This is but one installment of 37 Things a Man’s Gotta Do This Summer, our annual compendium of everything worth seeing, doing, eating, drinking and generally making time for in your neck of the woods between now and September. Stay tuned all month for more.
Outdoor brunch — the millennial pink of weekend meals — can be a challenging experience in San Francisco.
You’ve got lines. A morning chill. And a tendency among savvy restaurateurs to mislabel a regular Tuesday’s lunch as “brunch” because they know what it does to us.
So here’s everything you need to actually enjoy the canonical fourth meal, including details on which patios are heated, which take reservations and which restaurants profess to serve brunch seven days a week. (If the menu suddenly gets bigger on Saturday morning, does it count?)
We’ve got the fineprint so you can keep your eyes on the target: that house-made English muffin sandwich with two fried eggs, for one pleasing example.
In brief: A Cow Hollow “American gastrotavern” with a huge back patio that Michael Bauer named one of the city’s top-10 best new restaurants
Breakfast-y: Dutch pancakes with apple and pomegranate, plus black pepper-candied bacon
Lunch-y: Tacos with IPA-battered mahi mahi and tomatillo salsa
Served: Friday through Sunday
Reservations: Via OpenTable
Heaters? November through May
In brief: Do you miss when breakfast was more about Cocoa Krispies than eggs Benedict? Welcome to Hayes Valley’s inaugural carnival-themed brunch.
Breakfast-y: The Donut Breakfast Sandwich somehow includes a fried egg, maple-glazed bacon, two buns made from glazed doughnuts, cheddar cheese and home fries.
Lunch-y: The blackened salmon po-boy with shoestring fries
Served: Daily
Reservations: Yes, if you want to sit inside (where it’s warm; see below)
Heaters? Nope
In brief: Rustic Castro spot with your choice of sidewalk seating or a big, tented space in the back garden
Breakfast-y: Just a straight-up brunch plate, with two farmhouse eggs, potatoes, toast and either a rosemary breakfast link or bacon
Lunch-y: Pizza with wild mushrooms and gruyere cheese
Served: Daily (with a smaller brunch menu on weekdays)
Reservations: Via OpenTable
Heaters: Yes
In brief: Local-minded pan-California with a sidewalk patio
Breakfast-y: Their popular English muffin with two fried eggs and curly kale
Lunch-y: Steak frites with salsa verde
Served: Wednesday through Sunday (with an expanded brunch menu on the weekend)
Reservations: For dinner but not brunch
Heaters: Yes
In brief: The best part about living in Cole Valley? Getting to Zazie’s back patio before the crowds.
Breakfast-y: Tahiti-themed French toast on pain de mie with caramelized bananas and walnuts
Lunch-y: Smoked wild salmon sandwich on toasted levain with cream cheese and capers
Served: Daily
Reservations? Only for dinner
Heaters? Yup
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