Prelude at the Opera House Lower Level

We have eaten at Prelude numerous times. This occasion it was not good. My family had the buffet items and I had the seafood salad, which was average. Not enough shrimp, too little lettuce and one small piece of salmon. The buffet consisted of too rare roast in need of more cooking, sea bass that no one liked, mashed potatoes and Caesar salad. Definitely not worth the $65.00 per person price. Our favorite waiter was not there but service was still adequate. Probably skip eating here next time.

Prelude is certainly convenient, and it has a nice atmosphere. However, our bill was $187 for two--one cocktail, one glass of wine, buffet, tip. The food was tasty, including the roast beef and grilled chicken and fish, but quite plain; there was nothing special about the dinner at all. We won't go again--there is much better fare in Hayes Valley for $93 per person.

Very convenient for pre opera dinner if one has no budget limitations. Prices are much too high for individual orders portions are small. We didn't try the more expensive buffet.

The staff was charming and gracious but something went wrong in the kitchen. It took so long to get our food we were considering just leaving and when it arrived it looked like it had been under warming lights too long.

Convenience before a performance is the only bright side to eating at Prelude. Our dinner last night was an over priced collection of all the small inequacies that have accumulated over the 20+ years that we have dined there before a ballet performance. Our reservation was not recorded and the host after demanding to see and take a picture of the confirmation email seated us without a smile or a welcoming word at a small table in the midst of the kitchen traffic which we declined. The chairs at our next table were beyond wobbly. We were brought two menus, one of them was missing the menu pages. The buffet was already picked over before 7pm. The food was caracteristically mediocre; overdressed spinach salad, undercooked Bruxelles sprouts, cold mashed potatoes. There were no condiments for the beef. The carving station attendant inundated my plate with hot, thin gravy that cascaded onto my hand, shoes and the floor. No one came to help her or inquire. The consistently attentive waiting staff buzzed hurriedly trying to keep up; management had obviously not predicted that Yuan Yuan Tan’s last performance on Valentine’s Day would draw an unusually large crowd. On our way out as the bell called dinners to the performance, the host strode through the flow of dinners making their way to the stairs without a smile or even a glance. A very expensive comedy of errors.