STK Steakhouse — Restaurant in San Francisco

My husband and I love to eat out and we enjoy trying different restaurants in various cities across the country and internationally. We greatly appreciate good service, good food and good ambiance. We have been to STK in San Diego and really enjoyed our experience so we were excited to see STK open up in our city of San Francisco. I just flew black from San Diego this evening and I was delighted to learn my husband booked us a table at this STK for dinner. Sadly, my excitement was met with disappointment through a comedy of errors. Upon arrival, the ambiance and vibe were just as we expected. Our hostess was friendly and seated us quickly with our menus. So far, so good. Some time passed and our server walked by and said he would be with us shortly. We decided on cocktails and when our server came back we ordered cocktails. Then our server asked if we had any questions about the menu. We said we did not so he asked if we had made our selections. I didn't expect to order that early, but said sure if you'd like us to order now. We ordered salads to start then he inquired about entrees and sides, so we ordered our steak and side choices and my husband ordered two glasses of cab to arrive with our entrees. Our server left. At this point we still had empty water glasses on our table and no one had come by to ask if we wanted water. Some time passed and our salads arrived. Yet, we still didn't have our cocktails, nor did we have any water. I saw several staff buzzing about and made attempts to gain the attention of a staff member to ask for some water, but my attempts were unsuccessful. Finally, I managed to capture the attention of someone and asked if it was possible for us to get some water while we wait for our cocktails and eat our salads. She took care of us immediately and told us she would check on our cocktail orders. She returned with two cocktails and one glass of cab. We thanked her and informed her that we actually ordered two glasses of cab with our entrees and intended to start with cocktails. She said that makes sense and said she would speak with our server. Half way through my salad, our entrees and sides arrived. The person delivering everything noted that I was still working on my salad, but given that I don't want to eat my steak cold and there is limited space on the table, I directed him to take the other half of my salad away. Luckily, our steaks were cooked to order and were good. The Brussels sprouts were also very good. We weren't fans of the tater tots. Our wine was delivered not long after our entrees. Someone came by to check on us and we said in a kind way that we'd like to offer some constructive feedback from a diner's perspective, so we informed him of the issues with timing. He thanked us for the feedback. Our server returned as we were finishing up and asked if we were done. I asked if he could please box up the rest of my husband's NY strip and the Brussels sprouts and he said no problem and took our plates. Later he indicated there will be a chef dessert selection arriving on the house. Someone delivered some fresh donut holes with dipping sauces and a slice of cheesecake. That was a kind gesture given everything that transpired. He returned to take away the dishes and left the bill on the table. He didn't ask if we'd like anything else, such as coffee or after dinner drinks or more wine, which I found odd, before he brought the check. Sadly, I never got the leftover food I asked him to box up for me. I was really hoping for a better experience. My husband actually apologized to me and said he wanted it to be a good experience for me since I was excited about him making the reservation for us and taking me out when I returned from San Diego for work. I'm grateful that he made the time and effort to take me there and I really hope the feedback offered will lead to improvements to make future dining experiences great for others. I struggled between 3...

I am posting my experience as a review because STK did not respond to my customer inquiry on their website. Last week, my partner and I were both denied the happy hour menu during the happy hour service. I note that a day after our visit, another customer was able to receive happy hour service, see the review before mine. STK refused to give us happy hour service because of the Dreamforce event. Was this actually the reason? Or was it because of something else? Was it because we were dressed casually, and not in a white collar as all the other tech patrons? Please explain, STK, and respond to make things right. Thank you.

Dear STK Management,

I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with the false happy hour advertising and poor management I experienced at your San Francisco location on 1 Market Plaza on September 12, 2023.

I visited your restaurant with my partner for happy hour, which is advertised on your website as being available from 3pm to 6:30 pm Monday through Friday. When we arrived at 5:15 pm, we were seated and ordered drinks from the happy hour menu. However, after we had already placed our drink order, the waiter informed us that happy hour was not available that day because of Salesforce's Dreamforce convention. I was shocked and disappointed to hear this, as I had specifically come to your restaurant for happy hour.

The waiter spoke to Ryan, the manager that evening, and he came over to inform us that happy hour was not being offered and abruptly left. The waiter returned to ask us if Ryan had mentioned that he would NOT be honoring the happy hour prices. We were both appalled by this news, and felt like it was NOT the right thing to do. Ryan returned to our table and said, "Is there a problem?", and we reiterated again that we felt misled and disappointed by their failure to disclose the unavailability of the happy hour menu. Ryan said there was nothing he can do because he did not have the "key" to make adjustments to our tab. The most he could do was give us $5 off for each $21 cocktail, this felt really disrespectful and like a slap in the face. He left again, and was nowhere to be found. Another person on the team came up to us and gave each of us 1 free pour of champagne. We accepted this, but we still did not feel like things were made right that night. The waiter returned and handed us the check. He was the only person that night advocated for us, and did all he could do to help us. He was very kind, and shared deep disappointment in management's decision.

As a born and raised San Franciscan, and a first time patron, this left a bad impression and made me and my partner feel uncomfortable. I will be sure to warn my friends and family about my experience. I urge STK Steakhouse to make things right for my customer service experience. I also urge your team to better communicate with the customer about no happy hour service during the SalesForce Dreamforce event. To find that STK restaurants would rather cater to corporate tech companies than the locals is unsurprising in this day and age, but this entire experience was a cherry on top to feeling even more belittled.

I hope this message goes a long way, because this experience needs to...

I had read the reviews prior as it was mt boyfriends’ birthday and was excited to try this place. O had let the staff member know while I made the reservations were to celebrate a birthday. We arrived as our reservations were at 8:30p.m. we were seated at 8:55p.m. Our waiter came over, but we had not yet decided what we were going to order. We ordered 2 drinks. The waiter came back without drinks and we were than ready to order. My boyfriend ordered the maple salmon, and I ordered the braised short rib with 2 sides. We patiently waited and nothing. The waiter came and apologized for the extended wait (as we had now been waiting 45 minutes.) My boyfriend orders another drink, after waiting an additional 10 minutes another staff member came over and apologized (a Caucasian man, slender with glasses) he offered us bread as we were still waiting.) Our food finally arrives about an hour later. The food was nothing short of a complete disappointment! A piece of salmon, some steam asparagus and 3 cherry tomatoes cut in half took an hour?? You have to be kidding me! My order look like a meatball just thrown over mash potatoes. It was burnt! As shown in the photo. Completely unacceptable. Again, it was his birthday, and I did not want to make a big fuss. The restaurant was extremely busy staff running back and forth. Another staff member must had seen the look on out face and asked what we were drinking, and he would take care of it. Our waiter arrived and noticed I took one bite of my food and my boyfriend had barely touched his. He stated is there anything else I can get you? I mentioned the drinks which he was unaware of. He brings the drunks 15 minutes later. (Not his fault obviously there was a lack in communication) He notices we left the food and comes back and says, “we are going to comp your meal and you just have to pay for your drinks.” I thought to myself (Ok well you did not do us a favor as the food was hardly touched, the wait was an hour, and the experience was not even what I expected) He asked again “is there anything else I can do for you? I shared, “it was my boyfriend actually birthday and he says “oooooh we have cheesecake, etc.” My boyfriend chose the cheesecake. He comes over with the cheesecake and my boyfriend blows out his candle. I’m not sure how this place works but I’ve been to other steakhouses and its usually noted when a guest makes reservations regarding a birthday. I thought the waiter would automatically know and would not need to be told. Needless to say the experience was horrible. I also noticed this place states “formal” I see fitted hats, jeans, and other guest in crocs, etc. The music was extremely loud, and all the DJ played was mostly bay area music which was extremely vulgar. My waiter had to come shoulder to shoulder to hear me. It was extremely overpacked. It felt more like a nightclub than an actual restaurant. I also noticed this place does not card people for drinks. The young ladies next to our table were not OVER 21 and they ordered drinks one after another. This place is defiantly overpriced and presumptuous. I really wanted to love this place but 3 drinks later and sadly disappointment. None of my...