I recently had a couple long layovers in San Francisco and had a chance to try out both Priority Pass restaurants as well as the Centurion Lounge. I’m sticking to the Centurion Lounge.
For lunch, I ate at San Francisco Giants Clubhouse in Terminal 3. I ordered a steak sandwich, which happened to be the most expensive thing on the menu, and subbed French Fries for salad. While perfectly acceptable, I would not call the steak sandwich memorable.
(I’ll post a full review of this Priority Pass restaurant at a later time)
Due to a rolling delay, I ended up being stuck longer than I wanted at SFO and ate dinner at Yankee Pier. I’ve reviewed this restaurant before, though for breakfast. For this visit, I ordered salmon with salad. Again, very tasty, but this little dish ate up all my credit. A bowl of clam chowder soup would have set me back another $12 and wasn’t worth the calories.
On my way back, I ate dinner in the Centurion Lounge. This month the lounge is offering chicken covered in a lovely Peruvian tangy green sauce with cooked carrots and pasta. I found this meal the better than either Priority Pass meal.
Throw in salads, desserts, fruit, coffee, and alcohol…all included…and you have a more comprehensive meal that I also thought tasted better than either restaurant. There’s also power ports in the lounge, which are difficult to find in either restaurant.
The crowding issue in the Centurion Lounge is now less of an issue since AMEX enacted post-flight bans for Platinum cardholders.
CONCLUSION
Both Priority Pass restaurant and the American Express Centurion Lounge offer acceptable dining options at SFO. All else equal, though, I’d still choose the Centurion Lounge over either restaurant.
> Read More: New American Express Lounge Policy Is Absurd
The problem is post August 1 the Amex Centurion lounge will be even more crowded.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the changes help SFO specifically. It’s so crowded that I skip the lounge and go to the United Club to get a cube and work.
I wish they would have white meat chicken breast instead of dirty thigh meat. Soo overcroweded lately too..its like a bus station filled with cheapies.
Odd. I was there from 6-8p and there was plenty of people, but everyone had a seat.
White meat chicken breast is preferred by those with insensate palates who deserve food suitable for “cheapies.” This ignores the point of meat being murder, of course.
Last Wednesday night at SFO Centurion, people were literally eating & drinking whilst standing at the reception desk because there was nowhere to sit.
Damn that’s like 8,000 calories dude.
This wasn’t in one day.
That centurion lounge chicken is sure good at SFO. Almost tastes as good as the last Vegas centurion lounge chicken is still the best food I’ve had at any centurion lounge.
At SF Clubhouse I highly recommend the veggie burger. If you like beets, the patty is made largely from beets and it’s amazing. It’s very soft and isn’t trying to imitate beef at all, but if you don’t go in expecting that, it’s great.
And you’ll have enough money left over for an ice cream/cookie sandwich ☺️
@ Matthew– I prefer the old SFO Concourse F UA lounge over the SFO Centurion lounge due to overcrowding. I have no interest in eating or drinking alcohol at either place, and I love my bartender Carol!
Huh? Who photo-shopped out the mass of people in the Amex club? No way it’s not wall to wall people almost from opening to closing.
What is up with Centurian lounges and chicken thighs? NASTY!
1st off, Centurion food lounge is NO BUENO its just better than what the Major airlines offer. I do not go to the lounge for food, but it is nice to have. A quiet workspace… that’s what a lounge is for and AMEX does not even come close to delivering.
You must have some luck! I was there last November and it was a complete circus. Hung out for a few minutes and went back to our terminal (Alaska). Napa Farms Market was a better place to hangout, IMO.
well there is a huge difference between a Centurion Lounge at SFO and the public restaurants there. It’s private, fairly quiet only during rush hour is it loud. I am amazed at how people eat there it’s like they missed a couple of days of eating! These lounges have some great chef’s food is made in smaller batches to retain freshness and rotating menu’s what’s not to like?
Amex SFO doesn’t seem to season the food, especially the vegetables. It’s bizarre and I’m not sure why. Cooking 101. The salads often have inedible strange sweet dressings that defy any reason. I’ve never encountered such weird salad dressings anywhere in the world. Iceberg lettuce and industrial ranch would be better. The chicken is revolting actually. Really low quality thigh meat cooked uneveningly. When you get a bad piece, which is pretty much all of them, you gag. No sauce options to cover it up. They served pork when they first opened which is a preferable budget protein but I guess succumbed to a tiny minority of religious customers complaining. I’m in SFO 6 times a week much of the year and the food is so bad I avoid the lounge entirely and I’m cancelling my Amex. Other Amex lounges are better and at least the vegetables are tasty. SFO AMex food is just terrible. It’s a “hogs and slop bucket” operation at this point. Matthew is right that the other two restaurants are also pretty terrible.
The SFO amex lounge chef ALWAYS USES CHIX THIGHS!!! NOT great little meat more fat full of skin..wish thry would use real chix parts..