Our patio is shielded against the wind, and the heating lamps keep our patrons toasty even on a brisk evening.
Signature menu items at Café Claude include onion soup, croque monsieur and salade niçoise, steak tartare, coq au vin and steak frites.
Private Dining
Book your next event with us
Popular dishes
Coq au Vin
mary's chicken, pork lardons, mushrooms, pearl onions, fingerling potatoes, roasted carrot, red wine sauce
17 reviews
Escargots
garlic, butter, parsley, pernod, shallots, anchovy, puff pastry
12 reviews
Steak Tartare
hand cut raw bavette, cornichons, capers, shallots, dijon mustard, chives, parsley, quail egg, frisée salad, baguette croutons
10 reviews
One of my favorite places to grab a tasty mea!
We have always found Cafe Claude very pleasant with excellent food and service.
The service was very nice. They were kind to our daughters 5 and 9. They cared about our orders and when we got the tiramisu instead of the Cremel caramel we ordered , they quickly exchanged it. We took my cousin from out of town and it was cozy and great place to talk. Loved the jazz music !
Very enjoyable dinner before a show. The tucked away location, live jazz trio, classic decor and artisanal food was transporting, a welcome experience after a long week of work.
Always a great meal here. We had the steak, trout (amazing) and spinach lasagna, which was great and we'll return for.
My favorite is always the chocolate cake.
Very nice restaurant in a small alley
French cuisine, nice atmosphere, friendly stuff! Definitely will come back
Good San Francisco French bistro. Friendly service.
Overall the food was very good, with the main course being particularly good. The only significant negative was the noise.
We all went for the duck, which was served on a bed of greens and particularly delicious lentils. The duck confit was excellent, not too dry or fatty (some reviews indicate that people unfamiliar with confit should read a traditional confit recipe before ordering - something made to last without refrigeration is not for everyone). For the first course I ordered the escargots and the rest had salads which were larger than expected for a full course meal. Otherwise they seemed happy. I was disappointed not to be able to taste the Pernod that was supposed to be in my escargot's sauce, but the snails were unusually tender and the puff pastry tops were crispy. The desserts were unremarkably good: apple tart, a mousse au chocolat and I had the moelleux au chocolat. Last, but not least, we found some excellent selections from the wine list which paired well with our meals.
The service was very nice: attentive and friendly, though we would have appreciated informed wine recommendations from the chef or someone sommelier-ish.
Last but not least, when I booked the reservation I asked for a table as far away from the live music as possible. We were seated in a nice alcove on the opposite side of the restaurant from where the musicians would be. Unfortunately, when the live music started up (which was good), it was piped in to our alcove. By that time, there was a loud party sharing the alcove with us. Between the music and the party, we spent the rest of the evening struggling to communicate. It would have been nice if at least one section of the restaurant, far from the musicians, did not have the live music piped in.
We look forward to returning to Cafe Claude - but NOT when they're featuring live music.
Great place for a romantic date!
Cafe Clyde is one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco! I always try to eat here when u am in town. The charcuterie boards are wonderful. The wine is good and the Jazz is fun! You will enjoy eating here ! Quite quaint!
Very good value, good service, nice room. Great bartender. Very reliable option for lunch or dinner.
Honestly, food was not good. Bland and unappetizing. The charcuterie was decent . Service was ok but out server said there was cheddar cheese on the french onion soup and called the chicken liver pate chocolate mousse.
Love this place and always have. Romantic, not too noisy, lovely chanteuse, and good food. A little less cooked the trout would have been wonderful. Great wine list. Generally a terrific time. Friendly staff.
Was not as lively as the pictures and reviews made it seem. We went after having a fantastic time at a previous bar. This place was nice and lovely but kinda killed the vibe we were enjoying. Nice for a quiet or low key evening. A bit boring. Service and food was good. It was just to quiet for a fun evening out with friends. Jazz is a good idea but only one section of the establishment was really in an location to interact with the live entertainment. If you are in the other half of the establishment it just sounds like music on a speaker.
Recommend weekdays when there is no music and you can talk. Too loud in dining room with music going
Music was a bit loud. Food was good but not great... service was great.
Went back for the first time in a few years and Cafe Claude is truly better than ever! The food was really outstanding (I had the trout amandine) and the new expanded space is quite nice. Will have to get it back into the regular rotation! An absolute gem.
Excellent meal and service!
The ambience was rich, warm and romantic.
My friend and I shared a green salad with apples and toasted warm French bread with high quality goat cheese. Excellent!
My friend had the duck and devoured it with love.
I had the traditional coq au vin that was cooked to a T. The chicken was transformed by the sauce with well cooked carrots, mushrooms and potatoes, all of which were cooked, though not overcooked. I’ll be back for more.
My sisters and I took my daughter here to celebrate her 14th birthday. We were treated to amazing food, spectacular service, live jazz music and we will most definitely be back!
Cafe Claude is my favorite dining out spot in San Francisco. The service, atmosphere and food are top notch. Also, the weekend live music makes it feel that much more special.
I took the love of my life here for Valentine’s Day. The Staff is absolutely fantastic. They were attentive when we needed and absent when we were engaged in conversation. The food is as expected, excellent. The portions are that of a mom and pop diner. You will probably need a “doggie bag”. The wine, I am puzzled why a carafe costs less than a bottle when each are generally 750ml. We went for the bottle to avoid any confusion. We know what to expect. All in all it was a fantastic evening. I was surprised to see that the bill was about $50 less than I was expecting. ( I never look at the prices for food. We all have to consume it and price should never influence the decision).
Cafe Claude was amazing! We were there for Valentine's day date and it wouldn't be better :). It has a nice live jazz band playing with great choices of food and wine! The ambience was amazing and the service was good too :). I would definitely come back for any anniversary in the future :)
Valentines Day dinner
Consistently delicious and unpretentious French food.
The duck was outstanding! Loved it!
Cafe Claude used to be so good. Needs to reevaluate its food and service. Not bad but not up to par today.
Everything was delicious, our server was so kind and make us feel special AND she brought out macaroons with candles for my birthday. THANK YOU!
Really good meal. Classic bistro food done well. Friendly service.
We loved the location and the Paris cafe feel. The live jazz was fabulous. Wish they had Badoit but they did have clean toilettes. Perfect SF eve. Very romantic.
Lovely find that delighted our senses on multiple levels!
Staff was excellent, our waitress was the girl with the rose on her arm.
All good
It’s a regular spot for a business lunch
My favorite lunch spot in the City for so many reasons. They stay open continuously so you can have a long, late lunch without worry that the kitchen is closing. The food is so wonderful: Moules Provencale are my go-to: plump, tender mussels in a beautiful orange-pink broth with garlic and saffron and so many great flavors, plus little toasts to dip in. I ordered the side of pomme frites but realize now that it's really too much: the serving of frites is so big, and all you need is some bread to soak up the broth. Our server Diana was perfect: warm and attentive, always there to top off our champagne. We enjoyed every moment and will be back!
We went here for restaurant week. Lovely! The Apple- escarole- hazelnut salad was delish, the gnocchi lamb ragu very good, the madelines with lemon curd a nice ending. Loved the atmospheric decor in the bar where we had our meal. Very cool chandelier with orange lighting over the bar. The retro red, black and wood decor was cool. We definitely will return. It’s convenient to the Montgomery BART station: only a few blocks away.
Service could have been better. We got there early for happy hour. We were seated then all staff disappeared into a staff meeting for awhile. They could have offered us a drink first! It was hard to find our server to order, both appetizers, drinks, and dinner. We had no opportunity to order coffee until our check was dropped on our table. Our server was quite pleasant but often missing from our area.
But we’ll be back!
Cafe Claude is one of my 10 favorite restaurants in San Francisco and one of my top 5 downtown. Food is excellent. Service ditto. Wine aussi. I would hope for two things. 1. A bit less noise. Just a little bit. Could possibly be achieved with ceiling or wall baffles. 2. Invite the excellent young woman who greets one at the entrance to dismiss the black and white checkered tight trousers, which are neither nor becoming to her nor consistent with the atmosphere of Cafe Claude.
It was brilliant, Fernandino our waiter was terrific, the food was very good and their wine selection was superb. Really good...
value value
Slow service, very loud party in the dining room, barely could converse; nice ambiance, food enjoyable; very good fresh madelines
great found. Very, very good lunch. Nice atmosphere. Friendly waiters
FAQs
Cafe Claude is rated 4.2 stars by 4230 OpenTable diners.
Cafe Claude does offer gift cards which you can purchase here https://www.giftrocker.com/secure/Order/?h=707fa05f.
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.