La Scene Cafe & Bar

A nice place before the theater. Small but packed on our weeknight visit.
The two waiters we’re rushing to get everyone fed but the service suffered from a full house.
The onion soup was excellent as were the generous salads.
Main course of large chop turned out to be a disappointment as it was dry, tough and tasteless. But served on a bed of kale that was very good. The pasta and ravioli we’re tough and seemed not just a dente but undercooked.
If we go back, we’ll have drinks and appetizers at the bar or at the few front tables by the windows, but skip a full meal.

I came here on a travelzoo deal with my boyfriend for his birthday.
The food was okay. for the deal I paid. I suppose it was fine, but for those paying full price — I would look somewhere else. The food was mediocre. I got the filet mignon, but the sauce they drizzled over it ruined the sweetness of the meat. The dessert, okay. I got some fruit sorbe, but no real wow factor. It seemed like something I would just pick up at to-​go dessert place.
The waitress was horrible! She probably only checked up on us once or twice the entire meal (other than giving us our food). She didn’t provide us with utensils, and it took forever to flag her down. My boyfriend, practically had an empty water glass 80% of the time because the waitress and busser never came around. So annoying.
Even worse was that you had to take an elevator to use the bathroom downstairs! I was actually really creeped out because it seemed like a scene from a horror movie.
If it hadn’t been for the romantic ambiance of the restaurant. I would definitely give it a 1-​star. Other than that, I wouldn’t come here again. their are better places to choose from for the price.

We had one of those discount deals, so my guy made a reservation for date night. Unfortunately we found out upon arrival that he had made the reservation for the wrong day. The host was very gracious and accommodating, finding a table for us in the bar area near the windows. I actually preferred this location because it was secluded, comfortable, and was great for people watching. Our server was a total delight, as was the busser, and all other employees of the venue. The food was excellent (I had soup, the filet mignon, and the dessert waffle) and the service was fantastic. I’m not a picky eater, but I’m big on service and La Scene gets an A+ from me! Everyone left me smiling. I hope to be back again. It isn’t a large restaurant, nor the fanciest, but if you enjoy good food with great company and service, I highly recommend!

The restaurant is in the Warwick Hotel, across the street from the Curran Theatre. I think this would be a good place for a pre-​show meal but not much more than that.
When we were seated at 7:30 we were the only two people in the entire restaurant. By the end of the meal at 9:30 there were three other tables seated too. There are certain things that I liked about La Scene and others that I was not a fan of. One thing that I can say is that they really pay attention to their food presentation and every plate that came out looked really nice and appetizing. The food itself was pretty good — not great but not bad either.
My wife had the rosemary risotto with shrimp. It tasted alright but the shrimp were not completely deveined and it was not very appetizing to see that. I had the prok chop which was good through the first half but I did not finish because it got a little boring. The best we had was a Vietnamese spring roll that the chef said he was thinking about adding to the menu and asked if we would like to try it and give him our thoughts. That was something that I would re-​order and would be a good addition to the menu.
Overall, if you are going to a show at the Curran this is a good option but if you are just looking for a place for a nice dinner you can find better.

Came here for New Years Eve Dinner.
SERVICE: They are a bit slow, and it was a bit odd that it took them forever to seat the pair in front of us or take our names even though there were many open tables available. However, our waiter was helpful and friendly
FOOD: The appetizers were better than the entrees, but overall it was decent. Fav appetizer: buttermilk fried oysters. Prix Fixe would have been worth it however since it was NYE, they bumped up the price from $ 36 to $ 58 (expected given the occasion).
TIP: This one is for the management… If you’re going to offer a different menu on NYE, don’t put your regular menu out right in front of your doors for everyone to see. The same goes for the valet parking. If you’re increasing the price for NYE, change the signs! It makes sense to increase the price, but you should at least be courteous to your customers to inform them.

Excellent pre-​theater dinner venue
Convenient location, entertaining service (compliments of dining room manager Larry), and well-​prepared dishes. Wine’s pricey, but that’s to be expected in this part of San Francisco.

I came here for Thanksgiving dinner. From the very get-​go, we did not feel welcome. We waited five minutes to be seated even though there were a few open tables; I think they were simply a little bit understaffed. The entrée selection was decent but definitely sounded better than it tasted. We had the prime rib and the bacon wrapped scallops. The prime rib was subpar, and I had ordered it medium, but it was obviously well done. The sauce that went along with it matched well but was nothing special. You really can’t screw up bacon wrapped scallops, but it was a little bland in my opinion. The mashed potatoes were average. Overall, I was just reallllly disappointed.
I’d give the food two stars. For the price they charged, I expected better quality and presentation.
The poor star rating is mainly for the service. The servers were not friendly at all. I mean, I wouldn’t be happy if I had to work on Thanksgiving either, but it’s their job to be welcoming and friendly. It was a major fail on their part.

The Setting: Dinner with a buddy of mine, Tuesday evening, sat at the bar (there were tables open).
The GOOD:
1. Tuna Tartare — served in a martini glass, it was still a surprisingly healthy portion, and the server split for us without us even asking. Very good tuna and the perfect amount of guacamole topper.
2. Filet Mignon — great cut, cooked exactly how I ordered it, and the included carrots and mashed potatoes were above my expectations.
3. Service — Often the service is lacking when I sit at the bar of a restaurant, but our bartender/​server, Emma, was excellent! She offered recommendations and kept our glasses filled without bothering us.
The OK:
1. Mushroom Bisque — interesting taste and texture but I didn’t love it.
2. NY Strip — good steak but the filet was far better.
The BAD:
1. Nothing horrible, but we ate too much and ended up passing on dessert that was included in our prix fixe ($ 38 for 3 courses plus $ 7 bump for the filet).
The Bottom Line: A very nice and quiet (yet upscale) restaurant, attached to the Warwick Hotel, that is more designed for a date, and reasonably priced for the high food quality.

We had a wonderful dinner at La Scence! The food was delicious. We ordered the Dungeness Crab Cake for a shared appetizer. While it was a little small to share, the taste was HUGE… it was DELICIOUS! The restaurant manager, Larry, knew how much I liked the aioli that came with the crab cake, that he made me a small «to-​go» cup of it to take. I’m having it on potato wedges tonight :-).
We ordered the Rosemary Crab Risotto & Pan Seared Scallops. we split the two entrees. They were both delicious. For dessert we had the Poached Pear in Red Wine with warm chocolate sauce.
Every part of our meal was great & we plan to return. This is a great pre-​theater choice! Don’t be fooled that it is part of a hotel, the food was delicious!

Looking for a good place for breakfast and notice the menu. Also, very reasonably priced… less expensive then a local deli and diner around the corner. Meal came with fresh fruit.
Service was good.

We used a voucher for dinner here. Actually not bad! Thought a small hotel restaurant wouldn’t do much good. Actually much better than expected. The scallop was very well done. Though new York steak was over cooked. Overall experience was good. Servers are very friendly too. I hope more people will get a chance to try this place cause it is small and might be missed!

Had breakfast here one morning while in SF.
There were only 2 other people dining while we were here so service was excellent.
My husband had the cable car eggs with bacon and I had the omelette without mushrooms. We were both very satisfied with our meals.
The only real complaint is that we thought it was a little pricey considering you got a small meal, but given that it was hotel restaurant, I guess that is expected.

We took advantage a a good TravelZoo deal for here and really enjoyed it. I had the lamb chops and they were excellent and perfectly cooked to medium-​rare. They were over a bed of navy beans that were filling and just what I needed after a bike ride that day over the GG Bridge. They made a mistake on my wife’s order but quickly fixed it and her scallops were excellent. We had eaten at Café Claude the night before and both of us enjoyed our meals at La Scene equally as much as we did at Café Claude.
I really enjoyed a seat by the front window as the busy location on Geary near Union Square made for interesting people-​watching. They also have plenty of seats in the back for those looking for a more private dining experience.

While staying at the Warwick hotel, we had dinner here before catching the Nutcracker at the War Memorial Opera house.
The food was pretty good; we had the Prix Fixe menu. I had the spinach salad and the steak with garlic fries. My bf had the Caesar and the filet mignon. The food was good, not great but not bad. We were in a rush to make it to the ballet, so we came back for dessert– bf had the apple tart that he really liked; I ordered the cream puff but they were out so I got the chocolate mousse, meh.
I will say that customer service was incredible! The manager came by many times to check on us and really made sure we made it to our show and were able to come back later to have dessert! Definitely five stars for the customer service.

It’s okay, not the best. I had reserved tables through the open table feature on Unilocal.but the manager called me to confirm reservations and I asked him if the travelzoo would work at this time. He said no because it conflicts with the opentable promotion. WHAT PROMOTION IS THIS!!! Since the phone number of the place is obviously wrong, it was super hard to get ahold of someone who could fix this problem. Anyways, I had to call the manager on his direct line to get it fixed. Nonetheless we arrived promptly for our 7:45 reservations. The place is really small and they seat you next to people so that you could practically hear their conversations.
Luckily we got a more relaxing setting near the bar where you have really comfy chairs. Sadly, the bartender served us and he was really busy juggling the bar’s drinks so the service kinda sucked. I noticed that he was really friendly and we had to ask several times for more soda or bread. And he didn’t really take the time to get to know us or tell us special like I saw the other waiters did. Anyways, for the $ 50 travelzoo promotion, you get two glasses of house wine, shared appetizer, two entrees and shared dessert!
We ordered the house red wine, fried calamari appetizer, new york steak with mashed potatoes and spinach, crab and prawn risotto with asparagus and almond cream puffs for dessert. Overall, it was a really great deal considering the prices. But the food was lacking something, especially since the bread was SUPER HARD and CRUSTY. I really judge a restaurant on it’s bread and this one sucked. really bad. Besides that the calamari was a decent portion as well as the entrees. However, the bf didn’t really like the risotto because it became too cheesy and gross after it got cold. My steak however was cooked perfectly. The cream puffs were stale. the puff part seemed like it was baked this morning but the ice cream was a nice touch. I would definitely come again for the same deal, however beware of the creepy bathroom that you have to travel down the elevator to the basement and walk down an empty hall to get to. SO CREEEPY!

Mediocre food. Had the prix fixe meal which came with a soup or salad, entrée, and a dessert. Expensive for what it is and the food is nothing memorable. This place serves up the worst crème brûlée. Whoever torched the sugar topping put WAY too much sugar on top. It was more of a brulee than a crème.
To top it off, I received my credit card statement today and the server Eduard charged 9 cents too much. Granted it’s only 9 cents and it’s not worth the call to the restaurant to credit me back 9 cents but if he’s skimming from the top, then diners beware!!!

Given the dearth of excellent pre-​theatre dining options, Le Scene serves a purpose, but isn’t worth a special trip.
Tucked in the corner of the Warwick Hotel, Le Scene’s roomy, well appointed, and peaceful dining room offers a respite from the throngs of theatre-​goers and tourists along this stretch of Geary. The high ceilings enhance the feeling of spaciousness, and the tables are set far enough apart so your fellow diners do not hear your innermost secrets.
A fine example of the genre, the Caesar salad ($ 8) was neither swimming in dressing, nor parched. Served with guacamole on fried won tons, the tuna tartare ($ 12) was very middle of the road: not great, not terrible. Served atop a bed of red cabbage and lentils, the pork chop ($ 23) was a little dry, but still tasty.
Overall prices are not unreasonable for The City. However, with choice of soup or salad, an entrée, and a dessert, the prix fixe ($ 36) menu is a real value.
Service was hit and miss. The waiter was slow to acknowledge new arrivals at one of his tables, drinks took forever to appear, and dishes arrived somewhat haphazardly. On the other hand, the bus staff quickly filled water glasses, brought bread, and cleared used plates without missing a beat. Perhaps the buss person should become the waiter and vice versa.
The full bar hasn’t been overtaken by the wave of frou-​frou, hand crafted cocktails with housemade ingredients that is sweeping The City. However, it offers an adequate selection of super-​premium spirits that bartenders can ably whip into standard libations. Comprised of solid wines from lesser known producers, the short, but reasonably priced wine list offers a sufficient number of selections to pair with most dishes.
While certainly not a top SF restaurant, Le Scene offers fair value for the money and an excellent location for pre-​theatre nourishment.

In the end, this restaurant won us over, but there were some service bumps along the way. Our server was odd. Maybe there was a language barrier, but he ran from rude to friendly throughout the night. At one point he walked up to the table, said nothing, stared at us, and when we didn’t speak, he acted insulted and said, «Well, I suppose I could come back.» At times he was quite brusque but then he’d return to the table and joke, and at the end, he gave us a round of champagne.
The food was excellent. The Caesar salad was fresh and delicious, and the chicken and risotto were both great. La Scene has a very affordable Prix Fixe menu priced at $ 36 that includes salad, entrée, and dessert.
I wish the service hadn’t been so bipolar, but otherwise this place was excellent.

Normally, I don’t expect too much from hotel restaurants, but I was blown away by the food. Me and 3 friends came and ordered the Dine About Town menu.
Food:
–Cesar salad — you may want to as for «light» on the dressing, as mine seemed overwhelmed with the amount of dressing
–Rosemary Crab Risotta — DELICIOUS and full of flavor, highly recommended!
–Pan Seared Scallops — big and cooked perfectly!
–Lamb — tender!
–Crème Brulee — soooo good that I didn’t even share!
Our service was great. The waiter was friendly and they were very attentive. A minor complaint is that they’re not attentive to the phone. had an 8pm reservation and kept calling to let them know I’d be late but no one picked up the phone.
The restaurant was a lot smaller than I thought, but the setting was nice. You were able to talk to each other without having to shout over the table next to you.
Parking in the area is horrible, but that is normally expected in that area I guess. We ended up paying $ 14 for valet (dinner prices).

I was in the neighborhood after work on a recent Friday night, and went in on a whim. Short review, I enjoyed it and I’ll be back if I’m in the neighborhood, particularly if I’m going to the theatre nearby.
I’m subtracting one star because I think the pricing on the prix fixe menu is weird, and it confused me. (I’m taking responsibility for a certain amount of that, but this is my review. So there.) The price is $ 28 *after 7:30* — before that it’s $ 36. They disclose the information, but the sign on the chalkboard outside reads «$ 28» (huge) «after 7:30 p.m.» (kind of small). I was operating on my auto-​pilot earlybird notion that the earlier, the cheaper. So it was eight bucks more than I had planned originally. I can live with that.
The service was superb, the ambience is quite nice, and the chairs are really comfy. The bread is hot, the butter is whipped, and both are plentiful.
Before I go on, I am going to respond to another Unilocaler. I am a San Francisco native and my palate (note the correct spelling, please) is quite refined. This isn’t Gary Danko. It also isn’t in excess of $ 200 per person for dinner. It’s a little French bistro with well-​prepared, tasty food at a good price. Let’s keep our expectations in line with the purveyor, please.
I started with asparagus soup. It was finished with a bit of truffle oil, which delighted me, since I adore truffles. My entrée was the crab/​rosemary/​shrimp risotto, and it was a masterpiece. There was a goodly amount of crab and four huge, lovely prawns. There were tiny, reed-​thin asparagus spears and chopped fresh tomato on top, and the whole thing was finished with more truffle oil. I was skeptical at first about the combination of rosemary and truffle, but it was fabulous. I had a glass of a lovely Cotes du Rhone rose, which paired beautifully with those two courses. (Later, I ordered a glass of a domestic pinot, just because.)
I asked the waiter to recommend a dessert, and he told me his favorite was the cream puffs. I believe that’s what they were called on the menu, but I’d call them profiteroles, and there were three of them, with coffee ice cream and covered with a warm fudge sauce and finished with nuts. Fabulous, and a generous serving.
I had a lovely three-​course dinner with two glasses of nice wine, accompanied by efficient, anticipatory service, for sixty bucks. You can’t beat that with a stick, says I.
I’ll definitely be back.