This year saw the opening of many significant event and meeting venues in San Francisco. Here's a look at the best restaurants, party rooms, hotels, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open in 2013. These new and renovated San Francisco venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
Viceroy Hotel Group opened Hotel Zetta in February following a stylish renovation of the former Hotel Milano. The SoMa district hotel has more than 2,760 square feet of event space. The 1,672-square-foot Play lounge is equipped with flat-screen TVs, Mac computers, a shuffleboard table, and a British telephone booth for ordering room service. Smaller spaces, such as the 29-person Demo meeting room, are suited for product pitching, and the Lumen room seats 15 people around a wooden conference table.
San Jose McEnery Convention Center debuted a $130 million renovation and expansion in October. The convention center added 125,000 square feet of additional flexible ballroom and meeting room space, bringing the total usable space to 550,000 square feet. Other features include a new networking lounge; more breakout rooms; event spaces with bright California colors and reclaimed redwood ceilings; and a new open plaza entrance facing downtown that can be used for outdoor events.
Exploratorium, an interactive museum, moved from the Palace of Fine Arts to Pier 15 in Embarcadero. With more than 330,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibit space, the facility has standing room for 4,000 guests and seats 1,600 for events. Smaller spaces are available, as well, including the observatory terrace, which seats 100 or holds 190 for receptions, and a 200-seat theater.
Inspired by European nightclubs, Audio Discotech opened in mid-August in the SoMa neighborhood as a haven for dance enthusiasts. The 3,500-square-foot venue, designed by Josh Rowland, has a sunken, spring-loaded dance floor, gold and mirror accents, and a 45-foot-long tufted wall embedded with more than 1,000 LED lights. DJs spin on a Funktion One sound system that is installed and tuned by Sound Investment; the space also features 1,200 square feet of acoustical paneling and 3-D projections. The venue is available for buyouts.
With interiors inspired by the French mansion where the Rolling Stones composed Exile on Main St., the restaurant and bar Bergerac opened in the SoMa district in late September. Designed by Josh Rowland, the 3,500-square-foot space features rich jewel tones, a 25-seat bar finished with a zinc countertop, and velvet and leather tufted couches. The cocktail menu comes from Russell Davis, co-star of Spike TV’s Bar Rescue, and includes soda-fountain-era-inspired drinks, punches, table-shaken cocktails, and seasonal bottle services. House-blended spirits and vermouths, as well a bourbon aged in a cocktail-infused barrel, are also on offer. The space accommodates 75 people for seated events or 250 people for receptions. For smaller groups, there is a draped private banquette in the back.
Novela, a literary-theme bar, opened May 31 at the intersection of Union Square and the SoMa district. The 3,500-square-foot space juxtaposes old and new with a vintage book collection lining the walls and artwork representing historic novel characters. The bar is divided into dedicated areas including the Hemingway Room, which accommodates 40 and features a large birdcage lighting fixture and a mosaic tile bar.
The Inn at the Presidio added a nearby four-room historic house on Funston Avenue, down the street from the main inn. Using green standards, the home underwent a $1 million renovation to the four bedrooms, common living room, dining room, service kitchen, and outdoor porch and patio. Historic photographs and contemporary regional art celebrate the park's military history and natural setting. The Funston House opened in May.
Roka Akor's newest outpost opened in Jackson Square in late June. The staple in the restaurant is the central robata grill that offers open charcoal cuisine and is surrounded by a shou-sugi-ban counter which seats as many as 10 guests. The two-level 8,681-square-foot steak, seafood, and sushi restaurant holds 110 guests for a sit-down dinner, 16 in the private dining room, 400 for cocktail receptions in the dining room and Roka Bar, or 150 for a cocktail reception in the Roka Bar.
Renovations to the Grand Hyatt San Francisco's meeting spaces include the new 5,700-square-foot Grand Foyer and updates to the Theatre Level's audiovisual equipment. The Grand Foyer accommodates as many as 350 people for a banquet or 700 for a reception. The Theatre Level's Conference Theatre seats 90 guests classroom-style and features Herman Miller chairs, Bose technology, and retractable LCD TVs. The new OneUp restaurant seats 56 in the dining room and 86 in the lounge area. Private dining is available for as many as eight people.
Contemporary American restaurant State Bird Provisions recently finished a renovation and expansion, adding more options for group dining. Two new alcove tables accommodate groups of eight or combine for groups of 16. For buyouts, the restaurant accommodates 60 guests for seated dinners or 75 guests for a reception. One consistent item on the changing menu is its namesake California valley quail.
