Garaje — Restaurant in San Francisco

On strong insistence from my friend who is a foodie and has a history of giving strong advice, I was at Garaje in about 2 hours of landing at SFO, and left thinking about when I will be coming back.

From outside - a visitor to the city might pass without giving another look, but that's what Yelp is for. Garaje is an unassuming sorta place with an ATM machine right at the entrance (Yes - its cash only - Thank god the ATM only charges a $2.75 fee). The overall vibe is of a mexican taqueira where you would expect to find authentic fare. You would be wrong if you assumed that you will be getting authentic mexican food here - but - what you will have is Garaje's take on one of its kind food found in this part of the world - California Burrito - and they have a name for it - Zapato!

Try Googling Zapato - it translates to shoes and has no connection to food. Zapato is a term that Garaje came up with for its take on California Burrito - a style of burrito that does not use Rice and Beans (Is it still a burrito then? I think its not, but its definitely a Zapato).

To start off - you order at the counter and bus your own table. They have decent variety of beers on tap (Kolsch, porters, belgian red ales etc.) and ofcourse everything is reasonably priced. We ordered a kolsch and a belgian ale to go with our Zapato's - a chicken zapato and a veggie zapato.

Now, moving onto Zapato - they were fabulous. Pictures can't do justice to their taste. We ordered them medium spicy - although, I will go for spicy the next time. The veggie zapato had fries in them, to go along with beans (yes - the veggie one had beans), guac, cheese, onion and some spices - rolled in to flour tortilla which I believe are baked on flat iron. overall, the spices and the amalgamation of flavors go really well. The chicken Zapato primarily had guac and spiced chicken in it. The chicken seemed baked with cheese and their secret sauce - its flavor was out of the world. Overall, the combination of flavors were excellent. The guac was adding a nice creaminess to the overall texture of fillings. Both the Zapato's came cut into 2 pieces (so - easily sharable). At the end of it - I wish I could eat more. The Zapatos were filling - not overly so - although, if you are feeling hungry - you could easily share 3 between 2 people.

Overall, if you live around here or are just visiting - go past that ATM and order a Zapato - you won't be disappointed.

. . . . (Re-reading review for typos - drooling - off to my 2nd visit...

Delicious eats for an incredible price :) One of the best mexican seafood places I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying. That Ahi Tuna taco is just an absolute killer and their crab crack is appropriately named because I'm addicted.

You wouldn't even really recognize this place on the streets as a restaurant but their red building is hard to miss once you know what you're looking for. It's got a super casual vibe and everyone there is super friendly :) It's great for groups since they plenty of tables/booths for seating. They have a nice upstairs balcony for larger parties too. (BONUS: they have chargers for both iphone/android phones provided on their tables)

You order at the counter which is at the very back of the restaurant. You're better off reading off the paper menu as opposed to the signs hanging up. Any of their tacos are delicious but I recommend the thai prawns and any of their fish type tacos. I gotta say that seafood is their specialty! So much flavor and deliciousness packed into a taco. Their Zapatos remind me of a crunchwrap supreme from Taco Bell but WAYYYYY WAYYY WAYYY better. They put french fries in it which already makes it the best. My favorite by far was their Crab Crack. It's pretty much a crab cake with coleslaw. But something about the coleslaw and the crab cake was magical. The crab cake was crisp and sweet while the coleslaw was creamy and refreshing. It was a winning combination, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's a fan of crab cakes!

Their beers were also phenomenal! Like their sign says: No Crap on Tap! I'm not a fan of IPAs but the green tea IPA on tap was soo good. The only downside about this place is CA$H ONLY. Don't sweat if you don't have cash because they do have an ATM machine inside ($2 fee).

COME HERE IF YOU...

Great staff and beer selection.

Zapatos were good and unique (though I think panini pressed not specifically grilled), had the tacos too, both delish.

Looks like it was decorated in another era, and a bit dark, which leads to the mentioned dive bar feeling.

(They take credit cards now)

Downside, It’s a bit pricy, tacos especially. For the quality of beer that was about right but the food prices were a little high for the offerings, though the ingredients were quality, there’s some quality issues in the kitchen that need to be addressed (such as the mentioned fryer oil problems and general rushing things).

Also, like others mentioned is they close before their stated hours, I was in at 7:30, half packed restaurant, they started closing at 8 (cashier went home, cleaning up - chemical cleaning ruining any ambiance - especially at their price level, turning several away people at this point) even though the posted closing was 9. I would have had another beer, but felt pressured and there was no one to help me. Of course the crowd dwindled because of this too.

Would I do it again? I might give them another chance, maybe just for beer next time though. It’s walkable from the Moscone (same to Oracle) but not close enough to get bought out from corporate events, so a nice place to chill. The food was good, but pricy for what it was. Decor celebrates old days of SF at this point, and seemed clean (in the...