Congregation Keneseth Israel

This was very disappointing. This synagogue bills itself as a good place for tourists and visitors to San Francisco to meet and worship, and they even offer Shabbat meals. When I called to reserve meals, I was told that they don’t provide them during the summer. You would think that’s when they would have the greatest number of visitors. But they did give me information on where I could buy kosher take-​out for Shabbat, so at least we had that covered. We planned our trip to San Francisco around the location of the synagogue. Sat. morning we walked about a mile to get there, not an excessively long walk, but with San Francisco’s hills, it was not an easy walk. When we got there, we found only a handful of people. One man told us they were waiting for a minyan. Well, the minyan never arrived, and everyone davened to themselves. At most we had 6 people. My impression was that most of the people were visitors like us. There were only 1 or 2 actual members of the schul. What really disappointed us was that no one was particularly friendly. They didn’t take any interest in us or ask where we were from, and no one offered to tell us anything about the schul. Even without a minyan, I think this synagogue is missing an opportunity to connect with people from all over the world and share something of itself.

Shabbat and holiday orthodox services in downtown SF. Great and memorable experience. Very friendly and welcoming.

an excellent option for shabbat and holidays in the heart of downtown San Francisco
very welcoming

If you’re looking for something refreshing and inspired, well, those are not terms I would use to describe this shul. But if you just need to get the job done, then Keneseth Israel has got your back.
It’s mainly suited for tourists staying nearby who need a minyan, and it’s tourists who usually make up the minyan. Sutter Street itself is very safe and lively with boutiques, restaurants, and bars. However, be very careful which streets you take if you’re walking to the shul from Market, especially at night. I like Taylor myself, as there are MUCH fewer crack heads and drug dealers there and it’s actually a pretty nice walk most of the way.
I’ve come here now a handful of times since I moved to the area and no one who’s a regular has felt the need to introduce themselves to me. I have met a number of nice tourists though from the East Coast and Israel.
They try to make a minyan on Shabbos and holidays. Davening starts promptly at whatever time they call it for (usually about 15 minutes before shkiah on Fridays). They daven real fast, but usually whoever is chazan will do some nice melodies. They host people for meals on Friday night and Shabbos day if you reserve in advance, which is really nice for the tourists.

Jews do it better.