Moongate Lounge — Restaurant in San Francisco

I have been to Moongate a few times now and I thought it was finally time to leave a review; since it has become one of my favorite places to go to when in San Francisco.

The people, and in turn the service, at Moongate are top tier. The hostess always makes sure to give my friends and I the best spot that is available and they are always friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. The servers really do set the bar high in regards to how service should be handled. They are welcoming, on-point with service experience and they give the BEST recommendations for menu items; which can be overwhelming because everything looks good. I can say everything I have had has been very good so there are no wrong choices.

Their menu feels seasonal with them swapping out certain items but still keeping the staples. I absolutely LOVE the warm olives. They are warmed up and taste meaty. You will salivate thinking about them once you have had them once. If you are hungry, go there and don't know what to order. Burger. Get the burger. The burger. For those in the back, THE BURGER! The scallops are PHENOMENAL too.

As far as drinks go, it sounds like an eye roll but you REALLY can't go wrong with any of the drinks. I have resorted to just telling our server what kind of taste I am looking for and whatever they offer has always been good. If you are someone who wants to keep it lowkey and go for an espresso martini kind of night, they have something called the Major Snow, which basically is a blended espresso martini. Something about how they blend the ice makes it the smoothest blended drink.

I HIGHLY recommend Moongate. The music, ambiance and the vibe can be summed up as captivating, lively, sexy...

Waited a long time to come here and finally came for drinks for my birthday. It was a hugely disappointing experience. We had reservations for “lounge seating” but were given a standing table in the bar by the host (the no res area). Most of the lounge area was still empty so we asked if we could sit since we had a res. Instead they brought us barstools and proceeded to ignore us for the entire evening. It was my birthday so I was really bummed, I even tried to ask and waved down service and was polite about it, but even at the end we could not get water refilled, another drink, or even the check to come without waiting 10 mins and flagging someone. Meanwhile those who arrived with reservations were seated in the lounge area and waited on promptly. I guess I have no idea what our reservation was for, or why we were treated poorly. We also had to pay for a babysitter for this night out and having to sit around and wait and overall have a crummy experience was just lame. Fortunately our dinner res was at Empress of China and we had a phenomenal experience. If you are looking for cocktails / meal in Chinatown and want a better experience than gentrified food and snobby staff, maybe try that instead. It has been more than a decade since I have been so disappointed. I get there are busy and off nights, but the place was not...

Beware of an 18% charge that doesn’t count as a tip.

Edit: Replying to MGL's reply - no one has reached out to me yet, but FWIW the hostess did explain that 9% of the charge goes to BOH and 9% goes to FOH. But the fact that 1) none of this is communicated on any material - paper or digital - and 2) she told me specifically that it was NOT a tip and in fact, I should tip what I usually tip for service at similar restaurants ON TOP of the charge, is what left a bad taste in my mouth.

Great ambience, drinks and snacks. We got the focaccia, cheese, olives, tea and a few cocktails. The seasonal drink with gin/shiso/pomelo was a standout. Service was great!

I’m taking off a lot of stars because they add an 18% “fair wage surcharge” on the bill that isn’t mentioned anywhere on their menu, website or bill/receipt. When I asked the hostess, she said it wasn’t meant to take the place of a tip. I felt compelled to still leave an 18% tip after that conversation because the service industry has taken a beating during COVID.

So I guess we either got bamboozled or just paid an extra ~40% on our drinks and snacks, which is pretty steep.

I would’ve been more okay with this if it was mentioned somewhere, but we couldn’t find anything. I left Moongate Lounge with a bad taste in my mouth, and felt tricked. I’m not sure...