed as if it was their first day in business. We had to wait for the menus to be printed, complimentary biscuts were ""in the oven"" until after 7pm-and then they were served lukewarm. The server kept coming over to see if everything was okay at our table in a not-so-discrete way. However, the food was quite good and the dishes well composed so who knows what's going on. We had the vietnamese spring rolls whcih were light and flavorful. The peach salad was fine and we ordered the steak that was cooked to our liking and was very tasty. There are many other restaurants with the same level of food and better service so I don't think we'd go out of our way to eat there again - but if we're in the hood again and looking for a place to eat we might stop in again. Pros: Good food, easy to get a table Cons: Erratic service more

Safe to say the WORST dining experience I have ever had, and that is saying something because we go out to eat quite often. This restaurant has gone downhill fast. Between the RAW chicken and the wrong vegetables served with both entrees, the poor service (one waitress for the entire restaurant), the lack of heat in the restaurant, a constantly skipping CD on the stereo, and the completely offensive and inappropriate behavior by the chef/owner (which included using the ""F"" word and giving us the finger), I will never go back again. The steak (a $30 item, mind you), was ordered medium, but was served black on the outside and raw on the inside. The raw chicken was covered in goat cheese, even though no mention of goat cheese was on the menu description. The chef/owner was completely out of line and could have diffused a bad dining experience, but only made it even worse than it already was. Spend your money elsewhere!! Cons: Service, food, owner's offensive & rude behavior more

Its true! Pros: Validated parking, decent service Cons: Not quite what it used to be, expensive more

What has happened to this place?! This used to be one of my favorite restaurants in the city! The last 2 times I've made reservations on a SATURDAY NIGHT I was called only hours before the reservation and told the restaurant would be CLOSED - on a Saturday night!! Seems like something is going on there. And, the last time I actually dined at Cafe Kati the chef got into a screaming match with a customer and continued to rant and rave around the restaurant with the other customers about how he was in the right and his customer was wrong. It's sad to say but after reading all of the other reviews, it sounds like things are really going downhill. Please bring the old Cafe Kati back - it's such a San Francisco treasure! Pros: The food is delicious and well priced Cons: Service went from what used to be flawless to messy and unreliable more

I was worried about this place after reading the unfavorable reviews on citysearch, but my experience was very positive. The service was excellent, a 10/10 I would say. Several people helped us and were friendly, funny, and engaged. The food was inventive & flavorful (esp. loved the prawn rangoon). The owner/chef actually came out to check on us and see how things were going. Seems to me that this place may be turning things around for the better. more

Go to Cafe Kati for a east-meets-west culinary experience. Beyond fusion, it is just great food... more

Go to Cafe Kati for a east-meets-west culinary experience. Beyond fusion, it is just great food combinations served with professional, warm and car... more

This place used to be great. Used to be one of SF's hidden gems. Now it's a train wreck. Food take 3 hours to come out. Service was literally non-existent. Our waitress showed up 45 minutes after we were seated, then never showed up again until the bill came. Bus boys handled the rest. It appeared there were two waiters/waitresses serving the whole place. Food has even declined - everything we ordered was mediocre. We were embarrassed to take our friends here. We used to say this was our favorite place in SF - best combo of food, service, price. Now, we'll never go back. Cons: Terrible service, food has declined more

after showing up with no reservation and being sweetly greeted and accommodated to a wonderful table in the back room, we thought we were in for a treat. our server was playful and involved and made lots of suggestions so it seemed like the right choice for dinner. Pros: pleasant service Cons: inedible food, expensive more

This was the worst dining experience i've actually ever had. I've lived in SF for 9 years and always heard about this wonderful neighborhood restaurant, Cafe Kati. We were not served for almost an hour, and only 2 of the 6 dinner entrees came out. The 3 steaks were cold with cold potatoes, and my girlfriends risotto looked like rice stir fry. The most amazing thing was that the waitress (supposed manager) took the steaks back and promised us they would get new entreees - they took over 45 minutes to bring them out! The ribeyes were laughable, almost half fat. Cons: Service and Food more

Never have I had an experience quite like this restaurant. We made reservations a week in advance - showed up - ordered a bottle of wine, appetizers and our dinner....looking fine. Well -after our appetizers - we were told to ""GET OUT"". We wondered about all the pots and pans crashing in the background but were shocked to get our bill and told to gulp the wine!!!! UNBELIVABLE! So - we were shut out and starved! It turns out the Chef was having a melt-down but COME ON! Don't wreck our evening and other patrons. Just shut down the place for good. Cons: Ahh...the kicked us out??? more

I used to love this local place - thought it was unique, food was good, and prices reasonable for a nice dinner. After my experience last night (a Friday night), I don't think I'll go back. Service was SO slow, took forever to get our order, they were out of so many items it was ridiculous, and despite the couple next to us arriving and ordering AFTER us, they were finished with their meal and paid the bill while we were still asking the waitress what was going on with our food. She came back 20 minutes after we ordered to tell us they were out of items. Did the same thing to the table next to us, but then brought their original order. Huh? Overheard them next to us say they didn't even want to leave a tip. Pros: no longer has any Cons: service, lack of menu items, overall experience more

The last time I stepped into Cafe Kati will be my last. Not only were we told to wait for our 8PM reservation but we were left stranded at the bar with no service. We were told several times it will be just another minute and Ill be right back and then the few people working just disappeared. We finally were seated at 8:45! And guess what? There were about a half dozen open tables that had been that way since we arrived. On the way to our table in the backroom, we walked by the kitchen. Just as we passed, someone inside threw, yes tossed in the air, a metal pan against a wallthe sound almost gave me a heart attack. And then we sat, and sat, and sat. Finally, we ordered and remarkably, the food appeared in average time, but what came was atrocious. A Cesar salad that had partially browned. It was served with a mustard sauce and tons of beats. No croutons or anything else that resembled a Cesar. The signature Dragon Roll was a shadow of its former self. The entrees were worse. We both ordered a fish dish that was supposed to come with a porcini risotto and a few others odds and ends. We got nothing of the sort. Just some fried fish on top of mashed up cherry tomatoes and some plain brown rice. At this point, we were just astonished. We entertained ourselves by listening to the voiced misery of another nearby table where someone proclaimed the meal to be one of the worst of their lives as they also pointed out all the things in their dishes that were missing. Hearing someone else say should I leave nothing for a tip made me realize that we were all in this together. What happened to Cafe Kati I will never know, but be forewarned, this may be a restaurant that is on a steady downturn from which it may not be able to recover. Pros: intimate, good wine list Cons: noise, bad service, food quality doesnt match price and arrives different than menu more

My sister and I visit various restaurants in the city whenever she visits from Sacramento and have never had an experience as bad as this one. The service was horrible, the food was borderline bad and we were ignored when we complained. I would never recommend Cafe Kati to anyone and will never return. Cons: expensive, poor service, crowded more

We could hear the chef yelling in the back and throwing things around. They were out of several menu items, and the waiter forgot to tell us the specials, which we over heard him telling another table seated after us. The medium-rare steak my friend ordered came out well and it came out 5 minutes before my entree. There were only 2 of us and we were the only people in the restaurant when we ordered. They should've been able to time it better. Aside from having to send the steak back, the food was tasty, but the service and lack of menu did not stand up to the reputation. Pros: Tasty Cons: Parking, lacks professionalism more

We were really excited about the restuarant. The menu looked great and we went inside and asked if we would be seated if we came back in about 30 minutes. The chef assured us it would be fine, so we went back to our hotel and changed clothes after a long day of apartment hunting. Went back to Kati, were told 5 minutes, and 45 minutes later got up and left. While we were waiting, another couple who had been seated before us came out and said the service was so bad they couldn't stay. Tried again the next day with similarly disappointing results. The service here was so disorganized and inattentive, we couldn't even get in to try the food! Pros: food is apparently delicious Cons: SERVICE more

This place was really bad. They have too many tables crammed into a small space and they can't even serve their food in a timely manner. 90 minutes we sat there with no food. Finally they gave us each one little scone before we passed out from hypoglycemia and some free sangria but there were too many things on the menu that they didn't have in stock. No sausage, No OJ, No Champagne..basic breakfast things. The food is way overpriced. Cons: Slow service, overpriced more

My husband and I discoverd Cafe Kati from a holiday party over 8 yrs ago. Since then we return at least 4 times a year. My sister visits from the east coast and we drive to the city just to have dinner and chat. The walls were painted by the owner and the staff is very friendly. Their wine selections is great and even from our first return just as a couple the owner remembered us. Even now that we have our daughter (now 4) she is welcomed and enjoys her time there. Pros: presentation of food, atmosphere/artwork Cons: parking more

In the past, Cafe Kati has been one of my favorite Fillmore restaurants. I returned there recently after not having dined there in a few years. Sadly, it has lost some of its former charm. The wait staff were less refined and more abrubt. There were several items listed on the menu that they were not serving that day. The interior decor is looking run down and needs a coat of paint in several places. The menu is no longer as inventive as it used to be. The menus themselves were crumpled and stained. For the price, I would expect more. Pros: tasty food Cons: noisy, run down, incomplete menu more