On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Categories: Lounges, American (Traditional) [Edit]
Neighborhood: SOMA
Loading...
I LOVE Zebulon!
I've had the Sweet potato fries, calamari, and patron margaritas....they are a MUST HAVE!!
I love the decor, especially the art work! It does get crowded at happy hour, isn't that a good sign? It's a great spot to have comfort food and a cocktail after a stressful day at work with friends. So if you're in the social mood, make sure you're out of work early enough to grab a table!
After hours, sometimes there are parties, whether it's private or open to the public. The times I've attended, I didn't have to worry about cover or a strict dress code. Always good times!
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
Lunch: Good, cheap food for lunch in the FiDi/SOMA area. Can get a wee bit crowded, so plan on squooshing in there. Like everyone else has said, yayyyy sweet potato fries.
Happy hour: Sit outside if you wanna smoke. They have an overhang, so if it's raining, you can still sit outside. Chill vibe. Once again, squooshie wooshie.
Fun little place, looks like at night as a bar it would be pretty fun to hang out in. I ordered a basic burger, which came out first as a turkey burger (of course, I have bad luck at restaurants), but my regular BEEF (or at least mostly beef I'm hoping) burger came out. Fries were a bit soggy, but I kind of like that for some reason. The sweet potato fries my sister had were really crunchy and good.
It was a pretty cool place, a little pricey though but the burgers weren't bad.
I'll start this review by saying that I like the sweet potato fries and the burgers are decent.
But EVERY time I eat here I feel like Ashton Kutcher is going to jump out of the kitchen and tell me I was just Punk'd. And I hate being punk'd, and I hate Ashton Kutcher. Mostly I hate really shitty service.
Seriously, they cannot get it right. A little while ago a friend and I went here and ordered 2 burgers. A half hour went by and scores of other people were served before they finally brought our order out and they had it dead wrong. No big deal, we let it go, everyone deserves a second chance.
A couple weeks later we decided to come back and ordere d 2 burgers, one regular, one turkey with cheese. Again the order came out wrong, no turkey burger, so they apologized, brought it back to the kitchen and forgot about us for the next half hour. NO joke, when we reminded them they finally brought out a replacement burger but this time without the cheese, so we laughhed about it and they finally brought a burger to go with 2 coupons saying "please give us another chance" good for 2 free entrees.
That was nice enough; we thought, so today we went back to Zebulon and believe it or not they got it worse than ever. We ordered a bacon cheese burger and fries and a salad. After a half a hour went by, we saw 20 people who came in after us get their food and my friend finally went to the counter to ask what was going on and despite having given us a number, and despite us getting there WELL before the lunch rush, the whole order was sitting in a to go bag in the kitchen, cold. Oh and did I mention when we did unwrap the order it was completely wrong again anyway ?!
They offered to reheat the fries but PLEASE !! are you kidding? Sorry Zebulon, you just lost my patronage for good. I can't go here and ever expect to get my order in a timely manner and when it does arrive it s always wrong -
I appreciate the free cold burger, and despite their failures, your staff seems very sweet, but 3 strikes is all you get !!
Had drinks here after work with a group of friends on a Thursday night for drinks. It's a fun place to hang with friends....it's very loud though and crowded so have someone show up early to save some seats.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
I, L-O-V-E this place. Its in the ally, hard to find, but its a great place for lunch. Decent portion, quick service, mmm I love the sweet potato fries. Oh and dont forget the chilli, wait, dont forget their special lemonade too. On a hot day in sf, zebulon's special lemonade is highly recommended. What are you waiting for? Look what time is it, start driving, walking, or take the bus there. The scrumptious food is waiting for YOU!.....
Writing strictly from my experience on having lunch here ...
Got a Jamaican Jerk Chicken sandwich that was tasty and large. The sweet potato fries were real good, and my coworkers told me they liked it better than their own regular fries. Forgot to ask them what brewery their IPA came from, but I liked it. It is very close to the office, and I was surprised that for a Friday (which was when I went there) it was slow. I'll need a few more visits before I can really appreciate the atmosphere. Overall, though, it was a good half hour lunch.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
Another great place to have a drink and unwind with the coworkers on a Friday! I like Zebulon waaaaay better than it's next door neighbor, Varnish.
Maybe because Zebulon has the hard liquor I like! =)
Good finger food - Zebulon was the first place I tried sweet potato fries and totally got addicted to them! I also had their calamari and adobo chicken wings. Well being filipino, I KNOW adobo and the chicken wings did NOT even come close to the real flavor of adobo! But they were still good LOL
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Good lychee martinis...and sweet potato fries...but the other dishes were just OK...to the point that I can't even remember what I had (even if I were to look @ the menu again). Oh wait, I think I had the adobo wings, so ok yeah those were good too.
I will never ever attempt to come here again for happy hour. Too crowded and stuffy ass drunk FiDi workers who don't know the concept of DO NOT PUSH PEOPLE. Not enough room and no one puts baby in a corner!
Now with mac and cheese! (Last week, at least.)
It was predictable, which is a good thing for mac and cheese. The only other acceptable way to make it is in a creative, out-of-this-world kinda way. At least Zebulon didn't disappoint.... which is the antithesis of comfort food.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (3)
Cool (3)
05/07/2008
I went here years ago, before there was Yelp. (Can you remember LBY - life before yelp?) I'd… Read more »
Zebulon is so close to my office that I *should* be able to shuffle there closed-eyed and mitten-handed.
Instead, I've been there only three times in the past year-- hesitantly persuaded, each time, by a handsome man with a hunger for hamburger. I need to learn to point to Louie's and say, "They're better there."
Zebulon has the kind of menu that you can read eight times over without catching on an appetizing dish. Not that your gaze won't shudder over the prices! I'm still not sure if the "Seven Dollar Salads!" heading is supposed to make me feel like a successful bargain-binner or a money-to-burn yuppie. "Eight Dollar Salads!" simply makes me uneasy. Are salads usually more than eight dollars? And why do I get the creeping feeling that adding chicken is three dollars more?
Oh, right!-- it's probably the fact that the avocado and bacon burger doesn't come with cheese. Or that the small glass bottles of Acai-and-something juice cost as much as an entire deli sandwich. It's not cheap to contend with the "rich in antioxidants" market!
But maybe I'm just not up to the $15 lunch.
Especially when that sum excludes an almost mandatory burger side: french fries.
That's right, kids. You want fries with that $10 meat slab? Fork over $3 in laundry quarters, and pray that there's ketchup at your hastily-cleared table.
But start praying now.
The service ain't quick.
People thought this was:
Useful (9)
Funny (11)
Cool (9)
I really like Zebulon! I'll admit that it's not in the best spot and parking sucks but everytime I've gone it was always time well spent. I guess it might be a little like going back to basics: it's who you're with that makes the experience and the good service, ambiance, and food are just icing on the cake :).
I used to come here every Thursday after work to hang out with my friends. I think of it as more of a lounge than a restaurant. People always have their laptops up working and usually I had my feet up while munching whatever I ordered. They have seperate seating areas depending on what your style is: outside/in between the entrance (i didn't really understand this but ehh?), main room with dj and bar, and there's a seating area on the main floor that's kind of secluded... there's a curtain you have to pass through ( I never knew if it was ok to go in there lol).
I always crash on the second floor couch and stare at the art that's up. There's not a big selection but there's enough to keep me distracted if my conversation dies or while waiting for my food. I think one time I even fell asleep up there. The food isn't the greatest but the service treats me well plus whenever I went I felt like I could do whatever I wanted. lol.
Must trys here: Sweet potato fries, calamari, AND MOJITOS!!!
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (2)
Cool (2)
Having recently been forced and coerced into stopping in here for happy hour, I was reminded why this place is just lame. I still think lunch during the work week isn't that bad, but man, somehow if you had to take every dot com employee who flat-out sucked (personality, style, life, the whole shebang), and put them in one area, Zebulon would be their ground zero.
It's not that the beers they pour are bad, but again, perhaps because of forces unknown to man, there is an utter hum drumness that pervades.
As a proud citizen of bar culture in San Francisco, I simply cannot advocate going here. If you must go, leave soon, and I guess go to Varnish, even John Colins across the street is a step up, and that's saying something.
People thought this was:
Useful (6)
Funny (8)
Cool (8)
01/17/2005
First to Review
Update 3/01/08:
Maybe it's because this place is close to work but I really have grown to not like…
Read more »
i think there's a pattern to these reviews: lunch spots near my work and local spots near my house are figuring (or going to figure) prominently. this is first category.
Zebulon used to get a lot more of my lunch dollars since i used to have my company's office at 28 second street but i moved the office to Sansome and CA now. therefore, i don't get there as much as before. but today, i had to run to get some stuff out of my car (which i park near zebulon) so there i was - how could i not go for old time's sake!
the place is as good as ever. i normally get the Chicken/Avocado sandwich which - for whatever reason - is now called the Baron Davis. but i love the burgers, hot sandwiches, too. the fries and the salads are great. the wait is really small. the line is fast, even when it's very long, and the service is efficient and clean and the artwork on the wall is usually slightly more interesting than you'd expect from a lunch spot - although only slightly. of course, we are talking about a trendy lunch spot in the financial district so price is not going to be a strong point. the sandwiches are $7 and up, my hawaiian peach lemonade (or whatever it was) - although good - was almost $4! yikes. that's like Movie Theater pricess... are the milk duds $4.95 too? close, i think a side of fries is like $3.50.
but anyway, the food is awesome and if you work down here, hopefully you make enough dough to feed yourself well. somehow i'm guessing, from these yelper reviews, you guys all spend way too much on food anyways so i don't think it'll break your piggy banks.
oh yes, they have a good beer selection and i've been here for a happy hour or two as well. i don't frequent the place during happy hour but i imagine it's not too bad.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
Funny (1)
Cool (2)
Oh the many lunch hours I wiled away at Zebulon between 2003 and 2005 when I worked a block away. Oh the many nights I become inebriated and danced my butt off. I used to run with a wild gang of Spaniards, including my buddy Emilio (who now spins on Thursdays at Chiclet, 800 Larkin, on Thursdays) who then was a bartender and DJ at Zebulon. Any bar is better if the staff are your friends. But I digress.
I took a friend here for lunch today. First observation - the counter order taker dude was extremely nice and friendly. I ordered the salmon BLT with sweet potato fries. Yummy. If you go after the lunch rush, there's tons of seating, it isn't too loud, the food was tasty, and basically I just don't have any real complaints about the place. I'm not sure why I ever stopped eating here regularly. I'll be back, I am sure. Again . . . and again . . .
People thought this was:
Useful (9)
Funny (9)
Cool (8)
this place should be bigger because they get way busy! went here on a friday around 5:30p and it was already packed. there were about 8 of us so we ordered.. a lot. the sweet potato fries, lumpia, calamari, garlic shrimp fried rice, bistek marinated new york steak, and umm.. there was salmon, tuna, and others that i cant remember. getting to the point, everything i tried was delicious. :) and even though they were busy, it didnt take long for the food arrive. but ohh, the drinks! even better. i had a lychee martini, a strawberry basil gimlet, and a patron margarita. mm, def. no complaints here.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Zebulon is a chill lounge. We went there for happy hour and got totally trashed. Good drink prices, good food, and cute waitresses. The vibe of the whole restaurant/lounge was relaxing. Sweet potatoe fries were sooo good. Not the coolest lounge i've been too but they treat you well and its a nice place to hang out with good friends.
I really like sweet potato fries. I really like feta. I got a burger w/ arugula, feta and caramelized onions with sweet potato fries.
I really liked it.
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (3)
Cool (3)
I guess it's just us but... our lunch was crap. Tilapia over potatoes was ok. Cooked nicely, presented well, then they poured some crappy out of the can Teriyaki sauce. It tasted like pure chemicals. It was terrible.
My burger, a BBQ burger, was soaked in... well... I dunno. Grease? Water? BBQ Sauce? I dunno. I just know that I needed a few napkins to dry it off so I could eat it.
My 'Hawaiian Lemonade' tasted like KoolAid. Sugar, sugar, and more sugar with some fruit thrown in.
Bottom line: I felt like it was cafeteria quality at SOMA prices. The last time I was there was 2 years ago and the food wasn't amazing but it was good. I think that if you're at the point of expecting great food in SF you'll be disappointed.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
I hate this place.
Major lunch rush in the Financial District. Food isn't even that good.
Lastly, it reminds me of my creepy, lecherous ex-boss who LOVED this place. No thank you. I'm busy setting the world on fire.
they no longer serve their Sparkling Lemonades. big bummer for me.
Their lemon-drops will knock you on your ass tho!
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Funny (1)
Cool (1)
03/18/2008
I DO NOT suggest this place as a happy hour spot unless you get out of work anytime before 4:30.… Read more »
It's tough finding a seat sometimes, but they're Salmon BLT is to die for. It's casual yet swanky at the same time and the beers on tap are great.
Something to be aware of - it's almost always busy.
(yawning while I write this...it's *that* good)
The too-short happy hour goes from 4-6. The outdoor seating is great if you can get a table. Inside, the space is pretty, but noisy and chaotic. The 2 waitresses are lovely girls, but completely clueless. The menu offers several tasty small plates, but they're too pricey for the portion size.
I won't be back.
People thought this was:
Useful (2)
I would have given this place 4 stars if they did not increase their prices. I don't remember the HH appetizer price to be over $5!!! Otherwise, I like their snack options, eg. sweet potato fries and fried calamari. Oh, if you are a Mojito fan, try their mango Mojito. YUMmmmmmmmm....
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
This place gets crowded pretty early for the HH crowd, but if you can snag a seat at one of the tables, they've got a good selection of beers and drinks. I cannot attest to all the menu items but I do know the sweet potato fries are awesome!!
I came here for my first happy hour every recently. Well more like dinner cuz we got there at like 7:30. This place seemed pretty packed, people kept coming as others left. Now to the food. We ordered several appetizers to share....my favorite was the tuna tartare....I love tuna tartare and the avocado that it was layered on o so creamy. I also had the papaya salad, the lumpia, some chicken wings and I can't forget the calamari. Their Lychee martini was pretty good too. I will definitely be back for happy hour again.
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Cool (1)
I quite possibly am biased in liking this place because my date knows the bartender and quite possibly because the two times I've been there, my date has paid for the drinks.*
Really laid back atmosphere, secluded and off the main drag with little foot traffic outside, but still nicely packed with people. Stiff drinks. The bartenders like to chat about shopping at Nordstrom with us :)
Of course, I'll be back!
* This review has been editing and reworded to avoid any confusion, as my original copy has lead to misunderstanding with the establishment. My apologies to anyone negatively affected in my moment of poor typing and lazy English.
Yum. Solid grub. Nothing fancy. Good price. Decent service. Great casual atmosphere. And, good drinks.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
Placed a pick up order on Friday Afternoon and I'm so perplexed that I hadn't eaten here sooner, considering this place is only a block away... I ordered the Mozarella and Roma tomato sandwich. The Bread was pretty fluffy and I really thought this was gonna be fresh mozarella and not toasted to melt. Boo. But the fresh spinach and herb mayo was a nice touch.
My coworker had the Melted Chicken Marinara and she seemed to have enjoyed it. My other coworker really enjoyed the Baron Davis.. Chicken/Avo with melted cheddar and the Zebulon sauce (honey mustard/vinigarette mix). Add the sweet potato fries and you're set!
It's really a no bs joint. The menu plain and simple laid out "six bucks" "seven bucks" "eight bucks" for the sandwiches. Decent and straight to the point.
New lunch spot. Yay!
I love this place for days when you are sick of working for The Man and really don't give a F*ck. It's a surprise only that it took me so long to "find" it - given that I work just around the corner.
It's large, laid back, bright, spacious,and airy. I could hang out here all afternoon. High barn ceilings, red brick walls and groovy buddah-esque artwork. Ohmmm! Relax!
There are plenty of veggie options, refreshing salads, fresh sandwiches, and soothing comfort food - such as french fries, mac-n-cheese, veggie lasagna.
Oh - and they have some decent beers on tap. Like I said - I could stay here all afternoon. F*ck it all. Wanna hang out with me?
People thought this was:
Useful (3)
Funny (4)
Cool (5)
Yay!
I love Zebulon. My Buddy Elmer and I hit this spot for Mojitos. Nice bar, lounge, and atmosphere.
Come for HH here, then head over to Osha Thai on 2nd. They have Yummy Crab Fried Rice
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
After work last Thursday, took BART into the city to meet up w/ some friends. Tried the poki, and sweet potato fries. It was awesome... Our waitress, Rachel was off the hook. If she READS this, I just want to apologize if my friends and I got a little out of control and say that YOUR RULE, period. Beer was awesome... I love the Filipino touches on the cuisine... Where's the dinuguan and kambing?!!! The appetizers and beer selections were great. Gotta try the food next time... I got smashed before the night was over.... Luckily, Taco Del Mar saved the day...
I really like their mojito, especially the coconut mojito! There is actually coconut in there. The fries are the best I've had. YUMMY! The chicken wings and fried calamari are delicious as well.
Get the coconut mojito and fries!
This is a cool happy hour spot. It's good some good outdoor seating - great for a nice day. The happy hour drink specials are pretty good. My buddy and I hooked up with 5 hefs and it was no more than $15. The appetizer menu was pretty cool - asian fusion goodies such as sweet potato fries and calamari with a sweet and sour clear dipping sauce (which I LOVED).
The only problem was that each appetizer was like $9. Damn! The food was really good but not sure if it justifies the price. So for $9, you can either have one appetizer or 3 beers. I'm a happy hour newbie in the city so I'm not sure if this is normal but I'll stick to just the alcohol next time at this place. :)
It's been forever since my last confession: I worked for a phenomenal disaster of a start-up back in the dot-com heyday. We occupied a dank hole right where the latest high-rise is going up on Mission, across the parking lot from Zebulon.
Zebulon was better then. We ate their a lot. I had a thing for this salmon sandwich that isn't on the menu anymore. The staff is cuter now but the food is worse. I'm married now so that's just not a good bargain. My coworker captured it best this afternoon as we rushed back to the office. "After eating there I always feel like, 'What?'"
Totally forgettable food that costs a lot and takes forever. Today was the third and final time I will say, "I'm never eating there again."
People thought this was:
Useful (1)
Went here over the weekend for a private birthday party that I was a +1 for. The space is ok. There is this weird loft that the dj spins from, and the restaurant area was covered with a black curtain. All in all, it's kind of small, and getting to the bar through a sea of people was not fun.
But it was funny, basically everyone at the party knew everyone else, except for my merry band of cohorts. Then when we mentioned where we worked all of a sudden, most people asked us if we knew this one person they knew that also works at the same company. And yes. He works in my group. Hilarious. My one coworker has been outted as a player-pimp with this crowd. I'm going to go harass him Monday morning for sure.
Not only was it hard getting to the bar, but by the time we did, everything that was not a straight shot was pretty watered down. The crowd was interesting too. It was like all ivy league college grads. It made for far more interesting bar conversations than the usual monotony I'm used to conversing with at bars.
People thought this was:
Cool (1)
Swanky. Consultant filled. Snobs.
Okay. Maybe not snobs. But the rest of it is true. I feel like the typical person who goes to Zebulon is someone between the ages of 23 and 30 - it seems like the typical hang out for those who only have "good taste" when someone else is influencing their decisions... (e.g. This is hip and trendy, so this is why you should go here.)
Go for a drink, but skip out on the food - overpriced and really not that great ($9 a plate of whatchamacallsits)
But, the guys who come here are easy on the eyes... well, sort of, sometimes, maybe after a drink.
=T
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
Love this place. Been here many times for chill HHs. Plus I think the food is pretty good, much better than typical bar food. I love the Sweet Potato Fries - they are amazing and the sauce if frickin fantastic. I know lots of places are serving sweet potato fries now, but these are the best. I love the loft - I had a going-away party for my friend here last year and we had the loft to ourselves. It was a great party, but the service was really slow. That might have been our fault for having way too many people up there - like 50+. Despite the slow service, I still got love for 'em.... this place does get packed though - go early!
I didn't even notice this place the two times I went to John Colin's for HH. Yet, what struck me about Zebulons was the brightness of this bar. The art deco pictures and this chill environment of "let's have a drink". Me and my girlfriends/co-workers first went up to the loft, but sadly heat does rise in this place and we had to make our way downstairs away from the sauna of a loft.
The HH specials were indeed a plus, who wouldn't want $3 wells & beer and $4 house wines? And the appetizers are worth the extra cost ($9, $10, & $15). Me and my girls ordered the chicken satay and calamari, which were divine! Though HH gets uber crowded, you can't complain to the fact that its 25+ financial district crowd. Lastly, we got to hear this really good Brazilian jazz band that made the vibe even more chill.
Why I didn't give it a five star? The service staff needs to communicate more; a different person would come up to get our drink orders when we already had. The wait for the appetizers was long. And the fact that one glass was given to me literally on the house, but yet found its way back on to the final tab was just a sure fire the inconsistency of the communication.
Other than that, I definitely go back for another girl night out HH.
FAIL. Overcooked costco burgers, lukewarm fries, creepy Mao-sized paintings of people doing yoga on the walls. I cringe whenever work throws a function here.
