Ok manage your expectations. They are students trying to learn the industry. The food for what it is is great. People complaining must be dissatisfied with everything in life. The servers were nervous and cute in their newness. They were attentive but not overly so. The food was good! If you're looking for a true 5 star experience you're gonna spend 15x but for students doing their best it has a unique charm and appeal to it and for 19 dollars can't be beat.
Neal
Fine-dining meal for $19!!This is a wonderful little restaurant, on the fourth floor of Burk Hall, that's only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays currently. You should make a reservation on Yelp, but I think they allow walk-ins. There's a prix fix option, which is just under $20.50 after tax. You get to choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and drinks. Only cash or checks are accepted.The bread provided was foccacia cut into diamond-shaped pieces. The bread that they first brought out was hard and dry, so I told them it was hard. More bread was brought out promptly and it was softer, but still dry. I didn't tell them it was dry because I didn't want to be difficult. I had some lemonade to drink, and it was pretty good. I also had tea at the end, but it was piping hot and I didn't get a chance to drink much. It was fine.I chose to have the house green salad for my appetizer. It was a good mix of leafy-greens covered in vinaigrette. It wasn't special, but good. I decided to have the pasta of the week for my entree. It was penne pasta salad with feta cheese, capers, and cooked grape tomatoes. It was absolutely delicious and I basically inhaled it. For dessert, I chose the pumpkin bundt cake. It was fantastic. It was moist, soft, a little misshapen, but still delicious. The créme anglaise was like melted ice cream, and I loved it.The waiters were students and had more to learn. Service was very good, despite mistakes. The person who seemed like an instructor was great. You won't be able to find a three-course fine-dining meal anywhere else in San Francisco for the same price. The portions are good sizes and you'll leave feeling fed, but not stuffed. I highly recommend checking this place out.Vegetarian options: Vegetarian options available.Kid-friendliness: A child might like the art and views out the windows.Parking: Parking lot nearby.Wheelchair accessibility: Use elevator to get up, doors of Vista Room are wide enough.Dietary restrictions: Ask for more information.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Greg W.
The Vista Room it still one of my favorite places to visit, really close to campus and specially to have a great time with some good food.
ALMiibo
Restaurant is neatly organized and very clean!
Joshua C.
Great place to support the students at SFSU! For a restaurant, it lacks the nuances that make a restaurant good but overall is not too bad! The menu is hit or miss but if you try things that sound interesting, it's pretty good! Presentation of food need more work and just overall attention to detail will make the restaurant more popular but then again, it's for a class.
Robert J.
It's been about 3 years since we went here and the quality has shrunk considerably. I lay much of the blame on the teaching staff who apparently do minimal supervision of the students. We arrived yesterday with our party of 4 and were seated right away in a round table. The first thing I noticed was the rockiness of the table top. We mentioned it to the waiter who acknowledged it, but did nothing to correct it. Additionally, there were no silverware or condiments (salt and pepper) on the table. Has there been a rash of thievery or are they just unprepared? The first thing we ordered were ice tea and we specified lots of ice. Well the tea was room temperature with no ice. What kind of place serves ice tea with no ice? We finally had to ask our waiter for separate glasses of ice. He should have been on top of this. Speaking of which, our waiter did not look professional, but disheveled. Maybe its okay for walking around the campus, but not when you are serving paying customers. They ran out of one of the appetizers and one of the main courses. The bread served was hard and not flavorful. It would have been better to serve Boudin french bread than what they have. No butter was provided, just some oil for the bread. The best thing was the salad appetizer and the chicken salad main course. The pasta dishes were served in large white bowls which magnified the small quantity of pasta served. I had a peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I could hardly taste the peach as it was drenched by too much cake batter. The price was $18/person. One could order any of the dishes (appetizer, entree, dessert) separately. If this is the best instruction they can provide, then the students need to go out in the real world and understand what value is in serving patrons, certainly they will not gain any experience here. Not a good value.
Hao B.
The Vista Room located on 4th floor of Burke Hall at SFSU is part of a hospitality management program for students getting some degree of experience in the restaurant field. I remembered when I had to partake in this course back in 2009, and it was much more expected of students to really shine as hospitality and tourism has been a growing industry especially with the unique market and demand of San Francisco. Now, I came here on Wednesday (4/3) after securing a reservation weeks in advance. My first impression after stepping in was that students wasn't really paying attention or greeting with a smile at their guest coming in....secondly, after being seated, while receiving our menu, the hostess (student) accidentally knocked over the vinaigrette which spilled a bit on my friend. Although the incident was accidental, the response of a quick, sorry wouldn't remedy the situation in an actual fine dining restaurant. A better apology with empathy should be noted here. The hostess also didn't provide another menu after getting vinaigrette all over my friend's menu...I suppose she forgot? After we've placed our order by going with a pre fixe selections (appetizer, entrée and dessert), the hostess didn't retrieve the menu right away...a bit odd to me after we've ordered. The menu was collected a bit much later. Food: I had the buffalo chicken wings (4ct), oyster mushroom po'boy sandwich and the pecan pie. Food was good, nothing extraordinary which I felt I had better back in my school days. The pre fixe also comes with coffee or you can get soft drinks, which is nice. Afterall, for $17 pre fixe, this is like a sampling experience and does reflect well on fine dining concept. Overall I felt that this restaurant experience lacked much of what a fine dining restaurant should entail. Students/workers didn't display the open hand while providing silverware/plates or even beverages. Our experience included many "elbow" arm instead of "open arm." Also, no attention to detail as our water glasses were empty...I had to call someone over to get a coffee refill...Most of the time, the workers were just socializing with each other and clustering in the small area by the entrance of the restaurant. I hope the faculty and teacher can improve our next generation of hospitality students. I hope the next time I come, I'll receive a better impression of our hospitality management program here at SFSU.
Amiibo Amiibro
Restaurant is neatly organized and very clean!
Kyle H.
Three months after graduating from SFSU, I have decided to come in here and try the new menu as a customer. The Vista Room is a learning laboratory and restaurant, where the servers are students who are in the Hospitality and Tourism Management program. The place simulates a fine dining atmosphere, with a reasonable prie fixe price. ($17 for an appetizer, entree, and a dessert, along with unlimited refills on things like bread, water, lemonade, teas, and drip coffee; They don't accept cash however. Payment is only by Credit or Debit Card: Visa, Mastercard, Discover) I ordered the prie fixe; I chose the Buffalo Chicken Wings, Oyster Mushroom Po'Boy and Bananas Foster. All were delicious and pretty filling! I would recommend bringing your friends, your family, etc to try the Vista Room at least once in your lifetime.
Betty Maddox
Quality Meals and the feeling here is quality. super tasty. i will be back with my friends. this place has a good feel to it. i can see why they have so many reviews.
quality meals... my favorite treat. This place is absolutely outstanding. Definitely worth a return trip.
Shruti Bhandakkar
Run by hospitality students from SF State. Good food and service. You've got the option to choose from fixed price menu which includes one appetizer one entree and one desert plus a drink. I think $17 is pretty steep for lunch. But good place :)
Philip F.
Good place to go if you're a college student that wants to take a chick out for a nice place to eat but you don't have a car to leave campus and you're trying to take her back to the dorms to smash before your 3PM chemistry class.
Peter C.
A restaurant on campus that is run by the SF State School of Business that gives students an opportunity to have hands on experience on the hospitality and service industry. I believe that the students are being graded as they serve patrons at the restaurant. They have a rotating menu for each day of the week and is open at lunch on weekdays during the regular school year. All meals here consists of a Non-Alcoholic Beverage, Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. The food here is good, but the portions are very small. I guess you have to sacrifice quantity for quality. The service here is very attentive and there is also a professor that is managing and supervising the restaurant. I do not believe that they take cash at the Vista Room and they also require a reservation in advance to guarantee a seat. Overall a good place to get lunch on campus.
Samantha P.
Gracie, Isis, and Mac are the perfect bartenders! Helpful and fun! Love the environment and staff here!
Ok manage your expectations. They are students trying to learn the industry. The food for what it is is great. People complaining must be dissatisfied with everything in life. The servers were nervous and cute in their newness. They were attentive but not overly so. The food was good! If you're looking for a true 5 star experience you're gonna spend 15x but for students doing their best it has a unique charm and appeal to it and for 19 dollars can't be beat.
Fine-dining meal for $19!!This is a wonderful little restaurant, on the fourth floor of Burk Hall, that's only open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays currently. You should make a reservation on Yelp, but I think they allow walk-ins. There's a prix fix option, which is just under $20.50 after tax. You get to choose an appetizer, entree, and dessert, and drinks. Only cash or checks are accepted.The bread provided was foccacia cut into diamond-shaped pieces. The bread that they first brought out was hard and dry, so I told them it was hard. More bread was brought out promptly and it was softer, but still dry. I didn't tell them it was dry because I didn't want to be difficult. I had some lemonade to drink, and it was pretty good. I also had tea at the end, but it was piping hot and I didn't get a chance to drink much. It was fine.I chose to have the house green salad for my appetizer. It was a good mix of leafy-greens covered in vinaigrette. It wasn't special, but good. I decided to have the pasta of the week for my entree. It was penne pasta salad with feta cheese, capers, and cooked grape tomatoes. It was absolutely delicious and I basically inhaled it. For dessert, I chose the pumpkin bundt cake. It was fantastic. It was moist, soft, a little misshapen, but still delicious. The créme anglaise was like melted ice cream, and I loved it.The waiters were students and had more to learn. Service was very good, despite mistakes. The person who seemed like an instructor was great. You won't be able to find a three-course fine-dining meal anywhere else in San Francisco for the same price. The portions are good sizes and you'll leave feeling fed, but not stuffed. I highly recommend checking this place out.Vegetarian options: Vegetarian options available.Kid-friendliness: A child might like the art and views out the windows.Parking: Parking lot nearby.Wheelchair accessibility: Use elevator to get up, doors of Vista Room are wide enough.Dietary restrictions: Ask for more information.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The Vista Room it still one of my favorite places to visit, really close to campus and specially to have a great time with some good food.
Restaurant is neatly organized and very clean!
Great place to support the students at SFSU! For a restaurant, it lacks the nuances that make a restaurant good but overall is not too bad! The menu is hit or miss but if you try things that sound interesting, it's pretty good! Presentation of food need more work and just overall attention to detail will make the restaurant more popular but then again, it's for a class.
It's been about 3 years since we went here and the quality has shrunk considerably. I lay much of the blame on the teaching staff who apparently do minimal supervision of the students. We arrived yesterday with our party of 4 and were seated right away in a round table. The first thing I noticed was the rockiness of the table top. We mentioned it to the waiter who acknowledged it, but did nothing to correct it. Additionally, there were no silverware or condiments (salt and pepper) on the table. Has there been a rash of thievery or are they just unprepared? The first thing we ordered were ice tea and we specified lots of ice. Well the tea was room temperature with no ice. What kind of place serves ice tea with no ice? We finally had to ask our waiter for separate glasses of ice. He should have been on top of this. Speaking of which, our waiter did not look professional, but disheveled. Maybe its okay for walking around the campus, but not when you are serving paying customers. They ran out of one of the appetizers and one of the main courses. The bread served was hard and not flavorful. It would have been better to serve Boudin french bread than what they have. No butter was provided, just some oil for the bread. The best thing was the salad appetizer and the chicken salad main course. The pasta dishes were served in large white bowls which magnified the small quantity of pasta served. I had a peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I could hardly taste the peach as it was drenched by too much cake batter. The price was $18/person. One could order any of the dishes (appetizer, entree, dessert) separately. If this is the best instruction they can provide, then the students need to go out in the real world and understand what value is in serving patrons, certainly they will not gain any experience here. Not a good value.
The Vista Room located on 4th floor of Burke Hall at SFSU is part of a hospitality management program for students getting some degree of experience in the restaurant field. I remembered when I had to partake in this course back in 2009, and it was much more expected of students to really shine as hospitality and tourism has been a growing industry especially with the unique market and demand of San Francisco. Now, I came here on Wednesday (4/3) after securing a reservation weeks in advance. My first impression after stepping in was that students wasn't really paying attention or greeting with a smile at their guest coming in....secondly, after being seated, while receiving our menu, the hostess (student) accidentally knocked over the vinaigrette which spilled a bit on my friend. Although the incident was accidental, the response of a quick, sorry wouldn't remedy the situation in an actual fine dining restaurant. A better apology with empathy should be noted here. The hostess also didn't provide another menu after getting vinaigrette all over my friend's menu...I suppose she forgot? After we've placed our order by going with a pre fixe selections (appetizer, entrée and dessert), the hostess didn't retrieve the menu right away...a bit odd to me after we've ordered. The menu was collected a bit much later. Food: I had the buffalo chicken wings (4ct), oyster mushroom po'boy sandwich and the pecan pie. Food was good, nothing extraordinary which I felt I had better back in my school days. The pre fixe also comes with coffee or you can get soft drinks, which is nice. Afterall, for $17 pre fixe, this is like a sampling experience and does reflect well on fine dining concept. Overall I felt that this restaurant experience lacked much of what a fine dining restaurant should entail. Students/workers didn't display the open hand while providing silverware/plates or even beverages. Our experience included many "elbow" arm instead of "open arm." Also, no attention to detail as our water glasses were empty...I had to call someone over to get a coffee refill...Most of the time, the workers were just socializing with each other and clustering in the small area by the entrance of the restaurant. I hope the faculty and teacher can improve our next generation of hospitality students. I hope the next time I come, I'll receive a better impression of our hospitality management program here at SFSU.
Restaurant is neatly organized and very clean!
Three months after graduating from SFSU, I have decided to come in here and try the new menu as a customer. The Vista Room is a learning laboratory and restaurant, where the servers are students who are in the Hospitality and Tourism Management program. The place simulates a fine dining atmosphere, with a reasonable prie fixe price. ($17 for an appetizer, entree, and a dessert, along with unlimited refills on things like bread, water, lemonade, teas, and drip coffee; They don't accept cash however. Payment is only by Credit or Debit Card: Visa, Mastercard, Discover) I ordered the prie fixe; I chose the Buffalo Chicken Wings, Oyster Mushroom Po'Boy and Bananas Foster. All were delicious and pretty filling! I would recommend bringing your friends, your family, etc to try the Vista Room at least once in your lifetime.
Quality Meals and the feeling here is quality. super tasty. i will be back with my friends. this place has a good feel to it. i can see why they have so many reviews.
Restaurantji Recommends
quality meals... my favorite treat. This place is absolutely outstanding. Definitely worth a return trip.
Run by hospitality students from SF State. Good food and service. You've got the option to choose from fixed price menu which includes one appetizer one entree and one desert plus a drink. I think $17 is pretty steep for lunch. But good place :)
Good place to go if you're a college student that wants to take a chick out for a nice place to eat but you don't have a car to leave campus and you're trying to take her back to the dorms to smash before your 3PM chemistry class.
A restaurant on campus that is run by the SF State School of Business that gives students an opportunity to have hands on experience on the hospitality and service industry. I believe that the students are being graded as they serve patrons at the restaurant. They have a rotating menu for each day of the week and is open at lunch on weekdays during the regular school year. All meals here consists of a Non-Alcoholic Beverage, Appetizer, Entree and Dessert. The food here is good, but the portions are very small. I guess you have to sacrifice quantity for quality. The service here is very attentive and there is also a professor that is managing and supervising the restaurant. I do not believe that they take cash at the Vista Room and they also require a reservation in advance to guarantee a seat. Overall a good place to get lunch on campus.
Gracie, Isis, and Mac are the perfect bartenders! Helpful and fun! Love the environment and staff here!