Update: Bottle Cap is now closed. But, The Square is now open!
Yeay, North Beach! I’ll stop pretending like there’s some lack of good restaurants here. But still, the majority are Italian. And while I LOVE Italian food, it gets a bit tedious. And, if I had to pick a favorite type of food, oddly, it would be American. Stars and stripes, baby, I love me some sandwiches and burgers and mac and cheese.
And they have all three at Bottle Cap, but, like, in good form (Humboldt burger and grilled cheese as “smallish plates”; cheesy shells as a side). But, still, the menu is “American”, which basically seems to mean anything that’s not already claimed by some other culture or country. Or, it can also kinda mean a mesh of a bunch of different things. What a great idea! I love meshes.
Bottle Cap Restaurant in North Beach
The menu is blissfully small, but totally diverse. Crab and rock shrimp louie, pork belly, fried chicken thighs, and tuna poke are a few of the appetizers. Pork chop, chicken, halibut, gnocci, and pierogis are mains. Toss in things like chipotle bbq sauce, cumin-laced black beans, smoked paprika fried potatoes, and pearl onion-dill broth, and you’ve got yourself some fancy San Francisco American food. Best.
I’ve only been once (kinda want to go again tomorrow though… twice in one week is reasonable, right?), but everything we had was amazing. Really. Let’s discuss.
Shrimp and scallop over a quinoa pancake with butter lettuce and fennel salad. Yes. Delish. Scallops tender not tough. Great flavors. Love!
Shrimp and scallops over a quinoa pancake!
Pork belly. Ordered and consumed by my omnivorous friend Quinn. I assume it was delicious due to all the “mmmm” and “ahhhh”s coming from him. He said it was amazing, melt-in-your-mouth belly.
Belly of pork
I was perusing the menu at work before heading over for dinner (yes, I was super excited and pre-ordering in my head…) and thought lots sounded good. But one dish caught my eye. It was the number one must for me. Pierogis. Home made pierogis. Description: portabello mushroom & carmody cheese filling, pearl onion-dill broth, red cabbage & garlic cream. It was entirely amazing. I should photoshop these pictures to make them have a halo or something. Or to even look like decent photos… sorry…
Home made perogis
After a long deliberation (and a candid question to the entirely indecisive waiter), dessert was the brownie with caramel sauce and honey ice cream. It wasn’t OMFG amazing or anything, but it was good, and Smalls did love the honey ice cream.
Chocolate brownie and honey ice cream
And the cocktail list was good. And they have a cute 3-piece band that plays music reminiscent of (as Quinn called it) avant-garde 1930’s French cartoons. It was adorable. And not too loud. Oh, and the waiter was nice. And the tables were cute. And it totally filled up at like 7.30. On a Tuesday. Yeay!
Quinn enjoys a cocktail
It’s a five minute walk from my house, it’s delish, and it has pierogis!!! Excited squeal!
P.S. They have brunch. I want, I want, I want, I want…
I suspect a review of their awesome breakfasts is to follow…..Love this place!