What should you expect to find on the menu of a carnival-themed restaurant? Well, a burger served on doughnuts for buns. We paid a visit to Straw, in San Francisco, to see if this combination had any hope of working. More
Beers from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers seems to have a tap handle in just about every bar around San Francisco. We visited with Kushal Hall, Speakeasy's head brewer, to get a look at the brewing facility, and find out a little about his career in beer—from the time he accidentally emptied the mash tun onto the floor, to the newest beers he's brewing at Speakeasy right now. More
In Sausalito, California, there's a restaurant that so clearly specializes in fish that it calls itself... Fish. We made the somewhat incongruous choice of trying their hamburger. You know what? It's actually pretty good. More
What the heck's the difference between a flatbread and a pizza? We explored the different types of flatbread on menus in San Francisco and tried to deduce what makes them unique. More
Locanda serves plain pizza bianca to every table at the start of a meal. But they'll also offer to top it for you, like this version covered in stracciatella and fava beans that perfectly evokes Spring. More
We like Rosamunde Sausage Grill for its tasty sausages and the opportunity to bring our food next door to drink beers at Toronado while we eat. We like Rosamunde even more for its Tuesday-only burger special. It's a hefty patty with big grilled flavor that seems a bargain at $6. More
Beretta was recently included among the semi-finalists for the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Bar Program award. We put the bar manager, Ryan Fitzgerald on the spot and made him select his favorite drinks from the classics-with-a-twist cocktail menu. Here's what he chose. More
With 500-plus locations in the Western United States (and two in Dubai), Round Table Pizza is the fourteenth largest pizza chain in the country. Pizza snobs need not apply, but if you value a massive quantity of nitrate-filled meats over all else, Round Table may be the spot for you. More
The burger at Boulevard, a James Beard nominee for Outstanding Restaurant, sure looks pretty on the plate. But Kobe beef once again proves to be an imperfect choice for making burgers. More
We visited with 21st Amendment Brewery's founder/brewmaster Shaun O'Sullivan to learn a bit of the brewery's history, get his take on the next big trends in craft beer, and to see what's going on behind the scenes at 21st Amendment's San Francisco brewing facility. More
If you want barbecue sauce-topped pies, you go to California Pizza Kitchen. If you want the height of haute California-style pizza, you go to Chez Panisse. Somewhere in between is Pauline's Pizza. They've been serving pizzas topped with garden-fresh vegetables for over twenty-five years. More
When he asked Craig Lane, Bar Agricole's head bartender, to show off a few of his favorite drinks on the menu, it was the story behind each of the ingredients that seemed to get Lane most excited. Click through the slideshow to see what he made when forced to choose just five top drinks. More
Anthony Mangieri is renowned for his uncompromising, spare approach to making Neapolitan-style pizzas. For many years, he did not offer a single meat-topped pizza on his menu. But, in honor of his infant daughter, he has added a new pie, topped with salami, to his rotation. We went to his temple of Neapolitan pizza to check it out. More
The burger they serve at San Francisco's Park Tavern is the same as the one on the menu across town at Marlowe. Did San Francisco need the same exact burger at different location? Absolutely. More
The Cheesecake Factory offers a menu that includes, well, everything. Hamburgers, nachos, popcorn shrimp, and Thai lettuce cups? Yeah, they've got all of that! And it goes without saying that a menu that aims to please every diner will most certainly include pizza. We take a look at whether The Cheesecake Factory has any hope of getting its pizza right amidst the other bajillion items on the menu. More
Sometimes mini burgers can feel a bit too dainty to satisfy the primal urges of a burger lover. But with the multiple versions on the slider offered at The Sycamore in San Francisco, the result is a chance to a little variety to your dinner. More
The Sausage Factory: an old-school pizza parlor that seems to value quantity over quality. The real intrigue comes from speculation over whether the double entendre in the name is intentional. More
Whether it's their new agey, holistic approach to restaurant design, or the giant dragon's head mounted on the front of their pizza oven, Source restaurant offers some twists to the traditional pizza experience. Their off-kilter approach leads to some misses when it comes to the actual pies, but their food also has its redeeming qualities. More
Prather Ranch Meat has plenty of reasons to celebrate its own product. Their meat finds its way into some of the best burgers in San Francisco. So we met the opening of American Eatery, a restaurant designed to showcase Prather Ranch's meat, with considerable excitement. And then we had our hopes dashed by a cook who left our burgers on the grill for way too long. More
The pizza they serve at this cooperatively-run bakery feels quintessentially Bay Area and their entire pizza program is basically a Daily Slice. More
Locanda Positano has all the trappings of pizza that we should like. Yet even if we can't always explain it, each of their pies came up a bit short for us. Are we suffering from a bad case of SF Beer Week hangover, or is Locanda Positano missing the magic Neapolitan-style pizza fairy dust? More
With over 300 events in a ten day span, we hardly scratched the surface of everything on offer during SF Beer Week. But at just about every stop we made, it seemed clear the brewers had gone out of their way to tap their stores for the unique, the rare, the strong, and sometimes the strange. Check out the slideshow for 8 of our most memorable sips from SF Beer Week. More
San Francisco's Slow Club serves a consistently tasty hamburger. Which is why I was so surprised to discover they'd switched out their very nice bun...for an English muffin. Turns out they'd simply run out on that day. Disaster averted! But an abject lesson in why we should not overlook the humble hamburger bun. More
According to owner Chris Lawrence, San Francisco's newest brewhouse will concentrate on a lineup of clean, dry, easy-drinking West Coast-style beers. This sounds about right for a restaurant with a biergarten out front that should support lots of sunny-day drinking. But with local winery A.P. Vin as a neighbor, Southern Pacific has already started experimenting with aging its beer in used wine barrels. Join us for a little tour of the newest brewery-by-the-bay. More
Daily Slice gives a quick snapshot each weekday of a different slice or pie that the folks at the Serious Eats empire have enjoyed lately. [Photographs: David Kover] Slow Club's grilled flatbread* varies by season and by meal. Sometimes you get sausage, other times apples and sage. When I visited for brunch, it was sheep milk mozzarella, bacon, shaved brussel sprouts, caramelized onion, and a baked egg.... More
@BrockSamson: There's apparently a place out here in SF that serves crab rangoon pizza.
And, yes, Meredith, I'll go get it. (I should just keep my mouth shut.)
@maggie: Hmmmm... maybe they need to choose a different name.
It looks like a record. Wonder what song it would play if you put that crust on a turntable?
@Pony TailBurgerGuy: Hey Frank. Thanks for writing in. I've fixed the bit about delivery. When I was there for this review, the woman behind the counter was coming over to Toronado and calling out names, but I guess she didn't actually have food in tow.
As far as the word gruff, well, your response did strike me as a little gruff. And also funny. It seemed like a pretty good way to put off a bunch of questions while you were busy trying to crank out burgers.
And the burger is the point of all this. You guys make a really good burger. I plan to come back for one at some point soon.
@texas blues: The disdain was for me, the snotty food blogger asking annoying questions about the meat. They're a little heavy metal in there and they didn't have time for the likes of me. And it didn't bother me at all--those guys have burgers to make!
In SF, I'm a big fan of the newish Biergarten. And hard to complain about Dolores Park on a nice day (not that I would ever drink there in defiance of the posted signs).
@gabagool: Check out Kelly's write-up of 800 Degrees in LA. It looks like they're trying to do exactly what you're describing.
@Tupper Cooks!: I'll file a report as soon as Mangieri starts turning out his version of a Meat Lover's Supreme. :)
So, yeah, the first look at this pie (and clearly the picture) inspires a "More meat, please!" reaction. But I quite liked it as served. It just requires thinking of the meat as an accent note to the other flavors, rather than the main attraction.
Sorry guys, my photos leave a little to be desired on this one—it was dark. Any close-ups I tried to get are seriously grainy. But those tiny red squares on there are the salami. And, yes, it's possible that even the word "sparse" is an overstatement. But, you know, the salami is flavorful enough that it does play a role on this pie, even in such small quantities.
@Adam: I'm not going to fire up the "authentic" debate. I will point out, however, that the combination of garlic and cheese is not new on Mangieri's menu. His Filetti has buffalo mozzarella and fresh garlic, and that's a pie he's served since his NY days.
I'm torn on this issue. I've been a stickler for semantics in the past. And I certainly see how "aioli" has become a buzzword for certain cheffy burgers, making it possibly deserving of a little bit of backlash. But I also think it should ultimately come back to how the food tastes—and in Park Tavern's case, it tastes good, so you won't find me boycotting anytime soon over menu terminology.
I do appreciate the lesson, however. I had not forced myself to do any reading on aioli vs. mayo-based sauce until this debate cropped up. Our own Joshua Bousel offered this aioli recipe a few months back.
@texas blues: Hmmmm... is your beef with aioli that places use that name when it's not really aioli, or because you think "aioli" isn't a real thing? Anyhow, the stuff at Park Tavern sure doesn't taste like mayo, it tastes like horseradish.
Great interview, Kelly.
A comments section that takes the conversation from pizza to Pinkerton is a firm reminder of why I love Slice so damn much.
@boberle: Yes, besides the pizza I tried for this review, salad is the only other thing I've had at The Cheesecake Factory. It was fresh, tasty, and huge/.
@Adam: I had the same reaction... "Hey, this doesn't look that bad!" And I suppose it wasn't—it was just painfully bland and generic.
@tripit: Glad someone is with me on this issue... Seems like folks want to call any bar that even tries a little bit with their food a gastropub these days. I associate gastropub with a slightly more upscale experience—not tablecloths, but dark wood, cohesive decor, etc. And, actually, I often prefer the more relaxed vibe offered at a place like The Sycamore.
@chefanderson: Thanks for clarifying... I was befuddled when I couldn't find any web presence at all... that's pretty atypical for this day and age.
@epizzazz: Unfortunately, as Adam surmises, the sausage is just whatevs here. I mean, fennel-y pork tastes pretty good no matter what, but it's too generic to save this pie.
@Adam: The two I named are just a few of the bawdy names in the area... being up front about sexuality is kind of part of the raison d'etre of this stretch of the Castro. Which is why it was so odd to have the waitress tell me that it wasn't intentional here. But then, The Sausage Factory has been around since 1968. No idea if, when they saw places like Rock Hard and Hand Job open up on the same block, they looked at the name on their own awning and thought, "Score!" or "Doh!"
Congrats everyone! I second the call for more Robyn doodles!
@IlTavoloBambini: I was there on a Sunday for lunch. Part of me is still hoping that my burgers were the anomaly and that people will start to chime in here in the comments to say they've had a really different experience. Because I really do like Prather Ranch's meat.
@tucra: Yeah, I haven't had a burning problem at the other locations. This is the second or third time I've run into it at the Mission branch though.
@phauxtoe: I've actually liked a few English muffin burgers in my day, but the muffin they served me at Slow Club had none of the qualities people are lauding here... it was dense, firm, just way too solid for a good burger bun. I think I'd have been able to overcome the expectations gap if they'd served me a "great English muffin," but they didn't.
@ASerialCerealEater: I can see that. Unfortunately, this particular English muffin was more of a solid block.... kinda nookless and cranny-less.
@JPET: The obvious question? If that's why they're called Rotten City Pizza, they explain that on their website here. Otherwise, the obvious is escaping me, but I'll happily try to answer it if I can.
@Carrie: Did you perchance try a burger? Prather Ranch Meat appears in several of my favorite burgers around the city, so I'm dying to give one a try directly from the source. Heck, that may need to happen this weekend!
The Neapartisanal pies that have emerged in the Bay Area represent an American re-interpretation of classic Italian pies and evidence new ways to successfully build off of established, traditional techniques. And, oh, what options there are! So many, that limiting this list to just eight seems a crime, but you have to draw the line somewhere.While there are many, many worthy pies in and around San Francisco, here are some of the most memorable ones that we've tried to date. More
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Above are all the pizzerias we have reviewed or Daily Sliced. It is by nature incomplete — but growing! Let us know where else we need to hit!
MoreLast Saturday, I attended a dinner hosted by Nathan Myhrvold, at his cooking lab in Bellevue just outside of downtown Seattle, the place where all of the testing, documenting, writing, and photography happened for his upcoming 2,400-page book Modernist Cuisine—a tome that documents, illustrates, and codifies pretty much every cooking technique from prehistory to the present. Normally I wouldn't do a "hey guys, look at this cool event I went to" type post, but I think this one deserves it. More
Happy 2011! Let's start off the year by looking at some of our contributors' favorite burgers from 2010. What was your favorite burger of 2010? More
Do San Diego restaurants have a thing with consonant-driven names? Looking back at your reviews: Jsix, Jwok, R-Gang, and now the Zblt burger. Okay, sorry, that's my random thought for the day.
Good review... sorry the burger wasn't a success.