Here's a look at new San Francisco hotels, conference centers, restaurants, private rooms, and other spaces to open for events this fall. The new and renovated San Francisco venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fund-raisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, teambuilding activities, conferences, meetings, and more.
In May, Absinthe Group debuted the Spanish restaurant Bellota in the SoMa neighborhood. The 5,300-square-foot restaurant, which is open for dinner every day except Sunday, includes a 30-seat full bar and lounge and a 140-seat dining room. Bellota’s semiprivate area is available for events, and can host as many as 32 seated guests or 45 for a standing reception.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s highly anticipated $305 million expansion opened to the public in May, nearly tripling the museum’s gallery space. The 10-story expansion was designed by architecture firm Snøhetta, and inspired in part by the waters and fog of the San Francisco Bay. The expansion includes 170,000 square feet of new and renovated indoor and outdoor galleries tailored to the collection, enabling S.F.M.O.M.A. to display more of its holdings of modern and contemporary artworks. The redesigned S.F.M.O.M.A. also debuted its new restaurant, In Situ, in June. Helmed by Brandon Rodgers and Corey Lee, In Situ serves dishes from acclaimed chefs across the world, such as Rene Redzepi of Copenhagen’s Noma and Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse. The sleek restaurant—decorated with a wood canopy, a mural, and colorful art—seats 60 in the dining room, while the lounge accommodates 70 people in communal seating. In Situ doesn't have a private room, but the restaurant can arrange reservations for large groups of as many as 22 guests or full buyouts.
Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa recently underwent a $12 million renovation, unveiling new guest rooms and a resort-style pool and courtyard in June. The hotel offers more than 22,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, including two ballrooms, two outdoor courtyards, and 12 meeting rooms with flexible layouts. The entire pool and courtyard area is available for private events for groups of as many as 300 guests. By fall, all of the hotel’s interior meeting space will be outfitted with new carpeting, LED lighting, and the latest in digital reader board software with informative monitors.
The Marker San Francisco joined Joie de Vivre Hotels in June, and that same month, the hotel opened a new 112-seat Italian restaurant called Tratto. The restaurant includes a private dining room that seats as many as 26. The Marker also debuted a meeting space and ballroom called the Bellevue Room in January. Designed by Ken Fulk, the Bellevue Room’s floor-to-ceiling windows offer views of the Theatre District, while decor accents include focal points such as striking chandeliers. The Bellevue Room can host as many as 350 people standing or as many as 200 seated.
Horsefeather opened in June in San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood. The cocktail bar and New American restaurant is headed by Justin Lew, Ian Scalzo, and chef Ryan Chinchilla. There’s an atrium-style patio that’s heated and enclosed in the winter and open in the summer, while decor includes oak wood paneling and banquette seating. The venue, which can seat 49 people, is open daily for dinner, and serves lunch on weekends.
Hotel Grace is Pineapple Hospitality’s very first hotel to open in San Francisco. Debuting in June in downtown San Francisco, the 93-room hotel was designed by Glenn Texeira and San Francisco-based architecture firm Stanton Architecture in keeping with the building’s 103-year-old history. Hotel Grace offers a 5,000-square-foot lobby, including a lounge area and bar space that can host as many as 130 for receptions. At the back of the lobby sits the hotel’s Gathering Room, which seats as many as 12 guests.
Eastern Mediterranean-inspired bistro Tawla, which is open daily for dinner, launched in June in the Mission District. The restaurant has colorful design accents, such as turquoise walls and tiles, pendant lights, and an art installation made of Turkish coffee cups. Another design detail is a living wall in which greenery climbs latticework with an arabesque design reminiscent of patterns found in the Eastern Mediterranean. The restaurant and patio seat 66, and Tawla’s private dining room seats 12.
Spin, a ping-pong-theme chain co-founded by Susan Sarandon, opened an outpost in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood in May. The 12,000-square-foot social club includes murals and art from the likes of Shepard Fairey alongside 19 ping pong tables. Spin serves food and drinks, and is available for private events. The space can host as many as 500 guests for reception-style events or 350 seated guests.
For views of AT&T Park, San Francisco Bay, and the Bay Bridge, a private dining room is available on the second story of Atwater Tavern.The 10,000-square-foot restaurant, which is open daily for dinner, launched in May on the waterfront, and its space called the Crow’s Nest seats 30 or holds as many as 45 for a standing cocktail party. The adjacent outdoor deck, the Perch, is available for rental in conjunction with the Crow's Nest.
Temescal Brewing opened in Oakland in June, with a tap room and large outdoor beer garden decorated with colorful murals. The brewery does not host full buyouts, but does allow large groups to reserve as many as four tables in the beer garden, with 32 seats and total standing capacity for 50 guests. Temescal Brewing is open every day except Monday. The brewery serves free popcorn, and welcomes well-behaved dogs and children.
