Otra — Restaurant in San Francisco

Me to nice server when we ate on one of the first days they open: You know this ($$) margarita is pretty good but would really be better if you used a better quality salt (rather than regular table salt, even kosher salt) on the rim. Just a suggestion. Server: OK, I'll tell the bartender. Great. The the paloma arrived with broken up ice a couple notches courser than a snow cone. Again, I told the server that with this sort of ice, the drink is diluted by the time it gets to the table, and 10 minutes later it's half water. OK. Of course the next time we ate, everything was the same. OK. The menu, pricey for Mex, is half vg, half just so-so. We didn't try anything that was repulsive, but one expects a kind of fancy Mexican restaurant to be more interesting than your good local taqueria (although the neighborhood taqueria, Estrella, is really terrible and anything would be better). The most memorably good item is the roasted mushroom taco. Cramy, smoky, funky delicious. I want to order three and call it a day. We like the kampachi, or was it the aguachile? I think it was the aguachile b/c there wasn't enough to have more than a bite or 2 if you're sharing, and you'll want more. We loved the mussels too but I like to feel like the kitchen is fastidious enough to order them fresh daily and sort out the ones that have already gone to mussel heaven, for these can give you bad case of mal de mer, or mar. No problem so far but if things get a little sloppy, I wouldn't order the conchas. I think the carrot tostata wasn't a hit, but then, roasted carrot. Maybe if the carrot were pickled first, ground up in a molcajete with serrano chiles, and deep fried. There were other unmemorable menu items and I can't remember which they were. I hope this place continues to improve, but it looks like it's becoming a place for hipsters to have drinks and order some tasty bits when they get loopy and hungry. I still think that if you're serious about slightly uscale Mex, Nopalito...

to contextualize my review: I am a Mexico City native, and I eat these flavors every day.

Otra left me very disappointed. A few folks were telling me how absolutely great it was and it was even featured in Eater, so it’s received praises all around.

However, I found the menu is uninspired, the cocktail program lacks, the food is not delicious, and the tortillas are so badly prepared I was dumbfounded.

I don’t want to be long-winded and there is so much I did not like about this place I don’t want to list it at all so i will just focus on one thing: the tortilla.

Tortillas at Otra are bad. They are dry, grainy, they never puffed, they crumble when wet, and the edges are not round which indicate the nixtamal was poorly cooked. You can also tell the nixtamal was poorly cooked due to the flavor of the tortilla lacking all sweetness from the high PH and the grainy texture comes from the hulls and pericarps not shelling off properly.

I did love the great mezcal selection.

if you’re after good Mexican food, i’d say skip this place and...

Came here on a Saturday evening with three others. We enjoyed four different beverages, including a vino Verde and a Mezcaroni, a negroni made with Mezcal. The latter was smoky and quite strong, very nice. Then we enjoyed roasted Brussels sprouts (two bowls), which had a vinegary dressing with onions and a brightening herb and frijolitos, essentially a her black been cup with warm, fresh tortilla chips. For entrees, which were light but sufficient after heavy appetizers, two of us had fish tostadas and two had mushroom tacos. I loved the mushroom tacos, which have a rich umami that was set off perfectly by the low-key corn tortillas and gentle avocado crema.

The host and the waiter were very welcoming and helpful on suggesting dishes when we asked for advice. Cheery atmosphere with large wooden bar and beautiful jungle mural.

You can see from my photos that we couldn't resist digging in before we started taking...