Grit and Grub in San Francisco’s Tenderloin

From down-and-out to up-and-coming

By Lessley Anderson. Photos by Chris Rochelle

San Franciscans take a perverse delight in watching tourists drift west of Union Square, the downtown hotel/shopping district. In just a few blocks, the H&Ms, Niketowns, and Westins give way to treeless, urine-scented sidewalks lined with flea-bitten single-room-occupancy hotels and the occasional crazy-eyed addict. Appetizing, no?

Those tourists have stumbled into the Tenderloin, a roughly 10-square-block area dense with misery. Most out-of-towners hightail it back to Bloomingdale’s. The smart ones (and the smart locals) stay for lunch, come back for dinner, and barhop until closing time.

That’s because the Tenderloin has the best food and drinks in the city. Yes, it’s a bold statement, but one that many San Franciscans are beginning to make, in the same way they lauded the Mission District in the early 1990s. Like that now-gentrified boho-Latino neighborhood, the Tenderloin is home to both an immigrant population turning out some damn fine home cooking—Vietnamese, Pakistani-Indian, Turkish, and Korean—and higher-end maverick chefs. Amid the good eats, you’ll find fun dive bars and serious cocktail lounges.

With so many places to choose from, it’s difficult to assemble a definitive list of “best ofs.” For every restaurant and bar we talk about here, there are at least three more that are also great. For instance, when it comes to bars, we wouldn’t want to leave out Olive for its terrific happy hour serving $5 martinis and $7 pizzas, the Ambassador for its swanky bottle-service booths with telephones, or the Edinburgh Castle for its author readings and famous trivia night. And although we don’t include blurbs on them, the classy Southern restaurants Farmer Brown and Brenda’s French Soul Food are exceptionally tasty. For vegetarian fare both high and low, try Millennium and Golden Era, respectively. For upscale Mexican, there’s Colibrí, and good Vietnamese can also be found at Pagolac, Vietnam II, and Bodega Bistro.

The neighborhood’s boundaries are as hard to agree upon as the best restaurants; for this story, we’ve defined the borders as Geary Street to the north, Market Street to the south, Larkin Street to the west, and Taylor Street to the east. The neighborhood is easily accessible via BART or Muni (get off at Civic Center and walk north), and many famous music venues are nearby, including the Great American Music Hall.

A note on safety: Although bar owners will recommend you take cabs at night, we’ve never had a problem walking around the Tenderloin, day or night. A good rule of thumb is, where there are more people, there’s less risk. Although some of those people may look scary, they mostly keep to themselves. The biggest danger is in eating too much.

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By Lessley Anderson
Photographs by Chris Rochelle

Grit and Grub in the Tenderloin (cont.)

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Brunch

Dottie’s True Blue Café
522 Jones Street
415-885-2767
Open Wednesday through Monday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., closed Tuesday
Reservations not accepted

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Homemade baked goods like whiskey-pineapple coffee cake, fudge pecan brownies, and buttermilk-dill bread are the specialty of this creative diner serving breakfast and lunch. The most popular entrée—moist black bean cakes with juicy salsa fresca and grilled cornbread—is worth the acclaim.

Daily specials include things like an omelet filled with rosemary-lamb sausage, tomato, roasted garlic, spinach, and goat cheese ($10.50), and sweet potato–cranberry French toast with toasted pecans and real maple syrup ($10.95). No matter what time you arrive, even minutes before closing, there’s always a long line.

Chowhound conversations about Dottie’s True Blue Café:
Dottie’s True Blue Cafe–Tenderloin Gem
Dottie’s True Blue Cafe
great b’fast spots near Union Sq?

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VIETNAMESE

Turtle Tower Restaurant
631 Larkin Street
415-409-3333
Open Wednesday through Monday 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., closed Tuesday
Reservations not accepted

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One of a string of inexpensive restaurants in a heavily Vietnamese portion of the Tenderloin known as Little Saigon, Turtle Tower is the place to come for pho ga, a.k.a. chicken noodle soup ($6.75 for a large bowl). The small, brightly lit spot does a brisk business at lunch (it’s also open for breakfast, but closes on the early side for dinner). Unlike most of the other places serving pho in the neighborhood, Turtle Tower makes a plainer northern version with nothing but chicken (white and dark meat, skin on) and noodles in the broth, served with lemon on the side, as opposed to southern style, which incorporates bean sprouts and hoisin sauce. The quality of the ingredients makes Turtle Tower’s pho stand out: broth as rich as Thanksgiving gravy, noodles that taste homemade (they’re actually freshly made to order by a private supplier, and are amazingly smooth and slurpable), and flavorful, generously cut free-range chicken.

Chowhound conversations about Turtle Tower Restaurant:
Hip in the Tenderloin
Turtle Tower on Geary
Northern Vietnamese at Turtle Tower, SF

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Sing Sing Sandwich Shop
309 Hyde Street
415-885-5159
It’s seemingly impossible to find anybody who will say exactly when the restaurant opens and closes, but if you go to Sing Sing for lunch after 11 a.m. and before 2 p.m., it should be open
Reservations not accepted

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You can get Vietnamese sandwiches, or banh mi, all over the neighborhood, including at Saigon Sandwich Shop, the reigning champion. That place is great, but we prefer Sing Sing, not just because it makes a damn fine sandwich, but also because of its quirky ambiance and the fact that you don’t have to wait in line.

Sing Sing is packed with climbing plants and fake yellow roses, sketchy-looking dudes smoking in the back room (despite the “No Smoking” signs posted on the walls), mirrors, Christmas tree lights, plastic lawn furniture, and red-and-white-checked tablecloths that have seen better days. Unlike other Tenderloin sandwich shops, Sing Sing offers only one choice of banh mi, which you wouldn’t know, as you won’t find a printed menu anywhere. You simply order “a sandwich” ($2.25) and “coffee” (hot or iced). As for the former, you get a marvelous little crusty baguette, three kinds of pork products that the owner says are all homemade (head cheese, pâté, and sliced barbecued pork), scallions and cucumber (aberrations from the typical banh mi), pickled carrots, jalapeños, cilantro, and a generous dusting of salt and pepper, for 25 cents less than you’ll pay at most other spots.

Chowhound conversations about Sing Sing Sandwich Shop:
the best SANDWICH in (San Francisco) period.

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Lee’s Sandwiches
625 Larkin Street
415-929-6888
Open daily 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Reservations not accepted

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If you really want to feel like you’ve stepped into a foreign country, hit the San Francisco outpost of the Lee’s Sandwiches chain for dessert, or simply for eye candy. Not to be confused with Lee’s Deli, a mediocre American and Chinese food chain, this glaringly lit lunch counter and packaged-foods emporium is bound to give you sensory overload. You’ll find exotic smoothies (avocado; pennywort and green bean; soursop), hot desserts (banana and taro root stewed in coconut milk), vegetarian banh mi, fresh buns, and row upon row of plastic cups filled with colorful sticky rice concoctions. You’ll also find pennyroyal drink, fresh sugarcane juice, and basil seed custard. You have to check this place out.

Chowhound conversations about Lee’s Sandwiches:
Best Vietnamese Sandwich…..
Friday afternoon on Larkin St.–Banh Mi and other goodies
Where can I find Vietnamese Xoi Ga

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PAKISTANI/INDIAN

Lahore Karahi
612 O’Farrell Street
415-567-8603
Open Monday 5 to 11 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Reservations not accepted

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The last time I ate at this tiny spot, a patron muttered on his way out, “Best restaurant in all of Northern California.” For a region that has produced Zuni Café, Chez Panisse, and the French Laundry, that’s one helluva statement. But it’s not indefensible.

The specialty at Lahore Karahi is tandoori fish ($10.95): ultrafresh and brightly spiced, with generous amounts of coriander and piquant lemon. For $1.25 you can get an accompaniment of killer cinnamon-flavored basmati rice. The garlic naan ($2) is addictive, also topped with coriander, sesame seeds, turmeric, cilantro, and chile; and the mango lassi ($2.50) is so creamy and rich it could be a dessert. The unsweetened chai is free, and the place is open pretty late (unlike most restaurants in San Francisco).

Only a low counter separates the small dining room from affable chef-owner Zulfiqar “Guddu” Haider in his kitchen, and he cooks every order from scratch. (The service is, therefore, slow.) You can watch him tossing naan dough as if he were making pizzas, skewering chicken chunks and placing them in the tandoor oven, and flinging pans of pitch-perfect butter chicken ($6) and lamb vindaloo ($7) onto the stove. Just walking in the door will make you ravenous, as you smell the savory charcoal goodness of the tandoor oven.

Chowhound conversations about Lahore Karahi:
Over-budget already
Tasty yet moderately priced dinner near Mason & Sutter?
Banh Mi, & Tenderloin

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FINE DINING

Fish & Farm
339 Taylor Street
415-474-3474
Open Monday through Wednesday 5 to 10 p.m., Thursday through Saturday 5 to 11 p.m., closed Sunday
Reservations are essential

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A few restaurants with sophisticated wine lists and classically trained chefs have made a go of it in the Tenderloin, our favorite being Fish & Farm, located in the same building as the Hotel Mark Twain. Its focus is seasonal local produce, meats from within 100 miles, and sustainable seafood. You’ll find dishes like grilled focaccia panzanella with whipped fromage blanc and marinated heirloom tomatoes ($11), roasted Monterey Bay sardines with ginger-stewed cherry tomatoes and wild arugula ($11), and lamb chops with apricot purée, minted cranberry, and Romano beans ($28).

The dining room, done up in chocolate brown, turquoise, and nautical flotsam, is sort of The Believer magazine meets Maine lobster shack. It’s small and perfect for dates, but you may have to wait in the bar because its staff is chronically befuddled by the reservation system. Luckily, your wait is sweetened by both the wine list, which includes several interesting biodynamic options, and the great cocktail menu, full of crafty concoctions of muddled herbs and berries.

Chowhound conversations about Fish & Farm:
Fish & Farm
New American/Small Plates Union Square Bday Dinner
Late night dining in Union Square area??

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By Lessley Anderson
Photographs by Chris Rochelle

Grit and Grub in the Tenderloin (cont.)

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Any discussion of the Tenderloin would be null and void if one failed to pay respect to the neighborhood dives. Everybody has his favorite, and the names are as colorful as the people inside: the Ha-Ra Club, Cinnabar, the Gangway, the Brown Jug. Here are three more casual joints we like.

There are also a couple of great high-end cocktail lounges in the neighborhood, for when you’re feeling fancy. They are listed below.

CASUAL

21 Club
98 Turk Street
415-771-9655
Open daily 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.

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Recently outed by Esquire magazine as one of the best bars in America (a bit of an overstatement), the 21 Club is still the most classic dive we can think of. It offers no beer on tap, and you will not find a microbrew or even a midtier whiskey like Jameson’s on the menu. You will find, however, Miller High Life in bottles, plus an altar to Spam behind the bar. Slip a dollar into the jukebox, put on some Merle or Mick, and zone out on the two big picture windows as seedy life in the lower ’Loin goes by. (It’s definitely best to come during the day, and if you’re a woman, bring a male escort.) You’ll have plenty of company: There are always lots of people drinking here, even before lunch.

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222 Club
222 Hyde Street
415-440-0222
Open Tuesday through Saturday 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., closed Sunday and Monday

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A little grimy, with exposed brick and glowing red lights, the 222 Club is where the twentysomethings come to dance and get their drink on. At the packed, narrow bar, house-made pizzas are served until midnight alongside $2 PBRs and stiff mixed drinks. If you can make it through the crowd and down the stairs, you’ll find an underground dance floor reminiscent of high school parties in someone’s basement. The music varies on any given night, from hip-hop to grime to drum ’n’ bass, with electro, house, and booty funk thrown in. It’s not unusual to hear lyrics yelled in unison and see arms in the air and a sea of bodies morphing into one giant undulating mass. Yes, hookups abound. Two of the most popular parties held here are “Lights Down Low” (second and fourth Friday of the month) and “No Fucking Requests Ever” (third Friday of the month). Don’t worry too much about what you wear—it’s so damn hot downstairs that most of it’s bound to come off anyway.

Chowhound conversations about 222 Club:
222 Club
222 Club in SF?
Suggestions for 6th & Market (Not Tu Lan)

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Whiskey Thieves
839 Geary Street
415-409-2063
Open daily 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

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Whiskey Thieves is not a real dive, because real dives don’t have 25 Irish whiskeys behind the bar and plenty of Scotch and bourbon to boot. But it’s got that grungy rock ’n’ roll feel: Bob Dylan’s Desire blasts from the speakers, and a blanket of cigarette smoke envelops you as you enter (it’s one of those few owner-operated joints where you can still smoke inside). You’ll have to squeeze around a frenzied pool game to curl into a back booth. Attracting a neighborhood crowd of night owls in their 20s and 30s with expensive haircuts and thrift-store clothing, the bar’s hopping even an hour before closing on a Tuesday night. People are in it to win it: tables of kids doing shots, draped all over each other, fedoras askew, gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat in the weak light.

Chowhound conversations about Whiskey Thieves:
Good Scotch Bars in Your City
tenderloin bars with food

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FANCY

Bourbon & Branch
501 Jones Street
415-346-1735
Open Monday through Saturday 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., closed Sunday

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A modern-day speakeasy with a real former Prohibition-era speakeasy beneath it (the owners found it—brass bell alert system and secret exits intact—when they bought the bar), Bourbon & Branch looks like a Hollywood depiction of the 1920s. It’s all red velvet flocked wallpaper and antiques, including a working gramophone. The rooms are ultra-ultra-dark, lit only by flickering candles, and Jelly Roll Morton plays softly in the background.

This is where many an ambitious “bar chef” comes to launch his or her San Francisco career. The drink selection borders on overwhelming, with page after page of cocktails, including classics like the Sazerac ($11), new creations, and daily specials like the Rum Crawl ($11), consisting of rum, house-made Falernum (lime liqueur), ginger syrup, lime juice, whiskey barrel–aged bitters, and a seared orange peel garnish. There are also 50—yes, 50—different bourbons, all served with linen napkins.

The main room works on a reservation system, accessible via the website; when you go online you’re given a password to use when ringing the locked front door (ours was “viper”—the password changes nightly). This practice keeps out Tenderloin riffraff and creates an air of taboo. There’s also a no-reservations-required room in the back, known as the Library, for which you utter the password “books.” (You may be wondering why you need another password when you could just say “books” every night and get in. Well, yeah—there are some things about this bar that are a little precious.) To enter the Library, you pass through one of those revolving bookcases that you see in the movies. Oh, and there’s no sign out front saying “Bourbon & Branch.” Instead the sign reads “Anti-Saloon League.”

Reservations are often booked a month in advance, particularly for Friday and Saturday nights. But Bourbon & Branch is best avoided on these nights anyway, when the crowd can get a little bridge-and-tunnel (boys on dates pounding Red Bull before entering, with popped collars and majorly buffed upper bodies). Better to come on a weeknight, when you and a few gay guys and restaurant industry types can have the undivided attention of the bartender as he tastes, pours, shakes, swivels, and incinerates, like a boozy alchemist.

Chowhound conversations about Bourbon & Branch:
Bourbon and Branch–anyone been?
Anyone have a copy of the Bourbon & Branch menu?
Cocktail “flight” at Bourbon & Branch?

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Rye
688 Geary Street
415-474-4448
Open Monday through Friday 5:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

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You would walk right past Rye if you weren’t looking for it: Only a discreet wood-panel wall announces its presence on the block. Inside is a relaxing lounge, with exposed brick walls, concrete floors, low seating, and tasteful, modern paintings: a little bachelor pad–like. Cocktails, $9 each, are the centerpiece: standards like the Dark ’n’ Stormy (dark rum and ginger beer); twists on classics, like the signature basil gimlet (vodka or gin, lime juice, fresh basil, and raw sugar); and new inventions like the Flash (gin, kiwi, cucumber, and lemon).

One Monday a month, Rye hosts an Iron Chef–style competition for local bartenders, in which they see who can make the best drink out of a specific spirit. Patrons taste and pick the winner—for free.

The crowd can get a little cheesy later in the evening: uninspired partyers looking to pick somebody up, and on weekends, big, big crowds. But Rye is mellow and perfect for an early classy cocktail.