Asqew Grill

Food quality has gone downhill.
Flavors = non-​existent.
I’m forced to eat here for our HOA meetings. Long story but we hold them here.
Blargh, hit another joint in this area. Overpriced food on a stick. I stayed away and tried their salad the last time, and I was very disappointed… there was something wrong with it! :-(WTF!!!

Stopped by last night with some friends after spending some time next door at Hobson’s Choice. For some reason I always assumed this place would be a crappy generic chain with generic food, but I was totally wrong. The (Santa Fe) chicken was perfectly cooked (NOT overcooked like many grill places do), everything was seasoned well, and the mac and cheese was a hit with the whole table. Add to this fast friendly service and you have a place I’ll be looking forward to eating at any time I’m in the Upper Haight.

I get better service at this location than one by my work in Laurel Heights. The girl who works the counter at Laurel Heights obviously hates her job/​thinks its beneath her/​probably hates her life always drives me nuts, at least at this location the people seem like they want to be there, just a little bit more. I always go when it’s quiet and I prefer it that way. The set up here is really nice in comparison to other locations. The food is pretty good at every location.
This one gets an extra star for not having the annoying Laurel Heights girl.

I do so like this chain. I’ve been to this location, the one at Laurel Hts and Emeryville. They are all pretty much the same.
The food is pretty consistent. I’ve had their lobster bisque, the mac and cheese, the ribs, yummy mascarpone polenta, skewered anything here is good… and gawd!!! the dessert. you wouldn’t think, but they do make some yummy desserts here.
The menu seems to have changed since, but the dessert had grilled banana with chocolate syrup, toasted almonds and ice cream… yum yummm…
Another pay and order at counter and food is brought to table.
works well.

Poison me once, maybe it was that Chinese food I had the other day. Poison me twice, I’m never coming back.
Poison my friend so that he’s laid up in bed puking and groaning for a week with the worst gastric pain of his life, I’m gonna make you clean up your act.
If I were you, and you were still going to eat at this place after reading this review, I’d demand proof that they passed their food safety inspections.
Diners Beware!

Askew Grill has a back patio with heat lamps, and a few tables out front.
The restaurant is divided into two sections, with tables near the front, and back of the space.
You pair your choice of grilled kabab — seafood, meat or veggie — with a starch.
The food is always good, but the portions are too small for the price.
$ 10 for 2 kabobs and a starch… and I’m still hungry!

I don’t understand how Asqew Grill ever gets more than 2 stars
The meats are always pretty dry. OHH right, it may be the service. The service can be considered 5 star if you walk in with low expectations. BUT people seem to love this place. not me!

«Asqew people are beautiful people», says the sign above the patio door.
Agreed.
I love this place. Delicious, simple food. Everything comes on a skewer. They have a selection of meat, seafood and veggie options, with different sauces and marinades, and a selection of starches. (Wonderfully flavorful cous cous, jasmine rice, garlic mashers, etc) Ordering is simple. You choose a type of protein, and what kind of sauce you want on it, and the menu tells you what starch goes best with it (though you can pick whatever you like). You can order half orders, and full orders.
What comes out is a kabob of meat (or protein of choice) spaced by onions, tomatoes and the like, over a bed of your starch, with the sauce poured over the kabob. Everything here is clean and yummy. I’ve never ordered something I don’t like. Ever.
Food this good is rarely found with such a decent price tag. And if you’re looking for quick bite to eat — it doesn’t get much faster than this!

I really wanted to give this place four stars, I really did.
Went here last night for a quick dinner with Boyfriend. I informed the cashier that we were Asquew Virgins, so he gave us a quick overview: order a dish off the menu board (which revolves around you guessed it, a lot of skewer/​kabob choices), pay, grab a number for your table, and park it somewhere while you wait for your food to be ready.
I ordered the Texas BBQ chicken skewers ($ 10.79) over mashed potatoes. It was stellar– the skewers contained chicken, onions, and corn on the cob, and sat over a bed of garlic-​y mashed potatoes. The whole damn thing was drowned in BBQ sauce– and despite my intolerance for giant pools of BBQ sauce, I liked it enough to keep on truckin’ and finish my meal.
Halfway through my dinner, Boyfriend points out the fact that there’s a cockroach-​like bug crawling on the wall behind me. So okay, at this point, I’m slightly turned off to my food because of the insect issue, but to be honest, I’m not really the kind of gal that docks huge points for this kind of thing. I’m a big believer in the 30 Second Rule, so obviously I’m not really into food cleanliness. I decide to forget about the cockroach thing and just enjoy the rest of my meal.
Then I go up to the cashier’s counter to break a $ 20, and as I’m waiting in line, I spot it– another goddamn cockroach, crawling around gleefully under the register, as if to say, «Suprise, beotch. It’s a party in here.» Made me think about what could have possibly been swimming around in my mashed potatoes besides the onions and corn, so I can’t help it– I’ve got to dock another star and bump this place down to three.
That said, I’ll probably go back to Asquew — though I might try another location.

Great food.
Exactly what we were lookling for. The grilled veggies are SO good, I wanted to get some to go, but showed some restraint!
They’re served with a soy beurre blanc that I could just drink by the bucket full, again, showed restraint!
I was very pleased with the cilantro lime chicken skewers on caesar salad, my friends also really liked the bbq chicken skewer, the mac and cheese and the mashed potatoes.
Great service, good staff.
I liked it!

Asqew specializes in skeweres (if you couldn’t deduce that from the name) and has a variety of different choices to choose from. Not too pricey, the one on the Castro is a great place to pick up food, eat with friends and then head out for a night on the Castro. If you are into desserts, I suggest trying any of their brownie/​cookie sundaes. Beware, however, that a single person will NOT be able to finish an entire dessert. So bring friends to share!

my mouth literally made love to the chicken cilantro skewer (s) beautifully paired with the cilantro jasmine rice.
That’s all.

This used to be a mainstay of ours, but the quality seems to have fallen off a bit lately. The streamlined menu definitely is a bit lacking: they managed to drop not one but two of our favorites, both the buffalo chicken and the roasted new potatoes have disappeared. Then, last time we were in it seemed like there were just two people there, running around like crazy, and the artichoke (which is normally just outstanding) was still tasty but tiny and tough. Maybe that should be a seasonal item? And the garlic mashed potatoes were even iffy, it was almost like they were made from a mix or undercooked, or something.
We’ll definitely give them another shot just because we love it — it’s delicious, fresh and cheap — but hopefully they can turn around the slide.

Not a destination, but definitely worth dropping in if you’re in the neighborhood and craving something healthy. You can tailor your portions…1 or 2 skewers over rice. One is appetizer size and two make a decent meal. I ordered the Thai beef skewers and they were pretty good, albeit a tad chewy. Big chunks of nicely marinated meat with red peppers, zucchini and mushrooms. My gay ordered the special salad, which had a super-​tasty non-​creamy dressing that tasted homemade. The service is fast-​food style and efficient. All in all, a nice place for a quick, satisfying, reasonably-​priced bite.

I was told to come to Asqew Grill by a friend; his drag queen friend was hosting an event at the Grill as part of the «DINING OUT FOR LIFE» event that happened last week. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity for food, drag and charity, I showed up at Asqew.
It’s really hard critiquing a restaurant on a dining experience when the workers are aware that it will be a busy night. OF COURSE everyone will be on their best behavior. OF COURSE our food will arrive in a timely manner. OF COURSE the waitress will bring me a fresh piece of bread because mine got contaminated by my friend’s tuna. OF COURSE the manager will offer to refill our drinks at a self-​serve soda machine. OF COURSE we’ll be handed $ 5 Off coupons «just because.»
But at least the food backed it up. As we waited for the drag queen to show (the hostess did remark that the drag queen was supposed to show up at 5:30pm, but she wasn’t sure what that meant in ‘drag time.’ I ordered the marinated tofu skewer with sat on top of a pile of garlic mashed potatoes. The skewer had several pieces of tofu, onions, broccoli, and peppers. I scarfed it down faster than you could say «faux-​fur scarf.»
I’m not sure if it was the gimmicky and over-​courteous staff or the actual food that made me enjoy Asqew Grill. It certainly wasn’t the drag queen, who, 1.5 hours after the commencement of her event, was still missing in action (a true diva). Either way, I’m down to ive it another go.

Of the three locations I’ve been to (this one, the Haight, Emeryville), the Castro Asquew is definitely the largest. The décor at all of them is basically the same, although this one has been pretty devoid of customers each time I’ve visited, so it’s felt kind of weird.
The food is good, as it always has been.
I’m still really sad that they got rid of the berry drink they used to carry before the whole chain was sold. When you go, ask about the berry drink. Even if you don’t want it, maybe enough people asking about it will make them bring it back.

Asqew Grill catered Wife’s company’s Christmas Party at midday. She also invited the rest of the Fantastic-​4 to feast. The only catch was that Matt had to pick up all the hot foods from the restaurant. Not a bad trade-​off.
There were 8 long foiled trays loaded with their popular hottest food and sides. Each foiled tray holds approximately 15 – 20 assorted shish kebobs. And there were 3 trays with sides, including the popular Cilantro Jasmine Rice (Matt’s favorite), Grilled Corn on a Cob and Grilled Asparagus.
One of the tasty shish kebob that Matt enjoyed had a Beef marinated with Balsamic Vinegar and joined with Crimini Mushrooms, Zucchini, and Red-​Peppers poked on one skewer. Wife enjoyed the Chicken Parmesan, which had grilled Artichoke-​Hearts, Mushrooms and Sliced Red Onions. The kids each enjoyed the Marinated Tofu, which had Red-​Onions, Broccoli, and Red-​Peppers.
Everybody, including us was targeting the popular rice dishes. And having a majority of females working with wife, there were plenty of food leftover.
We had mixed reactions of eating at the Asqew Grill. But since her company paid a hefty price, it was ok, not just for the free meal, but finding a good AG in the Bay Area.

Somehow, serving hot, juicy meat speared helplessly on a painful stick seems most appropriate in the Castro. Maybe that’s why this is my favorite of the three locations I’ve tried of this Bay Area mini-​chain. Either that or the fact that this is the only one that offers free refills on my Diet Coke. At least I assume they provide free refills since no one yelled at me when I filled my glass up with liberal abandon and frequency.
Otherwise the menu is the same. I had the Ginger Basil Lamb — two skewers with crimini mushrooms and yellow squash chunks alternating between the grilled meat — all piled over a heaping serving of garlic mashed potatoes. It was pretty delish when my only other dining option was a six-​month old Lean Cuisine in my freezer.
With the Diet Coke, the tab ran me about $ 14. Pretty reasonable for the quantity and the flavor if you ask me. The staff is much friendlier here, and it was more brightly lit than the other locales. Not sure why except it feels like a place that encourages a lot of socializing among big parties. They have salads for the healthier minded, and there are veggie options as well. I say check it out if you’re hungry and not willing to take a second on your mortgage.
FOOD — 4 stars… good hearty skewers of meat in the Castro… who da thunk it?
AMBIANCE — 4 stars… a more open, social space than the dour Westfield or the snooty Marina locales
SERVICE — 4 stars… friendly and efficient
TOTAL — 4 stars… check it out when you need meat to eat

I love it when I put Michael in charge of picking where we go to lunch!
We headed out for lunch today, the weather was awesome and I didnt want to waste it at our usual «close to work» places. I didn’t think I could stomach another subway sandwich from the subway in the train station. Yes, you read that right, sometimes I eat sandwiches from the train station.
I had my little dog with me at work so we knew Asqew welcomed dogs on the patio, which it an instant star. Once we found parking, which was the only real hassle we ran into, we headed into the back patio. They weren’t to crowded which gave me plently of time to go over the menu.
I decided on the blacked salmon skewers on top of the grilled pear salad, which came with a creamy gorgonzola sauce. Sounds awesome huh? IT WAS!
I also ordered a side of mac and cheese to share with Michael, all I can say is daaaaaamn! So Good. It tasted like the mac and cheese you get at good cafeterias.
The food was not greasy or oily, it was really fresh and healthy. I can’t wait to go back. I also picked up their catering menu, I am hoping to get them to do the food at some upcoming work functions.
Getcha ass there already! Yum!

This is NOT a barbecue place.
Hence, it’s called Asqew GRILL, not Asqew BBQ (
). Therefore, it is quite confusing that CitySearch ²⁰⁰⁵⁄₂₀₀₆ voted them #1 BBQ. Yes, they do now carry baby back ribs as ‘NEW’ item on their menu, but it makes me wonder if they rushed to get a BBQ item on their menu AFTER they were voted as #1 BBQ.
BBQ = Slow, indirect method of cooking. (
)
Grilling = Direct high-​heat method.
Now with six locations in the area, Asqew may be viewed as a chain restaurant, therefore face difficulties in getting good ratings on Unilocal,but I think there is a good reason why they successfully expanded.
$ 6.25 for one skewer, $ 9.25 for two skewers.
It’s another one of those places where you: (1) Line up and order, (2) Pay, (3) Get your drinks, (4) Find your own seat and place the colored wood on the table, and (5) wait for your food. Both skewered chicken and beef were very good. I wished you get more meat on each skewer, but I guess it’s not bad for the price. Vegetables on the skewers were also very good, especially tomato and pepper. I didn’t care for their mac and cheese. Garlic mashed potatoes was o.k. One thing that bother me a bit was that all the food on one plate; potatoes, coleslaw, mac & cheese, meat; were getting squished together. I wished there was some separation between the foods, but perhaps I’m too civilized.
This Castro location has some nice outdoor seating in their back patio. It was peaceful and pleasant on a nice sunny afternoon and much more calming than trying to eat at their Westfield Mall food court location. Their below $ 3 glass of Blue Ribbon on tap was also a good bonus.