Merchant Roots — Restaurant in San Francisco

Disappointed with the overall experience unfortunately.

They have mistakenly booked me for the wrong menu, which did not comply with my dietary conditions. No refund or even response. Not something you’d expect for this price point.

Service: I booked the dinner + pairing several moths ahead and paid ~$1k for a party of 2 for a regular non-vegetarian dinner service. ~1 month ahead of the reservation date, something came up and I have requested my reservation to be rescheduled for another date. Via email, I was offered an alternative date, which I agreed to right away.

When we arrived, we were given a little tour of the space and a speech on how everything in the space, including design, service and everything else was done by the “chefs”, presented as something unique. Throughout the evening, it showed to be true - felt like a group of amateurs tried to put together a restaurant and run it without hiring any experienced personnel.

Vibes: Furniture (except the outdoor bench - that was gorgeous) decor and other aspects were a bit off, with plastic plants, someone’s phone chargers plugged in the wall, bags laying around (I guess that’s another example of “we do everything ourselves” vibe that’s meant to feel accommodating?).

Finally, the food: Both guests are meat eaters and never skip a protein source for their meals, so obviously the reservation was made for the regular menu. As we found out towards the end of the course menu, the restaurant made an error and booked us for a vegetarian service. It was a deal breaker for both of us and naturally resulted in a huge disappointment. Objectively, even given that it was vegetarian, most flavors were just bad - tasteless, extremely salty or spicy, and dishes were completely pretentious - looking and tasting mediocre at most. Textures were also strange - sometimes slimy, dry and combined with underwhelming flavors, unfortunately it was a fiasco for the vast majority of the dishes. The presentation was meant to be impressive, but it was just awkward and sometimes gross. For example hey are reusing the one-time decor like dried grass that was placed directly on serving plates; the dry ice was placed directly next to the food for the effects - not even sure how safe that is; at some point even some plastic tree leaves fell off the ceiling 😅

On the positive side: pairings were great as well as both deserts.

We have notified the staff about the error they have made when booking our reservation. They said that they acknowledge that it was their mistake. No apologies or solution were offered. I then emailed to see if I would be offered anything as a of compensation of sorts (I did pay $1k after all), but that message was simply ignored. I am left to assume that they don’t really care about your experience because they got the payment upfront.

To sum up, the main message “we are different” doesn’t live up to the realities of the restaurant: food is mid, vibes are off and what you get for over $500 pp is wildly disappointing. As to the error that’s been made on my reservation, I guess the solution was to let it go and ‘it iz...

Merchant Roots is the best restaurant you’ve never heard of. We’ve been to two of their tasting menus (Color Theory, and The Great Trees) and both were incredible. The team puts an incredible amount of creativity into their entirely new menu every quarter, and weaving unique stories and themes in to each of the typically ~10 courses. Each dish is its own mini masterpiece. For example - with Color Theory, each dish centered around both the visual color but also the emotion the color evokes - for the yellow course, think a crispy yellow potato topping that feels and sounds like crackling Fall leaves.

The restaurant only has 2 seatings a night, and up to 8 people per seating. This also means you get to interact directly with Chef Ryan and the rest of the team while they take you throughout the story. The wine pairings were solid both times - since they’re a smaller restaurant, they can get wines from smaller producers who don’t produce enough to be able to service larger restaurants. They also have a beautiful full-wall piece of art from local artist Meghan Shimek and her wool roving.

We’ve been to many tasting menus, but this one is by far our favorite and the one we always recommend to others. And the price point is well below what you’d expect for the level of the experience. My only regret in writing this review is more people may discover it and it’ll make it harder to get a table for future menus!

Note - given how much work goes into each dish, they can't do substitutions unless they state it's possible, which varies by menu. For example, one of their menu themes was seafood focused, so they offered a pescatarian option. And their current The Great Trees and upcoming Vanity Fair menus are offering a few nights where they can do a gluten free or vegetarian option. Make sure you check their website and/or reservations page to see what options...

I would give zero stars if I could. I made a prepaid reservation at this restaurant, paying the full price up front. Unfortunately, both my friend and I came down with COVID right before our reservation. Out of respect for public health and their own staff and fellow diners, I contacted the restaurant immediately to cancel and asked for a refund or even a credit toward a future date.

I spoke directly with Ryan, the head chef, and his response? A cold, unapologetic refusal. No refund. No reschedule. He pushed me to find others who could take me and my friend’s spot after he said they find it nearly impossible to fill spots the day before. No consideration whatsoever. Essentially: “Thanks for your money, too bad you’re sick.”

I even asked if he would prefer if my friend and I show up with covid and he said “that’s a choice you would have to make.” It contradicts what he has on his site which says:

“Merchant Roots has heavily considered the current health climate due to recent variants and trends, as presented by COVID-19. We are ensuring that our staff continues to remain current with their vaccinations; and we are additionally requesting that all guests continue to do the same.” But coming into the restaurant testing positive for Covid is okay?

I understand restaurants have policies, but good businesses also have compassion and common sense. Penalizing customers for doing the responsible thing and staying home while contagious is not only heartless, it actively encourages people to show up sick just to avoid losing hundreds of dollars. That is dangerous, irresponsible, and frankly shameful.

This place clearly values profit over people. I won’t be back, and I’ll be warning others to steer clear of a business that treats its patrons with such disregard. There are plenty of restaurants that understand hospitality means more than just...