Super meat-markety and expensive. I was bummed by the food - even though I thought it sounded really awesome (lamb gnocchi). And unfortunately it didn't really agree with me (eek). The drinks were fine, but had actually too much alcohol (learn to mix in the right ratio Mr. Bartender). And I was surrounded by drunk people no matter which side of the bar I switched too. Oh well. Not the end of the world, but not sure I'll be back any time soon. read more

It was only a matter of time before I was going to give this place a shot. Honestly, I had an overall good experience but I just didn't get that special wow factor. The ambiance is perfect --- trendy and hip the way I like it. Depending on where you sit you can be isolated from the world or you can enjoy people watching if you sit near at the window. The lighting give me the feeling of upscale-ish dining in an underground party like environment. Their service was great. Typical service you would get at a high end type restaurant. You ask for a knife and you get a knife brought to you on a silver platter. My water was just about refilled after every two sips. I ordered the pan roasted duck breast. Great presentation. I was hoping it was going to taste so good that I would quack but it was just mediocre. The California asparagus accompanied my duck and it was decent at best --- a bit bland. Like I said, no wow factor. I'll stick to the bar/lounge area of the W and will venture off by foot next time I'm back in the Bay Area. read more

I had breakfast at Trace for the first time today. I must say I was disappointed. To start with I had requested a window table on Open Table and the hostess mentioned that when we checked in but stated they were very busy that morning and everyone wanted window tables. Maybe so, but everyone didn't have reservations. They had plenty of table available and rarely fill up for breakfast so I think the fact that I had a reservation should have resulted in their saving a table for me by the window. As for the food itself, I ordered the Trace which was eggs, toast, bacon, and potatoes. My wife had an omelette with mushrooms and gruyere cheese and peppers. I had expected the Trace would be similar to the Plow at Plow and it looked the same on paper but that was it. The eggs were fine but the bacon was thin and dry with no taste of applewood. Not that it claimed to be applewood but I expect that for a $15 plate. The toast was uninspiring and served overcooked AND cold. Not sure how you accomplish that. My wife ordered a decaf coffee and I ordered a regular coffee and we were served from the same pot so I had to call the waiter on it. He apologized and brought another pot of regular for me. I must say the coffee was delicious though. The omelette was also uninspiring and the potatoes were pretty but land I've eaten at W in SF when the restaurant was called XYZ and I much preferred the food and interior. The new interior is pretentious and looks like all the furniture was sourced by K&D. Overall I much preferred XYZ and i really can't understand why W invested so much time and money in this mediocre remodel. read more

I would give this a 3.5 star rating, but not a 4. While the menu changes constantly and they rotate things in and out, my favorites over the last few big changes were 1. whole oat groats served with milk and rosemary. 2. Bone marrow 3. Shigoku oysters 4. Every now and then the waiter would serve artisan breads (rye with olives baked in them, buttermilk bread, etc) which were so great. The price however is a bit over the top. read more

Our dining party started with the Chantrelle Mushroom Flatbread (mornay, bacon, brussels sprouts, agrumato), which was beyond delightful. I could honestly sit and eat three of those, call it a night, be quite happy. A few gourmet cocktails from the bar and we were in seventh heaven. I had the pork, my one friend had the chicken, and my third friend had the steak entrees, all were 4/5 overall. Nothing quite measured up to the appetizer and drinks, but it was a beautiful setting, a nice night, and we were quite happy with the quality, the service, and the reasonable price for high-end cuisine. read more

Came here with my in-laws when they were visiting from LA. They are pretty fancy people and this was a pretty good option. The environment was nice, the food wasn't crazy expensive, and the servers were really attentive. I mean....REALLY attentive like "go-away and stop coming here so much" attentive. read more

Had an awesome experience here for brunch, which is my favorite meal. Had low expectations given it is a hotel restaurant but was pleasantly surprised. The pancakes with poached pear and vanilla cream were excellent. Perhaps the best I've had in the city. The chicken sandwich was also awesome. Light. Tasty. Healthy. Will def go back... and they take reservations which is rare for good sf brunch spots. read more

Beautiful restaurant in a beautiful hotel! Dined here with the amazing BF for his early Bday dinner :D We ordered: Yellowtail crudo and Pacific oysters - starters Roasted chicken (BF's entree) Duck breast (my order) Complimentary champagne from the awesome waiter!!! Food was DELICIOUS. Ambience/decor A+++ Great place to bring your date :D After dinner, my BF and I walked over to the bar area, shared a few drinks, and enjoyed some music. I had a blast w/ my man!!! :D Will definitely dine here again when we stay at the W! read more

Here are the facts: $13 Cocktails $11 Well drinks Trendy Older crowd No Happy hour Weak drinks You wanna go here now? read more

I consistently come in for breakfast if I'm staying at the W but I never considered coming for dinner since I generally avoid hotel restaurants. Luckily I was waited upon by Roger. Part beekeeper, part exceptional server, Roger was excellent. Food was solid. Overall, I was impressed. It's almost blasphemous to recommend the restaurant at the W in San Francisco, but if you don't have the time or the patience to find the perfect restaurant in SF or wait for a table at one of those restaurants, Trace is decent alternative. read more

40 minutes and the cocktail server couldn't get us 2 glasses of wine. It was not that busy. When we hunted down our server to cancel the order, there wasn't so much as a sorry. But she was able to put $50 hold on my credit card which is still pending 3 days later. Don't bother. read more

Had brunch here on Saturday morning. + I really liked that they changed up the look from the last time I was there. It felt like I was among the SF fog, but with a really good DJ. + The bacon waffles and Ahi salad was amazing! A definite to do. + We must have just showed up after the big rush because we had no problem being seated and the manager came over and bought us a round of champagne. He was very attractive by the way. I think his name was Akop. * It may be the champagne or the hot manager or the bacon but this place was awesome. If they would lower there room rates, I would absolutely stay here just so I could be closer to the bacon waffles. Either way, I will definitely return. read more

We stumbled upon Trace on accident, but quickly noticed that their brunch menu looked better than the one we were headed toward. The service was great! Especially when I mentioned that I was celiac, the server said 'just tell me what you want, and we'll do a modification to make it gluten free if we can'. First thing I asked for....they did! I had the Benedict. (they had gfree bread in the back). It is clean, bright, and beautiful inside the venue as well. We loved everything about it! read more

Love the concept. Locally sourced and sustainable. The ingredients in your meal can be TRACEd back to its origin. However, I think the concept could be followed through more. We had a pasta dish with short rib. I expected the pasta to be made in-house but it wasn't. I asked our server and he told us it's not fresh pasta. It's imported from Italy. What happened to locally sourced? Also, I had a blood orange cocktail called the bloody sunrise. It was garnished with a wedge of regular orange not blood orange. Where is the blood orange? Apparently, they don't use fresh fruits in their cocktails. It was a blood orange liqueur. At a place where they pride on their locally sourced ingredients, I expected market fresh fruit cocktails especially at $13 a pop. An option of non-alcoholic fresh fruit house made sodas/drinks would be nice as well. I was with 3 other people so I was able to sample of variety of dishes. Food was great but not mind blowing. The food here reminds me of the food from Prospect. The stand out dishes of the night were the braise pork gnocchi app, squid app and the chicken entree. One of the desserts we had was the panna cotta and it was tiny. I could have eaten the whole thing in one big bite. Not kidding. Especially compared to the two other desserts we had (red velvet cake and chocolate bar, they were good not great). The size of the other desserts were normal. Not sure what they were thinking when they made the panna cotta. The food prices were on point (~$23 per entree) but cocktails were way overpriced. At $13 a glass it was more than what most of their appetizers cost (~$10 each). However, I do like the fact that soda refills are complimentary. Service was fine. We liked our quirky server but he disappeared for long periods of time in between courses. The space is modern and loud. One of my friends said the space reminded him of a Virgin America plane. White wall, table and chairs, purple and pink lighting, trance music... he was right on. The second floor is a bar/lounge area with a DJ blasting music. The second floor is open so you can kind of see what's going on when you look up. Anyway, not a place to have dinner and a conversation. read more

More like 3.5 stars. We came here for Dine About Town this past Sunday upon seating they gave us the regular menu but not the Dine About Town menu. We asked for it which the waiter was kind of enough to bring over. We ordered a few things to share; chicken liver mousse, cauliflower soup, yellow tail salad and a croque monsieur. The food was pretty good, the soup could have been hotter, the salad could have been bigger but other than that no complaints. Trace is the renovated restaurant that used to be XYZ. They have opted for more of a casual feel from what was more I believe a sophisticated, classy feel. The vibe is still the same, it's still very much like a W Hotel which means it has the club like atmosphere. Overall I was a bit disappointed because even though I never thought the food at XYZ was good, I feel this is a step down from what it used to be in terms of overall experience. Service was good, waiter was friendly and the hostess felt snobbish but that could have been me. I would come back and give it another try but the regular menu isn't inexpensive since it is the W Hotel after all which means that there are many other places to eat at that price range. read more

Extremely underwhelming. Service was rushed, but also super slow, if that makes any sense. It was lunch time and it didn't look very busy, but the server took a while before she came over, hastily took our orders, and didn't manage to make any of the dishes sound enticing. Food also came out very s l o w, and they also forgot our appetizers. However, we did get them on the house, which was nice. Food was mediocre. I got the rabbit club. The rabbit was more like a pate, which I found weird. The grilled flat bread appetizer - when we finally got it - was good. We also got a bunch of desserts to try - with the peanut butter waffle being the most popular. I thought it was just okay though. To top it all off, the waitress gave us the wrong bill. Why so frazzled? read more

I had dinner at Trace last week. All-in-all very good. As mentioned in other reviews it's loud as it's open to the upper bar area, but it's a W after all. :) A friend and I shared items from the small plates menu. The salad and Tuna Tartare were excellent. The meats of the Charcuterie board tasted a little bit over-seasoned, but we enjoyed it none the less. Trace has a surprisingly small wine list for San Francisco and their prices are a bit high.....but it's a W after all! I will definitely visit Trace again. read more

This place, in the W, has an identity crisis. Its a good, fine dining, restaurant trying too hard to be hip. Why? stop. please stop. The strip steak was reeaaaally good, but why serve it un-cut? I thought i was at Dennys. Your high brow counter-parts, whom are probably aware that electronic music is finally getting its 15 minutes of fame, would have cut the fat off the sides for me. Why didn't you do it? What is wrong? =( See, I am a very trusting person. If you put it on my plate, i will eat it. If presentation is something you value (which you clearly do with your hilarious signs above the urinals), then make it so that everything visible is also edible. When you make me chew on a band of fat for 5 mins, i have to spit it out. where do i spit it? its unsightly. I was with my parents, so i didnt care but what if it was last week when i was on a date with Parker Posey? What? Dont know who that is? It's because you are not hip, and turn on the god damn lights cause I cant see shit. While you're at it, turn off the music. If I could hear myself think, I would have picked WINE for the WINE pairings. Instead, in my techno-trance daze, i ordered the theatrical martinis at the same time the gay parade on the 2nd floor did. The strawberry lemonade with basil and mint leaves were amazing. read more

------brunch only------- Had a travelzoo offer which made this place worth coming to. Decor is BEAUTIFUL. It's modern, it's hip, it's great if you have uppity LA friends that you want to impress. Half kidding but really though, it's a nice setting for brunch. Food is just okay. It's not bad but for how much it is (WITHOUT the travelzoo), the taste isn't really worth the price. That being said, it's still good. Just not amazing. Service is pretty hit or miss. The first time I came here, our waitress took 25 min just to take our order (after we had to flag her down to get our drink order) and then it took another 45 minutes to GET our food (we had to ask for it, so we have a feeling she forgot to put the order in since it wasn't even crowded). However, the SECOND time I came here, the waiter was attentive, quick and really friendly. So, I guess it just depends on who you get. read more

This is a very cute place to lunch. I came here during work and ordered the seasonal soup, which was pumpkin with creme fraiche and mexican chocolate drizzled on top. it was the perfect amount of soup and great flavor! The prices are pricey, but come expecting that. When I checked in, there was a free share plate with the purchase of 2 entrees. I did not use it, but I plan to! Decor is very trendy chic - light and fun. The window seats are great, and there are semi private booths if a more intimate atmosphere is desired. I can't wait to come back here. read more

Came here after going to the SF MOMA closing celebrations. The vibe is hip - the music is like Ulrich Schnauss with plenty of well dressed people out to enjoy a nice evening. The place is clean and the service is good. The food isn't bad either - got the yellowtail sashimi, scallops, and short ribs. Washed it down with a Dark and Stormy. I wouldn't say the food is out of this world amazing and I probably wouldn't dine here again unless the opportunity came up but it's not a bad option. Slightly on the expensive side however. Come here for a drink or happy hour, not dinner. read more

Great birthday breakfast. Had prosciutto and poached eggs. Thank God for discount. read more

We visited TRACE as our 'fancy' dinner while on a little vacation to San Fran. Whatever other folks may say our experience was outstanding and the food was prepared to perfection. Our server was a pro and we could see he really cared about our food and experience at the restaurant. Bonus--we happened to be there on a night when DJ Celeste was spinning in the bar--very much recommended! read more

I visited TRACE for the Yelp Elite meet event. The place seems a bit overbooked and crowded, but it was still a very cool experience. The bar/lounge area is two stories and has a nice, cool, trendy-clubby-like vibe to it, yet seemed sophisticated. I tried out a couple of the mixed drinks, though my favorite by far was the "bee's knees" shot. It was gin, honey and lemon. So easy to drink, and so delicious. Some of my favorite food samples included the pumpkin ravioli, pork should, and lamb with gnocchi. I know that they offer happy hour on weekdays, so hopefully I'll be able to come back sometime soon. read more

Hotel brunches can be questionable at times, because I never know whether the food will just be average or more. Luckily, a Gilt City promotion tempted me to check out TRACE at the W Hotel. We began our morning walking into the ultra-chic, modern restaurant with upbeat music playing in the background. The epitome of trendy? I think so. San Francisco? Not so much. It actually reminded me a lot quintessential trendiness at SoCal restaurants. Regardless, the food at TRACE was great. After ordering our libations (mimosas were our choice), we proceeded on to main entrees for which I chose the Eggs Chilaquiles. Pretty delicious, I must say! The cotija cheese was so, so fresh and a great topping to the dish. The portion sizes were quite large for a hotel restaurant, so rest assured that you're definitely not overpaying. The $14 dish was worth its price tag. I'd return to TRACE again, even without the Gilt City voucher. read more

Our server KIM made the experience INCREDIBLE! It was our honeymoon and we were very pleased with everything Kim did to make it even more special. We ordered steak (perfection) and chicken (great). TRACE provided complimentary items because it was our honeymoon and this made my wife happy which in turn made me happy. VERY DELIGHTED. THANKS AGAIN KIM! We hope you see this! read more

Tried this restaurant at the W with a group of friends who suggested it. The service was mixed. The man who brought us bread and beverages, I did not care for. He was just a little abrupt, possibly seemed a little cranky. The waiter, however, was excellent and personable. The food was decent. Not mind-blowingly good, but decent. The bill came out to a little over $50 per person. At that point, the meal didn't seem so good! It was alright, but overpriced for what it was. The vibe was weird. Ultra-modern and a little gaudy in decor, but the place was almost completely empty--on a Saturday night! I really want to give this either 2 or 3 stars... It wasn't at all a bad experience, and the food was decent, but I'm not likely to go back. read more

Trace will always be XYZ to me. However, their burger does not measure up to XYZ. Don't get me wrong its good, but XYZ's burgers were much better and slightly bigger w/real bacon strips. Traces homemade chips are tasty if you chose instead of french fries. read more

The W tried hard to make Trace a cool restaurant instead of the hotel coffee shop breakfast restaurant. I had the travelzoo 3-courses dinner with cocktails pairing deal. First course was the ginger carrot soup with pork belly bites, super tasty! The main was grass fed steak, which was cooked well. Cocktails ($15) were always great at the W. Overall a fun night with pretty good food. But without the deal the dinner would be $100 a person before tips and tax. So it might be a little overpriced. Wait for the next deal I will recommend to check out the restaurant. read more

Overall my feeling after leaving was, "meh". The actual space and design is on point, but the vibe is off because it feels like a ghost town. We had dinner on Saturday night, and we were literally one of about 4-5 tables. Even with the limited number of people, we had incredibly slow service. There were two stand out items that we had: the tomato jam (part of the charcuterie appetizer), and the heirloom tomato salad. Both were actually amazing, but our waiter Roger mentioned that they were both on their way out as tomato season is over. I think our overall experience would have been much better if the steak was better. Honestly I could have cooked the steak MUCH better on my George Foreman at home. It was disappointing to say the least. read more

Attended the Yelp Elite event. First, I want to say how AMAZING the staff are here. I've seen many people who are staffing Yelp Elite events crack under the pressure of our masses, but these guys were professional and with a smile the ENTIRE TIME. I did not see a dish sit for more then seconds when emptied and I didn't see a staff without a smile. Really Amazing! The food was wonderful, the Crispy Berkshire Pork Belly being my favorite, tender and crispy all at the same time with a smokey flavor punch to die for. Another favorite was the Lamb Shoulder and Mini Cobb Salad. The tasty bites had me longing for more and I can't wait to bring my boyfriend, J here for date night! Thank you to Trace for allowing Yelp Elite to take over for a night! read more

Decided to eat here because we were staying at the W hotel anyway, felt jet lagged, and hungry. Friendly and attentive staff EXCEPT for our waiter. The hostess greeted us cheerfully, seated us, and poured us water. The food runner made sure we had our drinks, meals, and bread. The waiter took FOREVER to take our order, didn't ask how things were, and then took FOREVER to get us the dessert menu. The food was okay. Got the raw oysters, which were super fresh and yummy. I ordered the braised pork shoulder as my entree and was not impressed. Although the meat was tender, it was too salty. I also got to try the chicken, which was crispy with nice flavor. Dessert was okay as well. We had the avocado ice cream and the panna cotta - both were good. read more

Decent breakfast; not super spectacular. But the evening bar service was great. Love the various flatbreads- very tasty. read more

I was pleasently surprised that I enjoyed dining here. Enjoyed a delicious dinner with excellent service the other evening with friends while watching the rain fall. Started with a delicious flatbread with cheese, sausage and some other toppings I don't recall, followed by a main course of pasta with broccolini. At the beginning of the meal, was offered a choice of delicious homemade breads to sample, of which I chose the olive bread. I'd definitely go back! Extensive wine list looked great, but I opted instead for a glass of iced tea with a shot of Triple Sec. read more

Decor: Monochromatic, looks like HGTV made it over for $500, and frankly unappetizing. Food: Olives - good. Lots. Can't screw up olives that much. Salmon - tasty, needed more vegetables, bit overcooked. Beet salad - good but beets were underdone, there wasn't enough burrata and the overall portion was small. Drinks: Ice tea was good - free refills. Woopdido. Service: Excellent. So, why the 2 stars? I've experienced better AND cheaper. For the above it was over $70 w/ tip. Too spendy for lunch. Too spendy for the amount of food. read more

I came here for brunch on a double date with Cathy Y. and the bfs. We had a Travelzoo deal that gave us a great price for a brunch entree + cocktail. I really liked the decor when we got there - it's very modern. Based on the voucher we had, we were only supposed to have three or four choices for brunch, but our server was very friendly and said they were flexible with what we could order so other brunch entrees were also allowed. I was very impressed they were so flexible considering it was a pre-paid voucher, but that was about the end of what impressed me. After we ordered, service was very slow and spotty. One of our party never got the juice he ordered, one of the entrees that came out was not what we had ordered and it took about 20 minutes to even find waitperson to get our check. The food was fine, pretty standard brunch fare with perhaps a nicer presentation that most places. Perhaps service is better when you don't use a voucher, but I most likely won't go back to find out. read more

I came to Trace as part of the amazing Yelp Elite Event party. I am impressed with everything from the ambiance, decoration, people, food and drinks. The food is definitely top notch. My particular favorites of the night are lamb shoulder with gnocchi and pumpkin ravioli. I can imagine myself eating the whole entrees. Free flow of drinks (cocktails, red wine, cava and beer) are great but we all should drink responsibly. Thank you Yelp and Trace for organizing such a fabulous party. You really set the bar high for 2013. I look forward to an exciting 2013 with Yelp Elite! And yes I will make sure I come back to eat at Trace. read more

Celebrated a girlfriend's bachelorette party a few weekends ago. We stayed the night at W Hotel and decided to try out TRACE for dinner since it was close. The hostess was sweet, greeting us and seating us right away. I noticed the place wasn't busy at all but thought nothing of it until later on. We were sat and waited a while for our server to come, even longer after we ordered our food, and were not checked on again until we asked to be. There were only two other tables seated so it was very inexcusable. The food? Disappointing. I ordered the Farro and White Bean soup, it was "meh", along with an asparagus flatbread which was okay. One friend ordered a medium-well burger which came out rare and I also shared the Chicken Meatballs with the bride-to-be and they were dry. It would have been more edible if they served more sauce. Finally, another friend ordered the Fregola Sarda "Risotto." Let me just say, it was nothing like a "risotto" and when we spoke with the manager, she explained they named it that to let people know it's the closest thing to a risotto. I'm sorry, I've never seen or tasted a risotto so dry. The manager was nice enough to comp the meal without us asking after we told her our thoughts about the food and service. If it were packed we would understand not being checked on but it wasn't and we felt forgotten. Needless to say, I won't be eating there again. read more

This place is absolutely amazing. Not sure why anyone isn't giving 5 stars. We're from Vegas, Ford capital of the world and this mael went up against the best meals I've ever had there. The pork tenderloin flavor palate is amazing. So many flavors in 1 dish. The strawberry salad wad so fresh and again had a wonderful flavor combination. Roger , our server was super friendly and very helpful in explaining each. I can't wait to come back. read more

Can't say I have had a better brunch meal in a long time, period. And I have high standards. Used the travelzoo deal, 2 brunch + 2 mimosas for basically half off. You do pay auto-18% gratuity onsite, but it is worth it. lady and I both had the steak and eggs. BOMB. phenomenal. Huge 8-10oz steak, two scrambled eggs, potatoes. Just absolutely perfectly prepared. Big meal, She would have taken leftovers if we lived local. service was decent, good. the Hotel and restaurant are typical trendy upscale clean awesome W style, love it. Would recommend, and go back in an instant if in town. read more