Suite & Tender

Great atmosphere and good food. Short rib was great, shrimp good. Skip baked Alaska. It looks good, but doesn’t taste good. I am giving 4 star more for the atmosphere and service. Great place for a bday dinner.

Cute, sleek place. Made a reservation through the Unilocal listing with a click of a button which was pretty convenient. Came here on a Thursday evening and there were literally only two other tables. For some reason our hostess thought it would be sensible to seat the two of us RIGHT next to another table of two. We were nearly elbow to elbow. The entire restaurant was open for seating and we were sitting side by side, ear in each others’ conversations. I found it very uncomfortable and had an awkward dinner because of that. Now that I think of it, I should have said something but I might look like the douche to ask to move tables away from our neighboring table…
The Travel Zoo prix fixed meal was a good deal. Good presentation, strong cocktails, and delicious desserts. The prix fixed meal was very hearty as my friend and I found it difficult to make it through dessert. The Kahlua fudge dessert was sinful!
The only thing that I had a problem with was the valet. Our host did not take care of it therefore we had to bring our ticket all the way up stairs then back down to retrieve the car.
The four stars are for the cuisine and definitely not the sensibility of the staff.

So this is basically a completely different restaurant than the first time I was here. It used to be a surf and turf place, now it has turned into a Tex-​Mex/​vaguely oriental restaurant that is not even remotely worth the prices they charge.
Advice to you: serving overcooked Salmon on top of bland rice with pink tartar sauce on the side is not worth $ 32 and is what I would expect at a TGI Friday’s. Please stop this embarrassing practice.
I am certain this restaurant will go out of business soon; not because it’s the worst food I have ever had but because the upscale décor and prices completely clash with the family restaurant style food and even though it’s in the middle of downtown, it’s hard to find and probably doesn’t benefit from a lot of foot-​traffic.
The service was very good and the bathroom was cool.

Great presentation. Found this restaurant on one of the flash sales site (think it was Travelzoos deal of the day). I’ve been down to gaslamp only about 100 times and this is the first i’d heard of this restaurant. It is on the second floor of this hotel and unless you were looking for it, you’d never know it was there.
Seems like a good portion of the guests were there for the first time — mainly due to the TZ special.
The restaurant was chic and trendy. The design was very cool. Open and inviting.
We had the sweetest server. .. greeted us warmly and during our meal, made sure we were taken care of. Always a smile and attentive.
Our meal was a price fixe meal and there were several choices.
One of the items was the maple glazed bacon appetizer. As Homer Simpson would say. .. «bacon. .. ummmmmmmm». Delicious!
Wagyu beef carpaccio. .. must have!
Spinach salad — must have!
my wife had the short ribs and they were tender and delicious (maybe a bit too sweet for me) and i had the filet medallions.
desert. .. a trio of flavors and all sinful.
Definitely a keeper. Get off the beaten path and eat here.
Just a note on prices: The stated price on the voucher $ 210 and we got this as a deal for $ 79. Definitely worth discounted price. However, I don’t think the meal we got was worth the full stated value. .. i would have paid $ 125 — $ 150 for this meal and presentation and service and been satisfied. However, i also know that on these flash sales, the perceived price has to be maxed out to show the value.

I visited Suite and Tender last May for my roommate’s 22^nd birthday. We went on a Tuesday evening and amazingly we had the entire restaurant to ourselves.
The serve was amazing. We were seated promptly and after we ordered, the server brought out complimentary amuse-​bushe biscuit & pulled pork appetizer, which was quite tasty. Then we had our appetizer of crab cakes, which was great, but not the best crab cakes I’ve ever had. All three of us ordered the exact same thing — steak with asparagus & king crab leg. We also ordered a side of french fries and mac&cheese with sausage. We ended the night with a chocolate torte with ice cream. The food was great and the service was perfect. The server was attentive without being too disruptive.
It was a perfect birthday dinner and they even sent us home with little bags with freshly baked cookies.
Oh and great tip, on Tuesday nights they have free valet parking!

How can I complain when we received a 50 $ breakfast credit! Woohoo! Breakfast was on the Se, and we were going to enjoy every moment of it :)
Checked in about 10 AMish and there was plenty of seating available. As we walked to our table I was admiring the beautifully modern architecture with warm tones and sleek details… impressive!
We were seated and proceeded to give the breakfast menu a once over.
The menu included various standard breakfast fare with the exception of the braised short rib breakfast burrito, which was also highly recommended by the waiter. Obviously, we went with the breakfast burrito! We also ordered the Eggs Benedict and banana walnut pancakes, as well.
The burrito and eggs Benedict came first and wow, both were very tasty! The burrito was packed with tender and delicious braised short rib meat. I ate every bite with reckless abandon! The eggs Benedict was also a pleasant surprise… I’ve had this so many times before and to my dismay, it’s usually not prepared very well. In contrast, the eggs in this dish were poached to perfection. Not too runny not too hard and crumbly… just right! And the English muffins the eggs were nestled on were crisp and light, not soft & soggy like most others. The banana walnut pancake was decadent! Each bite of the fluffy pancake had chunks of sweet banana and crisp carmelized walnuts… it was an excellent closing to our surprisingly pleasant breakfast experience. Our waiter was very attentive and friendly. In fact, he stopped by every few minutes to refill our coffees and to see how were doing without making us feel like he was policing us.
Overall, a great experience! I would come again.

We came for Restaurant Week on Sept 21, 2010.
Food was okay but we would not return. We both ordered 2 same items!
Appetizer lamb riblets turned out to be more like pork ribs but they were very tasty, moist and tender, and a generous portion (4 – 5 ribs).
They were lukewarm, but that was okay. The accompaniment of tizzaki sauce was a nice touch.
The seabass was a little overcooked and dry and needed flavoring. The skin was crunchy at the top. The couscous (Israelian?) were like «orzo» pasta and rather tasty.
Dessert was fine – chocolate pie tart and cheesecake.
Aside from the lamb ribs, the food was nothing special. Restaurant has nice décor. It’s part of a hotel which has these giant doors!

I finally actually ate at the restaurant. Granted, it was during restaurant week, but if you can’t sell me on your restaurant during restaurant week, there’s no way I would return to pay even more for my meal. Maybe they think they don’t have to bother bringing their A-​game when they serve the riffraff, but I see no reason to throw good money after bad giving them a second chance.
Service was ok, but unremarkable. They gave us only the restaurant week menu, rather than both the restaurant week menu and the regular menu, which is pretty unusual. I don’t even know how much a regular meal here would cost, which is generally a useful thing to learn, but as I won’t be back, it ended up not mattering.
Every dish was only so-​so. I had a butter lettuce salad with bacon and blue cheese, and it honestly tasted like something you’d get at Friday’s. I got a steak as my entrée. The steak itself was tender and juicy, but the poorly described sauce that surrounded it was basically bad BBQ sauce. I ate very carefully to avoid ruining my food by letting it touch that garbage. The accompanying mushrooms and potatoes would have been good, but several bits of potato were undercooked. My sorbet was ok, but not particularly great.
Portions were also tiny. I am often overwhelmed in restaurants as I am a pretty light eater. I rarely finish even a normal adult-​sized entrée, but I ended up snacking later that night despite eating a salad and dessert in addition to my puny entrée. Even if it had been good, I think anyone with a normal appetite would leave unsatisfied.

My husband and I ate here for the first time 2 weeks ago and we were not disappointed. We have a membership to FIT, so we get 25% off of dinner on Sundays at Suite & Tender which is pretty remarkable.
This place is very fancy, but it didn’t seem stuffy which was nice. The décor is beautiful and very upscale, but it was cool how they did have Lady Gaga on in the background, as opposed to some pretentious music. I thought it had a cool vibe, but perhaps it’s different on a Sunday night. The service was a little slow but I think they were shorthanded that night. It was pretty cool how the waiter just brought us out these stuffed tarts, compliments by the chef. They were really good too. I had the steak and it was definitely as good as the hype. This place is certainly a first class culinary establishment.
The prices are a little high, but we’ll definitely go back!

Came here again for the next Restaurant Week since we’d enjoyed it the first time. Server waiting until we had ordered our drinks to inform us that the managment had decided to end Restaurant Week early, sorry.
That was bad enough. Five minutes later, the couple seated next to us is ordering from the Restaurant Week menu. Ahem. WTF? Our server tells us, sorry, they requested the Restaurant Week menu specifically. Seriously? I’m requesting that menu specifically. Sorry. I was not pleased. And that must be why our server ignored us for the remainder of the night. Classy.
Would have walked out, but my friends wanted to stay. The food was ok, kind of hard to enjoy it.
There are so many amazing restaurants in SD, places that offer exceptional service because they’re happy to have your business and they want to keep it. I wont be returning to S&T, the bacon was good, but not that good.

The three stars are not an accurate representation of the quality of the food which was seriously about 4.5÷5 stars, but what brings down the overall rating is the price and the portion sizes.
I ordered the crab with steak with a glass of wine, the food was SUPERB as I stated, but when they put the dish in front me I was surprised to say the least, there were a whole 3 pieces of steak and 2 pieces of crab. Um… really? i mean it was 30 dollars for that plate and that’s all I get? The starters were good, I forgot the name of the one we had but it was pretty good and portions were pretty decent as well.
The overall environment was pretty good as well, good romantic lighting, good service and the sound level was good as well. The desert I had was the chocolate cake which was pretty good as well (³⁄₅) stars, a bit too sweet for my taste.
Would go again but would probably try something else in hope of actually feeling full after I spent almost 70 dollars for just me alone.

Dinner at S&T last night – for the $ 30 Restaurant Week prix fixe menu – was as nice as I hoped it would be.
Aesthetically, this place is quite stunning – dark woods, leather, 3-​legged chairs, modern sculptures, beautiful light fixtures, and one of the finer bathrooms I’ve ever had the pleasure of using. I also love that the lighting is romantically dim but still bright enough to actually see the beautiful surroundings.
Service was spot-​on flawless as it should be in such an establishment.
I can’t resist briefly describing each of the dishes that my boyfriend and I enjoyed:
1^st Course; Vine Ripened Tomatoes & Fresh Mozzarella: Simple and fresh with a nice garlic dressing.
1^st Course; Maple Syrup Glazed Bacon: I’m not a bacon connoisseur, but this ¼″ thick bacon was the best I’ve ever had.
2^nd Course; Sea Scallop & Venison: The proteins couldn’t have been cooked any better. Would have been nice to have more food on the plate though.
2^nd Course; Alaskan King Crab & NY Strip Loin: The shelled crab was rich and buttery in a cream sauce, and the loin was simply delicious. Again though, more food would have been appreciated here.
3^rd Course; Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake: A standard molten lava cake can never be a bad thing to me, and the almond ice cream was a nice addition.
3^rd Course; S&T Cheesecake: The fact that the cheesecake was covered in a chocolate shell made it more than just cheesecake. The blood orange sorbet and candied blood orange segments were equally amazing.
S&T’s portions are definitely on the small side, with the dessert courses, strangely enough, being the largest. Portion size is the reason for my 4-​star review. Our Restaurant Week experience (*cough* price *cough*) was definitely worth 5 stars, but the fact of the matter is that, due to price vs. portion size, we won’t be hitting up S&T’s regular menu any time soon.
In all seriousness, don’t you dare leave S&T without checking out the gorgeous unisex bathroom! It’s an experience in itself; trust me.

Thank you, Restaurant Week!!!
Fried Rock Shrimp: DELICIOUS! Perfect amount of crisp and the pineapple dressing they use just makes my mouth water even more! This was probably my favorite out of everything we ate that night!
Maple Syrup Glazed Bacon: It’s bacon! How can you go wrong?! But the Fried Rock Shrimp was sooo good that I wish we had both gotten it as the appetizer. Also, the shrimp is worth more anyway. ($ 11 value vs. bacon’s $ 8 value)
Alaskan King Crab & NY Strip Loin: We both got this as our main course. I was expecting slightly bigger portions, but it IS restaurant week so I can’t complain! The steak was served with spinach and pieces of potatoes which were both delicious. I was really glad the crab legs were shell-​less! I didn’t have to get my hands dirty cracking them. Surprisingly, I liked the crab better than the steak! It only came with three strips of crab meat but every bite was packed with so much flavor!
Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake: Good, but not as moist as I’d like. It did come with a little scoop of ice cream, though!
S&T Cheesecake: Way better choice than the truffle cake, in my opinion! Cheesecake with a hard chocolate shell… yummy!
Drinks: We took advantage of their happy hour, which ended at 8. Half off Specialty Cocktails and Beer! We each got two cocktails, which were all really strong! They definitely did the trick, but the taste on the other hand wasn’t that great. The bartenders were really really nice and attentive. I wish we had gotten there earlier to take advantage of the $ 20 endless cup of wine during happy hour! I would’ve ordered their $ 8 cheese plate to go with it!
Bathrooms: Unisex, and the doors are hard to find because they look like a part of the wall. Someone told me to just push the wall, and voila! There was the bathroom! So cool!
All in all, a great experience! I will probably only be coming back during happy hour because of the steep prices, but I am so glad I got to try this place thanks to Restaurant Week!

Suite & Tender meets Dark & Sexy!!! After hearding a Top Chef Master Christopher Lee owns this gem, my hubby and I could not resist trying it out.
This chic über modern restaurant in the middle of downtown has it all going on. It located upstairs of a posh hotel. The décor of the restaurant is very sexy and chic. All i can say Dorothy, you aren’t in Kansas any more when you step inside this place. The interior of the restaurant is real über chic and modern. Bring a flash light, because you might have trouble seeing the menu.
We order the followng:
Starter: Amuse bouche (yummy tuna)
Starter: Maple Syrup Glazed Bacon (It sounds weird but how can any one go wrong with bacon. The bacon had a sweet maple glaze which was not overly sweet. It was a nice contrast btw sweet n salty. Bacon was not crispy, but it was very tasty.)
Entrees: Sauteed Wild Sea Bass & Salmon (Both dishes were absolutely delish.)
Side Dish: Truffle Oil French fries (We did not need them, but they were SO DELISH!!!)
Dessert: Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake (It was ok… not my favorite part of dinner)
Beside the food being expectional, the service was also. The wait staff is super attentive. Our waitress was very informative and answered any questions we may have had and gave us a few great suggestions on what to order.
Over all this is one of my favorite restaurants to come. It can be a bit expensive, so try to come during restaurant week.

Went here last Fri w/​some friends. The place was PACKED. There were 2 hostesses and they were scrambling to accommodate everyone. We were extremely late for our rsvp but called several times to let them know. They were awesome about that.
When we got our table, we all noticed how extremely dark the place was. I mean, literally, ‘we-​could– not –read– our– menus’ dark. I don’t get the concept of that. Maybe if you’re on some hot intimate date it’s supposed to make you cozy up closer together? That sounds so lame but it’s what i thought at the time…
We ordered:
1. Fried rock shrimp $ 9: this wasn’t on the RW menu. We were all starving so we wanted to share an app. The dish was ok — we heard it was spicy but it didn’t really taste that way. My friends thought the dish was ok.
2. Maple Glazed Bacon: it was ‘ok’ for me. 3 large pieces of bacon. I would have preferred the bacon crispier and I thought the glaze was a bit too sweet.
3. Beef Carpaccio: really nice portion for RW. Very tasty.
4. Lobster and Short Rib: I thought this was really well prepared. The lobster was good (my friend thought her’s was a bit overdone). Short ribs were piping hot and super tender.
5. Baked Alaska: both my friends ordered this and finished it all! So i’m assuming it was a hit!
6. Truffle cake: ‘so-​so’ for me. It came w/​a milk chocolate (i think) ice cream. The cake and ice cream weren’t overly sweet.
We tried a few of their specialty drinks. Like others have said, it’s prepared at the table for you AND they give you whatever is left over in this spiffy martini shaker thing. THAT in itself justifies the $ 11+ price tag on the drink. The house red (wine) was decent — not exactly a generous pour but it was fine.
I would have given this place 3 stars but bumped it to a 4 star b/​c for the value that we received for just $ 30 was really really really fair. You don’t see alot of Gaslamp restaurants offering this type of value and quality all that often. So kudos to SnT for giving us all a chance to sample a few of their dishes at such a fair price.

Talk about indecision! It was one of those nights where we couldn’t decide what to do. ‘Where do we eat? Let’s walk around. I’m tired. Suite & Tender? I don’t feel like dressing up. Hmm. Let’s watch ESPN. Okay, let’s go.’ I threw on jeans and flats and we left the room at 9:50pm. I was sure S&T wasn’t going to seat us 10 minutes before closing.
We arrived downstairs and approched the hostess. ‘Hi. Welcome to Suite & Tender.’ :blink blink: The hostess was stunningly beautiful. Not in a Victoria’s Secret boobs and flesh kind of way, more like a brunette version of Charlize Theron. My head felt foggy. ‘Uhmm… we were. what? We were wondering if your kitchen’s still open???’ She gave me a sparkling smile and piercing gaze. It’s possible she was a vampire. She went out of her way to check with the chef (hot AND sweet?! bitch.) to make sure and led us to a table.
I couldn’t tell if our waiter was high on life or just high; either way he was all smiles despite getting a table right before his shift was over.
I ordered the $ 11 Passion cocktail which was mixed tableside. It was okay… I would’ve preferred to lose the flair and take $ 2 off the drink, but maybe I’m a cheapo. We received complimentary bread but the butter had a dehydrated pre-​frozen taste, as well as an amuse bouche of fried green tomatoes. Mmmm!
The bf got to pick his own steak knife which I felt was unnecessary (and a safety hazard! Could you imagine if the waiter tripped and the knife tray when flying?!). Still cool though! His $ 46 NY Strip was a bit tough but prepared well. My $ 26 salmon entrée brought an earthiness that hit the spot — warm spinach and a dill sauce that made my heart melt. The $ 11 truffle fries, woo! Strong truffle flavor without making me wanting to gag; they came in a huge cone and we couldn’t finish them.
The interior is perfect for a seduction. There was plush leather seating, dark wood floors and panelling (I mention wood in my reviews way too much), and soft candle lighting. It was relaxing and un-​stuffy. Only thing is the wall-​length window overlooking the street — the tacky street lighting clashes and I think window shades would compliment the space better.
The service at S&T and the Se is impeccable. It’s so refreshing to go to a trendy venue and not get attitude from the staff (ahem NYC). I swear they’re all clones! (Or vampires.)

SERVICE & FOOD & BATHROOM= VERY GOOD !
Short ribs, Bacon, & bathroom are the best in the San Diego. The décor & service really add to the ambiance. The cocktails are served table side & you will get 2 drinks out from the one shaker which is great. The knife selection is something different & memorable. I ate at the huge candle table & sampled the 8 different entrees from my family & really enjoyed the flavor pairings. I chose the short ribs based on the server’s recommendation & was glad I did. I also received a Thank You letter & business card from the server 2 days later. I’ve come here to escape the 5^th/​Market crowd & love the vibe in the bar, but have had great dinners here as well.

You don’t come to Suite and Tender to eat food, you go here to create memories. I took my mom and my out of town family here for my Mom’s birthday, everyone had an amazing time.
We started the dinner with an amuse bouche, it was an olive tapenade served on a simple crostini. Nothing too crazy, but it was good.
Next up we had our appetizers, we tried the rock shrimp, crab cakes and the hamachi tacos. Everything was delicious.
Next some bread was brought out. Bread, no big deal right? It’s a huge deal to me. Simple details like this make or break the dining experience. The bread was delicious, kind of a combination of sourdough and a french baguette. Served with some delicious warm salted french butter.
Before bringing out our entrees, our hostess brought out a tray of knives for us to choose our own knife. This was a really cool and personal touch!
Next up, entrees. I had the lobster tail and braised short ribs. The short ribs had been braising for a while, and fell apart without much effort. The lobster tail was good, as most lobster tails are. We ordered a bunch of sides for the table– the summer buttered corn, pommes frites, mash potatoes, brussell sprouts with bacon and mac and cheese. Everything was amazing. I tried a little bit of the ribeye (delicious), and the pork belly and scallops looked amazing too.
Service was great. At the end the waitress gave us her business card with her personal email address and phone number so that if we ever come back she could help us again. Kinda creepy? but definitely a personal touch.
All in all this place is amazing. The décor is wonderful, food fantastic, service is quick and friendly AND their bathroom is freaking super sweet.

I was surprised with how good the food was, especially for this Hollywood-​type restaurant inside of the fabulous Se hotel. The wait was actually not too bad, probably because we went fairly early for a Saturday night (730pm). The chicken was delicious, salty, with a lot of flavor. BF ordered steak, and he got to choose a steak knife (what a sweet idea). The three onion rings that came with the steak were amazing– crunchy, salty, and bite-​sized. The polenta that came with the chicken was flavorful with a mashed potato texture. AND the truffle fries were not as good as those at STK, but still had plenty of truffle flavor and were in a greater quantity than STK’s. DELICIOUS, I am craving some right now!
We also tried the vanilla bean cheesecake w/​chocolate ganache over it… it was decent. It was less cake and more pudding. Overall it was a little too sweet, even sans the chocolate on the outside. The passionfruit sauce that was alongside was tart, tangy, and yummy. And the dish definitely needed more kiwi sorbet, because BF devoured that in 2 seconds (the scoop is about the size of a melon ball).
The busboys were amazing, quick, and quite precise. The waiter was fairly good, and looked like Ryan Reynolds.
I definitely like the place for a nice evening out.

Wow. Service (from Sean) was some of the best we’ve ever had. I went here with my parents for the big b-​day dinner and they were highly impressed with the service. That says a lot because my mom is super high maintenance and my dad is used to great service (they only go to high class places that should have impeccable service) — typically if my mom is pleased the service was more than a normal human being would ever expect. She was. And it was. Kudos to Sean.
Food — crab cake appetizer. Yum. That’s all I need to say. YUM! Braised short rib — I only had a taste but wow. Didn’t try the lobster it came with but I’m sure it was amazing. I ordered the sea bass for myself, and it was tasty and delicious. It was the cheesecake that put this place over the top. Sean recommended it, saying it was his favorite, and man he’s got good taste buds. It was insanely rich, but worth every pound it put on me.
The atmosphere was hip without being too hip, and still classy enough that the over 60 crowd feels comfortable. In a word — swanky.
The restrooms deserve their own paragraph only because, as everyone else has mentioned, they’re unisex. But more than that, they’re clean and seem like a place where you could get down if one too many specialty cocktails enter your system, you find a foreign traveler at the bar and get an idea in your head. Seriously. Get it. Got it. GOOD.
Overall, go here. Impress people. Have dinner and not just drinks. Have some drinks too and head on into the place where magic happens… Se Hotel.