Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins

I’m rating this based only on after hour drinks before the live music starts.
Went here for drinks after work with a group around 6pm. No live music at the time and the place was pretty dead. The wine selection is very limited and the place is a bit run down.
We left around 730 and the place was starting to get lively with the band setting up and rehearsing.
Would prob not return when there’s no live music.

Had the white beans and seafood plate and the salmon appetizer. Everything was delicious. Service is slow because of the live music, but I really enjoyed this place. They serve strong drinks and good music. What’s not to like?

Came here mainly for the music along with some desserts and wine. The desserts were mediocre and the wine list wasn’t very impressive. Honestly, I didn’t expect great food given the mediocre reviews. That being said, the music was unbelievable. We went on a Wednesday night, which is when the Charles Unger Experience was playing. They were entertaining, skillful, and interactive. Despite the small crowd, they were passionate and gave a fantastic show which I thoroughly enjoyed as a jazz fan. I would definitely come here again just to see this group play. They play every Wed and Fri night from 7:30 till 11.

My daughter and I visited Jazz Bistro At Les Joulins for lunch. I enjoyed the escargot. My daughter had the chicken pasta, which was perfectly balanced with flavor.

We went here hoping to have a great dinner while listening to some jazz music.
1. Jazz music
This place is advertised as jazz every night kinda place. We sat there for like 1.5 hours and the dude sang only two songs. He’s so old and complained about his sore throat and how it is impossible to sing. After talking nonsense for like 5 mins, he and his friend go around asking for tips. How about play some song if not sing before asking for tips? They circled twice within the first 30 mins and took 20 min break. This was simply awful. There was no singing and/​or playing music.
2. Guests
It seemed like all the other guests are tourists who just thought it would be a fun place while
Passing by and stops by. Hardly saw any Americans or locals.
3. Food
Calamari was burnt. I tried to remove the breaded part and eat it, but the squid itself was awful.
For the first time in my entire life, i returned a meal.
Beef kebab: was bad. I asked for medium rare to medium. It was so hard and very very well done. My chin hurt from non stop chewing.
Duck: if you can screw up beef kebab, you can imagine how not good the duck was.
Soup was actually good.
Bread and butter: bread wasn’t French baguette,
It was nice and hot, but it was not a good bread at all.
4. Service: the waiter didn’t really understand English very well. He had memorized the ingredients of the meal if you asked him, but can’t answer basic questions.
5. Comfort
This place is freezing cold, has no heating. If you come here when it’s cold outside like in December, you should expect they you won’t be removing your coat/​jacket.

The food was good but not without its pain. We had a blond waitress, whose name I believe was Meril. Terrible service. got the drink order wrong, brought the dinners to the table and they weren’t correct. OK, she didn’t cook them, but she should have never brought the plates until they were prepared as ordered. MY plate arrived with masked potatoes and French fries. Doesn’t this seem odd? The flank steak with a bearnaise sauce didn’t have the sauce. Meril came back briefly and said she would, brink drink refills, but those never came. She didn’t come back to ask how the meal was and it took several attempts to get the check. I won’t go back there. I don’t know about jazz, but I certainly experienced the blues

Poor service. Food was not good. Calmari was too salty, clam chowder was too sandy and my margarita had a terrible bitter flavor. Waitor did not bring water after asking 3x so i had to get up and go to the bar and get it myself. Jazz is great but food and service is terrible

Save your time and money. My daughters and I stopped in for dinner and I wish we would have kept walking. The food was mediocre at best with no flavor and the service wasn’t much better. I ordered one of the specials which was spinich fettacini and it was very bland with a sauce that was like water. I also ordered a dinner salad that was brought to the table after my dinner. Save your time and money and find a good restaurant to eat at. There are so many good places in San Francisco to eat that this one was such a let down.

Finding ourselves in the midst of a street crowd reminiscent of Mardi Gras only the predominant costume seemed to be Santa or Mrs. Claus, after an hour or so of crowd surfing, we spotted this brightly lit oasis of calm. Our server, Jorge, was friendly, attentive, and helpful. We didn’t go there thinking it was a five-​star restaurant, so we were not expecting much. To our surprise, the food was quite adequate. I had a filet mignon served with bernaise in the traditional way and yes, I make a better bernaise at home, but it was still pleasant. The vegetable serving was generous and perfectly cooked. After being manhandled by the crowd and treated so rudely and indifferent at one or two other restaurants in the area that evening, we delighted in our dinner at Jazz Bistro.

Ate here with the boyfriend a few Friday’s ago. The food was awesome but the service? Not so much. I ordered a water and they never brought it out. Nobody checked on us during the meal so I had to flag someone down. I asked for a to go box and they also never brought it out. Seriously? I though maybe they treated us this way because we were a younger couple among an older crowd but based on other reviews I guess this is the norm. Anyways, the food was awesome. I ordered the pork loin and it was juicy and very filling. Good food, bad service.

Dumpy and Disappointed!!! As soon as we walked into the room I was disappointed. The room was smokey and smelled like a fryer. I figure the stove exhaust fan was broken and they see no reason to repair it. If you look around the room you can see simple things they neglect to fix. Only reason I stayed because it was the restaurant my friend picked out for his birthday.
Service was extremely poor!!! They brought us our drinks right away but failed to take our orders soon after. It took over an hour for them take everyones order. Then we waited on the food for about another 45 mins. I order the flank steak it was barely editable. We all order dessert and coffee. My dessert was raced and two others had the same experience.

I wish I could give them 0, the worse restaurant experience I ever had. Just Ughhhhhhhh

It terms of food, I’d rate this place a 2.5. I ordered the stuffed pork-​loin with veggies and potatoes. All the food tasted pretty good, but the items didn’t quite match what I’d expect based off the menu descriptions. My «veggies» seemed to be a mixed green salad from a bag and not fresh steamed vegetables. The potatoes were mashed and covered in gravy (and so was the rest of the food). Overall, not great, but it wasn’t terrible either. Service, on the other hand…
When I walked into the restaurant, it was completely empty except for one couple. This tells me people don’t come for the food, or else it would have been more full. I was noticed by a waiter (he looked at me and then turned back around to the tv screen) who decided to keep watching a football game instead of seating me. Strike one. The hostess had to snap at him to get him to seat me. My actual waitress, who came by after a minute or so, was really nice and patient. So that was a plus. The music was non-​existent. I walked in at 7 and didn’t leave until a little after 8 and they were still setting up for the band. I guess it’s my fault for not checking when the music starts, but nowhere does the restaurant (even on the website) indicate a start time for the music. So, I suppose that aspect is purely up to the artist, which isn’t really fair to the customer.
Overall, I’d say there’s no real reason to go to this place over somewhere else. Especially if there’s no music going on.

This place has it all. The service was great, the food was cooked exactly as we ordered it — too perfection, and the Jazz was music to our ears. Honestly I shouldn’t say any of it to avoid having to make reservations in the future but it’s too good not to share. This is someplace you need to check out. Great for groups or a romantic evening. I have nothing to complain about.

The food is meh and so is the service, but that isn’t why you would come here.
Live smooth jazz on any night of the week. I had a simple meal and was entertained while I ate. I had to flag waitstaff down to get drinks or the check but the music was nice and I think I think there maybe a fightclub going on in the basement.

Les Joulins is a hidden gem in San Francisco! I stumbled on this place during a work trip and make it a point to come back whenever I am in the city. There is live jazz every night and the music is fantastic! It’s not too overwhelming and blends in nicely with the charming ambiance. The food is great and menu has a nice variety. Absolutely love this venue!

Wow that was bad. Started with the smoked fish appetizer (forgot what kind of fish it was), and hello salt. It tasted very much like the fish was on its final day of being safe to serve, so they dumped salt and lemon juice on it to kill whatever was growing. In the process, it gave it an awful texture and taste.
We ordered a vodka tonic and a glass of white wine for drinks. My vodka tonic was very watered down, and the glass of wine had a strong vinegar smell/​taste to it… maybe it had been corked and sat for too long?
I ordered the spinach quiche entrée (from the «specials» menu), and I couldn’t eat more than a bite. Im not exaggerating, this wasn’t even palatable. The texture seemed as though the spinach used was pre cooked frozen spinach, because it was just mush. I’ve had sautéed/​cooked spinach in quiche many times, but this was something else. More importantly, it tasted terrible. The only ok part was the cheese/​crust which actually tasted pretty good. Side of veggies looked very much like they were pre cut and frozen. No flavor at all to the veggies.
The live jazz was simply live elevator music. You can tell the band is probably just playing to keep themselves entertained during retirement. They’re friendly and all, but there isn’t a lot of soul to it. Kinda just sounds like someone is futzing around in their garage with friends. They’re talented musicians, but their choice of music was a little generic, and they didn’t really seem like they were into it.
Toss in a very uninterested waiter, and a tab for 2 well over $ 100, and you’ve got yourself a 1 star rating. Do yourself a favor and avoid restaurants in/​around the Westfield mall area, because most are disappointing. I think the area caters mostly to a touristy crowd (ie overpriced menu with pre-​cooked/​insta-​food).

The food here is overly salty though the live entertainment is decent enough. The crowd here doesn’t really can’t come for the jazz though so it is mostly customers talking over each other. If you are serious about the music and want to enjoy it in peace and with decent food, you probably want to go elsewhere; there is another jazz joint right across the street.

The jazz was good. The place had a dingy feel to it. The food was ok. Like you’d get at a hotel during a convention. The place caters to large groups and a couple of those (French tourists it seemed like) trouped in and out while we were there. I was underwhelmed in almost every way. No draught beer. I couldn’t find a wine by-​the-​glass that was any good. It would be hard to recommend this place.

Live music and good wine. Touristy for sure but it’s always nice to find a spot with live music downtown.
No parking.

J’avais aimé ce café/​resto/​jazz club il y a longtemps, mais il a diminué considérablement ces dernières années.
On peut toujours obtenir les plats adéquats typique d’un café/​brasserie, et on y trouve un des quelques barmans dans San Francisco qui sait servir des pastis sans instruction mais il y a beaucoup de meilleurs restaurants français à trouver dans cette ville.
Si vous êtes coincé à Union Square et voulez une omelette ou un croque monsieur, Les Joulins est acceptable mais pas particulièrement extraordinaire.