South End Grill ‘n’ Bar

Food is good, but their ability to complete a delivery or even just answer the phone is rather lacking.

Great local place! The beer is good, the brussel sprouts are amazing, and the Mac N’ Cheese bar is outstanding. Honestly, I don’t know why this place isn’t 10x more crowded, I guess the location is just a bit out of the way.

Delivery review — never eaten at the restaurant.
This place is my new favorite for delivery. The mac n’ cheese is simply delicious. The Carbonara and the Fiesta are the perfect cheesy ratio to noodle and other yummy bits.
The brussel sprouts with bacon pair great with all the mac n’ cheese selections.
Reasonably priced for the amount of food, and considering it’s delivery it’s pretty darn hot when it arrives at my house.
I think I’m in love.

I love this place! We never have to wait. It is perfect sports bar food. The prices are GREAT and the food is good. My favorite is the Mac n cheese (carbonara or margherita) and the buffalo wings! Also again with the price, they are fabulous and they always have a scout mob or foursquare deal for 50% off (up to $ 15). Also the owner is really nice! And great beer selection and good happy hour. A great little find on Valencia.

Mac and cheese will NEVER BE THE SAME! I loved mac n cheese since I was young but this places has taken it above and beyond. I recommend the Burger mac and Carbonara mac together. I been to other establishments and mac n cheese there’s always disappoints. I Highly recommend this place for mac n cheese in a family friendly environment..

Update to my previous review on the packaging for delivery — they are now putting the mac ‘n cheese in cardboard boxes like Chinese takeout! Woot!
No longer any reason under the sun to get the best mac ‘n’cheese you’ve EVER eaten: the Cheesy Mac! Just do it, you’ll be glad you did. With a side of Brussel Sprouts (with bacon) you can even trick yourself into thinking you’re being healthy and eating your veggies.

Apparently I forgot my previous review, because I ordered delivery again, and once again my food arrived scrambled in the bottom of the plastic bag. I immediately called the restaurant and had this bizarre conversation:
Me: «Hello, I received my delivery order and it is completely spilled into the bag.»
Restaurant: «Oh, do you live on a hill?»
Me: «Ummm… yeah, it’s a little hill.»
Restaurant: «Yeah, that happens when the delivery person bikes up a hill.»
Unfortunately their delivery menu doesn’t include a disclaimer saying, «If you live on a hill, expect to have to scrape your food out of the plastic bag.» Apparently this is a very common problem that they are aware of, and yet have done nothing about. That is what I call horrible service.

Besides the overpriced drinks (they really should get a fountain machine), the Mac Bar is the only reason one should come here. Un-​be-​liev-​a-​ble Burger Mac. If only they had like a bread roll to accompany it; might just get a toasted bun with it next time haha.
Since it’s not a fairly busy place, if you go with a large crowd you will be waiting forever since there’s only one person who’s a server-​slash-​cashier-​slash-​bartender tending to the whole place. I don’t see how he doesn’t train at least one of the cooks to help out at least as server when they aren’t doing much cooking. Gotta learn to multi-​task!
The real complaint is that ordering «to-​go» is the same container as for left-​overs it seems. The Burger Mac was so good I had to order another one to take home, but the portoin size was definitely smaller because of the container, yet still had to pay same price. No Bueno.

Parking was okay, went on a weekday with my boyfriend and we were able to find parking quick.
We arrived and there was 2 people at the bar and one family in the dining area. We waited to be seated but no one showed up after a couple minutes, so we sat ourselves.
Ordered beer, some fries, wings, and that delicious (must have) crab mac n’ cheese. This place gets 4 stars because of the mac n’ cheese alone, which was mainly why my boyfriend took me out here in the first place (he also had a soutmob deal).
The waiter came probably once after serving our food – there was an empty plate but she didn’t pick it up nor ask/​refill for water. Eh.
Overall, this place was okay. Come here if you’re looking for awesome mac n’ cheese or if you’re craving for it, because this is probably the best mac n’ cheese I’ve had!

Great little spot! Mac n Cheese was off the hook…
Great Wedge salad…

Since I moved out of the Mission, I haven’t been making it here as regularly as I used to. Gotta say, their happy hour special is first class ($ 5.50 burger + beer; $ 6 mac ‘n cheese), so getting an ok meal + beer for good prices is definitely a plus.
The food is not really awe-​inspiring though, mostly just a great place for pub-​ish food and beers. Definitely great for filling the tummy and satisfying a hungry tummy!
The trek is a little off the beaten path, though, and there’s not much going on in the area after the sun sets so (as a little girl) it does get a bit creepy if my friends and I are splitting paths after the meal… and I’m not a fan of chilling at the 24^th Bart Station or bus stops on my own.

Went here on a Friday night.
Parking around the area was pretty challenging, but the place was not that busy.
We ordered crab mac, garlic fries, and thai beef in lettuce cups.
They were all pretty good. However, the thai beef needed more flavor, it was kind of bland for me. And the fries were not that crispy, but good enough.

Surrounded by taco and burrito joints but all I was craving for was a burger and a cold pint — serendipitously I walked by South End Grill ‘n’ Bar and saw a sign for a happy hour burger and beer special. Done!
The happy hour special in a nutshell is a $ 5.50 burger with the purchase of a beverage — the cheapest combination would be a PBR ($ 1) for $ 6.50 total. Add cheese +$ 1. Bacon +$ 1. You get the drift. They also have some taps on special as well and I must admit they have a well curated selection of beers on tap here. The burger (
) was nothing exceptional but more than satisfied my craving for meat on a grill between two buns. Factor in the generous serving of fries, this was quite a significant nosh for happy hour.
Being at the end of Valencia, the place wasn’t packed at all with the exception of what I must presume to be regulars. It’s very «Cheers» like here where the bartender/​owner seemed to know the names of folks and what their usual order was. If I lived in the neighborhood, I could see myself coming back more often just because of the friendly hospitality. And beer.

If youre a fan of mac&cheese then you need to come here.
What a perfect place to celebrate my friend moving away. No wait AND they have a Mac bar.
An entire menu of different types of Mac and cheese. We ordered the Mac fiesta, Mac carbonara and Mac bolonaise (spelled wrong). SUPER filling. For 3 people (2 of which eat A LOT), we couldn’t finish. Ridiculous. But so good.
Also ordered the side of Brussels sprouts which were cooked well with great simple garlic flavor.
Definitely coming back.

We scanned ScoutMob deals and thought to try this place. It was a good opportunity to try a new restaurant, it had decently good reviews, 50% off to try somewhere different. i keep flip flopping between 2 stars and 3 stars and now after having re-​read my review i think i have to keep it at a 3 star. it is A-​OK.
Right when we walked in there was a strong smell of cleaning products that lingered in the air. Semi unappetizing and was worried it would ruin my eating experience the whole time smelling a blend of Clorox and wet towel smell.
The waitress was very nice and attentive. Maybe it’s because we were one of 2 tables in the whole restaurant for service. YIKES. Right away we were wondering if we made the right decision to come here.
The menu has a lot of variety but for some reason the food items don’t really match the vibe of the restaurant. it seems more bar/​divey and the menu is traditional american. Seems to have a contradictory restaurant theme with menu options.
crab and garlic mac and cheese — They have a full list of mac n’ cheese which was really exciting and we ordered the crab and garlic mac and cheese. i thought it was very tasty MINUS the little pieces of crab shell that i kept finding in my bites. the cheese was perfectly melted, you have the taste of crab all throughout the platter and it has great texture.
spiced rubbed chicken wings — i enjoyed this and it came out hot and steamy. the taste was good but nothing extraordinary. i think we could find this at any bar type restaurant.
angus burger — again, nothing special. it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great… it was just OK. the burger didn’t really taste like anything and we had to ask our server to give us ranch so we could have some flavor. we substituted the fries for onion rings and they were well prepared and crunchy! again, more ranch sauce to add to the overall taste.
i’d say the prices are on target but the restaurant needs to find it’s identity. are you a restaurant bar or are you trying to be more bouchy? i can’t tell. i’m a confused client!

Scanning the reviews, it’s apparent that they do a lot of advertising. We came here because of it was 50% off on Scoutmob. Love Scoutmob because it gives us a reason to try something we otherwise never would have thought of.
–spiced rubbed chicken wings with yogurt mint dip was interesting… not too spicy but still a kick. the yogurt blended well to balance the spiciness.
–crab and garlic mac and cheese was the star of the night. it was still bubbling hot when arrived at the table. the shredded crab was laid to rest on a bed of elbow macaroni and topped with breadcrumbs. GET IT
–angus burger, add avocado and caramelized onions with a side of onion rings instead of fries. greasy, bland and sadly I only salvaged it by slathering on ranch dressing with each bite.
The mac and cheese bar is the probably the only reason to come here. There were happy hour deals available too but the scoutmob was worth more so we didn’t look into those items. They have a nice selection of beers so maybe next time I’ll stop by for happy hour if I’m in the area.

This review is biased. This review also changed based on the continued impact my meal had on my colon and digestive system. So be warned.
First off, their happy hour specials are confusing and not very accurate. Yes, you can have a burger and fries for 5.50, but if you want cheese, then you will have to add a dollar. So, it is still a good deal, but it is not a steal. The curious thing is our waitress had to read a piece of paper to know what the happy hour deal was even though they seem to have the same one every day.
Anyway, my friend and I got macs from the mac bar and our own PBR in a can. I got the crab mac. It said that there would be crab in the dish. I think they meant essence of crab or the idea of crab. Or perhaps crab seasoning. My friend got the fiesta mac, which had a hint of spice to it, but was not so much different from my own dish. Overall, neither mac was bad and I would have given it 3.5 stars immediately after the fact.
Flash forward to my journey back to Berkeley on the BART. Just as I was about to get off at Ashby, I was almost crippled with terrible pains in my stomach and bowel. No doubt these came from the mac. I have mac all the time and sometimes when I overdose on cream, I get such pangs. This was really bad and I had a mile to walk to my abode. Luckily, I was able to save my pants and dignity from ruin and found a karate studio’s bathroom to use.
So, thank you South End for spoiling my evening.

Redeemed my Unilocal deal on a Friday night. This area has really changed since I last lived around the the neighborhood about 15 years ago. I like it!
I got the burger and it was ok. It wasn’t wow. I ordered garlic fries with that and that was good.
fiesta mac was recommended by the server and it lacked flavor. it was like boiled macs with some butter then topped with cheese, sour cream, etc.
My husband having recently gone to Ruth’s Chris were craving for beef. He saw the ribeye and decided to order it… well don’t go for it. Well since he’s been exposed to a better one, this one is not comparable at all. Don’t get it!
As forservice… it was quite busy yet server tried her best. There were some mix ups with the bill, but she really tried her best.
We’d come back here during happy hour… with a good burger and drink deal, heck yea we’ll go there!

A-​OK:
— My waiter was cute… charming. He had a nice smile. Eagerly suggested everything I was pointing at on the menu.
— Only ordered from the Mac & Cheese bar… this happened to be the reason I even chose this place to begin with.
— Since I don’t like extra cheesy Mac & Cheese. I happened to be pretty satisfied with my meal (I ordered the Fiesta Mac and the Crab Mac).
However, for those of you who like extra cheesy mac n cheese (like my date) — you might not be that happy with it.

This is a small place, with hard to find parking, and a decent menu.
Service:
Service was great. All waiters were friendly, polite, and served us with a smile. They were very accommodating. We had a huge party of 14 people, which filled up half of the restaurant already. But they didn’t snicker at us when we asked to add more people or make it seem like they didn’t want us there. Their service alone would deserve a 5 stars.
Food:
I have to say their food wasn’t all that great. It tasted like mac & cheese from the box and they just put random things in it. Like crab, hamburger beef, bacon, peas, etc… Their burgers looked tasty but I didn’t get a chance to taste it.
Also, I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have any hard liquors. The title «bar» in the name mislead me. They only have wine and beer, but the waiter did say that they were getting the other hard liquors later.
Overall:
This place was pretty good and I really liked the service. But I don’t think that the food reflected the price. If it was a little cheaper then I think they would be better.
It was a good experience nonetheless, but I can’t recommend this place to others.