Nightbird

东施效颦

My family owns restaurants, and I enjoy fine dining throughout the country. We were recently staying at a hotel in San Francisco and had ordered an Uber to arrive on time for our reservation at Nightbird. The Uber arrived late and we found that we were stuck in rush hour traffic. We called them to let them know we'll be arriving late. They were fantastic and accommodated us so that we could both enjoy each selection of the tasting menu, while also leaving on time for the Opera! Nightbird exceeded our expectations with the quality and flavors of their tasting menu, as well as the warm ambiance and exceptional service. I highly recommend this restaurant!

I went with a friend before the opera and had the 12 course meal. The ambience is quite nice, so we were excited. The first four small bites were exquisite. My friend and I kept talking about how the flavor kept transforming with each chew and that was quite special. But the rest of the courses were definitely not as exciting nor even that yummy. The scallop was quite nice. But the shrimp was chewy, the wagyu rib was bland, and the squab (pigeon) was too gamey. And at $650 for 2 people (each with two glasses of wine) way overpriced.

Lovely people, lovely food, great fine dining experience. Had stomach calming tea on hand for me when I started to get too full near the end. Perfect evening.

I like the service (drinks were a little slow however) and the private dining room was beautiful. The food was good. A little too salty for my taste. All of the dishes were over salted, but more importantly, I'm just not a huge fan of tasting menus. I understand that's my issue and not the restaurant's, but I find it impossible to appreciate anything I eat when it's tiny little bites. finally, when you are dictating the menu, please make sure you have at least one salad dish because that's what most people enjoy with a meal. Not in a hurry to go back.

consistently great. I've eaten here several times and every time the food is excellent as is the service. I can't recommend this place enough, worth the money!

Hubby and I I celebrated our wedding anniversary here and had a great time. The serving staff were so friendly, they took the time to chat and answer our (many!) questions. The food was stunning, presented with such care and attention. Menu is technically 5 courses but in between there are lots of surprises and treats that use the remaining parts of the main dishes. Love the thoughtfulness around waste. They had some wonderful zero proof cocktails which were delicious. Menu featured a lot of seafood which is not typically our preference hence the 4/5 but the quality and everything else was perfection.

Still one of the most underrated Fine dining experiences and all of San Francisco. Chef really knows her stuff and her dedication to her craft shows in every course- be it one of the reflection courses that are smaller and meant as a bit of rest or the more substantial traditional courses. Their wine list is phenomenal and the care that their staff puts into service is evident at every turn.

It was great until it was sickeningly horrible. Synopsis: We have a high level of confidence that our entire party of 4 received a food-borne illness when we dined at Nightbird on Thursday March 6, 2025. Our experience is detailed below. Details: Thursday afternoon my flight landed at OAK, I made my way into The City to meet up with my engineering leadership team. Our software company had been working hard to get a few big code pushes out the door. I wanted to reward the team for working so hard for the last months, so I booked us a table for 4 at Nightbird on Gough. We don't often spend $500/person for dinner but once a year or so, we like to say thank you by giving the team a treat they wouldn't splurge for themselves. Sadly tonight would not turn out to be the treat we had wanted. The meal was mostly well served and the food, while lacking in some of the more tasty flair that one might learn to expect from the SF temples of culinary excellence, was an excellent tasting menu, and the wine pairings were on point. I left sharply at 7pm, paying the bill and bidding my colleagues a fond farewell as I headed off to other obligations. This was the only 2 hours and 10 minutes that the 4 of us spent together; the 4 of us only ate at Nightbird and we didn't all have any other drinks. The trouble started about 30 hours later. Not 1 or 2, but all 4 members of our party had started vomiting with the type of pressure that leaves your eyes bloodened for days. One of our 4 diners had to be hospitalized. Three of us were unable to hold down liquids for up to 12 hours. Our HR leader called the restaurant asking for a refund. The restaurant said it was certainly not their fault, however they then gave back $780 of our $2300 total bill. When she called back to insist that the entire amount be refunded, she was transferred to the owner, who informed her that it wasn't their fault. The owner claimed that the entire staff had eaten the food and no one got sick as well they claimed no other parties had reported issues. While I cannot speak to the validity of these statements, I can say that as the recipient of comments, it felt unempathetic, irresponsible and ultimately in my opinion, very poor service. To not even ask how everyone was doing or ask another question like, “wait ALL 4 of them got sick?!” As a diner who eats a few tasting meals a year, I know that once in a while you are likely going to get bit by a food-borne illness. It happens if you eat raw food often enough, and most travelers have a story. At the very least one should be able to expect the establishment that profited off their demise to at least have a thimble worth of kindness when the evidence at hand at the very least indicates that it is possible that it was your establishment. We did our civic duty and alerted the SF Department of health, using the details here: https://www.sf.gov/report-food-poisoning-or-food-related-illness The nice nurse that listened to my story sure seemed to think that my concerns that Nightbird likely poisoned us was worth some scientific investigation. It is disappointing to see fine dining restaurant owners, who should be bastions of hospitality, simply fall on their face, thanks to pride and ego. I hope nobody else gets sick.

This is an excellent fine dining experience. Everything was terrific. I would only say, at this price point, you're really buying an experience, and I felt like the restaurant needed a little something more to set it apart. But no complaints at all.