Compass Rose

This is my favorite place for afternoon tea. After hours of shopping Downtown, there is nothing better than going to Compass Rose for tea service and relax. Food: During tea time, traditional tea items are served such as cucumber sandwic ... more

This is my favorite place for afternoon tea. After hours of shopping Downtown, there is nothing better than going to Compass Rose for tea service and relax.
Food: During tea time, traditional tea items are served such as cucumber sandwiches and pastries. Items can be ordered individually or you can get complete tea services. Tea service includes a fresh brew pot of tea (tea leaves, not tea bags), a variety of sandwiches, pastries and sweets. The tea service offers quite a lot of food, it's served on a three tier plate rack. Since it is tea time, we would usually order one tea service and an extra cup of tea for two people to share. Other than tea, they also serve coffee, espresso drinks and offer a full bar. A tasting menu is also offered before dinner that includes items such as crab cake and dim sum.
Service: Service is generally great at Compass Rose. Servers are attentive but they are not there asking you if you need anything every other minutes. We have never been rushed out of the place before. Something we can seat there for an hour or two just having a cup of coffee or tea. The checks were never brought to our table unless we let them know that we are ready to go.
Price: Ok, this is the downsize. A pot of tea or coffee will cost you around $6-$7. A complete tea service is about $20 or $25. On average it will cost about $20 a person for tea. I have only been there for tasting once, and I believe it runs about the same price as tea, maybe a little more.
Minor things: Reservations are not necessary, usually. I've never made reservations and have always been able to get a seat. The longest I had to wait was about 15 minutes. If you don't want to wait, or during busy time (i.e. Christmas shopping season), I recommend that you do make reservation. This is also a nice place to have a drink at night. There is usually live music (piano and strings) in the evening. Parking is never easy in Downtown. I recommend that you park at the Union Square or O'Farrell parking lot rather than at the hotel itself. One it will be less expensive, the other is the hotel parking is often full. less

I really don't know if you can classify the Compass Rose as a bar. While they do serve drinks here (lots of them in fact), they also offer High Tea (4:00 pm, I think), wonderful finger food (like lobster rolls, spicy scallops and the such), bu ... more

I really don't know if you can classify the Compass Rose as a bar. While they do serve drinks here (lots of them in fact), they also offer High Tea (4:00 pm, I think), wonderful finger food (like lobster rolls, spicy scallops and the such), but the draw for my lady friend and I is the music (usually jazz) and the champagne (the real stuff from France)and California champagne-style sparkling wines. Wow, how fun! For the price of a drink, we get to soak up all of the atmosphere of the St Francis Hotel, enjoy the music and have a wonderful time just people watching. Yes, the Compass Rose rates high on our fun meter. Maybe you too should give it a try. There is music seven nights a week, ranging from the Abe Battat Trio toBob Dalpe and the Rose Trio. Lots of fun here! less