Urban Tavern San Francisco - Let's do Brunch!!
By
Carol & Joe Davis
Dining Detectives
Happy
Fourth Birthday to Urban Tavern in San
Francisco!! We've been there many times to dine and for cocktails
and were pleased to hear that they had just added a weekend Brunch
Menu which is available from 11:30 A.M. until 2:30 P.M. on Saturdays
and Sundays. The "Gastropub" as it is known serves California
Cuisine using seasonal, fresh and local ingredients and has been
very popular with both locals and tourists for breakfast, lunch,
dinner and after work cocktails. "Urban"
their full sized Horse Sculpture mascot is still the beautiful
centerpiece of the restaurant and we were glad to see that he
hadn't aged at all. The décor is upscale with a marble
bar and communal tables which are great places to enjoy food and
cocktails and the main dining room has both tables and comfortable
booths.
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Brunch
always gets started best with cocktails. We loved the refreshing
Sparkling Watermelon which is made with Grey Goose Pear
Vodka, St. Germain Elder Flower liqueur, fresh watermelon and
sparkling wine. We also ordered the Blood Orange Taverihna
made with leblon cachaca, honey syrup, blood orange, lime and
Serrano chili which was spicy and really fantastic! You may not
know that Cachaca is the most popular distilled alcoholic beverage
in Brazil and that it is made from fermented sugarcane. We can't
wait to have the Blood Orange Tavernihna again!
The
Brunch menu features reasonably priced options and we noticed
that they also offer a lunch menu with Sandwiches, Salads and
Soups, so there is something for everyone. We were intrigued by
the Chicken & Waffles Benedict made with cheddar
Serrano waffle, fried chicken paillard, poached eggs and topped
with a light hollandaise sauce. This was really excellent and
much lighter than we had expected, just wonderful! We also enjoyed
the Fried Egg Sandwich which was a BLT with cheddar cheese,
smoked aioli served on a soft ciabatta roll. It came with a lightly
dressed little green salad. The Lemon Griddle Cake Cannoli
which was filled with Bellwether ricotta and pistachios, topped
with blueberries and served with maple syrup and a side dish of
fresh fruit had a lovely lemon flavor and was perfect for those
who like something sweeter. We ordered Illy espressos and perused
the dessert menu.
However,
since we were comfortably full, our best choice was to order their
Variety 4 pack to go. This included a Red Velvet
Swiss Roll, a Ho Ho, a Lemon Poppy Seed Whoopee Pie and a Coconut
Custard Snowball.
This
worked out perfectly, as we had some great small desserts for
later that day and with coffee the following morning. Next time,
we need to try the Butterbourbon Pudding and the Urban
Tavern Peanut Butter Cup which were quite popular
with our neighboring diners.
Urban
Tavern is still one of our favorites for Downtown San
Francisco Eating, Meeting and Drinking as it is close to shopping
and the Theater District and has 5 hour free validated parking
while dining. The menu has something for all tastes and the service
is friendly and professional. The Wine list features over 100
local California Wines with many available by the glass. We are
pleased to report that Executive Chef Colin Duggan's new Brunch
Menu has some excellent choices and their specialty cocktails
are excellent as well.
Urban
Tavern
333 O'Farrell Street
San Francisco, CA. 94102
415-923-4400
www.UrbanTavernSF.com