Outerlands — Restaurant in San Francisco

While I enjoyed my visit to Outerlands, it didn't quite live up to the hype.

I came in recently for dinner with a couple of girlfriends. We were seated at a little table towards the back of the bar, perfect for the three of us. Our service was mostly good - we had one of the bartenders serving us and he was mostly attentive. We ordered a bunch of things to share.

House bread - 3 stars. My friends had raved about the bread, one even bought some to go, and while I thought it was tasty, I wasn't blown away.

Hot apple ginger cider - 4 stars. A tasty, warm, and boozy drink perfect for cooler SF nights. I wanted more cider flavor but overall this was a special treat.

Burrata - 4 stars. Served with walnuts, brown butter, chives, and nori flakes. The burrata wasn't the creamiest I've ever had, though it had good elasticity. I didn't taste the chives and I only got nori on certain bites, but the brown butter and walnuts were plentiful.

Dungeness crab salad - 3 stars. With black garlic bisque, grapefruit segments, and soft herbs. On arrival the black garlic bisque looked dark and heavy, but it ended up tasting lighter than expected and it was served cold, quite refreshing. The crab meat was all shreds, which made it hard for the flavors to stand up to the other ingredients. I found the grapefruit quickly overwhelmed the crab, as did the garlic sauce, despite being quite light.

Asparagus - 4 stars. With a duck egg, bacon, currants, banyuls, and sherry. This dish was quite rich for being mostly veggies. The egg was nicely done with some yolk to spread around the plate and the asparagus was nicely blanched so it was tender yet crunchy. I liked the sweet tartness from the currants, but I wanted more bacon and less "stuff", what I think was cabbage of some sort.

Short rib fritters - 5 stars. The absolutely best dish of the night. Served with pickled jalapeños, pepita hoisin, consommé, and mint. Each fritter was super crispy and full of Asian-flavored goodness inside. The fritters were hearty, savory, and slightly spicy. The crunchy sprouts added some pop in texture, the mint brought brightness to the dish, and the acid of the pickled jalapeños added a depth of flavor to the heaviness of the meat. I would definitely order this again.

Overall, I'm glad I came, but I'm not running back. I found the food overpriced for what it is and it's not exactly a spot in my neighborhood. I have heard their brunch is good so if friends invited me, I'd...

Come here if you want your OVER MEDIUM EGGS OVER HARD, if you want your ICE WATER IN A CLEAN GLASS SERVED W/O ICE IN A DIRTY GLASS, if you want to PAY $2 FOR THE OFFERED CONDIMENT JAM, if you want to place your EMPTY GLASS AT THE SERVER SIDE SO YOU CAN BE ASKED “is everything alright?”, if you want to watch the girl next to you place her glass nowhere special, only to have her glass filled without question, while you get the runoff resulting in a half a cup of lukewarm water, and if you still felt welcome here, come here if you want to be treated like you’re not welcome by having the waitress drop off your bill in a CLEAR GLASS AND RETURN 2 MINUTES LATER TO TILT THE GLASS TO LOOK INSIDE AND THEN SAY, “I couldn’t see if there was anything in there! No rush!”

Right!

Since they appear clueless: Over medium means whites cooked, yolk not. Ice water INCLUDES ICE. If you’re going to charge for jam, say so when you offer it. If the customer is still eating, a cup placed away from them MEANS THEY’D LIKE YOU TO REFILL THE CUP WITH WHATEVER THEY WERE DRINKING, so don’t ask! Just do it!! If your biases are so strong that you’ll notice that one type of persons’ drink is empty which moves you to fill their cup, and not another persons’ cup who you were just standing in front of staring at, then the service industry shouldn’t even be a temporary job for you. And lastly, the reason when a bill is put into a clear glass is so you don’t have to guess if the payment is ready to be collected!! And if you couldn’t see inside the clear glass it’s because you put the bill in the cup wrong, or faced the cup the wrong way! Two schools of thought: 1. You put the bill in the glass anyway you like, but turn the cup so you can see inside it from you perspective, or 2. Face the bill towards the customer with the writing on the bill touching the inside glass furthest from you (closest to the customer) so the customer can see the writing, and so you’re looking at the back of the bill and the rest of the glass so when the customer puts something in the cup YOU CAN SEE IT!

If I were a sensitive person, I’d chalk the attitudes here as racist, or “man-hating”, or both. But I’m not that way, but if you’re a single ethnic minority male, maybe go here and see how...

My wife and I were given this place as a recommendation during our trip to San Francisco last week. It was our second trip out to the Bay Area and we had already gotten all of the tourist-y stuff out of the way on that last trip. This one was more to experience the great food that this city has to offer. We had some tasty meals up to this point, so the bar was set pretty high when we got off of the N-Judah at 46th. It was no small feat getting to this place from the Union Square area, either, but what followed made us forget all about that trek. With our hopes set high and our bellies empty, we stepped into Outerlands. First off, the decor is unlike anything I had ever seen - ship lathe uniquely lined the walls and all of the furniture, lighting, and bar fell into the same design aesthetic. It was cozy, but modern. We were greeted with a smile by the staff and were promptly seated and then our server greeted us and took our orders. My wife had the latte and I had the house coffee to start - both were superb. Next, the food. This was the make-or-break, but I felt that if the coffees that we were served were any indication of the quality of the food, then we were in for a treat and boy, was I right. My wife ordered the avocado toast and added bacon (we're from Texas, after all). I had the granola with yogurt and the donut of the day. Listen, I could go into an even breathier explanation of our culinary experience at this fine establishment, but I'll make it short and sweet. In the 4 days that were were in San Francisco, this was probably one of the best, if not THE best meal we had on our trip. Everything was classic and simple, but very well thought out. Imagination is the key and while other places will dazzle you with plating (their plating was beautiful, by the way), the food will either leave you underwhelmed or - as is the case at a lot of restaurants in San Fran - overwhelmed. If you are like me, then balance is everything and Outerlands fits that bill perfectly. My eyes were happy when the food came and then my mouth was happy. Our empty bellies were well fed! If you're considering a visit to this place, then stop now. No need to think any longer. Go. Just go. You will not be sorry. Oh, and do...