Echigo Home Cook is named after a province in Japan, though I’m not sure what the “Home Cook” refers to, as the food here is a far cry from much […]

Echigo Home Cook delivers more than just sushi

You know those places that have been around forever, which some call dives, others call holes-in-the-wall, but that you call your go-to place?  They’re not fancy, there’s nothing fusion-y about […]

Review: At Thanh Tam II, it’s (still) all in the family

During the pandemic, during one of my interminable walks around the neighborhood, I often passed by what seemed to be a new Italian restaurant, Andiamo, that was poised to open […]

Luisa’s Ristorante & Wine Bar, since 1959 – Ma che buona!

El Mil Amores (“The Thousand Loves”) is named after a 1954 Mexican movie of the same title, and opened in spring of this year. The film is a classic of the […]

Restaurant Review: El Mil Amores serves 1,000 things to love

Barberio Osteria, a new Italian place, has opened where, just six months ago, Ancora tragically shuttered after only seven months. I’d had high hopes for Ancora that were soon dashed, and […]

Barberio Osteria: High hopes for this new Italian spot

Yasmin has had a tumultuous history in the short time since it opened, just before the pandemic in late 2019, taking over the space left by Ali Baba’s Cave. The BF […]

Mediterranean eatery Yasmin withstands adversity and lives on

Burma Love has been around forever and a day, it seems, yet I’m just now trying it for the first time. Sister to Burma Superstar, that old stalwart in the […]

Burma Love serves up so much to love!

Cellarmaker Brewing Company is, first and foremost, a brewery, with a dizzying selection of small-batch beers: IPAs, ales, pale ales, sours, pilsners and lagers. Owners/brewistas Connor Casey, Tim Sciascia and Kelly Sciascia […]

Cellarmaker Brewing Company: A homey tavern of elevated, familiar food

Dosa Corner opened a month or two ago in the much beloved AL’s Place location. Its sister restaurant, Aaha Indian Cuisine on 17th Street, opened in 2022, so between the […]

Dosa Corner serves up flavorful Southern Indian food

The 14-year-old Gracias Madre, at 2211 Mission St. just south of 18th Street, served its last vegan plato Sunday evening, becoming another victim of the pandemic.   By Monday morning, workers […]

Mexican restaurant Gracias Madre says ‘adios’ to San Francisco 

Ex-Hawker Fare alumnus Chef Supasit Puttikaew and his wife, Nanchaphon Laptanachai, opened Funky Elephant in Berkeley in 2018 as a tiny storefront that quickly became extremely popular, earning itself a […]

Funky Elephant brings modern Thai to the Mission

We’ve been coming to Arabian Nights for years. And, frankly, I loved the almost Disneyland-ish interior, like something out of, well, “Aladdin.” Sitting beneath the painted murals of deep-blue night […]

Restaurant Review: Arabian Nights is better than ever

I kept passing the still-closed Tunisian restaurant Gola for weeks, willing it to open by the sheer force of my mind, wondering what lay behind the ornate, wrought-iron gates and […]

Review: Gola brings Tunisia to the Mission!

Bissap Baobab has been an off-again, on-again stalwart in the Mission, once boasting two storefronts — not bad for the only Senegalese place in the neighborhood. The smaller locale was home […]

Review: At Bissap Baobab, what’s old is new again!

Okaeri took over the space once inhabited by a succession of fine-but-not-great sushi/Chinese/boba tea restaurants and performed a major overhaul to create an upscale, modern, Japanese bistro.  The space is […]

Review: Okaeri, an upscale, modern Japanese bistro

I may be mistaken, but Restaurante Hermelinda Comida Guatemalteca may be the Mission’s only full-on Guatemalan restaurant, and welcome to it.  Sure, there’s Pollo Campero, the fast-food, fried/broasted chicken chain […]

Review: Restaurante Hermelinda Comida Guatemalteca

Piglet & Co. is billed as a Taiwanese-night-market-street-food kind of place, although Chef Chris Yang makes no claims to authenticity; his food seems to be just what he likes to […]

Review: Piglet & Co. serves up complex Chinese comfort food

Chome has been open for longer than I care to divulge, because I can’t believe I’d never been before. Starring binchotan robatayaki, skewers of meat/veggies/seafood grilled over hardwood charcoal, Chome is […]

Review: Chome delights with quirky Japanese bites

El Chato, a term of endearment meaning “shorty,” is a Spanish tapas and wine bar that opened recently on the corner of 21st and Bryant streets, serving a limited but […]

Review: El Chato, España en la casa!

As you may know, Winnie the Pooh once mused to Piglet that the questions, “What’s for breakfast?” and “I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” amounted to the same […]

Breakfast Little: A not-so-little start to your day!

Read in Spanish / Leer en español It seems we are being inundated with Yucatecan restaurants lately, and the newest addition is Loltún. Loltún, which means “stone flower” in Mayan, […]

Loltún: Más Yucatecos, por favor!

The word carajo, in Spanish, can have several meanings/connotations, the most basic referring to a certain male appendage, or sometimes it’s used as an emphatic interjection, like the Eff word, […]

Al Carajo! Mas Yucatán en la Misión!

Taishoken was already a well-established ramen and tsukemen restaurant in Tokyo, founded circa 1955. The Mission restaurant is its second U.S. outpost in the (San Mateo boasts the first). They’re known for […]

Taishoken: New ramen and more in the Mission

Shuggie’s is hard to miss, with its screaming neon green and yellow décor, walls and furniture, all sparkly and shiny. The interior looks like a cross between a Peter Max/Keith Haring […]

Shuggie’s trash pie + natural wine: Trash pandas, rejoice!

As everyone knows, Delfina has been around forever and a day, it’s beloved by many, and it spawned Delfina Pizza. OG Delfina has been temporarily closed while undergoing renovations, but it […]

Delfina: Tried and truly delicious

There’s a laurel tree outside of True Laurel and, if you ask nicely while you’re waiting for your table, one of the servers will tell you the tale of how […]

True Laurel: Classy cocktails, but so much more!

Yellow Moto Pizzeria, born of Flour + Water, is David White and Chef Oleg Sheyner’s breakaway endeavor from the F + W restaurant group. We’d been there many times before — […]

Yellow Moto Pizzeria: What’s old is new, and still delicious

Ivory & Vine opened in the space left behind by bohemian Revolution Café, which closed in March, 2021. Owner Christopher Nickolopoulos also owns Linden & Laguna in Hayes Valley, and was […]

Ivory & Vine review: Opa! A Greek wine bar in the Mission!

I liked the chicken wings, moist and tasty, but the noodles were so good, I had a tough time paying attention to the bird.  

Noodlemania goes to Chic n’ Time

The pizzas left me wanting more. The wine - a big hit.

Review: BrewVino, a casual wine bar & pizza in the Mission

Mijoté (“simmering” in French) is the brainchild of Chef Kosuke Tada, and it has likely simmered in his being for some time. Chef Tada studied French cuisine in Osaka, Japan, […]

Review: Mijoté full of simple surprises