Ula Restaurant & Tapas Bar Reviews

I hadn't eaten here since it was Farallon and was a little hesitant, given the mixed reviews; but...everything was perfect. We had five orders of tapas and each was better than the last. The octopus was my favorite; the croquettes a close second--both zucchini and the crab. The Tiramisu for dessert was a hit, as well. It made me want to go back and try everything, again and again. And the service and attention by the owner was a cherry on top. It is so wonderful that they have kept the blown glass octopus fixtures and the grotto like area that was once a swimming pool. This is and was a very special place and I was thrilled that it still delighted me in every way.

I have dined here a few times during my stay in San Francisco. The food is amazing and they have a lot of gluten free options which is fabulous. The decor is cool, check out the jellyfish light shades. Well worth a visit if you’re in San Francisco.

Food was good, not many people in on a Wednesday lunchtime. We were seated at the back of the restaurant, nice atmospheric decor. The main problem was the fruit flies. There were 4 of us at our table, and between us we killed at least 20 of them over the span of an 90 mins, and still they kept coming. They were diving in the drinks, and crawling over the food. Not a pleasant experience at all.

Beautiful interior, lots of staff, but….. be prepared to wait and wait and wait, for your dinner. Once our order was taken, our waiter didn’t come back to the table. We did have bus service and lots of water, but we were hungry. There is no complimentary bread, so you just sit and wait. Out of four of us, three enjoyed their meals, said they were delicious. I had the shrimp cocktail (an appetizer) which came with the other meals. It was dry and flavorless. Normally, I would have spoken up and asked for something else, but the waiter didn’t return to ask how our meals were. And no, it wasn’t that busy.

I had given up on finding fine dining and to my delight i happened to find this gem!! I am blown away. The food,decor, service and drinks are the best san francisco has to offer. Want to have an experience you will talk about for days? Give this place a try. I consider myself a foodie and this place just made its way to the top of my list

Super close to Union Square and great paired with a show. Surroundings are lavish and are true to the pics seen online. Though we ate on an off hour and staff was light, we had attentive and friendly service. We especially loved the scallops. The rest of the food was good but honestly, the restaurant is special for it's location and ambiance and you will spend for that experience.

This was my second visit to this restaurant. It was just as amazing as my first. Was there on the evening of Christmas Day and it was quiet when we arrived. By the end of our stay the place was jumping. The food, the service, the setting were all great. This has been such a unique find and the location just off Union Square is perfect. I highly recommend Ula.

Had a wonderful evening out. Previous reviews have mentioned service issues, but they seem to have fixed that- service was -perfect- Bruce was a fantastic waiter, the service timing was perfect. We never felt rushed but also never were waiting for food or drinks or table service. The Tuscan stew was very tasty with tender fish. The sole was perfect- crisp sear on the outside and very tender and moist inside. Cocktails were excellent. Absolutely will recommend and revisit if we’re in the area again.

Disappointing. I was expecting SF fine dining but only the prices resembled a big city dining experience. The hostess was rude. Our table was right under a speaker playing inappropriate loud dance music and combined with the loud pots and pans from the kitchen it was hard to hear each other’s conversation. The food was bland and even the bread was old. I would not know where to begin to offer advice on improving this restaurant.

We visited for Christmas and were excited by the pre-fixe menu options. We arrived early in the meal sitting and got to experience the slow downtime for the staff. Chatting, phones out and everyone on staff doing shots. For a quiet time, the staff was not attentive, the food came out at well spaced out intervals and overall the meal was well enjoyed.. well until my daughter got sick shortly after and our family stayed in the hotel for the rest of the day. Can’t say it was the restaurant as no one else had a similar experience. Can’t say I would repeat a visit.

WOW - these guys know food and exceptional service!!!! We just did a local search and there was the odd bad review. Who ever did those does not understand exceptional food. Too bad! Meant we could go in without a booking and enjoy the most wonderful flavours! Octopus and oysters... top notch!. The Tuna steak I have never had better!. The staff attention amazing. I would come back here again and again. Yes if you want cheap, not for you. But top quality delivered with passion... yes!

This is a beautiful restaurant on the inside. We had made a reservation but it wasn’t needed because there were only three other tables in use when we were there. Although our server was very pleasant, she made the mistake on not paying attention to me when I placed our order. We had decided to go with the five options listed under Seafood Tapas on the menu. As in tapas style eating, one typically enjoys one dish at a time. I requested the oysters first and specified the order of the remaining four dishes. The second dish presented was the last that I requested. Fine, not a big deal. We had barely started that dish when two hot dishes were brought out together. I reminded the server about how we wanted to enjoy our dinner. So I requested that they be sent back and that we would enjoy each dish, one at a time. We enjoyed a martini each and shared a bottle of wine. The wine requested was unavailable. The one suggested in its place was very good. Finished off dinner with dessert. Of note, although I indicated when reserving the table online that we were celebrating a birthday, no reference was made about it by staff. Pointless to ask when making the reservation. Overall, the food was very good. Gratuity was automatically included. Total was $400. Expensive considering we shared everything. Three oysters each, carpaccio, one crab croquette each, three shrimp each and two spoons of tuna tartar.

The food and service were outstanding. We joined a friend at Ula and had a a nice, relaxing lunch. We shared a few tapas as appetizers followed by a delicious paella. They have a good wine selection at reasonable prices and after some discussion we opted for a delightful Albariño.

Nice place with unique decoration. We ordered different appetizers and food to share, the food was good but not extraordinary. Expected a little bit more taste. Great location.

Absolutely a fantastic meal The portions were very good and the price was good The decor was stunning The meal was served by a very experienced waiter

We had an underwhelming dining experience at Ula while visiting for the weekend. Wish I had read the reviews here on Trip Advisor before we went. Yelp is useless. We were early for our reservation, but the restaurant was empty. The host was reluctant to seat us at our table, so we suggested we start with oysters and champagne at the bar. They didn’t have the first bottle we chose. The replacement they offered was good and they comped us a second bottle of lesser quality, which was a nice touch. After we moved to our table though, we waited for a while and finally had to flag a server to ask for dinner menus, despite many staff members milling around. Our server closed us out to transfer us to a new server, who was much more attentive. The tapas were good but not spectacular. Entrees were very good, but the overall experience coupled with the high price made it rather lackluster. We will stick to known quality like John’s and Tadich’s in the future. The decor was innovative but the molded kelp columns had a Disney-esque quality.

I took my mom here for dinner before the ballet. This is one of my favorite seafood restaurants around Union Square. My mom was impressed with the decor. I had my favorite lamb meatballs. And I also had the eggplant parmigiana. Both were tasty. Service was friendly.

A great place for cocktails and the food looked amazing as well. Staff were very friendly particularly the manager. The live music was great some modern jazz along with a few Burt Bacharach tunes. Well worth a visit and the next time we return we will stay for dinner.

Ula has great food and a fun atmosphere. The restaurant is decorated as a seafood grotto. The service is good, the menu interesting, and it is right next door to our favorite SF theater: San Francisco Playhouse (live theater). You can get a free glass of bubbly if you show your theater tickets!

This was my first time eating here. And I loved the experience. We were seated quickly. And the staff were all friendly and helpful. Bruce was our server. We had the meal celebrating Restaurant Week. I had the Tuna Tartare, Salmon and Tiramisu. ALL DELICIOUS. I loved the atmosphere in the restaurant. I will definitely return.

This restaurant served the best paella that I have ever eaten! Good sized portion perfectly prepared and delicious! They also have lovely entertainment; tonight it's a jazz band. The location is convenient across the street from the West St. Francis up the street from Union Square. The interiors are also lovely. I highly recommend coming in for tapas or dinner and listening to great music!

Just a spectacular evening! The decor is amazing and the banquette was very romantic. Food was delicious and service was 5 star.

We enjoyed a lovely meal on Thanksgiving. It was a limited three course menu but there were plenty of options in each course. All the food was very good - my steak was perfectly prepared and had a wonderful flavor. The cocktails were delightful and the service was pretty good. The space itself is stunning - an absolutely beautiful restaurant.

Total miss, service tried to rush us to order, then never cleared plates for dessert. Very dated, and the restaurant was empty on a Saturday night.

Great food and very helpful/friendly staff. The decor is also exceptional. I highly recommend this restaurant. We will return when visiting San Francisco.

Terrible service! The server acted like it was a huge imposition on her evening for us to be there. She brought all the small plates at once which made the shrimp cold and gross by time we were getting to it. When we asked to see the owner/manager they lied and said he had gone home. Once we were walking out he miraculously re-appeared and said he “wanted to make it right” if we would come back the next night. We were leaving the next day but wouldn’t under any circumstances have returned to Ula. To add insult they automatically added 20% tip (just a table of two) with no prior notice and when called on it said “everybody’s doing it.” (Nothing on their website). Looking online, most of their bad reviews include a reply from management that bad service is “not their norm” and they will “address it with their team,” but guaranteed they do nothing. Too many great restaurants in SF to waste your time and money here.

We just tried out the restaurant knowing it had just opened for business. It was the unusual interior—the vaulted arches looked like the restaurant was in Europe—that got us in the door. As it turns out, the chef is amazing, (thus) the food delicious, the service friendly, and the entire experience first-rate. Good value, too. I was also impressed with the wine list. Again, the pricing was reasonable for intelligently-selected international wines. We’ll definitely return.

This was a very interesting bar/restaurant, with an amazing decor. We (my brother and I) found the staff so welcoming and friendly when we popped in for a drink that we booked to come back for dinner the next night. We were not disappointed, the food was delicious, service was 5 star. We would recommend this and encourage a good look around this gorgeous place

Was in San Fran for business. Place was recommended by a friend. Not really worth it. Staff was great. Drinks, so so, food, nothing to rave about. Then they add 20% tip for party of one. And have them guts to ask if you want to leave extra tip

Located in the previous Farallon Restaurant location on Post St. it still has the visual delight of "under the sea" with gorgeous Jelly Fish glass chandeliers, large scallop shells & starfish motif in the floors and "Kelp" shaped railings thru out. A variety of Tapas selections were excellent and the waitstaff welcoming & attentive. A great pre-theatre dinner location for the Curran Theatre.

I’m convinced that people are far kore inclined to write a negative review than a positive one. On a Tuesday, walked in 20 minutes after the kitchen closed. Manager/owner? grabs a menu and says “do you know what you want, let me see what I can do.” 15 minutes later I have a great pasta and shrimp dish…And at 11pm the place is packed. Hope more people take the time to review…

Excellent quality food, served with a smile. We loved tapas, and decided to try Ula as it was near our hotel. We had a trip around the Mediterranean, with Bruscetta, fully loaded with excellent olives and prosciutto, as well as Arancini, which was very tasty but not the type we enjoy in Sicily as it lacked the Ragu, and a brilliant hummus dish which again was fully loaded with great taste. Finished with a good quality dessert, we ended the meal full and satisfied. Service was attentive, but not intrusive, perfect in fact.

We had a disappointing dinner at Ula in San Francisco. The food was mediocre and the drinks were disappointing. The server was charming and professional. We don't recommend Ula.

Please do yourself a favor and RUN THE OTHER WAY. I am visiting from New York and wanted to thank my friends for hosting me by taking them out to a nice seafood dinner. This experience was more like a punishment. First, I should begin by saying that I have worked in the restaurant industry for a number of years from bars to more upscale dining establishments, so I am aware of how a restaurant - especially one that claims to be fine dining- is operated. The quality of the food - bad bad bad. Lobster bisque - please save your money and time. The presentation was nice, however I should've read the menu more closely because there is nothing lobster-y about the lobster bisque. There are chunks of shrimp, with leek purée in a thickened seafood broth. Not a hint of lobster flavor (or sherry, or thick cream). It wasn't horrible but it was the furthest thing from lobster bisque. Beet salad - flavorless watery, unformed burrata. It liked like when they plated the dish the burrata was dropped from ten feet above. It lacked in flavor and consistency. The dressing was good and the tomatoes were fresh. Underwhelming still, I wouldn't recommend or order this again. "Jumbo" sea scallops. This was my main and was by far the second most disappointing item I received. The scallops were chewy and over cooked, but still the only thing that I was able to consume on the plate. The labneh was ok. The cous cous with roasted tomatoes tasted like it was soaked in gasoline. I love babaghanoush and am well aware of what a smoked or fire roasted vegetable should taste like. This dish was so disgusting because it tasted like the flame of a gas stove. It was inedible. I asked my friend to take a bite to make sure it wasn't just me and before she even bit it she said it smells like chemicals. VERY disappointing. When they have the audacity to write "Jumbo" on the menu my expectation was that I'd be getting U/10 or U/12 scallops at the very list. The scallops were puny in size closer to 10/20s and poorly cooked. Do not order this item off the menu - $38! The actual nerve. The worst thing we had during our dining "experience" was the "Louisiana Prawn Cocktail". Absolutely insane the wording on the menu. I should've known. 1st this claims in the description to have Calabrian chili- absolutely nothing spicy about this- no sign of chili. Secondly when anyone says "prawn" I expect more than a Costco quality pre frozen tasteless piece of shrimp. Zero flavor, averaged sized, no head, not fresh shrimp. The garnish was slices of browning avocado and halved grape tomatoes. And now lastly for the "sauce" (as the waitstaff repeatedly referred to it as). This plate was literally 5 shrimp that were just thrown down in a huge mound of....KETCHUP. LITERALLY HEINZ KETCHUP. when asked- one waiter said we don't have cocktail sauce but offered tapatio or Tabasco sauce. Another stated that they had and went on to bring me a side dish with...more ketchup. Our main waiter had the audacity to argue with me that this a Mediterranean restaurant and cocktail sauce is an "English thing". So where's the aioli? Or even fresh lemon? There is nothing Mediterranean about ketchup and shrimp. Which brings me back to the menu write up- Louisiana Prawn Cocktail has no cocktail sauce, farm raised (I'm sure) unimpressively sized shrimp and last I checked Louisiana is far from anywhere in the Mediterranean! Just another part of our gaslighting dining experience. We did have two of the branzino specials which were good. The accompanying sides were ok- poorly seasoned canned corn, the turnip cake was good but a bit greasy. The fish itself was fresh and well prepared. The seafood stew was ok- the sauce was lackluster and thin but the seafood content was good. It had no flavor but was spicy at the same time. It was like a watered down vodka sauce The tuna tartare was the best thing we had all night (that's not saying much unfortunately). Presentation was standard. The server was sure to include a generous 20% gratuity for a party of four and didn't inform the table that he'd done so. Our main dishes came out when the apps were still on the table being eaten. The silverware was stacked on plates and cleared while others were still eating. Our water was not refreshed once throughout the entire meal. We weren't brought fresh silverware. The side plates were stacked - which is something I'd expect if I was eating at Outback Steakhouse or chili's- not "fine dining" etiquette. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and left me hungry. The service was poor and the food was HORRENDOUSLY bad. The one star I will say is for the fact that the server wore a mask the whole time. Although, strangely, the restaurant had ample room to spread the diners out, we were all corralled in one room while the rest of the restaurant was empty. Not covid safe. The only fine dining part of this experience was the unjustified pricing. $364 wasted. DO NOT GO HERE.

We wanted to eat early so booking at 16:30 4.30pm was not a problem. We enjoyed the attention being one of a few at that time. Bruce our waiter was great, (I am also a Bruce so we shared Bruce stories) . We started with a great little salad followed by, my wife had the Scollops and I had the arrabbiata prawn fettuccine. The salad was great the Scollops were divine. The pasta…. I am a European, live in England but know Italian food well, the paste itself wasn’t quite “el détente’ the sauce needed some fresh chilli and basil. I know I had fish and Italians don’t do Parmesan on fish but it would have made the sauce. Sorry to be nit-picking but the meal was terrific but for this. As I said Bruce was worth the tip a brilliant host and my good lady was very happy. It’s a 4 for me only give outstanding food 5 and given 5 in France and Italy. Honest.

Dinner at thanksgiving.Friendly personnel, nice interior but uncoordinated service with long waiting times.Worst food i ever had and this comletely overpriced!

Ula restaurant will accept reservations. However, while I called and cancelled with the hostess before our reservation time, we were still charged $100. The hostess did not inform of any charge to be made when I was on the phone. Just poor customer service/business practice which must be why Ula Restaurant is rated so low in San Fran. Management should learn something from this.

The two of us had a fine lunch. Lamb shank was very good as were the salmon. Also good was the soup and the gem lettuce salad. Service was pleasant and efficient.

The atmosphere & food is special. Plus, Ula has a great location near Union Square in San Francisco. If interested the theatre, Ula is very convenient for before or after show dining. This is exactly what we did, after seeing a wonderful show at the SF Playhouse.

Went there with a group and frankly this feels like a tourist trap venue - completely odd decor (think Nemo’s submarine at Disney), average service and extremely average food. Nothing too much to note in terms of redeeming features. The door was propped open with a bar stool which certainly sets the tone. Avoid.

Went to restaurant late October. I believe the current owners had just taken over the restaurant which was named Farralon”s prior.The hospitality was fine. I ordered a $140 bottle of wine….nothing outrageous. The owner hand delivered the bottle. I could see their wine cellar from where I was sitting.. when he brought the bottle over it was lukewarm room temperature. My wife and I could tell something was not quite right with the wine. I ordered the ossobuco which was just okay. It was small and dry in certain areas. My daughter ordered the chicken kabobs…. Again just okay. Desserts were fine. for a $400 meal it was not worth the value. I ate at John”s grill two blocks away prior to this for half the price and way better food. I write this review in the spirit that it will elevate their food game from okay to delicious. I’ still wonder about that wine….