The Republic

location: 3213 scott st. at chestnut, the marina

the republic wants to be an upscale restaurant/bar/lounge like most places in the marina. it has the restaurant thing down, great food, decent prices, but the bar/lounge aspect of it is a little lame to me. i definitely don't see myself going in there to throw back drinks on a friday or saturday night, but i would eat here again. the drink i had was fantastic, the bulleit car chase which had bourbon, soda water, lime and mint leaves was refreshing and a great accompaniment to my grilled chicken sandwich. which had melted swiss on it. something i rarely enjoy but mixed with honey mustard and warm bread, it was great. i really enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant until a big party showed up to celebrate the presidio 10 race which was happening a few days later. the service at our table was awful. our waiter (daniel) was unattentive, having never asked if we wanted another drink. he basically took our order, brought our food and about 40 minutes later, brought our check. while the table next to us enjoyed wonderful service from their waitress. i did enjoy the atmosphere of the restaurant and i loved the little fryer basket that my onion rings were served in. i wanted to steal it, i resisted. i was glad we left right as the presidio 10 party was picking up, it was body to body crammed and started to feel like a thursday night at riley's.

recommendation: get over there after you've tried other spots in the marina

tastiness: yay!

food/drink vs. price: okay!

service: nay!

Osha Thai

location: 4 embarcadero center, financial district (6 other locations around san francisco)

d took me to osha thai for a roommate celebration and we had the pleasure of sitting in the lounge and getting star service from her friend, andrew, the bartender. while there are several other locations in the city, i like this one, it's along the embarcadero, quiet at night, great service and easy to catch a cab right after if you need to (it's next to the hyatt). because we were friends with the bartender he hooked us up with a couple of really delicious cocktails based on what we said we like. my favorite thing in the world is a bartender who will ask you what you like and offer something they think you'll like even more. this happened with not 1 but both drinks i had. a french 75 made with elderflower and a russian mule made scottish with hendrick's gin. and at a decent price for a fidi bar. the menu offers a few pages of thai treats with an emphasis on noodles, rice and seafood. i had the crab fried rice which was proven fresh by the actual crab claws that the dish was served with, i always find it fun to play with my food and this was no exception. while i felt that the drinks were a great price, i think the food is a little over priced. some of the dishes on the menu seem reasonable, but others seem like they're priced that way simply because they can get away with it. which is a bummer. the other great thing about osha is that some of the locations are open pretty late, the tenderloin location is open until 1am, so if you get a craving, they're there!

recommendation: get to one of their locations at your leisure!

tastiness: yay!

food/drink vs. price: okay!

service: yay!

Outerlands

location: 4001 judah st. at 45th ave., outer sunset

i took my first trip to outerlands about a year ago after reading a review in the new york times travel section. the second time around my meal was just as good but the variety on the menu was less exciting. outerlands is a charming and rustic restaurant only a couple blocks from the beach that holds probably 30 people at most. they bake their bread fresh daily and have a great selection of local and organic produce. the menu changes daily depending on what they have or can make and they serve a lot of soups, salads and small plates. everything is very savory and delicious. they have a limited wine selection and a great selection of beers, i went with the leffe blonde which was very reasonably priced at $5 a bottle. this time around we weren't served at our table but instead ordered at the counter, i'm not sure if they made a permanent switch or if they only do counter ordering on busy nights, we were there on a saturday evening. which, for a party of four was about a 15 minute wait, so it wasn't too bad considering they don't take reservations. the levain toast is a must, it is accompanied by a dish or olive oil, herbs and roasted garlic. because the menu is day to day i can only hope you have a chance to try the french onion soup. it was outstanding.

recommendation: get over there for a date on a chilly night.

tastiness: yay!

food vs. price: yay!

service: okay!

The Monk's Kettle

location: 3141 16th street, between valencia and guerrero, the mission

monk's kettle is known for their amazing beer selection and they really aren't fooling around. with over 20 beers on tap and even more options by the bottle it would be easy to spend an entire day in this place tasting. so of course when c rolled to town on a very nice warm day, we ducked in here to spend the afternoon belly up to the back of the bar. not only do they have a million bars on tap but they also have a pretty delicious sounding food menu. i tried the allagash white, made in portland, maine, and the wolaver's organic brown, made in middlebury, vermont. i'm not a beer expert and i won't pretend to be (like everyone else around here) but these were both very delicious! i would definitely have them again. the pretzel, which is #50 on 7x7's big eat list, was warm, fluffy and perfectly salty (although, some complained too salty, i did not agree). it is served with a stone-ground mustard and cheddar ale sauce, which i think i could have eaten by the spoonful. it's completely understandable why it's on that list. monk's is pretty small inside, i've been told it's nearly impossible to get a table during dinner, and the staff seemed annoyed that there were so many of us there, which is weird considering we were dropping mad money. the bartenders were knowledgeable about all of the different beer options and helpful in selecting beers based on what you told them you like. 1 pretzel and 6 beers later and i only dropped about $55 but i don't think that's a very good example of what you can spend in there, some of the beers were around $10 each, i was trying to be economical.

recommendation: get over there before the rush!

tastiness: yay!

food/drink vs. price: borderline okay! and yay!

service: okay!

Mamacita

location: 2317 chestnut (between divis & scott), the marina

i went to mamacita last night on the recommendation of my roomie d with her, her mom and her friend c. mamacita, which describes itself as an upscale mexican food restaurant, is just that. it fits right in on chestnut street with all of the other pseudo upscale restaurants. the company and meal were fantastic but something was lacking. the restaurant was really loud and it seemed like our waitress was trying to get us in there and then back out asap, which never makes for a perfect dining experience. they're a little overpriced for what you ultimately get but the meal that i ate was delicious, small portions or not. a pitcher of mamacita margarita was $21 and enough for about 6 glasses, pretty decent but after two i didn't feel much of a buzz. i had the carne asada tacos (griddled meyer ranch skirt steak tacos with guacamole, chimichurri, caramelized onions and arugula) which were so tasty i'm still thinking about them. i was surprised when they came out because the portion seemed so small (see above) but they were pretty filling, i think in the end though, i could have gone for a fourth. mamcita has a full bar, tasty and fresh food and seems like it would be the perfect first date spot if he's paying (if he's paying :)).

recommendation: get over there with someone else's credit card.

tastiness: yay!

food vs. price: okay!

service: okay!

Naked Lunch

location: 504 broadway (at kearny, in enrico's restaurant), north beach

i hit up naked lunch with l & c today on this beautiful sunny afternoon after we read about this sandwich on thrillist. they claim this fried chicken sandwich (with green garlic aioli, creamy coleslaw, pain de mie) is the best sf. it's mighty delicious but i don't know if the best sandwich in sf, that is yet to be determined! this little lunch spot is open in the enrico's kitchen during lunch hours and serves up a different and fresh menu each day. the seating is the same outside area available for enrico's so you have a great view of the broadway strip clubs while you chow down. the guy that rang us up was super friendly and gave us the suggestion of using hot sauce, i always love it when the staff encourage spicing up or adding flavor to a meal, the food came out fast and it was delicious. all around, a great lunch experience. and all for the low cost of $8. no sides included. you can follow nakedlunchsf on twitter to find out daily specials or peep their website.

testimonials from lunch:

"this is the juiciest fried chicken i've ever had"- c

recommendation: get over there and bring cash.

tastiness: yay!

food vs. price: yay!

service: yay!

Lucca Delicatessen

(please excuse my shakey photos, i only had my iphone available)

location: 2120 chestnut, closest to steiner, the marina

i love sandwiches. it's an undisputed fact that they are my favorite food and i've been known to eat multiple sandwiches in one day. that being said, i'm always on the look out for a good/new deli and when i moved to the marina this little italian deli was one of the first places i spotted for my "to eat" list. i went on saturday afternoon with t & j. we each got something different and the consensus was that we'd definitely go back! we got there in the late afternoon so i suspect the service and selection was a little bit different than it would have been at like noon on a saturday which was both good and bad.

this deli is really small. there is about 10 feet by 2 feet of space for customers to place orders, pay, pick up orders and browse the selection of dry and refrigerated goods, so it's a pretty tight squeeze. luckily they have a number system because i'm guessing this place would be a cluster fuck if not. also, because it was so late in the afternoon, they were out of a lot of the bread options on their menu. not their fault but it was saturday and sunny, so they must have known it would be busy, right? i was satisfied by my acme sour roll so i wasn't exactly complaining.

i had the acme roll with fresh roasted turkey, monterey jack and everything + avocado and it came out to about $8, pretty decent price for a super fresh and delicious sandwich.

recommendation: get over there bright and early.

tastiness: yay!

food vs. price: yay!

service: okay!

Restaurant Ducroix

location: corner of kearny & sacramento, fidi

i checked out restaurant decroix today with my work family in celebration of a friends promotion. j (who got promoted) likes this place and suggested it and i've always wanted to check it out since i drove by it everyday for a year on the 1 california.

this little french themed restaurant exceeded my expectations immensely. there was only 1 guy waiting tables, which during the lunch hour on a friday is a little annoying, but he was pretty attentive considering. the atmosphere was warm and our waiter was very friendly, even offering a wine tasting although we knew we just wanted the most economical bottle (bang for our buck, if you will). i had the french onion soup and it was fantastic, just enough onion to be flavorful but not overwhelming and perfect temperature for immediate consumption. my bowl was not filled to the brim like i was hoping but it was tasty nontheless. that was accompanied by the chicken baguette sandwich which had melted swiss cheese and grilled red onion. delicious. l & j had the mussles and other j had a quiche. the mussels were cooked in a garlic/white wine sauce that was like heaven in my mouth, they were then sitting in a bowl of the juice, which was perfect for bread dipping. at the end of our meal the waiter gave us all a dessert wine to say congratulations to j, which was unexpected and way above and beyond service!

recommendation: get over there stat.

tastiness: yay!

food vs. price: yay!

service: yay!