Scratch

Been here a couple of times now for lunch and happy hour.
Service has been consistently outstanding. Even during the crazy lunch rush our server was always attentive to our table. Tried almost everything on the lunch menu and the cranberry turkey sandwich is my favorite lunch item.
The restaurant is always clean, spacious, and simple. The staff is very friendly and nice. Parking is limited depending on the time, I always go 10 – 15 mins before the lunch rush and never had trouble finding parking.

Came here for happy hour a couple weeks back and was blown away by how nice the set up is inside. Got a table at the bar and decided to order something from each of the categories listed. We got ceviche, couscous crusted crab cake, and pork belly and pepperoni pizza. Get a glass of chardonnay on the side and you’re set for the night. Everything was delicious and it was the perfect amount of food for 2 people to share.
Next time I come back, I’d like to sit at their oyster bar (yes, they have a bar set up specifically for that) and give that a shot.

I’ve been to Scratch many times for their excellent drinks, but only recently discovered they offer the best breakfast I’ve had on the peninsula.
The chicken and waffles are our favorite, but we’ve not been disappointed by any item on the breakfast menu and had them all now.
Definitely family friendly and easy seating in the mornings.

Returned this afternoon/​evening for a meal. I chose the scallops. Served upon some mashed sweet potatoes with sauteed mushrooms, the scallops were cooked extremely well.
Also ordered was the lobster pot pie. It looked like a bowl of stew with a crust but was apparently very good.
This visit to Scratch was better than the previous one.

I wish it was better, but our experience was not very good.
Some of the food was great, like the steaks and the PEI mussels, some was mediocre, some was inedible.
The Mahi Mahi «special» for example, was about half the size of a playing card and cooked to the point that it was difficult to cut.
The short rib was dry and small and would have benefitted greatly from a bit more sauce.
The ribs were average and the lobster pot pie was better than average.
The scallops were quite good, well seared and had good flavor.
The service was VERY rushed, and a couple of times they tried to remove plates we were still eating from, as in while the fork was still enroute to the mouth. I guess they need to turn tables over quickly (on a Wednesday night). For what you get, and the quality of the food, the prices are high. And not a just little bit. For what they charge, the food and the service should be exceptional.
The don’t publish their menu prices on the website, probably for good reason.
I might go back, but then again, I might not. There are other «New American» places that I’d go back to before this one. Corkage is reasonable at $ 15/​bottle (maximum 3).
Your milage may vary…

I want to give this place 5-stars…I really do. Great food, good drinks, amazing vibe — well, until 10:50pm when they yell out, «last call! no more after this!», to a packed bar. It’s Saturday night, can we be a bit more subtle? People started being turned away as they walked in. It’s just a shame — this could be THE place to go to for a night cap, or two — our only other choice is Molly’s. But the bartenders were rude. Rude as if people had asked them to be a-​holes to make more tips. It’s too bad — so much potential. Train your staff to stop being so rough around the edges. You can get the same message across and also make your patrons feel comfortable.

The Happy Hour is what keeps me coming back. Recently, I broke with habit and visited for dinner. The dinner was fantastic.
The place is always crowed but finding a seat is never impossible and it is well worth the effort of pushing through the throng.

This place was recommended by a few friends so we thought we’d check it out.
The décor and service was great. I really like the bar area. Very cool. The place was busy too
We had drinks to start. I had the Hurricane which was quite tasty. I don’t like really sweet drinks and this fit the bill.
For appies we had the deviled eggs and mussels (coconut sauce). The deviled eggs were good; I would order them again. Mussels are good too but they were really big so a bit chewy. The sauce was amazing.
For the main, we had the simple fish which was Mahi Mahi and the tuna. These are average dishes. My mahi was slightly over cooked but the spices were very tasty. The sauce I chose was the lobster but I did t like it. It was with chopped tomatoes and lobster and onions. I wish I had the butter shrimp instead. I don’t recommend the lobster sauce. That being said, there were large chunks of lobster but the sauce was more like salsa and it was cold. I prefer my lobster warm.
The tuna was in smaller slices vs one big filet.

The ambience and food was very good. The waiter was awful. I struggled on 2 stars but service is a big deal. Sorry Scratch hire better servers!

I love love love the vibe here. The bar is rounded, huge, long, and in your face as soon as you walk in. There are intimate little tables alone the windows of the rounded feeling entrance.
You walk through there to get to tables. Two large dining areas are split by the kitchen. Very open and comfortable feel while still feeling private and quiet once you’re seated.
Very classic feel as all staff is in shirts and ties.
If you had a live piano player in here I’d live here weekly.
Drinks…amazing. Huge menu of well tailored seasonal drinks.
Food…can only comment on a few salads, flatbreads, and apps from memory. Not incredibly vegetarian heavy but enough for me to be satisfied.
Ambiance is fantastic for a date, business dinner, or catch up with fam/​friends. I’ve seen kids here and its fine for them too. Seriously a fantastic spot at the end of a fantastic street for food choices.

Here for a team dinner. Had the opportunity to try numerous things.
Deviled eggs — really good but could use some spice like paprika. They’re kind of bland but still tasty if that makes sense. Like a light flavor.
Bacon wrapped dates. Delicious
Oysters — their sauces aren’t great. Get tobasco with it
Mussels. Meh Steamed mussels tasted like the gas stove they were cooked on. The pan roasted mussels were pretty great
The cheese plate was great but wish they had an accompanying charcuterie plate
The service is amazing. Everyone is pleasant, everyone attentive, and I never had to refill any glass they were on point.
The entrees were way better than I would have guessed given the appetizers and drinks. Again we got to try a few things —
Short rib — amazing. Loved the flavors and the sides
Scallops — not for the hungry due to portions but amazing taste
Fried chicken — pass
Ribs — not for the hungry, still great flavor and nicely cooked
Sides: Mac and cheese is a must, Brussels sprouts are ok, beans side is ok, sweet potato friends are nothing special, and mash potatoes are small and just ok.
The lobster pot pie was good but 2^nd place to anything you really want
They have Pliny the Elder beer which made my palette… thank you Scratch!
Dessert:
Apple cobbler was ok
Chocolate cake thing was pretty good
Pumpkin cheesecake was pretty good
Brownie Sunday was just ok
Pear puff pastry thing was pretty good
But hands down winner was the Buttermilk panacotta — soooooo good
Wrote from phone, sorry for the crummy format!

This is a good upscale California cuisine restaurant. They also have a popular cocktail bar. The food is quite good. Everything tastes wholesome and fresh. I often choose one of the specials because they are always good. The cocktails are great! Always strong and well-​made. They only serve domestic booze (something that you will be told several times during your meal).
Scratch is open on holidays. I have been there on Christmas evening and New Years Eve for dinner and drinks. I like it for holidays because it is a rather nice place that you can dress up a bit for, but no need to get very fancy.
They are quite expensive. It isn’t a place that I would take frugal friends or those wanting to eat on a budget. Recently, I ordered a dish of scallops for about $ 30. The dish was 4 medium sized scallops and some purée. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious! However, each of those little scallops cost me almost $ 8 each. Some people may be put-​off by that. On the other hand, I think that once you walk into the place, you will probably expect that by the atmosphere.
I recommend Scratch and will certainly be back with my wallet allows.

Came out here for a dinner on a Friday night a few weeks ago and the food was simply delicious! Tons of variety and you can really tell that the staff takes care in their product. A lot of different options for you to try and the servers are super friendly. The only knock I’d have on them for a place like this, was that I wasn’t too keen on their signature cocktails that they had, but I only tried 2 of them. There may be one I can find soon, but hey that means I’d have to come back here and try more stuff; and I’m really not opposed to that!

I love this place. Scratch reminds me of so many places from my home in downtown Boston.
Food: great crab cakes with chunks of crab. The seafood plateau is a great splurge for appetizers but I’d advise against oysters here. Most of the oysters I’ve had were either carelessly shucked or not cleaned thoroughly – grainy with bits of shell now and then. The seafood soup of the day was just ok, I wouldn’t recommend it. Salmon on anything here is phenomenal. I’ve had it on the salad and as an entrée, and it was prepared a perfect medium and are every time. And sucker as i am for bread pudding, I absolutely had to give theirs a try. It was worth it.
Service: the staff here are wonderfully knowledgeable about the wines and foods. They’re also very well trained and courteous. I’ve walked in in both my gym clothes (albeit a little self consciously) and in more fitting attire. I was treated well both times and staff always remained attentive.
I knocked off one star for some items being a bit off, but otherwise, scratch is superb!

Dinner for nine, Tuesday nite. This is a delightful place for a small party and company get together. Parking anywhere near Castro Street is tough for lunch or dinner, set aside 15 minutes to find and park (even the two public large garages take time to traverse). A few guests arrived early, had a very tasty warm cinnamon and pear brandy drink, and then we headed to the table.
Seating was initially a bit cramped, but the maitre’d slid over an additional table after the next table left. Comfortable seating, and easy discussion at the tables (despite the dense table configs).
We started with two flatbreads — the truffle mushroom was the favorite of the table. Everyone was very pleased with their entres — the Braised Prime Beef Short ribs, Pan Seared Sea Scallops and Braised Lamb Shank were the favorites.
We didn’t order sides — main dishes were plentiful, and shared a Pear Gallete, and Warm Chocolate Brownie Sundae. (they had some interesting appertif pairings suggested, but we all had long drives home).
Wait staff and maitre’d were quite helpful.
Best tribute was that we shut the place down four hours later. We all felt ‘at home with our friends’ catching up, having a delightful meal and eating a hearty meal.

We came here for our anniversary– my BF had to visit for work so we made a night of it.
I loved the macaroni and other dishes– he had the fried chicken and it was pretty awesome. I also loved the brussels sprouts!
The service was amazing– comparable to a Michelin star restaurant with the attention to detail and the good attitudes. I would come back !!

The ambiance is great and waiters are warm. Serving groups can be tricky but the restaurant gets this.
I enjoyed the bacon wrapped dates as starters; however I found the artichokes quite bland. My friends who had fish highly recommend the halibut and the scallops. I found the lamb rather ordinary. My recommendation is that fish is the better option.
When it comes to dessert, we all agreed that this is tops; be it, the ice cream, the rhubarb tart or the crème brûlée, your sweet tooth will be satisfied.

The ambiance is classy, sort of smart casual, so it’s a perfect place to meet up with friends after work. They have a couple of menus to choose from, so we picked something non-​vegetarian and something vegetarian. We ordered the Pan Roasted Mussels. I couldn’t get enough of that curry! Because they give you bread, I just kept eating and dipping and eating the bread. We also got the Grilled Artichoke. It was your run-​of-​the-​mill grilled artichoke, but it came with this asparagus on the side that was delicious.
No after-​work gathering is complete without drinks. It took us a while to decide, given that their drink selection is HUGE. Two of my friends got the Syrah, and it was pretty good. My other friend ordered the Upper Manhattan, which was very strong. On the other hand, I ordered the Firefly, and it tasted like juice. We ended up switching drinks by the end of the evening.
The waiter was attentive and offered up some pretty good suggestions for all of us! If you’re looking to unwind after a long day, I recommend coming here!

Tipping, in theory, makes sense. But its execution leaves much to be desired. It’s subjective. Prone to subtle and not-​so-​subtle prejudices. Its very existence is based on the fragile, precarious idea of meritocracy. Do well. Work hard. And you’ll be rewarded. It is the «American Dream» playing itself out in every bar, diner, and restaurant in this country. It’s also an insane, archaic system that either needs to be improved or eliminated.
On my recent visit to Scratch, my large group had to endure an overzealous waiter who was more concerned about her tip percentage than actually serving with any semblance of competency. She got angry at the bartender whenever one of my group members visited the bar and purchased drinks. She got angry at us. Then she took her displeasure and reported the bartender’s «insolent» actions to the manager. We didn’t see her for the rest of the evening because she switched out with another waiter. She only came back to our table to deliver the bill.
As for the food… it was ok (considering the price tag). I had the pork tenderloin. It’s hard to remain enthusiastic about dinner when you have your waiter giving your group the «death to you» stare every 5 minutes. With that said, I do recommend visiting for the bar. They have a great beer selection and the bartenders, unlike our waitress, were very helpful and courteous.

This place has really good ambience.
One of the waiters was way too attentive, there were moments he was literally staring at us not saying a word, but smiling.
We had prawn cocktail, lobster ceviche, ahi tuna salad, and corned beef with eggs.
Have to say, one of the prawns didn’t really taste fresh, the texture was mushy.
lobster ceviche was good.
The Ahi tuna salad was suspicious. The color of tuna was way too dark than normal. And it seems like they pre-​marinated it? (Not sure) it doesn’t tasted like tuna anymore. Was not my favorite dish.
The corned beef with eggs. Okay, my friend asked him whether there will be onion, cuz she cannot eat onions, and waiter said «NO». But unsurprisingly there are still onions. She has to pick them out.
Overall it’s 3 star.

Resto-​bar américain sur l’artère principale et «walkable «de Mountain View. J’ai bien aimé: bouffe de bonne qualité (ce sont les autochtones qui le disent !) et service très aimable (je sais que c’est largement un réflexe conditionné par l’appât du tip, mais quand même). La carte met l’accent sur les fruits de mer, on peut attaquer en entrée par des pinces de crabe très fraîches à ouvrir soi-​même, miam ! Portions évidemment démesurées, n’hésitez surtout pas à demander un doggy bag si vous né finissez pas votre assiette, vous aurez deux repas pour le prix (cher) d’un.