I was booking an afternoon tea reservation several weeks in advance through OpenTable, and I was surprised to see that it automatically defaults to adding a 20% tip at the time of booking. How can anyone know what level of service they'll receive weeks before the reservation even takes place? Tipping should reflect the actual dining experience, not be assumed in advance. What was even more confusing was the statement that 100% of the tip goes directly to the restaurant. If that's the case, does the server actually receive the gratuity, or is the restaurant simply collecting it when the reservation is made? The whole process feels misleading and raises unnecessary questions about where the money is actually going. read more

Astra - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

After multiple visits for both breakfast and dinner, I can confidently say that Astra is one of the most overpriced dining experiences I've had in San Francisco. The food simply does not justify the price point. For breakfast, we tried the Croissant Sandwich and the Truffle Egg Omelette. Both felt excessively heavy and overloaded with butter. The croissants themselves tasted more store-bought than freshly made. The Truffle Egg Croissant was smothered in béchamel sauce to the point where any truffle flavor was completely lost. Dinner wasn't much better. We ordered a risotto and another pasta dish, both priced around $40. Unfortunately, both were bland and lacked even basic seasoning. The risotto in particular was missing salt and overall flavor, making it hard to understand the premium pricing. The service was equally disappointing. There seemed to be an excessive number of staff involved in the process--one host checked us in, another seated us, someone else handled water and coffee, then an actual server, plus a manager circulating around. Despite all these touchpoints, service was consistently slow and disorganized. During our first breakfast visit, we were seated at a table that hadn't even been properly set up. The restaurant wasn't busy, yet service was still extremely slow. After we had already been waiting for about 15 minutes, a manager came over to explain there was an issue in the kitchen and that our food would arrive shortly. Strangely, the food appeared almost immediately afterward, making the explanation feel odd. On another visit, the restaurant was busy and one server appeared completely overwhelmed--running between tables, visibly stressed, while multiple guests around us were complaining about delays. At the same time, other servers in the same section seemed unaffected and were receiving food for their tables without issue. The overall operation felt poorly managed. For a restaurant charging premium prices, I expect exceptional food and polished service. Unfortunately, Astra delivered neither. Between the ordinary food, unfriendly service, and steep prices, I don't see myself returning. read more

Astra - Truffle omelette - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Here for a private event. The food was exquisite. The bread, the creamy soup, the soft roasted turnips, everything was great. There was a private room that was quiet and insulated and the servers were attentive. Though it was a bit hard to find at first. The front staff weren't sure where I should go at first. read more

I keep returning here for the afternoon tea service for its excellent hospitality and service. I know I won't have to worry with a toddler who's now 4 years old. We started taking her here since she was 1 year and a half to celebrate milestones. We tried Thanksgiving brunch and more than 5 afternoon teas here for her. Their service here and Ritz Carlton's are probably the best in the area for this sort of stuff. We made a mistake of taking her to Fairmont for Christmas last year for the gingerbread house, and the service was less than stellar. read more

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Visited this restaurant for breakfast while taking a trip to San Francisco. Food was amazing! I ordered the Chilaquiles Verde and it was great. Perfect portion of food, and the eggs they use are farm fresh. The yolk was a rich golden color and tasted better than your average egg. The ambiance is nice and beautiful interior. There was a slight issue with the Open Table booking system. Open table was still taking reservations even though they had requested to turn off reservations due to how busy they were. However, the restaurant still accommodated us and prioritized seating us so we only had to wait about 5 mins. Overall great customer service from management and wait staff! read more

Honestly, what an absolute disaster of a restaurant for the St. Regis. Let me start with that I absolutely love the St. Regis San Francisco. My favorite hotel in San Francisco and one of my favorites I have been in. However my experience for breakfast at Astra was just not good at all. They sat me right away. It was fairly busy so I understand that the servers had their hands full. However I waited for nearly 15 minutes at my table before a server approached me. One of the helpers asked if i wanted something to drink, and I tried to order then they said they'd get my server. Over 10 minutes later after asking again my server finally arrived. Typically not a big deal but I was in a rush so waiting 15 minutes wasn't ideal. The avocado toast I ordered came out in 5ish minutes - way less time than it took to order. It looked gorgeous, and as I dug in I realized the toast wasn't actually toasted. They gave me a cold piece of acme wheat toast with avocado and an egg on top. I double checked the menu to make sure it was supposed to be toasted - it was. I asked for another that was toasted and they apologized profusely and got me another. This one, while toasted, was MUCH thinner. It also just wasn't that good. Like at all. For $30, absolutely absurd that this is what you get. They did offer to comp it though so that was nice. I'll give 3 stars instead of 2 for that. Their room service is also the most expensive I've ever had. If you're going to eat at the st Regis i recommend going elsewhere or ordering DoorDash. read more

When in San Francisco, I always come here. The food is delicious, I love the service, and it always looks very clean and organized. Norma is extremely attentive and kind, and the hostess Maritza tend to always give a good time. I would totally reccomend the burgers, salads, and checkout the wine. If interested in near things to do after: SF MOMA, yerbabuena park, and union square. Have a great time! read more

We came to Astra on the Monday before Christmas for lunch. Astra is a restaurant adjacent to the St. Regis hotel lobby, but it isn't clearly marked as such, so we had to ask the receptionist in the hotel lobby. No big deal, but there wasn't a whole lot of signage and thought at first that it was the hotel bar. Ambiance: The Astra decor has a magical, luxurious vibe. Gold trim, glass, and mirrors line the restaurant along with plush velvet seating in teal and muted pink colors, shiny green-blue wall tiles, and live white orchids accenting each table. Service: We were there on an unusual day-the Monday-before-Christmas lunch-and the service was kind of off. Three or four different people came to our table over the course of our visit, so I'm not actually sure who our server was. It took quite some time for someone to even take our order in the first instance, even though the restaurant was not terribly busy. I wouldn't say that the service was bad -- it wasn't, it just wasn't as good as I would have expected it to be for a restaurant in the St. Regis. Food: The food was quite good. I ordered the salmon with buerre blanc, vegetables, and subbed fries for polenta. The salmon was perfectly cooked and well seasoned. The buerre blanc sauce was also very good, but there was more sauce than I would have expected. To be clear, I do like buerre blanc, and I knew it was a component of the dish I ordered. But the fish and veggies were swimming in a large pool of it -- so, something for folks who order this dish to know. The fries were crispy and delicious. The others ordered the hamburger and the bolognese, which both finished and enjoyed. We also ordered some espresso after lunch, which was very good and served with chocolate biscotti. Yum. Astra also does various high tea services, with their holiday high tea on current offer. When you enter the restaurant, you can see a few tables set up for this experience, and it looked amazing. I do hope to come back and give this a try with friends. Overall, Astra is a beautiful restaurant in a beautiful hotel with food that is quite good. I wish Yelp allowed half stars because for me, this is more like a 4.5. I absolutely hope to come back to try their high tea service in the future. read more

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For lunch on Tuesday, my friend and I tried Astra during SF Restaurant week. I didn't have a good experience. Given the price for the lunch special ($45), I was severely disappointed. For lunch (2 courses), I started with the salad which was leaves of romaine with a cilantro dressing - very much reminiscent of a Caesar. Very simple - minimal ingredients. This dish I enjoyed. It was nicely presented and a lovely starter. My second course was Ora Salmon (New Zealand source) with quinoa, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. The salmon was a unnatural extreme pink color. It was quite a large piece. Very soft inside and it was even a bit red inside. Looking back, I'm thinking the fish had been frozen then thawed? The salmon was served tepid - not hot. Seems as if the chef prepared the fish using a blow torch to the exterior and drizzled some beurre blanc on the plate. There was no seasoning and the fish tasted BLAND. The fish was not even warm as if it had been sitting on the counter awhile. My friend had the wagyu burger and fries. She said the meat didn't taste like wagyu. She had just returned from Japan so she would know. Later in the evening and next day, she suffered symptoms of food poisoning! Horrible! The décor of the restaurant was modern. Almost no one was there. What before had been an open air lobby is now filled up with bar seating and the restaurant. It feels claustrophobic in the lobby bar area. If you go, choose inside the restaurant. The dining room had only 3 parties in it and the hostess places us by the family of 4 where two children were making some noise and coughing a bit. Bad choice by the hostess considering I had a note on my Open Table reservation to choose a good table and not by the kitchen door - which where she placed us. I asked to move our table. Overall = 3.0 Food = 2.0 (due to my friend's food poisoning) Ambiance= 3.5 Service = 4 read more

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The food and the service is amazing and the most important part of my experience every time I'm here are the servers! Kudos to all of them and the great job they are doing. read more

Food is hotel food and quite pricey, but was a solid brunch spot! I just don't think the price justifies it! It's a nice spot in St. Regis Hotel on Mission St. There's plenty of spots to eat here so there isn't much of a wait time! I would avoid the avocado toast by the way! read more

This is the restaurant at the St Regis. As you would expect, the service is absolutely impeccable. The ambiance is classy and comfortable. I just had breakfast here, the eggs were very good but I am not a fan of the cheese on the hash browns. I don't think I have seen that elsewhere. read more

Astra - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Astra was such a great experience. Located in the St. Regis Hotel, its eclectic decor stands out! The service was AMAZING. The staff is sweet and accommodating. They know what good service is, looks and feels like. We were a party of 8 and celebrated a friend's birthday. My friend really wanted a mimosa flight but they didn't have one on the menu. The server and bartender were sweet enough to arrange one for her. Soooo amazing. I had the Bloody Mary Flight which includes 4 different bloody Mary's that have some vodka, gin and tequila. VERY DELICIOUS and would totally have again. The gin/vodka mixed one was my fave. I had the Wagyu Burger and asked for it to be Medium. It looked very much medium rare, close to rare in the middle and the same happened with a friend's steak (hence the one star off). Parking is available on the street on Market but hard to get. You could pay $26 parking in the SFMOMA garage directly across the street (which we ended up doing). Overall, it was a very chic brunch! read more

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My best friend and I went for an afternoon high tea service here, and Asesh made our experience absolutely perfect. He was kind, professional, and very patient with us. He took the time to explain the menu and the different types of tea, recommending the perfect choices based on our preferences. We loved our selections and had a great chat. Throughout the experience, he checked on us to ensure everything was going well. The venue is beautiful, elegant, and has a modern feel. We loved the decorations and appreciated the luxurious ambiance. It's located in the St. Regis San Francisco hotel The food was beautifully presented and delicious. We enjoyed everything served to us and ended up taking some home because we were so full. High tea here is currently priced at $150 per person. They also offer breakfast, brunch, and lounge/bar-type dishes. The ambiance is nice and relaxed. In summary, we definitely recommend the high tea service here. It's worth a try, and we will surely come back. Come experience it for yourself and ask for Asesh or say hi to him. Thank you so much, Asesh and staff, for your hospitality. You truly gave us one of the best high tea experiences. read more

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Went to this place for Valentine's Day set menu and it was ok. They were late and only seated us 45 min post reservation time. The bread and dessert were good and the short ribs but most dishes were just average. Particularly the lobster was tougher than you'd expect with insufficient sauce. The ambiance was fine dining and service was a little slow. read more

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Yummy desert! But why do I have to write 85 characters to post this review. That's annoying. read more

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I did afternoon tea at the St. Regis several years ago. They still do afternoon tea here, but in a redone space under a different name, Astra. We recently did their special Lunar New Year afternoon tea. Savories were dim sum rather than sandwiches, and the set came with a welcome champagne toast. It came with desserts as well, which I thought tasted pretty good. I wasn't a fan of the tea I got (St. Regis blend) - it smelled better than it actually tasted, which was bland. I asked for another tea that I was willing to pay for and got the Secret Garden (definitely liked this better), which they ended up not charging me for, according to them to make up for their slow service and in the spirit of the new year. I thought that was a nice touch. Other items to note: The space is beautiful and seems to get busy on the weekend, perfect for people watching. As for parking, we did valet on our visit since the garage we usually park at was not letting cars in. Btw valet parking costs $24 when eating at Astra (cash not accepted). Overall, it was a pleasant afternoon tea experience at Astra. read more

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Free breakfast for Platinum Bonvoy member and this restaurant is excellent!! I had one of the best pancakes I ever had here. My husband enjoyed his breakfast plate as well. Yes it is expensive and portion is not that big but it was an amazing breakfast. read more

Excellent service and delicious food. Perfect place for a quiet table for one. Will definitely go back to this little gem. read more

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Simple menu (and pretty expensive), but absolutely delicious and worth every penny. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. The pancake was particularly exceptional. My only complaint would have to be that we made a reservation for 12pm, and they said they closed at 12pm and almost didn't serve us. But we explained it to them, and they served us despite that. Other than that, amazing experience, friendly staff, nice atmosphere, great food. We would definitely come back. read more

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Maybe we went at the wrong time, during off hours, but the food was just off. We found this place on OpenTable with pretty good reviews, so we went around 2pm. I ordered the steak. The portion size of the steak was okay, a bit in the smaller size but how it was cooked was just horrible. There wasn't a crust, the steak was over cooked and very rubbery. It seemed like it was simply microwaved... the service was okay, a bit slow. The ambiance was very nice though. I feel like the bar would be a great place to have a drink and chat with friends. My only complaint was how the food was cooked. read more

Astra - Steak - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

Took my sister and her baby boy in this restaurant for a lunch date and had an amazing dining experience. Food was delicious and perfectly cooked. Ambiance and dining area is classy. Staff are accommodating and friendly. Overall, we had a great time dining in here. 5-star on this place for me. One of the best read more

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The restaurant is down on the first floor and our table felt like it was in the Lobby. We did the Tea Experience: The tea was excellent, the sandwiches and pastries were a bit stale and the price was unbelievably high for the service and ambiance ($150 each with forced 20% service). I was so disappointed. read more

Astra - The Tea Experience - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

Amazing! Plan for your next breakfast! Recommend the French press! Can't forget the aesthetic of the hotel! read more

Came here for the thanksgiving spread with one other friend. Literally the food portions for two people were the same if not smaller than the one person sitting next to us. The tables were sooooo small and the service is bizarre. We can barely understand some of the wait staff. The amuse was tiniest dollop of caviar on a sliced waffle... like really. You can just make small waffles. . . But no, they went the cheap route. The butternut soup tasted like Penang curry. The turkey was dry and there was a tiny serving of mashed potatoes. The stuffing was dense . And the desserts were definitely premade..: the tart shell for the pecan pie was so hard that I had to request a knife (they didn't bring us one) and even then it was work to just through it. And the cream was so strong that you might as well be eating a spoon of clove. People were nice, but for the price and auto included gratuity you can easily have an excellent meal at a Michelin rated restaurant. This place wants to charge fine dining prices but serve barely acceptable hotel food and doing this on the cheap at every turn. Major turn off to the St Regis brand. Will NOT return. read more

Had a nice lunch here while at the office. On a weekday for lunch, the place was quiet. The staff were attentive and kind. The lunch menu isn't huge but the food was good, albeit a little on the pricier side since it's inside the St. Regis hotel. Overall an enjoyable nice lunch! read more

As I entered the lounge, I was kindly greated by the hostess, I had arrived for breakfast and getting ready for a long work day. All the staff that assisted me was very nice. I would like to highlight Kane and Mandeep, they have created a wonderful experience and have been attentive to me. Every time ive visited Astra, Kane always greets me with a smile, is professional and kind to me. The food was delicious and had a fabulous presentation! Thank you ST Regis San Francisco read more

I loved my time dining for breakfast here, the ambiance is relaxing, and the service was very friendly too. Angel, our server, was especially kind to make wonderful matcha exactly how I like it after asking me my preference. She was very sweet and attentive. I recommend this place for a calm dining experience. read more

Astra - American Near Me - San Francisco, California

First, I want to start out by saying that this is the first time I have ever left a review on any experience in my life. The highlight of the dinner was having the wine spilt all over me. And I mean this genuinely because it finally gave us something to laugh about. It was just unbelievably bad. We came for the valentines Prix Fix menu and had a reservation at 8:30. They told us it would be a 20 minute wait before we could get to our table but a waiter would come to us to get us drinks while we waited. We weren't seated until 9pm and had to ask twice for a waiter for our drinks, we never got that service. Finally we get seated and our order taken, then we wait... and wait... and wait. Finally by 9:30 we receive the amuse-bouche (an hour after our reservation). It was supposed to be a warm (fried?) single bite dish and was lukewarm if you want to be generous. Well we finished that by 9:31. We waited quite sometime and finally realized we wouldn't be done with all 4 course of the pre-fixed menu and gave up and asked for the food to go. The waiter looked at us wide-eyed and said "how about we just speed up the serious" we nodded and he left. About 5 minutes later he brought out course 2 and 3 in record time. He told us he stole it from another table as we were getting glaring looks from the other tables that had already been there for hours. We each took a bite. The worst short rib I've ever experienced. Trader Joe's could have done a better microwave short rib and at least that would have been warm. Both of our dishes were absolutely cold. To the waiters credit, at this point, he did bring out a free glass of wine. Which he then proceeded to spill all over the table and our food. At this point we just started laughing. Luckily he brought me out a 2nd meal because the wine ruined the first. And even more lucky for us, this one wasn't cold, it was luke warm!!! Honestly no point in going in further but gosh I just cannot believe how unbelievably unprepared this restaurant was. It was not the severs fault but it was the fault of whatever idiot set up this night. It was a prix fixed course and was still hours behind. It's impressive to be that bad (even ignoring the $150 /ppprice tag) Please don't come here! Thanks! read more

Astra Restaurant is one of the best restaurants I've been to. I love their food, especially the pancakes. They have great surroundings,especially the painting of the mountains. Even though the service is a little slow, the food is worth the wait. - Arjun, age 8, and Tiny, age 6.5 read more