Z & Y Bistro Wine Bar Restaurant

I was here on Christmas Eve and the service was horrible. They clearly forgot about one of our dishes despite us asking several times. After the third ask they finally remember (about 30 mins after we finished everything else). We got barely an apology on it. Also pretty sure a duck dish we had was chicken.

The restaurant was woefully understaffed.
Arrived at reservation time, waited 45 mins to be seated. Asked for a glass of wine while waiting, never arrived.
Had to ask for everything like water refill, get our sake heated, etc.
Food was good, so three stars.

I would recommend to friends with the caveat that they be prepared to wait. We arrived on time for our 1:30 pm reservation but waited 30 minutes to be seated. We watched several other frustrated parties arrive with reservations and experience the same wait. 2 staff members were greeting guests, taking orders, tending bar, delivering food and bussing tables. Only after we had been there an hour did 2 additional staff appear. Once our food order was entered into their system, the food arrived fairly quickly. The food and wine was good, not exceptional. Nice, upscale ambiance for Chinatown.

Outstanding service, menu and on top of that a great value. Hotpot, skewers, noodles, quality meat, fish and tofu. Wonderful level of spice.

Very innovative cooking, new wave fusion in most respects. The wine part of the experience wasn't really up to par with a so so wine list, limited glass selections.

Came with a large, slightly obnoxious group of family. They put up with us really well and the food was great. My mother starting chatted with the owner (of course), and next thing I had a really lovely glass of champagne for my extremely belated birthday celebration. Great experience overall!

P.S. They have a mighty wine list.

Great restaurant!!

Great location and food in the heart of Chinatown. Excellent service and reasonable price!

Our first time at this bistro - everyone was nice. The food is delicious!
Staff was knowledgeable & attentive. Menu is a mix of Chinese and Japanese.

Modern and pleasant setting with delicious meals. Strongly recommend bringing a group to try lots of small plates. Yakitori is delicious! The broth for the Langzhou noodles is really nice, especially if you enjoy star anise.

When for Father’s Day dinner. I had reserved and we got a table. Then we were ignored and other seated after us got served. After asking to get to order twice we finally ordered. Food came in randomly, appetizers after entrees. Asked for check and again forgotten. So service was bad the food ok.

Our first time at this restaurant - everyone was nice - food was awesome- staff was very knowledgeable & attentive. We highly recommend this place to anyone as you won’t be disappointed. The food is delicious!

If you’re expecting same menu as the regular z and y you’ll be disappointed. They have some of the same dishes but it’s like a combo of that and some Japanese skewers. A little strange.

Excellent food, full of flavors, very fresh!
Highly recommend.

Had a early reservation but still wait 10 minutes when there was 5 unoccupied table. Middle age Lady(owner or relative of owner?)working reception counter was on the phone arguing with someone trying to make reservation. She definitely had a snotty attitude which one might experience at some hard to get into trendy, hip restaurant but not a slightly above average typical hole in the wall Chinese restaurant.
Well, maybe the rude part but not the snotty part at least. Food were decent portioned but greasy and laden of MSG. Table top was sticky and not clean. Decor was bland, generic hole in the wall restaurant. Pricing was above average for Chinese restaurant. Toilet was down some scary stairs and semi-sanitary. Try to elevate itself to be hip with cocktail drinks but can’t get off the floor. Wouldn’t bring a first date here or risk being called a “cheap” date.

Monica is an awesome server. She makes it fun and always gives great service.

一人でお店に行き，白ワイン2種を飲み，魚料理をいただきました。料理は山椒の味付けが強烈で，私の好みに合いました。店内の雰囲気もよく，満席でした。また行きたいと思います。

Not only was the food greqt, but the service was awesome. Our server, Monica, made us feel very welcome and the whole staff was on top of everything. The bar tender was the same. It was a great experience.

Excellent food, had the tofu, baby pak choi and some dumplings. Tastylichious

Not good quality of food.
I was expecting it to be better

Shady they didn’t acknowledge my reservation. The wine list by glass and bottle are great, food was overly flavored or very bland. Did anyone taste the food before it went out?

Z & Y came up high on the list of the supposed best 'Chinese' restaurants in San Francisco. It's really more of an Asian fusion restaurant, but we actually prefer that approach to traditional Chinese. Z & Y also operates a traditional first-come-first-served restaurant just up the street. The bistro had a good sampling of small plates, which we sampled 4-5 of. All were excellent, innovative, and very tasty. Service was fast, friendly and efficient. Their wine list wasn't large, but they had a good selection of tasty wines by the glass. Prices were more expensive than traditional Chinese plates, but very reasonable compared to other fine dining establishments in San Francisco. We'd definitely go back and would highly recommend this place to others. It also has a nice young, hip vibe - but that didn't make us older folks feel unwelcome at all.

Great first time experience!