Sinbad's

I am up here in San Francisco for 3 weeks. Tired of the hotel food (it was good, just had it too much). I decided to try a local place thinking that if it's been there that long, it has to be good. Soooo wrong. I walk in and the first thing I see, is a "statue" of Sinbad the sailor which scares the daylights out of me. I walk down a dark hallway to what I assumed was the hostess stand. The manager is standing there. I tell him I would like a table for dinner. He asks if it's just me, I respond yes. He then proceeds to mumble under his breath, "Oh wow. Ok then." Unbelievable! I'm up here on a business trip on my own, who did you expect me to bring? He sits me down in a booth by myself. The first thing I notice is how empty the restaurant is. A few families scattered here and there. I finally look at the torn menu and out of the corner of my eye, I can see the remains of the last customers dinner on the table cloth. I then notice more remains on the seat. The booth had obviously not been cleaned up in a while. I realized that their version of cleaning the tables is by using their hands to sweep the food off the table onto the floor or seats. After trying to decide between the same dish with different fish. The waitress finally comes over, takes my drink order then disappears. I sat there for 20 min and all I got was water, a bad attitude from the manager, and seeing my waitress only once. I realized after looking around that no matter who ordered what, everyone's food looked the same. I then realized this restaurant was not worth the waiting or the overpriced food and walked out. more

We actually made reservations on July 12th. When we arrived, there were 6 tables seated, and this was a Saturday night! I should have been more assertive and said to my guest, let's get the heck out of here. But, we were seated and offered cocktails immediately. While waiting for our drinks, a server delivered drinks that were not ours - the waitress removed them from our table and promptly served them to another table. Yikes, glad I hadn't sipped from the straw. I did notice the dirty clothes the server was wearing, and not the food kind of dirty. We went ahead and ordered and I did notice that there was no laughter or general good vibes going around the dining room. I used the ladies' room and wished I hadn't. When I returned, our meal had been served and we tasted, along with the cold, under-baked "sourdough" bread. Our bill was over $120.00 for two and the food was not well prepared and over done. This was absolutely our worst dining experience in San Francisco. I saw one server clear a table, holding the cleared dishes over the table next to him and spilling sauce onto the utensils and napkins. As we left, the host was scolding the waitress for not being mature about things. We were so sorry to have spent the time and money at such a lousy restaurant. Food lovers - beware. Be sure to read reviews at CitiSearch before you spend hard-earned cash at a lousy restaurant when there are so many great choices. Pros: Valet Parking Cons: Terrible food, unclean dining room and restrooms, unhappy wait staff more

Looked inviting on the outside. Went for Lunch. The waiter prided himself in the fact that they did not have any lower fat anything, including milk, or even salads, and looked down at me for even asking, and then made a nasty remark. The food came, all jumbled up, not as advertised in the menu, and inedible. I did not touch my food after the first bite and had to practically wrestle the manager (waiter refused) to the ground to get it taken off the bill, which was incredibly high, given the quality and quantity, not to mention the sassiness, uncooperativeness, and unfriendliness of the staff. I've never had an experience at a restaurant like this. Just say no. Pros: None. Not even very clean. Cons: Pretty much everything more

Why isn't there a zero rating? How do they stay in business all these years - I've contacted the Golden Gate Best Biz B and said they're scheduled to visit next month. I really don?t know where to start - Wife and I could have gone to the Ferry Building but thought ?old joints? (most of the time) are the best.....I couldn?t have been more wrong. Go with your gut next time. Avoid this place like the plague. First of all ?the entire place smells ? the waitress wore a stained shirt and had awful BO. The soup (I really couldn?t tell if it was clam chowder) was faintly warm - 2 bites, the oyster crackers had dirt in the bag and the loaf of bread was stale. The Caesar Salad was wilted....and had WAY TO MUCH dressing.....then we received these fake crab cakes - imitation crab ? are you kidding me? We split one of the 2 She asked if we wanted a to-go bag - Why? So I can reminisce about the worst experience and the most over priced dog food I bairly ate / $ I spent? This is my first write up in my 38 years ? absolutely the worst place to eat?.I?d rather be on fear factor and dine on goat nuts. Oh?.the chef came out of her hole and wanted to know why we didn't finish our soup, salad and crab cakes......shook my head and I really didn't know where to start. I suspect she graduated from the nachos station at Circle K - She also needed a bath. I would have rather struck a match and burned $70.00 vs 2 CUPS of chowder, 2 Caesars, 1 app (2 crab? cakes) ??and 2 coors light ? This place SA Concerned citizen PJS Pros: Nothing Cons: Read my post more

Our experience was just as bad as everyone elses. BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW THE LISTING IS SHOWING IT AT 5 STARS WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY OF US RATING IT AT ONE! $17 for fish and chips that the host, who was faking niceness, said was 'fresh'. When I asked the waiter, he said, no, it's previously frozen but is 'fresh' now! At least the waiter was honest. But, he was slow! It took far too long for our food to come out. Our $7 bottled beer was long gone before the food came and we weren't asked if we wanted more (which we didn't anyway...). A good restaurant will have at least one beer on tap. The Mozzarella (Caprese) salad was sliced deli cheese (not fresh) with canned black olives (not kalamatas) - the tomatoes and olive oil were ok. Sliced deli cheese! And that was $10! DO NOT, DO NOT! GO TO THIS RESTAURANT - IT IS WORSE THAN A TOURIST TRAP! Pros: Some of the tables have a nice view; bathrooms in need of a good cleaning Cons: food, service, price more

Like many of the other reviewers (other than the owners who have written the "good" reviews), my wife and I were down on the Embarcadero and in search of some lunch. We very stupidly thought that Sinbad's was a bit more casual than the surrounding establishments due to the fact that the paint was fading and there was a pirate as you walked in and the simple fact that the place is called Sinbad's, but we quickly learned by one glance at the menu how wrong our assumptions were. First off, the plates they gave us with the silverware on it were still dirty with food crusted on and the forks and knifes were thrown on in less than polite fashion. When I asked the "waitress" for a clean plate she looked at me as if to say, "Do you think the next plate will be any cleaner?" And it wasn't. My fault probably. Anyway, I ordered the Monte Cristo and my wife ordered the Nicoise salad. Thank god we didn't order anything else. They were both equally horrible. My "sandwich" had more oil and grease than Jiffy Lube and the "tuna" on the mrs.' salad was straight from the can, and we're praying that it was just a can. The salad included two green beans, peas (uh...ok), and yellow, dry, decayed cucumber. How the hell do you do that to a cucumber? Every time the "waitress" asked us how our food was, she would walk away before we could reply almost expecting the harsh truth. I could go on and on. We got the hell out of there as quickly as we could and left no tip. Beware at all costs. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT GO HERE unless you have some sort of sadomasochistic quality. Pros: Not on fire at that moment. Cons: Not on fire at that moment. more

Terrible food- I ordered the tuna melt and a side salad. The dressing on the side and the salad came on the same plate as the sandwich. The dressing spilled over the side when our "waitress" brought the food so the bread on the tuna melt tasted like vinaigrette and was soggy. The turkey on my husband's monte cristo was so dry he couldn't finish it. And then there's our waitress- she was scary. Very unfriendly- a bit reminiscent of a drill sargeant actually. We regretted being unlucky enough to find the worst restaurant in San Francisco. Pros: Close to lots of good restaurants Cons: This place exists. more

Just imagine a reunion of two old friends, expecting a San Francisco view and decent sea food in a port town waterfront restaurant....Well, a view is all we got. The fried sea food was overfried, possiblly old stock, a very poor offering, quite tasteless. The noicse salad featured equally tasteless watery canned tuna, possible the remnents of a can opened two weeks ago. The interior of the place was last remodelled during the early 50's, very worn and poorly maintained. Add a surly waitstaff and you have a complete picture of a restaurant on its last legs. Sad to see an obviously dying establishment struggle on. Avoid this real dissapointment. Will never go here again. more

My friends and I tried this place last weekend and we will never ever go back! Sindbad's has to be the WORST seafood restaurant in the city. The service was terrible - this holds for both the bartender assistant and the waiter we had. After we waited a good hour for our food to arrive I could not believe the 'Captain's Seafood Platter' they brought to our table. It was a cheap and disgusting looking dish! The two shrimp and sandy scallops that came with the dish were smothered in a bland buttery cream sauce at a poor attempt to give the dish a taste...any taste. We had a few bites but simply could not finish the food. After we complained how they could possibly charge $24 for such a crappy dish, the manager "graciously" gave us a $4 discount. Ridiculous! I do not recommend this place at all! Pros: Ambience Cons: Crappy service and even crappier food more

We went here to celebrate my birthday on a vacation to San Francisco. It was a wonderful restaurant. Great service, delicious seafood and a spectacular view of the bridge at sunset. Definately recommended! more

I think the people who are rating this place so highly are the owners or something, there is no way they had food that warrants this rating. I notice there are multiple postings with the same mispelled words so it seems they are from the same person. Just went here for a birthday lunch with my co-worker, my plate was $20 (for lunch mind you) it was one "filet mignon", scallop and shrimp "brochette", which in normal terms is a kabob. I asked for the mignon medium, and it was literally shoe leather, I couldn't even chew it, there was ONE scallop on the thing, cut in half to make two and two shrimp. It was grilled, and served over rice (uncle ben's) with mixed veggies (out of a can I think). It was bland, had no seasoning on it and WAY over cooked. I have no idea what the "veggies" were, as they looked out of a can and totally inedible. I seriously didn't eat the plate of food as it was the nastiest meal I have had EVER. Seriously, this place is AWFUL. I would never slam anywhere like this if I could tell they were just having a bad day or something but the prices are way out of hand the the food inedible and I am pretty sure they know it and just don't care. Total rip off, deeply disguisting and now I am traumatized. DON'T GO THERE AND WASTE YOUR TIME. You are in SF, stop by the ferry building and have overpriced food that is at least organic and yummy and made with pride. Pros: You can see the water Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE - food, ambiance, service more

Unfortunately, Sinbad's didn't live up to its reputation. The food was really mediocre, uninspired, and generally unexciting. The entire restaurant is a little shabby, and feels like a Red Lobster with linen tablecloths. The view is very nice, admitedly, but there are lots of great SF restaurants with nice views. Basically, Sinbad's is a place with fair views, a boring menu, and fair service, where you can pay $25 for a piece of fish which tastes like it came out of the microwave. Pros: Nice view Cons: Mediocre/boring food that is terribly overpriced more

We stopped in at Sinbad's and had a pretty good hamburger and a few beers here. It's in a convneient location right off the Ferry Market. It has a lot of seating and I think families would enjoy it. One draw-back is the drinks are a little overpriced, but I could be convinced to go back. more

My weife and I and two frienda had a wonderul time the other night. It wa riany but the view was still spectacular and the service was great. We all enjoyed our dinners. Two of us had seafood and the other two had steak and lobster. Fantastico! We were most of us too full for dessert but my fiend had Cherries Jubillee which we all tasted and thought it was great. We'll be back. What a night! more

I have been to Sinbads many times for business dinners and lunches and so recommended it to my son and his friends as a great place to bring their dates for their junior prom last weekend. Was happy to hear that they all had a great night. The people at Sinbads apparently treated them like visiting royalty. Its great to know I can pass on one of my favorite places to the next generation. And many thanks to Sinbads for the welcome they extended to my son and his friends more

Went to Sinbads last week to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. It brought back so many memories because it was here that my husband proposed to me on a date over five years ago. Sinbads still had that romantic feel. We had a table by the window, right on the water, with a perfect view of the bay bridge at twilight. The dinner was lovely, and we actually had the same waiter who served us five years ago. That made the evening even more special. We have to make it a point to come back more often, to rekindle the old flames. more

I belong to a professional group that just a couple of months ago began holding its monthly luncheon meetings at Sinbads restaurant right next to the Ferry Building. I wish we had done this long ago. The lunches are always good, the service is efficient, and we already feel like we are right at home. The wide open views sure beats the walled in room we had at our old meeting place. (I won't mention names). The valet parking right on the pier is a big plus, no more circling blocks for a half hour to find the rare parking vacancy. And the price for our meals is surprisingly reasonable for a downtown location with the best view in town. Highly recommend Sinbads for other groups and clubs. more

I belong to a professional group that just a couple of months ago began holding its monthly luncheon meetings at Sinbads restaurant right next to the Ferry Building. I wish we had done this long ago. The lunches are always good, the service is efficient, and we already feel like we are right at home. The wide open views sure beats the walled in room we had at our old meeting place. more

I have been in Sinbad's Restaurant on many occasions. They have one of the best veiws in town. Their food is great no matter what you order, just point your finger at a random item in the menu. They also have the best service. Their waiters do not bother you every minute and do not stick the check before you are done eating. more

My friend and I went to Sinbad's on Thanksgiving day for brunch because nothing else was open. I ordered the Eggs Benedict. The first plate has the eggs cooked all the way through, so I sent it back. When they brought out a new plate, the english muffins were soaking in oil or butter. It was disgusting. I sent the english muffins back and they brought out another two still soaking in oil. When I got the bill, they had not taken off the eggs benedict. I couldn't believe it. I asked the manager of the restaurant to take it off the bill and he said "well, did you eat any of it". I couldn't believe it. He ended up only taking off a portion because I actually ate the egg. I will never go back and I strongly suggest you avoid this restaurant as well! more