Asqew Grill

Me like meat on stick...me afraid of fire...me itch crotch in public

If Cro-Magnon Man had a dining coupon, I'm sure the first place he'd go is Asqew Grill....even if he may poo-poo the idea of eating at a chain like most cavemen did during the Paleozoic Era. Actually the concept is little different from most of the mid-priced, self-serve chains like Buckhorn or Firewood. You order at the counter, and you get handed a tall number-holder which can also be used for jousting other customers standing between you and your desired table.

I went for the half-order of the Cilantro Lime Chicken with Roma tomatoes and red onion chunks. A half-order is one skewer which I found plenty enough for lunch, especially since it comes with a mound of roasted garlic mashed potatoes (among a bevy of starches from which you can choose). It's really not a bad deal for $6.25, although it suffers a bit for being a tad too lukewarm when served. This is a pretty common problem among these chains, don't you think?

But I do like the number of choices here for carnivores, vegetarians and all points in between. And the Marina location has a nice laid-back quality compared to the other city locations. Expect more kids and indifferent parents here. So discover your inner Neanderthal and eat from a skewer like true iron men do.

FOOD - 4 stars...good, hefty portion of meat and potatoes for your money
AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...casual, lodge-like setting
SERVICE - 4 stars...nicer than you would expect at a chain
TOTAL - 4 stars...me like Asqew...me come back

I came here last Thursday night at about 6:30pm... We were just about the only ones here. Oh well. I did my Yelp research before I can and I decided to order the peppercorn tuna and mac and cheese! Sounds good right?!?!

The guy at the register was great, helped us order and was super friendly. We sat ourselves, pretty clean. I saw a sign for good Happy Hour specials...looks tempting.

Our food came, my tuna wasn't really hot, pretty much luke warm, same as the mac and cheese. Not to mention-I had to return my tuna skewer. The 'server' said that they had changed their 'fish' provider...It was super fishy, almost unedible. I actually returned it...my tummy was NOT happy. The mac and cheese was OK. Definitley not to die for. And again, I like my food hot.
My bf got BBQ chicken skewers that were edible, and luke warm as well. The sauce was good and the mashed potatoes were good...

Another dish that was ordered was the Salmon Skewer over the pear salad. Looked good, and the salmon tasted great...Salmon is OK luke warm.

All and all, I really wasn't too impressed. Its a casual spot and I'd like to maybe come back for a happy hour or a lunch.

My recommendation: the skewers were asqew. Beers aren't served luke warm, they are cold, i'd go for one of those!

3.5 stars rounded up

I had the grilled bbq corn as part of the Great Urban Race in 2009, but I couldn't review Asqew based on that. We had dinner at the Marina location last night after standing in line at Tori Spelling's book signing down the street. We were starved!

We got the artichoke halves (love artichokes!) - it was nicely grilled with a light vinaigrette sauce on the side - loved this!! I got two wild salmon skewers (had to take one home, my eyes were bigger than my stomach) on top of the grilled pear salad (the salmon skewer was yummy, salmon was nice and tender, couldn't taste the grilled pear, so...??). My bf got a Thai chicken and a Thai beef skewer over coconut rice - he was quite happy with this. All with a couple of beers, and we were happy clams!

Service was nice and friendly, and our food arrived quickly which satisfied us as we were absolutely famished!

4 skewers+2 sides+artichoke app+2 beers+tip+tax = $50

I eat here quite often and always have the same variation on a theme...a skewer with a side salad and a glass of wine.

I've had several of the skewers, but I tend to go for either the Balsamic Beef Tenderloin (the meat is flavorful and right off the grill and comes with mushrooms, zucchini, and a nice balsamic dressing/dip) or the Cilantro Lime or BBQ Chicken. Texas BBQ Chicken has good flavor, too, but the skewered corn on the cob is kind of hard to get off the skewer and eat without getting your hands messy.

What I like is that you can get one skewer and any of their salads on the side, so I usually go for the Spinach. The portion is generous and it comes with walnuts, cranberries, blue cheese, and a vinaigrette.

As you would expect from a place where you order food at the counter and take a number to your table, there's not a lot of ambiance here. However, if you're looking for a quick meal that's tasty (and pretty healthy compared to other quick meals) and you're in the area, it's worth checking out.

I don't have kids, but they had a special on a Friday that I went here where kids ate for free. If that's your thing, you might try calling ahead and asking about it. I think it might be a smart weekly thing that they offer. (After all, kids don't really eat much and the ones I saw were just eating mac and cheese.)

They serve beer and wine, but don't come here looking for a TV. If you'd like to hear some real drama, come here when World Cup is on and the US is playing. They play it on the radio and it's even more exciting than watching on TV!

I've been walking past the Asquew Grill in Castro for years and have been intrigued a few times, but somehow never made it in the door. So tonight when my friend wanted to check out the Marina District for something different to do, we saw this location and thought, "why not?"

It was pretty mediocre across the board. The cashiers were sufficient but not overly friendly, the restaurant well-appointed and neat but nothing special.

The food was hit-and-miss. I got the clam chowder and it was no better than Campbells from the can. The lime chicken caesar salad was nice, but it honestly looked better than it tasted. It was fine, just nothing noteworthy. My friend's ahi tuna was similarly so-so, the couscous was again like something out of a box.

We'd maybe go again if hungry and desperate and an Asquew was right there... and really it was fine... but certainly nothing to write home about.

We tried:

The Santa Fe Chicken Skewer
The Thai BBQ Chicken Skewer
The Cilantro Lime Chicken Skewer
The Mango Lime Ahi Tuna Skewer

They tasted exactly the same:

DRY
DRY
DRY
DRY

Otherwise, no discernible flavors unfortunately. The Ahi Tuna was so scorched that I thought it was beef as did the friendly employee that brought it out. Our side salads were overdressed. The only part of our meal that we enjoyed was the cup of Butternut Squash soup. It was creamy, topped with cheese, and came with a small slice of toasted bread.

Things are definitely askew at Asqew. :P

If you like a side of attitude and complete and utter disrespect with your chicken on a stick, this is an awesome place to be. The fascist queen running the register, phones, and orders/pickups is a complete tool. Customer Service?!?!?! What's that? When you're as awesome as he is, apparently the commonly accepted rules and best practices of the service industry no longer apply to you.

This tool seriously hung up on me while I was ordering because he said he didn't have time to take my order, then when he did take my order (I had to call back twice) he was barely able to comprehend my very clear and concise order.

We arrive to pick up our food only to find him yelling at two young girls to "hurry up and order or go somewhere else", even though the place was completely empty. Another patron walked in and he snapped and yelled at him too. The manager of the place just stood there all smug and buddy-buddy with Asshat.

He ignored us for days even though we were clearly there to get our order. When he finally acknowledged our presence, he was snide and snappy and in our faces enough that I put my foot down and told homeboy to back the hell up and get me my order. Needless to say, our order (which had taken 10 minutes to place because he kept screwing that up too) was completely wrong. When this was pointed out, the tool had the nerve to blame me.

They fixed the order, begrudgingly, and the whole pick-up process ended up taking around 40 minutes...typically, pick up at Laurel Village takes about 3 minutes. These guys are appallingly unprofessional. They should pay YOU to go in and endure abuse of this caliber. So if you like bad service or you just enjoy being dominated and stripped of your dignity, head on over! Oh- and remember to be flexible about how your order ends up. NEVER.AGAIN.

For me this wasn't anything special. Maybe I need to try more stuff?

I like the veggie skewers, they were pretty good, not fantastic though. The grilled pear salad wasn't as good as I had expected. It looks yummy but it lacked in the taste department . Maybe it was the salad dressing. The dressing is what can make or break a salad. They do have some bomb mashed potatoes. I am seriously a mashed potato freak and anywhere that has them year round, automatically gets a star from me.

Overall this place is good but not great. They are pretty healthy ,but with steak and mashed potatoes on the menu, I wouldn't consider them the best cheap healthy food in SF. Which they were voted by in SF weekly. They also got #1 cheap food in SF on City Search. Um, really?

Yelp didn't vote them anything, maybe that's because we all know that yelp knows their food better than City Search.

Let me tell you how much it breaks my heart to write this review.

I once loved Asqew. I had them cater my wedding. It was my first post-birth meal for god sakes. I used to crave the food and had to have my fix on a regular basis.

Not anymore. In fact, I have vowed not to eat there again. And yesterday's dinner there was why.

I felt that the quality had been sliding for a while. The Haight location has been too disgustingly grimy for words for about a year now. Then, I was surprised to find the marina location totally bleached of anything interesting on the walls. But I figured the marina location was still ok on quality.

I went with my husband and 18 month old daughter and we ordered three skewers on rice and spinach salad. My child, who usually eats a variety of food would only touch the rice. Usually, she loves salmon, but she kept spitting it out. Our skewers were burned, with broccoli unrecognizable. My husband and I made do and ate what was not charred and whatever our kid rejected.

Now, I do not have what could be described as a strong stomach. I am sensitive and if food is bad, if something is off, I will get sick. But not my husband. He is a normal healthy guy. But both of us immediately felt off. We muddled through the rest of the evening in pain, then once our kid was in bed, could only exist in a horizontal position. I went to bed early, slept poorly and am completely debilitated today. He is fine now. (Update: he was violently ill overnight. Fabulous.)

I don't know what was wrong with the food. Usually I taste when things are bad. I could not pinpoint anything. It was just not good. The only reason I am not storming their doors today, is that my daughter did not get sick, since all she ate was rice.

Grrrr. You guys ruined a good thing.

I want to put a big green Mr Yucky Face sticker right here on this review. You remember, the stickers your mom used to put on bleach and other household products to keep you from drinking it*?

My office mates had a serious love affair with Askew and I tried to like it - for their sakes. I made lists of all Asqew's good qualities...I thought about how Asqew made them happy...I planned to simply never be caught in a conversation with Asqew so as not to exacerbate the already festering personality differences... - and suddenly I realized that I was treating a sub-par eating experience like someone's icky (but must be tolerated for the sake of the friendship) significant other.

So I made a clean break from the Yucky Face place. Salads that comes from the bottom of the bag (green goo) and chunks of veggies/meat that are - hmm - indescribable, are no longer a part of my life. *Sigh* I feel liberated.



(*Reference to a Yi S review on Children)