11/13/08

Overrated

by Dave411

One of the most overrated resto in the Bay Area... purportedly with great views, but on a foggy night (which happens quite often) you wont see anything. Everything was expensive, and my duck was too salty, too tough, and too greasy.

05/15/08

Slow service on a Sunday afternoon !

by lindymann

A friend and I decided to stop in for a glass of wine after a walking . This was around 2:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon, while she was freshing up I got us a table in the bar.

The waitstaff and bar tenders were not interested in serving; why I don't know? I notice that the food servers were inexperienced with handling large orders and suffer from lack of etiquette. Another food server was trying to be a balancing act that ended in disaster - spilling the food; after 2 women had waited patiently for their appetizers.

10/21/07

No Follow Through

by davewhill

This is to follow up on an earlier review. We ate at Skates on Sept. 3, 2007 and had a very poor experience which we detailed in that review ('Nightmarish Experience for Newlyweds'. )

I wanted to create a special night for my new bride and myself and planned the evening to make that happen. Their neglect of our reservation, wait time and patience ruined the ambiance I had wanted. We did not get to enjoy the view of the sun setting over the bay, since we were seated an hour later than our reservation.

Skates became aware of our dissatisfaction and offered to ameliorate the situation. They promised to send us a gift certificate for our next visit. It never arrived.

09/06/07

Very Un-Special Service for Newlyweds

by tzylla

They provided a nightmarish & very un-special experience for newlyweds!! Skates has been a favorite of ours for years & we decided it would be perfect for our first "married" dinner out. We made our reservations more than a week ahead of time. We specified that we were newlyweds and we would like a window table. We arrived 45 minutes before our dinner reservation so we could enjoy appetizers & drinks in the bar. When we arrived, the greeter at the front desk congratulated us on our marriage-We reminded him of our desire for a window seat,and let him know we would wait in the bar. As our reservation time approached, we saw a table emptying and assumed it would be made ready for us... But, they sat a family there and so we waited....10 or 15 minutes AFTER our reservation time, we asked about our table and were told we would need to wait "a little longer" for a window table (!! what? we had reservations, we had been there already for an hour waiting patiently, we saw them give a window table to a group of people who were not there waiting as long as we had...). We waited 50 minutes for a table! By the time we sat down, the sun had set and the ambiance we had planned for was gone. They completely ruined what was supposed to be a very special occasion for us. One note: a manager was sent over to our bar table about 40 minutes into our extended wait... she started to apologize for the mix-up, and I assumed she would attempt to make us happy-she started to say something about entrees &asked if we had ordered appetizers & my husband responded, "we have already paid our bar tab", which strangely made her say, "oh, you don't want to stay for dinner now?"--that was the end of it. They seated us, & made no price adjustment on our bill, which was what she was implying she was going to do.

As reasonable people, we understand that mix-ups happen..but their error was compounded over and over and everytime they had an opportunity to make good, they did not take it.

• Pros: Usually great! love the ambiance, food, view....
• Cons: When it counted most to us- they didn't deliver and they didn't make it right

08/28/07

Great sushi

by jaimi_d

Yes the ahi tuna sushi is fantastic. The service was very unsatisfactory.When our server served us,she very sarcasticly said "Enjoy!" Then, directly after our dishes were delivered, the young lady who served us went up to another waitress and said something directing her attention to our table. She did this with 2 other waitresses that i witnessed who all looked directly at our table as well.The girls all laughed and looked as if they were suprised to hear what the server had told them. We got the impression that our food had been tampered with so we refused to eat it and demanded new food.Naturally, we were paranoid about all the attention our table was getting. It was a very bad experience, i haven't been there since.

11/26/06

Horrible Service, Great Appetizers, $$$

by yumm_05

We had reservations so we got seated right away, but it took the server over 25 minutes to acknowledge us. Ordered the Skates Classic Sampler and it was great, but the price not so much. For $21 you were able to have a taste of three awesome appetizers. For an entree I ordered the New York Steak and it was horrible. I ordered it medium well and it came way past well done. I mean this thing was burnt. I thought it was just the edges and saw that our waitress was busy so I decided to just try to eat it. Our waitress was horrible. Took us about 15 minutes just to ask her for some steak sauce, which should have been brought with the steak in the first place; and she never checked up on us once. [I got home and cut a piece of steak for my dog, she chewed on it for a while and threw it back out; and my dog eats everything!!] For a two person dinner it came out to ~$115 for one appetizer, two entrees, a beer, 17% tip, and tax. I say if you are going to go here ? sit at the bar, order yourself a few drinks and the Skates Classic Sampler, and call it a night.

• Pros: Views, Environment, Free fococia bread, Skates Classic Sampler
• Cons: Service, Steak, Prices

11/18/06

great views, but EXPENSIVE

by bruingirl14

The food here is decent, but way too expensive.... you could find better seafood in the Bay Area for much less money. The view is beautiful, but not worth the prices. The decor could use an update.

• Pros: view, view, view
• Cons: price & decor

10/31/06

Great view and service, good food

by rsak

Obviously you're coming here for the view. I've been here several times, and the service has been great. Each server has been attentive but not overbearing. Would be better if they personally knew the menu in detail and could make definite suggestions, but whatever. The food has been pretty good, not great. I suppose it is slightly overpriced if you look at it that way. My personal thing is that I'm going here for the view and whoever I'm with, the rest is secondary.

• Pros: View, service
• Cons: Pricey

10/15/06

Poor service, cold food - you're paying for the view (in more ways than one)

by sgp2006

We arrived to find they'd lost our reservation (they blamed their computer - don't they always?). They kept us waiting in the bar for almost 45 minutes for a table, even though there were clearly plenty of tables free when we did finally sit down. The hostess was totally unapologetic for this, so I assume this was a ruse to get us to buy more drinks.

In short, our experience before we even got any food almost spoiled the entire evening for us.

The food, when we finally got to eat any, was variable. Crab cakes were good, but over-priced. Oysters not very fresh, and the condiment sauces were pre-applied to try to hide this. One of the four main courses was almost completely cold when it arrived. Vegetable accompaniment to the main courses was over-cooked.

This is the second time I've been here. I didn't have the table trouble the first time, but the food was extremely disappointing on that occasion as well. I made the mistake of giving them a second chance.

Would I recommend these clowns to a friend? Hell No!

• Pros: Nice view
• Cons: Poor service, variable food quality

06/03/06

Why settle for average?

by msroser

The food at Skates is on par with room service at any Marriott-type hotel in any midsize city in the US. If you're a foodie, stay away. Yes, the view is fantastic. But that's about all Skates has to offer that is in any way different. For a better value, have a drink at Chevy's down the street in Emeryville, which has the same view, then head to one of Berkeley's real restaurants for a food experience worth your money - anywhere on North Shattuck (near Vine) ought to do.

• Pros: view
• Cons: average food, poor service, noisy