Trick Dog — Restaurant in San Francisco

Quik dog at Trick Dog

Summary- A wonderful homage to their own past and the food of the mission Quik Dog (at Trick Dog) is a great addition to the inner mission, and brings back a piece of the mission food and drink scene that people were worried was lost.  Although their famous cocktails are not front and center at this time, the food they have can definitely stand on it's own, and they have a great selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, and the batched cocktails are fantastic for home drinking with family.  If you are in the mission looking for a quick bite, check out Quik Dog the next time you are in the area.

Detail section-

SF has been at odds with Covid for a long time, and while many Bars and Restaurants have pivoted to takeout food and take home cocktails, one major SF landmark of the Cocktail World has been missing from that landscape, and that is Trick Dog.  Considered one of the 50 best cocktail bars in the world, and one of the 3 best modern cocktail bars in SF, they unfortunately did not open for take out service.  They had to lay off their staff both at Trick Dog, and their sister bar Bon Voyage over on valencia.  Up until now the only way to support them was to join their bottle club BVbottleclub.com.

But fhat changes today, Trick Dog has reopened as Quik Dog, a take out space with their great Trick dog burger (now called quik dog) and thrice-cooked fries (now QD French Fries), tricknuggets (now quiknuggets) and a few new items.

I went there opening afternoon to try their new and classic food and support their efforts. Now let's get to the food and drinks.

Quik dog- Just like the original except with a different bun.  Their signature burger on a hot dog bun is back, and as good as ever. The balance of the condiments and meat it great, and no part of it feels overpowered.  A great and unique burger that is always a great snack when wanting something a bit more filling than fries or a salad.  Come pick one up.

"Beyond" quik dog Like above this is their classic "beyond" trick dog but with a different bun.  And like their original it is fantastic.  I know very few restaurants in SF that make such a good beyond burger.  If you enjoy meatless burgers go try it.

Quiknuggets- Although different from their old chicken tricknuggets, as they are no longer ground chicken based nuggets, but whole chicken pieces, and the deep fried breadcrumb crust, has been changed to a very light buttermilk like batter coating.  These are fantastic especially with the included sauces.

Chicken sandwich- Using the same chicken nuggets as the Quiknugget, this chicken sandwich is extremely light in taste, has a great crunch, and has just the right amount of spice.  Somewhat of a mix between American and Japanese fried chicken sandwiches, with a lighter more Japanese style texture, and a distintly American flavor.  This is definitely a new sandwich for bay areas chicken sandwitch lovers to try out.

QD Mission Dog- Just like its name, it is based on the famous mission hot dog that California street vendors make on open carts at street corners.  And although it is based on those hot dogs, it is entirely its own, with both how it is constructed and its own unique taste. If you want a mission style hot dog with a new twist, definitely come try it.

QD French Fries- Just like before these are some of the best fries in SF, extra thick and still incredibly crunchy outside and airy interior.  You can easily eat a few orders without noticing. They also still have their extremely popular "manimal" sauce (now called doggie sauce) on the side.  I alway recommend getting some if you enjoy fries.

Negroni Bianco This is an amazing rendition of the Negroni bianco with a dry gin forward start, that transitions into a sweet grapefruit finish, it is strong but is quite smooth.  Although it is very expensive, it is completely worth it of you have family or friends who you can drink with, or enjoy taking your time.

Casamara sera soda A very good soda that is extremely refreshing with a herbal and...

Just had some questionable and smug service at another establishment that vividly reminded me of my Trick Dog experience. So, though I'd share it.

Overall, our visit was just ok, nothing special, and def. wasn't worth the Uber ride. The main things that stood out were the overcrowded & hot downstairs area, where it was impossible to get served a drink as we stood in the doorway/line for the bathroom. Super classy. Eventually, we got sat in our uncomfortable metal chairs at our table upstairs. Our initial server was totally clueless, but she switched off with 3 other people as the night went on, so hard to say who was really supposed to be working our table?

We had one minor request and that for a beer that wasn't an IPA. Seems simple, but nope! In such a sophisticated spot as this, it was clearly a sacrilegious question. Sadly, our challenged server had no idea about beer and didn't know what to recommend. Pretty pathetic right? But it gets even better. It got the point where we acknowledged her struggle and felt bad for her, so our guest blurted out "Anything but an IPA is fine". At that point, we noticed her go over to a stocky blond-haired manager (we found out after he was the manager) and we could see her express our table's concern. Not realizing we were observing, he smirked & rolled his eyes and before we knew it, a bottle of effing Budweiser showed up at the table. Seriously? While a bottle of bud isn't my 1st choice, one would think they might attempt to carry something as basic as a Stella or a Chimay, but that would asking too much. Guess we appeared not as refined as their other customers.

To make matters worse, one of the bartenders, who ignored us earlier, brought it up with an annoyed look on his face, set it down and walked away. First of all, why do they even have a bottle of Budweiser in their joint if they clearly think it's below them? And an even bigger question why would you ever serve it to a paying customer? That just felt like a big slap in the face. I've shared this story with several friends & contacts who also work in the craft beer industry and every single one of them was appalled at that service.... if one can call it that.

The food we ordered was just on par with all bars that try really really hard to be different, but the ridiculous entitled staff is "almost" worth the visit to sit and watch them shine bright in their cheesy element. We still left a 20% tip, because lets be honest, some people just don't get it and are trying their best and it's not their fault their leaders' are inept and pretending to know what they are doing.

Hopefully, the pandemic doesn't shut their doors, that's just not fair to anyone. However, if they do close it's really no biggie, this type of place is a dime a dozen in SF and you won't have any issues finding one in a better area vs. being stranded afterward with nothing around you except chill tent city homeless encampments.

As one Yelp member wrote a few months ago "From the door people to the internal staff and bartenders, egos couldn't be bigger or ruder." Clearly nothing has changed at this place. Wish you...

Wow what a night this ended up being. I still remember the beginning very vividly: two fantastic drinks from their ever-changing themed menu, amazingly delicious Manimal style fries, and tasty chicken "trick"nuggets with equally tasty dipping sauces, including one very nasal-clearing Chinese mustard, all amidst an incredibly loud and packed bar.

The rest of the night? A little fuzzier. Apparently two additional drinks were imbibed, some women were talked to, and more food was had, as the three of us ended up spending about $70 each. Oh... snap.

As for the venue itself - aside from it being insanely packed - it also had two separate levels, with the lower/main level being the one with the bar, and, well, most of the people.

Accessibility Info

Venue - So, this is a tough one. If the place wasn't busy, then it'd be rather spacious, but as is usually the case (on a Friday night at least), according to the bartenders, the place is super packed, so getting around is definitely not an easy feat. There's a lower wheelchair accessible part of the bar near the front entrance though, and the bouncer was kind enough to clear people out of the way for us. After that, movement was avoided as much as possible.

Bathroom - These are all the way in the very back, which would normally pose a problem, given the crowds, but they happen to be shared with Central Kitchen, so you only have to fight through a FEW people, back through the front entrance, and go around through the restaurant into the restrooms, which I believe were...