By-Th’-Bucket Bar and Grill

You used to be able to come in here, sit down and they would give you a basket of nice bread and butter to start your meal. I guess no more. When we asked our waiter where the bread was, we were told that we could buy some if we wanted. what? ok, so you saved a dollar on bread, and still charged me 100 dollars for 3 appetizers and a couple of salads. not coming back.

Met my husband there for an early dinner. I arrived about 4:30 or so. I wasn’t really sure where to go to be seated. Eventually someone showed up at what was the hostess stand (in front of a gelato cooler). I was seated and waited. I must have sat for about 5 minutes before a server showed up and I explained I was waiting for my husband and requested water. Husband showed up shortly after that. There were no wine menus and husband and I waited for server to come back. Husband was tempted to go to the bar and just get a glass on his own. We watched the server bring out two different dishes to an adjoining table. Mind you there were only about 2 – 3 tables the rest were empty. There were a lot of staff but could’t figure out what they were doing. Finally got wine menu.
I ordered the Snapper and was pleased I could request it without breading or sauces and have it grilled. Husband had the Paella. I had a large portion of food and the fish and side spinach were tasty. The mash potatoes though tasted as if they were pre-​packed potatoes and they added flavor to them. Disappointing. Husband’s Paella is big enough for 2 or 3 to share. It was pretty. I tasted it and thought the shrimp was over cooked. Husband had some barely warm to cool pieces of shrimp. I also felt like the rice tasted as if it was pre-​packed and flavor added. I expected more flavor. I appreciate that the food is not over seasoned/​salted. But felt that there is room for improvement.
As we were paying for our bill I heard the server sharing the specials with the table behind us. Mahi? Really? I wish I was offered the specials.
All in all average for the price point. Restaurant is pleasant but service is slow. The exhaust fan in the ladies room is covered in dust.

What a great place to eat great service great food and a very good wine list you gotta try the steak, stuff mushrooms and cheesy bread

I came here yesterday night with my girlfriend for a birthday dinner. I had never heard of this place before and I can hardly believe that I’ve missed out on it over the past few years considering how long its been around.
Ambiance: The place has a real old school Italian and sports bar vibe to it. Dim lighting, booth seating, wooden floors and walls give the place a nice warm feeling to it. There’s a lot of cool Bay Area sports decoration around the restaurant as well. Another cool decoration is all the wine bottles that they have displayed all over the restaurant I can definitely see myself grabbing lunch or drinks here with some friends while watching the warriors or 49ers games.
Food: We ordered the calamari as an appetizer and the Fettucine Bolognese and Cajun Snapper as our main courses. The Calamari came out quickly and was very tasty. The Calamari was fried perfectly without being too oily and the calamari itself was very tender and delicious. The portions for our main course were HUGE and could easily feed two people. My Fettucine was cooked perfectly and topped with a meat sauce, Italian Sausage and packed with flavor. The Cajun snapper was also cooked well, seasoned with a nice blend of spices and served over Jambalaya Rice. They also have Gelato up front near the entrance which I really wanted to try but was unable to after my massive meal.
Service: Service was pretty good here considering we had a large party of about 13 – 15 people. Our requests were taken care of quickly and our server was very friendly with our table.
Overall Experience: My girlfriend and I really enjoyed our meal here and would not mind coming back for another visit.

Come here if you are looking for: Italian, Seafood, Sports Bar, and Gelato!
I came here last night for a friend’s birthday dinner. On a Saturday night, this restaurant is packed so if you are planing to come here, make reservations! I am surprised I haven’t heard of this place before. There are tv’s playing sports games and portraits of bay area’s favorite sports team framed along the walls of the dining area.
The menu has a huge selection of seafood (a plus for me since I could eat seafood all day!). For appetizers, we went for the fried calamari. The plate was huge and the calamari was very chewy and tender. For entrees, my boyfriend and I shared the Fettucine Bolagnese and Cajun Snapper. The Cajun Snapper dish came with jambalaya rice. The fish was cooked very well and flavorful, the rice was seasoned well with smoked sausages, and topped off with a cheesy bell pepper. The Fettucine Bolagnese was hearty and tasty as well. The sauce definitely didn’t taste like it came from a jar and it was house-​made. This dish came with sausages and ground beach along with diced onions and mushrooms. The portions were huge and we both had our food packed to go.
The service was excellent. Our waiter checked on us frequently, joked around with us, and sang happy birthday to my friend with us as she blew out the candles. We made reservations and the hostesses were polite and friendly by walking us to our table as everyone arrived at different times. Some of us were a bit late, and came about 30 mins after our reservation and the waiter and hostesses were accommodating and didn’t seem to mind.
Overall, I will definitely be back. I do have to note that the parking lot is pretty small and most of us had to park in the residential area since we couldn’t find parking. However, next time when there is a big sporting event going on, (probably the Giant’s since I am a huge baseball fan), I am definitely going to be here dining and watching the game at the same time!

Lively bar scene– sports bar vibe. We had a great waitress — sat at the bar– the restaurant was packed. Obviously, a hang out for Many regulars. The food was only okay… I had a fish entrée. not great. He had pizza– very good… I agree with comments re pricey. r

I went here for lunch with my dad. For some reason, I always get put by the kitchen, so it is noisy. Their lunch portions are huge, and the price is pretty decent. They seemed a bit understaffed for lunch, so we did not have the attention that you would normally have during the dinner hour. Still a good place to go for lunch or dinner. I gave the three stars because of the slow service at lunch

I absolutely love this place. I’ve been coming here for years, and it is always a go-​to for me and my family. The dill/​herb spread for the bread, is quite literally AMAZING. The portions are large for both lunch and dinner, so I always end up taking the rest to go. The crab and artichoke melt is fabulous, and yesterday I enjoyed the California Brie Club. They have recently added a gelato bar near the host stand. I would definitely recommend this place to friends and family.

Service there. Being clean is there too. Dinner was yummy in my tummy. I don’t eat non Asian food much so to me this was well done by the chef.

It’s been years since I’ve been to By-Th’-Bucket. This used to be one of my favorite spots to eat. I decided to go in tonight with my 2 daughters to celebrate my birthday and was very disappointed. It’s nowhere near the same as it used to be. The service was very, very slow. The staff did not seem enthusiastic or friendly. It took half an hour to get water; we had already finished our appetizers and had to stop several people to ask for water. Once the food came out I was excited to see the usual huge portions they are known for. However, the food was not up to par. It was bland and there were so many bones in the fish that we were unable to eat most of it. I ended up spending close to $ 150 on a meal that was not worth it. This used to be one of my favorites but after tonight I will not be going back.

Hadn’t been in here over 12 years
still awesome
Great service and great food
Large portions …
Melisa was a great help.

Here is the response I sent the owner after he «finally» responded to my email alerting him to a situation I thought he might want to know about. I personally would appreciate it any time a customer took the time to bring to my attention possible «opportunities» for improvement.
Below you will find my response to Mr. Furious email;
Mr. Furiosi:
It’s unfortunate that you choose to ignore and dismiss my feedback.
I have experienced service problems in the past, and in-​fact I did report those incidents to the manager on duty at the time. Most of the time they offer free dessert, but I am not looking to save money, and just want a «good dining experience».
I didn’t «report» this incident at the time as I did not want to take time away from my in-​laws whom I seldom see and they were only with us for the evening.
So far as you statement that these are «false» claims, I can only tell you that «perceptions are reality» — and those were my observations, whether you accept them or not.
I am not angry or mad, but I was very disappointed with the inferior service. The sad part is that the food is very good, and it’s so easy to correct service issues. Issues such as ensuring place settings are correct, ensuring salt and pepper are on all the tables should be a «no-​brainier».
Committing to a customer that you will bring them a beverage to drink with their meal should not be a challenge for your staff. We are not talking about a drink from the bar, it was lemonade.
I do believe that there are opportunities for improvement and both your business and your patrons will have a better experience should you take advantage of those opportunities.
Best wishes to you and your family during the holiday season.
Sincerely,
Robert

Came here with some folks from work for a Holiday Lunch. It was early so there wasn’t really anyone else seated yet besides us. Generally this place is packed especially during dinner in the bar area.
By-Th’-Bucket has been around for as long as I can remember and I’ve eaten here more times than I can count over the year. However it had been quite awhile since my last visit. They have a private parking lot which is a good size however it can fill up in the evening hour so come early. The interior is comfortable, and has a itallian bistro meets sports bar feel to it. Lots of 49er memorabilia scattered around.
We started off with a few appetizers:
Fried artichokes — greasy and kinda flavorless
Calamari — cooked well but again, kinda flavorless
Cheesy Garlic Bread — the best out of the 3
Two of our guys ordered pizza’s and said they were good.
One ordered the house salad and soup — pretty basic
Another ordered the eggplant parmesan which she said she enjoyed and brought half home.
I ordered the prawns over risotto. The flavor was good but the fact that the whole shell was on the prawns and I had to literally pick them up with my hands and rip the shell off was not okay. Leaving the tail on? Sure, but the whole shell for this dish was simply embarrassing.
Our server was very friendly and made sure we were taken care of. Prices are kinda high and the meals were just «okay». I’d come back to hang out in the bar and have beverages and appetizers next time. Food was heavy and a tad greasy for my liking.

I have lived in this neighborhood for 56 years. By-​the-​Bucket has been here for ever. I remember going when the building was one small room, way before the new building. I am tired of the prices that continue to rise, really $ 27 for veal marsala! and charging for bread now! How ridiculous is that. When asked to speak to the manager all we got was «you know the minimum wage is going up and prices go up»
3 meals, two ice teas, 1 order of bread was almost $ 80…not right at all. After all these years, we will not be going back!
I can go to a 5 star dinner with steak and all the bread I want for this much money!

We used to love coming here, over the years it became one of our fave family dinner spots. The kids and hubz love the menu variety and I adore the cioppino. The food has always been great and pricing is reasonable, especially considering portion sizes are large.
So, why only 3 stars? It’s the service. It is always SLOW. Usually we can handle that, so we plan ahead — arrive early and not starving. ;-) But recently it has become unbearable. Our last two visits we were there at least two and a half hours. Not because we were in leisurely moods, but because everything happens at a snail’s pace. Plus, the servers haven’t been very friendly lately, so… why go back?
To top things off, they charge for bread now. Seriously? C’mon on guys, that’s just bad. We won’t be back. At least not for awhile.

I came here with my mom and the staff was very helpful and nice. The décor was unique in a good way.
We ordered the cheese bread and it had some weird sauce on it that tasted like hot mayonnaise mixed with some Alfredo. I wish it was just garlic bread with cheese the mayo like sauce was kinda gross. I ate like 3 pieces and couldn’t decide what it was or if I didn’t like it.
I ordered the blackened catfish jambalaya and the blackened fish was great but the rice just tasted like boxed Zattarans and there was a ton of it. Large portions for sure.
Not sure id go back unless somebody else really wanted to go.

Pretty solid eatery! Found this on Unilocal and very shocked that it only has 3 stars. My experience here with my husband, brother, his GF & daughter went well. They enjoyed the food very much although it was a little on the spendy side. I noticed they have a pretty big crowd here on Sunday’s and a back room as well for parties which is cool. Towards the evening we noticed a lot of older folks pulling in which means they have a pretty good foundation of customers who frequent which is a good sign! Would come again but try something different. my rotisserie fettuccine just didn’t taste as good as I thought it would but the calamari and cheese bread were excellent.

Where do I start?! I used to absolutely love this place (had many special dinners here) and the service. But my last experience might be my last experience.
The bartender wasn’t friendly. Look I get it. I was a bartender for years (server now), you sometimes have an off day, but every time?!
Since when do y’all start charging for bread. not cool, guys. Sure you guys probably get those vultures who get one kids pasta to share, water and fill up on bread. But why do I now have to suffer for their cheapassery?!
I ordered oysters (sorta small for the almost $ 3 a piece), cob salad (which I hated, I can’t believe you guys think you’re getting away with that. Thank you to our server for taking it off the bill), clam chowder (nothing to say about it) and spaghetti&meatballs (boring and wait, you want how much for an extra meatball?)
I just can’t see myself ever coming back and I feel awful about it, but not as awful as I felt paying the check. I don’t mind paying if the quality is there, but it’s gone.

Worst meal ive had in a very long time. Not recommended. Extremely dissapointed. Chicken parm was SWIMMING in watery, non flavorful sauce. Chicken was wet and soggy, pasta was just very wet. Flavor not present. Service is OK but food is horrible. I would have rather had KFC lol…

Der Name klingt furchtbar und lässt Fastfood vermuten. Aber nein, hier kann man gut Fisch essen. Nicht perfekt aber es schmeckt, besser als in so machen high-​end Restaurant um die Ecke (Santana Row…)

Atmosphere– By the Bucket has an awesome sports bar atmosphere! My dad was in love with all the Bay Area sports gear on the walls! It is a man’s perfect little sports world! I think it appeals to those who are into sports and want a little bit of an upscale treatment. No hot dogs and nachos found here!
Service– The service was good, the waitress was very friendly and very helpful when trying to find something good to eat on the menu. She also was knowledgable about the owner and what he wanted for his business.
Food– we probably should have ordered their seafood, but my family and I all wanted some pasta and carbs! The pasta was pretty good, but over priced. The portions were large and the pasta was good, but I could have gotten the same amount of food for less at Olive Garden.
Overall, if it wasn’t so pricy, I would have given it a 4 stars, I just felt like I have tasted better at other places for a better deal.
*** however, we didn’t taste their fish, so I totally could have changed my mind!