Bistro Aix

Ate here for the first time with friends. The space was cozy, service and staff were friendly and helpful. Everyone enjoyed both their apps and the main dishes. I appreciated that the kitchen was flexible and able accommodate a few dietary restrictions we had. I think the favorite dish of the evening was the grilled pear salad. A few bummers re the wine… 1 — our friends were really hoping to try so wine from Aix… seems like perhaps they should bring some in, given the name and all. 2 — though this is our fault for not checking, we’ve never eaten at a restaurant in the city that did not waive the corkage fee if you also ordered a wine off the menu. We ordered a nice bottle to start, and it wasn’t inexpensive, and yet we were still charged the steep $ 25 corkage for having our own burgundy with us to enjoy after we finished the wine from Bistro Aix. This kinda left a sour taste for all of us and seemed a bit greedy to me.

Initially, I was planning to have dinner later in the evening, but decided to prepone due to Bistro Aix’s early opening time for dinner. My date and I selected the Himalayan Black Truffle Risotto and the Squid Ink Spaghetti, respectively.
The spaghetti dish contained strong hints of sea salt, much to my delight, and it was clearly evident that the linguine was authentic since the taste indicated a hand-​made craft. In addition to that, there was truly a squidy tinge to the flavor — it was clear that I had transcended towards seafood heaven.
The risotto took my date back to her New Zealand days with its refreshing, oceany taste. Although she found the dish to be quite delicious, she was unable to wipe the plate clean, so I gladly devoured the rest of it. The chives, albeit being reserved a side to the truffle risotto, were surprisingly very well done too.
To conclude our meal, we shared a rich serving of Crème Brulee coupled with a Douro Port.
Overall, dinner at Bistro Aix was a five-​star experience, from a service, ambience, and food standpoint. I’ll definitely return to this top-​notch establishment in the near future !

Marina hipsters and old school SF unite! It’s AIX! I’ve been here a bunch and it’s good but never memorable. A tad squishy interior and too «marina» for me. I liked the food but for the price, I would choose elsewhere if it was a personal deicision. Why did I go here? Biz meeting and on the expense report.

We’re from out of town, staying practically right next door to this place. I don’t recall it being here last year while on our stay but I’m glad it’s here. Place is pretty fucking cool.
Atmosphere is cozy, casual. Staff are super friendly, like they know you and that’s welcoming.
Really nice menu, so many delicious options and a great wine selection, if you’re a wine drinker and they have beer. My ONLY disappointment was no gluten free beer and no cocktails or hard liquor. I’m a whiskey gal and it wasn’t an option, well it wasn’t on the drinks list and I didn’t ask so that could be on me. I asked for a white wine recommendation and was obliged.
I ordered the sirloin, comes with frites, béarnaise, and a little salad. My other half had the lamb, comes with au gratin taters and crispy spinach. There is no salt and pepper on the table and once you take a bite, you know why. It’s NOT needed. Everything is seasoned so well and cooked perfectly, all the flavors go so well together. My sincere compliments to the chef for creating a fantastic menu.
This place is tops.

This is a great restaurant. The food is creative, delicious and beautifully presented. We were treated well by our server, and special dietary needs were accommodated. Excellent wine list.

Food is pretty good, but wasn’t happy with the service. It took a veryy long time to get our food and the waiter had quite a bit of attitude when we asked to split the check– I understand it can be an inconvenience but he could’ve politely declined the request instead of being extremely rude about it. Got the chicken it’s really good. The back sitting area is really pretty, would recommend asking to sit back there.

I search high and low for squid ink pasta. And I found a good one here. The salmon apps were also exquisite. Love the patio area.

Liked the ambiance. I would definitely come back for a relaxed dinner.
Food was ok. But the pizza was GREAT! So I would say it’s a MUST!
We ordered many appetizers to share and we liked all of them, still the pizza won our hearts.
Great great service! We stayed there forever having dinner and they were very patience with us, they didn’t even try to rush us, which was nice as we were having a great time :)
I would recommend a reservation, as it’was a full restaurant all night (trust me I was there the whole night! haha)

In town for an extended weekend visit we came here with family who live nearby. We arrived on a Saturday at 6pm and the place was already packed! With two kids in tow I’m always on the lookout for other families and I’m happy to report there were at least a few other families there at that early dinner hour. We ordered two appetizers to share — calamari and grilled pear. Both were good, though the pear felt a little skimpy. The portion of the calamari was great but I felt the taste was just ok. The kids devoured the spaghettini. I believe I heard my son say it was the best spaghetti of his life. :) I got a tiny taste before they finished it off and it really was delicious. Made me wish I had ordered a bowl for myself! The grown ups enjoyed steak and angel hair pasta with shrimp and mushroom. We were able to enjoy a bottle of wine that we brought and the service was great.
Kiddo tip: As I mentioned there were other families dining during the earlier dinner time (we were there at 6pm). On a weekend I’d definitely go early as it got pretty crowded! There’s no changing table or place for stroller if you have an infant so just be warned!

To start off, the bread is AMAZING! Don’t forget to request it since it’s free! The focaccia is incredible — light and fluffy with a hint of buttery flavor — SO delicious! Wish I could have it every day! The rest of our group also loved the baguette bread that came too!
For main dishes we ordered the steak with fries, ahi tuna, lamb, and pork ribs. It was all wonderful! For $ 24 I would have preferred more ribs (there were 5 ribs) since with mashed potato and kale sides, they were obviously the majority of the cost, but the ribs themselves were great. Fall of the bone, tender, delicious. My boyfriend’s ahi tuna was also great — easy to cut, not chewy at all, seasoned well. No complaints except we just wanted more!
The desserts were fantastic — we got the crème brulée, panna cotta, and tarte tatin. I LOVED our crème brulée — the crunchy top was thicker than most other ones I’ve had and the thousands of vanilla bean seeds in the custard was proof that they use great ingredients!
The service was on point — our server always made sure we had enough water (they left 3 bottles on our table so we wouldn’t have to keep asking — I thought that was really thoughtful), our empty plates were quickly removed and the table was always clean.
It’s pricey but definitely a good place to go for a special occasion (:

If you want to go to a place where you are ignored and made to feel like a fool standing in a corner. This is the place. After waiting for 15+ min without even a simple «Hi, I’ll be right there», the hostess (who was obviously not wanting to be there) came over and made us feel even more unwelcomed.
Well screw that… we picked up and just left.

BEST CALAMARI I have ever had. I have tried lots of calamari but this was the best. If you like calamari, make sure to order this one. Its served with a sauce that has a slight spicy curry flavor and over a bed of slaw and some herbs. The combo of the flavors go great together. I will go back just for the calmari.
Service is very good. Also when ordering wine, was able to taste do a small wine tasting before choosing.
Desert was the only dish lacking for me. Panna Cotta was not properly made. It was more like a so so yogurt and fruit dish.
5 starts for the calamari and service.

My friends and I had a great time dining at Bistro Aix. It turns out that we were running late so I had one of my friends call the restaurant to ask if we could bump our reservation back a half hour because of traffic. The woman on the phone said of course and then thanked us for letting her know. Being nice is not lost in San Francisco.
After we finally arrived, we were asked where we would like to sit. I thought that was nice. My friends and I all got the leg of lamb with the potatoes gratin. It was so delicious. The meat melted in your mouth and the potatoes had a great flavor to them with a crunchy top. We all inhaled our food.
I didn’t get our server’s name but it was a nice woman with red hair. She was helpful when my friend asked for her opinion about entrée choice and she was attentive without being overbearing to our table.
For dessert we got the crème brûlée and chocolate pudding. Both desserts were amazing. I’m used to crème brûlée being a little thicker than creamier, but I understand that various places make it differently. I loved the chocolate pudding! The chocolate pudding tasted more like dark chocolate than milky, which I don’t normally go for. However, this one was the perfect topper to our dinner.
Overall, we had a great experience and would definitely come back to try other entrees and desserts!

We dined here on a Monday night for an early birthday celebration and we had a great time. I wish I had the receipt so I could be more specific in my review. We were both given a generous taste of the rose to see if we wanted to order it, but we went with a bottle of chardonnay instead. We shared the beet salad, which had good flavor although the greens were a bit tough. The angel hair pasta with shrimp was great. The lamb was perfectly cooked and had great flavor. Our server and the host/​manager were both very friendly and attentive. We ended with crème brulee and coffee. We would definitely go back.

Definitely a good place to hang out and grab dinner after work.
When I went, the place was either filled with people on dates or people who just finished working from 9 – 5.
Food: I had the salmon and the corn risotto was TO DIE FOR. I would 100% order this again when I come back.
Service: Waiter was friendly and gave us honest opinions on each dish. He also came back every so often to check up on us and made sure we were okay.
Atmosphere: Normal, casual environment. They have a bar area in the front but also a nice porch and dining area in the back. So you get the best of both worlds depending on your mood that day.
Overall, I had a great dining experience and the food was up to par. I will definitely come back and try the halibut or ahi tuna.

The food here was definitely really good. We ordered House Cured Salmon, Dill Crème Fraiche & Potato Galette and Grilled Octopus, Roasted Yukon Potatoes & Jalapeño Chimichuri to start. For entrees we had Risotto, Himalayan black truffle, chives & egg yolk and the local halibut. The total came to $ 70 before tax and tips.
I thought the potatoes were suprisingly well done in all the dishes, making for a better dish overall. My favourite dish was definitely the local Halibut which had came with really good spinach, the aforementioned potatoes and a sauce that was completely wiped off the plate.
The restaurant rounded off the amazing food with excellent service. My only complaint was that it was a bit too noisy.

This place is really good, and that’s coming from someone who isn’t a big fan of French food. I find that it’s usually too ‘saucy.’ The octopus appetizer was excellent. You can never go wrong w/​the ahi tuna (appetizer), but it’s nothing extraordinary. The calamari was pretty good.
I thought their fries was really tasty. I had the halibut, it was quite good. For dessert, I recommend the first item, the tart with the crème fraîche (sp?). The panna cotta tasted like a breakfast yogurt — I wouldn’t get that again.
It’s not a cheap place, but then again, it’s in-​line with what other French restaurants of this caliber in SF charges. The service is very friendly. I don’t like how they tack on a 3% surcharge for the Healthy SF (for employees’ healthcare). I don’t see why that charge is passed on to customers rather than the employer (restaurant owner) paying it all. I guess the alternative is to just increase their prices without having that extra 3% charge line item. But this is a separate complaint; nothing to do with the food here.
Our party of 5 was able to walk in on a Tuesday night around 7PM and get seated right away. They have a back area which is pretty nice.

This is such a cute restaurant! It’s a nice date spot. If you’re ever here, ask to be seated at the back because it’s a lot nicer back there due to the stringed lights they have up.
Came here with the boyfriend. We ordered brussel sprouts for our appetizers, pork chops for my entrée, and steak for my boyfriend.
Brussel sprouts — ehhh nothing special. Probably won’t get it again.
Pork chops — came with mashed potatoes and fried kale. The pork chop was juicy, and I like to eat the kale and potatoes together because it gave it a really unique texture.
Steak — cooked well and the sauce it came with was really good.
Although overall the food was good, the menu was very small and I won’t come back because there’s nothing else I want to try and nothing I ordered wowed me.

This place has great ambiance and food! With that classic California cuisine, Bistro Aix is one of my go to restaurants for taking people that are visiting from out of town. The food is consistently good and really delivers on all levels in terms of food, ambiance and service.
We started with the fried calamari, which was a perfect size serving for 4. Crispy, light and the salad it came with was fresh as well. For my entrée I had the chicken. I cannot say how amazing this was. The number one issue with chicken is being dry, Bistro Aix delivered a moist boneless piece of chicken that melted in your mouth. Outstanding!
If you are looking for quality food in the Marina area definitely check this spot out!

It was Saturday night around 845pm. My wife, myself, and another couple were roaming around the Marina sans-​reservation looking for a place to eat. After repeatedly being told of 1hr to 2hr waits, we came across Bistro AIX. It actually looked quite busy inside, but luckily, they had an available table for 4 in the front portion of the restaurant. (I was told that there was a large back portion but did not venture there).
Unfortunately, when placing our orders, there seemed to a decent number of items that were «out». I think it was 5+ items, including the Chicory Salad that our group was eyeing on the menu. We noticed that there was only one Crème Brûlée dessert remaining, so we placed an unorthodox dessert order first so as to reserve the item. Clearly, we are big Crème Brûlée fans.
For appetizers, our group shared Calamari and the Fuyu Persimmon Salad. Both of these dishes were really good. The Calamari stood out for me as it was served in a slaw with a drizzle spicy sauce rather than a normal serving of bowl of just Calamari and a side dipping sauce. The combination with some veggies was great.
For mains, my wife and I shared the Gnocchi and a special for the evening, the New York Strip. I liked both of these dishes as well.
Finally, for dessert, we received our aforementioned Crème brûlée, which certainly lived up to all the build up that I’ve provided throughout this review. We also had the Chocolate Cloud Cake, substituting vanilla ice cream for whipped cream. Both were very good.
To top it all off, we thought that the staff was really friendly as well.
I’m looking forward to a return visit.