The Stinking Rose, San Francisco

I think the restaurant name says it all! If you are any tiny bit of the vampire persuasion, stay away from this place! The whole restaurant is one big cluttered garlic explosion divvied up into several different dining areas. There are a couple of floors to this restaurant. It does get pretty loud but all in good fun. Servers are sassy, fun & attentive. Be adventurous when ordering and forget the breathmints for now. Parking is a challenge in this area so be patient when looking for street parking.

Favorite Dish: The Bagna Calda is their spreadable garlic that is out of this world. They take garlic cloves and roast them till they are spreadable. It is addictive! The pork chops are juicy & flavorful along with the chicken. Meat loaf was pretty good too.

The Stinking Rose is a restaurant completely dedicated to all things garlic. There is a garlic gift ship at the front of the small restaurant for tourists to pick up random trinkets and from the walls hang many different types of garlic focused material. The setting is very nice with curtain enclosed candlelit booths but the restaurant overall is more of an attraction than a fine dining experience. Few locals (if any) would stop to brave the long lines and cheesy decor simply to have a dish smothered, dipped, stewed, and roasted in garlic.

Favorite Dish: The food was actually very good and reasonably priced. I would recommend the stewed garlic appetizer which is bread with stewed garlic cloves on the side. I have never eaten anything like it before and it was extremely good.

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Don't be thrown off by the unusual name... its called The Stinking Rose because this restuarant is all about garlic! I'm not a garlic freak by any means but I really really liked this place. I was here celebrating with some buddies and so I went all out and bought the most expensive thing on the menu, 18oz garlic roasted prime rib. man oh man was this delicious! it was a huge meal and i was stuffed afterwards!

This restaurant has a very casual atmosphere, something that i hear is different with it's beverly hills counterpart which is supposedly more formal. The restaurant has a very vibrant and jolly decor... it's covered wall to wall, ceiling to floor with garlic... vampires beware! Service is also excellent with well informed and attentive waiters.

Favorite Dish: Two things... the Bagna Calda which is garlic cloves, oven-roasted in extra virgin olive oil and butter with a hint of anchovy. It's making my mouth water just thinking about it.

And of course... the 18oz garlic roasted prime rib... cooked medium rare. Juicy, succulent, tasty, tender... wow... I want to go back!

Didn't try it but I just had to mention it... they have garlic ice cream! Holy...

Well, it literally stinks from the garlic that they serve, but overall it is an average experience.

Food - bad
Had their panzanella salad, which consisted of tomato, onion, rostini, pine nut and garlic balsamic vinaigrette. It was too sour for me to enjoy it and also too wet. The other people in the group had their pizza and their ink linguine with clams and none of them had anything good to say about their food either.

Ambiance - good
Tables are separated by draperies that makes an intimate, cozy dining area.

Service - average
Nothing to complain but nothing to rave about either

Price - average
At about $25 - $30 per person it is pretty much the 'market' rate for restaurants along the Columbus Avenue.

Overall - average
There's nothing wrong with this restaurant but its problems lie with the fact that there's so much hype around it that when I got there I couldn't help feel 'well, this is it??'

We had read and heard a lot about The Stinking Rose, and were very excited to try it. We even stopped in Gilroy during our vacation, so you know garlic is a big deal to us! It's low key, expensive, and everything we ate was pretty good. We shared the sauteed garlic appetizer (one order is enough for 5-6 people), which was fantastic, as was the home made "garlic pesto" that was on every table. I had the ribs with garlic mashed potatoes, she had a pasta dish and both were solid if not fantastic. I would reccomend the place to anyone who loves garlic purely based on "kitsch value". Not that the food isn't good, it is, but this place is really a mecca for garlic lovers.

Favorite Dish: I had the garlic encrusted ribs, which were good but didn't knock me out as being very garlicky. The meat fell off the bone and I definately didnt need to chew the bones at all.

The ambience is relaxed and is probably inspired by an Italian theme. Service is very proficient, the tables are slightly small though! There is a really cool quote on the menu that states :"We season our garlic with food"

Favorite Dish: Silence of the Lamb Shank (20 dollars) is an amazing example of the restaurant's cuisine. The taste is intense and the garlic really complements the meat. When I visited it was cooked just perfectly.

Also if you would like to try something different, try the garlic ice-cream... its very nice.

Don't let the name put you off. This place was recommended by the concierge at the Marriott. Located just north of China Town The Stinking Rose serves everything made with garlic. A funky atmosphere with curtained off booths and casual, spunky servers I enjoyed the place a lot.

Be sure to get the Bagna Calda, which is oven roasted cloves of garlic in hot live oil and butter. Great for spreading on the focaccia bread.

Lots of salads, pasta, seafood, ribs, steaks all served with garlic mashed potates.

A small but decent wine list and beer on tap.

Favorite Dish: I had the Bagna Calda and Focaccia Bread, Garlic Encrusted Baby Back Ribs with Garlic mashed potates and loved it. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale took the heat off just fine.

A great North Beach restaurant. As you can tell by the name, they specialize in garlic. But you can request dishes "vampire style" or without garlic. The restaurants slogan is "we season our garlic with food". My favorite is a side dish of Bagna Calda which is roasted garlic in a small skillet. Perfect for spreading on bread or focaccia. And if your up for it maybe some garlic ice cream for dessert! My only warning is if you don't like garlic then this place is not for you. It smells like garlic and so will you after your meal.

There's little parking in North Beach. Best bet is to find a garage or try to find parking on Sansome Street and walk up the hill.