City Forest Lodge

This is long in coming but Ron and City Forest deserve huge props for catering our rehearsal dinner. We had it at the Conservatory in Glen Park and they were so helpful, professional, and served a great dinner. They did all that with no kitchen on premises and with grace through it all. Fantastic and highly recommended.

Ron, Margaret, and their teams were absolutely AMAZING during our November 8^th wedding reception!
My husband and I had our hearts set on having a San Francisco wedding, but couldn’t find anywhere even remotely affordable to hold the reception. In order to afford other venues, we would need to compromise on drinks, or dinner, or parking, or music. Nothing seemed like the right fit. We were just about to agree to plan for a South Bay wedding, when we found City Forest Lodge.
Now I’ll be totally honest, when we pulled into the parking lot for our first meeting, I was about to cancel. The hall is part of a small business center next to what I think is a law office and a credit union. Not quite the Pinterest-​perfect setting I had in mind… But my now husband convinced me to go inside, and I’m so glad I did! Ron dazzled us with the menu packages and linen color choices. I couldn’t believe that EVERYTHING was included in the extremely reasonable price. For less than the price of just a rental fee at other venues we fed a full dinner to our 120 guests (stuffed chicken and baked salmon options), complete with appetizers, bread, salad, and a full open bar all night! Tables, chairs, linens (with nearly 100 color options to choose from), silverware, and glassware was included. If you’ve ever planned a wedding, you know how incredible this is. Also, the dinner was super tasty! We didn’t have a tasting beforehand, but based on the other Unilocal reviews we were OK this, and we were definitely impressed.
We were able to rent the parking lot from the church next door and provide parking for all our guests, which is a huge bonus for any SF wedding!
Ron let us into the venue the day before the wedding and we were able to get most of the decorating completed early (we got lucky they didn’t have a Friday-​night event). The reception hall looked lovely. The exposed lava rocks and wood paneling give it a cabin-​y cozy vibe. It’s nothing fancy, but was the perfect setting for our vintage inspired rustic themed wedding.
Everyone was thoroughly impressed with the bartender all night! 1 guy manning an open bar for nearly 120 people?! He kept a smile on his face all night and kept all our guests happy. Also, in regards to the bar: Ron allowed us to bring in a few extras that were not included in the package (specific champagne & Bud Light for my dad) at no extra charge.
The dance floor was the perfect size and was packed (in a good way) all night as our friends and family had the time of their lives. The cool thing about this reception hall is that the bar is separated in the front room with pass-​through windows, so those who wanted to get a break from dancing, but still wanted to be a part of the party could hang out in there.
Margaret was in charge the night of the reception was was amazing! Very cheerful and organized! The entire staff working the night of our wedding were just great! They stayed to end and helped with clean-​up.
Overall, I was one happy bride!
Highly recommend to anyone planning a wedding on a budget!

We recently hired City Forest Lodge to cater a memorial service at our home in San Bruno. We looked at several companies, and City Forest Lodge had the most reasonable price and provided a nice selection of food for the buffet. They had also catered a memorial service for a relative last year, and they did an excellent job with that, so we decided to hire them. Ron and his crew put together a wonderful buffet and we had many positive comments. The food portions were very generous, and we had more than enough to feed everyone. Ron and his crew had everything set up for us when we returned home, and it was such a relief to not have to deal with anything that day. Thank you, Ron, for doing such a great job. We will recommend you to others, and we would not hesitate to use your services again.

I had my wedding reception here on 04÷04÷14 and it was AMAZING! Ron and his team are AWESOME! The food was delicious and the service was great.
Ron is a great chef! I am so happy that we decided to have our wedding reception here. The price for buffet and open bar is affordable (the price deal we chose included chair and table linens)
His staff were very attentive. From set up all the way to clean up. I recommend this place. Ron and his staff are the best!
Only down side is that on Friday’s you can’t rent out the parking next door at the church. (I tried. Lol) but its available on Saturdays.

My wife and I had our wedding in the UK, but felt it was necessary to have a celebration that all of our San Francisco friends could partake in (on May 31, 2013). We searched (a bit last-​minute) for a venue, but found them either booked or too expensive for us to manage.
City Forest Lodge came through as the perfect place. Furthermore, Ron and his staff did a great job catering and setting up the logistics. I can’t emphasize enough how amazing the food that Ron prepared was. He is an excellent chef, and we are so glad we found him.
It was a great location for our occasion. From preparations, to the dinner, to the dancing, and clean up, everything went wonderfully. This is a hidden gem of a venue.

I highly recommend City Forest Lodge with Ron and his catering team at the helm. This has been the most smoothest and least stressful of all of my party coordinations. I started looking for a place in the City 6 months prior to my event, a birthday party planned for my sister’s 70^th birthday. Of course I was on a budget and Ron worked with me to provide me with options that I couldn’t resist. City Forest hall is tucked away in the middle of the city, extremely accessible to get to and with available parking for rent at the adjacent church, what more could one ask for in San Francisco? The whole experience has been pleasant and Ron’s total package which includes his professional catering guidance and customer service manner wants me to book another party from him. The hall itself may be a little dated however if you’ve got the imagination, then you’ve got lots of options for creativity. The menu variety was outstanding, the catering staff were helpful and right on cue and the bartender was a hit with the guests. Even the cake cutting and distribution was perfect. You were given a choice of colors for the table cloths and I picked alternating colors of dark purple and white with also alternating cloth napkins in white and purple. We decorated the place with tropical floral arrangements on each table and a rectangular tropical arrangement on the head table with stems of purple and white dendrobium orchids lining the front of the head table. Larger tropical arrangements were placed on the window dividers between the dining room and buffet area. One guest described the place as looking very classy. I could on and on but honestly, in a nutshell, this place was well worth it. Thanks Ron and staff! It was a great party!

Nice spot for a medium sized party. Came here the other night for a friends birthday event and it was spacious for the group and was clean and had all the neccesities that are needed for events.

Ron and Margaret and the rest of the staff are AMAZING! We had to put together a baby shower in the matter of a month (the holidays fell right in the middle of that) and Ron and his amazing staff made it so easy! They were kind enough to do most of the planning via email and were so helpful! The food of course was amazing and I love that the food prep is done there on site. The day of the event– Margaret was our go to person! She was helpful with last minutes details and request. This is the second time we use this venue and have been beyond pleased both times. This is great location with a great feel. The venue is adorable and there isn’t much need for decorations. This is a hidden gem in City! Thanks Ron and Company!

I had my wedding reception here on June 9^th 2012. What can I say about this place… amazing! Ron is sweet, caring, professional, a damn good cook. Delicious! He had a professional team to match and the bar tenders make some good stiff drinks. It’s not the most posh place, but if a Diva from New York can throw a great party here, than anyone can. I had a 1920’s theme and really looked at the hall to see what would go as far as colors were concerned. I decided to do black, white and green because the carpet was a deep forest green and I wanted to enhance the room and not clash with it. My reception was beautiful with peacock feathers and a demask black and white theme. I would suggest anyone having a wedding or party here to really stick with deep colors of the hall to enhance their event.
City Forest Lodge was perfect for my wedding reception size of 108 people. It was intimate but big enough to not feel cramped and the dance floor was a great size. All of our guests are dancers and musicians and believe me when I say the dance floor was perfect for that number; the whole night it was busy and full of laughter. It’s tucked away and you really do feel like your in a forest lodge even though your in the city.
I was a bride on a budget and I was able to have the night of my life and not go over budget. No corkage fee and no cake cutting fee pretty much no hidden fees when it comes to working with Ron I was able to have an open bar, 6 pieces of hors d’oeuvres and a buffet of 2 entrees, 2 sides and two salads for a totally reasonable price. The buffet also included coffee and tea. If your on a budget, but still want to have a classy fun filled event, I would book with Ron at City Forest Lodge.
On a final note, people are still talking about Ron’s food!!! I had people that had just been to another wedding where the price per head was double and they said Ron’s food was sooooo much better. With Ron you get what you pay for… forget that, you get more than what you pay for. If you like delicious food, Ron is the guy to cater your event. My mother uses him for parties, PTA functions, graduations and any other events she can. This bride made sure she got to eat.
Thanks RON!!! –Ashley Monroe

We were looking for an affordable venue for our reception and City Forest Lodge fit the bill. Unlike most venues in San Francisco, City Forest does not charge a corkage fee, a cake cutting fee, or even a venue fee (as long as you have over 70 guests). We paid only for the food by person using City Forest’s catering service. This included a full open bar for the entirety of the event.
The owner, Ron, helped us create a customized brunch menu which included mini quiche, grilled salmon, spinach salad and egg strata among other items. He also ordered napkins matching our wedding theme at no extra charge. Ron was very flexible and even though we had a guest cancel 2 days before, he graciously did not charge us for the no-​show. He also allowed us access to the venue 3 hours before the event to decorate.
During the event the service was very friendly and efficient. Dishes were cleared away as guests finished and the cake cutting and distribution went quickly and smoothly. Our guests all seemed to enjoy the food and even our most picky guests went back for seconds. After the event, the staff packaged a bag of leftover food and handed it to us, which was great because many venues would just throw the food away.
Our only critique is that the décor is somewhat dated and the carpet could use replacing. But for the low price and exceptional service, this was easy to overlook.
Ron is an honest businessman who is not looking to nickel and dime his customers. We would highly recommend this venue to any budget-​minded couple looking to host a reception. In the end our event was memorable and a good time was had by all.

Ron was awesome. I inquired about the space and catering for an upcoming event and he responded very quickly. We met with him at the lodge the next day to check the space out. He drew out a diagram and was very thorough regarding the pricing and accommodations. Pricing was fantastic, the best I found in the city. The per person price even includes an open bar. The only reason why we didnt chose City Forest Lodge for our event was because the space is a bit outdated and needed to be spruced up with chair cover rentals and expensive centerpieces to give it an elegant aesthetic. But i will definitely keep the lodge in mind for less formal events in the future.

In June 2011 my beloved grandmother passed away and with some experience in events and food service, I helped our family arrange the services and reception. Because I now reside in Philadelphia, I had no ready catering contacts in San Francisco. I did my research on-​line and over the telephone and selected City Forest. Ron and I communicated by phone and email and City Forest delivered a great menu for the reception. The team on-​site kept the serving dishes full, cleaned up as they went along and put all the leftovers into containers. Thanks for making a sad occasion a little easier with your great service!

my husband and i had originally planned on eloping but in the end decided to have a small wedding for our family. we were on a tight budget and really wanted to stick to it. ron (the owner) was a complete blessing. he understood our situations and managed to get us what we wanted without going over our budget. the food was delicious and the portions were great. the appetizers were also scrumptious. the wait staff was efficient and very personable. i will definitely keep forest lodge in mind for next time i have a big function to host.

My school had our end of year/​retirement dinner at the City Forest Lodge on May 23, 2011 with just over 100 people. I’m not a huge fan of these types of functions because it’s usually expensive and the food is terrible. This place is the exception– they served variety of appetizers which were actually tasty. They had a buffet line for dinner. and all of the items were very good. Overall I was very impressed with the food, attentive service and space. I would definitely recommend them if you’re thinking of catering a party or event. There is plenty of parking in the church located next door. The place is somewhat difficult to find since it’s tucked away behind the church and difficult to see from the street– best to give your guest specific directions to avoid confusion.

I wish I could give them 10 stars
I heard about City Forest Catering from an associate at my job; and contacted them about catering my grandmothers’ 75^th birthday party. Unfortunately, the lodge was booked on the day of the party so I was only able to utilize their catering service. Ron was fabulous and easy to work with anything I needed he provided; he was even kind enough to offer some much appreciated ideas.
On the day of the event the staff was not only on time but EARLY! They were there before I arrived, they were quick, efficient, and super friendly. And the food was wonderful the guests including myself got full from eating all the appetizers (shrimp cocktail and lumpia were my favorite).
I highly recommend City Forest Catering services. Great job guys!

Thank you City Forest Lodge for helping us have an affordable and fun wedding reception! We were literally ready to elope to Vegas when we met with Ron who disclosed to us that weddings don’t have to include extravagant views of the Golden Gate bridge or ice sculptures of swans. His prices and laid-​back attitude made him a clear winner in our search for a wedding reception venue. For $ 50pp we had appetizers, a sit-​down dinner, and a full bar. There were no hidden fees for use of the venue/​dance floor, linens, chairs, silverware … And no corkage fee! No cake cutting fee! You want champagne? No problem for just an extra $ 2 pp.
Ron is an honest, reliable business man. We met with him several times, and he was very flexible and knowledgeable. He was very understanding when, for example, my mother was in town and wanted to see the inside of the venue.
I can only think of 2 downsides (which I consider to be minor):
1) The outside/​entrance leaves much to be desired for. The sign on the street is barely legible and the fence that sits in front of the trash is badly in need of a paint job.
2) They didn’t offer a food tasting, so we pretty much choose blindly from the menu. It ended up being good, but it would have been nice to know what we were getting.
Overall, the wedding was a huge success. Ron and his staff are extremely professional and I highly recommend their services.

Seeing the five stars on the three reviews, I beg to differ. Grant that the lodge is a nice place for a party, my experience wasn’t all that great. Back in December 2007, our office had its annual holiday party luncheon at this charming place decorated with festive green and red for the holiday season. The raw vegetables on the «fresh vegetable platter» were somewhat limp. The stuffed mushrooms were tiny (½ inch in diameter)…not my definition of stuffed mushrooms, which are at least 2 inches in diameter and stuffed with minced crab/​shrimp, cheese and breadcrumbs. At least the Swedish meatballs were delicious. The entrees were nothing to write home about, except for the side dishes of potatoes au gratin and Caesar salad. At my table, one of the guests accidentally spilled coffee on the tablecloth. Did the wait staff replace the tablecloth with a clean one when we requested them to do so? No, they did not. Actually one of my co-​workers had to get a clean one and we (all eight of us) had to replace it ourselves, along with arranging the place settings, glasses, cups, etc. in their appropriate places. We had to serve our own coffee and/​or tea, which was in another room adjoining the banquet room. For the price per person ($ 25), I would have preferred coffee and/​or tea serve by the wait staff. Overall, it’s a five star location with a three star on their food and a two star on their service. Would there be a return visit by our office for the annual holiday party — me thinks not — one star.

Ron and His Team members were the Best!
We couldn’t ask for better people to help us out on our
Celebration. This Past November 2009, My BF and his
Sisters decided to Celebrate Their Parents 25^th Wedding
Anniversary. They were on the hunt for a Venue, One after another
Told them that the day they wanted was Open, but couple days later would cancel on them.
Seeing that More than 4 places did that to them, I went on a search for A Venue. And thats when i bumped into The City Forest Venue Hall. And my i say i looked quite lovely on the picture to be true! But I guess you can sometimes judge a book by its cover! This Place Turned out Great! Very Well Taken care of, and with plenty of Room. Ron was a Life saver and didnt cancel on us like other places. So i took his parents to check out the place and they loved it! I was glad to be a help.
This place is BIG! Fitted 120 perfectly and still room for more! IT has a bar area, women, and Men bothroom Seperate, and A kitchen. What more can you ask for?
We had a Caring Security Guy named Bobby! And he was a pleasure to have around! I Highly recommand this Place!
They do catering as well! Will Check on that Next time we throw a party! Thank You City Forest for letting us Use your Venue!

City Forest Lodge is THE PLACE for graduation parties, First Communions, Bar Mitzvahs, baby showers, etc. I’m a little suprised this place hasn’t made it on Unilocal with all the events I’ve attended here over the years. Not be confused with the Forest Hill Club House, City Forest is located next to the Forest Hill muni station, set back in the trees off Laguna Honda Ave. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think you weren’t even in the city.
This hall is ideal for a private event because of the size and flexibility of the venue. It is available between 10 a.m. and Midnight (no event may go later). They have a catering service available (delicious options, I have had them all!) but you are welcome to bring in a different caterer if you like. There is space for eating and space for dancing. Space to get fresh air and space to mingle. DJ’s are allowed and live music is welcome. I’m no event planner, but I think $ 750 for a 10 hour party on a weekend is a steal.
My dad recently rented out this space for a softball party and we were welcomed with open arms. The folks who own this lodge know what they’re doing and will offer excellent suggestions and flexibility to ensure a successful, memorable event.