Best American Restaurants in Civic Center / Hayes Valley / Van Ness

I love that the evening simply unfolds for you with no decisions to be made. Each course was a surprise and delight. The chef is creative and really focuses on extracting the most flavor from each bite. The service is always excellent. It always amazes me that we can have this type of meal pre-ballet without feeling overly rushed.

Super happy with the service! Came to celebrate my birthday and was able be sat early and enjoy the energy of the restaurant! I love the juicy cuts of meat and my party was able to finish their meat and get an extra slice after!

We got lucky getting the best table in the restaurant, across from the bar in a nook under the stairs, so we easily heard each other! We chose a plant forward menu and our waiter Kai (sp?) decided on the order of the dishes. I’d trust his judgment again because we had a great time. The pigs head hid a shaved fennel and pear salad underneath. I delightfully learned how different parts of fennel tastes when shaved so finely. The Hokkaido scallops were soooo good and fresh and compared to a sushi restaurant, a very good value. My partner normally doesn’t like shellfish but he loved the scallops. We ended the savory portion of the meal with the seaweed noodles and the grilled cabbage with dill pickle butter and roe. Both plates had amazing, complimentary sauces and Kai brought us some bread to savor the last drops. The One Punch Man cocktail complemented entire the meal so well with its fruity yet creamy flavor. We got the chocolate semifreddo for dessert for the texture. It had a toasted umeboshi meringue that tasted like dates if they were slightly pickled. I left food drunk and with very happy tastebuds. I loved the restraint in all the flavors. I think a lot of dishes could’ve easily gone sideways in less capable hands, or even the meal because this menu had a lot of citrus and pickled items, and instead they nailed it just right.

food and service was amazing and the ambience was so lovely with great lighting. feels cozy but also fancy. i loved how the noise level was low that i could have conversations without any stress.

Large portions. Lots of meat on the brisket sandwich. Excellent sandwich. Very good caeser salad. Ribs are not as good... not fall off the bone.