Artistic Stone Gallery Inc.

This was a great experience in choosing a backsplash for our kitchen remodel. Antoinette and all the staff with whom we encountered were personable, professional, and very happy to assist with our color schemes and textures. Seriously, after choosing the floor, cabinets, lighting, etcetera, we were pretty much ‘over it’ with making more choices. They have a great selection of quality merchandise, and their staff actually made the experience fun. Can’t wait to see the final product in two weeks!

I have had a very good experience with Artistic Stone Gallery over about 10 visits over a 4 – 5 month period to get tile for an extensive bathroom remodel. Initially I was shopping around all the tile stores in the area — there are many — and Alfonso was so patient in helping me focus in on a look that I wanted, get samples, redo samples, layout patterns, estimate quantities and order. The other staff that assisted me on visits when he was not available were equally as helpful and knowledgable and veterans of the industry, including the store manager and the friendly fellow in the warehouse area which is in the same building. Give them a visit, avoid the busiest day — Saturday. And an appointment is always a good idea to make sure that you get a sales staff person that can focus on your needs.

After visiting tile galleries on the Peninsula, we found that Artistic had a very broad range of tile styles as well as a large array of mock ups that helped us with honing in the stylistic approach that we wanted for our bathroom remodels. We worked with Glenn who was both attentive and resourceful during our selection process. Glenn was very helpful with determining our quantities for each tile type and accessories. The delivery of the tile took longer than we have liked — but chalk that up to the industry practices of minimized inventories. Three quarters thru our install we decided to add
an additional panel of our super beautiful «stix» tile — that had taken forever for delivery. Glenn was able to «create some magic «so we would not have to wait for the tile.
Glenn also recommended a tile setter who has been fantastic.
We will have another 5 star for Saul Mayan Tile (650−716−7009) as soon as when can finish our photography.
Saul’s craftsmanship and willingness to take charge of every aspect of all the construction aspects to insure first class delivery of a gorgeous installation
for any tile or stone design !

I wish i could give zero stars. They do not deserve one.
We were recommended to go here. Very very wrong. On a saturday it was clearly an inconvenience that we came with the express purpose of buying stone. The staff could not be bothered showing us anything. Flicked us in general direction. Totally uninterested. The only thing more inconvenient to them would have been had we bought stone.
Go to natural stone or bedrosians. Avoid this place

Not a huge selection but some of their tile is in stock which for us, meant it was ready the next day! We haven’t received the tile yet but so far, so good.

I have to say I went in with a little idea of what I was looking for in a stone. They not only had a great selection but Paul Littlefield was the perfect person to assist me. He let me know of options that I had not even considered doing. Along with the stone type he also help me choose the grout and sealer! Other places I had gone to just showed me the stone, tile or paver but did not show me examples of what it all could look like as a finished product. Paul thanks so much for helping me decide what will work best for me!
Joanne D.

Good selection and very good customer service from «Sam».

This tile store has good selection and tiles are displayed very well.
Whereas some places are overwhelming, there is something about this
store that is manageable and staff are very helpful. While remodeling can
be stressful, this store tends to reduce the stress. Prices are also very fair.

You can see the type of stone and mosaic tiles they offer on
. They carry Schluter and Dupont products as well. The service I received was A-​OK (staff was friendly and not pushy), but the sample in the store was not representative of the tile that I received. Now, I am well aware that natural stone varies in color and veining, but in my case the sample was mostly a reddish purple with some other earth colors. In real life, there was a LOT of white mixed in – disastrously, the stones look like slabs of bacon!
They have some things at the shop, but most stock has to be pulled from their warehouse in Menlo Park. Only takes a day or so, but they won’t pull more stock than you intend to buy. I regret that I had not insisted on seeing full sheet samples before buying. Really would have been nice if the employees that I had talked to had warned me about the white. Probably they didn’t know, but as purveyors of natural stone [mistakes aren’t cheap!], they _​should_​know their stock. Caveat emptor!
Here are the Terms & Conditions from their Invoice when you buy from them:
1. Artistic Stone Gallery reserves the right to accept or reject returns.
2. All returns/​credits MUST be within 30 days of purchase & MUST be accompanied by a receipt. All returns will have a 20% restocking fee.
3. No returns on non-​stock, tools or bagged products.
4. All goods should be inspected upon receipt. Failure to inspect will deem acceptance of goods. All claims of shortage must be addressed at the time of receipt. Any claims of shortage will not be honored once the material has been accepted.
5. Natural stone may vary in color and veining. Artistic Stone Gallery shall not be liable for such variations.
6. We recommend that only experienced tilers lay natural stone, inexperience with natural stone can result in damage to the material. We accept no responsibility for material once it has been installed.
7. Artistic Stone Gallery, Inc. extends no guarantees expressed or implied as to slip or wear resistance or maintenance requirements.

This is really a 2.5 star review. It’s not quite 2 stars but not an «A-​OK» 3 stars either.
My husband and I recently bought our bathroom tiles for this place. In all, their customer service needs improvement.
First off, they told us firmly (after we asked several times) that the tiles would be ready within 24 hours since they had the tiles in stock., but at a different warehouse We make a special trip on Saturday to order $ 1600+ worth of tiles expecting them to be ready by Monday. The timing was critical since our contractors had already started working on our bathroom. Monday comes by — nothing. Tuesday, still nothing. Wednesday… FINALLY! Since it took us several days longer to get our tiles than we were promised, I had to call them to get the thickness of the floor tile. After checking for me, the person who responded to my call left me a voice mail saying the floor tile was 5/​8″ thick. That seemed awfully thick and I called them back and the guy who picked up the second time (a different person) didn’t even want to double-​check until I insisted that 5/​8″ seemed way too thick. He unenthusiastically double-​checked for me and it turned out to be 3/​8″ thick. If I had simply taken their word for it the first time, I would have been screwed.
After the annoyances above, when our contractors came to pick up the tiles, the store couldn’t find our order. The issue was cleared when they called me at work, but it was annoying on top of everything else.
In all, given the economy and the huge purchase we made there, I was not impressed with the customer service. I’ll be shopping at other tile places first when we work on our 2^nd bathroom and kitchen.
On a bright note, I haven’t detected anything wrong with the tiles we received. (Of course, I’m sure other tiles places offer products that are just as good.)

DO NOT CONFUSE THEM with Artistic Tile on Bransten Ave., also in San Carlos, who has been fabluous with our kitchen tile design and granite. I ended up at Artistic Stone by mistake, not realizing there were two «Artistics» in San Carlos (and even more beyond the city limits!)
Artistic Stone is HORRIBLE! We had a terrible experience here, and they just lost the business for our kitchen remodel within 15 minutes from walking in their store. First, the man that we asked for help seemed very put out that he had to «stay at work another hour» and seemed to have very little knowledge of the product. Great start. Second, the selection is very poor compared to some other amazing showrooms I visited at the Galleria in SF, but we did find one option we liked. While we were checking out a couple of samples, the salesperson told us we needed to make a deposit for them. Fine, and totally customary. As she was ringing us up, the owner (I think) walked over and told us we must leave $ 80 in cash. I did not have that much cash on me and offered a check or my credit card. He told us that he could not take a credit card (nevermind that someone next to us was paying by credit card) and that if he took our check he runs the risk of us canceling the check and not returning the tile. Seriously!?! Why the hell would I go to such great lengths to steal a sample of tile??? I was so insulted that I said «forget it» and we walked out. And, they let us just walk away! What losers! They completely lost what could have been several thousands of dollars of business over a ridiculous cash only policy for checking out samples. Not only will they never get my business, but everyone I know who is tiling their homes will hear about how awful they are.

I would give them 3.5 stars, but since they already have 5 stars, I err on the side of 3. They have decent selection without being overwhelming and you can get your order the next day, which is really nice. However, after taking home some samples, I tried to place my order by phone and got stuck with the rudest woman. I went in later that day to look for more samples and I met with her. To be fair, I think she was new and just didn’t know up from down. Another woman who works there is very friendly and helpful. (sorry — I have no names to spare you any agony). The downside for do it yourselfers is that they don’t have many photo albums to see how some tiles look in bathroom setting, but they do have some little fake bathroom set ups. Also, they have a very strict 30 day return policy on top of 20% (or so) restocking fee. So if you aren’t prompt about getting your leftovers back to them, looks like you’ll need to find another project to use them up.

If you are looking for stone products I’d recommend a visit to this place. The signage out front is a little easy to overlook so drive slowly once you get on Commercial or you may drive by it.
The store is both a showroom and a warehouse because they stock a lot of their products — yea! Perfect for those spontaneous-​gotta-​tile-​the-​bathroom urges you get on the weekend. The staff is friendly and helpful. Check out the little «clearance» section towards the warehouse where they have some real bargain odds & ends. You’ll also find an area just for sample pieces — pieces that you can look through and take home.