Bia's
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: Haight-Ashbury1640 Haight Street
(between Belvedere St & Clayton St)
San Francisco, CA 94117 (415) 861-8868
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
375 reviews
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
"*piano and jazz notes* sooner or later you're gonna be mine …" read more »
114 Reviews for Bia's
The so-called sangria tasted like iced wine. The grilled eggplant sandwich was blah, but the lentil soup was decent. Too bad, such a waste of a great location and back patio.
Terrible, terrible place. Service sucks. Food really sucks. I have walked by Bia's many times and wondered about the place because even from outside it looks a bit threadbare. I finally made the mistake of going in. Service was unbelievably slow and unfriendly. I ordered a hamburger. It tasted like dog food that had been thrown on a shit caked grill for a couple of hours. The fries with the burger.....please...no....god no. This place is a horror, abandon all hope of a good meal ye who enter here.
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What were we thinking! This was the only place that could accommodate a large group after the AIDS walk. I do appreciate them accommodating us but it is just gross! The bathroom should be condemned the tiles outside of the bathroom are all cracked and falling apart. Take a look out the window while waiting in line for the bathroom and the alley is so gross it needs to be cleaned up or thy need to put a curtain on the window so you can't see it.
They have no concept of medium rare and what kinds of Greek Salad was that?
In the words of Gorden Ramsey from Hell's Kitchen:
SHUT IT DOWN!
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I don't really know what to say. I guess I can sum this place up by saying it's the worst restaurant I've ever been to in San Francisco. The only thing worse than the food is the service.
Fuck this place. Don't eat here.
OMG TERRIBLE! Waitress acted like she didn't care, seemed like we had to talk fast when we asked for anything. My "veggie" burger SUCKED. It had a wierd taste and the triangle piece was hanging out of the bun. There was only a dot of mayo, so nothing could fix that flavor. I regret walking in there. It's a waste of time and hard earned money! I don't know how there are any good reviews on this place. It should be consistently good for a good rating.
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I absolutely adore this place.
First off, i would recommend coming here for dinner, not lunch. Not only is the food better at night, but so is the service.
I've only gone once midday, but I was saddened by the lady that was working there; she had such a nasty attitude.
In the evening's this place is top notch. Their food is so flavorful, it amazes me. I get the lamb or salmon usually and it is always cooked to perfection.
The appetizers are also very Very good. I truly recommend the shrip skewers... Oh man.. nothing top's those things!
There is a very nice waiter that works at night, that is well versed in the wines they serve and is happy to talk to anyone about them. He is the most wonderful person.... always such a delight.
I found Bia's by accident, but me and my boyfriend who lives on the east coast both agree... Bia's is our favorite. We make sure to come here every time he is in town.
This place doesn't LOOK that great.... but looks can be deceiving.
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I made reservations here, back before my Yelp days, for my best friend's bday. When we got there, it was pretty empty. That wasn't a good sign. But it turned it out to be such a pleasant evening. They were so accommodating and friendly. And the food wasn't bad, either.
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If you want to make sure I never return to your restaurant, you can simply do the following:
1. Give me and my boyfriend the lunch menu while giving the people you seated BEFORE us the much more varied dinner menu. (This was realized when we saw the people beside us receive food we hadn't even seen on the anemic menus we were given.)
2. Don't say one word to us about the extremely long wait for our two burgers while apologizing to the people who placed their orders AFTER us for THEIR wait. (For the record, this was early on a Sunday evening and the place was FAR from busy.)
3. Don't give us silverware. I don't care if we just ordered burgers, I would've preferred to cut mine in half for easier (and less messy) consumption, especially since you only gave us one napkin a piece.
4. Serve us fries so old that they're room temperature and literally shriveled with age.
5. Don't bother to ask us if we want dessert before bringing us the check. Admittedly, by that point I was so annoyed with the bad service that I just wanted to get out of there, but this is a huge peeve of mine at restaurants.
As other reviewers have noted, the decor is lackluster at best, but I could have easily overlooked that if the food had been better or the service at least somewhat friendly. I could even have forgiven the playing of an entire Cure cd during our visit. (I like the Cure, but the music didn't really seem to fit the environment, nor is Robert Smith's voice the best thing to listen to when your patience is being sorely tested.)
My boyfriend did say that his lamb burger was good, but my regular burger was mediocre and neither one was worth being treated with the disdain we received. Even worse, is that I saw things which gave me the impression that the person who waited on us was one of owners. Well, "sir," I'd like you to know that, had you given us the dinner menu, I would've actually ordered the steak instead of the less expensive hamburger. AND, had you been a smidge more polite to us throughout our visit (and also bothered to actually ASK if we wanted dessert,) it's likely that we would have ordered the creme brulee as well. So congratulations on shooting yourself in the financial foot with your snobbish (and incorrect) assessment of us and making about HALF of what you could have made off of our visit. Sadly for you, you're not getting a second chance.
Well, most of the recent reviews seem negative due to service, but I have to say, we had excellent service AND the food was really good. One in our group is a regular and confirmed that service is variable depending on who's working, so I don't doubt that any of these complaints might still be valid. Still, one of the great benefits for us of these negative reviews was that we had a great meal with great service without waiting and in an atmosphere where we were able to talk without shouting. We'll definitely do it again.
food was pretty decent. steer clear of the veggie burger unless you seriously want a VEGGIE burger. (it's green)
service was pretty slow but then again there was just one girl working her ass off. she was super nice, just overworked.
we sat out back and it was beautiful. you'd never guess you were in the middle of a huge city.
overall, i've definitely had better but for the location and ambiance i really did like it.
We were walking past Bia's and my wife (who had eaten there before and not been impressed with the service) wanted to show me the back patio: she thought it was beautiful.
We approached the guy standing behind the bar and asked him whether it would be OK for us to check out the back patio. He looked at us and the fact that we were with our 4-year old son and said: "Perhaps it's not a good idea. There's customers back there" with the most condescending attitude and treating us as the biggest jerk because we had a child with us.
We will never eat at this place. I am not surprised we got this comment from one of the servers: service seems to be the worst thing at this place.
We were wandering around Haight Street, trying to decide what to do until the door keeper at Alembic let us in (a two hour wait for eight people seemed reasonable to us that evening, oddly enough). Bia's looked like a nice place to grab a snack or possibly dinner during our wait. Once we settled in, we ordered a bottle of cheap Cabernet and the cheese plate.
The wine: well, it was $20, so I wasn't expecting much. It was super sweet, which suited my hangover fine because I was in the mood for juice. My dining companions that were expecting a Cab weren't so happy.
The cheese: !?! Sliced Gouda, Muenster, and a block of goat cheese, straight out of the deli counter at Safeway. Seriously. And we had to order a side of bread to go with it.
The service: eh. Perfunctory.
The ambiance: cozy, if the service was friendly and the food was good. But without that, just a little rundown.
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I'm sad to see that Bia's has a fairly low rating. To be fair, I haven't been in about a year and a half but prior to that I went pretty frequently and always enjoyed my time there.
The service isn't always the best, but it is (or was at least) a family owned restaurant so there wasn't always enough staff but the food is good, the wine selection is great, and I love the cozy ambiance.
I used to get their red wine flight, 3 glasses for $15, always a great way to sample their recommendations. I haven't had too many of their entrees but I've had most of their small plates and all were delicious. If you're looking for somewhere super romantic I might not go here since if they're short staffed it may ruin the experience but a great place to go for a comfy wine bar/restaurant.
Let's get the good things over with since there's only two of them. Bia's has a nice patio and organic produce. Unfortunately, you can't help but also notice the lousy service and food.
I ordered sangria and was served wine. Would have complained if it hadn't take forever to get a chance to place an order at all. I should have surrendered then, but things actually got worse when our food arrived a million years later. We ordered an appetizer, a salad and a main course, all to split. In time we were praying and hoping to see any one of them before closing time. And we waited forever to eventually receive them all at once... Lame.
Foodwise, I'll start with the good one. The trout salad is good - smoked trout with peppers, toasted walnuts, fennel and goat cheese. Unfortunately, the other two dishes made it seem like that the salad was blind luck. I saw potential in the saffron risotto cake stuffed with Gorgonzola. I came away with a mouthful of mushy disappointment. And then there's the moussaka. As a rule I'm wild about it. I was struck with disbelief that it could be made to be so bland. A bit sad I was.
Some friends joined our table for a drink and had a better experience. Sure they suffered the same slow service, but were saved from the lame grub by having made an In-N-Out run...smart friends.
Still, there is a conceivable way I could give Bia's another chance. The patio is nice, and it's hard to completely blow brunch, right???
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I have to admit that I am surprised to find so many negative reviews of this place. Granted i have only ever gone their for brunch, and I always order the same thing (the dutch eggs are amazing), so that definitely limits my view of how good the restaurant is as a whole, but I live right there and go ate least once a month. It never disappoints.
Obviously, as people have said, the back patio is a huge draw - there is nothing like going out back there on a nice day and just relaxing while enjoying this zen/natural garden thing they have going on. I like getting there somewhat early in the morning (1030/11, which is early for brunch) so that the waiter only has to deal with me and maybe 1 or 2 other tables. He has always been really nice to me.
Then comes the food. They have what is in my opinion the single best hollandaise sauce i have ever tasted. And considering my love of Benedict's, I have tasted plenty. I have had better Benedict's overall, but the hollandaise - OH MY GOD.
Then there are the breakfast potatoes - so good! I love them, they are the perfect combination of potato and seasoning and peppers for me early in the morning. Not too much, not too little - perfect.
Plus - Organic. That is excellent by me.
That's my take - not the best breakfast place in the world, but if you are there and want to eat outside early on a weekend, I give it two thumbs up.
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Bia's was pretty crowded for 7 pm on a Sunday. Was this because it's the cool place to be, or because these customers had arrived for brunch and service was so slow that they were still waiting for their food?
This place has a surplus of flourishing foliage. After waiting 20 minutes to place my order, I almost tore the leaves off the nearest plant and made my own "organic" salad.
I feel bad giving them 2 stars, so I will come back here next time I feel like blowing $11 on a pile of lettuce, some apple, and a sad-looking piece of chicken. I would like to increase the rating, but it will require decent service and some eye contact.
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I have eaten here at least 4 times now. Two early dinners on a weeknight, one later dinner on a Thurs or Fri and one dinner on a Saturday. I saw a pretty decent difference between these experiences, in terms of service.
One thing remains the same though, the food is very, very tasty.
I like the variety on the menu since it includes a few more mainstream mediterannean/middle eastern dishes and then a few more obscure ones as well. And the wine menu has never let me down!
I also like the early evening prix fixe menu. It's an outstanding deal.
Now, back to the service. It boils down to a staffing problem. I've never been a waitress before but it seems unfair to expect one waitress to serve 20+ tables, some of which have large groups. A gentleman from one of the tables finally got up to help her at some point. He insisted because he felt bad for her.
Maybe I'm wrong on this but the Saturday night dinner we had here was this scenario and she definitely had her work cut out for her. But, she remained very pleasant through the entire evening! And I stick true to my original statement, the food is GOOD and that is why I go back.
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A lot of negatives here... I can see some of their points. Yes, service is slooooow. I think there's like 1 cook in the kitchen. Came here last night with a party of 10. But all in all, they didn't screw up our orders too much (just that one time they forgot to put in my order for the potato cake appetizer - I would pass on that anyway) and our dinners were all excellent. And that's me and 9 other people saying that.
I had the yogurt chicken & rice - which says on the menu something to the effect of "yes its interesting but it's quite good". I took the chance, and it was good. And interesting.
The sangria.... I can pass next time. Tasted a little too sweet.
They do have a nice wine selection here. All in all, it was an unique first time experience. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.
Bia's is everything you don't want- unless you want slow and terrible service, average food, and an awkward table by the bathroom. I went here a total of three times and I will not be going there again- I'd rather order a salad from Ben and Jerry's. The first two times I went there, I got the half salad/half sandwich combination- it was overpriced but tasted fine. On one of these visits my friend ordered tea and then was served a tea bag in a glass filled with hot water- for $2.50. Both times that I went for lunch were on the weekend- Saturday once and Sunday once.
The next and last time that I went to Bia's, we were seated at a table basically 5 feet from the bathroom and kitchen. It was uncomfortable. I asked the waitress about the patio seating outside, which I had never seen, since it was closed each time I had been before. Tonight was no exception. I asked her when the patio was open and she replied that it's always open during the day on weekends. Lies!
Anyway, we were seated in the lap of the underbelly, and then after 10 minutes the server came to take our orders. We ordered and I had to ask for water. After about 10 minutes I noticed that other tables around us had bread, so after 5 minutes of eye contact with the server followed by her ignoring me, I asked her to bring bread. Ok, the bread was fucking delicious- but I can go to a bakery if I'm desperate for good bread.
The food eventually came, and my smoked cod salad was decent- my friend's pasta was ok, but had some spice in it that made it sweet. The house wine, according to my friend, tasted like gasoline, which I believe is not a good thing.
Throughout the whole meal, the server did not once check on us, and if we tried to get her attention, we had to be ignored at least three times before she came over.
It was not THAT busy at Bia's that night. So long, my shitty organic friend. And that sucks, because I like organic food- but your lackluster service and limited menu will not be drawing me into your quarters anytime soon.
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Bad, bad, bad. Don't do it. Bad service. Bad, over priced food. Wouldn't go back for love or money. I feel sad about being so harsh but I think they only exist because of the hungry tourist factor. I live near by and there are many many other choices that won't leave you feeling so cheated.
I gave it a second chance. Both times I've been to Bia's the food sucked. I had a teriyaki chicken sandwich .... umm... previously frozen chicken that had been precooked then sliced then grilled .. YUCK! potato salad that was at best adequate. lukewarm soda with like three ice cubes. price tag = $15
tourist trap... oh and I don't believe for a minute that most of the food is organic. the menu says "organic products used when available" but there is "french's" mustard on the table. When is better mustard unavailable? My waiter was actually pretty nice today.
I shouldn't have given them a second chance.
Let me preface this by saying that I rarely give two star reviews (and I rarely waste my time reviewing places that I don't care for either), but this place just kind of got under my skin.
So my fiance and I walk in today and the front room is nearly deserted. There were at least three servers up front "chatting" to each other and they all looked at us like "we could give a shit less that you are here". So after that "warm" greeting, and by warm I mean absolute silence we escort ourselves back to the "garden". Ok, it's not really a garden, but more of a back patio smooshed between houses with a couple of tall trees with some lanterns strung about, but it is cute and cosy, so one star for that.
Like many others who have reviewed this place, I am going to report again that this place is slllloooowww. I am, in fact, a forgiving and patient person when it comes to servers. I know their job is hard and often thankless, but these guys just have ATTITUDE. Seriously, you would think that they were doing us a favor by taking our order. I think I said thank you THEM more than they ever thanked us (which was never by-the-way). They were not very busy, but you would think that our server was going through an absolute crisis, practically dropping plates in front of us and scooting away, and to top it off, he brought us our check without ever having checked to see if we needed anything else or if, I don't know, we wanted to order something else which would, duh, make his tip larger?
Then there is the food, which I will admit, was palatable. We both had the lamb burger and it was pretty decent. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it was tasty and filling and more "interesting" with feta cheese and capers added to it. We also ordered the tiniest glasses of sangria on the planet for 3.50 a piece with a rather sad wedge of orange in each. I wasn't so sad about it being so small, because it wasn't the greatest sangria I've ever had, but not the worst either. So one star for tasty food and mediocre drinks.
All in all, I probably won't be coming back here with all of the fabulous eatery choices in the Haight. Life's too short for poor service and ok food and drink.
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Over priced.
Inattentive service.
Meh food.
I'm unsure how Bia's stays in business... OH WAIT! Tourists.
What a waste of a day before your birthday-birthday lunch.
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A wonderful experience, that went way beyond food.
About 2pm on Sunday we were hungry and sought refuge from the hot Fall afternoon (75 degrees). I was wary of this place, because the menu didn't impress me at all. But walking through the restaurant on the way to the back patio, I noticed bright red and yellow colors, a long, cool corridor, an open kitchen, and a large wine storage area. Under the trees, by a double-wide yard next-door, the heat reduced itself to a quiet, calm, lazy warmth.
Our $50 + tip brought us: a roast chicken with an amazing sauce, maybe tarragon butter; hand-cut shoestring fries; a chicken-avocado sandwich; all the jasmine green tea and coffee we could drink; a flight of white wine consisting of riesling, sauvignon blanc, and chardonnay, all full four-ounce pours; chocolate souffle with mascarpone; about two hours of quiet, outdoor conversation; and an attentive, attractive waitress who smiled a lot and made sure we were happy the whole time.
Other than the observation that the wine was stored standing up, which was none of our business because ours tasted just fine, it was a perfect afternoon. There's a lot of capital improvement going on in the back yards in this neighborhood, but there was no noise today.
I highly recommend this place on a Sunday afternoon.
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Bia's offers a relaxed, coffee house like atmosphere, including patio dining in the back. And when you order Sierra Nevada in a bottle they'll bring it to you chilled and opened.
Unfortunately, this is all I can really tell you about Bia's. Had we been served promptly, I'd probably be telling you about their soup and their sandwiches and such, but after waiting in vain for the waiters attention we decided to move on. In fairness, we were told the waiter we were expecting another person and he probably just assumed that we wanted to wait, but it would have been good to check on us at least.
Also, the aforementioned bottle of Sierra was five bucks and you'll pay 3.50 for a rather small glass of sangria.
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I would have more to say if we hadn't wised up and hightailed it out of here after 15 minutes. No service, no manners, no AK and matthew capital r. We were unfortunate enough to stumble into this alternate dimension where everything moves ten times slower and takes ten times longer than it does just outside the doors, on busy Haight Street.
Prices seem reasonable til you see what you're getting. Um...I could chill a $3 bottle of Forestville merlot and call it sangria for a lot less than $5 a serving. But I wouldn't. Because that sh*t is nasty. And last time I checked, $5 for a bottle of Sierra Nevada was a little steep. Especially considering the intensive labor on our part just to procure said Sierra Nevada.
Thank you, Heidi A for rescuing us. Unfortunately, Bia had already left a foul taste in my mouth (and not just the cheap wine taste). Blame my bad mood on Bia. Lesson Learned. We won't be back.
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I'm surprised of all the negative reviews this restaurant got. I actually found it right up my alley. We ate there last Sunday on a leisurely, late afternoon. We strolled in to the back patio which feels like being in your neighbors backyard and don't go there if your scared of trees and a little dirt, I personally love the earthy atmosphere. Heat lamps outside a plus, I had a glass of pinot grigio followed by the roasted eggplant and mozzarella sandwich - delicious and the salad dressing was to die for. Another plus, the food is all organic and reasonbly priced.
On the downside the service is slow but I enjoyed it and I will def. go back.
The only reason I gave this place a 3 was because of the ambiance. I took a date there on a whim and we had a great comfortable spot right away on a friday night. The lighting was somewhat dim and romantic. We could carry on our conversation without a ton of noise or being interupted by the waiter very often. We sat on a comfortable bench with some nice fluffy pillows by the window. People watching and my conversation outrated the food by far.
I ordered the chicken linguine. It didn't taste too great at all and after 3 round a bouts with my fork all the pasta was gone. How do you order a pasta dish and have no pasta left after 3 bites? My friend ordered the penne pasta which didn't look too bad but I think we could have gone to olive garden or something and had a much more satisfying meal. To top it off we got the basket of bread halfway through our meal. Isn't that a starter?? Something to munch on BEFORE the food??
If you want some wine and a nice spot for romance and conversation then check this place out. If you are looking for great food then don't bother!
I love this place. The owner is so nice and always makes sure to give everyone special attention.
There's a fabulous wine selection, and they're open to altering their dishes to make it more vegetarian friendly.
You have to figure a place sucks when there's never anyone in it aside from German tourists in black socks and Teva's. I decided to test it out the other day for lunch seeing as I live in the neighborhood and had never been there. This place sucks. The service was horrible - the owner didn't even acknowledge us as he set down menus and then the waitress was the weirdest chick ever. I feel bad, she was probably just INTENSELY shy and weird but why become a waitress sweetheart?? Anyway, the food sucked. My friend ordered a burger and it came solo. No fries, no salad, just a plate with a nasty looking burger on it (think 5th grade cafeteria food).
We sat by the window and watched people wander by in the rain and eventually come in since there is nowhere else to eat on this block. EVERY patron was a tourist except for us. Bottom line: We are morons and this place BLOWS.
Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo^2
Yes, that is Boooooooooooooooo squared.
My bf and I ate here awhile back, when we were shopping on Haight Street.
Though the outside area is cute and charming, the prices are not.
Our cheese plate was poor. The cheese was mediocre, the portions were tiny, and the cost was expensive.
We waited awhile for everything and the waitress, though nice, didn't seem very familiar with the menu.
I ordered a pasta dish and my bf ordered a chicken sandwich. Both were decent, but nothing I would rave over.
Once the bill came, both of us were shocked at the price. We paid about 50 dollars (including tip) for a lackluster meal, with slow service.
There are far too many great restaurants in this city to settle for Bia's.
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Went down to the Haight to check out some of the shops and grab a bite to eat for brunch. Besides the Pork Store and Asqew, there didn't appear to be too many good options. We stopped into Bia's b'c the sign outside boasted organic ingredients and looked pretty simple. We were starving and left pretty unsatisfied. I got some special with half a sandwich, potato salad, and glass of sangria. It was certainly a great value on paper but in my mount, a whole lot of crap. The turkey sandwich tasted strangely like indian food. My bf got some sort of scramble which was pretty good but really small. Needless to say, we stopped off for a snack after we left the Haight.
The trick is to skip to the back and go to the outdoor patio - we missed that memo.
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We ate at Bia's the other night and the food was very good. We settled on a pitcher of Sangria (SO good! Almost afraid to say better that Cha Cha Cha's up the street!) We had an array of appetizers and 2 entree's between three of us. We particularly liked the potato cakes with Curry sauce and the crab cakes. The vegetable moussaka was tasty too! I have been to Bia's in the past and it has proven that it is consistently good food at reasonable prices. If you feel that $12 is a lot for an entree - maybe try to eat at Asqew Grill across the street?
I declare this place environmentally conscious , vegetarian friendly, and delicious!
Food: Surprisingly good!
Atmosphere: Very nice-- especially considering its Haight street location!
Service: Friendly and efficient.
I'm extremely happy the King did not read the peasant yelpers negative reviews before heading over to this place last night for a very nice dinner. I'm just kidding my fellow Yelpers. The King is sorry you've had bad experiences.
The King has been here before-- usually for brunch. It used to be called Zaris or Zaties or something. They changed ownership and I admit my first experience there under the new owners was not the best. However-- it appears they've raised the bar.
As a vegetarian, it's hard to find places that serve delicious food to carnivore friends that isn't totally ethnic (Thai, Indian, Ethiopian), and we were with my "Can We Please Eat California Cuisine" friend, so we went here, giving it another shot, since they do serve mostly organic and locally grown foods.
Lemme tell you... the risotto cakes and the empanadillas appetizers are out of this world tasty. We were all not expecting the greatest food, so when these bodacious babes of edibility arrived on our table, we lustfully dug in and were quite satisfied.
Next up-- I had the Penne Pasta with Vodka cream sauce, my wife had the Stuffed Eggplant, and our Cali-Cuisine friend had the salmon. All of us raved about how good it was.
Mine had a real kick-- spicy-right and the penne was cooked to absolute perfection. Seriously-- this was probably the first time I can remember thinking "wow-- this pasta is the most perfectly cooked pasta I can remember eating!"
So, people-- understand the food is a bit pricier than other restaurants in the neighborhood, but it's worth it.
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Here's what their website says;
"Come in and experience fine dining outdoor in our secluded heated
garden all year round"
If by fine dining they mean average to good mid-priced Mediterranean/California cuisine (huh? but, yes) then, yes, it is fine dining.
If by secluded they mean surrounded by so many buildings and trees you don't get much sunlight outside of the noon hour then, yes, it is secluded.
If by heated garden they mean that the heat lamps that are turned off are supposed to make you feel cozy while you tuck your hands into the cuffs of your sweater for warmth then, yes, it is heated.
If by unparalleled service they mean hit or miss.....oh, wait, they didn't promise that!
They will upgrade your wine from a $36 dollar bottle to a $48 dollar bottle with no extra charge if they are out of what you want, however you will then forfeit the $15 food certificate that is supposed to come with any bottle over $35. I am torn on this one because good wine makes me happy, but so does food.
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More like RIA'S out my you know what. If you like poor wine, poor service, poor food then Bia's is perfect!
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Bia's is a bit expensive, but the polenta cakes are delicious and the cheese platter is tasty but nothing I couldn't get a whole foods. The service is good and the food is fresh. Also, what's pretentious about sitting on pillows in the window of a restaurant in a neighborhood that is home to some of the most dedicated drug users on the street?
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I was hoping I could click '0' stars. This is the worst restaurant in San Francisco, and possibly the world.
It was the day after Halloween 2004. Me and 10 friends went there with hang overs that were not pleasant we ordered 10 bloody marys. As we watched our 10 bloody marys sit on the bar getting warm with about 2 pieces of ice in them. We asked the horrible owner/servers if we could have more icein our bloody marys. They proceeded to tell us to take the ice from our empty water cups and use that instead. I know what you might be thinking is this guy lying because that just seems to ridiculous.
After 1 hour of waiting for our food, a group of my friends at the table next to us got up and left as they were disgusted with the service. We too were over it and asked for the bill.
They then proceeded to charge us for a bunch of stuff we didn't even order including the disgusting bloody marys that we sent back and also charged us for our friends table who was separate from us but had not paid there bill.
That is when all hell broke loose. Screaming , yelling the whole 9 yards. And the finest moment of it all was when they took all of our credit cards hostage and would not return them.
So I did what anyone should do in a situation like this. I walked out to Haight Street, stood in front of the restaurant and repeatedly told potential patrons "this is the worst restaurant I have ever been to, I highly recommend you do not eat here, it will be the worst experience you have ever had." Well this only made them more mad. I can't remember if they called the cops or if we just left on our own, but all Ican say is this "FUCK YOU BIA's" .
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Their back patio is so cute and cozy - it's a shame that it's such a waste of space since the food and service is mediocre at best.
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This place was TERRIBLE. The "server" was rude and never asked for our drink order, checked on us, or brought us the bill (we had to walk up to him and ask for it) and there was only one other table in the place. The food was awful. I had meatballs that were charred on the outside and barely cooked on the inside. The menu made no sense... middle eastern, italian, french....? GROSS.
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