Alioto’s Waterside Cafe

Alioto’s is in the Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco. I wouldn’t say it was fine dining by any means but it was ok. We just got out of a four hour baseball game and we were hungry. I ordered the Caesar salad and the half shrimp sandwich. The sandwich was ok but probably should have ordered the crab sandwich. The salad was a typical Caesar salad. The appearance is what you would expect from a by the «sea «type restaurant. The place is nothing fancy. The service was the best part of the experience. Our waiter was great and the food was delivered quickly. Parking. Forget about if you can. You are better off walking or going on the cable cars. Overall the place was ok. If you want quick eats you could go to Alioto’s or not. The prices are high for what you receive but I think that is a by product of the area and San Francisco. Just Unilocaling out.

Took my Dad to Alioto because he remembered going there 59 years ago. Brought back some good memories for him. Food was excellent. Ask for Olivier to wait on you, he is fantastic. I won’t wait 60 years to come back!

We didn’t dine here, we were ordering it outside where they give you your food right then and there so we can walk with our food while walking around. I ordered the fish and chips. DO NOT order the fish and chips. YUCK! The fried fish was under a heat lamp and it was dry and felt like the fried fish came from a box you heat up… so disgusting. My husband had the clam chowder soup in the bread bowl. I had some and it was ok, seemed very thin, like water, not creamy at all. If you keep walking along the Fishermans Wharf, you will pass by a corn dog and hot dog stand… MUCH better than this place… I recommend if you do eat here to maybe try the crab? How can they mess up on crab? Horrible. So embarassing, I chose this place for the whole family to eat something, and they didn’t eat any of the food, tossed it and went to the corn dog stand.

Me and my lady shared a hot cracked crab and ate in the dining room with a view, everything was great, service was A+, waiters cleaned up right away when we were done. Was pricey but worth it.

A very casual restaurant in the middle of tourist trap fishermen’s warf. My experience was that they sat us very quickly in a good spot where we could people watch which was fun. But the service there was a little too causal our server didn’t make eye contact with us. It was like this kind of impression «yeah whad ya want? You want fries wit dat?» That’s the impression of the attitude of the staff. Not necessarily «not good» but not professional either. Service was a little on the slow side. I think it took 15 mins to get our drinks. Food was okay but a little pricey but it’s a tourist spot so not surprised. Anyway an okay experience so three stars.

Utterly disappointing. Do yourself a favor, eat at the outside stands. The food is not worth it. The service is slow and very lazy. The seafood outside is far superior to what you get In here. The prices in here are ridiculous compared to outside for the same Exact meal.

This place looks nice and fancy but the food and service suck. Better off eating at those outdoor food places. Slow service and food was mediocre. One guy threw up mid meal and they didn’t even wipe off the table before putting a new table cloth and seating new customers. $ 90 wasted. Take it from me. Run away as fast as you can.
Extra star only cause the bread and clam chowder were actually good. Doubt they made the bread. #justsayin

Super engaging managers, really fast service (especially if you get Amin or Bryce as your server. I’m a regular) Great cocktails, and they have occasional fireworks displays!!!

Don’t get me wrong!!! The food is delicious. But is such a sad place that most of the employees are drugged or tipsy and working in that condition. I wonder if the City ever goes and checks on that. Family owned business, yet having employees working while been in drugs or in alcohol in their system. Yet is supposed to be a nice place to eat??? With mature and sober employees! Didn’t think so… I wonder how this family owned business agrees on having their employees working in such bad conditions !!!

Average food. Nice lively outdoor seating. Good for watching people. Would prefer more local ingredients but then most of shellfish served in fishermans wharf is imported now.

We thought it was Aliotos. Waiter was nice. Food took forever. Got half crab and sirloin steak. Each one comes with mediocre salad with iceberg. The steak was terrible. Sizzler is a hundred times better! Got a sprite to that was watered down. Total cost was $ 75! What a rip. This is not a place to go if you want a decent fairly priced meal. I guess the wharf is expensive but give me a break.
The funny thing is I was gonna read Unilocal first but decided to go in cold. Big mistake but hey it’s only $!!

Found on Fishermans Wharf, it was convenient for us to stop for dinner. We were seated immediately. Our waitress was over quickly to take our drink orders and let us browse the menu.
Service here remained consistently good. Our waitress was over quite frequently to check on us during our visit.
I chose the pan fried trout with lemon butter sauce accompanied with rice. The trout was good but I would have preferred the sauce already on the fish vs a little cup on the side. The rice was very bland and plain. They could have added a few herbs to give it something. My friend ordered the crab cake sandwich. I had a small bite and didn’t care for it. It was more like crab salad than a crab cake. I was disappointed.
This was ok but there is much better found on the wharf.

Definitely confused this place with Alioto’s Restaurant which was apparently upstairs in the same building. BIG MISTAKE.
This place had the WORST clam chowder I’ve ever had. As the other reviews stated it did taste as though it had came from a can and needed tons of pepper and hot sauce to fix how bland it was. The crab also did not taste fresh and the portions were way too small for the price. I only had a few bites of the crab and salad after finishing the clam chowder before my date and I decided to ask for the check and leave. We spent $ 50 on a two entrée+one appetizer meal that would’ve cost $ 20-​$ 30 and probably tasted much better at average place not on the warf.
On top of that, the service was absolutely dreadful. I wasn’t even sure who our server was. First it was this Caucasian lady in her late 30’s who had a major attitude towards us all meal, then we had random Hispanic servers coming to our table to check on us. I’m almost willing to say they were even slacking on the job because we received our first appetizer before getting bread to our table. Very unusual for any restaurant!
My advice is to save your money and avoid this place.
The only upside to dining here is if you happen to get a seat in the back, you do get a very nice view of the ocean and docks through their dirty window.

Clam chowder was not creamy enough and dish overall was a bit overpriced. Would not come back.
Same could get on the street with better quality and hospitality.

In from a long flight, wanted a refreshing beverage and just a bite to eat. White tablecloth with a casual ambience left us a little confused feeling. Prices were higher and the waiter didn’t appreciate us not ordering a meal. Our appetizers were good, but overall looking at the food that walked by looked just okay. It didn’t look nearly as good as the little venders out on the wharf that got our mouths watering to begin with. We left a bit disappointed.

After exploring the wharf, we decided to stop and grab something for dinner. Again, there are just so many choices at the wharf it gets a little difficult to choose. At this point, its just easier to flip a coin to figure out which place to eat at~! Haha.
Finally we decided to eat at Aliotos. There of course was a short wait to be seated, but luckily the wait wasn’t long at all. We scored a nice spot close to the window, beautiful view.
The Grub.
[[ ½ CRAB SANDWICH $ 16.75 ]] This crab sandwich was soooo damn good. It also came with a cup of clam chowder and fries. Nomz~!

I only had clam chowder & buffalo wings. The wings were good but the clam chowder was average. If you’re coming here for clam chowder, keep walking a round. You can definitely find a better place for it! Service want the best either.

Sadly, the worst experience I have ever had with a restaurant… and we didn’t even dine in!
Ill say this: I’m a SF transplant… Like many in this city. Sure, I’ve been here for almost a decade but I’m no hometown hero nor could I spurt off OG restaurant spots like some peers of mine… But that doesn’t mean I don’t know my bar/​restaurant scene in SF. One downside of being a transplant, anywhere, is the holidays. You don’t get to enjoy time with family, turkey, unwrapping presents or your mothers judgmental stare across the table as to why you aren’t married with kids by almost 30. You get it.
That being said, we wanted to find a restaurant in the city to host us, a few other transplants and friends visiting for the weekend for a «traditional» thanksgiving dinner with a nice view; something that made us feel like at home… if only for a moment.
We searched online to find restaurants accommodating our request while not breaking the bank, which is when we found Aliotos; $ 32/​person, full thanksgiving experience with a view on the pier. Sweet! 3 WEEKS PRIOR TO THANKSGIVING, I call in to make a reservation for 6 and requested a view on the water. My initial conversation wasn’t pleasant; the girl on the phone was spacey and hesitant… i was then transferred to a gentleman who gave me two time slots, 4pm and 830pm. We weren’t happy with the times but we shrugged it off and chose 8:30.
Fast forward to thanksgiving night: we hit the pier a few hours ahead of time to check out the festive themes and have a few drinks at gold dust lounge (which I have always loved). Around 7pm, and a few drinks in, the appointment time slips our mind so we call to confirm the time we have scheduled. When the gf called, the hostess claims that we in fact DO NOT have a reservation. We gave my first name, my last name, my blood type… everything, and she insisted it is in fact not there. At this point we are pissed since we have travelled across the city, friends in tow and hungry as hell expecting a nice evening. We call back to speak to a manager, who again, insists it isn’t there. They go on to mention «well, the restaurant is pretty slow so we can seat you now.»
Wut?
So you have two time slots, 4pm and 830pm, yet the restaurant is open seating? Makes zero sense.
We go on over, frustrated and just wanting to salvage the night. As we walk in, the restaurant is roughly one-​fourth full as well as one window seat. They mention that table is accounted for but if we hang tight for about 20 minutes they will seat us.
In that time, while in the waiting area, the obese sloppily dressed «manager» waddles over and tells the hostess that the table is for «Ryan at 8:30» and that we need to wait a while longer. Wait. WHAT THE FVCK?! IM RYAN!
Outraged, she walks over and says, verbatim:
«wait, is that table for Ryan L_​_​?»
Manager: yes, we are waiting for him.
«are you serious?! We are Ryan L_​_​!! We called ahead of time and you said you lost our reservation and we have been waiting for half an hour!»
Hostess: oh. I thought you said your name was Maya??? *blank stare*
«NO! I SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOU HIS FIRST AND LAST NAME AND YOU COULDN’T FIND IT»
*meanwhile the manager is mocking her and trying to calm her down while being downright rude*
«don’t you dare talk to me like that, we are leaving»
To piss off a happily buzzed 4^th grade teacher to that extent is a daunting task and takes A LOT of work, so that is the only thing I can applaud you on.
The staff here from manager down, from everyone I have spoken to and the whole situation is just laughable. Not only did they ruin an otherwise great night, they lost what would’ve been a +/​-​$ 400 table due to an idiot manager and clueless hostess. Thanksgiving is supposed to be a holiday surrounded by those you love… and the only thing we loved that night was telling Aliotos to fvck off.
Pathetic representation of SF dining and you should be ashamed to even be open.
Avoid at all costs… More so for a special occasion.

I ended up here with a friend, for dinner while in the Bay Area on my Thanksgiving retreat.
I have to admit, I was hoping for better, but overall, I’m saying this place is «so-​so». For starters, the service was awesome. I wish I remembered his name; he was so friendly and attentive, that my friend really had the impression that I was some sort of VIP. I just wish the food was on the same level.
We couldn’t decide on what to order so I ordered the combination; a little bit of everything. It comes with bread, soup and salad.
This really sounds bad but I’ve had tastier soup out of a can. It was bland and even after adding seasoning, I couldn’t stomach it after three spoon fulls. I didn’t finish it. I figured, it would leave more room for the main dish. The salad, was chilled, but didn’t seem fresh. I also didn’t care for not being given a choice on the salad dressing. Again, I wasn’t too bothered because we weren’t there for soup and salad, it just happened to come with the combination.
So it was two stars for the service, and the third for the combination. I guess this plate wouldn’t be messed up as it’s a seafood restaurant. Portion sizes as described in the menu and I have to admit, it sure seemed like they threw in some extra pieces. Opted for the garlic butter and it went well with both of our tastes.
If not for the combination, I would be recommending that you avoid this place. We didn’t try anything else off the menu so I won’t comment on them. Just don’t expect much when you start off with their soup and salad.

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. The service was good until he took our order and then he wasn’t attentive at all.
The bread of the bread bowl was good, but the chowder needed more seasoning. I got the fishetman’s platter, which was just okay. I likely wouldn’t come back.