Spruce

I could be transformed into a tall skinny guy living my parents computer science degree dream, leave my bojangles date behind and still feel like somebody more than a nobody here. The service is discrete and unpretentious, as if the staff wear white kid gloves ready to hand you a black napkin. I’d hate to spill the beans and share more details of the food surprises. Toot toot. If you’re fabulous, forget Robin Leach. You might prefer to sip your champagne and eat the truffles in silence. This food is for a long savoring, never swallowing.

Been here a number of times now over the years, both before and after the Michelin thing, and it’s been consistently good. Nicely spaced tables, so you don’t feel hemmed in even when it’s full, which it always seems to be, and friendly, timely service. Food here is classically prepared/​presented, and they do it very well. We’ve come here for special occasions because it has just the right balance of not too stuffy, not too casual, not too subdued, not too loud; just the right festive atmosphere.

Ambience — 4.5
Burger — 2 (wasted my money)
Antipasto platter — 4.5
I’m torn for how to rate this place. I really loved the ambience of this place and its formal setting. In a town where most people can dress in free t-​shirts and go to nice restaurants, it was refreshing to see a place with so many people dressed so nicely and formally. It’s a rare sight in SF… It’s a good place for business dinners as well. Service was pretty good as well. We ordered the antipasto platter and I enjoyed the variety of salumi and other items they had. However, I was really disappointed by their burger, which I ordered with foie gras. I’m not sure if I just made the wrong choice on the menu. The burger was on the dry side and the foie gras was super greasy. I felt like I just chewing on a piece of fat soaked bread (no actually, it literally was a piece of fat soaked bread). Because it was so fatty and dry at the same time, I couldn’t eat fast enough and soon the burger got cold and became impossible to eat with hardened fat. The fries were only OK, my favorite thing was the ketchup. I feel I wasted money ordering a nice piece of foie gras only to have it added to a poorly made burger.

One of my absolute favorite places for a beautiful dinner in San Francisco. Service is top notch and the food is great. It actually feels like a truly nice dinner place in San Francisco, with the ambiance of a nice place on the East Coast. You feel like you should actually dress up here — something I dearly miss at times in SF where everyone shows up to everything in a hoodie and jeans. That’s a comfortable outfit and definitely has a place, but I do like the excuse to dress up a bit every now and then.
The scallops are delicious each and every time. I was totally shocked though on this last visit by some of the best sorbet I have ever had in my life. The blood orange sorbet and mandarin orange sorbet that came as part of the sampler were spectacular and I wished we had ordered it in triplicate. Wow!

Spruce was a great all around dining experience. Delicious food, pleasant atmosphere, and attentive service.
The Foie Gras was by far the best dish we had. I highly recommend ordering it in whatever preparation is available.

Wasn’t sure how much I was going to dig this place — it’s got more of a classic ambience + food vibe, and usually I prefer trying something more modern or different for fancier meals. However, this place blew it out of the water.
Service was very attentive and friendly. Our table of 6 ordered cocktails, a couple appetizers and a round of burgers, and everything was delicious. Our charcuterie plate looked like a work of art, on a tree trunk slice with natural wood grain and with delicious meats and accompaniments. I don’t usually order a nice burger because I have a hard time telling the difference between a high quality and questionable quality burger, but I was in the mood for it this night and it did not disappoint. I’ve only had one burger before this that I appreciated as different than other burgers, and that was at Village Pub in Woodside (yes I’ve had the Marlow Burger), and this was right up there. Like the Pub in Woodside, they have a pub menu, so you can experience the quality without busting bank. Fries were delicious, cocktails on par.
Hope to return again!

We can’t believe we haven’t dined at this culinary destination sooner! Incredible food, elegant dining room and quality service. The high ceilinged dining room is rustic, with dark décor and warm lightings. Looking around you know you’re among the who’s who of the San Francisco social elite. There’s an eclectic mix of Silicon Valley IPO, old money and hipster foodies.
We arrived at 7:50 for an 8pm reservation and were seated right away. It’s a shame we had to rush our meal because we had a 9:20 movie at the Kabuki. Our server was on point in ensuring we were done by 9:15. We ordered drinks, appetizers and entrees all at once and everything arrived promptly for us to get out in time.
We started with the complimentary Gruyère puffs and charred broccoli. The broccoli was the best broccoli I’ve ever tasted — roasted to nutty and flavorful perfection — any kid who turns their nose up at broccoli would be hard pressed to do so with this preparation. Bread service include a cranberry, wheat or warm baguette roll. Butter was amazing. There were definitely seconds on bread — maybe even thirds.
For appetizers we had the foie gras (amazing) and charred octopus (great sauce). For entrees, we had the black cod, Guinea hen, duck and burger with bacon, mushrooms and onions on an English muffin. We peeked at the dessert menu but will have to try it next time. We wish we could have enjoyed the meal instead of rushing through it but we had zero complaints. We’ll definitely be back for another dinner and their Sunday brunch — the menu looks solid.

Went for lunch.
Had the pastrami sandwich and salad vs fries. The meat, tender, succulent, delicious, gruyère melty and crispy on the edges of the fried bread, and Russian dressing with a hint of horseradush, were perfection in each bite.
Chenin blanc paired nicely, and was treated to some treats by the bartender, Sean, who graciously called me a young lady.
Oh, yes, I will be back. Most likely for the mussels with Pernod. Or maybe the cioppino… Or perhaps the butternut squash soup… Or…

Recently our Friday night idea of going for a cocktail and some nibbles turned into an amazing fine dining experience. We had wanted to try Spruce for a while and knew they had a large bar area. So off we went on foot for the few blocks separating our place and this culinary mecca, only to have our hopes crushed when we were faced with a jam packed bar and a few people on their «bar wait list» (gotta give them props though, at least you can wait in a civilized manner for your turn to get a barstool instead of having to gawk around and pry on paying patrons like vultures in order to secure a spot). I already had my phone in hand and searched the Unilocal app for close-​by alternatives when on of the hostesses approached us to let us know that they had a last minute dinner cancellation and we could have a table if we were interested. Yes of course we were interested!
We started the whole dining experience with a round of cocktails. Smoke & Fire (Akashi Whisky, Smoked Tea Liquor, Drambuie, Birds-​Eye Chili, Lemon, Vanilla-​Honey) for the gent and the Linnaeus Theory (Bacchus Winter Gin, Yellow Chartreuse, Botanical Vodka, Mint Tea, Grapefruit Bitters) for myself. Both were presented beautifully and tasted equally as good.
Overwhelmed by the amazing menu options, we finally settled on the following:
Charcuterie Selection ($ 23) — the best meat plate I have ever had, hands down! Pâtés, rillettes, dry cured thinly sliced meats from various animals and the most amazing garlic infused toasted bread slices were presented to us on a massive platter. This will be our go-​to appetizer to share when we do snag two of those barstools during a future visit.
Charred Spanish Octopus ($ 23) — .heirloom beans, romesco, and hazelnut. The octopus was tender with a perfect grill char to it and the accompanying ingredients worked flawlessly together for a great dish.
Pancione Ravioli ($ 19) — fava leaf, pistachio gremolata, ricotta whey. Even though this was the least memorable dish of the evening, the pasta was toothsome and the filling delicious. Everything else we ate that night was simply a good notch better.
Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras ($ 28) — boudin noir, onion brioche, apple butter. The sweet brioche bread worked really well with the richness of the liver and apple has always been my favorite fruit to pair with foie gras, so needless to say this was a winner of a dish.
We had different wines with each dish and the by the glass selection that Spruce has is top notch. The Willakenzie Estate Pinot ($ 17) and the Château Roûmieu-​Lacoste Sauternes ($ 16) were my two favorite wines we drank that evening.
Service was impeccable throughout our dinner and I loved that they took our coats at the beginning and had them ready for us when we got up to the front desk upon leaving. Our plan for a quick bite turned into one of the best dining experiences I have had in the Bay Area. We will be back soon for that Charcuterie Selection and more cocktails (and/​or Pinot) in the bar area.

Atmosphere: romantic. I came here on a date and thought that it would be like a Rich Table– where it’s a Michelin restaurant but it’s also casual. Well I wore jeans and a nice shirt and it was fine but I definitely could have taken the opportunity to wear a nice dress!
Food: the $ 40 foie gras hamburger was legit! The bread was a little disappointing. I don’t know about you but the bread and butter are always my favorite part of a meal!
Service: great. No complaints.
I would definitely come here again!

I returned to Spruce primarily because their Restaurant Week lunch menu looked both delicious and like a great deal. $ 25 for starter, entrée and dessert? And let me tell you, everything about this meal was top notch, compared to the hit and miss experience of round one.
Ambiance: I think Spruce does itself a disservice by keeping the space so dark. Coming back for a lunchtime meal, the open, bright, gorgeous space could really shine. I missed out on this the first time, because it was so dark in the dinner hour.
Food: Home runs across the board.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP: Creamy, squashy and decadent. The spiced bread croutons added that extra fun bit of texture to a silky smooth soup. The Bellwether Farms cheese was present just enough to accentuate the squash, not overpower it.
DUCK CONFIT CASSOULET: The duck was delicious, the beans (either Rancho Gordo or Llano Seco — my server wasn’t sure) were cooked perfectly, and the flavors melded together so well. This is a regular menu item and I encourage anyone reading this to order it.
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE: I’m not a cake fan, so I ignored the chocolate cake at the bottom of my beautifully presented dessert and just enjoyed the mousse and ice cream. Yum!
BEIGNETS: Bonus dessert item because I doughnuts. I’m not sure if these fried balls of dough could have been brought to the table any hotter or any fresher. Coated in granulated sugar, I dipped each and every morsel into the vanilla cream sauce that accompanied it. (There was a chocolate sauce, too, but the vanilla is the way to go.)
I stuffed myself silly and loved every minute. Service was excellent. So glad I gave Spruce another chance. Many thanks to Alexandra for the nudge!

This restaurant is fantastic. Food is good. Dessert is amazing. BEST beignets you will ever have in your life. Even per others who are New Orleans natives. But warning: after you have the beignets from here, you will never want to get them anywhere else. And if you’re like me, you will crave them. You can get these magnificent beignets any time of day too, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
While the food is very good, the best aspect of this restaurant is truly the pastry chef. You can watch him and his team in action during dinner, from the outside window. His desserts and baked goods are amazing – from the beignets (best I’ve ever had), to the banana bread, the 1 lb coffee cake and cookies, lemon raspberry cake, the free peanut butter chocolate bites after dinner, and the buttermilk biscuits. Try everything.
Very dimly lit, so good date spot. Service is also stellar, they don’t rush you through the courses, and they’re quick to accommodate your requests («more delicious bread please!»).
DINNER:
Duck Charcuterie ($ 22) — excellent and less fatty than your typical charcuterie plate. Great pairings of sweets with the meat, this is a meal for two in and of itself.
Dry-​aged filet mignon ($ 52) — comes with «fois gras royale» which is a small cup of custardy goodness – very flavorful. Very good, but also comes with horseradish kale which hubby said is good (I don’t like horseradish).
Roasted branzino ($ 31) — beautiful presentation and well cooked fish, but not as flavorful as our meat dishes – this seemed to be more on the healthy side, and I was already full from the charcuterie.
BRUNCH (Sunday only):
A big PRO for brunch is that they take reservations, unlike practically every other brunch spot in the city (except for Magic Flute across the street). It’s also not super packed, which I appreciate. While this place is fantastic, I selfishly hope that it stays this way, so I can easily go all the time. This is easily one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
Pastrami Benedict ($ 24) — with crispy pastrami (really good, and I don’t even like pastrami), runny poached egg, roasted red peppers, hollandaise, and a lot of kale (which makes it seem healthy). Beautiful presentation, good portion, and very tasty.
Banana bread ($ 8) — comes with two slices. Relatively dense, but very moist, with a slightly crispy outside, topped with a slab of butter, salted with fleur de sel salt. More delicious, and better pricing than you will find at any bakery.
Buttermilk biscuits — Comes with certain entrees, SO good. Buttermilk wash on top gives them a slight outer crisp – so good, especially with some extra honey.
Bloody Mary with bacon ($ 13 + $ 2) — hubby said it was decent, but bacon needs to be cooked down longer.
Fantastic restaurant. Make a reservation, and get ready for a delicious meal (or just dessert)!

I had high expectations for this place because I have heard great things about it. I came here for lunch and got the butternut squash soup, duck confit cassoulet, and chocolate mousse cake.
Ambiance & service
Classy & upscale with minimal décor — I was a fan of how everything was set up. Service was okay, our waiter was a little off-​putting and seemed like he was forcing a smile, but overall did his job fine.
Food
The butternut squash soup was incredibly salty. I am a big fan of butternut squash anything, and I had high expectations for this soup. It was so salty, and I finished my glass of water by the end of the bowl. The cassoulet was VERY bean heavy, which is expected… but the bean to duck ratio was very off. I think I had two or three pieces of duck that were very small in my entrée. It was like 90% beans, 10% duck (which was dry might I add). The only redeeming part of the meal for me was definitely the dessert. I enjoyed the chocolate mousse cake a lot and the passion fruit sauce that came with it. The banana ice cream was also great.
I might come back one day, but I was very disappointed in my lunch.

Came here for lunch during SF Restaurant Week. It was $ 25 for an appetizer, main course, and dessert. Pretty good deal, I think!
We ordered both the Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (description: Bellwether Farms Carmody, Spice Bread, Toasted Chestnuts) and the SMIP Ranch Baby Beets (description: Goat Cheese Labneh, Roti, Cocoa Nibs). Both were delicious. The beets were fresh and sweet, and the cocoa nibs were a unique touch. The salad as a whole was very refreshing. Soup was so yummy — sweet and butternut-​y but not too overwhelming/​creamy. I only wish it had been hotter.
For our main course, we both opted for the Cassoulet (Duck Confit, Smoked Duck Sausage, Root Vegetables). Oh my god how did I not discover the wonder of baby onions until now. Not a huge fan of the duck sausage though– this was probably my least favorite dish out of everything we had.
Dessert might have been my favorite! It was Kokoleka Chocolate Mousse Cake with Passion Fruit, Coconut Snow, Banana Ice Cream. Oh, coconut snow, you… go! That was terrible. But wow, at first I thought it was powdered sugar (which I adore), but no– so much better! Light and coconutty. Overall, not too sweet with many different components of various textures and consistencies.
Holy damn, iced tea was $ 4.25.
Service was excellent. Waiter very friendly and attentive.
They have amazing quality paper towels in the bathroom. And someone very kindly pointed me to the restroom on my way back there. Excellent attention to detail and service overall! I want to give this place a 4.5.

I can’t believe it took me so long to come here. Granted Spruce is in the outer reaches of Presidio Heights, but having been to GD, Quince, etc, I’m sad to say it finally took a restaurant week availability to finally muster the courage to come out to Spruce. I am SO, SO, SO glad I did. I will be back, but I can really already tell that Spruce will be one of my go to SF spots for any special occasion.
The restaurant and vibe is amazing. Natural light, amazing high ceilings, and wonderfully appointed furniture and spacing to make the restaurant just blow smoke of class. On top of that the bar is absolutely stunning with 4 rows of drinks embedded within framing that makes it look like a beautiful piece of art. Some of the bottles of the top are indeed one off varieties and clearer the top, top shelf as it should be. As you walk into the main entrance you are also flanked by what seems to be a private dining area with its own entrance as well as a beautiful café.
Ahh the food, I cannot wait. I had an amazing simple anchovy salad, a burger to die for, and an amazing chocolate mousse cake. It was basic, but that along with a great pork loin. The Spruce burger with thick cut bacon added and french fries is a solid burger. The pork loin came with amazing fried jidori eggs, potato hash, and a whole grain mustard bearnaise that went amazing on my fries and burger as well. The menu for dinner that I saw and the various reviews make me want to come back here soon!
As for the service, it was impeccable (as it should be at this price point, but you would be surprised) and like I’ve said already I can’t wait to come back for more reviews. Thanks for an amazing experience Spruce.
Cheers!

Located in an affluent neighborhood next to fancy boutiques in Presidio Heights, Spruce is romantic and intimate restaurant for celebrations of any kind. The atmosphere inside is relaxing, tables are perfectly spaced where you can dine, socialize and relax with minimal noise.
My sister and I took our mom and pops here to celebrate our dad’s birthday. The food was delicious and very filling. They have a wonderful and extensive wine list that could be a bit overwhelming, but I also appreciate the many options!
Seared Hudson Valley Foie Gras with Boudin Noir, Onion Brioche and Apple Butter — Can’t go wrong with foie gras! It’s perfectly seared into a buttery and melty texture, its better to share with another to avoid over indulgence!
Steak Tartare with Jidori egg yolk and Gougere — my favorite appetizer! The little egg yolk added extra creaminess and bonded with the steak very well. I never realized raw meat would taste so good!
Roasted Red Snapper with caramelized sunchokes, satsuma mandarins and oil cured olives — this was my entrée and the fish was fresh, seared to a crispy outside and moist flaky inside. Paired with citrusy mandarin oranges, it was a home run for me.
My mom had the Seared Sea Scallops, my dad had the Flannery’s 14-​Day Dry-​Aged New York Strip with a Foie Gras Royale, while my sister had the Liberty Farms Duck Breast. They all enjoyed it thoroughly!
The highlight of the night was of course the Beignets with chocolate sauce, and crème anglaise. It comes with 6 beignets, perfect for sharing.
Our waiter Chris was incredibly friendly, professional and provided my family and I a wonderful experience. What I appreciated most about him was he gave my parents eye contact while explaining their dishes even though he knew they did not speak any English. He caught my drift when I told him we were celebrating my dad’s birthday and made sure he made my dad feel special with a special dessert with a candle presented to him at the end. My family had a really good time!

Came to eat here yesterday (brunch)… We didn’t plan on eating here… But at the last minute– we decided to go check it out. (I felt so under dressed) we were sat in the back at table 42. Our server was lacking– demeanor, everything was wrong. We heard him ask the same question using the same verbatim that he used on the other tables– leaning on the table, and constantly abruptly interrupting mine and other peoples conversations– etc.etc. the other employees that came to our tables were spot on. Very professional. Man in the suit was very charming– I’d say we had maybe four other people come by our table to help us from folding our napkins to delivering drinks.
The food was perfection we split the smoked ham eggs Benedict. Probably the best eggs Benedict I have ever had– it was seasoned beautifully.. And the burger was outstanding.
Cocktails— were amazing. I’ll be back. But I’ll request a different waiter ;-)

Wow, if I could give more stars I would. What a fabulous restaurant, from start to finish, atmosphere, service, food, all so perfect.
The drinks and food are so good, we all started with a apéritif, an entrée and a main dish. The beet salad was an art piece, the bean salad had a delicious vinaigrette. We all ordered different main dishes, scallops, duck breast, salmon and chicken. Every dish was amazing. I especially loved the duck breast, perfectly prepared, medium, rare, and a good size portion.
The wine list is almost overwhelming, but our server suggested a wonderful wine that went with all the dishes.
Service here is the best, they are so welcoming, they pace the dinner perfectly, top notch. Our server was so good, made the night special. Two of us were celebrating birthdays, what a great restaurant for special occasions. I have been a number of times, I highly recommend the bar area as well for anytime, great wines by the glass and a good bar menu. Spruce is one of my favorite restaurants in SF.

Let me start by saying I did not have dinner here, I sat at the bar and had a couple of martinis and a ceasar salad, so it is not a complete review.
Bar drinks and service, that’s a 4 star. The vodka martinis were excellent and the bartender was extremely attentive. Thumbs up here.
Ceasar salad. Not so much. The salad was fine, fresh and crunchy, but the dressing was not great. Plus, I was expecting real anchovies with crostini, based on the description, What I got was 3 salty round pastry puffs… I guess the anchovy is infused in them? Missed the mark there guys.
I’ll be back for a full dining experience and will let people know with an update

Ok. so I loved spruce so much I went back today for lunch. I wanted to treat a friend so I made a reservation here. They are so accommodating and they really provide excellent service. It’s lunch time so it started to get busy but the Hostesses was on it and seated us efficiently.
I was really disappointed today with the quality of the dishes and the consistency. I really thought maybe a new training chef was preparing the dishes.
I ordered the Waldorf chicken salad which was missing candied walnuts that was on the menu and it was so bland without any taste we literally both dipped chicken in the salt.
Secondly, the branzino! I usually love this dish but seriously I thought they basically added fish to salt water. It was uneatable– my friend had an hour for lunch so we picked at it. I had to provide feedback to the chef through our waiter and ask if the chef tasted the dish– if he knew how salty he shouldn’t have sent it out especially at a spot like Spruce.
Yes they took the branzino off the bill and have us a cookie– we appreciated that but what I really wanted was a nice enjoyable lunch with my friend but we were really disappointed.