Union Kitchen & Tap

In town for a conference so we stopped here for drinks and a late night snack. Our server, Brittney, forgot some of our food & drinks. Still charged us for them when we got the check and when we asked about it, she told us that she was too busy and couldn’t handle our group (9 people and the place probably had one other table eating at this time) Then just stood there. We had to actually ask point blank to not be charged for things she didn’t bring us. Then gave us attitude and said she had to get the manager to change it. Completely unnecessary to treat people like we are such an inconvenience to her night.
Btw– the food… eh. It’s like going to any crappy sports bar with food that’s probably just being heated up from frozen bags.

Went there for brunch the other day and split the eggs Benedict, my egg was really over cooked and everything was extremely salty. My friend who I split my meal with’s egg was cooked correct mix We were with a table of 6 and almost everyone said the salt level was almost inedibly high. Service was good and I would go back for the drinks but the food was awful.
Both the owner and executive chef contacted me wanting to make up for the mistake. So I bumped them up a star :)

Came here during restaurant week on a weekday for lunch. The place is nice and is in a great location. Parking was a bit hard to find so after 15ins of trying we ending finding a parking structure not too far away.
Once we came in it looked huge and nice. Our server was friendly. I ordered the gumbo which was a huge mistake! It was portioned for like a 5 yr old. My bf got the burger which was alright. The wings were the only decent thing we ordered. I was pretty disappointed. I should’ve went elsewhere for restaurant week but I just thought I’d give this place a try bc the menu looked good.

Atmosphere is just plain amazing. Interior is a comforting bar feel. Almost like I’m sitting on a pier.
Wonderful selection of beers on tap.
Service: Very friendly, good looking folks.
Food: typical bar food, yet wannabe gastropub food. There is a difference. Most of their selection includes salads, sandwiches, burgers and flatbreads. Honestly, when looking for a true gastropub, I need food that’s going to blow my mind. Although, can’t knock them completely. The roasted beet salad w/​blackened salmon was pretty darn incredible.
Overall, I’d like to coming here every once in a while.

Great service and great outdoor seating, but menu lacks creativity. I had fish tacos. They were terrible. Fish looked like deep fried Clam strips. Yuck.
The staff and outdoor seating might be worth a second chance, but this area has so much better menu choices and chef talent I’d keep walking if I could do it again.

Had shrimp and grits with clam chowder and my wife had fish tacos… Man this food was delicious! our server was John very nice guy we will definitely come back to this place !!

Stopped here after a flight from Boston. 1130 local time but almost 3 for me. A delicious beer was in need and union kitchen delivered. Their blackened chicken wrap was excellent.

Went here for restaurant week so that I could try a little bit of everything. The appetizer round wasn’t bad but nothing exciting. The mussels were cooked properly but the broth didn’t have much flavor. For the main course I got shrimp and grits, which was definitely the low point. Grits were really thick and definitely not cooked long enough. The whole dish made me feel yucky over all. The meals saving grace was the dessert. Tried both the crème brûlée and the flourless chocolate cake which were delicious. Service was good and the atmosphere was chill but I don’t know if I’d go back for anything but dessert.

Here for restaurant week dinner on a Wednesday night. Bar was full so grabbed a high top. Our server Tony, came and greeted us right away. Explained the menu, gave us a drink recommendation of the Fusion Margarita which is very tasty with a good amount of heat, which he did warn us about. It was the perfect amount.
Started with Sriracha wings & Mussels. Wings were a good size, sauce was tasty. The Mussels were extremely flavorful. I could eat an entire bowl of those by myself. I soaked the bread in every last bit of sauce in that bowl.
Timing was perfect on everything. On my savory bite of that last mussel, here came Tony with our entrees. Restaurant week portions are a bit smaller so when I saw our dishes I was surprised. A normal portion must be huge. I ordered the Yellowfin Tuna, which is new on their menu. He ordered Gumbo. Gumbo was good, pretty standard though. I loved the Yellowfin tuna. The fish was seared beautifully & presented on a mound of pork fried rice. It smelled so good, I could taste it before it hit my mouth.
Dessert was Butterscotch crème brûlée and salted peanut butter cake. Never had crème brûlée, and it is now my new favorite dessert. Pb cake was also very good. It’s more like a creamy textured cake which made it interesting.
We had a great time. Service was prompt & friendly. Everything Tony recommended was on point. Food was delicious. TVs all around. Great menu, can’t wait to come back and try the other items. Great craft beer selection & cocktail menu as well.

Had a good experience here with family in town last week.
Food: Good
Atmosphere: Good
Parking: Bad
Price: Expected
Service: Good
Overall, there was nothing that jumped out and overly impressed me… this is why 4 instead of 5 stars.

Great staff, great food, great drinks. I frequent this spot and have never been disappointed.
Hands down some of the friendliest staff and management around. Karen, Ty and Benson (bartenders) are consistently in a good mood and smiling! They are all knowledgable and always seem so happy to be at work. Refreshing!
I love this place! Do yourself a favor and check it out!

We dined here for our anniversary dinner. We wanted to try something new but were drawn by the menu and weren’t disappointed. They sat us at an odd table near the bar and the back staircase in the way, which didn’t start our night well but we decided to say screw it.
We both ended up ordering the steak frites, had hummus to start and red wine with dinner. The food was phenomenal. The chimichurri was out of this world.
Our server was also great and attentive which added to the fun night.
We would be back for sure, either for drinks or more food– just ask for a table away from the back wall/​bathrooms!

Three words… worse than Applebee’s.
And that’s saying something. It’s a shame because I really wanted to like this place. The food was the biggest disappointment… For $ 15 – 30 per entrée and $ 13 – 15 for a cocktail, I was expecting it to come out at least halfway decent.
The blue burger was alright. The fries came out undercooked and still really potato-​ey in the middle.
The Bacon MacnCheese. Wait what bacon? My friend literally wanted the bacon in my burger because there were no traces of bacon in the actual dish. I don’t even know if the dish was baked properly.
My friends pesto chicken flatbread looked really plain… Like one of those Celeste 2 minute pizzas you throw in the microwave. Didn’t even bother to try that one
The broccolinni came out in a dish filled halfway with oil… Think of limp, flavorless, broccolinni drowned in oil and a few flakes of parmesan cheese. Seriously– if you’re going to make a healthy dish unhealthy, at least make it taste good!

Went this past Sunday for brunch. Got seated very fast– no wait at all. Sat at a table outside in their patio. Customer service was great just like the food! My friends ordered the Chroizo Omelette, Union Benedict, and the San Diego Blackened Chicken Wrap. I also ordered the Union Benedict. Food was delicious! Definitely recommend trying this place for brunch. For drinks we had pineapple mimosas, which were the perfect contrast to our meals!
If you’re looking for a nice, friendly place to enjoy your Sunday at, this is the spot to try!

Popped in for a quick dinner at the bar. I’m a bit of a beet fanatic, and their salad and the drink «Beetnik» will definitely make you feel like you’re indulging even while being a bit healthy (it’s still a cocktail after all…)
Service was speedy since we were in a rush this was much appreciated. I also had a change to try their mac and cheese side which was bomb! I love a good white cheese with a bread crumb topping. Even taking it to go, it was nice and crispy and the bacon was delicious.

I come here quite often for lunch and typically order the same thing: the blackened chicken wrap. When you have a go-​to, why mess with a good thing? It’s the aioli that makes it extra delicious. Most of the time I swap in sweet potato fries for a little bit extra (and ask for them to add blue cheese), but the side salad is a good size and comes with a tasty balsamic dressing.
I’ve also had the club, the fish sandwich (which I didn’t see on the latest menu), but haven’t tried the flatbreads yet. One of these days. Or, I’ll just stick to what I know and like.
I’ve only been a few times at night and they’ve had live music, which was a cool vibe. I like the indoor/​outdoor seating options and we’ve always had terrific service.

This is a pretty good lunch spot located in the busy Gaslamp district. We had a business meeting here during a convention, this restaurant is very close to the convention center and easy to find.
Ambiance:An open, nicely decorated casual eatery
Service: Despite it being super busy, the staff was friendly and the food came quickly
Food:
Appetizers: I recommend the Siracha wings, the calamari and the poutine
Entrees: I liked their Jambalaya, and I heard their flat breads (especially the pesto one was really good)
All in all, a great experience!

First, my caveat. I came here recovering from a hangover on a Saturday afternoon that Taylor Swift fans were pouring into this area of the Gaslamp. I needed a greasy burger STAT and despite the sequined Swifties, we opted here because we could be seated inside the air conditioning.
Settling into my seat, I was happy to see they had soccer playing on tv (nothing like watching a little Barcelona & Real Madrid). And to my surprise, there was a guy playing his guitar on the other side. Great ambiance.
No booze for me I said, and ordered a soda & water.
Went with the Blue Burger: Brandt Beef, Blue Cheese dressing, tomato, bacon & garlic aioli. Served w/​fries. I thought the fries weren’t crispy enough. However, 2 bites into my burger and I thought, that’s enough. I was able to somehow manage to get down ¹⁄₃ of it and pushed it away.
The manager steps over asking if everything’s okay. My friend pronounces that we are a little hungover. He turns to me and says, «you need to bite the hair of the dog.» Nooooo! I told him that I was just going to stick to water. Next thing I know, a drink appears that looks like champagne & raspberries, on the house. I opted to drink and, what do you know, it was much more refreshing than expected.
Given the fantastic service, when our group that evening wanted to stop and get a nightcap, I directed the group here. It was pretty busy at midnight (bar stays open until 2am; kitchen closes at midnight). Definitely a cool joint.

I’m not sure if this place was way overpriced because we were there during Comic Con, or if they’re way overpriced all the time, but way overpriced they absolutely were.
We needed a break during our Comic Con excursions, and at this time of year, we like to try as many new (to us) restaurants as possible. Union Kitchen was one of our first stops this year. They were busy (it was lunch time, after all), and the hostess said that a table inside would be about 20 minutes. Figuring we wouldn’t have much better luck elsewhere, we walked inside and were met by another hostess who took us right to a table by the bar.
They had a smaller food menu due to the convention, which I understand, but the choices were a bit uninspiring. That’s on us; we should have checked the menu prior to stepping in, but 5+ hours battling crowds on the floor can make a person a little jumpy.
Our waitress was pleasant enough, but certainly not very available or friendly. We each ordered a beer from their slightly larger draft list, and I ordered the Caesar salad with blackened salmon, while my husband ordered the gumbo.
I will say the people watching during our wait for food was pretty good. It’s hard not to appreciate people’s quirks and tendencies during an event like Comic Con, and quirks and tendencies certainly were on display that day.
When the food came out, I was immediately disappointed. The salad — after adding the salmon — was $ 14. I expected something decently-​sized. The thing that was put in front of me, though, was pretty pathetic. It was tiny in the «Did I order the appetizer version of this plate?» kind of way. Super disappointing.
The flavor was decent, but the salmon had an overly-​fishy flavor that was kind of off-​putting. I mean, I know salmon can have strong flavors, but this had me wondering if it was going to come right back up… if you get my meaning (thankfully, it did not, but I couldn’t be sure by the flavor of the fish). Needless to say, the fish was not consumed, so I spent $ 14 on lettuce, croutons and scant amounts of cheese.
At least my husband enjoyed his gumbo (he said there was a lot more food on his plate than he had originally thought, and that it had some good flavor and a bit of heat to it), and the alcohol was delicious.
Definitely would not go back. Even if this was just an off-​day because of the convention, I don’t want to frequent a place that overcharges on their entrees in such a blatant way.

It was Thursday night of Comic-​Con. We were starving. We walked up the street through the Gaslamp District in search of some place with available tables. We stopped in front of Union Kitchen. We could see open tables inside. The server at the door said there was no wait for seating but that there was a $ 25 minimum per person – that was not including drinks. I looked around at my friends and then at the special Comic-​Con menu the server offered us. The selections were expensive, and if the food sucked, we were pretty well stuck. But… there was seating here, so we decided to go for it.
Our table was at the back in a gorgeous room. Our server was fabulous and attentive the whole time. One of my friends ordered the Fig Flatbread as an appetizer. YUM. The bread was soft, not crisp, and was oh so good with the figs and balsamic drizzle. The crispy sage was an unusual but nice addition.
I ordered the Mary’s Brick Roasted Chicken, which came with Roasted Baby Squashes, Pee Wee Potatoes, Lemon Jus. It was $ 24.95 but the waitress said she had no issues with that being under the $ 25 minimum (thank goodness!). I talked with my friends and enjoyed the comfy seats and quiet, peaceful environment away from the madness of the Con.
Our food came out after a short wait. The picture of my chicken makes it look like a small dish but it really had two pieces of chicken stacked together. The taste!!! My goodness. Mind you, I was starving and that does makes taste come across in a different way, but that chicken was cooked to perfection. Tender through, with crisped skin. I’m not a big potato fan, either, but the little potatoes were likewise cooked perfectly. They were firm yet melted in my mouth. The squashes were adorable, and the lemon sauce complemented everything.
I left, happily full, and feeling like the $ 25 price was well worth it.
I’d love to make a return trip to San Diego when it’s not Con time and visit this place again.

Essen ok, gute Steaks. Personal z.T. sehr hochnäsig. Kann man machen, muss aber nicht sein.