Per Diem

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Address:
43 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94104

Neighborhood:
Financial District / Embarcadero

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Cuisine:
American

Price: $30 and under

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Per Diem Details

Dining Style: Casual Elegant
Website: http://www.PerDiemSF.com
Phone: (415) 989-0300
Hours of Operation: Lunch: Monday - Friday: 11:30 am - 3:00 pm

Lighter Fare: Monday -Friday: 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Dinner: Monday - Friday: 5:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Dinner: Saturday: 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Payment Options: AMEX, MasterCard, Visa
Cuisine: American, Italian
Executive Chef: Matt Paine
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Full Bar, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Personal wines welcome, Personal wines welcome (corkage fee applies), Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Getting there

Cross Street: Sansome Street
Public Transit: Montgomery Street Bart and Muni Station
Parking: No
Parking Details: Parking is available after 6 on Sutter St. or 24 hours at 223 Sutter St, one block from the restaurant.

A word from Per Diem

Per Diem’s menu is centered on the use of fresh ingredients and inventive flavor combinations paired with classic cooking techniques. Starters such as the Burrata on a Grilled Crostone with Marshall’s Farm Honey and Toasted Nuts or a San Francisco original, Cioppino with Mussels, Scallops, Prawns,… Crab and Calamari make for a quick, light bite. Enjoy one of many delectable sandwiches such as the Oyster Po Boy with Cornmeal Fried Local Oysters, Baby Romaine, Pickled Veggies and Remoulade on a Soudough Roll or the Ham and Brie with Dressed Organic Greens on a Sourough with a Persimmon Chutney. Try Per Diem’s mouthwatering Pizzettas: Margherita with Burratta, Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Basil. Entrée dishes such as the Truffle and Tomato Brisket with Bloomsdale Spinach and House Made Ricotta Lasagnettas and the Confit Maple Farms Duck Leg over Blue Cheese Tortellini with a Pomegranate Fume offer patrons a well-portioned evening meal.Continued

Foodspotting photos

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Diner Reviews

"Good food, ambiance, and service. Very friendly and accommodating staff."
Dined on 7/22/2014
"Ordered a chicken caesar salad and it was totally lame. We spent $35 for the two of us and had 2 salads and water to drink and it was less appealing than what I get from the soup company on a daily basis."
Dined on 7/22/2014
"Per Diem came highly recommened to us from some colleages. We were running late and called ahead to let them know and the host (Nick I believe?) was very helpful in keeping our table reserved. Our server Lane was very sweet and she did a great job taking care of us. She gave us excellent recommendations and the roasted chicken was out of this world. Spinach ravioli was very tasty as well. We will definitely be coming back."
Dined on 7/18/2014
"I've heard so much about this place and there was clearly a wait for seating even though we had reservations, which I quickly realized was likely due to lack of service. My shrimp louie salad had an overabundance of shrimp shells and when I asked for hot water, it came in a tea cup with a lot of floating lint. I think the cups may have been sitting idly on a shelf for months, but at least clean them before serving with them! The server took forever to get us the check too. All in all I was disappointed and would have expected more based on all the great things I've heard. Don't think I'll be back though."
Dined on 7/17/2014
"Per Firm's drink list is great. The Manhattan Project is a unique & tastey asset. I had a mixed salad and the steak frites (special). The beef and aoli we very umami, which I love."
Dined on 7/16/2014
"The oysters were fresh, the pasta was made from scratch, and the wine list was great! The service was pretty good, but nothing to write home about."
Dined on 7/14/2014
"Great staff; good food; definitely a restaurant where I'd return"
Dined on 7/8/2014
"I had a group meeting for 10 and Per Diem was great! The bottom bar area had a lot happening and had a good energetic atmosphere. Our table was upstairs and it was an intimate area and we had no trouble having our meeting while everything was going on downstairs. Plus the food was amazing. I really love risotto and their risotto was amazing. The service was great too. Food came out quickly, our waters were refilled often. Staff was fantastic. Street parking outside around 6pm was really easy and free. Its a little hard to drive to the restaurant, but thats a problem at pretty much all restaurants in the financial district so the easy parking right outside was a unique plus."
Dined on 6/24/2014
"Maybe this is a good place for grabbing a cocktail after work but the food was mediocre to terrible. We ordered the kale salad and Caesar salad to start. The Caesar was too mayo based and was just overpowering. The kale salad was much better. The risotto was extremely bland, lacked vegetables and was made with just regular white and wild rice, not the typical risotto aborio rice. The poutine was terrible...I love poutine normally but the oxtail pieces were mostly fatty skin, no actual meat and the gravy just wasn't that tasty. The Bolognese was good. For desserts, we ordered the pot de creme and lemon tart which were grainy in consistency, not smooth and velvety. The taste was ok. For the price and food experience, we wouldn't go back."
Dined on 6/14/2014
"The food was below average. The oysters were warm, the waiter was nice & offered to replace the oysters with something else."
Dined on 6/10/2014
"We had 3 appetizers the buratta, bone marrow & pork belly; buratta was good, bone marrow was a little under cooked and had no seasoning (salt & pepper) but did have some very old tasting escargot, which did little for the dish and should not have been on the plate. The pork belly however was okay but was overly garnish with some kind of foam. My partner had a green salad which was good and I had the kale salad which was great. For the entrees my partner had the green garlic raviolis which was okay but again was overly garnished, with corn this time. I had the salmon with oxtail raviolis & white beans which where why under cook and the dish had an overall scent of being spoiled so I just ate the salmon which was over cooked and ravioli"
Dined on 5/24/2014
"I had made reservations a week ahead of time online, due to the large group. We had a reservation at 1:00; we were not seated until 1:40. He refused to split our checks (when I had asked him about it before anyone ordered and he said he probably could). When I asked him again after he said that if we wanted it split it would take him 45 minutes, even though it was not busy. He took an additional 30 minutes ringing up our bill and when I finally went to ask what was taking so long (twice), he explained that it was because HE forgot to add gratuity and was now trying to fix it. We were there for almost 3 hrs- and we were on our 1 hr lunch break. I am not going back, nor am I sending my boss back for lunch meetings (which I often did). "
Dined on 5/23/2014
"This is a fantastic neighborhood gem, I've always had amazing meals here (cioppino and bone marrow are a MUST). Highly recommend, definitely make a reservation as they have limited seating. "
Dined on 5/21/2014
"The Mussels and Per Diem Louie salad make a fantastic lunch anytime! "
Dined on 5/12/2014
"What I like about Per Diem is that the ambiance is chic and refined, food is very good, while prices are not so expensive. It's one of the rare restaurantes around Market & 1st that offers such a great level of food and relatively quick service for welcoming business guests, for instance."
Dined on 5/12/2014
"Loved the feel of this restaurant and the food was amazing! It took a bit for us to get served in the beginning and no one told us they would be with us - they just kept looking at our table and would walk by... but once we did get served our server was awesome! "
Dined on 5/10/2014
"In attentive, indifferent service. Unexceptional food, with the exception of my chicken Caesar salad. Two wing pieces with bones and a dry chunk of white meat, 7 or eight small leaves of butter lettuce, three ( literally, three) croutons and a few shaves of cheese. $14. Those who had burgers on our group waited several minutes for condiments, which had to be requested. Coffee after lunch was $4/ cup and tiramisu had been frozen. I've worked and fined in the FiDi for 16 years, so this isn't some bumpkin's reaction. Mediocre food, bad service and high prices are not a winning combo."
Dined on 5/5/2014
"At the last minute, I chose this restaurant on a Saturday night for my husband and my two sons. It had plenty of availability and it looked cool on line and had decent Yelp reviews. We easily found parking and as we walked into Per Diem my 14 year old said "Mom, this is a bar!". We were taken upstairs and it had more of a restaurant setting, and what a pretty setting it is. We felt like we were in Boston at one of those old buildings. To our surprise, the food was good, the setting nice and the service fine. Overall, it was a nice dinner out on a Saturday night!"
Dined on 5/3/2014
"Ok place, food decent but lackluster in this area. Small intimate feeling which is a plus. Not reco'd for dedicated foodies"
Dined on 5/2/2014
"I was staying in SF, in the financial district, the summer of '13 for ten days working on a production. I had a wonky appetite due to stress and travel and odd meals and hours. I went with two of my colleagues for a nice dinner and walked to Per Diem, partially because we joked that we were going to spend ours there but because the menu looked bomb. It was the most delicious food and drink I had all in SF and have had dreams of the Meatball Gigante. Memorial Day weekend '14 I was back up in SF staying at the Triton and went back to host an 8 person dinner with friends who live in the city and we were treated just as amazingly. None of the locals had known about it so I felt like I taught them a new taste of SF! I live in LA & miss Per Diem!"
Dined on 5/1/2014
"Warm day in San Francisco - restaurant smelled like a cheap fish restaurant. Zero air conditioning with women fanning themselves and men rolling up sleeves. We left after a glass of wine and appetizers. Aroma downstairs was even stronger. Too bad, since the ambience was good and the menu looked interesting. "
Dined on 4/30/2014
"Leisurely lunch. Quiet and relaxed. Quality of food is very good. My Caesar salad was awesome."
Dined on 4/25/2014
"Nice decor and friendly, if not a bit ditsy, staff; but $45.00 for a bowl of mediocre pasta and two glasses of wine?"
Dined on 4/24/2014
"We brought a large group to Per Diem for Admin Day. Our group of 10 was seated immediately, which was great. My group loved the ambiance and the proximity of the restaurant to our office. Food was great! Our server, however, was lacking. He was difficult to hear, super scattered, and not very attentive. He forgot drinks and was super brisk to everyone in the group. When we asked about the specials/soup of yesterday, he was annoyed and said he'd tell us the specials when he took our food order, which makes no sense. People want to know the specials so that they can anticipate what to order. He was distracted and uninterested in our experience, which is disappointing considering we bought lunch for ten, which guarantees a gratuity of 20%"
Dined on 4/23/2014
"After so many encouraging recommendations, we tried Per Diem and were most disappointed. The server forgot to serve the appetizers and apologetically brought them out after the salads. The shrimp cocktail was not edible and had to be returned. The timing on the service was slow and out of pace. The wine was enjoyable and the company was perfect. This was probably just an off night for the restaurant but I would not invite my friend to find out."
Dined on 4/19/2014
"The food was all pretty good, but nothing spectacular. A little overpriced for what it is I'd say. Ambience is nice. The mushroom, egg and pancetta pizza was definitely the best. Pasta wasn't noteworthy. Mussels and seafood were good. And they had a very interesting creamy, chicken lasagna that was pretty tasty (mostly for the cheese!) But I thought our waiter was very inattentive and really not the best. Though relatively nice it just bothered me at a place priced such as this."
Dined on 4/12/2014
"....the answer is no. The Caesar Salad had thin onion rings instead of croutons - cutsey but didn't work for me - no parm to be seen. Wait staff did not ask for added pepper. No bread offered or served with dinner. Porcini Pappardelle was a very good dish but one our of four would not make us want to return. The special lasagne with garlic-mornay sauce and chicken was a disaster. Mornay sauce had no hint of garlic, chicken MIA and the sauce was a red color....not the white expected from a "mornay". When side of veggies is a highlight, except serving fingerling potatoes in the mix with lasagne - odd?, does not bode well for the offering.Too many places in SF to get fantastic meals - this is not one of them."
Dined on 4/12/2014
"Per Diem is surprisingly stunning inside, very old-England decor, mix of a library and sitting room decor, with beautiful chandeliers to set the tone. We were seated upstairs which was great. Service was very good, prompt but not intrusive. I had to try the burrata that I'd heard so many good things about; unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea - cheese with sweet toppings is just too odd. The meatball gigante, cioppino and bucatini were all great though as was the wine which went down very easily. Will definitely come back here when they change their menu to try other things."
Dined on 4/12/2014
"I needed to do dinner on the early side (6pm/saturday).--the place was EMPTY. -- no one even at the bar. it just wasn't quite the vibe i'd hoped for. But the service, although slow at first given that we were the ONLY ones there, was good and very accommodating when i didn't like my wine choice. Burrata was yummy (with almonds/honey). Hubby had pork belly and bone marrow--2 things he'd never had before. Liked both but felt they needed salt. (which there was none of on the table). He also had a meat ball which he liked (I didn't). My lamb sugo (?) pasta was good, but i wouldn't go running back for it. net net, it was fine. but probably better for mid-week night after work."
Dined on 4/12/2014
"Had a great meal. Very reasonably priced for the quality and quantity of food. Service was a little slow, but would not deter me from dining there again."
Dined on 4/9/2014
"This has been one of my go to lunch spots for client lunches for the last two years, I am always pleased with the service, the variety of the menu, and the service. The decor is warm and inviting and the noise level comfortable. Per Diem is a new regular in the downtown SF scene for me."
Dined on 4/3/2014
"pretty dining room, attentive service although not totally professional demeanor by waitstaff"
Dined on 3/29/2014
"This was my second visit to Per Diem after an enjoyable luncheon about a month ago. The service is very nice, but each of our dishes, soup, salad, and pastas were disappointing. The soup was comparable to canned variety. The salad was tasteless, lacking seasoning and flavor, and the pastas were oily, and the sauces glopped in the corner of the plates and generally pasty. I do enjoy the ambience and wine list. I would only come back for the bar and small bites."
Dined on 3/29/2014
"High quality restaurant in the financial district. Great spot for business lunch or drinks after work."
Dined on 3/27/2014
"A gem for lunch during a busy business day or Union Square shopping."
Dined on 3/24/2014
"Loved Per Diem. Nice ambience and they were very accommodating for our group."
Dined on 3/22/2014
"Dinner here on a Saturday night had a laid back vibe and a quiet, easy pace. This is certainly a change from the buzzing atmosphere that is generally associated with this financial district hot spot. BOTH versions are carried off well by staff that are talented, knowledgable, and attentive. Poutine, Burrata and bone marrow appetizers are not to be missed!"
Dined on 3/22/2014
"Their reservation policy is unclear, so do as much as you can to confirm your details to ensure a pleasant evening. I called ahead, made an online reservation, arrived early but no luck. I was first told they take reservations online only, then they only take reservations for downstairs on the phone, & then they don't take reservations for downstairs at all. Be sure to clarify in your case. In the end, the manager said downstairs reservations are for investors of the restaurant only. No customer wants to hear they are lower priority than any other customer — I found that to be tasteless and unnecessary. I came here often for the cocktails and good food (burrata crustone!) but no longer find it welcoming to return."
Dined on 3/14/2014
"It's a spot I meet people at in FiDi. It's quiet enough, fairly easy to get into and pretty italian Americanized food. Good sandwiches and salads, nothings exceptional but it's what you'd expect. Service staff is friendly but it tends to sometimes be a bit slow. You'll get exactly what you expect it seems. Good food, good service and a decently spacious seating."
Dined on 3/11/2014
"The decor in this restaurant uplifted the whole lunchtime experience for us. It was like eating in a little museum. Whoever put this place together did a great job. The food was really good. We were a party of five and we got sandwiches, salads and a pizzetta. The price was right. Not too noisy. I would definitely return."
Dined on 3/10/2014

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