Chez Spencer

Charming and intimate french bistro... and the food is fabulous! Don't miss the fois gras with apricot tart - mouthwatering.... and dessert was irresistible! A little pricey, but worth the splurge! Pros: seated quickly, excellent food, charming ambience Cons: expensive, loud more

I ate at CHEZ SPENCER last night and it was wonderful. We sat in the garden and enjoyed having a martini, then we had an amazing dinner. The wine we chose from the list was great and the service was fine. On a warm summers evening it is a great place to eat. No, it is not cheap but, it is worth it . Pros: outside dinning, full bar, great food Cons: not much vegatarian, sevice could polished more

this is a cool space, with a courtyard and bar. decor is your standard warehouse thing. the food was pretty good, but far from great. service was bad. it took forever to get orders taken, to get served, to get help for anything. but that's not the worst of it... We had a going away dinner here, and we booked a reservation for 16, but only 12 people showed up. For such large parties, the restaurant provides a prix fixe menu of $66 per head. At the end of the night, we get our bill, and we realize that they charged us for 16 people... That in itself would be a bad mistake, but to make things worse, they argued with us that we should pay for 16 people since that's our reservation... needless to say, I'm never going back. Pros: new, decor Cons: really poor service, bad attitude, mediocre food more

Food was marginal and after 4 tiny courses and a panna cotta that was more like orange cheesecake-the bill was a shocker. We had small plates and I do mean small. Salad Lyonnaisse- 4 paper thin, cold slices of pink dry duck, undercooked fatty lardons, a bit of frisee, overpoached egg for $11. The fois gras with blueberries in syrup oversweet for the subtle richness of fois and was overcooked, gray . The lobster gratin-really missed the mark. Tiny amount of lobster in a broken, runny flavorless sauce nantua. The breadcrumb top formed no crust and became mush in the sauce. We'll see about the staying power of this flash in the pan over the long haul. Service was great except for the Parisian style French guy with that pretentious attitude. As Bauer would say ""I could have done without that"" Bonne Chance mes amis. I'm going to Chez Papa Pros: great ambience Cons: overpriced, bad execution, frenchy attitude more

We had the tasting menu. Everything was perfect. I have not had a selection of foods artfully presented, perfectly balanced and winningly served in a long time. While it's been written up in the Chron, it still feels like the perfect SF discovery. The only drawbacks were that the tables were too close together, with servers squeezing between tables, and that there is no bar presently. You can't go wrong here. more

Having been twice now for dinner, I was blown away by some of the new changes to the menu. The new Lobster with heirloom tomatoes and bing cherries was incredible. For a brand new restaraunt the service is top notch. Everyone is friendly and warm. Bravo! more

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with this new venture. Having been a fan of Foreign Cinema, I was very excited to try out Chef Laurent's new gig. What I didn't expect was to get minscule portions for nearly twice the price of FC! I appreciate fine-dining, but just found it inappropriate for the neighborhood. When I went they didn't have an official wine list - I can only imagine what that would have done to my bill. When I could eat at one of the city's more established French restaurants for about the same price, why bother? more

I ate here with my girlfriend last week and we had a wonderful meal. The service was excellant and the food was incredible. Check out their patio for an early dinner with this summer's nice weather!! more

Chez Spencer looked promising, with the lovely patio and intriguing menu, but the food itself fell short. It was one of those meals where I felt that, for the price, the dishes should have sparkled a lot more. My white asparagus were good, but not great, and would have benefited from better seasoning. The squab was tastey, but some pieces were beyond rare (and I like rare meat) to the point of chewy and raw, and they were literally ""swimming"" in sauce. I couldn't taste the morels at all. If it were less expensive I might have let these things go, but for these prices I wasn't impressed. Pros: Patio dining, Bright airy space, Good Parking Cons: Expensive, Service a bit formal, Food needs attention more

We went here for dinner with our 17 month old and a friend from out of town. Not only was the food wonderful but the staff was even better! Not every restaurant appreciates having kids there but everyone from the maitre d' to our waiter to the chef/owner was very nice to our child. The pastry chef even made her a special dessert! I would highly recommend Chez Spencer and look forward to going back again! more

I dined at Chez Spencer last night and it was simply wonderful. And Alice Waters was at the table next to me. What a treat. The friend that recomended Chez Spencer to me said that Nancy Oaks was there when she was there. I can understand why they where there it is star quality. Pros: excellent food, good service, easy parking Cons: neighborhood, not open for lunch more

I recently ate at Chez Spencer and loved it. You enter through a garden with a sand box (mother's must love this for their tots) Then you enter into a big open space ,with arches and lots of natural light. I ate lunch -pizza flambee and a salad. I enjoyed them both and do not forget the desserts -tart was great. I am looking forward to eating dinner their soon. Pros: great food, garden, lunch Cons: closed saturdays for, neighborhood not grea more

The person who reads varna's disgruntled review of Chez Spencer and shows the intelligence to go in and make her/his own mind up will be delightfully surprised by how wrong it is on all counts. The place is gorgeous - a clean and lofty atmosphere, wonderful live music the night we were in, and excellent food - in particular the wood-grilled items. Our only wish is that there were more vegetarian choices on the menu, but Chez Spencer is above all a French restaurant and its chef, we were told by our gracious French waiter, is classically trained. Chez Spencer is a wonderful combination of good taste and personal touches. Go and see for yourself... Pros: personal feel, not 'corporate', beautiful Cons: few veggie options more

Chez Spencer is fabulous. The food was first rate and the service very professional. I loved the outside garden and the architecture of the building is beautiful, not to mention the charming bathroom. I will most definitely will be back for more. Pros: great food, outside garden, plenty of parking more

When we called for reservations - the restaurant was so loud we could just barely hear the receptionist. There seemed to be staff everywhere but doing nothing. For bread they sent us one small piece of baguette. Foie Gras on a menu I can accept, but sea bass which is being over fished to near extintion is shocking to see on this menu. The lamb chops were flavorless, served with a tomato that had been roasted till it was chewy. The pana cotta for dessert was covered in so much lemon glace that it you could not even taste a hint of delicate pana cotta flavor - if it had any, the worst desserts I have seen out in a very long time. And the bill for 3 was nearly $150.00 and that is without wine - they don't have a license to sell it! Terrible experience Pros: pretty room Cons: noisy, tragic singer, terrible desserts more

We anxiously awaited the opening of this lovely place and now we are in suspense over the forthcoming wine list!! Can't buy wine yet (or other libations) but otherwise it is all there. The menu is simple and simply delicious! Laurent is in full force, fervent in front of the large brick oven and intensely ""plateing"" every dish. Lamb chops & filet are perfect. soup light and yummy. lemon panna cotta was exellent. great atomosphere in and out. our service was competent and kind. we will be back as soon as they add the wine! This restaurant could be one of SF's true treasures- we love the locale... a bit like Les Deux in LA Pros: , Food more