MaSo

We were around the Jessie Square area so decided to give MaSo a try. The outside seating looked appealing but it was a windy Sunday so we opted for the inside. The place was pretty empty. Typically hotel restaurant bar/​restaurant. I had my fish tacos, my friend had the Salmon. The food was OK. I ordered a Moscow Mule but they didn’t have the copper mug so that was disappointed. There are some TVs at the bar and the place is quiet/​chill enough that I might come back, but overall there’s just better options around this area for food and drinks.

Food isn’t that great. Waiters are awful. One of them charged me tip on the bill. I was alone. I asked him for a recommendation for app. He just says under his breath «shrimp tempura» (of course the most expensive one) it wasn’t good. Waiters are rude. did I say that?

Find a pizza that’s more disgusting than the pizza maso on the menu. Don’t bother, you won’t be able to find something as terrible.
Goodbye Maso, I hate you for wasting $ 20 and a meal and 15 minutes of my life.

We ate here for a client event and it was beyond amazing. Great food, service, and cocktails. Favorite part? It was in the Westin, so it was simple to get back to our hotel.

I’d passed by this place so often and had just never gone – so glad I did! A friend and I went on a Thursday night and managed to find a place to sit. Table service was good, the little bar mix was tasty, and we were left to our own devices until we needed something.
We had a blast! The interior is gorgeous, there was a guy playing guitar… couldn’t have asked for a lovelier night. We didn’t order food, so I can’t speak to that.
Definitely going back!
The good: great space, comfy leather couches.
The bad: they were out of a wine we wanted, but whatever. Next time. :)

I didn’t realize this was a hotel restaurant until after we had ordered because of the way we entered. The food was really disappointing. We each had our own dish and ordered some stuff to share.

This review is about my experience booking a private event at the restaurant! Last year, we had a GREAT time at a private dinner which was in one of the private rooms of Maso. The food was great, and we had SUCH a good time. This year I tried calling up different «managers» and no one could help me book an event! Multiple calls and multiple emails later — no response from them. Too bad — They lost a party of 15 people! Won’t be returning here again.

Stopped in to have coffee and light lunch before checking out of the hotel. Sat down and waited for about 5 minutes without being greeted, so I went to the bar to order coffee and water. The bartender (who also seemed to be handling table service) asked me where I was sitting and asked me to give him a few minutes. He wasn’t very friendly — but maybe he was busy…
Sat down and waited for another 10 minutes. Still nothing.
So I went back up to the bar and he looked at me and said under his breath «ok, I’ll get your coffee,» as he walked away.
He brought it over and sat it down without a word. I said thank you 3 times. I heard nothing back.
Why so unpleasant?

Since we were staying at the Park Central we decided to try out the breakfast Buffett. I would have loved to give this more than three stars if the food would’ve have been a bit warmer. It would’ve been nice to have an omelet station or eggs made to order. For the price of $ 29 a person this is way over priced. Although there is a lot of seating and the coffee is delicious. The food being offered was subpar. There were not many egg options, the scrambled option was very watery and looked in appetizing in the pot. The potatoes, bacon and sausage were okay. But like I mentioned above everything was either like warm or cold. I almost grabbed a French toast but heard a lady say they were cold.. We might venture out next time we stay for the weekend. That sure didn’t taste like a $ 65 breakfast.

The 4 stars is because they have outdoor seating. The drinks are usually nicely made and it’s clean. I haven’t tried the food but overall a pleasant bar.

I appreciate this place, and I think that’s the extent of how much I’ll enjoy it. This is a good place to show up after work for happy hour, which is 5pm to 7pm everyday… even better if you are staying in a nearby or adjoining hotel. The wait staff was very friendly and kept checking if our group needed refills on drinks. There seems to be a relatively limited amount of beers on tap, and MaSo is probably known more for their food.
Speaking of their food, it seems so bland. Places that offer alcohol should have dishes with more flavor, in my opinion. We ordered a plethora of appetizers, including the edamame hummus, garlic parsley truffle fries, goat cheese fondue, and spicy italian sausage flatbread. Between our group of six people, only the edamame hummus was leftover because it was absolutely tasteless and looked like a giant chunk of wasabi. The truffle fries were alright, though that’s a staple happy hour food at most restaurants. The goat cheese fondue was interesting… we slowly picked at it and no one wanted the dried fruits it came with.
We only ordered food because of post-​work hunger, not because we thought the food here would be good. I think I was better off avoiding the empty calories and eating a better dinner. Anyways, thank you MaSo for providing excellent service, but I’ll just stick to having drinks next time!

Das Gute an dieser Hotelbar? Die unmittelbare Nähe zu meinem Bett. Zugegeben, ein für mich nicht unwichtiger Faktor ;) Auch die Getränkeauswahl fand ich in Ordnung, für einen Absacker völlig ausreichend. Aber was ist bitte mit dem Personal los? Selten habe ich so etwas Verwirrtes und Unkoordiniertes gesehen. Bei allen meinen bisherigen Besuchen, drei insgesamt. Getränkewünsche konnten nicht erfüllt werden, man musste lange darauf warten, dass jemand auf einen aufmerksam wurde, die Getränke haben viel zu lange gedauert und auch bei der Bezahlung gab’s immer wieder Probleme. Zuletzt wollte ich mein Bier bezahlen, aber keiner konnte sich daran erinnern, wer mich nun bedient hatte (ich habe auch nicht darauf geachtet) und am Ende ging das Bier auf’s Haus. Gut für mich, aber es wirft nicht das beste Licht auf den Service. Da gibt’s deutlich bessere Alternativen denke ich.

Wow way over priced for what they serve and what they serve sucked. It was not good and I am an easy man to please. This place I will never go again and would not recommend. Sorry folks step up your game.

We went here for a business lunch during the RSA Security Conference. We told the staff upon entry that we were in a bit of a crunch, time wise. It took a very long time and a flag down to finally get a waiter, and we certainly didn’t see that waiter very often unless we flagged down a busboy or another waiter. However, the food came out tasting good, and we were able to leave when we needed. This did require a bit of wolfing down the food, if you will, but we were happy and full overall.

Essentially a hotel bar/​restaurant, MaSo is actually one of the few places that you might find some seating for Friday happy hour.
Had a post-​work happy hour here with 20+ folks coming in and out and we still managed to find seating despite there being a large convention crowd in the space as well. On the surface, there is much to like but you start to see cracks in the experience the longer you stay.
If you sit outside, you get lovely views on the Jewish Contemporary Museum but there were issues with the fire pit and heat lamps which made it too cold to sit outside after a while so we moved the party inside. Surprisingly, there was seating for our party in the lounge. The «Russian Hill Mule» happy hour cocktail, essentially a Smirnoff Moscow Mule, was a hit — if only they could keep a tab running instead of closing us out each time since… well I had quite a few of them. Then there is the bathroom situation. Apparently only for hotel guests, it can be a hassle to have to get keys from the lobby.
Still, for handling a large group for happy hour on a Friday, MaSo warrants consideration the next time.

Great lounge/​bar/​restaurant combo in the Park Central hotel! Plush couches, good work areas, a bar and plenty of seating. Menu for lunch had great options, I got the Ahi Tuna Niçoise salad which was delicious! Edamame beans, olives, and frisée, ahi cooked perfectly. Dressing was a little salty for my taste. They didn’t have any strictly vegetarian options but did allow for substitutions (example — remove prosciutto).

The décor and atmosphere was great. The drinks were strong and delicious. The only thing that was a big bummer was that in order to access the bathrooms, you needed a room key. Very inconvenient. Unfortunately I haven’t had the pleasure of trying their food

The décor of this restaurant is nice but my dish was okay. I ordered the lobster pot pie. It was a little different than I expected. It didn’t have the typical crust covering the dish. They took biscuit dough, cut it into small pieces and tossed it on top. The dish is extremely rich but there was more lobster than I expected. I wish they could have used a lighter and crispier pie crust because it was so rich.
My Moscow mule wasn’t made in a copper tin mug so it was disappointing. I ordered a port after my meal and it was a light pour.
I went here since I was staying at the hotel but I think there are better options out there to leave the hotel.

I had lunch with a friend here. The décor is really sleek and modern. Noise level wasn’t too bad. At least we could talk without screaming over the din. I ordered the shrimp fettucine and my friend had the meatloaf sandwich. The fettucine was good. Light lemon sauce, spinich, tomatoes and a pretty decent number of shrimp. My friend said the sandwich was yummy. Service was fast and efficient. The food wasn’t bad at all.
I would consider coming back here!

Love love love this place! Atmosphere is very nice!!! And customer service is great! Food and drinks are incredible! And of course the location– just perfect! What a wonderful place to be!!! :)

I’m a sucker for aesthetics, so when I walked by MaSo one day and saw its cute garden maze-​y entrance way, I knew I had to take my hags there for dinner. The place was not exactly hoppin’ on a Friday night, which is kind of nice so you can hear each other talk. I had the crisp, delicious babe farms green salad; the sparse, but still scrumptious, mahi mahi and gulf shrip; and a side of yuka fries. And although it’s not advertised, they do have a specialty cocktail menu, of which I partook two watermelon martinis. Yessir.
The problem was that the waiter kept effing things up. We had to ask for water. He didn’t bring out one of my friend’s salads along with the rest of ours. He then accidentally refilled her sparkling water with regular water and didn’t bother to replace it. And while he was polite and all, it would have been nice to have him check in at some point, particularly when the martini glass starts dwindling to empty. Chop chop, partner.
Not bad, but for the price, not exactly worth it.

Only 3 stars? Wow I’m kind of surprised.
This place was pretty good. Stayed at the Westin so I came here for drinks, dinner, and breakfast and all times had great service and good food.
Hmmm…maybe I came at a good time but the appetizers during drink hours were awesome, especially the Peking duck tacos and the crab cake.
The ambiance is nice and loungy with TVs for those of us who want to watch sports.

Ducca went away with hardly a whimper which is my flimsy excuse for not knowing this place took its place in the Westin. The coy name comes from turning SoMa backwards. MaSo. SoMa. SoMa. MaSo. Get it? For what purpose, I haven’t a clue. They describe their cuisine as «sophisticated twists on comfort food favorites», so what better time of the year is there to come here than Thanksgiving? Yes indeed, Jamie W. and I came here to try their $ 49 Thanksgiving Day 4 Course Prix Fixe menu (photo:
), and although it’s a good price point for fairly fancy eats, especially as meticulously presented as the plates were, the service and execution just felt off all evening. It’s not terrible, just not all that memorable on the palate, and hot dishes were lukewarm at best.
Things started swimmingly with the Amuse Bouche Trio — a Day Boat Scallop with a Black Arkansas Apple Reduction, a Candied Stripe Beet with Flat Parsley and a Fennel Dusted Roasted Prawn with Peppercress Basil Aioli (photo:
) Creative, tasty bites gone quite quickly. We then inexplicably received a large sourdough roll with two breadsticks acting like antenna and looking like an Easter centerpiece (photo:
). We shared the two first courses available. The first was the Sugar Pie Pumpkin Soup, a creamy, slightly sweetened concoction with little pizazz in spite of the licorice greens and purple barley lurking inside the bowl (photo:
). Dessert before the entrée, I suppose.
The second was the healthier Kale and Bloomsdale Spinach Salad with all sorts of toppings — smoked walnuts, shaved root, goat cheese, pomegranate seeds — all of it drizzled with a pomegranate vinaigrette (photo:
). Good but kinda on the busy side without it all coming together in flavor. Jamie went the traditional route and ordered the Sage-​Rosemary Butter Roasted Organic Turkey with the standard fixings done wit Food Network flair (photo:
). The stuffing was made of cornbread foccacia, and the cranberry sauce was laced with tangerine. The yam gratin was served crème brûlée style with the mini-​marshmallow crowning the top. Brussels sprouts and toy box carrots completed the plate with gravy liberally ladled on top of the turkey slices.
Because I had turkey earlier in the day, I went for the Niman Ranch Pork Osso Bucco which was sadly overcooked and camouflaged with sweet onion & red chard ravioli, roasted sweet & sour pepperonade, micro-​fennel and a Marsala wine braising jus (photo:
). But nothing hid the dry texture of the pork which went right to the pit of my ample stomach. The unexpected standout of the evening was a side dish we ordered off the regular dinner menu, the $ 6 Rainbow Cauliflower roasted in garlic Parmesan cheese (photo:
). Now that was delicious. Dessert also came to the rescue because they were more back to basics — a Pumpkin Tart (photo:
) and a slice of Pecan Pie (photo:
), each accompanied by blackberries and Chantilly whipped cream. It was certainly enough food for this local pilgrim.
FOOD — 3 stars… traditional fare gussied up with no place to go
AMBIANCE — 3.5 stars… same as Ducca, fairly spacious
SERVICE — 2.5 stars… perfunctory and not all that personable considering it was the holidays
TOTAL — probably shouldn’t spell backwards for a fancy Thanksgiving dinner