Left at Albuquerque?

A restaurant with a fun atmosphere, but poor-quality / quantity food is Left at Albuquerque on Union Street's Pacific Heights. We'd suggest making a right turn instead, to just about any other Mexican Restaurant in the City because their miniscule portions of poorly prepared food is not your best choice...

Are you a 22 - 30 year old professional living in San Francisco or Silicon Valley? Left at Albuquerque is a restaurant for those wild nights on Union Street partying with friends. But the food... not too good. Here's some of our experiences in October 2000:

• Do you like chips with Cayenne pepper so spicy, they burn your tongue? Not tasty, but they sure do sell drinks... Our waitress even admitted that was the purpose of the overly spicy chips. These were almost inedible to everyone at the table. Hello, Left at Albuquerque owners -- these chips suck!
• Our enchiladas' came with shredded, but uncooked cheese. We've found that at most restaurants, enchiladas are normally served hot, with melted cheese.
• The meat served with entree's was almost impossible to find, it was so small.
• The fajitas... well, let's just say Chevy's fajitas are much better. In fact, these were about the most mediocre fajitas I've had at any restaurant, chain or otherwise, in a long, long time.
• Shrimp tacos -- similar to the fajitas, boost profits by including almost no shrimp -- but a lot of lettuce!
• My favorite idea, is a per-person charge for guacamole (are profits down that much???) Yes, if you get guacamole, the price is based on the number of people in your party.

To sum up, this place was actually ok, when it first opened, but it has fallen to a horrible level of food quality. I would recommend any Chevy's, including even in Sacramento rather than this pathetic excuse for a "hot-spot".

A fun place to meet friends but expect long waits. The bar is a lot more fun than the restaurant, although the service was good. Andy's rating is "C- / D" for a fun atmosphere with less than special food. NOT RECOMMENDED, except for drinks at the bar.

2140 Union Street
415-749-6700

Return to Food Index

Return to Casual Restaurant Opinions