House Rules

If you have a menu item called Nachos Grande, it better be f_​cking GRANDE.
Not 12 chips in a mini 6″ cast iron skillet (six inch diameter. I kid you not) with a SPRINKLE of cheese and a ton of canned black beans on the bottom.
Seriously, WHERE’S THE REST OF IT? And WHERE THE CHEESE AT?
I realize this place isn’t supposed to be known for their food. But you know what? Neither is Bell Tower, Bullit, or Bar Fly – ALL of which have decent nacho plates. Much bigger, more cheese, and more toppings.
This place is a joke. $ 13 for micro nachos with chicken – the size of $ 1 nachos from Taco Bell. Avoid if you enjoy eating and have the appetite bigger than a supermodel.

Good place to watch a game, if you’re alone. Not good for a group due to lack of table space. Ok if you go by yourself, but if you have friends go elsewhere. Food is ok but abysmal service. Bartenders chatting or leaning on their elbows rather than attentive to customers. Training is in order.

Went there last night to watch the Warriors beat a single season record for most wins and the entire place was lively.
The five of us sat in the back room at a table and we were waited on by the waitress, I wish I could remember her name. When I say this was the best service I’ve had had a casual restaurant/​bar in SF, since I can remember, I am not exaggerating. She was so friendly, attentive and unbelievably quick! We were all ordering greyhounds and of course we each had our own particular nuanced request to our specific order. The drinks were coming out in less than 1 minute. Hats off to the bartender too.
We all ordered the green salad with chicken and some appetizers to start. Food was really tasty for a bar.
I’ll be back here for sure to watch games.

It’s a nice place. There is a full kitchen, but we are not eating. Great bar, great service! We had a fun time!

Really solid brunch! I had the turkey and sweet potato hash. We ate 5 hours ago and I’m still full! It was really tasty. I like the option of having coffee cake instead of toast, the coffee cake was pretty good as well. I had a cold brew and my boyfriend had the fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, it was delicious. Service was great and the food came out fast. I’m happy to have another solid option in the neighborhood. Only negative for me was the music — loud EDM at 1:45pm was a bit much for me… Geez I’m getting old.

Great cocktail options, great theme, and great bar bites!
The ‘school’ theme is everywhere in this bar, from the décor, to the cocktails, and the food. I ordered their chicken nachos, my guy ordered their chicken tender bites. The nachos were great– loaded with chicken and all the other toppings, and a good sized portion. The bottom layer was completely black beans, and I definitely skipped eating all of those, but I thought the taste of everything was stellar. Their chicken bites were seriously out of this world too! They were juicy, perfectly breaded, and just had a seriously great flavor to them. We were super impressed with their food!
I ordered the mule, which you can put vodka, bourbon, or rum? I think into. I chose bourbon. Not sure if there is an upcharge, but the price on the bill ended up being $ 11, even though the advertised price was $ 9. The cocktail was perfectly mixed and boozy, though, so I was still a satisfied customer.
I definitely recommend giving this place a try!

Nice place. Cool vibes. Delicious food. Good and attentive service.
Don’t ever change.
Stuffed mushrooms — BOMB!
Tuna Melt — BOMB!
Parmesan truffle fries — BOMB!
Super Green Salad — BOMB!
Good drinks too!

this place is super cute! the house rules are plastered on the walls, eg., refrain from drunk texting or calling, if youre drinking to forget please pay in advance — so clever! we came in sunday afternoon for the first finals game and the place was jamming! same owners as eddie’s downtown and a couple other bars in the city! we ordered — fried chicken bites (FIVE STARS), the big burger with yummy fixings (pickled jalapenos? YES), and truffle parmesan fries (the house made ketchup was a little weird)… overall the food is really solid, much better than eddie’s downtown… would come again!
minus one star because there is only one bathroom…

I’m not understanding the positive reviews here.
The first time we came about 20 mins after they say they open, and we were told they were closed because their bartender had not shown up yet (and we weren’t even looking for drinks… just brunch).
The second time we were able to have brunch, but none of the food was impressive here. Meanwhile everyone was screaming inside because of something football related.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!
Noelle has done such an amazing job making this place clean, cute, comfortable and took time to make really yummy drinks!
Everything from the art, paint, theme and little nook that changes themes, I love this place. I like the size and feel of it also, like still very SF but intimate and casual if needed.
Staff is so friendly, easy on the eye and just seems like the crowd coming in is overall «nice!»
Love it here, come one, come all! CHEERS!

Relatively new spot on Polk. I like how it feels small and inviting (except for the awkward space in the back) but the food is surprisingly tasty. Seems like it is upscale bar food but definitely worth coming for a few beers and a light bite. Solid spot on Polk to break up the aggressive likes of tonic, greens and bullet!

OK food, OK drinks, cute venue.
Came here on a Sunday morning for some grub the niners.
The mimosas were tasty, but the $ 13 burger (w/​o fries!) was nothing to sing home about.
If you’re looking for a bar with good drinks, House Rules could be a good option. If you’re looking for a bomb burger and drinks that are a bigger bang for your buck, i’d go across the street to Polkers.

Came in to check out this new addition to the hood on a Thursday night while looking for a bite to eat with my boyfriend. Most of the bars on Polk Street were pretty busy/​not serving so we decided to come here. The bar area was pretty busy with 20 somethings sipping on cocktails and beers, overall the ambiance is nice/​clean.
We found two spots at the bar and grabbed some beers and a bite. The bartender was attentive and the food was decent, nothing to rave about or anything I would come back for. The portions were a bit small for the prices and lacking in flavor.
I think the main downfall of this place is the set up. Entering the bar appears busy and like a cool crowd, however there is this empty seating in the back that is kinda shut off from the rest of the scene. Dining here on a Thursday the back room seemed completely empty and people didn’t want to wander back there. Possibly if this was more of a destination for great food the back area would fill up, but it seems like House Rules is focused more on drinks and a fun bar scene that the dining area is lacking attention.
Would possibly come back for happy hour drinks but wouldn’t recommend the food.

Thank you, House Rules, for providing a moderately-​priced and exceptionally clean bar on Polk St! If you are willing to spend an extra few dollars more than Nick’s Crispy Tacos, come to House Rules to watch a good sports game.
House Rules has decent specials, GREAT cocktails, and many TVs. Their breakfast sandwich is something to write home about, and their appetizers in the afternoon are enjoyable. My only qualms are the lack of beer taps (they could have a better variety at least) and the service. I find that the Sunday afternoon servers are not as attentive as the weekday service.

Loved the place. Went with a bunch of blogger friends for brunch on a Saturday afternoon.
Ambience is pretty chilled out with people having drinks and watching games
Good is good especially the burgers. i however had a plate of french toast with Lotsa fruits. Quite delicious but very sweet
Service was quite fast as well.
Definitely coming back here Again for some drinks

Came in for dinner on Tuesday night around 7pm. It was relatively quiet and we got seated at a table right away. We started with several of the snacks — I really enjoyed the burrata and toast but I wouldn’t necessarily order the mushroom dish or pretzel again.
For the main course, I got the Big House Burger which was delicious! The patty was juicy and all of the additional ingredients, especially the bacon and jalapenos, make it perfect.
We also enjoyed their cocktails — the greyhounds are made out of fresh grapefruit juice and were very refreshing. One of my friends got the Stranger Danger but replaced the Jameson with vodka and really enjoyed the combination of sweet and spice.
I would recommend this place dinner and/​or drinks.

Not gonna lie, I didn’t have high hopes. This space has been turned over several times over the last year or so. I truly wasn’t excited about another rowdy, sweaty, pub-​style-​food type of place. Yes, it was elbow-​to-​elbow, filled with folks who’d had a few too many, but the food and drink were tasty and our waitress was a doll.
We came in around 9:30pm on a Saturday and sat at one of the two-​top tables lining the bar area. Service was attentive — surprisingly so as the place was pretty packed. Noshed on the chicken sandwich and chicken tender bites. Maybe I was starving, or maybe both dishes were pretty darn tasty, dunno. Either way, I was happy with our choices and pleasantly surprised.
Two thumbs up for decent bites, cocktails, and service.

Food
Chzburger trio — yum!!! Also with poppy seed bun. The details! And specia sauce aka tastes like 999 island.
Service
Happy hour avail. Great and attentive and friendly. Noël is a doll. There’s bar hooks at every seat! That’s how you know a business cares about their customers, in the details.
Atmosphere
Love it. Bar lounge modern classy with openness tall ceilings windows opening up to Polk street large ass screen plus few smaller ones to watch the games, awesome fire place in the back, conveniently in Russian hill and on Polk surrounded by myriad of bars and restaurants

We were so lucky to find a table for 6 on a Friday night for supper and drinks around 7pm. Perhaps it was because House Rules is new?
Anyway, our table noshed on the burrata plate, pretzel, and burger plates. Almost all of us drank the freshly squeezed greyhound drinks. The food came very quickly and was consistent, hot, and filling. The gastropub fare was spot on and supplied a strong base to what was later a looooong night of drinking on Polk Street! The menu is somewhat limited (which I’m totally fine with!) so picky eaters may not be satisfied here. Also, a few of the folks in my group didn’t care for the «fancy» ketchup, which reminded them of cocktail sauce. I, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed it!
Side note: Our table of 6 was charged automatic gratuity, so keep an eye out for that. It wasn’t an issue for us since our server reminded us after she ran our credit cards.
The prices are quite fair here and we really enjoyed the scene! I will certainly be back.

Extension of Campus on Chestnut. Very cute! Great for watching sports.
Great menu and set up. Adding to the Polk street bar scene like wash!!!