The Cosmopolitan

~~~~~~THIS BUSINESS CLOSED~~~~~~
I just tried making a reservation here and found that they were no longer on Opentable. I then called the restaurant directly and the voice mail stated that they closed their business.
Although the food was not the best, it was still worth lunching at. I’m really going to miss the seafood stew.
BYE BYE COSMO! It was fun while it lasted!

I have been here twice and always with my sissy lady friends.
The first time I was here was last year, I was in my pjs and robe. I was checked in at the Hyatt because I was too wasted to get home. It was the only place opened at around 1 in the morning on a weekday and is close to the hotel. I am not a cosmo girl but I ordered it that time. It made me change my mind about cosmopolitan cocktail.
Few weeks ago, I brought my friend Vi here. We both had the Raspberry Cosmopolitan $ 8. Two thumbs up, mine and hers. I had an allergic reaction to the drink when I got home (splash of pineapple juice which I didn’t realize until after I glugged the thing) but it was my fault for being so careless. We ordered a pizza and it was also good. I have to try their dinner menu next time.

Great for happy hour after work. A wide selection of small plates and drinks on the happy hour menu, and definitely will keep your wallet and stomach full. They serve tradtional californian cuisine, and I noticed many Asian influences on the menu.
PROTIP: Once the sun goes down on weekends, the place gets converted into a sleek lounge. Definitely a cool area to hang out.

Love coming here for happy hour which starts at 3 and ends at 7. I live right above this place, so it’s very convenient to meet up with friends. The nice things about this place is that you can order take out from their happy hour menu (reasonably priced). I usually get the following: Chicken Quesadilla, Green Bean Tempura, Spicy Ahi & Salmon Tartare, Deviled Eggs and Chicken Wings. I wasn’t that impressed with the dinner menu. The food was ordinary, but the atmosphere is lovely for special occasions or even a fun hang out with friends and family.
Cosmo is very good! Come check it out. Wed and Fri get crowded. There are seatings outdoor as well.

Group of 10 at dinner last night. Great coctails at the bar — folks mentioned the ginger margarita was great. I loved my Cosmo at the Cosmo — and really loved the Dutch Lemon Drop.
Dinner was fantastic — the Heirloom Tomato salad was fantastic. I had the Scallops for entrée — one of the best scallop meals I have ever had. My dining companion across the table had the gnocci — I tased it and will do that next trip– fantastic! They were out of the Bada-​Bing dessert — so «settled» for their take on a banannas foster. Yum! Service was great — the waiter was efficient, knowledgable, and engaged. (Oh … and the bread — they had a light bread with herb’s — and salt on the crust. I could have just had that and been happy with the meal!) Great location, décor. For a restaurant in the financial district — just down the street from the Hyatt at the Embarcadero — the entrees were reasonbly priced.
I’ll go back!

I know I’ve stumbled across this place once before, but I gave it another go last week. They have a good selection of happy hour food, not as much on the side of booze. Good thing my mission in life is focused on eating versus drinking. I ordered the deviled eggs, chicken and waffles, quesadilla, ahi tartare and their basil pizza.
Highlights: Chicken and waffles — spicy and delicious. Ahi tartare — great, crisp flavor on the little wonton.
Meh: Basil pizza — It was good, but probably won’t order it again
Don’t bother with the: Quesadilla and deviled eggs. The deviled eggs were a gross sour flavor and the quesadilla was really bland.
I“m definitely going back to try those mini corndogs and onion rings.

Wowza! The Cosmopolitan sure knows how to make a mighty strong Cosmo! My very sweet and unfortunate friend had to baby-​sit me on BART to make sure I didn’t get into trouble on the way home after downing just one of these things. So if you want to get your money’s worth for drinks, this is the spot in the city for you.
Discussion of alcohol aside, the food was d-​e-​l-​i-​c-​i-​o-​u-​s. Before you question whether I was even in a state to judge, I drank the cosmo after eating. Erm… moving on…
Usually, I face the dilemma of having to choose either Ahi Tuna Tartare or Salmon Tartare, or even worse, there is no choice. Only one or the other would be on the menu. Not here, though. The tartare at The Cosmopolitan conveniently includes both ahi and salmon, carefully arranged on top of nori chips. Yay for not having to make a decision and not having to scoop tartare onto a chip! The corn fritters with the chilli ginger sauce were extremely flavorful, as were the chicken croquettes with a healthy salad on top.
Looking forward to coming back; so glad there are places like this in the city!

The service here is great! The waiters are super friendly, but the place can get really crowded at night. I’d say the crowd is about mid to upper 20’s.
They also have a great happy hour menu, with tons of nice drinks and snacks. :)

Honestly, I think this place should be called the Boonies instead.
Teammate and I were looking for dinner one night well past 9pm. It was tucked away on the other side of the entrance of Rincon Park across from Yank Sing. It took forever to look for this place which is why I think it should be renamed to the Boonies.
We stepped in and the whole restaurant was empty. I asked for a table for two for dinner but the guy kindly told us that the kitchen was closed at 9pm. Well there goes our dinner for the night… –_​–
So we finally made the trip back here on Friday night. The food was mediocre as was the service. We walked into the restaurant and it was packed and the noise level was probably 1,000 decibels. Teammate and I ordered the calamari. Verdict: Meh… but the spicy sauce was good. I ordered the Crisp pan roasted Fulton Valley chicken, feta polenta, cumin-​honey glazed heirloom carrots. Verdict: YUCK. Tasted horrible. The chicken was dry and flavorless and the feta polenta was awful. Teammate ordered the Certified Angus hanger steak,
parmesan creamed spinach, duck fat roasted Yukon gold potatoes. Tasted a TAD bit better than my crappy chicken entrée.
I’ll think twice before I come here to dine again.

Cool happy hour spot with extended timings, 3:30pm-7pm.
We decided to sit outside on a nice day and sampled a bunch of things on the happy hour menu:
— mini corn dogs: The tiniest corn dogs that I barely could see. These were served with a mustard and was much too potent for me.
— tomato, mozzarella, and basil pizza: Mini pizzas; assume one per person. For $ 6, you’d expect ones that are slightly larger… and that actually had some real basil flavor.
— herbed parmesan fries w/​aioli: Strange, strange bits of potatoes that overpoweringly tasted of ginger? Random.
Overall, the bar food wasn’t up to my gastronomic expectations. Neighboring restaurants in the area have happy hour with much, much more delicious food options.
The drinks were another story. I tried their cosmopolitan, which was pretty delicious and strong. No skimping on alcohol here during happy hour, which I was pleased to see. Their well drinks (vodka sodas) were equally strong.
3 stars for the happy hour timings and the fact that the drinks were very good… could’ve been 4 stars had it not been for the mediocre food.

Great happy hour deals … but order double b/​c it gets crowded and service can be slow.
Good location — close to bart and the Embarcadero … but it can be a pain to get to if you are driving in.
I picked at a lot of my friend’s food … and most of it was tasty, but somewhat overpriced.

It’s a decent location for drinks, mostly because it’s pretty central. The tables were first come, first served, so we were spread out for a while, but eventually we all got to sit together.
The hush puppies were good. My drinks were simple so I can’t comment on the mixing abilities of the bartenders. Overall, without the happy hour deals, I thought it was overpriced and not someplace I would rush back to.

My nickname on Unilocal used to be «cosmo girl at heart» and I proudly announced it to the world since I wanted to be as cool as Carrie Bradshaw when I sipped on my cosmopolitan.
Nowadays, I favor gin over vodka and may even have brown sugar when I’m in the mood. So, when my friend suggested Cosmopolitan, I was excited to revisit my cosmo sippin days.
The interior is conducive for those getting to know you conversations and for serious ones too — it never got too deafening inside — with the high ceilings and low lighting (okay, it was very dim!), I got a lot of talk time with my pal.
Happy hour is Mon –Fri from 3pm –7pm and bites are priced fairly from $ 3-​$ 6, but take it from me when I say they are BITES. Their chicken quesadilla was standard, but the salmon/​ahi tartare was delicious and very creamy, thanks to the avocado and spicy aioli, scoop it up with those fried nori chips.
Their $ 6 cosmos are cheap, especially since it’s made with premium vodka. I had the classic cosmo with Ciroc vodka, Cointreau, splash of cranberry juice and fresh lime juice. A cosmo should’ve that faint pink, girly color not the deep red that a lot of bootleg places make it to be. When its well made like this, it makes me wonder why I stopped drinking it all of a sudden. Well, thank you Cosmopolitan. Carrie Bradshaw might just make a comeback.
* For Simone W, my dear friend and life coach *

Good cocktails and an excellent salmon! The chef must be Asian, because there’s a bit of an Asian fusion-​ey touch to every dish.
First of all, major props to this restaurant for being able to accomodate our huge reservation of 14. They gave us the big room in the back, and our server was excellent.
My cocktails were excellent, with the highlight being the Manhattan. Perfectly mixed, and strong!
We ordered off the Dine About Town menu, along with another dish. The spicy ahi tartare we ordered on the side was pretty good. but it was just like eating spicy tuna sushi. Good, but not enough to wow me. However, the kurobuta pork croquettes were delicious! Very tender and flavorful pork on the inside, and a crunchy crust on the outside.
I really enjoyed my salmon, with the soy-​orange glaze and the shiitake mushrooms. It was perfectly done — medium rare, where it’s soft and pink in the center. The soy-​orange glaze complimented the salmon’s flavor very well. Unfortunately, the rest of my party did not feel that the other dishes that they had (braised short ribs, and some sole special), were that great. Too bad, guys… should’ve gotten the salmon!
The chocolate bread pudding for my dessert was way too rich. I mean it was good, but overly sweet. However, I had a bite of the buttersctoch pot de crème, and it was delicious.
I’d give it 4.5 stars, but I’m rounding down to the 4 for now since I’ve heard such mixed reviews from the rest of my party.
By the way. is this place in the process of re-​branding itself? I see two different websites and two different names that this place is called… «Cosmopolitan Café», and «The Cosmopolitan (restaurant/​bar/​lounge)».

3 stars for Cosmo as a restaurant
2 stars for Cosmo as a nightlife venue (review towards the bottom)
I’ll be nice and I’ll round up since we had a 30% off coupon for dinner
After my friend mentioned she had a 30% off coupon for dinner here, we looked at the menu and decided there was a little something that both of us would like. We came on a Wednesday night for 8:30pm reservations.
FOOD:
*Wagyu beef carpaccio, artichoke fritters, capers, lemon aioli ($ 10) — Yum! I’m not a fan of capers, but at least I can pick them aside. The beef was tender and delicious. A definite must order!
*Sauteed dayboat sea scallops, oxtail risotto, black trumpet mushrooms, white truffle oil ($ 28) — No thank you! The scallops were on the fishy side and the risotto was EXTREMELY salty! The oxtail was decent though. Do yourself a favor, pass on this dish!
SERVICE:
Good — our waiter was friendly and would come around and check on us every so often.
PARKING:
Since we came on a weeknight, it was relatively easy for us to find parking in the area. We decided to do happy hour at Americano which is located a couple blocks away, so we parked closer to Cosmo. If you can’t find parking or you’re insistent on parking in a lot on club nights, there is an adjacent indoor paid parking lot next to Cosmo on Spear Street.
***NIGHTLIFE VENUE****
I’ve been here on a handful of Saturday nights since they started having club events. Cosmo is certainly not a place that a club event should be held at.
Bar: My biggest complaint is inconsistency! There are two bars with probably 6 or so bartenders split between the two. It doesn’t matter which bar you go to or even if you go to the same bartender twice, be prepared to get charged a different price each time. A shot of Remy ran me anywhere form $ 10 – 12 a shot.
*The «dancefloor» is a small area on carpet with the DJ in a corner making sure no idiot spills their drink or bumps into their equipment
*Sometimes you hear music on the speakers in the outside smoking areas, sometimes the speakers are off
*The bathrooms need a bathroom attendant or someone to occasionally check and fill what is gone. Tip: you can occasionally find toilet paper behind the velvet curtain in the bathroom

I said I would NEVER go to Cosmo for HH or dinner. Ummm yah, I LIED…
After having gone to Cosmo 5 times for club events, I was never really impressed with the venue itself (you can read my previous review for details). However, it’s one of those places where I only go to enjoy the company of my friends.
Cosmo itself is just drab (dark and dated) and I never thought of eating there until I received a 30% off deal through
. I’m not normally a coupon-​type person b/​c I tend to misplace things and/​or forget about it. But I’ve got to admit, times are tough, so it was time for the Asian in me to come out and play. Money saved at dinner can go towards buying a new pair or shoes or bag right? Lol! That totally defeats the purpose… :X
Last Wednesday, 10÷27÷10, my friend and I headed to Cosmo for dinner after having had one too many drinks at Americano nearby. We had reservations for 8:30 PM and were promptly seated.
FOOD:
*Ahi & Salmon Tartar ($ 12): MmMm, SO GOOD! A generous portion of fresh buttery tuna and salmon chunks were intertwined with creamy bits of avocado and spicy aioli that gave off a fiery kick in my mouth. The freshly fried nori chips were light, crisp and nutty and complemented the tartar well by adding a nice texture contrast.
*Angus Hanger Steak w/​Creamed Spinach ($ 35): NO BEUNO! Although the steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare with a nice pink center, the steak tasted like a cheap cut of beef similar to what they would serve at Sizzler’s. It was tough, chewy, completely flavorless and literally tasted like I was chewing on a piece of leather. The creamed spinach was creamy and rich and was topped with panko bread crumbs for a nice crunch. I opted out of the duck fat potatoes and got asparagus instead. The asparagus was tender and had a nice bite to it, albeit it was over salted.
SERVICE:
Our waiter was very friendly and upbeat. Although it was busy, our food came out promptly and we were able to get in/​out in less than an hour and 15 minutes.
CROWD:
Seeing that I’ve only come here for club events where I’m a puma among the crowd of those in their early to mid 20s, I have to note the difference in the crowd on a weeknight. That night, which was Game 1 of the World Series, the bar/​lounge/​dining area resembled Max’s Opera Café on Van Ness which is ALWAYS frequented by how can we say this… geriatrics. It’s definitely not a place «to see and be seen», just saying.
The only reason I’m bumping up my rating to 3 Stars is b/​c of the tartar app, our friendly server, and of course the 30% deal which saved us over $ 30.
*****UPDATE ON NIGHTLIFE*****
Since my last review in May 2010, I’ve come to Cosmo 4 other times on Saturday nights for Synergy parties. My last review still stands, however, I have to note the inconsistency in pricing at the bar. Every time we’re at the bar, the prices of the alkie changes several times in ONE night!!! At 10:30 PM, a shot of Remy will be $ 10, then at 11 PM it’s $ 12, then at 11:30 PM it’s $ 11, etc. Someone please print a price list for the bartenders and post it to their head. Thanks!
Oh yah, what happened to the extra stash of TP behind the burgundy velvet curtain in the women’s restroom?

I’ve been to Cosmopolitan on a few occasions and was always very pleased with my meals. I was recently here and tried their burger, which was great!
We first started off with Masa Fried Onion Rings and Feta Polenta. The onion rings are cooked perfectly and had a delicate flavor — the salsa that came with it perfectly matched the flavor and made it complete. Simple, yet amazing, the polenta mixed with the feta made for a well-​balanced dish — the subtle flavors of the polenta were given a flavor boost from the rich feta cheese — it’s something that makes sense.
The burger was a good, quality burger with rich, quality meat. When you bit into it, all the juice was still there. The burger was also seasoned very well and I enjoyed the quality of the burger bun. This is similar to the quality burgers from Spruce, Fish and Farm and 5A5 Steakhouse.
We finished the meal with a Banana-​Pecan Galette, which was awesome — the perfectly sweet fruit and nut filling was balanced by the buttery rich pastry. The Bourbon Gelato that accompanied the dish was also really good — it was a subtle flavor, which was great for me since I’m not a huge fan of alcohol in my food… it went perfectly with the galette.
I had a great experience here and would definitely recommend this place for a great meal and great experience.

This is a review for the Bar and Lounge. Although I’ve been here for lunch, it’s been awhile. I stopped into The Cosmopolitan for a quick cocktail before meeting my friend for dinner.
I’m not really a Cosmo girl. I used to like them when Sex and the City came out, but since then my tastes have changed. I went to order the Manhattan, but settled on a Bullit Mint Julep. I’m glad I did, it was pretty good. They have a nice little patio, well stocked bar and Happy Hour!!!

I came here for dinner with a very unique group of people who would never have gotten together if it were not for Unilocal.So I have to give MAJOR kudos to Unilocal for bringing us all together.
We had the exclusivity of having a private room reserved for us and the added bonus of hand selected wines picked out by our hosts for our enjoyment.
I started with a black bean soup which was faultless. Great spices, good depth of flavor. It looked a little watery at first but mmmmm it was just perfect and bowl lickable.
Then I had the hangar steak with duck fat roasted potatoes and spinach. I’m Irish born, bread and buttered and American potatoes have to go a long way to impress me. These spuds were delish. The finest I’ve had in a long time. The steak was perfectly cooked for me and the dish of spinach was really good with a nice crust of Parmesan on top.
For dessert I had a shortbread with berries and Ice Cream. I’m not a dessert person but I made great inroads into this. To the point where I slobbered all over my shirt and had to make a trip to the restroom to clean up :)
The service was great, the company was wonderful and the restaurant is beautiful.

Yesterday a couple of friends of mine went to Happy Hour @ Cosmopolitan. The only reason we went was because Warner Bros. was hosting a Sex in the City 2 Party from 5pm-​9pm in the lounge. I’ve actually been here once for a party but never ate dinner here. The party seemed like a success! They were giving out free t-​shirts, calendars, Cd’s and movie passes for the movie next week. Loved it!
There drink specials were 5.00 for wine and beer 3.00. They even made special cosmopolitans in tribute to the event, which tasted kind of like fruit punch haha I just stuck to wine. Let’s see some of my friends ordered the Tempura green beans, wasabi and ponzu = delicious! Herbed parmesan fries = good and Chicken and corn quesadilla, jalapeño pesto = good
I would definitely come back again!

Went here a couple weeks ago to be entirely surprised by the tasty food here. We had decided to eat in the Ferry Building. Except it’s closed at 7pm on a Sat night. Boo for poor planning.
I whip out the Unilocal iPhone app and plot close by places that are still open for dinner and relatively inexpensive and found The Cosmopolitan. This place was seemingly perfect fitting all the criteria and being American style food which most picky eaters will still subscribe to.
We walk in and there is a wedding reception being held in the above bar area. The main dining room is intimate, cosy and relatively empty.
To start we ordered:
Wagyu beef carpaccio, artichoke fritters, capers, lemon aioli
Spicy ahi and salmon tartare, cucumber, avocado, nori chips
God the spicy ahi was delish… I could have eaten the whole plate by myself, but we were sharing so alas…
For din we ordered:
Ricotta Gnocchi, Morel mushrooms, peas, pancetta
Grilled Niman Ranch pork chop, white corn spoonbread, bacon braised broccolini, jalapeño pesto (The boys and I ordered this).
I had the porkchop of course. Meeeeeattttt. It was cooked to perfection, a well rested barely pink and juicy pork chop where the end of the bone was properly filleted as it should be. I wolfed it down and then had a couple bites of the Gnocchi. Tender and yet firm, the flavor was really light, it was really enjoyable.
For dessert the group ordered:
Baked to order molten center chocolate bread pudding, espresso gelato
But they humored me in adding:
Baked to order banana-​pecan galette, bourbon gelato. From first sight I knew it was the dessert I wanted. It completely delivered. The group was won over by this and the molten cake sat dejected in it’s plate.
Something about baked to order is fantastic, even if it takes 20 mins to make. The taste was just spot on. I was so happy with this.
The meal was fantastic. Service was weird. At the end they took away all our glasses so even if we wanted to chat with water we couldn’t. That was the sad thing. But oh well, the food was still great.