The Morris — Restaurant in San Francisco

The food is good but overpriced just like most things in SF, but that isn’t my gripe with this place. My gripe is that it’s run by pretentious jerks seemingly for pretentious jerks. Case in point: I took my wife here for her birthday this past Saturday; she made the reservation and mentioned that is was for her birthday. When we were seated, our waiter even mentioned to me the table in the corner is a cozy spot for a birthday so he was aware. He was a bit cold and it might’ve been because we got two cocktails instead of a bottle (we were in Napa all day so we were wined out) and was somewhat short when we asked about some of the drinks, but it was fine. We ordered the bread, a salad, and the half duck…all of it excellent but we never heard from our waiter again until he brought us the check at the end. Maybe because the old and seemingly super wealthy table next to us was more important (and loud) or maybe because we’re easy customers but we never really heard from him again which was very disappointing. At this point towards the end of the meal we were slightly annoyed but it was still fine. What was the tipping point was when he asked another table next to us if they were celebrating anything…they said no, paid and we’re on the way. After another staff boxed up our food and asked if we wanted dessert we were kind of upset at this point that he never asked us (knowing he knew we were there for a birthday) or mentioned anything about it other than in passing or that he seemingly didn’t want to service us for whatever reason so we said we’ll pass on dessert. He brought the check, I paid, and some guy (the owner maybe by the way he was chatting to the older table next to us) came by and said thanks for coming in a very insincere way as we left.

Maybe I’m being too harsh, but the waiter and the other guy seemed totally uninterested in us…maybe because we’re younger…maybe because we didn’t get a $150 bottle of wine…maybe because the wealthy, loud, and much older table next to us was more important than us but I figured we’d get a nice birthday message from someone or just more attention in general but we were wrong. We still managed to drop $190 including a decent 20% tip that was probably too generous but whatever. It was my wife's birthday dinner and we left the restaurant feeling ignored, stupid, and dejected. We will...

How have I never visited this jewel before?!?

To start with the service was fantastic. From the moment we walked in every staff member was warm and welcoming and attentive to our needs. Our waitress, Camilla was great, and we had our cocktails within a few minutes of sitting down.

Speaking of cocktails. Yes there is a $35 dollar Manhattan on the menu. Manhattans are my drink of choice. My girlfriend wondered if I was really going to spend $35 on a Manhattan. I figured they had to be pretty damn proud of it to charge $35. They should be proud of it. I've been perfecting my personal recipe for a few years (thanks to covid its gotten pretty damn good). This Manhattan was worth every penny. Do NOT skip it if you love a good Manhattan.

We started with a small bit of Pate de Campagne and Pork Cracklins. Both were very good, but then we moved onto the Crudo and a gem salad featuring hazelnuts and bacon. My girlfriend loved her crudo so much she had to use a spoon to sip up the sauce. I was astonished how good the salad was. Just really sublime.

On to the main. Camilla had let us know that the duck was what most people came here for. I'm not really a duck person, but I knew my Girlfriend wanted it so we decided to split a portion. OMG am I glad that we went with the duck. The crispy skin was amazingly perfect. The accompanying sauce was the perfect compliment to it. Just really sublime.

Overall this is a fantastic place. I do not know how someplace like "O" garners a Micheline star and The Morris isn't even given notice.

We've added The Morris to our list of repeat places.

Only downside is that it isn't cheap and if you are on a budget you'll need to save it for...

The Morris is an upscale restaurant in the Mission that got quite busy on Saturday night. Outdoor reservations were available and it wasn’t too cold yet in mid-October. Their charcuterie menu can be ordered individually for $15 dollars, 5 items for $50, or all options for $75. Me and my friend ordered two individual portions of Mortadella and Duck Prosciutto along with their sourdough bread and butter. The sourdough was perfect - spongy on the inside and a thin dense caramelized rustic crust. The mortadella was a bit heavy on salt but once I sampled it with some pickled vegetables, it cancelled out the salt and left the flavor of the meat and pimento. The duck prosciutto took longer to hit the taste buds. Fat and salt followed by a subtle duck flavor.

I also ordered a Chartreuse Slush, which had a nice sublime citrus and floral flavor. As it melted, a puddle formed around the glass. For our entrees, we ordered and shared the Heirloom Tomato Salad with pickled Chanterelles along with the Little Gem Salad. The tomatoes were plump and tangy. It had an interesting caprese-like taste minus the mozzarella. It was definitely a good amount of food.

As we were wrapping up the meal, we ordered the Buckwheat Donuts and I got myself a cappuccino to keep myself up at the Rival Consoles show. I immediately picked up hints of cumin and cinnamon in the donuts, an interesting combination to say the least.

I really enjoyed the relaxed outdoor patio, which is covered and heated. They are prepared for those chilly SF nights. I would definitely come back to try more dishes...