Holbrook House — Restaurant in San Francisco

I reserved a table for 13 for an 80th birthday celebration. My original reservation had been for 12 at 7pm but we ended up changing it to 5:30 for 13 people. I confirmed the change over email with their guest services sales manager. I have 3 emails with the correct time and number of people. She had even put me in touch with the company that does their florals to make custom bouquets for the occasion. When we arrived we were told by the host that our reservation was at 7 and he was sorry. We went back and forth a bit (while all the guests were hanging around in the atrium and had been told they couldn’t be seated). I asked him to call the sales manager and he didn’t. When I showed him my emails he finally said he’d see what he could do. They finally squeezed us in and brought out my floral arrangements. Since we were squeezed in we were literally squeezed in between tables that were already eating and my guests ended up with their chairs literally touching the chairs of the people next to us. Thank goodness we are not bigger people otherwise we wouldn’t have fit. I was thoroughly embarrassed at this point but it didn’t end there. With a big group, the sales manager indicated we would have to get the price fix menu and order our entrees ahead of time. We only ordered burgers and salmon and were told to order the same first dish for all the guests. I picked the kale salad. The salad was fine but the entrées were embarrassing at best. The burgers looked like sliders, they were so so small. They were all cooked well done and were dry and shriveled. They were so small that they looked comical on a plate with a cup of fries (closer to half a cup). I added a picture of the tiny burger next to my hand for comparison (I have big hands for a woman!). The salmon portions were small as well but better than the burger I guess. The puree or whatever was served with the salmon was slimy and I still can’t tell you what it even was. There was a handful of leafy greens on the plate that seemed like someone grabbed a handful of greens from the bagged salad and put it there with no purpose other than to fill the plate. I ended up ordering a bunch of deviled eggs to supplement the meals because the guests were still hungry. The only part of the meal that was ok was dessert. The martini I ordered was meh at best. They only have 3 choices of vodka and they make it table side, stirring the vodka and anything you picked to add with a spoon instead of shaking it. Not sure what the purpose of table side martini carts is if they literally take the ingredients and stir them and pour your drink. Granted, I don’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. The waiter was good, hence the 3 stars for service instead of 1. I had my birthday celebration here last year and it was actually lovely so I am sad and disappointed that this celebration was so poorly executed and the food was so bad. I was trying to host an elegant and memorable dinner for a special event and it ended up being an...

Pretty disappointed as I was really excited to introduce this place to some Bay Area colleagues. From the moment we arrived, the host stand was disorganized and chaotic. Many guests, including us, were left standing around for extended periods, unseated and largely unacknowledged. The staff was overwhelmed and/or poorly managed, and the lack of coordination created a frustrating and uncomfortable atmosphere for everyone waiting.

To make matters worse, a woman in a black suit that was a host or manager, came out and addressed me in an unnecessary condescending and dismissive tone. Her demeanor was completely inappropriate for a hospitality setting. Having worked in Vegas for 12 years in the hospitality industry- I was furious.

Even more disturbing was witnessing this same woman publicly scold a young Asian woman, who appeared to be a host, directly in front of guests. Watching an employee be belittled in such a demeaning way was appalling and deeply unprofessional. It made an already tense environment feel even more uncomfortable and it was absolutely unprofessional to do so in the eye of patrons.

When I asked to speak with the General Manager, I was told he was unavailable and that no one else could assist me because they simply did not have time. I was essentially turned away, with no attempt to acknowledge or resolve the situation. The complete lack of accountability and basic customer service was astounding.

This experience was not just disappointing, it was unacceptable. What was meant to be a joyful and celebratory evening instead became a display of poor management, disorganization, and a lack of respect for both guests and staff. This was the place I recommended and was extremely embarrassed...

I wanted to love this place because of the beautiful ambiance and fully stocked top shelf bar. There are several reasons that my partner and I won’t return. We had reservations for 9pm and we were seated promptly. We asked the server if the restaurant served food. His reply was, “yes but the kitchen just closed.” My partner asked whether he could see a lunch menu since he works in a nearby office building and would consider The Holbrook for lunch. The server rolled his eyes and responded dismissively by saying, “ I can’t do that because the menus are already put away, but we have sandwiches and stuff.” We ordered a second drink and the server dropped off the check without asking if we would like to stay longer. He commented, “here you go buddy”, and placed the check in front of my partner. The buddy designation was condescending and the check placement assumed that partner was responsible for the check. We asked, “ what time are you closing?” He said, not until midnight but there are so few tables in the bar right now I am trying to close it down now. We asked once again, “are we allowed to stay?” He sighed and remarked, “yeah stay”. There were four other couples in the restaurant, yet we were the only couple who received notice that the restaurant was closing. That was potentially racially motivated and discriminatory. We decided that we were not wanted there, so we left after having given a 30 percent tip. The server then asked, “ were we sure about the tip?” The vibe I got was that because of our race we were...