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This beautiful beaux arts structure is home to the San Francisco Opera.
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Neighbourhood: Civic Center
Civic Center is the seat of power for all things government and performance-related in the city. Although its streets are best walked during daytime, numerous cultural gems are within close proximity to one another. The symphony, opera, ballet, and jazz center offer year round entertainment within the shadow of the city’s Beaux-Arts crown jewel: the gold tipped dome of City Hall.
How to get there
- Van Ness • 5 min walk
- Civic Center • 8 min walk
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
120 reviews
Excellent
79
Very good
27
Average
7
Poor
5
Terrible
2
Bay Area Enthusiast
2 contributions
Mar 2023 • Friends
While the performances are pretty high quality, the customer service is some of the worst in the performing arts industry- some of the employees are demeaning, controlling and very rude. They won’t allow you to get a drink of water during the performance, even for an elderly person who was feeling faint and willing to sit in the back. They make it very difficult to use the restroom even after the performance and bark/yell at you to leave the restroom after standing in line for a while to use it. Even someone with food allergies cannot bring their own food to eat at intermission- they insist you throw it away. Very unpleasant interactions with the employees at War Memorial, especially when you have spent a lot for a pricy ticket.
Written 22 April 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TravelGoddess86
San Francisco, CA297 contributions
Dec 2013
Went to see the Nutcracker here for the first time. The building is stunning...However we opted to spend less on seats and sit up in the balcony. Wow, this was a mistake. The seats are absolutely tiny...worse than airline seats. Ridiculously uncomfortable. I wish we would have spent more money and gotten better seats. It was really hot, noisy, and like I said uncomfortable. The show was great, however. If you are in the city and are looking for something to do, you have to pay this place a visit.
Written 27 December 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Thomas V
Oakland, CA17,560 contributions
Oct 2020
When it reopens after the pandemic, come to this classic theater for the ballet or the opera. The sound and viewpoints are just fine, seats comfortable, but the air can be stale.
Written 25 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MauriceTheTourGuide
Oakland, CA338 contributions
Dec 2019
My wife loves The Nutcracker, and most years she drags me to a performance. This year I decided not to fight it and purchased tickets to the San Francisco Ballet's version at the War Memorial Opera House. I am very glad that I did. The building is beautiful and easy to get to by BART. The orchestra was wonderful and the scenery and dancing were great. It had been a number of years sine I had been at the Opera House, but I won't wait that long to return.
Written 31 December 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
gulliver1711
San Francisco, California57 contributions
Feb 2019 • Couples
The Opera House is massive and grand.It is home to a great opera company and a great ballet company. Seats are expensive and you don't always get what you pay for, For example, the Orchestra level is not as well sloped as in some other houses; you can pay top dollar and end up seated behind someone who blocks much of your view. The Grand Tier is the same price as the Orchestra, but the sight lines are better there. The best acoustics are in the uppermost and cheapest seats. For upper floors there are elevators. Getting there by BART (the subway system) is possible, although you then have a 3 to 4 block walk from the Civic Center station. Box office staff is friendly and helpful. The large downstairs restaurant is mostly self-service buffet. It's a good idea to reserve in advance if you're going there. Both the Opera and the Ballet are of very high quality.
Written 20 February 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
msakurai
Honolulu, HI63 contributions
Oct 2018 • Couples
Attended a superb performance of Tosca--the performance was stellar but the Opera House itself was a strong feature by itself. What an outstanding jewel of a facility you folks in San Francisco have. This is miles ahead of the Blaisdell Concert Hall we have in Honolulu.
Written 18 October 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kinosao
Portage la Prairie, Canada138 contributions
May 2017 • Couples
We had a free night and decided to go. I am not a ballet fan and prefer Broadway, but Hamilton tickets were through the roof. My wife enjoys ballet so off we went. This performance is amazing with unique stage effects, engaging characters and a non traditional story line that skirts the original. We both enjoyed the show immensely.
This theatre and the area alone are worth a visit if your in San Francisco. Gorgeous early 1900's architecture. The 50 United Nations countries met here after Working WW2 to forge what we know today and signed the original charter there in 1945.
Bravo performance!
This theatre and the area alone are worth a visit if your in San Francisco. Gorgeous early 1900's architecture. The 50 United Nations countries met here after Working WW2 to forge what we know today and signed the original charter there in 1945.
Bravo performance!
Written 7 May 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ronald H
Danville, CA12 contributions
Jan 2015 • Couples
If I was reviewing this production and If I was the man sitting in the chair I would fall down and bomb my little head saying stupid, stupid, stupid. For the price we paid for this performance and redundant dance routines not to mention the two who announced each scene, made it look like a grade school PLAY.
Written 16 January 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Michelle L
Gainesville, FL26 contributions
Nov 2014 • Friends
Great venue, comfortable seats with enough leg room, good acoustics. Tosca was a great opera, saw it in Barcelona--they had a bigger budget inSF and it showed. The voices were equally beautiful, sets were lusher, costumes lovely. Orchestra was great.
Written 6 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dabugs
Walnut Creek, CA73 contributions
Jan 2014 • Couples
The theatre is beautiful, but the seats killed my back and knees. I'm 5'3, 125 lbs, so I'm not a very big person. We got the more costly seats in the dress circle area, hoping it would provide more room. alas, this was not the case. to top it off, a tall person sat in front of me, so I had to keep leaning to the left or right to see the stage. I don't think I'll be seeing any more performances here. It just isn't worth the money and the pain.
Written 6 January 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Looking to book a ballet show at the War Memorial House. Does anyone know how the seats compare in Orchestra. Looking to compare:
1. Rows D and Row O
2. Seats D 121 & 123 vs O 121 & 123
3. Seats O 121 &123 vs O 109&111
Written 17 January 2017
Row D will be very close to the stage. You'll be looking up a bit. Row O will be back further and look more straight onto the stage. Hope that helps.
Written 19 January 2017
That I don't know. In the group I signed up for, there were between 10 and 15 people, if I remember right. If you want to pursue it further, you may search for SFOpera backstage tours
Written 27 September 2016
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