Gaspar Brasserie

I came here for a business lunch on a Friday afternoon and was quite pleased. The food and ambiance were both great, and the service was good, though not hiccup free.
I ordered the soup of the day (butternut squash, I believe — it has been few days) and the poached salmon — both dishes were quite delicious.
We were seated upstairs, and the setting was classy but not pretentious. I appreciated the fact that it wasn’t too loud. It was a good setting for business meeting.
The service was decent, though it started off rocky — shortly after we were seated, a waitress came by and brusquely picked up our menus without taking our orders. Then, a short while later, a different waitress came by to take our orders, and seemed very puzzled by the fact we didn’t have menus. We weren’t sure what happened. Aside from that snafu, everything went smoothly. The food arrived promptly and the wait staff did a good job of checking in on us during the meal.
Overall, a very nice spot!

You will feel like you have been transformed into a Parisian brasserie upon entering Gaspar Brasserie. Located in SF’s Financial District, the restaurant exudes all the flairs and ambiance of a Parisian brasserie, starting with its warm and vibrant interior featuring crimson leather seats, textured wooden walls, and antique chandeliers, as well as a menu that features classic French dishes with a Northern California influence.
The imposing Les Plateaux de Fruits de Mer ($ 66 for petit, $ 100 for grand) highlights a selection of fresh, chilled seasonal seafood. According to our knowledgeable waiter, the small tower is appropriate for a group of 2 – 3, while the large is fit for 4 – 5 people. Our small tower included three varieties of oysters (half dozen total) served with champagne mignonette, jumbo shrimp with cocktail sauce, poached octopus with green olives, and half lobster. All the seafood, from the perfectly seasoned octopus to the plump shrimp, was extremely fresh and mouthwatering.
Per the waiter’s recommendation, I opted for the Grilled Côte de Porc ($ 27). Over a bed of herbed spaetzle and shaved Brussels sprouts was a big piece of lightly seared, bone-​in pork loin with juniper-​mustard sauce and heirloom apple. The lean piece of pork was a bit pink nearer to the bone, but I enjoyed the balance of sweet and savory from the apple and the mustard sauce. I wished the spaetzle, which was unfortunately a bit «flat,» had a chunkier, chewier texture. The portion was extremely generous.
I also tried the Braised Beef Short Rib ($ 28), another entrée with a huge portion. The tender, fatty short rib was glazed with Bordeaux gastrique and topped with sauce verte atop a bed of baby root vegetables. Like the pork, the short rib also had an interplay between sweet and savory from the glaze and the green sauce. The baby root vegetables of colorful heirloom carrots, beets, and cipollini onion highlighted fresh, seasonal vegetables.
The Moelleux Au Chocolat ($ 10) was like an exciting firework in my mouth, providing a memorable sensory journey through its different flavors and textures. Accompanying a moist chocolate lava cake with warm, ooey center was a dollop of cool chocolate mousse, crunchy «cocoa puffs,» and creamy vanilla-​rum anglaise. This chocolate lover’s dream was such a delightfully sweet ending to a hearty meal at Gaspar Brasserie.

It is a hidden bar in sutter, with impressive classical interior decoration. We tried special menu in restaurant week, which includes salad, salmon and caramel crème. Salad and salmon are carefully cooked and their tastes are very special. However the dessert was a bit too sweet.

Came here for restaurant week but we ordered off the regular menu.
Food ⁴⁄₅
— bread was cold :(
— we enjoyed the octopus salad and bone marrow appetizers
— I would recommend two entrees: the flounder and the chicken with mushroom. Both were very flavorful and delicious
— the steak was more on the average side
Ambience ⁵⁄₅
— the design and decoration is definitely an A+
we came on a Sunday night so it was fairly quiet and service was great too.
Overall I would recommend this place

I asked for the reserve champagne, not listed as a rośe but was brought a flat glass of rośe. I was brought another fresh glass at least after I said there are no bubbles in this. The bill said brut rose which is 12 dollars (same as the menu) and was told that it was the 18 reserve glass. Still confused why it couldn’t be admitted that I was brought the 12 dollar glass. I served too but I would admit it instead of saying the reserve is the rośe, elaborate ruse I guess.
The dessert scared me, caramel mousse that tasted like what smoke smells like. Not decadent. I actually thought it was a smell from a cigarette that someone had finished and then came inside. Dessert should not smell and taste like an ashtray.
Gone downhill. Glad I had a giftcard. I’ll go to Chapeau from here on out, they are consistent and kind.

I’ve been wanting to try this place ever since I started working in the City over a year ago, ever since I heard my former coworker talk about their Gaspar burger *drool*. However, seeing as how this place was on SF’s Restaurant Week list, it was a no-​brainer for me to make the 2 minute walk over here to try a three-​course lunch.
For $ 25, the lunch consisted of the following:
— Beet Hummus (with winter vegetable crudite, toasted pumpkin seeds, and za’atar spice)
— Meaux Mustard Salmon (with persillade breadcrumbs, mustard cream, and juniper-​braised savoy cabbage)
— Orange Crème Caramel (with grand marnier sauce)
Beet Hummus: The hummus unexpectedly hit both spectrums of sweet and salty at different times (probably due to that za’atar spice in one end of that smear of magenta hummus), but overall, it was still quite refreshing. The highlight of this dish had to be the fig and hummus combination, it was delicious!
Salmon: I wanted to like the entrée… if it weren’t for the undercooked parts of the fish. Even though most of the fish was cooked, the inconsistency threw me off a little bit and turned me off on this dish, although I still finished it.
Orange Crème Caramel: Evenly sweet and consistency was just right! My spoon glided through the dessert like skates on ice, and it was so delectable!
I will give this place another chance, as I will come back to finally try that Gaspar burger once and for all!

Went to a company party here recently and their food was amazing! Would highly recommend for anyone considering renting this place out for an event.

I liked this restaurant. They gave us a great table by the upstairs windows. It is a sexy looking place attached to a hotel.
Pros: Decent service, good drinks, fun ambiance, Flounder (VERY GOOD), Octopus Escabeche – cold salad – fantastic.
Cons: Didn’t take our drink order until about 15 minutes after we had been seated. Not cool for a Bar. Duck Confit was marginal at best. Served it to us luke warm with a rock hardboiled-​egg-​grey around the edges of the yolk. yuck. The food was marginal. Go for the happy hour oysters and fun bar scene.

What can I say… this is San Francisco. So many great places to eat. So I get frustrated when I waste a meal.
Came hear for lunch at 1.00. They were out of the entrée I wanted. Out of a few other things as well.
Ordered a salad, the fish entrée and the mussels. Ordered bread with the salad.
I hate over friendly inefficient service. That is what we received here. Finished with our salad before we got the bread. Salad was so boring, barely any dressing. It was a pile of lettuce.
My entrée was basically fish sticks… bland, over cooked. The mussels were ok, but again sleepy.
Fries, undercooked…
Definitely would not come back… very disappointing.

The great: $ 1 happy hour oysters from 4 to 7 pm.
The ugly: arrogant bartender upstairs. Had to flag him down every time, even though there were only five of us at the bar. Zero eye contact.
The saving grace: the bartender downstairs. I don’t recall his name, but he’s the Hispanic one with a ponytail. Great attitude, super attentive, did everything right.

Gaspar is a wonderful sexy place for a nice lunch for two.
Gaspar is a wonderful lovely place to take business associates for a meal.
Gaspar is just a great restaurant for a quick bite (love their burgers). Their duck confit is also magnificent. Nice wines by the glass.
Check them out.

I’m being generous with the A-​OK here, because we didn’t send any food back but I wouldn’t return here. Service was very slow — took over 15 minutes to get our order taken!
Here’s what we ate:
Smoked Salmon Mille Crepes $ 12
Crêpe & egg layers, salmon caviar, capers, red onion & crème fraîche
— tasty and creative presentation, the highlight of our meal
Grilled Bavette Steak $ 30
Pommes boulangeres, smoked bacon & scallion marmalade, white bordelaise
— steak was good (though not a generous portion), potatoes were not something we enjoyed. We had asked the server to substitute frites instead, and he said he’d just bring them as well. Though I appreciate that generosity, we really didn’t like these pommel boulangeres or the bacon marmalade.
Niman Pork Shank «Cassoulet» $ 30
Dijon​mustard crust, duck confit, cannellini beans, frisée, fennel
— definitely didn’t remind me of a hearty cassoulet. I should’ve skipped this dish. Pork was a good portion, the mustard crust part was great. Duck confit was tiny shreds. Beans were okay. Just wasn’t enough of a cassoulet for me, and I should’ve ordered something else. Server of course didn’t stop by to ask how our meal was going.
Strawberry Macarons 8
Crème chantilly, fromage blanc sorbet, strawberry sauce
— oooh, this one pisses me off, frankly. Copying and pasting from their web site, it’s «macarons», and we only received one. This was a ridiculous portion for $ 8. The sorbet was too cold — rock hard — and definitely tasted better as it warmed up a little. Was the dessert chef off this night?
I also get a little disappointed when you mention it’s your anniversary when you make the reservation, and no one says anything when you’re there. I don’t need a ticker tape parade, but a nice «happy anniversary» is nice.
Weirdest moment of the night: some woman came to our table and put a paper on it about some complaint of fair housing in the area. So weird. She did this to each table in the upstairs dining room, and it frankly really dampened the mood for everyone around us too. Felt almost like a security violation. Manager came by and picked up the papers without a word. Very odd.

#242. This review is for the happy hour. I met up with a fellow Elite (hi Bonnie!) here for some yummy appetizers.
We got half a dozen $ 1 oysters and pommes frites. The pommes frites were so good that we did a second round. And of course, we paired it all off with a Ma Cherie.
Surprisingly, this place was not crowded on a Friday afternoon. They also have a bar upstairs and a side entrance to the hotel next door. The hotel lounge is pretty spacious too. Definitely would come back again.
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My 2¢:
— Happy hours are Monday through Friday from 4−6pm.

Came here for my coworker’s birthday lunch.
Atmosphere: Really cute and good location. You can sit upstairs and watch all the people walk by on Sutter. They also have a downstairs.
Wine: We got a bottle of Syrah, which was so delicious and smooth.
Food: My coworker and I split the burger and the steak frittes. The steak and sauce were really good, but very minimal pieces of meat. For $ 25, I was expecting a decent size slab of steak. Nope, it was four very small pieces. (3/​5, just because of size). The burger was also pretty small. They forgot our brie and then when they brought it back out with the brie, it wasn’t melted. (³⁄₅ also). The fries that came with both were delicious, as was the aoili (⁵⁄₅). I tried a bite of the Chickpea Panisse Cakes which were actually really good. I would probably order them next time I came (⁴⁄₅)
Overall: I would come here again and order something new.

This is a hidden happy hour place in the FiDi/​downtown area. Great prices on happy hour – from a few cheaper cocktails (get the champagne ones!) to half price on some of their snacks (hello, truffle fries and oysters!). Spent ~$ 15 on drinks and food with a friend and left feeling very satisfied.
What I love about Gaspar is that you can sit down with friends/​coworkers and have a conversation while still enjoying happy hour prices. No need to fight the noise and crowds of other nearby bars! You can also go upstairs and sit in the lounge that is connected to the hotel. The plush chairs by the fireplace are very comfy! Service is also very friendly.
Looking forward to returning for my next happy hour after work.

The perfect happy hour if you’re:
1) Having an office romance and can’t risk anyone seeing you. Possible HR violations always turn up the heat in any relationship.
2) Looking for a date but aren’t looking your best for whatever reason. This place is dimly lit so the lighting makes everyone sexy. Just use your best Jessica Rabbit voice…
3) On a budget because you blew the rent money shopping. #GirlProblems 4−6pm, you’ll find $ 5 select wines and $ 6 champagne cocktails. But earnestly if you’ve got your power wardrobe put together, you should have no problem finding a date who’s more than happy to pick up the tab.
Beware though that it takes awhile to get a drink, so order your next cocktail before you finish your first.

I have never seen, heard or been to this place but I’m sure glad I did. I met a coworker here for a quick bite and cocktail before an event.
The interior is gorgeous! I felt like I was in a 1920’s luxury speak easy. I came here in the afternoon, but I’m sure at night it sets the tone even more. I definitely want to come here for late night drinks at some point.
We ordered:
Oysters
Fries
Deviled Eggs
2 Champagne cocktails
Loved it! The fries were perfection (I couldn’t stop nibbling on them) the oysters were super fresh and perfect, and the deviled egg, although small, was phenomenal.
The best part of my time here? For the 3 plates, and 2 cocktails, and bill was $ 26. What?! It wasn’t until I saw the bill that I realized it was happy hour! It wasn’t very busy either, so I’m surprised it wasn’t swarming with all the FiDi folk!

Oui mon Cheri.
That’s as much French as I can muster out of my tiny brain, where most spaces are reserved for words such as foie gras, pomme frites, pain au chocolat …
At Gaspar, you won’t find French speaking waiters, but you’re ensured of a cuisine that’s beautifully presented and tantalizing in taste, matched by professional service.
Start off with the sheep cheese plate, 3 different varieties and just enough to keep appetites at bay. Follow it up with a California inspired pâté: seafood version consisting of delicate lobster and sweet crab instead of the usual pork.
Order the robustly flavored lamb chops and sweetbreads which pairs nicely with the Lily Cocktail. The bright, citrus qualities of this cocktail is a great contrast to the heftiness of the lamb. The man loved his steak frites, no complaints there.
The quality of the dishes were so satisfying that we voluntarily skipped dessert. A miracle considering my dining companions both have sweet tooths.
Au revoir for now, Gaspar. Til we meet again.

This review is solely on their happy hour cause, well, I’ve only been here for happy hour. (Not an alchy, I promise!)
There are 4 things you need in life to be happy:
1. good company
2. oysters
3. cocktails
4. fries
And you can find all of these things at Gaspar Brasserie on Mondays through Fridays from 4pm-​6pm! (Well, not the good company. You’ll have to bring those yourself.)
I stopped by Gaspar Brasserie with Allen C. and David C. for celebratory drinks last Friday. They have a downstairs area and upstairs area (mainly for drinks). Décor is classy and a bit bougie. They definitely got the French look down!
BAR BITES:
— $ 1 Oysters
— $ 1 Deviled Hen Eggs
— $ 3 Pommes Frites: delicious fries!
LIBATIONS
— $ 6 Ma Cherie: refreshing drink
— $ 6 Champagne Cocktail
— $ 5 Sommelier Select Red, White, or Sparkling Wine
Non-​happy hour cocktails are $ 10 – 12, and food items are $ 5 – 20. Service was attentive and friendly. Will definitely be back if I want the oysters-​fries-​drinks combo again! Cheers!

I’ll be real, when I see restaurants with French names I pretty much just write them off as being above my means, if you know what I mean.
Obviously I can’t be sure if my monetary assumptions of French cuisine are correct 100% of the time if I never go to these businesses, but I’m elated to report that on the one occasion I ventured outside my cash-​flow comfort zone I was rewarded with a delicious but actually pretty affordable lunch, all things considered, in FiDi.
First off, their cocktails are tiny and beautiful. The price for one is what I’d generally consider to be on the high end what I’d pay for my entire lunch, but I’d been having a day and the rest of my dining-​mates were doing it so I did did, too. The $ 10 – 12 teeny tiny lunchtime cocktail was justified by how ridiculously delish it was and
My group got a Assiette de Fromage, which is fancy for a board with cheese. I can’t remember how many types of cheese we got but you can choose between 3, 6, or 9 different cheeses and it comes with some pâté and bread as well. Great for sharing and while cheese plates are never my first choice when dining out, this one was plentiful and had the best quality assortment of fancy pants accoutrements (jam, pâté, nuts) on the board I’ve ever seen.
For lunch I got the Chickpea Panisse Cakes which, turns out, were $ 22 and one of the more expensive items on the menu, served with roasted​baby carrots, torpedo onion, French feta, a spring onion pîstou. It wasn’t just any run of the mill plate and while $ 22 isn’t what I’d consider to be in the realm of an affordable lunch dish, the bill at the end wasn’t bad and I was full so it’s something that I’d consider splurging on again for a treat lunch or for a nice business lunch thing or even a date if you’re the type of human who’s able to attract someone enough to take you out in public somewhere.