Wayfare Tavern

The chicken was super good and the burger was no joke. Get it with a runny egg.
Went for lunch and had a great experience.

I came for the popovers but I’ll be returning for the beef tartare and scallops! Both dishes were perfectly prepared and beautifully presented. I also loved the old school feel of the place and the attentive service. The deviled eggs and homemade pasta were great, too.

Fried chicken? YES! Lots of deboned chicken, love the rosemary and thyme in their batter. The deviled eggs are topped with pickled onions, so it’s on the sweeter side, didn’t like it much, but was creamy. The mushrooms (sides) were so buttery, it was a bit difficult to consume. The brussel sprouts were really good, wish it had bacon bits. Mimosa was so so, I think I prefer more orange juice. The barrata was very creamy, but I didn’t like it too much.
Service was slow on a Saturday (lunch), took awhile to get our orders, food, and check. The place has decent décor and everything wasn’t bad. If you go to the restroom, go to the one downstairs, has a pretty neat wall of art.
If you come here, you have to get their chicken.

i had a really really nice time at the wayfare. it’s pretty fancy. the restaurant is 2 floors and i can’t quite place the architecture but it’s old. the décor is beautiful. it’s all natural wood and antique fixtures with a contemporary flourish.
the food was amazing and surprisingly inexpensive. you can actually get a burger for somewhere around $ 10 and a cheap PBR (i don’t drink that.) the down stairs has the bar w all kinds of people eating, drinking and having fun after work. the upstairs also has a little bar but it’s mainly for dining.
me and my buddy shared the lobster which was just melt in your mouth. then we shared the mac & cheese, fried chicken and the tagliatelle. it was all mind blowing. the mac and cheese was a cheese experience. it was rich, creamy and everything you ever wanted in mac and cheese. the fried chicken was perfectly crispy and the tagliatelle was creamy and delicious. OH! and they serve these amazing puffy rolls w dinner. i can’t even believe i had room for dinner after eating all those amazing, crispy, puffy rolls.
for desert we had the chocolate cream which was as much chocolate as i think anyone can handle. we also had vanilla ice cream and apple crisp. oh! and coffee. the coffee was amazing.
throw in some wine and cocktails and we pretty much rolled out of there. i was still broken the next day and it was worth it a million times! i will definitely go back for the food and the atmosphere. i’ll probably check out the down stairs though. i just wish i knew about this place sooner.

Dining at Wayfare Tavern was everything I had hoped for. A wonderful experience. Established in 2010 and settled on Sacramento St. in San Francisco’s Financial District Wayfare Tavern has earned a reputation as a «must dine» restaurant for Foodies such as myself. Classy ambience, cool «poppin» atmosphere with business casual dress code. Upon entering the Tavern you enter the world of Food Network’s own Chef Tyler Florence. Here he uses his imagination and skills to offer creative comfort food to rustic delights infused with fresh local ingredients.
Didn’t start my night off with any appetizers but I certainly entertained the cocktail menu. From there I ordered the «Tavern Sour» (Wayfare Tavern Select Eagle Rare Single Barrel, Yellow Chartreuse, Herb Syrup, Egg White). Drink was so good I ordered another a bit later. As for my entrée, Prime Imperial Bavette Steak with carmelized cauliflower, Cinderella pumpkin purée, maitake escabeche, and orach spinach. Delicious! Tantilizing! Bavette Steak was perfectly seasoned, cooked and delivered. Carmelized cauliflower was a nice touch while the maitake mushrooms marinated in escabeche was superb. The reddish/​purplish color of the Orach spinach was different and innovative. Great combination.
From service to taste to overall execution everything was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed my night at Wayfare Tavern and would absolutely recommend this restaurant. Parking is sparse in these neck of the woods, but don’t fear Wayfare offers Valet service.

a 430 reservation is a transition from lunch to dinner. that should be noted on open table & Unilocal because there are some menu items not available until 530pm. my reservation was made through open table but this is the only restaurant that didnt call me to confirm my reservation. maybe if they called i wouldve been informed of the «transition» ?
everyone raves about the popovers and i agree that they are good, but its not the best ive ever had. the popovers at the rotunda at neiman marcus are way better and those actually melt in your mouth.
the appetizers are portioned for one person. the squash soup and butter lettuce salad were good but it didnt wow me.
the entrees on the other hand were generous portions. this restaurant is famous for its fried chicken so that was a must to try. i have to agree with all the reviews because their chicken was really good. it wasnt oily, the breading of the chicken was a thin layer, and the meat was moist. there are 5 pieces of chicken in this entrée. the tavern burger was just ok. i added a sunny side egg for another $ 2. i ate chicken first and by the time i got to the burger, the bun was hard so i didnt eat the bun. the fries that come with the burger were seasoned and cooked perfectly.
the sides are also small portions. the roasted mushrooms were tasty with a good blend of different mushrooms. i expected more from the burrata potatoes and were my least favorite from all the dishes of the night.
the desserts were the highlight of the dining experience. the chocolate cream pie and housemade doughnuts were amazing!!!
the 4 stars goes to the service i received from my waiter tonight, the fried chicken, cream pie & doughnuts!

The deviled eggs are meh. Park Tavern has better deviled eggs.
Fried chicken deep fried in batter of garlic and rosemary. Yeah, I can get down with Tyler’s fried chicken.

Dining here is a quintessential SF FiDi experience. Well worth the hype for dinner or for lunch!
I’ve gone twice, and attempted convincing myself to get something new on my second visit. Upon seeing the chicken being cooked in their kitchen, I couldn’t. I got the fried chicken again and it was better than I remembered! So good.
Other standouts — their tartare was amazing and the deviled eggs were also great. Mashed potato and mac and cheese sides were delicious but may be worth skipping (they were, dare I say… basic?). They have a good drink menu as well, perfect to pair with dinner (and get buzzed lolz).
Oh and I should mention –the bread/​popovers they serve before dinner pretty much spoiled my dinner since I couldn’t help but get a second piece! So good. Beware.
The inside of this place is beautiful. On my second visit, I got a counter seat in front of the kitchen and it was awesome to see everything being made. I was mesmerized by the cook cutting a carton of amazing looking/​smelling garlic.
Wayfare doesn’t have a very large menu, but what they cook, they cook to perfection and with great skill/​care!

Ahhhh I am so glad I went back to Wayfare Tavern because I knew I had picked wrong the first time that I went and that we hadn’t come in ideal circumstances (on a packed night without a reservation). I love the style of the restaurant with its wooden bar & speakeasy atmosphere!
This time, we had a res at 8 on a Saturday night. We got there 10 minutes early so we first got drinks at the bar. There’s a good selection of wines (Chablis and Sancerre: my favorite French wines, Pinot Gris, lots of reds), beers and cocktails (my friend had the cocktail with cucumber she loved!).
The booths on the 1^st floor are large, comfortable and offer privacy which is nice since the restaurant is pretty loud.
We ordered sides to share to start off:
— Mushrooms with butter and garlic: tasted like ceps, DELICIOUS.
— Roasted Brussel sprouts with pomegranate: amazing and original combinaison!
— Mac & cheese: yummy too, definitely stood out from other places.
The famous popovers were served. I haven’t seen any like these in any other restaurants so far. Very very good and fresh, even better with butter.
The entrees came. We had ordered:
— The sea bass: good amount of fish, very fresh, moist, good presentation. Great overall.
— The burger: apparently the bun looks better than it seems. It was a bit dry said the hubs. The meat was good though. The fries, to me, were once again disappointing. Dry/​nothing special.
— The steak: my friend liked it a lot.
— The fried chicken: That’s the dish we had picked on our first time. It’s very good but at the end of the day, it’s still fried chicken (even if it IS good). It’s boring compared to all the other great dishes on the menu! It isn’t served with anything and keep in mind it is a HUGE portion (good for 2 really).
For dessert, we shared between 4 people:
— The donuts: recommend by our waitress. They were very tasty. Tasted more like French beignets with a hole than donuts. But super good and once again fresh. Apple, applesauce and cream on the side. Great size for 2 people or 4 if you’ve ordered more than one dessert like us.
— The coconut cake with cream cheese: big slice! Good but not off the chains by any mean. I would try the Apple Crisp next time, it seems pretty yummy.
It was our waitress’ first day. She was friendly and professional.
Such a better experience than our first time eating crammed at the bar! I’m excited to come back!

Ok, hear me out. There is a reason this place gets 5 stars alone…
The Steak Tartar is the best one I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not kidding. I’m not a huge red meat eater, but there was something uniquely special about this plate. The Japanese chicken egg, house made potato chips, oh my.
I was celebrating a change of careers (eh hem, Unilocal) and was in really good spirits. Accompanied by two close friends, we went all out. Gibson martinis, whole lobster, fried chicken, deviled eggs, and a bottle of 2012 verite’s la muse made this a lunch to remember!
Great service, and super friendly staff. It should be a regular stop for anyone who works in fidi.
Cheers to a new year!

I’m sad to give it 3 stars :’(but it was more of the atmosphere/​host people — this is not a review for a food experience… I only went to have a quick adult beverage during lunch.
Anyways. I think they need crowd control. Now I know it was a bit drizzly out but just so many peeps inside blocking the bar area and entry made the place look, well, tacky. And from the $$$ we know it’s not a word I would ever say! No, not that word about my adored Chef Tyler’s restaurant! *Hope your reading this Tyler. I know it’s still popular but the bar area needs to be a bit clearer for people who are actually at the bar or dinning.. .
If the hostess greeted all who walked in and let them know the capacity situation then it would be communicated that there is no room, hint hint ;)

Winner winner chicken dinner!
I’m not a huge fan of fried chicken (I know, gasp) but Tyler Florence does it RIGHT. Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, this was the highlight of our meal. Squeeze a bit of lemon to accentuate the flavor of the rosemary.
The deviled eggs were my favorite appetizer and I was secretly glad my friend didn’t care for em. Polished those off easily. Complimentary popovers are a nice touch. Golden beet hummus tastes fresh with pickled beets, radish and carrots. We also ordered the grilled octopus, roasted mushrooms, brussels sprouts and mac n cheese. The latter wasn’t a hit with any of us, it lacks flavor and is overly creamy. Even some tabasco would have upgraded it.
They won’t seat you until your whole party is present and the waiting space is tiny so don’t be late friend! Elegant and laid-​back ambiance. Super busy for an early dinner.
Thought finding parking would be a nightmare but I snagged a spot right by Transamerica. Free after 6pm. Thank you parking gods!
Solid upscale comfort food but I’d only return for the fried chicken.

Ah, I’m so sad to say I was disappointed. I didn’t have anything that was bad, but when I eat out at a fine establishment like this that is a famous chef’s place and charges a small fortune, I expect to have food that is better than what I could make at home. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
I was by myself, so ate at the upstairs bar. I had a side of mac ‘n cheese ($ 11) and a side of Brussels sprouts ($ 9). Both were good, but I have made mac ‘n cheese better in my own kitchen (and had better in other restaurants). I also had coconut cake ($ 11), which lacked coconut flavor through all the layers. The cake itself was just ok. The frosting was too dense and sweet. I ate it, but wouldn’t care to have it again. I enjoyed the 1915 cocktail ($ 13) and dessert wine ($ 10). Service was terrific and ambience is great, too. I have no complaints. It’s just that after tipping, I ended up spending over $ 70 on dinner for myself without having had a full entrée, and none of it is so memorable that it would draw me back. So sad. This is going to ruin Tyler Florence’s TV shows for me. Sigh.

The rolls. Quite simply, an effen masterpiece.
The deviled eggs they used to have? Epic. Bring them back!
The veggie entrees I’ve had here haven’t blown ma mind.
The dessert, phew, mind-​blown. It’s been a minute, but I remember having an epic level of chocolate greatness.
Shall return. For the rolls alone.

Amazing food, organic friend chicken to die for, the pasta literally melted in my mouth, the burger great but the bun was a little dry (other than that it was cooked to perfection) also the home made pickle, YUM! The Brussel sprouts were just delicious, it was my favorite of all the dishes we had got. Portions were «shareable» it was our first time there so likely we wanted to all try each other’s dish. The menu is very limited but the food on it was delicious. The cumber Moscow mule was refreshing and good, there was to much ice and it was ridiculously small for $ 13, the cat flower (a drink) was good small as well and extremely strong. The donuts and cheese cake we had for desert was just out of this world!
Service was good, food came out quickly water was always filled, bread came out quickly and fresh. The busser must have forgot to let waiter know we needed to order more drinks, when he came to our table he said a few words and walked away before anyone could swallow and talked to him.
Overall the restaurant was great!

Great service, awesome location and interior, and a really nice ambiance make this upscale American eatery worth a visit.
The waiter was very attentive, introduced several daily specials, and checked in to see how everything is going. The menu is well-​balanced — fancy traditional American food, with the FRIED CHICKEN ($ 25) and the TAVERN BURGER ($ 22) standing out.
I didn’t appreciate however the fact that on the upper level the tables are so tightly squeezed together that it basically makes one big communal table. No intimate conversation possible, no privacy, and your neighboring tables will, unwillingly or not, eavesdropping on you. Because you’re almost eating from their plate.
Very uncomfortable.

Came here for friend’s rehearsal dinner. We had the upstairs private room. The room was beautiful with the wines in a glassed-​off section on display and a bar in one end of the room. Lots of old pictures of San Francisco and a TV rerunning a loop of old San Francisco (where horse carriages, cable cars, pedestrians, cars run amok).
Don’t know about price but the food was delicious. We had a family styled feast. We each got a popover as bread — it was fluffy, light, warm, the way a pop-​over should be. Then the feast began. We had the Di Stefano burrata salad with Tenbrink tomatos (is this a farm or a special type?), saba (???), basil and caper berries. This was fresh and delicious but I am not sure if it stood out. We also had a fennel and arugula salad with peaches and candied hazelnut in hazelnut vinaigrette which I really enjoyed. The sweet of the peaches and candied hazelnut provided a nice complement to the arugula and fennel which made it truly outstanding for me.
For entrees, we had organic fried chicken (Buttermilk brine, crisp woody herbs, roasted garlic, lemon), Tavern burger (red onion marmalade, smoked bacon, Nicasio cheddar) and housemade tagliatelle (cranberry beans, snap peas, Brentwood corn, Parmesan), My favorite was the fried chicken. It was crispy and not too oily and moist and just really yummy. The Tavern burger was a bit too rare for me and the cheddar was a bit overpowering. It was a tall burger though. Tagliatelle was also good but a bit heavy.
Sides included were caramelized mushrooms and burrata whipped potato. I loved both of these items. YUMMY!
I was so stuffed by this point — not sure if either of the desserts stood out to me. We had toffee and salted caramel crème puff and carrot cake.
Overall a good dining experience.

Also das hat sich wirklich gelohnt! Als einer der besten 25 Burger in SF hat ihn die sfweekly gelobt und deshalb hab ich mich schon seit Wochen gefreut.
Ich hatte die french fried Oysters auf Blumenkohl als starter, als zwischengang den besten caesar’s Salad den ich je gegessen habe und dann noch den Burger. Es war definitiv zu viel aber ALLES war ultralecker, so richtig, richtig gut.
Ich saß vor der offenen Küche an der Bar und konnte den 10 (!) Köchen zusehen, wie sie mit Hingabe und Ehrgeiz ihren Job machten.
Richtig tolle Küche, Hut ab!!!
…highly recomended!!!

5 Sterne von mir so viel vorweg. Wir sind durch die nächtlichen Strassen San Franciscos geschlendert und suchten eine Location in der man gut essen kann. Eher zufällig haben wir die Wayfare Tavern in einer Seitenstrasse entdeckt. Von außen sieht sie eher wie ein Irischer Pub im amerikanischen Stil aus (keien Ahnung, wie man das besser beschreiben sollte). Von Ihnen aber sehr gemütlich, trotz des geschäftigen Treibens. Da wir nicht reserviert hatten bekamen wir nur zwei Plätze am Chefs table die Bar vor der offenen Küche. Ein grandioser Platz, an dem man den ganzen Abend den Köchen auf die Finger schauen kann und sieht mit wie viel Sorgfalt aber auch Antrieb durch den Chef, die Gerichte zubereiten. Das Einzige Manko: Die Kommunikation leidet ganz schön darunter. Die Karte selbst ist überschaubar und nicht die günstigste. Hauptsächlich gibt es einfache Gerichte mit Fisch. Diese werden dann mit kleinen Zutaten aufs leckerste aufbereitet. Ich hatte einen Seebarsch mit Kartoffelpüree, Kraut und frischen Pilzen. Äußerst lecker und meiner Meinung nach perfekt zubereitet. Dazu gab es eine Senf-​Sauce-​Dressing-​Gedöns, dass super zum Fisch gepasst hat und jedes mal, wenn man den Senf im Mund hatte eine geschmackliche Überraschung auslöste.
Aber eigentlich erwartet man auch nichts anderes bei einem Starkoch nur das wussten wir während des Essen noch nicht.
Einen Nachtisch hatte ich dann nicht mehr, obwohl es mich ziemlich geärgert hatte ihn nicht zu probieren, als ich die Bilder davon online sah. Wir wurden sehr freundlich bedient und es ging alles ziemlich schnell.
grundsätzlich würde ich hier sofort wieder hingehen.