|
So you find yourself in Hayes Valley on a Sunday afternoon, and it's raining (again), and you just want to find a place to sit down and hang out for a while - but not a bar, because you've been...
So you find yourself in Hayes Valley on a Sunday afternoon, and it's raining (again), and you just want to find a place to sit down and hang out for a while - but not a bar, because you've been overindulging a bit too much lately, and not a restaurant, because it's too early for dinner - and suddenly in a perfect stroke of luck you notice that Modern Tea is finally open, so you run across the street to check it out.
It's a cute place with kind of a light, airy feel: big windows, lots of blonde wood tables, light green colored walls. Upon sitting down, we were brought a carafe of water, a little plate of 3 petits fours (that tasted like gourmet fig newtons!), and a menu listing 16 different types of hot tea. Oh, and a dessert menu as well. The tea was great, served in tiny teapots that allow you to steep each cup individually. The menu also lists a description of each tea and how much caffeine is in each one.
The atmosphere was relaxing, and the service really friendly: even though they closed at 6 PM, they didn't rush us at all when 6:00 rolled around, and even welcomed us to stay until we were done. We didn't get to try any of their food, but I'm betting this would be a great place for brunch. The big windows look like they open up all the way for an open-air feel, which will be nice in warm weather.
Hide
|
|
I've been walking past O'Neill's for months now, patiently waiting for it to open. At long last it has opened, and wow, what a great bar! This is just what the neighborhood needed - a regular bar,...
I've been walking past O'Neill's for months now, patiently waiting for it to open. At long last it has opened, and wow, what a great bar! This is just what the neighborhood needed - a regular bar, not a brew pub, not a bar attached to a restaurant, but a good, solid bar with a great jukebox and a cool, local crowd. O'Neill's is very neat - lots of Irish decor, including hand-painted murals on the walls, and awesome, energetic, friendly bartenders. It's a spacious bar, with plenty of seating including a cool little nook of a room with its own fireplace. (Plus, the bar stools have backs on them, so you don't have to feel like you're constantly slouching.)
It's the kind of bar where you want to stay and keep drinking even though you know you've had enough, but it has such a good feel, you just don't want to leave. One caveat: the prices are definitely ballpark prices: $5.75 for a pint of Murphy's, and a whopping $14 a shot for Jameson 1780 (!!! please tell me that's a mistake - the same shot is only $8 at Johnny Foley's near Union Square!) They also only have 2 single bathrooms (one for men, one for women), which may pose a problem on game days (the bar is only 1/2 a block away from the ballpark).
Final verdict: this is a dangerous, dangerous place to have a mere block and a half from our apartment. I almost feel that I should hand over a portion of my paycheck to Mr. O'Neill right now...
Hide
|
|
Zoya
Category:
Food & Dining
465 Grove Street
San Francisco, California 94102
(415) .62-6.9692
This place is so cute! The small space is really cozy, with low lighting, and the service is beyond friendly - you kind of feel like you're over at someone's house for dinner. A cheerful husband...
This place is so cute! The small space is really cozy, with low lighting, and the service is beyond friendly - you kind of feel like you're over at someone's house for dinner. A cheerful husband and wife team run Zoya, and they definitely always make you feel welcome. The menu is chock full of excellent, well-prepared dishes at reasonable prices. I had the butternut squash soup on my first visit - perfect on a rainy evening - and the pork chop, which was just plain yummy. And of course, we had to try the Bananas Foster for dessert (so rich!) Everything was delicious - up to and including the coffee. We had the same great experience on our second visit: perfectly cooked steak, delicious asparagus appetizer, excellent wine.
I love finding these little hidden gems...the only thing that made me sad was the fact that there were only two other couples in the whole restaurant on a Friday night. Don't be deterred by the fact that it's connected to a Day's Inn - this place is definitely worth a try!
(And as an aside, as a stickler for clean bathrooms, I only wish that my bathroom was as clean as theirs!)"
Hide
|
|
Cortez
Category:
Restaurants
550 Geary St
San Francisco, California 94102
(415) 292-6360
Cortez is very plush and cozy, like an expensive cashmere sweater. The cream colored/dark wood decor coupled with low lighting gives the whole place an upscale feel.
The cocktails are pretty...
Cortez is very plush and cozy, like an expensive cashmere sweater. The cream colored/dark wood decor coupled with low lighting gives the whole place an upscale feel.
The cocktails are pretty darned good - the Cucumber Gimlet in particular - and the presentation and quality of the food is excellent, but big eaters be warned - when they say "small plates" they really mean SMALL. Take the duck breast, for example: this small plate contained four so-tiny-you-don't-even-have-to-slice-them pieces for $15. Since there were four of us, that meant one tiny piece for each person, which we finished in 30 seconds. Next!
All of the dishes tasted great (and the two types of bread were really good, too), but not only were they small, they were expensive, and the high prices were what deterred us from ordering more. The server had suggested 8 to 10 small plates for a party of four, but all of us still felt a little hungry after finishing dinner (thank god for the bread!) - and a lot poorer - 8 or so plates plus 4 desserts and a few cocktails brought the bill to around $250 before tip). It may be a better place to go as a party of two, as there would be a bigger portion for each diner per dish. I'll definitely keep Cortez in mind as a place to go when someone else is treating!"
Hide
|
|
Oola
Category:
Restaurants
860 Folsom St
San Francisco, California 94107
(415) 995-2061
What a disappointing meal. I was so looking forward to going to Oola after hearing so many good things about it, but was very underwhelmed by the food. I had the roasted beets and watercress salad...
What a disappointing meal. I was so looking forward to going to Oola after hearing so many good things about it, but was very underwhelmed by the food. I had the roasted beets and watercress salad and the grilled mahimahi, and boy were they bland, undersalted, and completely lacking in flavor. Eating the fish actually turned into a chore, it was so dry and tasteless. My husband had the infamous ribs, and they suffered from the same problem - they weren't bad or inedible, they were just...missing something. How is it possible to make food taste so much like nothing? I've never run into this situation before in the Bay Area, so this meal really perplexed me.
The service was pretty good, and the decor is very hip - cool artwork, exposed brick walls, very low lighting, loud-ish music, etc., so two stars for that. The high prices do not equal the quality of the food, though, at least not on that night."
Hide
|
|
Practically every time I'm here, I say to whoever in my party will listen, "I love the look of this place!" The decor? Upscale industrial meets cool Asian statuary. The service? Friendly. Once...
Practically every time I'm here, I say to whoever in my party will listen, "I love the look of this place!" The decor? Upscale industrial meets cool Asian statuary. The service? Friendly. Once when our takeout order was missing a soup and we had to go back to get it, the waitress gave us two free Thai Iced Teas for our trouble, which I thought was really nice, especially since I love Thai Iced Tea. The food? Really good! I especially like the Pad Thai, the Gai Grapow and the yummy, spicy Tom Ka Goong soup (they'll make it for you if you ask). And, they have copies of US Weekly to read while you wait for your takeout order. PLUS, their takeout bags have the cutest picture of a monkey on them, which makes me love them even more! (It's the little things...)
Hide
|
|
Range
Category:
Restaurants
842 Valencia St
San Francisco, California 94110
(415) 282-8283
Pretty much everything about Range pleases me: the cool design of the place, the candles everywhere, the hooks in the hallway and at the bar where you can hang your coat and bag, the bar, the...
Pretty much everything about Range pleases me: the cool design of the place, the candles everywhere, the hooks in the hallway and at the bar where you can hang your coat and bag, the bar, the cocktails, and especially the food. I've been here twice now and every dish I've tasted has been really creative, and expertly prepared (and fresh - where do they get lettuce that tastes that good this time of year?) We recently got seats at the bar early on a Thursday evening -- between the friendly bartenders (who really know their stuff when it comes to cocktails), the food, and the conversation, we ended up staying much longer than we planned. The portions are just the right size in my opinion - large enough to enjoy, but not so big that you're too stuffed for dessert (and the desserts are fabulous!)
Hide
|