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Lime
2247 Market Street (between Noe & Sanchez)
San Francisco, California 94114
(415) 521-5256
www.lime-sf.com
Cuisine: Small plates, American
Loved: Hip atmosphere, friendly bartenders, people watching crowd
To Die For: vanilla mojitos, grilled cheese, and deviled eggs
Prices: $-$$ (Inexpensive-moderate)
Hours: Dinner: Sunday-Thursday 5pm-1am; Friday-Saturday 5pm-2am
Brunch: Saturday-Sunday 12pm-3pm
Noise Level: Loud
Service: Attentive
Romantic: No
Good for Kids: No
Good to Know: Not the best place for large groups, great place for drinks with friends
Recommended / Rating: 3 Stars (0=Don’t Bother to 5=Highly Recommend)
If you’ve been in the mood for a "see and be seen" place to hang out with your friends, Lime is the perfect place for tasty cocktails, yummy finger foods and a really groovy atmosphere. The service at the front desk, however, is another matter (I’ll get to that later.) Located in Upper Market, Lime bumps up the coolness factor of the Castro quite a bit. It’s nice to have my friends visit from New York and Los Angeles and say, "I had no idea San Francisco had such a cool place to hang out!"
Atmosphere
And what a cool place it is. Owner Greg Bronstein and designer Craig Walters took what was a previously dark, dingy space and turned it into an amazing, ultra-modern space complete with purple mohair walls, modern white chairs, metal fixtures and faux suede banquettes. My friends and I had a blast sitting at the large white bar scanning the room while watching various movie vignettes on the bar’s built-in monitors. A dj spun a cool mix of hip-hop and lounge music, while diners kept the room VERY noisy, busily socializing while trying to see whom they knew.
While waiting for our table, which took about ten minutes, we tried refreshing vanilla mojitos with vanilla vodka, fresh mint, and simple syrup ($8) and vanilla crèmes with vanilla vodka and crème soda ($8). I must give kudos to the bartenders, who were attentive and polite. During our wait, one extremely obnoxious man was escorted out the front door after he decided, in a drunken stupor, to seat himself at a table of four lovely ladies and began to describe in intimate detail the size of his manhood. Real class.
As I previously mentioned, the front desk staff needs a lesson in customer service. On a previous visit, I called Lime on a Friday afternoon and was told by the manager there were two time slots open for dinner: 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. I opted for the later time, and upon arrival, was told they showed no reservation under my name and that it wasn't in the computer. It should be noted there were two large parties waiting to be seated as well; in essence, my party of two was bumped to make room for them. Tsk, Tsk.
The Food
Executive Chef Sharon Ardiana, formerly of Garibaldi’s and The Last Supper Club, has created a menu of small plates that work well with the cocktail menu. While they’re not amazing, the mix of tasty flavors adds to the overall Lime experience. The white cheddar grilled cheese sandwiches served with tomato soup dipping sauce ($6) was delicious and perfectly grilled with just the right amount of gooey cheese, although the tomato dipping sauce could have used more seasoning. The smoky-flavored deviled eggs ($5) were absolutely wonderful, light and fluffy. They reminded me of summer picnics at the lake after an afternoon of water skiing. The tandoori chicken skewers with yogurt dipping sauce of cucumber, onion, and mint ($7) were another good choice as were the mini-burgers on housemade buns with white cheddar ($8) and tuna poke with diced cucumbers, avocado, soy viniagrette, and won ton chips ($9).
If you’re looking for a great place for drinks, socializing, and fun finger foods, Lime is one groovy place to be in San Francisco. Just be sure to confirm your reservation if you decide to eat dinner.
Bio & Past Articles
Past Articles
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Betty's List Restaurant Review
Columnist David Grabstald.
An enthusiastic freelance writer, editor and copywriter with marketing, media and daily newspaper experience, David serves as senior food critic for Betty's List. His articles have been published by Macy's Westbound, Mervyn's, The New Filmore, SF Examiner, Marina Times, North Texas Daily, And Baby Magazine and others. He is an experienced writer of grant proposals, documentation plans, feasibility reports, press releases, employee procedure manuals and other formats. David has written news scripts for NBC and produced video packages for the Irving Community Television Network. David can be reached at dgrabstald@gmail.com. His website is http://davidgrabstald.blogspot.com/ |
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