Bahia Restaurant

This place was so bad, it’s almost not worth my time to review it.
Our food took 1 hour. Yes, 1 hour to arrive. When it finally arrived, they forgot my entrée and handed me the appetizer instead.
The menu is so confusing to read. Most of it is in Spanish which I don’t understand. The waitresses were no help whatsoever. One waitress said she didn’t even work there. Then why the heck was she handing us our chips and salsa? In fact, she was wearing a t-​shirt from another restaurant!
Margaritas were weak, place is disgusting. In fact, I’m amazed I didn’t get sick from the food. Avoid this place!

I read the reviews, brought some folks from out of town, and was disappointed. I had the whole Snapper which was admittedly good but the menu seemed very limited (Snapper, Shrimp, and land meats). The non-​seafood entrees were as generic as any other Mexican restaurant. The guacamole was good, and the beer was cold — but you shouldn’t get credit for stuff you’re supposed to do.

I love food and I am very finicky. People sometimes don’t like to eat with me because I am so picky. I like good food…
This place has The best refried beans I have had ever-​they has so much flavor, were thick, yes, but not greasy and just so bursting with flavor. And with NO lard. I only tried the rice and beans and salsa and I have not stopped craving it since. I cannot stop thinking about the refried beans!!!
The margarita was good too.
The waitress was wonderful and friendly and the place is large, clean and quality.
I hope more people will eat here and make this place as crowded as other places in the mission. I am definitely going back to try the actual entrees (that come with rice & beans!)
FYI-​they used to have seafood on the menu but I think now they stopped specializing in seafood.

Well they sure have a lot of tequila. One of the tequilas is worth $ 45 for a shot! Other than that, didn’t try the food, just had a glass of wine, it was chill.

Quite poor. I would not classify this as a ‘Mexican’ restaurant in the normal jargon. There are no traditional Mexican dishes here, only seafood dishes (I think there was the requesite 1 chicken dish). For a seafood restaurant, the fish was not fresh, but obviously frozen. Of the 6 dishes amongst our group, not a one had any flavour at all. As noted in other reviews, this place was completely deserted on a Sat night. I undestand why; I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.

If you can keep the urge to yodel and listen for your echo at bay, Bahia makes for some damn good dinner. A rather cavernous place and completely empty at 7pm on a Thursday night, except for two guys watching Mexico City/​Guadalupe futbol match. Keep this place up your sleeve when you’ve got a group of 20 wandering the Mission in search of food.
Service was speedy and friendly and smart. Everything looked clean, the walls were painted fun colors and one of the guys kept the jukebox rolling.
We tried the Filete a la Veracruzana ($ 13) and one of the day’s specials, Shrimp Fajitas ($ 11). The fillet was pretty spicy, but with great quality fish. The fajitas were super-​good, with jumbo shrimp, bell peppers, onions… and bacon (watch out if you’re a pescatarian only). Round out the meal with two house margaritas ($ 5 each) and these toast-​black bean-​spicy sauce appetizers they brought out (free!) … and Erin is one happy girl.
I started out giving this place four stars, but then I tried to think of what was preventing it from being five. Nothing really. Easy to get a table, great quality food, reasonable pricing. I suppose maybe if it were on a beach with waves crashing that might make it better.

**Bahia is no more, unfortunately. On Sunday, Jan 20^th, 2008, I had a drink at Café Revolution and walked across the street. What once was Bahia is now a new establishment. Didn’t eat there, but it looks to be a tequila-​bar/​tapas/​mexican food place with table service (as opposed to the standard Mission taqueria). I’m honestly confused as to why this heavily-​trafficked corner doesn’t do more business, as it’s failed a couple of times already in my brief knowledge of it.”” Below review is for Bahia, the predecessor restaurant which may or may not have any sort of influence on the current duenos.
Love love love LOVE this place. The décor is nice, the staff is fantastic, and the food is incredible. Downtown quality at Mission prices, I’ve had the Filete Veracruzano, the Ostiones Bahia, Tostada de Camarones, and the house margarita, and all were magnificent. The owners have obviously put alot of love and care into this place and I can’t for the life of me figure out why it’s not packed all the time. It works as a quick bite after work, a nice date place before hitting the Mission bars, or just drink at the bar and have some of their appetizers.

UPDATE: 7÷28÷2007
Three words: «They changed hands»
Some more words: They’re still damned good but not quite as magic. It’s still way above average but I’m bumping from 5 to 4 stars. 4 stars is nothing to sniff at… ;)
— — — — — — — –
You’re walking hand in hand on a warm Mexican beach at sunset, bikini & sarong –something right out of a condom comerical. You wander into a beach-​side cantina and get fed the most amazing Mexican seafood you can imagine. But then you open your eyes. You’re still at the restauarant. And outside the window, instead of the beach, is the Mission… and you can go here any time!!!
Sappy! Yep! But it fits! GO HERE!!!
What are you doing??? Why are you Unilocaling? Get up off your bums, right this minute, and go to Bahia!!!
A few months ago, I wandered in here with friends and ordered several rounds of margaritas. The kitchen was closed but they brought us plenty of ceviche which was so delicious, my toes curled. I made a mental note to come back.
Tonight was the night. It was a PERFECT date! First they brought us our drinks and the Pan de la Casa. This was a sort of Mexican bruchetta –something like I’d never tasted –and on the house. Oh my god!
We ordered the Ostiones Bahia — baked oysters on the half-​shell with goat cheese and drizzled in chipotle oil. Wow. It knocked my socks off! The «garnish» was a lettuce and apple salad as well as a bed of black beans. We scraped the plate! When they took it away, we scrambled for the black beans left on our place mats.
They gave us a few minutes to let that settle and enjoy our drinks. Then, Dinner came. He had the Filete Verracruzano. I had the Camarones al Tequila. At this point, I had to stop and take pictures (and I posted them here). And the entrees were as delicious as they looked. What followed was silence as we both delved into our own little heavens, stopping occasionally to feed eachother little nibbles.
I wouldn’t mind shelling out a few clams for this feast; but we had oyster appetizers, giant fresh seafood dinners, two rounds of drinks, all for only $ 65. Plus, it’s within a block of a dozen great bars and clubs (22^nd & Valencia). As I said, it’s a *perfect* date place.
I’m still basking in the afterglow. This is without a doubt, my new favorite restaurant. I vow to drag all my friends here and tell every stranger until this place starts getting the attention it deserves.

As others have written, an unappreciated/​overlooked gem. Friendly service at the bar and at the table, good food (I had the shrimp in spicy red sauce), tasty bread. It really should be doing better business than it is.

I don’t why I’m trying to look for restaurants in the Mission that are off the beaten path, but that’s my latest hobby and Bahia was an excellent find. I found it on Unilocal and was intrigued by all the «hidden gem» descriptions in the reviews so my girlfriend and I checked it out.
The place is colorful and huge… tall ceilings and lots of tables that are actually spread apart from one another (in SF? *gasp* could it be?), but unfortunately on 8pm on a Saturday night, there was nobody there to fill up the tables. Our waitress was very nice, but she seemed new, and english was defintely not her native language. We had a few communication issues ordering. We received free bread that was soaked in flavored olive oil and topped with a black bean paste. Very tasty. I ordered the Fish Veracruzano, which comes with black beans and rice, and the fish filet was huge! The plate was artisically decorated and the fish was surrounded by fresh slices of tomatoes, and peppers. The fish was fresh and there was lots of flavor to my dish, but it was a bit too spicy for me unfortunately.
A large group of 15 people showed up around 9pm and made the restaurant seem more lively… I’m not sure why Bahia doesn’t have more patrons because the food really is good. The main thing it’s lacking is atmosphere…

I do not understand why this place wasn’t packed! It is good food. My friend Leon and I and the boyfriend came here on Saturday afternoon to start off Cinco de Mayo with some good Mexican food.
Leon has been here for dinner and he enjoyed it, he said it was good seafood. It was he who introduced us to this place.
Brunch was great. While you wait, they brought out a basket of mini muffins. The yellow muffin was good. The chocolate muffin was a little dry though. For brunch, I had the chorizo con heuvos and it was wonderful. Not much else to say, good spicy chorizo and eggs and soft rice and yummy refried beans. My BF and Leon had the chicken with some spicy covered nachos and that was also delish. (I always eat off the BF’s place, can’t help it, his stuff always looks so good.)
Service was good, prices were not too bad, expensive for Mexican but that’s only if you’re comparing it to the 24 hour burrito shop you go to when you are drunk. Otherwise the prices are right for the type of meal you get. Maybe we are better off keeping this place a secret before it becomes one of those overcrowded establishments where we have to wait an hour for a table.
Well, now the secret is out.

This has to be the best restaurant in the Mission, and one of the best in the city. My wife and I recently discovered it because we forced ourselves to go to some places in our neighborhood that we never pay attention to. And oh what a treat! There was hardly anyone in the place, which is odd, and I’m guessing it’s because it hasn’t yet been discovered.
You need to eat at Bahia, tonight. It’s that good. And you won’t find food anything like it anywhere else.
It was cold in there, though — the door was left open, probably to attract clientele. The waitress gladly shut it when we asked.
This is where I’m going to take all of my friends & family when they want a really good, unique dinner.

My 2 friends and I just happened upon this restaurant and decided to give it a try.
I wasn’t too impressed with the menu at first, only 2 meats on it, and I was looking for some carnitas! After much thought, we all got different things. The appetizers started coming, we were liking it here, this food was really good. Very different from typical Mexican food, which is what we were actually looking for but what the hell. Well, I tell you, this was the best food I’ve had in quite some time! I had the rollo de pescado and it was positively perfection on a plate. There isn’t one thing I would change about it. My dining companions had the chicken — way good and the rib steak – good, but the weakest of the entrees, in our opinions!
I hate to say it, cuz I don’t want to start waiting in lines, but YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS RESTAURANT. It’ll be your new favourite, I swear!

Only in San Francisco would a quality restaurant like Bahia skates by unnoticed (judging from the number of Unilocal reviews). On a Saturday night, they had plenty of seats. If you drop this restaurant in any other place, say Michigan, where people wait over an hour to get into Olive Garden or P.F. Chang’s, this place would be packed.
Pay that much for a Mexican meal in Mission?
First, food here is quite different from your typical Mexican food, focused on some excellent seafood dishes. Second, prices are expensive only if you compare them to other Mexican restaurants. If prices are any lower on dishes with a whole fish or big prawns, I would be worried. Whole fried tilapia ($ 10.50) was nicely seasoned and delicious. Caribean Sea Food ($ 19.95) had plenty of fresh seafood mixed with rice. Food was delicious with only possible complaint being a little too salty. I think food was designed to be enjoyed with a large glass of Mexican beer.
Due to their seating availability, this might be a good place to go in a large group.

edited 07÷02÷07−
oh man, talk about going downhill fast. about a month after my friend and i went to bahia we found out it was «under new management». i instantly got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. we had been dying to go back, but feared we would never have the awesome meal we had our first time there… and we were right.
it looks like «under new management» means «now catering to hipsters and gentrifyers». they cut the menu in half. gone is the heavenly calamari, no more is the sinfully delicious crab stuffed tilapia fillet. in it’s place are oversized plates with garnish and nasty rice, canned beer and chipotle sauce. it’s just another generic seafood place that has lost it’s soul. what’s next? a starbucks on the corner of 24^th and alabama? (shudder)
original review 02÷02÷07−
5 stars
i do not lie, this is probably the best meal i have ever had outside of my mom’s house. the calamari was fresh, the fish delicious, the ambience homey. the menu is huge. so many delicious choices. this is the type of restaurant that makes the mission «the mission». when you want more than just a taco or burrito, this is the place to go.
mmm, just thinking about this place makes me wish i was there.

Only ONE review of this place? People, people… you gotta check this place out. My friend was looking for a dinner destination for her birthday — her ideal vision was a Mexican seafood place that played mariachi music. And after substantial research, this was really the only place in the city we found that fit with what she wanted.
Most of us made a great meal out of a bunch of their appetizers there — seafood topped nachos, awesome yet insanely spicey guacamole, ceviche topped tostadas, garlic prawns. They also have some really fun looking seafood specialty dishes that I may have explored had I been daring that evening. And I definitely recommend the orange margaritas — makes me happy just thinking about it.
I believe on weekends they have a mariachi band that shows up around 8 p.m. — if you feel compelled, you can even get up and start dancing and singing at the top of your lungs (granted, you are famliar with the songs ;)

What a surprise! This place is awesome! We were led to Bahia by a Latin friend because she told us about micheladas, which are like Mexican Bloody Marys. I am not a fan of the tomato juice drinks (gasp!) but quite tasty. Probably would not be able to drink a whole one, they’re enormous! We had the ceviche and fried Tilapia, both were flavorful and good sized portions. $ 3.50 for the ceviche appetizer, which two people had as an entrée! Lots of seafood on the menu here, which is tremendous.
Of course, the restaurant had a mariachi and a lot of families enjoying their dinner. It was a true old school Mission experience!