Aziza - San Francisc

I had a lovely time here on my birthday with my friends for brunch. In particular our server Hako was outstanding and really made the experience for all of us. I look forward to being back soon and hope that he’ll be my server next time as well!

Good food, bad service, no acknowledgement of our special occasion. Overall, our experience at Aziza was fine. The interior is well appointed and I was impressed with the fact that the sound level was very well managed in such a large main dining room. The food was all very good. Perfectly cooked, beautifully presented, and tasty. The biggest miss for me was the timing, which really took away from the experience. It took 15 minutes for the server to come to our table after we were sat and 30 minutes to get any food or drinks brought to our table. We ordered three small dishes and two mains. The three “small” dishes all came at the same time on enormous plates and made it very difficult to eat because there was absolutely no room on our table. No thought was given to how things should come out. Also, once the food had been eaten, it would have been nice to have someone come by and remove the empty dishes taking up so much space. Our plates (which we had to stack up on our own) were eventually picked up by the hostess. Our server came over some time later and said he was, “watching us from the other side of the room.” Uhh, ok, so you saw how uncomfortable we were the whole time and did nothing? Bizarre. It was also our seven year wedding anniversary and we noted this in our reservation and absolutely ZERO acknowledgement of the occasion was made at any point by any of the staff. So much for a special dinner. For such little effort on Aziza’s part, I would not make the effort to return.

Disappointing experience at Aziza. The staff was ignorant and irresponsible. We had a reservation at 7PM to celebrate a special occasion, but our evening was completely ruined by a 1-hour delay in getting our pre-reserved table. There were further delays in taking our orders, with no drink orders served at the bar. We sat for 45 minutes with only water served to us, while others who arrived after us received their drinks and food orders first. The food quality was not as expected, with dry and chewy meat. There were also major delays in getting our orders. The salmon was good, but the breads were cold. The only item worth eating was the corn bread. The restaurant tried to make up for the poor service with a couple of cookies, but we were not in the mood to enjoy them. It was frustrating to see harissa in everything, even in cookies. Additionally, our food was served on a piece of printed menu paper that was oily and placed under the cookies, posing a food hazard. This experience felt like the restaurant was mocking and insulting us from start to finish. For a place named "beloved," this was the complete opposite. This was such a terrible experience that it deserved to be highlighted. Overall, a memorable experience in the worst possible way. Calling this place mediocre would be an understatement.

I highly recommend ordering the eggplant and yuzu pudding, as well as the incredibly tender and tasty lamb. The chicken in pastry was also a favorite of mine. Overall, everything was delicious - yum yum yum!

Very interesting food and ingredients Our waiter was nice and informative but tried to offer too much food and we felt a bit rushed. There is not much ambience and the lighting and windows are not great both overall a great place to dine