Onsen

Fantastic little spa / bathhouse. Staff very friendly during checkin / checkout. Limited number of people in each session, staff also gently and politely encouraged a quiet atmosphere throughout. Facilities were top notch: steam room, dry sauna and a hot bath. Ice cold water and mint tea on tap and also some comfy seating to read your book while cooling down. Strong recommend!

Easily my favorite dinner recommendation in the city. The food is terrific and the onsen spa time before/after food/drinks is a cherry on top.

I hosted a private birthday event here and came away with mixed feelings. The bathhouse itself is nice. The atmosphere is relaxing, the facilities are generally enjoyable, and my guests had a good time once we were actually inside. However, the event planning and service side of the business felt highly disorganized and unprofessional. My biggest concern is that Onsen SF appears to market and sell private group events without having the operational capacity to support them properly. Communication before the event was extremely difficult. I repeatedly requested information about food, allergy accommodations, event logistics, parking, and venue policies. Emails were often left unanswered unless I followed up multiple times. The event manager, Adam, was frequently unreachable by phone, and many details remained unresolved until the day before the event. Even the dining contract was not finalized until the last minute. When I called on the day of the event to confirm outstanding items, I was told by the front desk that they are “pretty chill” about these things. For a business managing paid private events, that response was surprising and did not inspire confidence. Staff training and event preparation also seemed lacking. I had provided allergy and food restriction information several days in advance, yet there was no signage, labeling, or visible accommodation made to the preset menu. Guests were not proactively informed, and we largely had to rely on reminding each other. When I asked for details regarding food quantities and menu planning for the buyout package, I was essentially told that we could “go with the flow” and order as we went. That may work for a casual dinner, but not for an organized private event where hosts are trying to plan for a group. On the day of the event, there also appeared to be little transition time between groups. Previous guests were still occupying the space until very close to our start time. At the same time, our group was told very clearly that we needed to leave promptly at the end of our reservation. This created an inconsistent experience and raised questions about how much preparation and cleaning time was actually allocated between bookings. To make matters worse, a 20% gratuity was automatically charged despite the service experience falling well below expectations. I do want to specifically recognize Kait, who was by far the most professional and responsive member of the team that we interacted with. She was attentive, helpful, and seemed genuinely invested in making sure our group had a good experience despite the operational issues happening around her. My concerns are primarily with event management and organizational processes, not with frontline staff members like Kait who were doing their best. In fact, if it were not for Kait’s efforts on the event, I would likely be leaving a 2-star review instead of a 3-star review. I want to emphasize that this review is not about the bathhouse itself. I genuinely like the concept, the atmosphere, and the venue. My criticism is directed at the event management and service operations. If Onsen SF wants to continue offering private group events, it would benefit greatly from stronger communication, better planning processes, clearer food and allergy management, and more professional event coordination. I hope the ownership team takes this feedback seriously because the venue has a lot of potential, but the current level of event service feels far too chaotic for the price being charged.

Amazing space. Dinner was lovely. Been here as a group, on coed night, on women's only nights. I will however say they need to be better about enforcing the whisper rule. I would be into a silent onsen, but given whispering is what a guests expect its super disruptive to hear couples just yapping away ---- they should ask folks who talk to leave. It's the only way you're gonna get people to respect. Bless.