How can anyone possibly return to this joint?
A group of foodies went to dinner here with high expectations after Bauer gave A16 three stars (not sure where he ate, perhaps he was lost and wondered into some other restaurant on the street). The 30 minute wait beyond our reservation time was 15 minutes beyond reasonable, but we put it aside and went ahead with the dinner. Our mistake.
The volume is loud, making it difficult to carry on a conversation. The appetizers were decent, but not imaginative. Then the main course came, and it was horrible. Two of the people in my party ordered lamb rack. Which in itself indicates a limited menu. In most restaurants, it is difficult to choose just four different dishes for four people. Here, we had to repeat one. But we chose wrong. The lamb rack turned out to be bones with virtually no meat. Even worse, what little meat there was was tougher than shoe leather. Completely inedible, completely ridiculous. While I have never eaten at a McDonalds, I believe the food would have been much better. Fearing for our teeth, we complained the lamb was inedible; the waitress said it was a shame and walked away. No one even cared about the food they serve, which may be an even bigger sin than serving garbage in the first place.
I do not feel being insulted adds to one's experience of a restaurant, but I have to believe anyone eating at A16 enjoys being insulted and made mock of. This restaurant is not worthy of the San Francisco restaurant scene.