San Francisco Venues

The former Harding Theater in the NOPA/Alamo Square neighborhood is set to become an arcade, bar, and event venue in October. The 12,000-square-foot Emporium will be decked out with retro arcade games, pinball, pool, shuffleboard, football, a 50-foot screen, and a stage for live music and events. Local beers will be available at the full bar. The space will be available for corporate events of more than 800 standing or 600 for a seated dinner. The theater balcony will hold semiprivate events for as many as 250 standing. The balcony is divisible into six spaces for six different groups, with each equipped to hold 20 to 40 standing. Groups can bring in their own catering. 

China Live, the sprawling 30,000-square-foot, four-story culinary and cultural complex in Chinatown that opened in March, added a fine dining restaurant in September. The serene Eight Tables, designed by AvroKo, features a cream color scheme and glamorous brass accents. The restaurant soon will accommodate private parties of as many as 40 people. Founder and executive chef George Chen hails from several top restaurants in Los Angeles, as well as the Mandarin in San Francisco. Other private event options at China Live include Gold Mountain Lounge on the second floor, next to Eight Tables. It holds private parties for 32 guests in a mix of seating and standing.

Tenderloin area craft cocktail bar Biig opened in June with quirky decor such as wood paneling, vintage glassware, and bar carts, as well as a taxidermied moose head. It holds private events for as many as 40 guests. A second room and venue is expected to open in the next two or three months, which will bring Biig's maximum capacity to 100 to 120 guests in a mixed seating/standing configuration.

Blue Mermaid Restaurant unveiled a renovation this summer of its indoor and outdoor dining areas. The casual seafood restaurant, adjacent to the Argonaut Hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf, now offers a patio with fire pits for gatherings. Inside, new additions to the restaurant include raised dining booths and oversize steel windows that pay homage to the restaurant's historic building and its maritime surroundings. The maximum occupancy at Blue Mermaid, as established by the National Park Service, is 208 guests: 119 seated indoors and 89 seated outside in the fenced-in patio. The Argonaut also hosts private parties at the Maritime Room—which is right next to the Blue Mermaid and essentially the restaurant’s private dining space—for 122 seated guests. 

Parigo, a restaurant focusing on wine and food pairings from the owners of the Barrel Room, opened in the Marina in early September. The menu leans toward creative American fare, while decor accents include a custom redwood bar inside and a fire pit and herb garden on the patio. The 40-seat patio and private dining room both are available for dinners or receptions. The restaurant's capacity is 70 seated guests or 120 standing; there's room for 40 seated or 70 standing inside, and 30 seated or 50 standing guests outside.

In the affluent Nob Hill neighborhood, Stanford Court is undergoing a $16 million hotel-wide renovation that will include a revamping of its meeting space. Slated for completion later this fall or in early winter, the redesign will enhance the 393-room property’s 2,100 square feet of meeting and event areas by converting two rooms off the lobby into breakout spaces. Each one will have its own televisions for projection with plug-and-play access from guests’ laptop computers. The refresh will enable Stanford Court to hold groups of as many as 80 guests reception-style, or 60 for a sit-down dinner. All meeting rooms will have natural light, and on-site catering will be available. Meanwhile, architecture firm EDG is redesigning the Renaissance Hotels brand hotel's porte-cochere, lobby, café and bar, guest rooms and fitness center. The multi-phase redesign will conclude next spring.  

Trefethen Family Vineyards held a reopening party in May for its tasting room, celebrating the end of the winery's renovations, which were underway since the building was damaged in the August 2014 Napa earthquake. The building was restored and rebuilt, using the original materials as much as possible, and the tasting room is now on the second floor and accessible via elevator. For the holidays, Trefethen will offer "After Hours Tastings at Trefethen," a two-hour affair that includes charcuterie and cheese. It starts at $125 per person, with a minimum of eight guests and a maximum of 50. The winery's garden is available in warm months for corporate lunches and dinners for groups of 12 to 75 seated. 

Brewpub Old Kan Beer & Co. opened in a 125-year-old building in the Oakland area back in March. The decor incorporates brick, dark wood, and industrial elements like exposed ducts and beams. The venue consists of two rooms: the private dining room and a pub space. Private events are only available in the dining room, which seats 60 or holds 80 standing.

Joie de Vivre Hotels renovated the Laurel Inn in April, outfitting the 49-room Presidio Heights hotel's interiors with mid-century decor. Swank Cocktail Club, the hotel’s lounge, is available for holiday parties. The capacity is 49 seated or 150 standing guests.  

About 20 miles north of the city, in the town of San Anselmo in Marin County, chef Ron Siegel opened the 47-seat Madcap in August. The restaurant focuses on showcasing Bay Area ingredients with a Japanese influence in an elegant space. Decor includes red velvet and leather banquettes, dark wood floors and tables, and textured Venetian plaster walls.