Cortez--CLOSED

I don't typically write long reviews, but the food in this place is simply awesome. I have eaten at many different fine dining restaurants in San Francisco, and this is one of my favourites :) I love that their chef's tasting menu is not that pricey and it comes with wine pairings, how many michelin starred restaurant offer that in less than $100? it's such a good deal i've also just heard from a friend of mine, she has this fundraiser deal from the restaurant (insider deal), you can get the 5 course chef's tasting menu at $90 with tax and gratuities included. Normal price is $75 without the tax and gratuities, so it's about a 15% discount. Not bad for a michelin starred restaurant! this deal only works if you present the coupon at the time of your meal.. you can contact her at cortezsanfrancisco@gma... and ask her for more details.. I've already gotten a pair for myself when i tried the restaurant out! =) Pros: Best Deal Cons: can't think of any yet more

My parents came into town for the weekend last friday and i took them to Cortez. this was one of the best dinning experiences i have had in San francisco to date. we walked in and were emediately greeted by a lovely hostest who sat us promptly with our reservation. the service was amazing all the food came out in a very timely mannor. the food its self was amazing. my parents loved that the menu had small plates and entrees as well. i had the green garlic ravioli. it was great! my mother said she would recomend the faro dish to anyone, and my father raved over the hanger steak. to finish the night we pick two of the many deserts to choose from and they both held true to the rest of the night, AMAZING. i recomend the molten chocolate cake. all and all it was a great experience and i will return often. THANK YOU CORTEZ! more

Why do I bother? After previous Valentines night dinner debacles at Shanghai 1930 and other alleged ?romantic? SF eateries, we ate last night (Feb 14, 2008) at CORTEZ. Now, wasn?t Cortez (Hernan Cortes) the murdering invader who brought disease and oppression to 16th Century Mexico? And didn?t his most famous victim, Aztec King Monteczuma spawn the euphemism ?Monteczuma?s Revenge? for an unpleasant stomach disorder? I digress. The ?special? dinner last night was a $350 melange of unprofessional service and poorly-executed food. It started badly, with us being kept waiting 20 minutes before we were shown to our reserved table, and went downhill from there. The Chef?s canapes were untidy and unpleasant, Jersualem Artichoke & Lavender Soup was reminiscent of an elderly Victorian?s handkerchief, the Scallop and Uni caused Monteczuma to stir, the Beet salad tasted like a shovel-full of earth, the Kurobuta Pork Belly with pickled red onion marmalade clashed with everything we?d already tasted, and so on. The wine ?pairing? was a joke, seeing as not one of the 5 wines arrived with its advertised companion. When we were served our Muscat (supposed to be with the scallop) along with our Beet, we complained and got marginally better attention, but that just meant glasses were piling up around us. I know I'm comparing this tasting menu and wine pairing with the much-missed Elisabeth Daniel and the still-here-still-great Farallon and Coi, but the chef and staff at Cortez have to be prepared for such scrutiny. We left before dessert, but after paying about 3 times what the meal was worth. My wife has told me to send her this review so that next year, just before Valentines night, she can play it back to me and convince me that we?d be better off dining at home that night rather than put up with sub-standard food, shabby service and a slapped-together, overpriced experience at one of San Francisco?s most overrated restaurants. Pros: Parking Cons: Everything else more

We had a great time in SF until we ate at Cortez. Rude service from the moment we walked in. We had reservations but the hostess acted like it meant nothing. Waited at the bar where we were ignored for the first 10 minutes even though the bar was empty. Seems that chatting with the other staff was more important then waiting on the customers. Then the bartender insulted us by laughing at us when we ordered a special drink.. We asked for a manager but NONE WAS AVAILABLE!!! Even emailed the management afterwards and recieved no reply. There are too many fine restaurants in SF to waste your time on a place treats their customers like this. Completely ruined our trip. STAY AWAY!!!!! Pros: None!! Cons: Worst service ever, salty food, ignored by management more

In short ""WE ALL GOT SICK EATING HERE"". Enjoyed the service, bread and atmosphere, but Pros: Good looking singles Cons: Stock up on TP more

Cortez was sadly unimpressive. For such a high-end restaurant, I was disappointed. The food was perfectly good, but the only thing we found fabulous was the beignets... and a meal ought to impress diners prior to dessert! Tapas choices were moderately inventive, but executed in average ways; I've had better tapas at Picarro in the Mission. We had reservations, so wait wasn't an issue, but I agree with others that the overall attitude of service is less than perfect. more

Being from Los Angeles, I'm used to some level of attitude from hosts, but not usually at nice / expensive places. That being said, the hostess on 2/13 was so rude / bad at her job that I decided to write my first review ever...however I see that I should have just checked the site before going, given I'm not the only one who has had a poor experience. more

You need a reservation, but this is my favorite restaurant in the city. Service is outstanding and all of the wait staff know the menu (food, wine and cocktails) so well that they can tailor your order based on learning your preferences. This is a great place to go with a date and share 5 or 6 small plates. Definitely try the beat salad and the milkshake shots. Pros: Great cocktails, food and excellent, attentive service more

? romantic ambience and good for group too. A little bit too dark for my tastes. I barely could read the menu' but at the same time I enjoyed sitting right in front of the kitchen where 5 young cooks where creating their tasty plates. We started we two tapas, delicious prawns perfectly cooked and fish of the day chevize so good that it melted in our mouths. I had salmon as a main entree and my husband had lamb well prepared as well. Desserts were delicious I enjoyed the apple smith with yogurt sorbet and my husband had a waffle banana with incredible tasty ice cream. ?Just a remark, our wine glasses werent' clean. They had sticky fingers all arund them. It seems to happen more and more in San Francisco, what is gong on? if you have the same experience please write it in your reviews so that maybe restaurant's oweners will start paying more attention to wine and food presentation ! Pros: ambiance, young talented cooks Cons: parking more

the food was decent--flavorful and elegant, but not the best in SF. customer service from the hostess to wait staff to the person who made my reservation (someone named brittany) was awful. very snobby attitude, which made me lose my appetite. i like to give the benefit of the doubt to any place i eat, but this people at this establishment made it difficult. not recommended. there are other great restaurants in SF that will treat you with the respect and dignity that all of us deserve. more

I visited this restaurant with friends per my suggestion and was seated almost 1 hour after my original reservation! The entire dinner was a disaster from mediocre food to poor service and timing of the entrees. Needless to say I was very embarrased that I picked this restaurant and I would not recommend it to anyone! Pros: bar staff was attentive Cons: dining staff and food more

If you want to be treated like you are imposing, this is your place to go. Your hostess will great you with the attitude that she is doing you a favor by letting you in for your reservation. In all honesty, with all the amazing places to eat in San Francisco, Cortez is not worth it. Pros: The food is good enough but not worth the attitude Cons: BAD BAD BAD Service more

Very disappointed the second time around! Our first time at Cortez was such an enjoyable experience that we wanted to share it with friends. Right off the bat we were greeted by the hostess who had such sour attitude and made unnecessary remarks directed to our party as we were being seated. We reported the hostess' behavior to the floor manager who seemed very indifferent to our complaint. After our shaky start we wanted to forget about it and enjoy the dining experience. Pros: The bread Cons: Very bad service more

We couldn't find anything not to like about this restaurant; the service and food were excellent. We shared the Japanese Snapper entree (fantastic), plus a few small plates. The foie gras with shaved pear was the best I've had. The service was faultless; the courses came out one by one and could not have been timed more perfectly. We never wondered where our server was, yet she was never intrusive. Our water and wine glasses were always filled (or was that my attentive date? :-). The dinner was topped off by the best warm double chocolate truffle cake I've ever had. We'll definitely be back, and I'd recommend this place to others. Pros: service, food, ambiance more

First, before responding to the last post, let me say that I've eaten at Cortez several times. The food is superb and the quantities are fine for the price. I think some people are unclear on the whole small plates concept. more

I cannot believe anyone would return to this place a second time. They are either made of money or really stupid. Although the food was tasty and the service great, the prices make this an amazingly poor value. My partner and I went with another couple and did the ""suggested"" 2 entrees per person. This translated to 8 BITES per person. These 8 BITES, with 3 glasses of wine ended up costing us just under $100 per couple!!!! Let me make this a little clearer: $50 PER PERSON FOR 8 BITES OF FOOD. Pros: Ambience Cons: EXPENSIVE more

There are so many amazing restaurants in San Francisco, why ever go to one twice? Why not have the opportunity to try a new one? well, that was the rule before we went to Cortez. Now I can hardly wait for our next weekend in San Francisco...to return to Cortez. more

First off, this is a good looking space (unless you are unfortunate enough to get stuck in the cave-like, VERY private dining room with a group of people you don't like -- that was a bad night). We've eaten here several times and always enjoyed our food. The fois gras is incredible, the desserts are delicious and i'm even a fan of the simple white plates that they use. Our only real complaint is that twice now, we've found the bartenders to be surprisingly rude. At any rate, avoid the bar and the private dining room and you are in for a treat. Pros: The food Cons: Bartenders, private dining room more

This is my new favorite spot to eat at, especially when the bar is not packed it is a great bar and you to taste good food without having to order off a bar menu. Had a charred snapper crudo, lobster ravioli, and a chicken breast with foie gras it was all good, will be back next week. Pros: food, drinks, good bar eating spot Cons: nothing right now more

So I'd come in a few times for drinks, and then a friend recommended I try the food there. So I went on my birthday and ordered just about one of everything on the menu for my friend and I to share! Everything was great: food, ambiance, service, drinks! more