Foreign Cinema Restaurant Reviews

Loved the brunch here! The Champagne Truffle omlette and the coffee cream on the cinnamon bun were my favorite things here.

This restaurant is a great representation of fresh, local, Californian style cuisine. The ingredients are always fresh and very tasty. I enjoy taking friends here when they visit SF. The concept of showing old movies on the walls is a great one.

Have now been to Foreign Cinema for brunch and dinner. It is a fantastic dining experience. I was lucky enough to make a same day reservation for dinner via Open Table. The decor of the restaurant is gorgeous and I love the fireplace. They have a really fresh, California cuisine menu and an amazing wine list. For mains, I had the swordfish and the steak and they were just perfect---I loved how they complemented the swordfish with a sweeter sauce and nuts. I've also been there for brunch and had the balsamic eggs infused with balsamic which I found delicious. I also had the homemade pop tart, but found that a little overrated (but I guess I don't really like regular pop tarts either).

Great sesame fried chicken,
cheesecake was amazing

Delightful dining experience. Excellent spot for an intimate date. Friendly and approachable service. Extensive wine menu. Reservations recommended.

What a truly unique dining experience! The ambiance here is unparalleled, especially if you're sitting out on the patio, beneath the heaters and twinkly lights, with a classic movie screening on the wall behind you, and a glass of wine in hand. I strongly recommend the fried chicken, but honestly you cannot go wrong. Check movie times, and enjoy!

Fantastic patio spot! Just make sure when you make reservation that you noted where you like to be seated. The outside is heated too

Always a creative and delicious menu. Goat cheese cheesecake of some variety is always on the menu and worth eating.

Romantic setting for a date. Great atmosphere with cozy heat lamps and warm lighting. Service was excellent.
I ordered an impressive swordfish dish. But the foie gras and beef carpaccio were lacking.

Hip, stylish and great venue. Superb food, drinks and love that they're playing movies in the background. They also have a wonderful (though pricey) brunch.

Awesome brunch, solid dinner. Fun place for guests. Service and atmosphere are the biggest winners here. Expensive, but that's SF now

One of the more unique dining experiences in San Francisco.

Very dedicated staff, great food and excellent drinks!

The food is always good and consistent at a reasonable price. It's not mind-blowing or 5-star fine dining but good, well prepared food. Service is hit or miss but the venue and ambiance is 5-stars, especially in the middle outdoor area with the stringed up lights and classic movie playing on the far wall. Very romantic.

Nice relaxed vibe in an interesting setting with good food and good service

Awesome industrial chic, great food, friendly waiters.

One of my top 5 fave places in SF, FC is amazing! Whether it's a nice date, a girlfriends catch up night or a fab brunch, Foreign Cinema will never disappoint. I've probably eaten here a good 20 times and I've never had a bad meal or dish. How many places can you say that about??

Just make a rezzy or get there really early on Sunday for brunch and experience one of the true gems that makes SF so awesome.

Well-curated delicious food.
Outstanding & attentive service.
Great ambiance.

Really cool outdoor courtyard seating area with heaters. The "Like a Bird on a Wire" cocktail was awesome. Also the Pacific Tuna Ceviche was also really good.

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Very good place to have dinner on a warm, windless San Francisco evening. The foie gras buttered steak was excellent. Update: the brunch is excellent!

Came for brunch on a Saturday morning. The service was great but the food was lacking. The portions were small and not well prepared. My calamari were rubbery and under seasoned and the pop tart was mediocre. I was just unimpressed with this well loved sf restaurant.

Great food, drinks, ambiance, and service. Relaxed but vibrant and thoughtful.

Californian food here - very tasty. Service is always super even when they have a full house. Really nothing but great experiences here, so I will be back. I can see why they have so many reviews.

Espresso is really good, and the brunch works perfectly with it. Get there early as it can get pretty busy!

Horrible and sluggish service. Takes 15 min to bring some water. 20 min to start ordering after 3 times saying we are ready.

Food suffers from being too salty and too small in quantity. Nothing good really.

Environment is too noisy for a romantic setting. If you came here by some website recommending this as a 'romantic place', look elsewhere.

Pricy as heck didn't help either!

Good food, lovely environment. A bit of a wait, so reservations recommended.

Wow! Best food I've had in SF so far!!
The tuna was delish but the pork chop was truly divine! Leaving with very full but happy bellies

It feels like I'm in Korea right now because the atmosphere of this restaurant is Korean inspired. I really love the foods here because each of them really tastes great. Indeed, a beautiful spot for some Korean barbeques and anything else. I will surely come back and bring my family or friends with me the next time around. THANKS!

Wow. Talk about finding a gem. Foreign cinema looks fairly nondescript from the outside, but open the door and your transported into a high-class restaurant that also happens to show movies and host art exhibits. The menu changes frequently but is diverse and delicious no matter how hungry you are. You'd be just as well off ordering an entree as you would smaller plates and having a cocktail. One of the best hole in the wall joints in the city without question.

Amazing food and service. The atmosphere is wonderful even if you don t have a view of the movie playing. The sommelier gave great wine suggestions as well as the history behind wines. Highly recommend.

Very pretty place. Nice setting. An old cinema made subtracted. The price is good, and the food is delicious. Ideal to get together to brunch with friends!

Good food, good drinks, good ambiance. No wait with reservations.

I came to Foreign Cinema to celebrate an anniversary dinner on a weeknight. I had heard great things about their brunch and was anxious to try it for dinner. While they didn't have any movies playing while we were there, the ambiance was still great in the interior dining room. The restaurant was much bigger than I expected. We could see out onto the patio and it seemed quite nice as well. This place has a great selection of unique dishes as well as a wonderful wine dish. While our server wasn't particularly chatty or friendly, the service was quick and our water glasses never went empty. I ordered the chanterelle risotto cakes which were great for any mushroom lover. My boyfriend and I split a carafe of a white wine that we had never heard of but was recommended by our waiter. Overall, a lovely romantic evening and I would recommend coming back for dinner (or brunch!).

Busy place and each time going we make a booking

Outdoor seating a great bet when weather good.Food was very good and service was great too with a reasonably decent priced wine list with a variety of wines.Good setting at the time of visiting and interesting crowd at that time too .....

I made a reservation before going because it is a popular shop. It was very crowded, so it was nice to make a reservation. I think the outside table is great when the weather is nice. The food from the reasonable price list was delicious, the service was very good, and there was a lot of wine. It was very good when I visited the setting and customers.

Superb food, incredible ambiance, well worth the price tag

The service was outstanding and wine list very good. Food was nicely presented and we'll done. Gluten free options available. A bit noisy. Bart is small.

Was somewhat skeptical the restaurant was a bit of gimmick or marketing ploy, but was very pleasantly surprised to see how well the experience tied together. From the red carpet walk-in, to the indoor seating and the courtyard area with film playing...

In sum, the visual spectacle complemented the exotic flavours perfectly and together with the excellent service were the perfect trio to awaken some taste buds that hadn't be activated in the foodie scene for quite some time :D

The atmosphere is fantastic here and the food is great. They have a great wine and cocktail selection. Food ranges from small plates to full meals. The area in the shadow of the outdoor movie screen is heated and lit with light strings.

Amazing food and super friendly staff ~ I would highly recommend this place if you are in the city and are looking for a gastronomic experience!

Very delicious food. Menu changes everyday so always something new to try. Great wine selection (though pricier than you'll find elsewhere for same options). People were dressed anywhere from casual to formal and it all fit here.

We tried nearly all the appetizers and each person had a different favorite. We also dug into everyone else's entrees and I think we agreed the duck was the best :)

Really good menu (food and wine), top class waiting staff, great ambience, lots of seating. Pricey, but one of the best places to dine in the mission

Every dish we ordered was done perfectly! Great food!

A great place with original but delicious plates. A must to go either with friends or other. Good selection of wine as well (maybe pricy list).

The food was just ok, but the outdoor experience was pretty neat.

Hands down my favourite restaurant in SF. The food is amazing and the atmosphere is so relaxing. I definitely recommend paying a visit when you are in town!!

Everyone here was so super nice sweet plus Chef sent out food to us I felt so special

Enjoyed the place a lot. Great atmosphere and service. I have to say though my pork chop was rather dry...

Tough getting in here but totally worth it! Make sure you get a reservation that late enough to see the film projected. Try the oysters there delicious!!

If reservation is not possible, a drink at the bar is just at great. Amazing ambiance

Have had dinner here before and it was good but never try to have a cocktail at the bar. Some of the worst service I've ever had.

Restaurant with imported clams and fancy dishes. My bill for 2 came out to $220 but I was very hungry. Do not recommend if you're VERY hungry, unless you're rich.

Horrible service. They are not accommodating at all. We had booked a reservation for a special event and had an unexpected guest show up. The wait staff told us we would have to wait 2 hours to be seated. The table was in an area with ample space and we were very small people. We also suggested sharing a chair and they were completely inflexible.

On the pricier side, but our dishes were delicious. Kudos for the dessert. Waiting time rather long though.

One of our favorite restaurants in the city.
The food is always great (rotating menu using seasonal ingredients), they always have a great oyster selection, and lots of amazing cocktails/wines/beers to choose from.
The other great thing about this place is the ambiance: amazing interior & beautiful (covered) patio outside. (Honestly, no one ever pays attention to the movie playing, but it's cool that they project a movie on the wall on the outside patio.) Definitely check this place out if you haven't! (Oh, and they are great for brunches, too!)

Great service and a unique experience. Our team enjoyed a three course meal and everything was fabulous. The calamari appetizer was my favorite appetizer but the prosciutto soup was great as well. Had the pork chop entree and would come back just for it.

Without knowing about this place it's easy to walk by it thinking it's just a theater (which was definitely the vibe I got). When you journey down that long corridor however, it opens up into a beautiful restaurant that actually has an outdoor seating area!

I will say that this place is great for chatting at the table as you wait for your food as the open space and ambient noise just encourages chit chat. Speaking of which, be prepared to enjoy that nice ambient noise as they take their time preparing your meal so you'll have lots of time to chit chat!

The food we had was also phenomenal. We ordered a dozen oysters and the waiter let us order in multiples of 3 (since there were 3 of us) which allowed us to try all of the oysters offered except for 1 (the Miyagi). The oysters were delicious and very fresh (the Boathouse oysters were HUGE!).

As for the entrees I ordered the grilled flat iron steak which was 5 oz of pure tender meaty goodness. My partner also absolutely LOVED her order of five space duck breast as well as the dessert which was a sorbet.

They also have a cookbook on hand if you ever want to try and recreate the dishes they served which is great (guess I'll have some studying to do....)

Super loud, too much so to be romantic, and rotating menu means that they can't really specialize in their menu items. If you do go anyway, get the fried chicken.

Such a cool place. The outdoor area had high fidelity, the movie, playing. We ordered pork chops and scallops. The pork was unbelievable.

Not really sure where the 4.3 comes from. They try to be a super sophisticated place but prices too high compared to quality of food + it takes too long to get it served for what they charge. 25 pages of wine list for a selection of 10 Menus which doesn't make a lot of sense. Service ok. Atmosphere is good except the climate that was way too cool. Average experience overall.

Great private spaces for corporate events. Amazing food and fabulous service.

Charming, romantic ambience, can't beat the outdoor courtyard seating with dimmed lights and a classic film as a backdrop.

After over 20 years, this place is still excellent. I would even call it a classic!

Good food and nite dining. Average tab with drinks and dessert 100 bucks.

Nothing fancy, but good food from a family business with made to order dishes."

The service and atmosphere were excellent. The food and drink were really good too, but not outstanding.

Nice location for tasty Californian food. good place to catch up with friends. bring your hunger - portions are filling.

Good for outdoor dining, never all that wow'd the food.