Elia - San Carlos

Review summary

1. K

   Karen

   San Francisco

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   It was a great meal and beautiful restaurant. I just felt pressured to leave and I had noted that it was my friend’s birthday but there was no acknowledgment
   

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2. B

   Brigitte

   VIP

   San Francisco

   305 reviews

   3.0

   305 reviews

   Dined 6 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   Overall it was ok but just ok. Service was overwhelmed that night by too many patrons and orders were not right. I had ordered an Amethystos red but they brought out the white.Then I was told the red was not available . Next I ordered a Duckhorn Cabernet and out came a Goldeneye Pinot Noir which I noticed too late and then did not want to go through the whole process again and have it changed. But it was/is inexcusable. The zucchini cakes were a bit too dense and certainly not like Kokkari's, lamb riblets were chewy with a lot of fat too. The calamari rings were a bit too tough also. The whole seabass was decent though. For dessert the Galaktaboureko was too dense and not fluffy enough. So I guess if you are used to Kokkari and Evvia , you will be disappointed here. They did an incredible job with decorating the restaurant.It is very beautiful inside and out.
   

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3. C

   Carrie

   Central Coast

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined 7 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   This is my first public review of a restaurant ever. We were very disappointed with Elia last night after taking a friend there for what I expected to be a special birthday dinner. The service was absolutely terrible. We noticed plenty of staff members rushing around but we couldn't tell if we had a dedicated server. There was always a different person taking orders for drinks, appetizers, dinner and dessert and then others delivered our food. We couldn't seem to flag a person down for more water and all staff members seemed to forget about us after the main course was served. We were never asked how we were doing or if we needed anything. We sat with finished plates for a really long time and finally had to flag someone down for a dessert menu and ask that our plates be cleared. The restaurant is incredibly loud and we had trouble hearing each other as we talked. As a new restaurant, the management should consider possibly taking fewer tables to provide better service. Another idea is to train the staff on how to better serve customers by checking in on guests during the course of the meal. One of our guests is a younger adult and she was frustrated because it was so hard to get a refill on her water. She said that as she tried to wave to the many servers rushing around, they would just look away. She also wondered if the owners knew some of the other guests and were providing better service to those tables. This young person watched other tables and said people were being checked on and the staff was talking to other patrons but completely ignoring us. Also, when I made the reservations, I said we were celebrating a birthday. There was no mention of the birthday at all. This is a pricey restaurant and service should be just a little better. What should have been a nice dinner out to celebrate turned out to be a very frustrating experience. I don't think we will go back. There are much better options for food and service.
   

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4. L

   Luke

   VIP

   San Francisco

   4 reviews

   3.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on January 18, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   We were excited to eat here, Friday night reservation at 6PM, busy, happy crowd, comfy seating and good lighting. Greeter pitched us on bar and DJ till 1:30AM, we met our guest couple and sat for a 3 hour dinner. The primary issue here: every single food item we had was terrible. Saganaki (fried cheese) is a gimme, easy to make and how bad can fried cheese be? Well, when it's only partially cooked and salty as hell with no lemon to cut it down, pretty bad. Fried Olives? Hard as ice over fried outer shell with jarred green olives inside, very unpleasant taste. Lamb riblets? Over fried outside and under cooked inside with stringy meat leaving my teeth filled with strings and unpleasant flavor. Wild mushroom Truffled risotto? Oatmeal consistency with undercooked mushrooms and un-integrated flavors. Tasted like they mixed oatmeal with barely cooked mushrooms and sprinkled truffle oil on top. Lamb shank? Undercooked, stringy, desperately needed salt. I have rarely been to a place where not one thing I ate showed some promise. They really need to re-evaluate their line cook's abilities to carry off this menu and also some of their recipes or they won't be long for this world.
   

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5. P

   Philip

   VIP

   San Francisco

   8 reviews

   4.0

   8 reviews

   Dined on January 15, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 4

   Been here for lunch and dinner. This time the kitchen was off. Ordered two Mousaka’s and both were served lukewarm . Had to be reheated, unacceptable. No apologizes
   

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6. T

   Therese

   San Francisco

   17 reviews

   5.0

   17 reviews

   Dined on January 11, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   We had a late lunch on a Saturday afternoon in the outside dining space. Service was attentive, bread with dipping oil and balsamic to start while we checked out the menu. A great choice of Craft Cocktails, the Evil Eye was delicious, Ketel One Peach & Orange Blossom Vodka, Blue Curaçao, Passion Fruit Purée, Lemon Juice and Coconut Syrup. Tzatziki with pita and Crispy Olives were perfect starters before our main course. The Seafood Paella was enough to share with a butterflied lobster tail, prawns, salmon, scallops, mussels, chorizo, tomato, peas, clams in a saffron broth was a perfect combination. The courses were spaced perfectly. The Greek Cheesecake was a work of art served with berries. We look forward to returning with friends and family.
   

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7. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   San Diego

   1 review

   4.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 3, 2025

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 5

   Everything was delicious until dessert which was disappointing but an overall great experience
   

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8. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   VIP

   San Francisco

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 1, 2025

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   BEST RESTAURANT EVER! Amazing food, service and vibes!
   

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9. L

   Lisa

   San Francisco

   3 reviews

   2.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on January 1, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   The first thing the hostess said was that we had a 2 hour max to eat at our table. My friend ordered a beet salad that looked like garnish. It had 4 tiny beets with a very small amount of greens (1/4 cup max)drizzled with balsamic. My husband's chicken was dry and my crab cakes tasted like they were from a box in the frozen aisle. We payed top dollar for mediocre food. The noise level was loud. Not sure if we'll go back. On a positive note, our server was very attentive and we all liked him!
   

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10. K

    Karstyn

    San Francisco

    26 reviews

    1.0

    26 reviews

    Dined on January 1, 2025

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3

    High prices - low class! My wife is vegan so I always check the menu before making a reservation at any restaurant. So after reviewing their menu and seeing a few items my wife could eat I made a reservation for New Years Eve a couple of weeks ago. Last night we were seated and ordered some wine and a cocktail and started to review the food menu. A salad was about the only option we found for a vegan so we asked the waiter for recommendations for a warm main course. He looked completely lost but did say he would ask the chef if there was anything they could do. When he came back he said she could order Dolmas!! If this was a less expensive place I could understand, but if they are trying to be an upscale restaurant in a restaurant saturated market they should put some effort into pleasing their guests. We were also eating early so they were not full yet. We will never return ...
    

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