Chez Maman

Had croque monsieur. The ham was cheap deli ham (rounded edges and low flavor). Very low sauce and crispy bread. Not great!
Service was worse. Every item gets an up sell in a sly way. I understand the goal is to get you to buy more, but do it in a way that enduring and thoughtful. Not taking advantage of customers on every item.
Low hygiene practices. What I witnessed during my visit; server tasting ice cream and then putting the spoon in the same container as the scoop, milk for lattes is used over and over again to create bacteria, beer glasses were grabbed from the inside, food taken to go was pushed from the plate into the box with fingers.
Skip this place and go elsewhere. I can get better ham at Subway and a cleaner environment elsewhere. Health department needs to shut this place down!!!

Atmosphere ⁵⁄₅
Service ⁵⁄₅ — the guys had cute french accents :)
Food ⁵⁄₅
Space/​Cuteness of the restaurant ⁵⁄₅
Quite pleased my friend chose this place to meet up during my trip here.
Fun fact: I’ve never ate snail till this dinner. Popped my snail cherry!
The snails were surprisingly good. It had a lot of pesto. The texture though reminded me of an oyster. I… hate that texture usually, haha. But folks who don’t mind it, would love this app.
Porkchop and Brussels Sprouts — nom. I loved my entrée. It was amazing. Even the extra stuff they added was great. The seasoning and how it was cooked made this dish memorable. Although it’s pretty big. I only ate 75% then I was done. The Brussels Sprouts were really good. One of the best ones I’ve had.
Nutelle Crêpe and Bananas — I liked this version. The lightly breaded but heavy with the ingredients. I’m a fatty. It was fairly warm when we ate it. The bananas were fresh.
Ice cream… I think it’s called Champagne Apricot? Whatever it’s called — it was a great way to end our dinner. Strong flavor & soft to eat.

French style home cooking. Butter + cream; northern style French; in contrast to southern style French which uses olive oil vs. cream & butter.
Mussels; both provencal and meuniere with Frites. Delicious. Hand made double fried french fries. Crispy, not oily and they don’t get soggy 1 minute after they serve them. With French style aioli. Mussels plump from the sauce.
Red pepper soup with no cream. Layered flavors of fresh herb spices and essence of red pepper. Best soup in a long time. Highly recommend the soup du jour. Will never find this quality/​flavor at the higher volume restaurants where they dilute the soup base with cream for profit.
They recommended a Santa Barbara Pinot; bottle @50 $. Reasonable. Delicious. Very different from the Napa Valley Pinots. Wine list reasonable; most seem like very good selections. Owner on site. Everybody is honest; they take pride in their service and quality of their food. They don’t try to nickel and dime you. Highly recommended.
Best coffee I have had. Very deep flavor.
Lines start early!

Can I firstly just say how incredibly nice, cultured and hospitable the owner is? I met him when I was hiking up the hill trying to find their joint. He asked if I were looking for Chez Maman, in his beautiful French accent, and I replied I was. He walked with me to the quaint little place & proceeded to speak to me throughout my solo dinner.
He helped me with my order & forced my hand on dessert, which he made on the house. Not to mention spoke French & discussed French films with me. I love this man.
*Food Review* The burger and fries I had were incredibly well prepared, and absolutely scrumptious. I believe he suggested I put Brie cheese on my burger — which I more than willingly did — and to leave everything on it. Despite my loathing for mushrooms, I was absolutely satiated with my burger.
The dessert, albeit my very full belly, was mouthwatering. It was toast, swimming in syrup, topped with mint, berries, and what you know to be house-​made whipped cream.

I’ve been meaning to come here for quite sometime. You know you’re in for a treat when the people in the front of the restaurant are speaking French and pretty much all the staff is French as well. It gives it a real authentic feel.
Service was beyond fantastic, and they really tried their best to make it a WOW experience. The food? Amazing. French restaurants try to charge you an arm and a leg, but this place doesn’t. They actually are very fair with their prices and it’s surprising as the food quality is top notch.
This is easily one of the best restaurants in SF, and I’m ready to try their other location. Oh, and their onion soup? Perfection.

So we came across a casual bistro with a French theme and decided to duck in. Chez is a small establishment. Seats 26 total and that includes 8 outside. We were seated promptly and the waitress was quite nice. One item I could not get over though (and I’m getting ahead of myself) was our waitress NEVER came back ONE time to ask how everything was. If you wanted or needed something you had to ask. They did it with a smile, but what happened to customer service?
Needless to say, we ordered our food and it did take some time so if you are in a rush, do not come here, it takes some time to get your food. The salad with pears was really fresh and the pears really made the salad pop nicely with a very fresh taste. The French Fry’s served with their Aioli was to die for!!! Their fry’s are better than Mc’D’s! OMG, none of us could stop eating them! The bread they gave at the beginning of the meal was extremely tough and hard to eat especially with cold hard butter. Need to resolve that one as we started off bad, but it was an upswing after that.
We had the flat iron steak and it was cooked and seasoned brilliantly. The peppercorn sauce is served on the side, thank goodness as it was not very good and it would have ruined a very well cooked steak. We also dipped it into the Aioli, and wow! The taste buds were jumping!!! Very tasty!
We finished the meal with a desert. The Cinnamon Pain Perdu with Berry’s and Chocolate Gelato on the side was a great way to finish off the meal. The only thing we could not figure out is why is called Cinnamon? There was not even a hint of Cinnamon in the dish. However, the abundance of good berry’s and Chantilly made the Perdu a good desert. The chocolate gelato is more of a dark chocolate and not a milk chocolate, fyi.
Needless to say, if the service was better, I could categorically give five stars, however due to the server never coming back even one time to check on us, I have to give a four. I would normally knock it to a three, however, the food saved the day!

unpleasant experience.
I always liked this place until i went this place last week. I took my friend visiting SF to this place expecting an amazing food and service. We got seated with a reasonble wait (~20 minutes). then my friend ordered steak and I ordered chicken. His steak was totally overcooked, and my chicken was somewhat close to what I expected. I finished half of chicken and asked leftover to save to go. The waiter dropped the dish and wasted the entire leftover. He looked at me and said «It never happened to me before» then that was it. He did not even apologize or offer anyting to make up for. I did not feel that i was treated well in that place and food was not that great. disappointed.
— — —
Just adding an additional comment, the business owner have reached me after I wrote this review to find out details of the visit and he showed an effort to improve impression of this restaurant. I appreciate his message, I hope that my unpleasant visit would be one of rare experience that happens to other customers in the future.

Nom nom nom. Such a cute little place right down the road from us. It was super busy when we arrived for dinner but luckily we didn’t have to wait for a table as another couple were just leaving. The inside reminds me of a place in Europe. Small tables and really close seating. Make friends with your neighbor!
I started with a glass of wine and some baked Camembert. The French waiter approved. When it came out the cheese was so warm and tasty on the bread. It also came with a huge side salad a two fried balls. I didn’t realize what they were until I dug into it. Turns out to be a whole fried garlic. Two on my plate. The taste was overwhelmingly strong. I could do without it, maybe the French love it.
My main was suggested by the waiter since I was having trouble deciding. It was the porkchop with Brussel sprouts. Such a great recommendation. The mushroom sauce that came with it went perfect with the pork. Was quite a big serving as well. It was a tad pink inside but my bf said it was safe to eat. Very delicious and tender.
And lastly dessert was the crème brûlée. I should have gotten a sweet crêpe cause the crème brûlée was good but wasn’t anything fancy about it. Next time I’m going for the crêpe.

I’ve been on a bit of a lucky streak with dates who «get it» when it comes to food. What a refreshing change for once! I shared my passionate opinion on SF Asian food over a glass of wine and he shared his experience with French and Moroccan food. During the conversation (where he also poked fun at my pronunciation of «Michelin»), Chez Maman came up and since it’s a place I’ve had bookmarked for longer than I can remember, I jumped on the opportunity to try it out.
I love neighborhood restaurants like Chez Maman. We sat outside on a slightly tilted sidewalk. There were several times where clumsy me almost rolled out of the chair. I suppose that’s part of the charm of this place. He and the waiter chatted in French and in a few minutes, two dishes and another bottle of wine appeared in front of me. I focused my attention on the Flat Iron Steak, which was cooked perfectly. The only thing is, it didn’t seem that «French» to me. He worked on the Lamb & Veggie Brochettes, which he was clearly more fond of than I was. I was beyond full and couldn’t even finish the entrée yet the waiter talked him into getting crème brûlée for dessert. I was peer pressured into eating my half of it. The burnt sugar at the top had just the right amount of crisp.

Chez Maman was definitely a solid 4−½ stars — hip décor, welcoming waiters/​waitresses, and tasty food. It is located on the corner in a quiet neighborhood of Portrero Hill. They do not have much seating inside and do not take reservations, but still worth eating waiting to eat here. The food was on-​point!
We had the basic burger and porkchop with Brussel sprouts. The burger was cooked medium rare – just the perfect amount of juiciness. The order also came with fries or salad. We ordered the salad to balance off the heavy taste of the burger and was very happy with the choice. The salad was light and refreshing. The porkchop dish was even better! The sauce was amazing: bacon & apple cider mustard sauce. Who would have thought apple cider mustard sauce went really well with porkchop? The meat was very tender and chewy. To top it off, we shared a scoop of Salted-​caramel with almond gelato. It was not too sweet, and the almonds complemented the caramel well. I was not even hungry and I cleaned off all my plates. We will definitely come back.

Foods are good here.
I loved the escrgo and my mushroom fettucini.
The burger my husband ordered was a little too oily thou.
Overall I love their food. The only draw back is the seating there is a bit cramped. especially w 2 kids. and such a small restaurant, not many tables. Since it’s popular place, we always have to wait.

I «don’t like French food» but Chez Maman has been on my to-​eat list for a while. I had my eye on the Hayes Valley location but came here for lunch today with a colleague.
The line at Plow was ridic so we got a table for lunch here. Service was super kind and the French accents are a nice touch ;) We shared the Brie, salad and walnuts to start. We also both had the Niçoise salad (available with tuna or salmon). Salad was delicious but hard boiled eggs were overlooked. Complimentary bread and butter was a nice surprise.
Will be back to try other dishes. Someone next to us had a burger and it looked amazing!

This is an outstanding place. At the glory of Potrero Hill, comes a restaurant that is just wonderful for a meal. They have all sorts of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers and entrees, with strong influence from both France and the United States alike. Prices vary a bit, but are very reasonable, especially by San Francisco standards.
It was refreshing to go here. I had the basic burger, one of their popular dishes, but I added roquefort cheese and, so should you. My soda did come in a bottle, but that’s about my only complaint. The bread was refilled. In due time, my burger came. Such cheese enhanced the burger, all just heaven on a plate. The fries on the side had a great seasoning. I shall not hesistate to come back.
A meal at Chez Maman means not overthinking it.

A friend was heading up into the City from South Bay and was in the Potrero Hill area so we ended up here.
I read the reviews and decided on a burger — decked out with brie and avocado. I was going to go with an egg too, but the waiter suggested the two was enough. Burger was deliciously cooked, the brie and avocado were great additions, creamy and fatty!
The fries were okay, but the real star is the burger.
Service there is great and we sat outside with no real issues. Actually it was kind of warm outside with the heat lamps.
protip: no reservations, but you can get a table pretty easily if you get there early.

This place gets crowded for lunch! Luckily, M and I arrived shortly after they opened so getting a table wasn’t a problem.
I ordered the Merguez Panini since I loved it so much at their sister restaurant, Gamine. I thought it was good, but slightly different than the first time I had it. I don’t think I would order it again here because I remembered it differently than my first experience. It lacked the saltiness and richness that I loved so much. It was still good but different.
I was totally jealous of M’s veal dish. The creamy mushroom sauce was to die for. Maybe this was why my panini didn’t taste as yummy as I had hoped… I had entrée envy! Lol.
Next time I’ll try the burger that everyone raves about. Hopefully it won’t disappoint!
:update:
The burger is definitely the way to go! I ordered it with Brie and bacon but they forgot the bacon and I was too hungry to wait haha. It was still really tasty. The fries were perfect and they give you a generous portion.

One of my favorite restaurants in ALL of San Francisco. If you haven’t come here, you’re missing out. It’s telling if you have just as much fun waiting (you can enjoy a glass of somethin’ outside under the moonlight) as you do when you’re seated.
Best clams in SF. Right here. Their burger is also amazing while their fries are better than the McDonalds fries that you remember having as a 3 year old. Yea, they’re THAT good.

Awesome little find on Hayes! We were planning to go across the street to another establishment but this place just drew us in. Everything is European and quaint — even a French guy (owner maybe) to authenticate the experience!!!

I really liked this place, great food, but I am really upset because I just saw my statment and they charged me 4 dollars more than I authorized as tip. It isn’t much but I didn’t like the attitude.

interior is good, service is good, the dish took some time to get ready, food tastes good, I will be back.

Pros: There is a reason why this restaurant is 4.5 stars with over 1000 reviews. I often write reviews as a form of social service but this is one of the few places I got excited to write this review! Wow, where to begin… the french cuisine here is DELICIOUS! I got their mussels as an appetizer (their 3^rd option with the bacon) and it was heavenly… definitely savor the creamy sauce to dip your bread, your fries, your ANYTHING just to eat more of that sauce! The chez maman burgers are super delicious and flavorful with their crunchy ciabatta bread. The pork chops were excellent with their special sauce. The truffle mac and cheese… is probably an acquired taste as the truffle oil is strong with this one! The service is also excellent… almost surprised this isn’t recognized by michelin guide (and if it is… it is well deserved!). The waiter is really funny and he accidently gave me another beer and upon telling him I did not order another one, he replied «It’s nice to be nice» and gave it to me for free! That my friend, is excellent service!
Cons: The place is a bit on the smaller end so expect a wait during prime time. The waiter is good about asking if you want a drink while you wait haha.
Overall: Yes, I can’t wait to come back! The food, service, and atmosphere are excellent and highly recommended!

Came here for a Belize reunion dinner with two other friends. We got there super early (for dinner), so we sat at the counter and ordered some drinks. The place was pretty empty at the time (5:45pm on a Wednesday). I was afraid of the lines that everyone talks about. So if you can get their early, do it. Our third party finally arrived, so we were seated immediately. Super friendly staff and I love the accent!
We ordered the Bake Camembert with roasted garlic, that was delish and creamy, but don’t wait too long to eat it — the cheese gets cold fast! We were too busy catching up with each other’s lives.
I ordered the Savoyarde — fingerling potatoes, prosciutto, raclette cheese & cornichons. It was good, but I guess my taste buds wanted more flavor? Not sure what it was. A little too much potatoes for me, but it was cooked perfectly. I couldn’t really taste the prosciutto, I wish there was a little more meat.
My friend ordered the veggie crêpe and I don’t see him finishing it. Although I don’t know if he liked it or not, or was he just full.
Other friend was the one who recommended this place and had a veggie burger. I don’t think it was on the menu, but the server was very accommodating with her.
Hindsight, I should’ve ordered a burger. Everyone posted that! But I wanted to be adventurous and try something else and i loooooooove prosciutto!
I would come back and try other items on the menu.
(by the time we were done, 7:30pm, there were a lot of people waiting outside!)

such a neighborhood gem!
its THE place to go for a no foofoo pretentious french food
love love the escargot with butter and the moules frites
whenever i miss french food, we just have to come here and we feel at home again

The husband and I went here on Saturday for brunch at around 11:30 am. We waited for less than 2 minutes for a table. We got a savory crêpe (the mushroom one), a dessert crêpe (the suzette: sugar and orange butter) and a oeufs cocottes (or poached egg with cream). The savory crêpe was very rich, and even though I ordered it for myself I had to give most of it to my husband who was only too happy to finish it. The poached egg was very good but the clear winner was the dessert crêpe. They set the crêpe on fire with alcohol before you consume it.
Unlike most SF brunch places that serve pretentious small-​sized portions of food, you will actually have a full stomach after your brunch here.

Great little place! My husband was craving a big, juicy burger, and after a little searching we decided that Chez Maman was the spot to tackle this craving. It was their delicious-​sounding list of appetizers that made the decision a cinch, in addition to, of course, the burgers!
We were so excited to get our mouths around this menu that we didn’t mind waiting close to an hour for a table on a Saturday night. Luckily the neighborhood is great for a stroll (what a view of the city from the corner!), and has a cute little bookstore across the street that we killed some time in. We could have been seated at the bar sooner, but with more than 2 people bars are hard to talk at (we were three), so we opted to wait for a table. The staff were super nice, and brought us the drink menu while we chilled outside. I got a decaf coffee, which came with steamed cream on the side — a nice touch! Most places will just give you cold cream.
Anyway, onto the food. I loved that the menus were also the placemats. As usual, we ordered an absurd amount. But I’m glad we did; it was delicious. Here’s what I sampled:
APPETIZERS:
0) COMPLIMENTARY BREAD: Nothing super special, but they were VERY generous with it. Good bread, good butter. A perfect addition to the rest of our dishes.
1) ESCARGOT: This was actually my first time trying escargot, and they were great! I especially loved the sauce, and may or may not have sipped the remaining sauce from some/​all of the empty shells… And dipped bread in it… ;-)
2) BEEF TARTAR: I love beef tartar, and this was super yummy. Probably the app I ate the most of. I loved the quail egg on top, and the proportion of bread to tartar served was perfect. Usually I’m not a fan of capers, because I find that they make dishes overly salty, but there was just the right amount of capers in this dish (and probably not a ton of other salt), and I actually thought they were perfect. I think this was the first time I’ve truly appreciated capers, rather than (at best) tolerating them, or (at worst) actively picking them out. Major points for that!
3) BAKED CAMEMBERT WITH ROASTED GARLIC: I’m a sucker for roasted garlic, so as soon as I saw those two words I knew I was going to order this dish. It was pretty good, but I think the other two apps we got were actually better. I probably would have enjoyed this dish more if our garlic had been prepared a little better: the top was burnt, which made it hard to get the garlic out. But I just made a mess (totally disassembled the garlic head by hand) to get out the garlic, which was very yummy once extracted.
MAIN DISHES:
1) BASIC BURGER: We came here specifically for burgers, so obviously I got a burger. They have a great selection of toppings to choose from, which all sounded great (I wanted to get them all, but was worried that if I did I wouldn’t be able to fit the darn thing in my mouth!). I ended up topping my burger with brie and bacon, in addition to the lettuce, tomato, caramelized onions, and garlic aioli that it comes with. I also added a scoop of mac and cheese (see below), hehe. Anyway, this was a seriously delicious burger! I loved that it came on a ciabatta roll, which was very yummy in addition to being weighty enough to stand up to my long and juicy list of toppings. I got a side of fries (which came with more aioli for dipping) — these were good (I loved that they were peppered!), but I didn’t end up eating most of them because I was getting pretty full by then, and wanted to save at least a little room for dessert. I only have one slightly negative note about the burger: the other two in my party both got fried eggs on their burgers, and both the eggs were overcooked (yolk not fully runny). I suspect the eggs were perfectly cooked when they came off the fryer, but then when they put them on the hot burgers they overcooked. Oh well. Burgers were all still delicious! Definitely hit the spot and then some.
2) TRUFFLE OIL MAC AND CHEESE: We got an order of this to share for the table, because one never says no to truffle mac and cheese. It was great. Perfect crunch on top, just the right amount of truffle, didn’t get weird and grainy/​greasy when it cooled down like mac and cheese often does. As mentioned earlier, I added some to my burger, which I highly recommend! Soooo yummy. Mixed great with the brie.
DESSERT:
1) BANANA AND NUTELLA CREPE: Perfection. Exactly what a banana and Nutella crêpe should be.
2) GELATO: They have a great selection of flavors on a big chalkboard above the kitchen — keep an eye out for those, because they’re not listed on the menu! I got a scoop of the espresso flavor, which was wonderful (and was laced with some sort of delicious fudge/​coffee ribbon), and I also tried some of my husband’s Meyer lemon — also very good, lots of zest. These were served in these cute little metal goblet things, which I loved.
Overall, a delicious meal. I left stuffed to my eyeballs and quite happy. Will definitely be back

We were trying to find a good restaurant in the area as I had a day with my kids and we tripped on this restaurant. So glad we did. It’s hard to imagine better service and better French food for a very fair price. The view out the window towards the city is beautiful, but the food and the service are unusually good. Two of my kids had never had escargot before and we’re delighted with the beautiful presentation and the amazing sauce. A true success.
I only wish I lived closer to this restaurant because I see myself coming back again and again. I had the Croque Monsieur and it was absolutely delightful. My daughter had the mussels and fries with which were very unique and savory. It’s so nice to have a beautiful surprise like this when trying to find a restaurant to try in an area you’re not familiar with. Hats off to the great staff and chefs in this very extraordinary restaurant.
Five star for sure!

Great Service! I really enjoyed my time here, and I look forward to coming back the next time I make it to San Francisco. It is an intimate, but lively atmosphere. The Arugula Salad was Amazing~! I want another right now :) Gluten Free Crepes made with Buckwheat.

I’m so going back. My girlfriend had the mussels and I had the burger and it was amazing. The french fries are like crack.
Funny little French men running the place that really know how to make a really great burger. Cocktails and dessert are we amazing as well.

Admittedly, Chez Maman was second-​choice option for me on the day I came here. But I was definitely NOT about that 2 hour line at Plow two blocks down. Literally walked in as soon as we stopped by. Besides, Chez Maman had also been bookmarked for a while… so I feel ZERO guilt about my spur-​of-​the-​moment decisionmaking.
In any case, if one is to come to a French eatery, then one must not make a head scratching decision. Basically, that ruled out the entire menu for me except for the crepes (because after all, why the hell would I eat a burger when CREPES are on the table???). Was suggested to try the Complète crêpe… yep, that was a win.
Chez Maman isn’t the biggest place. In fact, I would be pretty surprised if you could fit more than 20 people in here. However, the small size of the restaurant does add to the vibe of the place as it makes it feel more like a true French restaurant. I get the sense that if this wasn’t such a popular Unilocal destination, it would just feel like one of those places in the neighborhood for the locals to frequent.
Definitely enjoyed my experience here, would come again!

My boyfriend came here Sunday around noon time & didn’t have to wait. We were seated immediately. The waitress was very kind, and customer service was great.
I ordered the eggs florentine– OMG so yummy. And a mocha to drink!
I enjoyed my meal very much, even the side salad that came with my eggs florentine was delicious.
The vibe of the little restaurant was nice, lots of people eating with their loved ones.
I would definitely come back again!

Came here with a friend for dinner around 5:30 and we were able to be seated right away. We were at a table outside, which was okay because it looked a bit crowded inside. Overall a really nice ambiance and authentic French dining experience.
As for the food, everything was amazing! We got an order of the escargots to start, which were really flavorful, and the sauce was a perfect pairing for the bread they give you. Highly recommend ordering, especially if you’ve never tried them because these were some of the best escargot I’ve had. For my entrée, I ordered the Poulette Moules, which were just as tasty. The sauce was robust and buttery, and the shallots and bacon were a great touch. I also got a side of the fries which tasted really good when dipped in the broth.
Overall, it was an amazing dining experience, with friendly staff, and you really can’t beat the price. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a great French restaurant in Hayes!

Chez Maman is a solid restaurant about a ten-​minute walk from work.
—- ENTREES —-
Frisée Salad: 4 stars
This is a giant, filling, and delicious salad with poached egg and lardons in a red wine vinaigrette.
Chicken Burger: 3 stars
Chicken Crêpe: 3.5 stars
Pork Chop with Brussel Sprouts: 3.5 stars
Not the best, but pretty good
Really want to come back for dinner sometime to try their tantalizing dessert menu: Chestnut cream Chantilly crêpe, Cinnamon Pain Perdu…

C’est la vie… Oui… Monsier!
I seem to be trending French cuisine in the past weeks… recently in Boston, prior to that from Los Angeles… and now in my hometown, San Francisco!
Chez Maman is truly a neighborhood gem where locals meets their neighbors, the City folks and then some (tourists). Brought my coworkers here because truly, this is one of my favorite French «goto» place to dine in the City! Really dig their local vibe, love the hip ambiance. Love their cute outdoor dining with heaters to boot, and I especially enjoy dining in at their counter, where I get to see tons of action. Definitely a great conversational piece with lots of interaction with the staff, and best of all; their food here has got to be, one of the best of the best! Simple French cooking with a little love from «Maman!»
PS — their «Crème brûlée» is simply magnifique!
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

I came here twice, once for dinner on a Friday night and once for brunch on Sunday morning. The service here was great both times! There was a wait on Friday night but I had a free glass of wine while I waited.
Every dish that I’ve tried here has been great! For dinner we had a burger and the mussels, and for brunch the eggs florentine. The portions are pretty big and I’d recommend coming here anytime! I will definitely be back to try other goodies on the menu :)

Great food, good service. Chez maman is now a few doors down in the old chez papa location. Thought this larger location would cut down wait times (no reservations taken) but for a table for 4 on a tues night around 7:30 pm, we still waited about an hour (for 1^st available, it was a table outside but heat lamps were on).
The french onion soup is the BEST!
We also tried the escargot, salmon burger, moules mariniere, rack of lambs and pasta carbonera.
The salmon burger and pasta were average. Escargot was above average. Lamb and mussels were on point!
Crème brûlée was good — top could’ve been a bit more caramelized.

Came here on a Saturday after 12pm — no wait!
I got the basic burger and added brie. It was good! Tender, juicy, and cooked medium rare just as I requested. The basic burger is your typical American burger with a French twist. I wanted to add avocado and an egg but didn’t want to pay for a $ 20 burger haha. The real winner of Chez Maman is their aioli. THEY HAVE THE BEST AILOI EVER. It was creamy, light, and had a hint of garlic. It tasted perfect with their fresh french fries.
Chez Maman is pretty small, so I don’t recommend coming here with large groups. However, it is the perfect place for a date with a significant other or a catch-​up brunch date with a couple of friends!
Decent prices, yummy food, good service. I can’t wait to come here back here for dinner… and that aioli!

This place is my new FAAAAAAAAAAAAAVORITE date spot! I came here on a Saturday for brunch but I have yet to come here for dinner! My boyfriend and I arrived at 11am and we waited for about 15 minutes until we got seated at the bar. The hostess asked if we wanted the counter or a table, and we chose the counter so we didn’t have to wait any longer since we were super hungry!
It is a small joint located at a corner of Potrero neighborhood. Heading from the Peninsula and going towards downtown, this place is very convenient since it is on the way. A plus is that this popular joint has lots of street parking!
The lady working at the bar was super attentive. As we got seated, she handed us the menu and gave us their complimentary bread.
I ordered the smoked salmon crêpe! It was super delicious. The crêpe wrap had a chocolate taste to it and it worked! Although the portions are not too huge since I could finish the dish for myself, the prices are pretty cheap!
I enjoyed the ambiance this restaurant brings. It is a small joint located at a corner, and it is perfect to bring a date! It is very cozy and intimate. I cannot wait to come back for dinner.

Maybe a perfect French bistro?
You can smell CM from about a block away.
Once you’re across the street, forget about it.
It smells amazing.
I mean, REALLY amazing.
It’s small.
There’s only 7 tables inside. One large booth for 6, the rest are 2 tops.
Counter seating for 10 I think.
2 small tables outside.
That’s all folks.
Between the amazing aromas & the small size, naturally it’s always packed. We went by randomly & I couldn’t believe it would only be a 5 minute wait. We totally lucked out.
Our waiter was a prince. It was packed, but he was thoroughly unruffled. Funny & nice, a real pro.
The Malbec for him, the French Pinot Noir for me. Both were great accompaniments to our French bistro dinner.
The Camembert. Divine. Melted, gooey, piping hot cheese, roasted garlic, spread on toast? Honestly, your worries dissipate w every bite.
The basic burger. Let me tell you, this «basic» burger can give a lot of other «un-​basic» burgers a piece of advice. The meat was cooked per my request, medium well, & was still moist & juicy. I asked our waiter what cheese he would recommend. Brie was his immediate answer. Then came the gentle suggestion of mushrooms. Yes, yes, yes. Pourquoi pas?! A divine combination, & the burger was not at all soggy. Major props.
My man. Sigh. He didn’t feel like a heavy dish, so he went w the chicken panini. It’s a cold sandwich, & is more like a picnic meal as opposed to a dinner option. It was tasty, but then I love pesto…
The burger just blew the panini out of the water.
The burger also outshone the French fries. They were okay, but not exceptional. Great for dipping in your mussels & frites, but unremarkable.
The table next to ours ordered the lamb sausage plate. I ate it w my eyes. All of it.
There’s no disputing CM is a bonafide gem. Cozy, relaxed, & romantic. Service & food were above par, despite being constantly packed. Props.
4 & ½ stars.