The best risotto my friend and I have ever tasted.

Service was great! The waiter was friendly and not oppressive. The food was plated beautifully and was thoroughly enjoyable. The wine was perfect and their selection is fabulous! Highly recommended!

This is an established restaurant and I've always enjoyed eating there. But Tu, we had a late lunch and the service was just ridiculously bad. Incomplete, slow, incompetent, distracted, non-existent.

Would go back again if in the Union Square area and am assuming it was just a one-time bad experience. If it happened again, I'd skip it for good going forward.

Excellent super service sorry to hear they are closing in a year. Great lose!
Would recommend
Great for SF

I have been here several times but this time the service was probably the worst I have had. It started with the hostess who was very lethargic and unfriendly. She even had a lengthy conversation with someone while very slowly trying to check us in. We had made a reservation for 7:30 on a Monday night and was seated close to 8:00.
After being seated our waitress was very slow to greet us, and when asked for refills seemed to have forgotten until we reminded her after waiting at least 15 minutes to catch her eye.
Overall, I was very disappointed in the service.

The food was so terrible that we sent our appetizer of fried calamari back. It tasted fishy and the main course of the day was a Risotto of beef short rib meat with mushrooms and broccoli. It was so ghastly we left most. The restaurant announced they were closing for good on 12/31 and we were sad to see such a San Francisco landmark go but this chef needs to leave the area for good. B A D.

Laways enjoy seating a the eating bar in front of the kitchen watching the action and chatting with the cooks. Great flavors with high quality ingreidents.

Wonderful time with my wife and great conversation without that annoying phone. The restaurant is closing for good at the end of the year. So sorry to see it go.

The service was horrible. We were a party of 6 so tip is automatically included In our bill. I don't know if that effected the service or if it usually sucks. It was over 15 minutes before we even saw a waiter, we had to repeatedly remind him that we asked for refills and bread before the requested items were brought out. He didn't seem too interested in his job and didn't apologize at all. The food was very good, once we got our order in, the food came quickly (it was not brought out by our waiter).

We have been coming here for 25 years and it is always good. The grilled radicchio is a must an we also love the short ribs, the duck bologna see and the risotto. Sides of polenta and spinach are also special.

Loved the interior of the restaurant - it felt very 1920s. Beautiful on many levels - great ambiance! The kitchen noise was glaring. Jolting noise of plates smashing together. Not a cozy conversation conducive restaurant. That said, the wine was lovely (super Tuscan), the Caesar salad was tasty with a good dose of anchovies, the tagliatelle pasta was delicious.

Food was great but service not so much. I think our waiter was having a bad day, but he barely acknowledge us throughout our meal

Will never come back here again. Food and drinks were horrible and expensive. Very disappointed. Been here three times in the last year and each time I gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought maybe they've improved or switched bartenders and cooks...nothing has changed. Salad was salty (odd), pasta was very bland and mushy, and the drinks were too strong and extremely sour - couldn't even enjoy them.

Always busy. Consistent quality and varied menu.

Proceed with caution. Restaurant is grossly under-staffed. Zero attention to basic detail. Like greeting the table (took over 10 min for waiter to make 1st contact) . Ordered bottle of wine and waters. Wine came no water. Asked 3 more x got my own pitcher of water at busing station. It seems they have no busboys . Table was never breaded. Waiter was trying but was over his head. Seems they do not have a basic training system in place. Half our entrees sat out unserved on counter . When we addressed the issue of a cold entree they remade it but sous chef came out and slapped it on table. Taste of food was good but really the overall experience is a big F for management running such a shabby operation.

We had a 8pm reservation and did not get seated until 8:40pm. It was overly crowded and the service was fair. This was a special holiday date and the location played a large part why we selected this place to begin with. I will say that the food was very good.

I was disappointed to hear that the restaurant is going to close soon and be replaced by retail. There are plenty of worthy candidates for this option, sadly, Kuleto's isn't one of them.

We waited for 20 minutes past our reservation time to be seated and much longer to order. It was a busy holiday evening, but that should have been anticipated two weeks before Christmas. Wait staff did the best they could, but clearly more staffing was needed. Food was really tasty.

Although the food and service were outstanding, our reservation made through Open Table was for 7:15. We were not seated until after 8:00. During most of the wait time we were standing at a very crowded bar. For this reason I would not return to the restaurant.

We have been to Kuletos many times but never did we have such bad service. Our reservation was for 7pm--we were ignored until we reminded the hostess it was now 7:30pm and we had not been seated. We sat at the kitchen bar--waited 20 minted before a rude waiter rushed up asked about drinks and disappeared. Drinks arrived--asked for bread--waiter gave us a basket of crummy white bread not what I saw on other tables. 5 minutes later ask for our order--never made eye contact--spent 3 seconds giving specials. Placed our order and he disappeared. When our food was ready I was motioned to take it off the cook counter and served ourselves. The waiter came back 30 minutes or more later and gave us the check. Do you think he got a tip???
It was not a lovely experience. I know it is the holidays and it was busy but it was not that busy that the waiter could not have given us the proper attention and try to make us feel welcome.
We come to San Francisco several times a year and in the past have always loved to die at Kuletos. Maybe we need to look elsewhere.
John M.

What happened to Kueleto's? We have been having our Annual BFF X'mas Dinner there for 5 years now. The service was horrible and the food was mediocre. Our ressies were at 5 and we got there at 5 and checked in. A party that got there after us was seated first. Why? We brought our own bottles of wine and were charged for EACH bottle for corkage which in the past was waived. We ordered dessert and just as we were going to take our last bite and finish our wine, the waiter says to us....people are waiting for this table. OMG! So rude! Well I was going to say that we will not be returning but looks as if I don't have to worry about that since Kueleto's is now closing...maybe a better restaurant will go there in it's place and we continue our annual dinner there. Tine will tell!

What happened to Kuleto's?? We have been going to Kuleto's for 20+ years, a few times a year when we are visiting the City. It's always been our "Christmas Shopping Lunch Place." Let's start out with the decor. Apparently, in the last six months they have torn our the classic overhang on the bar in order to install two large screen televisions. Ugh, ugh, ugh! Such beauty being replaced by a 60" Vizio. Oh, how I remember the days of the antipasta that you could choose from at the bar. Hostess was nice and indicated that they get lots of negative comments about the physical changes in the restaurant.

When we were seated, we now got a menu with about one-third the choices that we remember from our other visits, and the food was much more casual. Where's the fish stew and the other Kuleto's classics? Gone. We found it really difficult to find something that we wanted.

Service was incredibly slow, and we had a waiter who was trained poorly, knew nothing about the menu when he was asked, never refilled our water, and was generally uninterested in us and his job.

We can forgive the slow, poor service because that happens from time-to-tiime. However, the atmosphere and menu changes make it unacceptable in the future. Too many other more attractive options for us.

Ciao Kuleto's. It was wonderful (many times before, but not anymore).

The butternut squash ravioli are heavenly! Everyone in my party of 9 enjoyed delicious meals at our lunch-time holiday gathering of friends shopping in the city.

Good food, but a bit expensive for what we received. I do not usually eat burgers, but selected one due to the lunch menu being somewhat limited. Do have to say the Wagyu beef used and the medium rare temperature I requested were excellent. One thing was a bit odd. We had a reservation for 12 noon and arrived about 10 minutes early. The hostess said we would not be seated before 12. Well, apparently 20 other parties also had reservations for 12 noon. So it made service fairly slow when the waiters needed to get all the orders in at the same time. Given the tables were ready and the hostesses and waiters were just standing around until noon, it seems they could have improved the service flow by spreading the seating out better. Wine list is very limited for a good SF restaurant.

Hate to see this place go. Always an amazing dinner, a San fransisco experience. Excellent hospitality

Kuleto's has always had a great reputation, and is so convenient to Union Square, but our dinner was disappointing. The menu was un-interesting, and we had to regularly flag down our waiter to get any service. Not worth the price.

As always, the food was very good, from the appetizers to desserts. It is so sad they are closing after December 31st.

Kuleto's used to be a favorite. It seems to be a shadow of its former self with lackadaisical service and food (in this case, risotto) which seems to have spent a great deal of time on the steam table.

Terrible service. Waiter was inattentive and had a bad attitude. Waited 20 minutes for him to take our order (restaurant was moderately busy). We had to ask about the specials. Never came back to ask about our meal. $28 for penne pasta with a bit of sausage and mushrooms. Overpriced. Ribeye was very good.

This is our "go-to" restaurant. Consistently good food and service. We've been coming here for over 16 years and are always impressed by the variety on the menu and are never disappointed.

I was very disappointed in the changes that Kuleto's has made. It was a comfortable place for a civilized, above average quality drink or meal. Now it's a very loud sports bar with fairly good food but a very limited, casual menu.

I can't tell you how upset we all are that kuletos is closing. This is unconscionable! We're losing our go-to SF restaurant, a friendly and authentic haunt! I hope the retail store taking its place falls flat on their face.

Haven't been here for a while but used to come a lot understand it is closing the end of the month so the review probably won't matter but not quite what it used to be

Kuleto's was wonderful. Ron, our server, was great, as well as the rest of the team. We were given a table next to the fireplace, and away from others, so it was quiet for most of the meal. As the restaurant got more crowded, the noise did increase quite a bit. But being away from the main dining floor was nice, as it was quiet, more romantic and we could talk. The food was good (I had the Risotto). Husband had the butternut ravioli, which he liked. I did not like it. Mousse for dessert was very nice too. Heard they were closing soon. Very sad.

This review may be moot, being we were told Kuleto's was closing for good tomorrow, Dec 11th. They said they'd been there over 35 years. Service was pitiful that day. We sat for 15 minutes before waiter came over, then during the meal we had to flag him down for water, for coffee, for dessert menu.....and lastly, for our check.

On December 8th the three of us were dining at Kuletos. We were seated promptly but it took 10 minutes until we were offered water or coffee. eventually our order was placed but it was twenty five minutes until delivery of our meal. No one refilled our coffee or water or attended to us at this time. One person in our party actually sought out our waiter to question when our meal would arrive. When it did arrive everything was cold on all three plates. When the waiter was questioned by us as to why it was cold he responded: "I'm the only waiter for this whole place. Kuleto's is closing down in two weeks and the management doesn't care anymore." Our bill totaled $80.00 for breakfast. Needless to say, we will not return.

Restaurant situated perfectly
By theatre district.
They said restaurant closing
And given for retail space.
Too bad

The food was good, however we ordered Proseco, returned the first glass, it had somewhat a metallic taste. Were told they will open a new bottle. It was equally bad and not up to par.

Sorry to say we were a little disappointed. We stop at Kuletto's every year during holiday shopping for drinks and/or dinner. We've loved it because it felt like old SF, festive and warm and cozy. The food has always been great-classic. But this time we noticed a lot of change... the bar area was bright and there were TVs with sports on, service was mediocre (server not very friendly) and the food seemed "heavy handed", without the nuance and subtleties of past meals. My husband ordered a pizza (as he always does) and for the first time EVER, he didn't even get through half of it. It was doughy and bland. I ordered the grilled radicchio, which was very tasty, but I avoided the sauce and cheese that was included. Didn't need it and totally overwhelmed. Finally, we don't recall any holiday decorations. In short, our visit Monday night did not give us the warm and fuzzy holiday feel of past visits and I'm not sure we'll go back. :-(

We took out of town guest here and really enjoyed the food. The service was a little slow but friendly. The location was easy to find and centrally located.