Cafe Majestic

No reason to come here unless you are staying in the hotel. I ate breakfast here one day during my stay and it was perfectly acceptable. I was kinda miffed a place with this old school style didn’t have eggs benidict. Actually the menu was borderline weird. I got the breakfast quesadilla because danger is my middle name. It was actually pretty good.

I’d really like to say something good but can’t think of what it would be. Went for brunch– Mothers Day. Asked for latte, they only serve coffee, asked for a Ramos Fizz, they have a full bar and was told they didn’t know how to make it. Two of us ordered the ricotta pancakes, they came cold, no ricotta cheese and raw in the center! The eggs Benedict had no muffin under the eggs and most of the food was not warm let alone hot. The champagne which was ordered was forgotten until we were almost done, by then we were not interested. Don’t bother to go

Sat at the bar last night and enjoyed happy hour. The draft beer and wines were excellent. We had excellent service from Amit. We will be back.

Came in for a quick bite and drink during paint night. Calamari was yummy and the drink was bomb

I’ve been meaning to review this bar for awhile. I think I was reluctant because it is such a hidden gem. Apparently the word is out now, so I can throw in my 2¢ worth. I actually live in S.F., so I have my pick of great places for a cocktail or three. When I want an excellent cocktail, in a classic bar that is not a high decibel noise-​depository — I turn to the Hotel Majestic. Their over 100 year old butterfly collection is amazing (and, educational if you haven’t had one too many yet.) The bar itself is cozy and comfortable set in an old beaux art style hotel, frequented by tourists. The bar itself has a local following, however. The bartender, Mike, (not sure if he is the only one, but he is the main event!) is friendly, knowledgeable and creative — a triple threat! He will custom make a drink depending on your whim or mood of the moment. I usually go on the early side to avoid crowds, but I’ve been there at all times of the evening and it is stll great. I want to point out that I am ONLY referring to the bar, not the restaurant.
PS: As a side note — it is right around the corner from the Mary Ellen Pleasant Memorial — check it out on Bush & Octavia. You can visit the memorial and head to the Majestic to drink to the business acumen and the innovative social justice efforts of Mary Ellen Pleasant (1817 – 1904).

Dinner in 1995 pretending to be 1957…
And not in some cool ‘Mad Men’ way with Don Draper lounging in a booth, sipping a Manhattan…
It was like Chasen’s, the «in» Beverly Hills restaurant of the 1940s and ’50’s before it breathed it’s last sad breath in the mid-90’s.
Walking into the small and antiquated ‘Butterfly Lounge’ there are a few old-​timers bemoaning our recent rain spotting the dust on their cars (probably Chrysler Imperial sedans???) and ‘amazing’ Mike (looking the bedraggled hipster) is pretending to be busy behind the bar arranging table candles. The amazing piece is that this place has only six people in it (two geriatric couples sipping Rob Roys and what looked to be Tom Collins), Mike and now lucky me. Amazing Mike pretends I do not exist and is very busy playing the shell game with his candles. I call out to Amazing Mike that I have reservations at 6:00. No longer able to ignore me, he pulls himself away from the candles and actually provides some service. Not to blame him, it appears to be a rare instance anyone actually wants to be served in this tomb. You can imagine I woke him out of a decades long sleep…
Amazing Mike shows me to one of the largest booths and hands me two paper menus in a completely empty restaurant. The place actually looks like something out of Hollywood in the 1950s. Only this go round, they painted it cream and beige and have big white ceramic dogs in the breeze way (oh my, how VERY modern!!!). I order an amazing Gin and Tonic. Amazing Mike brings my very amazing cocktail. It turns out to be no more amazing than my left shoe lace. Apparently, you need about 12 of these before anything in this place is actually ‘amazing’. …
I sip my cocktail and try to look as Don Draper as I can (now that WOULD be ‘amazing’…) without the cigarette (which I am beginning to need…). While waiting for my friend to arrive, a group of some of the oldest people in the world wander over to a large table set up for about 12. Is there a senior home in the hotel? Are these the ghosts of Rat Pack past? The men loudly say the most misogynistic things to the women thinking they are ‘cool and hip’…“take off your coat baby… Oh…and now the blouse. Ha-​Ha”. The women blush and giggle like little girls. I think one of them was actually wearing a fur stole. They start in discussing tickets purchased for a group outing to see «Jersey Boys» at the RKO theatre. The RKO Theatre? Ummmmm… like the Los Angeles RKO Theatre was closed in 1964 and demolished in 1965. OMG. I am in a Twilight Zone episode… Moses then corrects himself and says ‘Jersey Boys’ at the Golden Gate. Now THAT was amazing… Then one of the other dinosaurs begins to angrily criticize Obama. Please… do you even know who Barack Obama is? Don’t you mean Jack Kennedy, you old Republican from the Eisenhower years? He probably thinks Michelle is Jackie with a dark tan she got on the dock at Hyannis Port…
Turning my attention to the menu… which unsurprisingly has T-​Bone steak and Ceaser salad on it. On the «International Menu’ I could have Chicken Enchiladas from sunny Mexico or Holstein Schnitzel from our friends in jolly Deutschland… really?
A skinny waiter (something out of a casting call for Sid and Nancy) comes up and mumbles something like, ‘Are you ready to order’? pointing to the menu lying on the table waiting for my friend to arrive. ‘Ummm…no. I’d like to wait for my friend’… sheez.
Then, (and THIS really is amazing) a huge cloud of marijuana smoke fills the room. The place suddenly reeks of it. I cough not being able to decide if I should breath deeply or hold my breath. The smell is so strong, Sid (his real name is Maurice) actually opens a window. Where the hell did this come from? Not the 1959 Republican table. Is Mike handing out joints in the ‘Butterfly Lounge’? Now I see why Luis A. thought «AMAZING, LIFE CHANGING, BEST DRINKS EVER!!!». He was stoned…
My friend arrives. After some tedious waiting we are able to order from Sid/​Maurice our 50’s dinner of Ceaser, T-​Bone and her Chicken Piccata. (Now really, when is the last time you had a T-​Bone and Piccata anything?). I ask for the steak to be medium rare. Sid/​Maurice says, ‘medium’. My friend corrects him. Cuz it has to be retro, I also order a Cabernet with dinner. Sid/​Maurice eventually figures out how to bring the steak (more like medium/​well), a baked potato with grated cheddar cheese and some boiled vegies. Is this what the senior facility ate tonite? Sid/​Maurice forgets my wine. Don’t even ask about bread cuz that never happened.
Sid/​Maurice struggles at the end to split the bill. It takes him 20 minutes to split an $ 80.00 tab. NOW I know where the marijuana haze came from… ugh.

AMAZING, LIFE CHANGING, BEST DRINKS EVER!!!
A couple of friends stayed at the hotel and said their drinks were amazing… I happen to bump into them while visiting San Francisco, we didn’t even plan it, it just happened.
When we met up my friends mentioned they stayed at an awesome hotel which was over 100 years old but the real attraction of this hotel was not so much the history but the bartender. They were so mesmerized they did not leave the hotel their first night and kept getting amazing cocktails throughout the night!
So the following day they told our group that we MUST try these AMAZING drinks. We did, we went and we ordered.
Turns out these drinks are not only AMAZING, but the bartender would create them from scratch!
The setup is amazing his bar is stocked with fruits, vegetables, chiles, condiments, and he creates his own juices!!!
So our first drinks were spicy! YUM!!! Second drinks were sweet, he even caramelized the fruit right in front of us to create a syrup like content. Then he made a SUPER REFRESHING, Minty flavored gin drink.
Anyway, the point is that we saw a TON OF LOCALS, coming here who knew Mike (worlds most amazing bartender). You could tell who the locals were because all of the visitors were ordering regular standard drinks and the locals would just say «mike! Something sweet, Mike!!! Something spicy, Mike, something with cucumbers» this is definitely a hidden gem!!! So if you’re in this café, do not order what you are use to and have Mike SURPRISE YOU!!!
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Comfortcocktails

A true hidden gem with a chef that knocks it out of the park. From the perfect breakfast to the sirloin burger to the pasta dishes this beautiful historic setting hits all the notes on key. By pass all that wok stuff and get a real meal in a classy joint. Rarely do I ask for the chef to come out, tonight we did and gave him rounding applause. Walk up from Fillmore and get some some real San Francisco. Also check the great bar.

I had high hopes but the hollandaise situation on the eggs benedict was not my taste. I couldn’t finish. Incredibly tasty bacon however.
I haven’t been to the bar. I may go back after reading the reviews. Check out their happy hour situation.
Beautiful hotel. Parked within 2 blocks.

The atmosphere was good and service was great however it was a very quite night.
Food was good albeit a bit pricey. We ordered the butter chicken which was a ‘International special’ and it was surprisingly good.

This place has gone downhill. The Butterfly Lounge was one of my favorite bars, so I thought it would be a great place to take my mom for a drink when she was in town. I ordered French 75s for us, and was served some sort of green martinis. I regularly order the French 75 at this bar, so know what the drink looks and tastes like! I politely asked the bartender if he had served us another drink by mistake, and he brusquely lied to our faces that he had indeed served us the French 75 and that was that. Most places that charge $ 12 a drink will not only serve you the right drink, but also make sure you are happy with it! A bit flustered and wanting to have a nice time together, we drank the too-​strong drinks we were served.
The real problem came when I tried to contact the hotel manager to talk about what had happened. I have been by the hotel once and left three voice mails over the course of a week and have not gotten a single response. Every time I ask about whether the manager is available, whoever I speak to acts totally confused, as if it was the strangest question in the world.
Alas, this was a great neighborhood spot I’ll no longer be visiting.
And if the manger is reading this, PLEASE return my phone calls!

Very good restaurant. Service was a little slow but very friendly. We just had the ravioli and bread. Bread was awesome and the ravioli had an exquisite sauce!

Comfort food, nothing special and city prices. Good bar and decent cocktails. Service comical! Imagine a waiter who has not only never waited tables before, but who has never been to a restaurant and seen anyone else serve. Only one other table occupied, yet our waiter could not keep the orders straight between the two tables. Drinks sat at the bar getting warm, eventually I went and grabbed my own, prompting the bartender to come out and serve other guests their drinks. Waiter eventually asked if we were ready to order, we looked down to remind ourselves of what we had picked, by the time we looked up, he was gone again! At least 15 minutes went by before he returned. A good 20 minutes elapsed between first course and main course. Food seemed to have been sitting ready in the kitchen for ages — it certainly wasn’t hot. Three of our party were served, the fourth had to wait some more because our waiter decided to start serving another table. It was a display of charming incompetence worthy of Chaplin. An interesting way to spend 2.5 hours, but I won’t be coming back.

I really wanted to like the food. But I didn’t and I got SO sick after eating dinner there. It was over priced and mediocre at best. I was staying in the hotel and within 3 hours of eating dinner there I was hugging my toilet. I was puking then had mudbutt all night! The following morning I spoke with the restaurant manager and the host guy that was standing there. I told them about getting sick (honestly it could’ve only been my dinner causing it). And they wouldn’t believe me. I was told I couldn’t get sick from their food because they only use fresh ingredients… just because its fresh doesn’t mean you can’t get sick from it! It’s all in how the food is handled. The mgr also told me food poisoning doesn’t set in for about 2 days after you eat. BS! I’ve worked in the food industry and have my restaurant mgr level ServSafe certification. I know for a fact you can get sick from food within 30 minutes of eating. I’m very irritated at the fact y’all wouldn’t believe someone can get sick from your food. It happens! You don’t have to argue about it! A simple apology would’ve sufficed but the fact you kept telling me I was wrong & that I couldn’t get sick from there is just preposterous. I will NEVER come back. I haven’t been sick like this in years.

This review is for the restaurant.
Café Majestic is underrated!
The ambiance feels like a Pacific Heights mansion. Elegant, yet inviting and comfortable, especially in the booths. On occasion it almost even feels like we are dining at home, enjoying the meal without being rushed, and lingering afterwards for coffee and desert. The place just puts me at ease.
The service is spot on as well. I have always felt well taken care of, the waters were filled, the bread is brought out immediately, and the food is hot when it comes out of the kitchen. The servers are friendly, and consistently pleasant.
The veal picatta is phenomenal. This is my go-​to. I have also tasted the pork chop off the plate of a companion which was also noteworthy, and the pasta dishes have been solid as well. If you stick to the classic dishes, you can not go wrong. I have always wondered about the international menu, it seems strange to offer lamb curry in a place like this, but I’m sure it’s decent if not phenomenal. Glad to know it’s there if you want it.
Also, it is reasonably priced and a great value considering what you get. It’s classy, yet laid-​back at the same time, and I’ve always had an excellent meal. There is no other place like it!

This review is for the «BUTTERFLY BAR LOUNGE» ONLY, not the hotel.
I work a few blocks from this gorgeous hotel. The name of the bar (currently «The Butterfly Lounge») changes more than a rapper’s handle. However, the relaxed ambience, «get away from it all» feel and very nice bartenders remain.
I recommend this gem of a bar with a sort of a daily happy hour of $ 1 off drinks, to anyone wanting to get away from the loud and proud crowd after work. It isn’t cheap, but worth it for the chill.
~Ms. Ali

*This review is for the bar*
Wow… What a great place to have a drink! Hidden at the Majestic Hotel, one of the oldest in the city, is this little wonderful bar. It’s small but cozy and drinks are reasonably priced. But beyond the drinks, the service is impecable. Mike, the bartender, is truly passionate about the drinks and he makes them with love. It’s is fitting for this old establishment to have such a great, knowledgeable bartender, who truly cater to ones needs and likes.
We’ve gone three times now, and sure will be back for more drinks in this faboules, throw back place. Cheers!

Sorry, I wanted to like this place. Nice remodel of the dinning room. We were the only party in the dinning room one night.
Service was slow. The waitress was not well trained. We brought a bottle of wine to dinner and she was embarrassed to tell us about corkage.
She opened and started poring for all guest.
Food was marginal. No taste.
Had to ask a few times for check.
With proper training and a little flair, this could be great.

This review is really for the (unofficial) «Butterfly Bar» right outside of the café. Its cozy and perfect for a night cap — buddy up to the bartender and you have yourself a nice little cocktail hour.
The lobby of the hotel is very interesting and very Victorian. It reminds me of a haunted house (in a good way)!

This restaurant is now the Majestic Café, located in the quaint Majestic Hotel. My dinner here was one of the most uncomfortable dining experiences I’ve ever had — though this wasn’t the fault of the management, and the food actually was quite good, if overpriced.
We arrived at 7:30 on a Friday night to an empty dining room. Totally empty. It is a beautiful and ornate space, but with all the mirrors I don’t think any patrons could have been hiding from us. It’s hard enough to settle in to a nearly empty restaurant, but this was ridiculous. When we left, only two other parties had come in to eat.
To add to the discomfort, our waiter was on his first day serving his first table. A more experienced server coached him through the specials and desserts and watched his performance. Awkward!
I thought my caesar salad was excellent, and a linguine dish was not half bad. But it’s hard to enjoy a night out when your restaurant of choice is so clearly off track.
I know I caught Majestic Café/​Uptown Joe’s on a down night, so a 3^rd star would not have been out of the question. If you go, you may have a better time. But go soon… or you will miss your chance.