Sparrow

Glad it closed. What a weird place. Décor was horrible and the service was meh. Food was mediocre, but not good enough to ever return.

Sparrow has TERRIBLE service. Let me tell this story.
It’s Valentine’s Day and we have reservations for 8pm. When we arrive a quarter til, there’s 15 – 20 people just standing around. Bad sign already, right? My initial thought: oh, they’re just a little backed up, no biggie. But people keep arriving and no one gets seated. By the time we finish checking in, we’re waiting with nearly 30 other people. Every time we ask how much longer our wait is — we’re told that we’re «next».
Does «next» mean AN HOUR AND HALF? We get seated at 9:30 and expect immediate service. Our drinks came out, our soups… then we wait another HOUR to get our entrée. It is 11:30 by the time our steaks are on the table. It’s a fixed menu, for crying out loud. Don’t they have this prepared?
To make things worse, the staff kept informing us that our food is coming soon — what the hell. Just tell us you’re idiots and didn’t staff correctly for all the reservations. We complained several times and let them know we have plans after. They didn’t care.
It’s way past MIDNIGHT before we leave the restaurant. For a meal that costs over 200 bucks, this shouldn’t be happening. The food is admittedly very good, but because of the shit service and a ruined special night, I’m never returning.

The space is cursed. I think its the curse of Mama’s to be specific. In the early 80’s, Mama’s was housed in this space, and life was good. Lunch, dinner, brunch. Then, the rent went up, and Mama’s said bye-​bye. Then came Vanessi’s, which was wonderful, and lasted just about a decade. Then the rent went up, and goodbye to Vanessi’s. I still crave their table-​side made Caesar salad. Then came Gramercy Grill, Watergate, and now Sparrow. I live in the building, so any restaurant here is better than none in my book, but the portions are just too small. Everything is fine, but just not that spectacular.
The owners are so nice, and I hoped it would work out, but yet again the restaurant is changing– this time to Californian restaurant. The online menu looks much more in tune with the neighborhood and the building: steaks, pastas, salads, burgers. Hopefully, this incarnation will actually work.

I need a thesaurus to describe the many different ways in which this place was bad. If they re-​made Bad News Bears, but focused on restaurants instead of baseball, it would be all about Sparrow.
Service was poor. As in waiters spilling on us, getting our orders wrong and simply not listening to us.
Food was awful. Not much taste. Hot dishes were cool and cold dishes were luke-​warm.

There’s certain places that whenever visited you wonder: «how the hell are they still in business?!» Sparrow happens to be one of these places for me. I’ve been here a number of times, usually just for cocktails, and the place is ALWAYS dead. Maybe it’s because the food is just so-​so, the wine list is so-​so, the cocktails although good are nothing compared to Rye or some other places. Or maybe, like what happens to me each and every time I go there, the big fat man who is part owner of the building and is *constantly* at the bar scares people off. How many times can one person listen to an inane and trite story about hanging out with Janis Joplin and other hippies?
The space isn’t bad, and I personally LOVE the fact that it’s always empty, but sometimes even that gets old.

What a waste of time and money. My boyfriend and I went here for Valentine’s Day… we wanted to give this place a chance and we wanted to try something different. We found out about Sparrow via
and figured it would be a good place since they recommended. WRONG!!!
Why? Let me count the ways…
— over priced… our bill came out to over $ 200 for two people. We didn’t even pay that much at Jardinière’s!
— TINY PORTIONS… The appetizers and entrees are about the same size; we were actually STILL hungry when we left. We sort of laughed when they gave us two of their «house biscuits» because the biscuits were as round as a nickel and about 1 inch high!!!
— restrooms outside the restaurant and down an elevator, very inconvenient.
— PARKING SUCKS! No valet. Street parking isn’t really an option AND the parking garages cost an arm-​and-​a-​leg.
— Did I mention this place is inside of a condominium building? The restaurant sort of has that funky «hotel restaurant» smell too…
This city is filled with so many amazing restaurants, please don’t waste your time with this one… :(

Very unfortunate that this place didn’t fly on my list, this Sparrow is still nesting after all these time. We were came here with our neighbors since this restaurant is in the lobby of our bldg hence making it very convenient. However, the food was way below par. It was awhile back and experience was very unmemorable. I remembered ordering a fish entrée which was totally bland and lacking flavor, almost like the chef forgot to add seasoning. Bf had the sirloin steak which was not wow either. Overall a rather disappointing dining experience and the place is empty most of the time…

Unfortunately, this is more like a 2.5. The menu isn’t all that exciting, in fact we felt like we were struggling to find something to eat. We ended up with the baked calamari — I didn’t think it was great, the BF liked it. The garlic noodles — not very much flavor at all. The best dish by far was the chicken in the clay pot, it has a really sweet and tangy sauce. Yummy! In fact, I ended up using the chicken sauce to put on the garlic noodles so they had some more flavors.
We decided to try dessert as well and opted for the baked apple dumplings, decent but nothing great.
The space at Sparrow is HUGE and most of it was empty when we were there on a Friday night. If you are looking for a last minute place for a large group dinner this would be a good option. The service was really good, our waitress was friendly and attentive. Only cons about this place (albeit are pretty big) the menu and the taste.

I really want to give it more stars, because of the fantastic event that a friend hosted here — but I cannot bring myself to do so as an objective Unilocaler.
Pros:
Parking was convenient — there are two garages (that usually cater to the church) on the same block. Finding the place was no problem — big sign out front. The service was excellent, the waitstaff very respectful as they continually plied us with drinks during the cocktail hour. We had the big room in the back (a 40 person party), and when stragglers showed up much later, seats were produced for them with alacrity. Since this is an upscale place, they do take plastic.
Cons:
Finding the front door was a bit of work — the entrance is through the apartment building and at the end of the hall. The portions (of food) were miniscule — and given more to presentation than real sustenance. Restrooms are located on a lower floor, so you have to exit the restaurant then take the elevator downstairs — inconvenient. Finally, they were accomodating in letting a few of us have a tapas-​style dinner (I’d just had my wisdom teeth out and an entrée wasn’t a viable option) — but not before saying «Yeah… we may not be able to do that… all you want are appetizers? Really???» Finally, the place was… deserted. Yes, really. Thursday night, and we were the ONLY customers. At both the bar and the restaurant. Thats just not a good sign.

Need a great date idea then this is the place for you… my best friend came to visit so I decided to do it up for the night… little did I know we would end having such a great time that this would be our night. We decided to be adventurous and opted to have the chef pick the entres which were perfectly pared with a wine or sake. The lobster was decadent and the duck literally melted in your mouth. Each course is filling enough to leave you gratified yet ready for the next surprise for your pallet. So skip the trite dinner and a move enjoy the ambience along with the personal service while truly getting to know your date. Drinks afterward are highly recommended that is if your still enjoying their company. Sparrow was a hit with my friend and I both; from a girls point of view this would have been the best date night had either of us been a boy.

This place is HORRIBLE. I wish there was an option for zero stars. I typically do not review restaurants because I generally agree with what is already written. Only when I’m really compelled to let people know how GOOD or how BAD something is, will I write a review.
Ok so BAD.
BAD BAD BAD.
Our server was «sweet» but that was about it. Service here is just awful and the food is even worse. Do they even know what salt is? Every dish — boring, bland or just off.
The spring rolls lacked flavor, they fell apart, and the dipping sauces were an odd pair. Who wants to dip their fresh roll in garlic mayonnaise? The lobster udon was swimming in oil. The bone marrow needed salt but the accompanying greens were overly salted. The wild mushroom soup had a very bitter aftertaste from maybe using too much lemongrass? Couldn’t tell but wasn’t pleasant. Worse, our party of 6 all ordered pretty much the same entrée, each one was sized so differently it was a joke (my husband’s dish was three times the size of mine). Desserts: so ok, the peppercorn ice cream was neat but the sorbets need work (way too icy). Chocolate dessert was something I could get in the bakery of Safeway.
In addition to the food, the décor is disappointing. The chairs belong in a cheap Vietnamese restaurant and the carpet on the floor reminds me of a hotel banquet scene.
Don’t bother. Don’t even try to find out for yourself. It’s a complete waste of money.

K says: Debatable between 2 and 3 stars, but when you are paying that much for that degree of mediocrity, we settled on 2 stars. We had a buy-​one-​get-​one-​free sort of deal which they handed out to Nobhill denizens to generate interest, but the place was still half empty (not half full, for sure) on a Friday night. Not surprisingly, the food was sub par. I had something to do with noodles and lobster, which came paired with some tomato-​vegetable concoction that was just plain bad. I had a main of beef, which was sauced with some sort of sweet, miso (?), tangy number that might have fit better with the array of savory dessert selections. We chose the one dessert that didn’t involve anything that was savory, which was the chocolate ganache.

I live in this building, so its an interesting experiment to see how it will do. I ate there once and it was not bad, but a bit pricey for regular dining. Pretty nice bar/​lounge area, food was prepared very well, great variety on the menu.
Not sure its really 4-​star, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, since they are my neighbors!

The service here was appalling.
Our waitress was slow and very rude. She took offense because we asked her to decant a bottle of wine which we’d brought with us and paid corkage for. Apparently she felt the wine was too cheap to deserve decanting.
She was rude to us throughout the remainder of the meal, making sarcastic personal comments.
We saw her later in the week, smoking outside the restaurant and caught her pointing at us and snickering to her friend. These guys need to do a much better job of quality checking their employees especially as a new restaurant trying to build a reputation.
Other than the service, there was a table of lecherous tourists sitting next to us who kept staring and apparently making lewd comments to each other throughout our meal, and nothing was done about it even when we reported to to the staff.
Additionally, the place was so dark (feels like you’re in a cave or a perhaps a funeral parlor) that although the food wasn’t bad we couldn’t see what we were eating.
Fortunately, you won’t have to go out of your way to avoid Sparrow. Firstly it’s in a terrible location, on top of a hill but yet buried beneath a hotel, and will probably go out of business in a matter of months.

While we all enjoyed our food, the location is definitely weird and the place was really quiet on a Saturday night– which wasn’t that much fun. Also, the waitstaff was just kind of… odd. I don’t know– I usually like most food that I order so this is definitely a review of the overall experience. I don’t think I’d rush to go back or to take visitors here but, again, we did enjoy our meals. 2 friends ordered halibut and butterfish, I had filet mignon– all tasty– I tried them all with my roaming fork.

I have to agree with Nish– I have heard the space is cursed. The space is nice however the location with in the Watergate makes it harder to find.
The menu is creative yet the portions are too small for a two course menu. The drinks were too strong, yet the wine list was suitable. I did enjoy the crème brûlée desert-​5 spoons is very good.
That being said, the restaurant is new and has time to work out the kinks. oh and the music must be changed!

Had dinner at Sparrow last week. The restaurant needs to dramatically improve its act if it wants to stay in business.
Friday night, and the place was only about ²⁄₃ full, so there really was no excuse for the lackluster service. We started off with appetizers: the lobster udon and the shrimp summer rolls. Both were fantastic — full of taste and made with fresh ingredients. Unfortunately, this was the only redeeming quality of the night; it was all downhill from there.
It took at least 35 minutes from when the appetizers were cleared until we received our entrees, and there was no explanation for the long wait. And what a disappointment the entrees were. The entire duck plate was luckwarm, and the portion was pretty small. The «rice cake» that accompanied the duck was incredibly bland and stale. The halibut was not much better — I’ve tasted more flavorful fish from the inside of a can.
After the entrees, the staff took it upon themselves to really lower the standards. Taking our drink order, they claimed to have certain decaf teas, but they brought us the caffeinated tea bags. When we complained that they weren’t decaf, they continually insisted they were (when they were clearly marked). And the coffee they served was literally room temperature — absolutely no excuse for that. The berry dessert we ordered was decent, but they stopped refilling our water the second it was served.
Overall a terrible experience. Wait a couple months to try this place. If Sparrow’s still around, they must have significantly improved their act. Because there’s no way they can stay in business at the rate they’re going.

I will start off by saying this space is probably cursed, or more specifically the location itself, hidden away in Nob Hill. I’ve witnessed at least two other restaurants come and go, despite ambitious menus and decent reviews. So it was with some trepidation that I checked out Sparrow last night.
The space hasn’t changed much from its previous incarnation as Watergate. It’s a large space that has a nice sleek elegance to it. The sad part is that the restaurant itself suffers for being so empty.
This being about the first week they were open, I’m sad to report there were about 20 – 30 people served for drinks and/​or dinner over the evening. Not a good sign in a city full of buzz and Unilocal.
The dinner menu is certainly interesting, and there are some daring options that fall within the Asian Fusion style of cuisine. I wasn’t overly impressed or disappointed with anything that our group ordered, but on that not wouldn’t necessarily recommend any one item. I will say the dishes were presented artfully, it’s a shame though that this is proably not going to be enough to make Sparrow fly.

I have only been for drinks and appetizers in the bar, so take this as such. We had an awful experience and I honestly don’t expect this place to last very long. The bartender (he told us he was the owner?) was ridiculously slow — there were four people sharing the 20+ person bar area with us, and it took 10 minutes to get a glass of sparkling wine and a Tanqueray & tonic. I truly only mention this because it KEPT taking that amount of time to get a drink. With the same. number. of. people. in. the. bar. Inexcusable. The calamari was horrible. Chewy, not-​at-​all flavorful and served in a tacky, deeeeep bowl that required you stab your fork multiple times before coming up with… «YAY!, chewy calamari!»… but more often «YUCK!, wilting cabbage».
The décor is basically the same as when it was Watergate, with a few IKEA touches. I am not making this up or being rude. The bartender/​owner? cum decorator actually proudly mentioned this several times when we had the rare opportunity to interact with him.
Don’t waste your time or money on this place. Seriously. Go to the Big 4 next door, have a classy glass of wine and a delicious chicken pot pie!

The newly opened Sparrow has excellent food! Located in the former space of «Watergate» inside the lobby of Gramercy towers. You have to know where you’re going to get here because it is hidden a bit off California, obscured by the gated valet parking circle for the building. Finding our way inside was definitely worth it though. Their «official» opening is scheduled for July 2006 sometime, so there’s no crowd here, just nice quiet fine dining which is great for conversation.
For an appetizer we tried the shrimp summer rolls, served with 2 complimentary sauces, they were excellent and very fresh, no frying here!
I ordered their filet mignon and it was a truly wonderful piece of beef, small, but among the most tender I’ve eaten and it had a nice seasoning too. My entrée was served on a special long narrow plate with perfectly pan fried fingerling potatoes, freshly steamed tender asparagus and some spicy french lettuce greens. Small portions on the plates but really amazing flavors and freshness!
Sparrow’s dessert menu is truly exquisite. I tried the cracked peppercorn vanilla ice cream with roasted rosemary and fresh strawberries. An amazingly unique peppery/​sweet experience.