Other-Than-Mexican Restaurants in the Mission
Food-wise, the Mission is best known for its excellent and authentic Mexican fare, often coming from tiny taquerias or family-run holes-in the-wall. It’s why San Francisco has the best burritos in the nation (though Los Angelinos may disagree). With the neighborhood’s gradual gentrification, however, has come a restaurant revolution: The Mission, and Valencia Street in particular, is now a hot destination for cosmopolitan dining.
Here are a few of the biggest and tastiest draws:
Range
842 Valencia St.; 282-8283
Range has been all the rage since opening in 2005. Shiny metal, mirrors, brown leather and dark wood give the restaurant an industrial feel befitting the gritty Mission. The full bar concocts $9.50 specialty cocktails with everything from house-made apricot brandy to sungold tomatoes to beer, and gives them names like “Strange Brew #2” and “Zyzzyva.”
The menu changes, but one of the frequently appearing starters is the sublime goat cheese and sorrel ravioli in lime butter ($13), which has just enough zest to cut through its richness. Entrees are $23 on average. Especially heavenly is the coffee-rubbed pork shoulder, which seems to sigh and melt when you prod it with a fork. The kitchen also turns out terrific halibut and roasted chicken. Desserts, all $8.50, take advantage of in-season fruit.
The only thing that might distract you from the terrific food is the din in the 70-seat restaurant.
Dosa
995 Valencia St., 642-3672
Dosa takes its name from the house specialty, a paper–thin crepe made of rice and lentil flour that’s folded around your choice of vegetarian fillings ($9.50-$11).
It begs to be eaten with your hands. Tear off a chunk of the dosa, dip it in the accompanying sambar (a thick lentil soup), daub it with a zingy tomato or cooling coconut chutney and pop it in your mouth.
Dosas have a huge following; on weekends, Dosa’s tables and bar are occupied from 7 p.m. onwards by down-to-earth couples and a surprising number of families with youngsters. The walls, painted the color of iron-rich dirt, reinforce the hominess of the South Indian cuisine. Efficient yet patient waiters carrying platters of dosas manage to maneuver the narrow trails between the tables.
If you like your pizza thick-crusted rather than thin, you might prefer uttapam ($10-$13.50), the dosa’s pancake-like cousin. Rounding out the menu are various creamy, thick sauces studded with chicken, lamb, paneer and the like ($12-$16.50), to be sopped up with rice (or a dosa or uttapam), but the portions are a tad small.
Boogaloos
3296 22nd St.; 824-4088
You might overlook the “Boogaloos” lettering on the picture window, but you can’t miss the building: an Art-Deco topped, gorgeous if slightly worn former pharmacy that curves around the corner of Valencia and 22nd streets and boasts “CUT-RATE DRUGGISTS.” Inside, the floor is the original tile. Colorful drawings for sale by disabled adults cover the walls. The waiters are tattooed. The diners are Latino families and pierced and artsy 20- and 30-year olds.
The food at this hipster daytime diner is just as eclectic. In a nod to its location, Boogaloos serves quesadillas, plantain cakes with tamarind sour cream ($4), and carne molida (Cuban style ground beef). For the health-minded or dietary-restricted, there are biscuits with vegetarian gravy ($3.50), “fake stake” and “soy beef” (made of seitan and soy) and substitutions of tofu.
Breakfast plates are $6-$8.50, and nothing on the menu is more than $10. You won’t be swooning over the food, but you will be full. Boogaloos’ prices and hefty portions mean lines, even for weekday brunch.
Here are a few of the biggest and tastiest draws:
Range
842 Valencia St.; 282-8283
Range has been all the rage since opening in 2005. Shiny metal, mirrors, brown leather and dark wood give the restaurant an industrial feel befitting the gritty Mission. The full bar concocts $9.50 specialty cocktails with everything from house-made apricot brandy to sungold tomatoes to beer, and gives them names like “Strange Brew #2” and “Zyzzyva.”
The menu changes, but one of the frequently appearing starters is the sublime goat cheese and sorrel ravioli in lime butter ($13), which has just enough zest to cut through its richness. Entrees are $23 on average. Especially heavenly is the coffee-rubbed pork shoulder, which seems to sigh and melt when you prod it with a fork. The kitchen also turns out terrific halibut and roasted chicken. Desserts, all $8.50, take advantage of in-season fruit.
The only thing that might distract you from the terrific food is the din in the 70-seat restaurant.
Dosa
995 Valencia St., 642-3672
Dosa takes its name from the house specialty, a paper–thin crepe made of rice and lentil flour that’s folded around your choice of vegetarian fillings ($9.50-$11).
It begs to be eaten with your hands. Tear off a chunk of the dosa, dip it in the accompanying sambar (a thick lentil soup), daub it with a zingy tomato or cooling coconut chutney and pop it in your mouth.
Dosas have a huge following; on weekends, Dosa’s tables and bar are occupied from 7 p.m. onwards by down-to-earth couples and a surprising number of families with youngsters. The walls, painted the color of iron-rich dirt, reinforce the hominess of the South Indian cuisine. Efficient yet patient waiters carrying platters of dosas manage to maneuver the narrow trails between the tables.
If you like your pizza thick-crusted rather than thin, you might prefer uttapam ($10-$13.50), the dosa’s pancake-like cousin. Rounding out the menu are various creamy, thick sauces studded with chicken, lamb, paneer and the like ($12-$16.50), to be sopped up with rice (or a dosa or uttapam), but the portions are a tad small.
Boogaloos
3296 22nd St.; 824-4088
You might overlook the “Boogaloos” lettering on the picture window, but you can’t miss the building: an Art-Deco topped, gorgeous if slightly worn former pharmacy that curves around the corner of Valencia and 22nd streets and boasts “CUT-RATE DRUGGISTS.” Inside, the floor is the original tile. Colorful drawings for sale by disabled adults cover the walls. The waiters are tattooed. The diners are Latino families and pierced and artsy 20- and 30-year olds.
The food at this hipster daytime diner is just as eclectic. In a nod to its location, Boogaloos serves quesadillas, plantain cakes with tamarind sour cream ($4), and carne molida (Cuban style ground beef). For the health-minded or dietary-restricted, there are biscuits with vegetarian gravy ($3.50), “fake stake” and “soy beef” (made of seitan and soy) and substitutions of tofu.
Breakfast plates are $6-$8.50, and nothing on the menu is more than $10. You won’t be swooning over the food, but you will be full. Boogaloos’ prices and hefty portions mean lines, even for weekday brunch.
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