Don Pistos

Reviews

• Chelsey T.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  Wow was I impressed with this place! My friend suggested this place as she knows I love Mexican food!   It's hard to find really good Mexican food in Hawaii, so every chance I get, I must find one when I travel.  
  
  Parking is street parking or in a parking garage.  Since this is downtown San Francisco, I would recommend trying to find street parking.  We were lucky, we circled once and found street parking almost in front of the restaurant.  
  
  We had reservations and I highly recommend doing so as the restaurant is da bomb! As we waited for our other friends to arrive, we ordered a pitcher of margarita at the bar (which is right by the entrance).  We were then guided to our table in the back area where it seems they put bigger groups.  
  
  I let my friends choose what to eat to share family style so we could all try different food.  We ordered the lobster, shrimp tacos, chips & guacamole, tamales, and the pork chop.   Boy were we stuffed at the end. I can't choose my favorite because they were all so fresh and so tasty yet simple.  Yum!   If I were to go back again, I would ordered all of those items again.

• Tatiana P.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 4 June 2026

  ** this review is specifically for my EVENT experience. I reserved the downstairs and chose from their banquet menu - Deluxe option.
  
  My husband (fiancé at the time) and I held our rehearsal dinner here.
  
  Communication-
  Communication started off great with Nicole. She was very responsive, flexible, and nice. She was actually the main reason we went with Don Pistos to begin with. We would email, text, and talk on the phone. We also appreciated that she was aware of our situation (we were getting married at St. Peter and Paul and they couldn't tell us how long the rehearsal would run, so we couldn't give an exact arrival time as a result). She was ok with it and said to arrive after the rehearsal ended and it would be fine. She also said we can stay as long as we wanted for the all you can eat and drink. Long story short, Nicole wasn't there the day of our dinner event and it was A DISASTER. Time started at the contract time to which she said wouldn't matter (we arrived an hour past what was on the contract). The staff stopped serving food and drinks one hour after we arrived. Since it was a rehearsal dinner, we had speeches, gifts, photos, etc so many of us didn't really have time to eat! I had to leave my dinner event of 25+ and handle this situation. The manager present was nice but had no idea about the agreements Nicole and I had. I text Nicole and Nicole actually responded to me things she was saying to the manager on duty (on accident). I was beyond frustrated. Why would I agree to pay over $2400 (after taxes and service fees) for an hour reservation?! The situation was so awkward and uncomfortable that by the time we came to an agreement, most of our party was ready to go. Horrible stress and frustration the day before our wedding
  
  ** learn from our situation and get EVERYTHING in writing. A lot of our conversations with Nicole were over the phone and it turned into a whole "he said , she said" especially because she wasnt there that night
  
  Service-
  There were two staff members to our 25+ people. Service was super slow to say the least.
  I really wish I remember the waitress's name because she was incredibly rude. She didn't smile once and acted beyond annoyed to be there. When we asked for things, she didn't respond and wouldn't bring them (we had unlimited food and drinks). I had to constantly ask the manager to bring things and she would, but imagine how long it took when she was the only one grabbing things for our party. They were clearly on a schedule to rush out our courses and get us out within the "hour" we had left.
  
  Food and drinks-
  Food was good and drinks were good. Some plates came out a little cold, but taste was great. We had unlimited food and drinks because we purchased the deluxe meal for our guests but because of the miscommunication, we didn't get to enjoy it. Some people left hungry because the portions were appetizer family style portions (small AF).
  
  Follow-up-
  My husband and I were pretty upset with the entire situation. We felt we were completely cheated financially and were upset that the whole misunderstanding completely ruined the vibe of the dinner and took time away from us being able to enjoy our guests. We called the restaurant and they refunded us for mine and my husbands plate ($130) out of around the $2400 we spent. I also called and asked specifically to the GM (Crizel?) and she had Nicole call me back and handle it. It was beyond awkward and also showed how much the GM cared. We were happy to get some money back but overall we think that their response to our situation was wack.
  
  Learn from our event and CHOOSE ELSEWHERE.

• Jeovanny E.

  star star star star_border star_border 1 June 2026

  The food is good small portions I guess is a place to hangout and drink more than having a good meal
  The service could be better
  We ordered our food but we didn't order any drinks only water and our server was more interested on the people drinking (i guess they make more money )
  I had to ask two time to get water refill
  Also had to ask twice to get chips and salsa
  I will give the kitchen crew a **********
  Cuz the food was authentic Mexican flavors love it

• Nathan D.

  star star star star star 29 May 2026

  There's bottomless mimosas AND micheladas. Perfect for a bitch brunch. It's really noisy and not good for kids. Seriously, please don't bring your kids here and ruin bottomless. Go back to Noe Valley or Laurel village.
  
  The food is amazing and comes really fast. Friendly staff as well.

• Nicholas J.

  star star star star star_border 26 May 2026

  I have passed by Don Pistos multiple times while getting my daily fix at Hole in the Wall (HITW) Coffee, and finally made it in for dinner this weekend!
  
  We booked a 6pm reservation and, of course, were 20 minuets early. This wasn't a problem for the hostess in the slightest and she sat us immediately. Our server approached within literal seconds, hands filled with glasses, water and chips and salsa for us. Unfortunately they were somehow out of guacamole (?!?!?), but our server was extremely apologetic. We ordered our first round of drinks: a traditional margarita for myself and a paloma for the boyfriend. Both were solid, albeit basic, but delicious.
  
  From there, we navigated to their fried chicken and kale salad. The fried chicken was super crunchy, while was juicy and not at all dry. Again, a solid dish, but nothing too innovative. The kale salad though...woah. I think the secret ingredient was a mix between their awesome dressing and adding a scoopful of the Mexican street corn. Dope.
  
  Finally, we rounded out the evening with an additional paloma and I switched it up to a hibiscus margarita. To be honest, it was way too sweet for me, so if you're into super sugary drinks I would recommend it.  With our second round of cocktails we opted into a taco situation: carnitas and camarones. The carnitas, again, solid and amazing. The camarones, incredibly flavored, but messy as hell to eat. I would for sure recommend a fork for those.
  
  Overall, we had a solid experience at Don Pistos. The food was solid, and the service was super quick. If there was one gripe I had, it would be that the service was too quick. At one point, we couldn't set our drinks back down because the food was coming out at such a rapid rate. I understand the need to turn tables over on a Saturday evening, but holding a margarita while one-handing a wet ass taco isn't a cute look.