Town Hall Restaurant
| Address: | 342 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA |
| Phone: | +1 415-908-3900 |
| Site: | townhallsf.com |
| Rating: | 4 |
| Working: | Closed 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 11:30AM–2:30PM 5:30–10PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 9
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David Liang
Food: 3 Decor: 3 Service: 3 Came here for a company event. We reserved the entire restaurant, and we had a cocktail hour before dinner with various appetizers, seafood (mussels, oysters, lobster), and of course, plenty of booze. Nothing that amazing, although the mushrooms on baguette slices were quite good. Dinner was 4 courses: 1. Butter lettuce salad with candied walnuts and blue cheese dressing ~Disappointing. Lettuce salad was more like half a chopped head of lettuce, so it had some bitter ends. 2. Warm buttermilk biscuits with country ham and pepper jam ~Disappointing. Ham ended up being prosciutto, which was too salty. Weird combination with the biscuits and pepper jam. 3. Grilled Creekstone New York steak, fingerling potato puree, fall vegetables, red wine sauce ~Pretty good. Steak was cooked nicely, potato puree and veggies were good, and the red wine sauce was excellent. My gf got the Alaskan halibut, salt roasted fingerling potatoes, cippolini onion confit, chanterelles, sweet vermouth, and it was quite good as well. 4. Pumpkin bread pudding, whiskey sauce, maple-cinnamon marshmallows ~Disappointing. Way too sweet, and the whiskey sauce drenched the bread pudding. Only ate about a third. Butterscotch and chocolate pot de creme was slightly better, although it was also too sweet. Service was pretty good, but I had to flag a server down when my gf didnt get her 4th course.
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Jordan Jethwa
I always leave Town Hall with mixed feelings thanks to the contradictions. The building and decor charms you and the promise of down home country cooking entices you but as soon as you enter the doors it goes a bit south. Every time Ive been there the hostesses have just not impressed me in the least. It always feels as if they are doing me a favour even when I have a reservation. Luckily, the waiters and other staff are friendly and warm. The appetizers and entrees are great, but just miss the exceptional mark and my wallet cringes when trying to justify the price point. Dessert definitely wins thanks to interesting pairings like Crème fraiche ice cream. The ambiance is nice but is slightly marred by the loudness of the clientele who probably have the idea that Southerners get loud and jolly after a few drinks of hooch so psshaw why not?! After my last experience at Town Hall, Ive decided not to go back. They really need to sort out the hostess/host issue. The hostess/host is the first interaction with the staff at the restaurant and need to give a positive impression. If someone has a reservation and their table is not ready on time, you can give them an update and apologize. I had to chase down the hostess after keeping my party waiting more than fifteen minutes post reservation time.
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A Private User
Weve been the The Town Hall many times, for various occasions, with different types of people, or just on our own. Each time we leave content to have been there, with none of that feeling of regret you get after leaving so many restaurants--"Well, that was a waste of money Ill regret!" Or those restaurants that manage to ruin your mood in exchange for you money! The Town Hall has consistently attentive and responsive service, combined with delicious, yet simple, recipes and great ingredients. Nothing super fancy, but always a bit above what you expect, and a good value. A definitely favorite in SF. And the parking seems to be easy when weve come--also easy to get on & off the freeway, so it can be a first or last stop when coming to town. The only complaint--we LOVE the burger--but you cant always get it. I think its banned at night. We enjoy the tables or at the bar. If its packed, the building makes it a bit noisy, so either find a quiet corner, sit in the front or at the bar, or just come during quieter periods. I even take my 80+ year old father, who devours the burger, and can take the noise during slightly off hours. The bread is fresh and tangy, w/great butter. My mouth is watering!
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Tori Lesikar
Ate here for lunch with coworkers. The restaurant is extremely loud--we couldnt hear or talk to each other and the waiter couldnt hear us to take orders correctly. My salad came out how it was described on the menu, not how Id ordered it (Im gluten free and dairy free), and the salad dressing was extremely salty and the salad itself was soggy. My coworker ordered the soft shell crab sandwich and they brought him out a fried shrimp sandwich. When he looked and noticed it was shrimp and not crab, he mentioned it to the waiter, which was when he was informed that theyd run out of crab. They didnt even tell him...just brought out something different for him to eat. Overpriced, loud, ok food...definitely will not come here again.
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Julie Pimentel
This is a cozy dinner spot in a busy area of the city. The decor is comfy and really does make you feel like you are in the South. The service is excellent! They really appear happy to have you be there and make sure you have a drink or are comfortable until you have your table. The food is Southern Style. My only regret was the fried chicken was a bit too fried for my taste. There were lots of vegetable that I dont recall growing up with - perhaps those are the sophisticated type of veggies mom never served. If you are seeking desert, they have a great desert menu too and you may just not want to jump and go as you will feel like you are hanging out in your home as its so comfy.
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Corrie Davidson
This American fare restaurant located downtown in the Financial District is serving up Southern-inspired dishes in an almost colonial setting (reminds me of New Orleans a bit). The waiters were friendly and I liked the high ceilings. There is a small outdoor covered patio, a bar area with a common table, and a nicely-sized dining room. The standout of the evening for me was the corn - in both dishes. My steak was pretty good, very southwest as opposed to "southern", but I also liked my tablemates fried chicken. Overall, its a very typical restaurant for FiDi and business travelers; good but expensive. Oh, and I did love how the check came in a book of poems by Edgar Allen Poe.
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Lilian W
Ive been here 2-3x now and Ive never had a bad experience. 1. The complimentary bread & butter is on point. 2. Their jambalaya - a specialty of theirs - is hard to beat (4 stars). 3. Their little gem salad is just mehhhhh - I mean its a giant iceberg lettuce with a sprinkling of other vegetables (2 stars). 4. Both the salmon and the cod are delectable. A perfect balance of flavors - including just enough butter to taste like heaven (4.5 stars). 5. The butterscotch something dessert impressive - not too sweet/just right (4 stars). 6. The establishment itself and the service was 5 stars-worthy.
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Jane Nguyen
Just had lunch here with the coworkers because the boss was treating. Ordered the seafood etouffee here and it was soooo good! Loved the shrimp and crawfish that came with it. Ive been craving southern food and this place has definitely satisfied that. Got the St. Louis drink also. Wasnt too strong and had an interesting bell pepper taste to it...Id get it again. I wish we had more time to try their appetizers and dessert but sadly we didnt. It gets pretty packed but we went right when it opened so had no trouble whatsoever.
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Kai Xu
It looks like a high-end restaurant. The regular service is good. However, they make a mistake to triple charge my credit card. After I called back, their manager didnt apologize that and even didnt say sorry. He promised to email me the coming actions. However, after couple times of call, the mistake was still not fixed immediately and nothing happened at all. Based on the restaurants level, I rank them Poor to Fair because I feel that they are not really appreciate their customers experience rather than money.
