Fashioned after the great cocktail and oyster bars of the golden era, The transportive “1950's Beverly Hills meets Manhattan club" designed by Ken Fulk has received critical acclaim for its interiors, earning the title of Best Designed New Restaurant from Bon Appetit as well as a nomination for the James Beard Foundation's Best Restaurant Design award. Whether you're posted up with a decadent raw bar plateau in Leo's light and fern-filled conservatory, or enjoying vintage Champagnes within the restaurant's speakeasy-style cocktail lounge The Hideaway, Leo's Oyster Bar offers luxurious, timeless experiences that have earned its place on every San Francisco hit-list.
Safety precautions
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Oysters on the Halfshell
Served with green chili cocktail sauce & mignonette
24 reviews
Warm Buttered Lobster Roll
maine lobster, uni butler, toasted brioche bun & kettle chips
8 reviews
Rock Shrimp Ceviche
avocado, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, Jalapeño, cucumber, radish, mango salsa & chips
2 reviews
Incredible food and really great ambiance!
They forgot part of our order repeatedly
Great cocktails, great food, great vibes and shamelessly campy in all the best ways <3 Wonderfull service and very tolerant of our noisy, giggly, rambunctious table :)
This was wonderful! My first time there but can’t wait to go back. Ask about the secret menu items!
Excellent. Not a very big place, but pleasantly decorated with a 'cozy' feel. Oysters were very fresh, with a very tasty mignonette. One of us had the warm lobster roll; the other the special which was linguini with crab and lobster in a butter/cheese sauce. It was absolutely outstanding. Service was spot on. Also the manager came by and checked on us personally, a nice touch. A little pricey but not out of line for fine dining in San Francisco. We are definitely going back.
Food and service both are amazing. Is a bit noisy but totally acceptable and understandable.
Leo’s was the perfect place to eat after getting hitched at the beautiful city hall. We enjoyed the food the drinks and the service was excellent. My Favorite drink was the Bubble Bath!
Terrible staging of our order. Caviar stacked on top of oysters so that each was unaccessible and neither enjoyed in its own right. Didnt fight it at the time. Was too shocked.
One of my dining companions has a citrus allergy. It was surprising the chef couldn’t be more accommodating. She ended up ordering the lobster roll, which was dry and quite expensive at $35. It seems like plain mayonnaise could have been offered. The New England Lobster Company in Millbrae offers a much tastier lobster roll, even without dressing, at $24.
Cute back area, excellent date spot
Too noisy to talk. Oysters sold singly for $4-5 each! Pasta was mush. Still crowded. A bubble indicator if we need another one.
Amazing lunch, wonderful service, fun ambiance... loved the oyster sliders, Leo salad, deviled eggs...
One of my favorite places I've ever been. Impeccable service, incredible food, delightful atmosphere.
Great place! chic and delicious food.
Leo's was a great find for a fun lighthearted after-work meal. My colleague and I enjoyed trying the different kinds of oysters they had on the menu and found we enjoyed both the East and West coast oysters they had even though we were partial to one or the other. The quality of the food and drinks were great. The only issue we had was the noise level. It was often hard to hear the server because the noise level was loud. That being said we will probably go again because we enjoyed the food, just at a time that isn't during the dinner rush.
Lunch was great - clam chowder is one of my favorites in the city (second to the chowder at Hog Island) but $38 for their lobster roll is pricey. I've had way better for half the price...
I liked this place, but it was still a disappointment overall. It was pretty loud and crowded (no table or elbow room) and the service was surprisingly rude. We had a 7:30 res on a Monday night, my friend was a bit early, and at 8pm the waitress was giving us attitude about not ordering our entrees yet. We'd already had two cocktails and a $29 glass of champagne and were in the middle of ordering 6 oysters and another round of drinks!! She asked for about the fifth time in that 25 minutes if we were ready to order entrees, I said no, sorry we'll probably be a while longer, and she literally made a show of looking at her watch at the table! WTF?! We ended up spending $275 for the two of us in two hours/ 2 h 15 so it's not like we were wasting their time. But we left at 9:20 feeling totally unwelcome like we were being kicked out! I'm not used to service like that at a restaurant where I'm spending that much and actively drinking and eating and ordering the whole time
. So while the food and wine were good, the service knocks this down to 2.5 stars. Wish they'd have a talk with their servers!! My bf is a somm at a fine dining restaurant and he said he'd never treat customers this way.
Great vibe all around. Nice place to catch up with friends.
The food was amazing, the atmosphere was unforgettable, and the service was the best I’ve experienced. Our sever Maria was top notch. I’ve been to many fine dining restaurants in my home town San Diego, and the service does not come close to that of Maria. She helped make my girlfriend’s birthday weekend an incredibly memorable event. Thank you for making her feel special.
Lovely time; delicious food and drinks; terrific server; and it was extremely loud in there
Front room only had small round 2-tops; Last time I came there were rectangular tables in the front room; this was nice for our party of 4
Oysters, cocktails, and service were great. The pasta was overcooked and soupy. The lobster roll was chewy. For what you pay I’d expect better tasting and executed food. I’d go back for bar snacks and oysters.
This place was just OK. The food was OK but nothing to get excited about. The prices were high for what you get. The was again, OK . The staff was friendly enough but not particularly attentive. Just a personal opinion, but I don't care for places that reserve seats at the bar versus it being open seating. I have nothing really negative to say about this place, it just didn't get me excited about doing it again.
The food was great. The seating area in the front was a bit odd, but overall it was a great experience.
Food and drink were excellent but hold on to your wallet. The noise level is deafening.
Food quality and service were great; price point makes it a less frequent destination than I’d prefer, but a very special date night.
Food was good, we didn’t get our appetizer, and when we mentioned it to the server it still didn’t come.
So warm and accommodating throughout and the food and cocktails were A +++
Love the ambiance at Leo’s and the service was great!
We were so impressed with the way we were treated so specially and the overall quality of the food. Every moment of our experience was above our expectations.
Food & service was fantastic, there a little snafu with our order taking a while and my dish was cold. But restaurants that care will rectify the situation. They went above an beyond. Love this place
In our top five meals of all time!!
Fun, good food but a bit noisy for lunch. Looks great for cocktails but haven't been yet in the evening.
We have a good time. Great food.
VERY loud place (small tables yet people had to yell at one another from across them). My waiter was great, but saw a few whom seemed indifferent. Food was ok (Lobster roll was meh, octopus with chorizo and beans was fantastic. Cold bar was hit and miss- snow crab class were small, tasted old, and very pricey for what you got- and they have wrong utensils to eat them with, had 1 dozen oysters- very good all around there). It seemed to be more of a bar than restaurant, which is fine, but not at those prices for food. Will not go back.
Stefan was amazing! He was so knowledgable and friendly and truly made our experience memorable and fun.
Very cool looking restaurant, but the prices are outrageous, even for San Francisco, especially for lunch. The restaurant was also empty, but it still took us over 45 minutes to get our food, which our server was apologetic for, but is unacceptable when you're there for lunch during the work week. Will not go back and would not recommend.
Fun as it always is.
Server forgot 2 of the items we ordered and then brought one entree we didn’t order. He seemed new or overwhelmed. He was very nice just scattered. I love Leo’s and will def be back
Great food (had the tuna poke, which was amazing - loved the different textures and temperatures of the items in the bowl), and great service. We loved our waitperson - she was great - good energy, lots of good advice regarding the menu. Loved writing the postcard at the end of the meal. Such a fun luch!!
Outstanding food. Lobster roll was excellent. We had a table in the back room where the noise level was much less than in the "energetic" front bar area. However we could have done without the explicit lyrics in the rap song playing when we were seated at our table. I think it would be wise to tone down the music in the back, both in terms of volume and content. But past that, the food was excellent throughout. Service was very attentive without being invasive. Great choice of "raw" items. Shrimp cocktail was top notch (cooked and chilled); good oyster selection and nice sauces.
We will go again, as should you!
FAQs
Leo's Oyster Bar is rated 4.8 stars by 643 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.