Description:
This Hayes Valley hot spot is sexy, fun, reasonably priced, and frequented by everyone from the theatergoing crowd to the young and chic. Decor is all brasserie, with French rattan cafe chairs, copper-topped tables, a pressed-tin ceiling, soft lighting, period art, and a rich use of color and fabric, including leather and mohair banquettes. It's always a pleasure to unwind at the bar with a Ginger Rogers -- gin, mint, lemon juice, ginger ale, and a squeeze of lime. The lengthy lunch menu offers everything from oysters and caviar to Caesar salad and a respectable burger, but I always end up getting the same thing: their outstanding open-faced smoked-trout sandwich on grilled Italian bread. In the divided dining room, main courses are equally satisfying, from coq au vin and steak frites to roasted whole Dungeness crab with poached leeks in mustard vinaigrette, salt roasted potatoes, and aioli. The best item on the weekend brunch menu is the creamy polenta with mascarpone, maple syrup, bananas, and toasted walnuts.
- © Frommer's 2013
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User Reviews for Absinthe
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loud, crowded, and fabulous
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The food is, as billed, outstanding. We had oysters and the mussels/clams appetizer with cava, followed by the fantastic roast duck. Wines by the glass are not any more pricey than...
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TripAdvisor
- posted on 11.26.12
- by Ruth V
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French Fun
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We dropped into Absinthe for the first time in years. It is as we remembered it: dark red and gilt walls, small tables, seating more for looks than for comfort. The food and drinks...
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review
on
TripAdvisor
- posted on 11.26.12
- by VMBinExile
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Much better than expected!
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I had read the reviews and was somewhat leery, but the menu looked good, so I took a chance. Bingo! We got there relatively early while the Symphony crowd was just finishing up and...
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Read full
review
on
TripAdvisor
- posted on 11.21.12
- by floribel1
Awards:
Food and Wine Magazine
- Go List 2008
CitySearch
- Raw Oysters 2007
Frommer's
- Recommended 2009
- Recommended 2010
- Details
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Contact:
- visit website
- tel: 415/551-1590
- fax: +1 415 255 2385
- send email
Address:
- 398 Hayes St
- At Gough St
- San Francisco, CA 94102
Payments:
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Hours:
- Tues-Fri 11:30am-midnight (bar until 2am Fri); Sat 11am-midnight (bar until 2am); Sun 11am-10pm (bar until midnight)
- User Rating
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NileGuide CitySearch 61 IgoUgo 1 TripAdvisor 143 sign in to rate it
