Trader Vic’s

This location was so disappointing, and I’ve been to this location twice! (And only this one, mind you…)
So glad it closed!

This place freakin RULES. I live in LA, my man lives in San Fran, and I saw this place on THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR and made reservations to eat at the San Fran store… I went in thinking it was gonna be one of those over-​priced theme places that doesn’t live up to the hype… but I am an LA scenester so I was all about it :)
And then we actually had the best meal/​experience here. First of all, here this loudly: THERE IS A FIXED PRICE MENU THAT RULES!
You each get your own appetizer, entrée, and dessert for 25 bucks. There are lots of things to choose from. That’s freakin amazing here or anywhere. And there are drink specials that go along with it (3 dollar wine or Mai Tais if I remember correctly…)
Our server was amazing… she knew about everything through and through and found the perfect drinks for us. We were on a date but there was a big table near us and they were also having a blast. This place is good for both big parties or just a fun date. And it isn’t as expensive as you think… that fixed price menu saved me from being «that girl» that makes reservations and forgets to tell my boyfriend that it had four dollar signs on Unilocal… oops!
I really reccommend checking this place out. Oh, and they dont scrimp on the booze in the drinks so pace yourself!

UPDATE 1÷1÷07:
I’m sad we’re closed, but not as sad as I was when the original SF location shut its doors…
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These guys certainly put out for us when we did the SF Tiki Crawl over the weekend. We got lovely little gift packs consisting of a menehune swizzle, chopsticks, and the Date Rape er… I mean, the Honi Honi mug.
They also dragged out the MAI TAI BOAT., which is a beautifully carved wooden trough that they kept dumping bottle after bottle of rum and MaiTai mix into. Extavagant, to say the least.
Service has been stellar every visit. Seriously «Mai Tai»! Mahalo.

Great idea in theory, but not so great in actuality.
Polynesian restaurant chain with pupu platters with crab rangoon won tons, fried shrimp, ribs and pork. But it was super small for $ 18. My dinner plate at home is bigger.
Drinks come in huge bowls almost that you need a straw for and are strong and sweet. But also expensive.
For lunch we had the mac and cheese which was okay, but the chicken was dry on it, and the dish it self was not presented at all. Just throw the mac and cheese on a plate and then throw Chicken on it will you?
Flank steak sandwich came on foccacia bread, mayo, mustard, onions and tons of other things. Was okay, but the sandwich was so huge it’s kinda hard to bit into.
I know, not only do I want my food to be good but I want it to be edible too, or at least fit into my mouth. Who wants to spend 20 minutes wrapping a sandwich up, or trying to cut it up to fit in your mouth, or trying to chew through rough steak that doesn’t tear well with your teeth bites?
I had the salmon BLT. Good idea, but the salmon was super salty. I feel like someone must have poured salt all over that fish. Lucky for me I don’t have blood pressure issues.
Dessert was a chocolate mouse thing which was good but didn’t’ stand out in memory from any other mousse I’ve had.
Waiter was nice, my dad liked his deep voice and felt like he should be singing somewhere. Slow with service which is odd, since there are 125 seats in the place approximately (I tried counting), and there were only 19 eating. (Again me, and the counting)
Maybe corporate needs to send some memos down here about how to pack the place in! With a few fine tuning touch ups, and slightly better service, and some food changes, I could see myself liking this place alot.
But for now, the concept just didn’t translate well for me, at least not for the prices of the food. (some entrees cost $ 32!- which for that price, I expect fine dining!)

Not for me.
Too much coin to drop to feel like you are no longer in San Francisco, while watching middle-​aged businessmen try to coerce their drunk colleagues into a tryst. Forgetting that they both have their name tags on, of course.
The Mai Tai is a deliciously dangerous cocktail. If you order it «old-​fashioned» you will be properly knocked on your ass for the rest of the evening.

We’ve been going here for $ 1 Oyster Tuesdays, which are great — they serve sweet Kumamoto oysters, all you can eat, $ 1 each. I wasn’t in the mood for a tiki drink, so I ordered a Chopin vodka martini, and the bartender was really nice about honoring my request for extra olives & cocktail onions — I gave him a huge tip.
This place is relatively new and very nice inside, and I noticed a few new food items on the menu that are different from what’s on the menu at the Emeryville location. Great service!

Delightful menu. The food is always fresh and enticing. The cocktails are flowing and their selection is plentiful.
The atmosphere is intriguing, I feel like I am in the game jumanji.
After dinner, I can spend hours just mingling in the bar area. But unfortunately the crowd dies very early. Once dinner is over so is everyone. Last time I was there on a Saturday night my group of 12 where the last one standing at 9:45pm. Tables of older people scattered the dinning room, but it felt like it was time for us youngins to move out.
Overall, this is a great place for all ages, especially my gramps and grams. They’ve been around for awhile and know high quality.

What was I thinking? Maybe I was just looking for an escape to a place that reminds me of the good old time in Hawaii…
I ended up here for a prix-​fix meal before a show. $ 25 for a three-​course meal. Not bad at all, although $ 25 is a lot to pay for to stuff myself with mediocre food. Drinks were great. Somehow the allure of an Hawaiian-​theme restaurant in middle of the Tenderloin just seemed… out of place.

We came here for my friend’s 22^nd birthday. I liked the décor of the place. Loved the glass fishing floats. Those things are so pretty to me.
It was really great of them to accommodate all 16 of us. Although the place was pretty dead.
We all rushed to order because the kitchen was about to close. It took me forever to pick something because a lot of different dishes sounded amazing to me. I thought about ordering the Crispy Duck because it was weird for me to see it on the menu. That’s something you see in a Chinese restaurant. I ended up picking the one that peaked my interest first: Wood Fired Oven Chilean Sea Bass — Sauted spinach with hearts of palm and orange ginger sauce.
Our orders didn’t take long to arrive. A couple of my friends did end up ordering the Crispy Duck. The way the duck was prepared didn’t look like the way Chinese restaurants prepare it. The «moo shu» pancakes looked like tortillas. Everyone kind of joked about what they got. They seemed pretty satisfied with it, although, they did mention that the duck by itself was nothing special at all.
Anywho, on with my dish. I felt like I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. The way the dish is described on the menu is so… tantalizing. It seemed vibrant, and that was what I was expecting. The fish was cooked nicely, I did enjoy it. I did feel like it needed an acid, which I thought would be provided by the sauce, but was sad to find that it was not so. There was no orange flavor nor ANY hint of ginger. Or at least in the hearts of palm, which had a strange buttery, but not the good kind of buttery, taste. The spinach was okay at first, not having giving your teeth that gritty feeling, which is a sign that it was prepared properly. But by the end of the dish, my teeth were feeling rather rough and I was unhappy. It was presented nicely though. Out of all the dishes, it was the most aesthetically pleasing.
I think I would only come here for the drinks. They are quite delicious. Everyone seemed to enjoy them. I really wish that I could remember all their names, but they were colorful and some come with little things you can take home with you. I had a taste of my friend’s who ordered the one with the parrot in, which was delicious. The one I ordered was REALLY strong, which made me kind of sad. It was passion fruit and gin or something like that. But after I finished it, I was definitely feeling it. Then again, I am sort of a lightweight. Their mojitos were the best that I’ve tasted so far.
All in all, I think the birthday boy had fun, which was the whole point. But I seriously think we could have gone some place cheaper with better food and decent drinks. For 16 people, the bill came out to $ 570.

Perhaps the lunar moon had an effect on our dining experience or maybe it was because we had dinner on a Monday? But really I think the experience was what I should have expected regardless the night of the week we chose to have dinner at TV’s.
This kitschy tiki restaurant and bar was chosen for a birthday celebration to the delight of the birthday boy. Our guest of honor loves everything vintage tiki and is recreating this era in his home by converting a guest room into a scene from the episode of the Brady Bunch Hawaiian vacation.
The restaurant didn’t skimp on any of the décor. The moment you get to the front door you are greeted with big tiki statues, door handles formed into minature tiki Gods and walls and ceilings covered in memorabilia. It really helps to set the atmosphere.
The staff was fantastic. Our waiter could have been an extra from the Don Ho show and really knew his role. He was very attentive and wanted us to have a great experience. Unfortunately he had no control over the kitchen. Sure everything came out in a timely manner, presentation looked perfect for our setting, but someone in that kitchen hasn’t developed the taste bud that detects too much sodium. On top of being salt ridden, the food was not all that warm. There were other issues with the meal but why go into it.
Just know this: It’s a chain place. It has been around for years. You go there for the kitsch and not the food. Appetizers and drinks were ok. Beyond that the meal was memorable for the salt content.
I see this place being located in a strip mall outside of the city or down on Fisherman’s Wharf. The only reason I can think they would have located themselves in the old Stars location is to cater to the Opera and Symphony Crowd.
Sorry Trader Vic you failed to impress me with the food, but you did help to put a smile on one birthday boy with all of your tacky tiki kitsch.

Had dinner here last night and what can I say but that it was ok. The short ribs and the pork ribs are the stars here. They bake them in the huge wood burning clay oven and they come out sweet and very tender.
The hokey Polynesian theme is kinda cool as were the drinks. Its fine for appetizers and drinks but pass on the dinner.

Wandered in here a few months ago for a drink pre-​performance and vowed to come back to soak up the atmosphere. Went back tonight pre-​Pink Martini at Davies (can I Unilocal a 5 star review for their performance?). Someone else here said it — if you think you’re too cool for the place because you have to be at the latest «it» spot, then you just don’t get it.
There’s an immediate old-​style comfort when you walk in the door. Yes, you can become disoriented for a moment remembering what it looked like when it was Stars, but it’s a fleeting moment and then you move on to the warmth. The server was excellent. She handled my lame-​o request for a coconut drink with no pineapple like a pro… steering me towards a concoction that was definitely drinkable, if not particularly memorable for the future. Oysters for the appetizer… no shells as someone previously wrote, and a nice selection of vinigrette, horseradish and cocktail sauce (usually it’s one or the other).
I ordered my entrée of peppercorn & something crusted Ahi medium rare, and it came EXACTLY as I wished. It was very flavorful, and came with a noodle dish which complemented it well. Pretty straightforward preparation… but executed nicely. Hubby had some kind of crispy duck mu shu. They separated the duck meat from the bone at the table, then he made his own little duck-​filled pancakes with hoisin and fixins’. It was an extremely simple dish, and worked beautifully. I thought he was going to lick the plate clean.
For dessert we shared a Tahitian snowball… basically a scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and browned coconut. Nothing special, but I was hankerin’ for some coconut (even after my drink!) so got what I was after.
This place will not wow you. It will simply be comfortable and homey (even with all the polynesian apparatus) and deliver food exactly the way the menu reads. I would definitely go back, and this time I would take the kids.

Fun, kitschy, 1950s version of chinese/​polynesian food. The napkin lists the many other places the restaurant has landed, including 2 in Dubai. Somehow, it may fit in better there than SF — but in case you ever want a time warp experience, come here.

There seem to be many different opinions about this place so I’ll just add my two cents. Slight mood bias because I was having a family dinner and went to Espetus with all kinds of anticipation only to see a sign at the door that said closed due to power outage.
So I learn that this place is a chain. Not a big fan of cookie cutters but I’m open minded. The croud is older and more upscale for sure. The setting is full of props attempting to get that polynesian feel. I hear Vic invented the Mai Tai. I guess the drink has evolved very well outside of Trader Vics. For $ 9 they mix a bunch of trader vic branded alcohols and mixers and combine with ice a little less fine than shaved ice. Sip, eh. Sip, what is this drink. Sip, dang my drink is done and disappointment sets it. This mai tai was not tasty, not strong, and not large.
I’ll continue with my beverage review since my cousins and I came to get our drink on. The mai tai was a bust for most of us but we had to give them another chance.
–Scorpian bowl was a big blend and ok drink but too tart.
–Rum barrel was a favorite at our table. Mostly pineapple juice so I felt it was missing some other needed tropical elements. We ordered a second.
So after a couple happy hour bars, mai tai, and 3 $ 20 bowl drinks one would assume a pleasant buzz would be at hand. Nope drinks just not stiff and too much ice.
Onto the food. I’ll give this portion 3 stars. Seafood and steaks are good, nothing special. Oysters had shell fragments in it and I never expect that from any professional shucker. I’ll let it slide since we ordered Kimemotos and they are so small, but a few were way too small and should not have been harvested so soon. Notables are the wild mushroom fried rice and wasabi mashed potatoes which were original and delicious.
In conclusion this place is ok at best and I won’t be going back. I don’t want to forget to mention that our server was excellent.

Although this place is on the pricey side, it’s worth it if you are looking for an amazing meal together with a great bar. My boyfriend and I tend to always go here for any sort of special occasion. First of all, the drinks are amazing and the cocktail list, endless. I suggest the Mai Tai. But the greatest thing about this place is the food. Make sure you order something that was in the Ming-​Dynasty oven. If you are a vegetarian you might be out of luck in this department but if you eat fish, there is usually that. But i suggest the beef. I melts in your mouth with the greatest smoky taste that isn’t too overwhelming.
The service has always been fantastic and the staff is incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and friendly.
Be sure to take a look at the décor. I’m always finding something new. At first, it can look to be a bit weird (although cute) with it’s tiki torches and canoes. But what is more interesting are the little pieces that are all over the walls.

I heart the Trader Vic’s bar. They make the best tropical, fruity drinks in San Francisco. If you don’t want fruity they also have a huge selection of premium liquor to quench your thirst.
One of favorite my bartenders, Melissa, works there and she make drinks that are the embodiment of a perfect woman. Delicately sweet but strong enough to keep your interest so you don’t start thinking about the next one once you had your first sip.

I sat down at the bar, looked over and there was Willie Brown.
loved the waitress
loved the baskets hanging from the ceilings
loved the classic menu artwork (and the Tahitian boobies for the matter)
loved, love, LOVED the variety of tropical drinks.
It was very tempting to stay here for a liquid dinner (VERY tempting).

We used to call it Stars, in the day even the two Harries — Denton and Africa — couldn’t get in the door and they made Herb Caen wait in line.
Now, though pushing middle age I am the youngest in the room. Old couples come to recreate their first date in Hawaii, holding hands like a Geritol commercial.
Younger people, Japanese tourists and such, come by mistake as if due to a typo in a tour guide printed in 1932.
Bartenders are hunky and have European accents. It’s way too dark to read the drink menu, which after you get past the island girl boobies is a four page laminated death march for those of failing eyesight or attention span.
They’ve invented new tropical sounding names for every combination of pineapples, rum, and coconuts, as if adding one new ingredient or serving it in a different container turns it into something different.
«I’ll have the South China Seaman, but a float of Meyers instead of 151.»
«Oh,» says Hans in his Dutch accent. «You want a Singapore Beach Surprise.» But that comes with two straws and one umbrella in a plastic pineapple. If you want two umbrellas that’s a Bangcock Blok.
«Hold the coconut, I want a pineapple mug.»
«That would be a Hey Sailor.»
«Okay, I give up.» I say. «Just make it strong and fruity.»
No problem sweetie.
So this is my suggestion. Go with a group, happy hour is best, expect major campy cheese action, and ask for something that makes a hot girl even hotter on a dark cold night.

OK, OK – I’ll get this out of the way …
«The Mai-​Tais are great, you hear me? Have one and enjoy it.»
Now for the bad news. I’d be hard-​pressed to find a worse place to enjoy a cocktail. The service is pretty bad, the faux-​Polynesian décor is tired and painful on the eyes, The bartenders look ridiculous in those Hawaiian shirts, the food is WAY too expensive (then again, so are the drinks, but come on, man! MAI-​TAIS! Sheesh!), and frankly, it’s boring (no music, either) and the clientele tend to be so geriatric and snooty I wouldn’t be surprised if part of the training for new waiters is a section entitled, «How best to avoid tripping over those damn oxygen tanks.»
I will not return to this place, unless it is on a bet. But yeah, I have to admit I liked that mai-​tai.

I loveD the SF Trader Vics! It Ws ZAZZ!
I had been going to the Emeryville location for years and then this location opened up a few blocks from my work! I now go about once a week, usually meeting friends for drinks. I often get the best bargain on the menu – their HAMBURGER!!! It is a really darned good burger and it helps offset their strong drinks – don’t drink here on an empty stomach! Lars is a great bartender. I also recommend almost any dish off their «Chinese Wood Oven» section of the menu. My friend also loves their Salmon Lomi Lomi.
But, try to hang out at the bar and watch the drink «scientists» at work carefully measuring the magic potions they serve! Monday-​Friday happy hour from 4pm (?) to 6pm with discounted food and drink specials. This location closed in DECEMBER 2007, but the Emeryville (Oakland/​Berkely 510 area code) is still going strong for a vintage ‘Vics feel or go the ethe Palo Alto (650) location if you are in the Peninsula/​Silicone Valley area.