Kate C.
Yelp
Rule one of hospitality and service: do not EVER clean when a guest is in your common areas. Cleaning is like sound in movies, if it's good you won't even notice.. but if it's bad oh you certainly will.
Now, there are some unavoidable circumstances and industries in which this may happen -- a restaurant that is stacked with tables an entire night, hotels, 24/7 diners, theme parks, an accidental spill at a hot dog stand, or the bathroom looks like a war on plumbing just happened. Cleaning gracefully is just a part of the business (see swan towel animals, friendly cleaning crews, and Disney grounds crew painting with their brooms), and I respect that.
All I'm gonna say is, that circumstance is not 30 minutes before you close on a Friday night in the middle of a heat wave in San Francisco. Also, wash your hands fully after you clean and don't just use a wet wipe and switch gloves to handle food, please.
Anyways, I originally ordered the carné burger and learned that they did not have it available after they checked their stock (was still on menu). I then took a moment to think and decided on the Vegan Burger and a melon ramune. Ambience was quite loud and is a bit difficult to hear.
I went ahead, ordered for takeout, and sat down at one of the tables, where across from me a patron was still eating and enjoying his meal. So, I didn't think anything of it all at first.
However after he leaves, the front of house host starts cleaning up after the guest, seems normal... then he starts stacking the chairs -- loudly. First on directly the other side of me, now it's been a few minutes so I may have assumed they're just finishing up my order and will close early, but then he starts stacking them on my side.
I get up, he tells me I can sit down again, I said it was fine -- in my head the message was sent and received, you want to close. He then waited a minute before loudly stacking the chairs on the table. I stood near the cash register so I could quickly get my food and leave, but then he asked me to move so he can sweep the area I was standing on. At that point, I then went and stood at the edge of the entrance. A couple minutes later he comes up to me after cleaning, and gives me my food without a word, I apologized to HIM and then left. You close at 11:00 pm, it was 10:40 pm when I left. I did not come in five minutes before you close.
Now, for the food: the brioche bun is good, the dressings are solid, but sadly the main event, aka the beyond patty -- was mostly burnt. The best part of this meal may be the Ramuné. Now, there were some good bites of the burger, but they were overpowered by the crunch of burnt patty. There were burnt parts of the patty cracking and falling off the burger. I paid for it so I ate it, but I did not enjoy it.
My entire meal? Was $24. Wow. Even for SF, that is greedily high. Also $2 to add a mediocre slice of cheese? We have restaurants that add bacon or avocado for $1.39.
The whole experience was poor, from the service, to the pricing, to the ambience, to the food.
Overall, it's sad that The Port of Peri Peri cannot match to Zaika, its authentic Indian predecessor that sat at this location. Mission Bay does not need another heartless chain as a tenant draining the soul of the neighborhood.
First and last time here by choice.