The Christmas season is busy; there’s no denying it. The burnout that can come after Christmas can be even worse, but of course it’s nothing a night on the city can’t fix.
Our family loves San Francisco, and we take every chance we get to visit. Stopping in for dinner at the Bistro Boudin proved to be the perfect end to the perfect visit. The atmosphere was fun and lively with Santa greeting guests, Christmas music playing live on a baby grand, and bread riding a conveyer belt throughout the store, and the holiday decorations were adorable, with garlands running down all banisters and around the room. We noted that for a seafood place, it thankfully didn’t smell like fish inside, and I loved that Christmas was tastefully understated, because it promised that Bistro Boudin was still fantastic without the holidays. Our waitress had been with this location for many years and was very knowledgeable about the menu and very attentive to our needs. The staff was friendly with all the guests, and kindly accommodating to our special requests. They seemed to be well prepared for our visit and worked extremely well together. We were seated between the oyster bar and the bay, and had the pleasure of watching the sun set on Alcatraz through the window. The manager visited our table to proudly tell us that this was the first full-service restaurant for the Boudin Bakery, set in a refurbished wharf warehouse, which fit the restaurant perfectly. The transition to the evening was calm and pleasant, with candles and wine glasses.
We ordered an ostentatious amount of food, and everything was delicious. Our family favorites were the BBQ oysters, the spinach artichoke crab dip, and the cioppino. We ordered a lot more than that, but my mother had never tried oyster before and really enjoyed the BBQ sauce they were cooked in. The crab in the spinach artichoke dip made the appetizer unique, and my parents said that out of all the cioppino dishes they’d ever had (which was surprisingly a lot), the broth from Bistro Boudin was the best. Dessert was my favorite part; I ordered the beignets and they were so good, I wanted to eat them forever. They came with a surprise of vanilla gelato inside and were super refreshing after eating so much dinner.
This was an awesome restaurant, and perfect for our trip to San Francisco. My parents vowed to be back at the soonest opportunity, and both joked that every dish we ate was the answer to any relationship problems you could ever have. We didn’t need Christmas to feel cheerful at Bistro Boudin!
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