The Vista Room

My little cousin is attending SFSU, so I thought it’d be great to give the Vista Room a second chance. I’d say this spot beats the shiddy Quickly’s downstairs at the student center. It’s Columbus Day, so it was totally desolate in there. We had a table which was situated close to the door.
Let’s rewind to an eon ago:
Back when I was an SFSU student, I ate here once with a few friends and we ALL got the worst food poisoning ever. Needless to say, playing battle crap in the can came out like hot molten magma.
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O V E R V I E W:
The Vista Room is a restaurant simulation for students who are enrolled in the Hospitality Management program at San Francisco State University. Its goal is to give students a simulation of how the service industry works. In my case, I’m just a critical culinary specialist who points out noticeable faults (JK, disregard my bs).
F O O D:
75% of the items on the menu this time around were salads (Tarragon Chicken Salad, Albacore Nicoise Salad, Caesar Salad, Simple Salad, Mixed Salad, Composed Salad, Dredged in Salt Salad).
I had the Albacore Nicoise Salad, which in my mind, I thought the albacore was going to be lightly seared, plated fashionably and then served. Well honest to god, these slices of fish were dry af and overcooked out of existence. Heh… maybe that’s why its called the chicken of the sea… As someone who enjoys a delicious nicoise salad from time to time, the salad I was consuming looked like it was dredged in salt before being plated (the salt granules were clearly visible all over the place).
P L A T I N G:
Plating is what makes food aesthetically appetizing. We tend to eat with our eyes first before enticing our smell sensors and stomach to devour the sight before you. In this case, I wasn’t prepared to have a salad served to me in a cone shaped dish. Intriguing. The ONLY thing that stood out like a sore thumb to me were the finger smudge marks on one side of the dish. UGH…
S E R V I C E:
OKAY. I’m very critical when it comes to this section. Its either you show me your skills or lose your game (and your tip). Our waitress, Gigi, seemed like she was too scared sh*tless to wait a table. Girl was so timid and extremely soft spoken that I was about to ask if she came with a turn-​up-​the-​volume crank. Yes, I am a total A-​hole about this. But IDGAF, its for your own good!
Second, I totally loathe the feeling of a buzzard circling my table and giving us weird facial expressions when I am eating. Most awkward when they ask me a question when my mouth is at its fullest. Can you not see that I can not reply when I am chewing?!
C H A N G E S:
Still have to make a reservation in advance when coming to eat here with the exception of today being a holiday, and so DANG slow. No longer do you need to order from a prefix menu, items are now a la carte and payable by credit card. Also, no need to tip either!
O V E R A L L:
Our experience was A-​OKAY. The experience was especially enjoyable since we were visited by the Chef de Cuisine and Service Manager during our meal. Until next time!

Me — Hi Alex! (my sister) I’m at your school… on the 4^th floor in the Burk Hall building.
Alex — What are you doing at my school?!
Me — Eating at the restaurant where students serve you a 3 course meal. There’s a fine dining restaurant here. It’s only $ 17. They’re only open during lunch time and during fall and spring semester.
Alex — Weeeeird
Me — LOL!
Dining at The Vista Room was an interesting experience. To make a reservation you have to prepay and purchase through their website. Once you’ve made the payment, you call and see what day they can fit you in. So you need to be flexible because you might not get to dine on the day that you want. Their menu changes everything week and when you arrive you get to choose what you want from preset choices (3 for main dishes). So make sure to check the website to see what they are serving for the particular day you want to visit. Once you’ve made you’re reservation, you show up between 11:45pm and 12:15pm.
We didn’t know where to park so we parked at the mall. I know I know… bad bad girl. We eventually arrive and are greeted at the entrance. We’re seated and are immediately served bread and drinks (which are included in the $ 17). We decide to order mushroom soup, skirt steak, and fruit tart for dessert. The soup hit the spot since it was a cold muggy day. It was the perfect consistency… not too watery and not too thick. The skirt steak was perfectly cooked and flavored. It was served with potatoes and carrots. The fruit tart exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t too sweet at all with just the right amount of tart.
Overall, it was a good experience. Parking was a pain and you can definitely tell the waiter/​student that served us was VERY nervous. Is it a good place to go for a date? No, but it’s a great place to visit when you want to eat a 3 course meal for lunch. The quality of the food is definitely worth it.

Had to try it out for the price and the unique situation makes it all the more interesting. Pause. A brief background on the place… it’s waitered and hosted by students learning the ropes in hospitality. Un-​Pause.
First off the reservation system is a little weired. We tried to reserve on a Monday for the same day for lunch. Made a few phone calls and were met with voicemails. Went through the process on the website and pre paid. Yes you pre pay for your meal before you eat it. A little backwards but no worries. For the price and what you get it’s worth it. Later in the day we get the phone call that there’s no availability until Friday of the same week.
Friday arrives. Didn’t know where to park so we got creative and parked at the mall. We knew we’d be quick so we didn’t worry too much about it. We were running a litle late for our 1145 seating for a 1200 reservation. Got in at 1215 and were seated right away. Didn’t feel rushed or anything which was great. The students serving us you can tell were a little nervous maybe. A little confused on where to stand and place certain utensils but no complaints. We knew they were learning. The food was awesome. We got the same order. Mushroom soup, skirt steak, and fruit tart for dessert. All of it was perfect. The cheese bread was really good too by the way. The soup was really good and hearty. The mushroom was pureed it seemed but I liked it. The chunks of mushroom provided a cream of wheat texture that I enjoyed. The skirt steak was perfectly done. Not too tender and not over done. Served over potatoes and carrots. All was done just right. The dessert was perfect as well. The tart was filled with a custard that was really good and satisfying. We topped our lunch off with coffee.
The service was a little shakey because of the students but it didn’t ruin anything. The reservation system is a littel confusing and wonky though.
I’d come back for sure and would suggest to anyone else to give it a try at least once.

We have a promo code discount for the vista room right now. I set paying $ 17, you can pay $ 15 if u use our code «VRG5» and u can reuse it over and over again.
U can go to this web
then click on «578 promo lunches» then u can purchase there with the code
You can reuse it and it expires on ⁵⁄₁ but if u already purchase with code then no expiration
They also do walk in right now but u have to bring your check and remember to write the code inset
For each person
Thank you

I just did a wine tasing here yesterday night from 6 — 8:30pm. You don’t have to stay the whole time, some people had class so they had to leave at 7pm. It was a good deal, $ 15 for about 14 – 15 different wine tastings from a different winery each time. It also comes with small bites such as 3 different types of cheese, crackers, bread, fruits, and meats. And best of all is you can purchase the wine you like there or place an order. They never push you to buy. I look forward to go again.

So my friends and I have come a multitude of times and the food has been getting more bland as the time has gone on, while prices have increased. I do love when they have the bookstore sale where instead of paying $ 17 for the meal you get your three course meal for $ 8 or $ 9. There’s also Farm to Fork in the spring semester, where the Vista room cooks vegetarian dishes to highlight local organic food grown around the Bay Area and for sustainable purposes for about $ 10. Pretty reasonable. I also like that it’s a pretty fancy place on campus instead of far away from everything. And for college students who might be looking for a good date locale that’s in the daytime– I would suggest this.

Super cool hidden gem in sfsu! Make sure to make your reservations before 10am:) they dont credit card as form of payment. It was a very nice fancy dining experience
⁶⁄₅ customer service
⁵⁄₅ food
⁵⁄₅ overall experience & food quality

One of the best fine dining experiences I’ve ever experienced on a budget.
To quote one of the CLS instructors, one of SFSU’s hidden gems! Considering that most of the eating options around campus are quite underwhelming, this is saying quite a lot.
Considerations
-$ 15 for a three course lunch chosen from a small menu. The menu changes weekly and can be accessed here (
).
–The Vista Room requires prepaid reservations in the form of OneCard or check (read: no cash or credit card).
–The Vista Room is open when university classes are in session during the academic year: September to December, and February to May. When in session, it is Mon-​Fri.
–Seating is between 11:45 a.m.-12:15 p. m with meal service until 1:30pm, but from my personal experiences this is flexible.
–Front and back staff consist entirely of students in the Hospitality and Tourism and Consumer & Family Studies/​Dietetics majors.
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VENUE: Located in the fourth floor of Burk Hall. Elevators take you directly to the restaurant. This was reminiscent of another fine dining establishment I experienced back in SD (and was least 10x the cost of this).
SERVICE: The staff were always on their feet. Depending on the student, they will immediately refill your drink if they see it or you may have to flag them down to get them to serve you. Nevertheless, they were very flexible in accommodating people with different schedules — this was pretty important as I was dining with my fellow CLS classmates and were divided up into two groups for afternoon lab.
DRINKS: Choice of coffee/​tea, iced tea and soda with free refills.
FOOD
1^st Course: Options consist of a soup or salad. I’ve always done the soup option.
Oyster Rockefeller Soup was decent, the texture of oyster was a bit weird as this texture I’m more used to raw oysters. Could have been seasoned a bit more.
Tofu, Eggplant and Shiitake Mushroom Noodle Soup: Aside from wondering where the noodles were, also a decent soup. Shiitake was a bit overcooked.
2^nd Course: The options consist of a meat dish, fish dish or pasta dish. If you are not a vegetarian or don’t have any dietary restrictions, please do yourself a favor and order the meat or fish dish! This is a chance to try what you can experience at a fine dining establishment without paying the cost typical of fine dining establishments.
My first visit I tried their fish dish. The basil crust and tomato sauce enhanced the fish, though the coconut rice underneath was a bit tough. Presentation was excellent.
My second visit consisted of grilled herb baby lamb chops. This is a great dish if you don’t like your lamb too gamey, as this can be a deterrent for some people. I’m used to having my lamb chops unbreaded, so it took away from the taste I would usually associate with lamb. Couscous texture was more like mashed potatoes. The dish was still able to hold up in the microwave.
3^rd Course: One of the options will always consist of «assorted fresh fruit». Please do yourself a favor and pick the actual dessert, which is the other option. I have been quite impressed with my dessert both times. Whoever is in charge of the desserts has great potential to become a pastry chef.
Macadamia Nut Tart: Lots of macadamias. Macadamia nut lovers will appreciate this.
Chocolate Orange Iced Soufflé: Looks more like chocolate mousse inside a carved out orange, but this does not detract; the orange taste was evident yet I can taste the smoothness of the mousse. Strawberry had mousse as well.
My only minor complaint is that the dishes are a little on the lukewarm side once served to you. As there is a limited menu, I assume that all the dishes are made in advance, this is why there is a short wait time (compared to other restaurants) between the time you order and the time that you get your food.
I’m glad that I was able to experience this more than once during my pre-​clinical semester when class is on campus.

If I could give 3.5 stars I would. My friend and I came here with high expectations because of the decadent menu they had I online. We purposely checked the website to make sure we had the right menu for the right week. Unfortunately, when we showed up for our reservation the menu was not the same. I was really looking forward to trying the food because every time it would have class in the BH building I could smell the food and it smelled wonderful.
I ordered the curry soup and my friend order the beet salad. The soup was good and had great flavor and the right temperature. My friends salad looked bright and fresh.
For our main course I got the fish and he ordered the vegetarian noodles. The portions were huge and cooked well however, I didn’t think the sauce on the fish was that great and the fish was a little over cooked.
For dessert I had the fruit plate and my friend had the tart. By far his tart was amazing. As for the fruit plate the fruit was fresh, but some of the pieces had lime sitting directly on top of it which turned the fruit sour and mealy.
The service was awesome and the atmosphere was nice. I would definately come back and try a different menu, but I will call first to make sure we are looking at the same menu.

I so luv this place. Where on earth can you get a three course meal with tea or coffee and fresh warm bread for only $ 15? They only open on weekdays and I have discovered, Columbus Day is the only day I can reserve and enjoy this meal because college is still in session and I have no work. YAY!!! So this is my annual lunch tradition Iol!!!
The menu changes weekly, just google Vista Room Menu. We had…
Butternut squash with sweet potato soup — delicious n full of natural flavor
Red peppermint & feta cheese salad — my son finished it, that says a lot!
Baked Veal cordon Bleu — colorful dish, yummy veggies, veal lacked flavor
Chocolate Expresso Meringue — had it to go. The bread n butter filled me up. However, it was perfect for afternoon tea.
Tea + herb and/​or cheese rolls and they have boxes to go in case, like me could not finish my meal yay! And they come around topping your glass with lemon water.
Previous times I went there, there was a tip box in the corner. Opps felt bad that I forgot to look for that tip box today, of cousre its at your discretion. I always have good experiences here so they do deserve a tip. Not sure it goes to the students or back to the training. Anyway, they get 5 stars everytime. I sense students can be nervous and yet very helpful and attentive. Afterall, they are in training and therefore provide excellent service. Alot of faculty staff were there today, including the chancellor of SF. Did not notice any students, I guess $ 15 can be a lot to a student but for special occasions, it’s well worth it.
Looking forward to next year’s Columbus Day lunch, can’t wait, btw you have to pay in advance on the 3^rd floor. The restaurant does not handle any money… if you go, enjoy!!!

I’ve been here numerous times, lost count. If you want to know what the process is, you can read my first review of this place
. I would say each time I go, it gets better and better. If i were to ever be on Check Please, this would be my restaurant of choice.
5 tips for a better experience:
1. What you need to do is have low expectations for the waiters? Yes, they’re nervous and if you go during the beginning of the semester, it’s worst. Sometimes the utensils aren’t always clean… just wipe it and look away. Most of the time, it’s clean but there are a few rare occasions that they are not.
2. Get here early, the food is made before diners arrive, so get here early while the food is still HOT!
3. Don’t get the salad! Don’t do it, it’s always always dirty. Get soup instead, and again, get here early while it’s still hot. That soup with cheesy bread is a meal within itself, so so sooooo gooooooooood.
4. Get the meat of the week, because the fish/​seafood can be dry or weird too nasty ocean tasting and pasta is not worth the price anywhere. I’ve had the salmon and cioppino before, it was ehh but the SCALLOPS WERE DELICIOUS! I guess the seafood can be a hit or miss at times. The meat is always tender, ahhh I’m salivating as I type this.
5. Remember, you only paid $ 15 for a 3-​course meal, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Even though I’ve said some not so great things about this place, I STILL LOVE IT! I try to come here at least once a semester, and I’m no longer a student here anymore. I wish they would serve dinner here.

I really really wanted to love the Vista Room, and I will probably be back to give it another chance, since I may have gone on an off day. Alas, I have to be blunt and honest. Also note — I am not a SFSU student, just a curious Unilocaler.
The concept is lovely — a fine dining experience in a school building served by aspiring students. The menu certainly appears to be very fancy, and for $ 15/​person, seems super reasonable.
Even though my server dropped 3 whole glasses of water on my table, which my party and I didn’t mind at all, I would still rate the service and overall ambiance fairly high. To me, quality and taste are the most important aspects of a dining experience, and sadly, why I had to give only 3 stars.
We were given warm rolls and butter, which was nice.
Appetizer: Salad. It was a mixed green Caesar salad with unattractive anchovies and olives. The lettuce was fairly fresh, and I did like the lightness of the dressing. All three people in my party ordered salads, so I cannot comment about the soup.
Entrée: Quail and veal with succotash, mashed potatoes, and a few other sides. This course was a disaster. All of our quails were insanely overcooked and almost inedible. The veal was also overcooked, but less so. The sides were all pretty awful, as well, to be really honest.
Dessert course: Apple tart with white chocolate ice cream. The dessert was really delicious, though it was WAY too sweet, and the portion was diabetes status big. The crust of the tart was really tasty — just wish it didn’t come served on a pile of syrup. It would have worked really well alone.
All in all, I would go back to try on a different day. If you are planning to try it out, just keep your expectations open. The Vista Room is a great experiment — I just think the food could be a lot better.
NOTE: You have to pay with a check before you eat, and reservations are usually a good idea. They may also call you the morning of your reservation reminding you of this.

I’ve worked here so I may be cheating a little bit but honestly this is a fun dining experience.
$ 15 for 3 course (fine-​dining) lunch meal. Every week they have 2 appetizer choices, 3 entrée, and 2 desserts. Just got to check on the website for menus.
Reservation is required. So call ahead.
Food here is very good. I always love the meat dishes and salads and especially the dessert! they always look amazing!
This place is student-​run except for the chef. The chef is a part of the faculty and he supervises and teach the students the menu. He is a really passionate chef and cares deeply that each guests enjoys their meal.
Also great place to do EVENTS! much cheaper than booking at other venues.
I think this is a great thing at SFSU. But not a lot of students know about this establishment. so SPREAD THE WORD.

Vista Room… why have I only discovered you during my last semester?
The Vista Room is run by unpaid students taking a class for their hospitality management major. Considering the inability to receive tips, our service was impeccable and the food was very worthy of any fancy shmancy restaurant.
To enjoy the wonders of the Vista Room, you must purchase your meal «vouchers» at the bookstore then make a reservation for the day you want to go at Burk Hall 321. To know what will be served up the week you decide to go, take a look at their website before making your reservation:
My best friend and I decided to try the Vista Room out today since the bookstore was offering a $ 8.99 (regularly $ 16.99) special for their 3 course prix fixe menu. Our server was Andrea, who was truly a delight. She was incredibly attentive and I was sad that we were not allowed to tip her directly. If you do decide to tip, it is considered a donation towards their department =(! Oh SFSU how you exploit students…
On to the food…
The best friend had:
1. Mushroom soup and veggie medley… not sure what other veggies were in it, but she enjoyed it
2. Quail and veal with pesto mashed potatoes… meat was very tender, juicy, and full of flavor. The pesto mashed potatoes were the perfect combination
I had:
1. The Cesar salad with Greek olives… the Greek olives were very bitter. The croutons were a bit soggy =\ It was not the best salad…
2. Pan fried tuna with ratatouille, shrimp, corn cake… so delicious. The tuna was slightly dry, but I really enjoyed everything. Very flavorful.
We both got the honey almond apple tart and the crust was so delicious. It reminded me of shortbread and the apple and honey almond tart were so flavorful. It came with some lemon and vanilla tasting ice cream. Super yummy and I don’t even like lemon-​flavored anything.
Overall, great experience. Wonderful service and food. I cannot wait to go back!

I am definitely a fan! $ 15 for a 3-​course meal is a plus in my book.
I attend SFSU and was looking for a place to eat for a lunch date with my friend, so I went on my Unilocal app (totally awesome by the way) and search for nearby restaurant/​food and this came up. I read the reviews and saw that it was conveniently on campus and reasonably priced.
I ordered the leek potato cheddar soup for starter and the sirloin for main course and the cake for dessert (if you want a better description of the dishes you can check out their website and look at the menu for the week of the 28^th). My soup was good and refreshing with lots of potatoes, the sirloin was good with mushroom sauce and the stuff mashed potatoes was also perfect (not dry), although, the cake was dry… very dry… It was also very crumbly, and the frosting wasn’t creamy or anything. I only ate the strawberries on my plate. Oh, and the meal includes a drink too. You also get a warm dinner roll at the beginning and they come back to offer you more.
Here’s the scoop about this place (because I sure didn’t know), you must call them to make reservations and they only take checks or OneCard. You must pay before dining. They only serve lunch and their doors closes at 12:30 so you have to make it there before then. Also, one other thing you should probably know is that the servers are all students.
Oh last but not least, no tax and tips required.

Dear Vista Room,
I highly commend you for the excellent food and great service, which I would give you 5 stars for. However, for a five star restaurant like youself, and since interior design is in the same building, would it hurt to invest in redesigning your outdated, 80s style décor?
— May

I love the Vista Room! It is SFSU’s hidden restaurant on the top floor of Burk Hall. The Vista Room’s menu is posted online and is changed weekly (
). It is run by students and I always plan my trips near the end of the year where students have had time learned how to serve and cook the food properly.
The price is $ 15 dollars per person which is extremely reasonable since you don’t have to pay tax or tip. The meals are high quality and definitely worth a try. I thought it was really entertaining that the class (just like every other class at SFSU) was impacted so the students outnumber the customers 2:1. Overall, Vista Room is the place to go for a classy meal at a low price!

This place is actually run by students. well the waiting part of it us. i don’t think they take part in the cooking. The menu changes every week and it’s best to make reservations at least a week ahead of time. it’s a three course meal and you can preview the menu weeks ahead of time. It’s best to get here at 12 and you should try showing up late. you are greeted by a bunch of servers when you first walk in. Once you are seated they bring you water and bread. They bake their own dinner rolls here and it’s so fresh and warm. It’s really good!!! The starter course is usually a salad or soup. For the main course they usually have meat or seafood. They also usually have a pasta dish for vegiterians. and for dessert. well you can never go wrong!

I hate going on «dates». I am generally shy, so first few dates consist of dull and cliché forms of small talk. Of course, in good time, things tend to blossom beautifully. Let’s face it, this is America; patience is not our strongest suit.
How do I remedy this? Friends– one in particular. Skip the learning, straight to the knowing. We eat, watch movies/​television reruns, stay in, and go places together. It’s awesome, no awkwardness or self-​consciousness whatsoever. The thing is, we are very different: I love dining out, he loves eating in; I cheat public transportation, he pays honestly; I prefer quality, he prefers quantity; I’m economical, he’s frugal. We have an ability to latently compromise. Every once in awhile, we’ll find ourselves at a crossroad.
Paying for the place was the biggest hassle. They don’t take cash this semester, so I went to use the machine next to the bookstore to put money on my ID card. The machine spat out my $ 5, so I walked all the way to the Patelco ATM to get $ 10. Machine took one $ 5 but not the other. I went to the HealthyU to exchange for a clean $ 5, machine spat it out again. I asked the person next to me to trade, spat out again. Went to the bookstore to find out that the machine is too old and does not recognize new $ 5 bills. Terrific. After loading on the monies, I ran to Burk Hall in the rain to pay up. The office was closed, so I had to walk all the way to the business building. The card machine was malfunctioning, so the girl had to call me back to notify me about whether or not the transaction went through. She called later and it did.
It was only $ 13 for some odd reason. She said the first four weeks for students is only $ 13 and then it turns to $ 15. I don’t understand, but okay. Now I don’t know what to do with the remaining monies on my ID card. I suppose I’ll buy a sandwich and do some laundry.
Because The Vista Room is only open from 11:45am-1:30pm (seating until 12:30pm), our only available day was Friday. So Friday, we marched up to Burk Hall and were amazed when we walked in. The tables were neatly set, the waiters and waitresses were dressed professionally, and the atmosphere was perfect for lunch. We were assigned a table next to the window, where we got to look out at the poor souls trapped in the rain.
Service was very well done, although the woman who forgot my Coke seemed nervous. In terms of fine dining, the food was okay. My friend and I ordered all the same dishes for appetizer and entrée, but we actually got different plates. I had two pieces of duck with veal and he had duck, lamb, and veal. I had two scoops of yellow stuffs and he only had one. There wasn’t salmon in my soup, but there was in his. All very odd.
The meat wasn’t as quality as I hoped, as most of it consisted of fat. For $ 15 (or my case, $ 13), there isn’t really anything to complain about. I’m just thankful for having this place at all. Food is in good portions, on the large side, so don’t be like me and eat a whole meal beforehand.
Someday, these will be the guys and gals working at the restaurant you’ll be waiting a month to get into. Watch out, world, SFSU’s culinary arts students are coming your way!

I was introduced to this place from my friend who currently attends SF State University. It’s fantastic discrete restaurant located on campus run by students studying hospitality management and dietetics.
They are a fine dinning establishment with a different three course menu selection every week for $ 15. The customer service was great! They were very attentive and polite. Every time I finished my plate, they were quick to take it away and asked if I needed anything. =D
I had the Roasted Ratatouille soup (w/​white beans & serrano ham) for appetizer
Entrée: garlic rosemary roast chicken:
served with gingered shitake mushrooms, string beans, irish bacon, jus warm potato salad, and buttered cabbage.
Dessert: toffee, coffee & chocolate silk pie
Everything was great! the soup consisted a robust taste of tomato complimented with hearty chunks of white beans and serrano ham. The chicken came in a huge serving with rosemary aroma. Although, it was a little dry the vegetables around it definitely juiced it up. Lastly, the pie wrapped up the meal with three layers of creamy chocolate delight.
Definitely worth it for $ 15!!!