New and Exciting Dining in the Heart of San Francisco
Dining out sometimes becomes a bit of a chore when you frequent the same neighborhood restaurants without diversifying your selections. It’s certainly nice to be recognized by the staff, given priority seating because you’re a regular and having no need to peruse a menu in order to make your selection, but there always comes a time in your life when you want something a bit different. Something new; the same old, same old gets tiring when it’s on repeat. Fortunately for San Francisco residents, there are always new and notable restaurants opening up around the city, and while some of them are a complete miss, others become a diamond in the rough. We’ve discovered three amazing restaurants still a bit too new to become so trendy it’s impossible to get a table, but just trendy enough to make each one the place you want to see and be seen.
The Commissary
This restaurant, located at 101 Montgomery Street, in San Francisco’s Presidio, is not your everyday restaurants. Offering upscale comfort food and cuisine, this little gem is situated in what was once an Army barracks. Award-winning Chef and Restaurateur Traci Des Jardins, who also owns the Mijita Cocina Mexicana restaurant as well as Jardiniere, opened The Commissary with the hope of serving residents of the area with California cuisine with a Spanish flair.
Much of the interior of the restaurant features original fixtures from the barracks that once occupied the area, which adds to the comfortable ambiance and contemporary design. Each of the table tops is fashioned out of authentic Douglas Fir and the kitchen is an open kitchen with surrounding seating for diners who want to watch the chef prepare their meals. A wide front porch allows for al fresco dining, something that is never overrated. Each of the unique elements of this contemporary restaurant is married together to create the next big thing. Ingredients in all menu options are purchased from local farmers, and each dish is designed so that it is both aesthetically pleasing and decadent. In addition to a full service bar and dinner hours, the restaurant features light fare lunches and breakfasts daily.
Mason Pacific
Located at 1358 Mason Street at Pacific Avenue, this casually elegant restaurant is making its reputation among the cities finest. Mason Pacific is a casual dining restaurant that serves a seasonal menu that includes some of the freshest, healthiest and most delicious meals imaginable. Chef Sean McTiernan is a master in the kitchen, and his simplistic menu is anything but. Each of the wines on the restaurants extensive wine list is designed to enhance the flavors in each dish to create a full force dining experience.
Simply designed and minimally decorated, Mason Pacific focuses solely on the food. Located on the corner of Mason and Pacific, the views from the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows are fun and lively, but the ambiance inside the restaurant is low-key and elegant. From comfort food to upscale cuisine, Chef McTiernan creates an array of flavors certain to please any palette, no matter how discerning.
Stones Throw
It’s a little gem situated at 1896 Hyde Street in the heart of the Russian Hill neighborhood. Stones Throw is a throwback to the basics. Designed to highlight the food and little else, this simple neighborhood bar and grille is simple divine. The environment is nothing if not fun and carefree, the food divine and the hospitality is similar to being home for the holidays.
The chef created the eclectic menu from his dining experiences at four-star restaurants across the world, taking what he loved and creating something fun and exciting. Each menu item has a personal story of inspiration behind it, which makes it even more fun to dine here. There is no dress code; everyone is welcome. The beer list is just as exciting as the wine list, and upscale is not a word here.
If you’re looking for fun, creativity and enjoyment, Stones Throw is the restaurant to put on your list. It’s quickly becoming a favorite spot in the neighborhood for residents and visitors alike, and it’s becoming more difficult to get a table here because word of mouth has turned this little hidden gem into a favorite location.