Claws of Mantis, chef-owner Kevin Tang’s buzzy Vietnamese Californian mash-up, has popped up in more places than perhaps any other burgeoning restaurant concept in San Francisco.
In addition to countless borrowed kitchens throughout the city, Tang has cooked in dive bars, delis, a museum, a sake bar, a pickleball court and even a bathhouse. For the latter, Onsen in the Tenderloin, he went for a soak to develop the perfect menu.
“I always ask myself, ‘What energy does this place provide and what do I want to eat here?’” Tang recently told SFGATE. The answer? “After, I felt almost dehydrated, like I just did drugs and I’m melting.” His cure: herbal tea, Viet oysters Rockefeller and chicken roulade with miso-whipped tofu, of course.
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Now, after six years of living the sense-of-place mantra quite literally, Tang has finally written a menu for his own restaurant. On May 22, the San Jose native is celebrating the grand opening of his first brick-and-mortar, the Mantis. The eatery is permanently located inside a Bernal Heights space shared with Fat Cat wine bar, also a former pop-up. The duo is the latest example of the restaurant-watering hole roommate concept flourishing in SF. The pink exterior is emblazoned with their name: Fat Cat x the Mantis.
Customers leave Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Owner/chef Kevin Tang inside his new restaurant, the Mantis, in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The trout crudo with nectarine, fennel, mam nem, tamarind, peanuts, spearmint, cilantro flowers, served with rice paper at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The first thing you need to know about Tang, an art school dropout who grew up chopping vegetables in his mom’s Chinese restaurants, is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously, despite his fine dining chops. He named his concept after a kung fu technique, designed its website to look like a Windows 95 throwback and is the first to admit he “was a f—king nobody” during a recent chef residency in Saigon.
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“There, they straight up tell you if they don’t like your food,” said Tang, adding that his biggest takeaway was how salty Saigon customers found his food. “It definitely changed my perspective on Vietnamese cuisine and how to balance it.”
While the pop-up was known for an upscale, prix fixe menu, the Mantis is a la carte and a bit more casual: just a half dozen appetizers ($12-$27), four entrees ($29-$58) and two desserts ($13). Think wagyu bavette steak with hand-cut fries and bo kho au poivre sauce, or crispy tofu hidden under a flurry of spring peas and soybean chile paste. There’s even a large Vietnamese-inspired sundae with a cherry on top.
“I wanted something more casual neighborhood,” he said. “I thought, ‘What’s the kind of place I would want to go three or four times a month? ’ We just want to feel fun again.”
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Customers hang out in the catio at Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
A shelf with books under a meow sign at Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Fat Cat & the Mantis stepped into some good juju. Their location at 3215 Mission St. is in a narrow, Mission-adjacent microhood chockablock with bars and restaurants known as La Lengua (Spanish for “tongue,” due to its shape). Much of the bright, happy vibes of the space’s former tenant, Hawaiian restaurant and pinball bar Outer Orbit — orange chairs, bubblegum pink walls — are untouched, which made for a quick and largely headache-free turn-key operation.
“It’s definitely a new way of doing it, a new way of bootstrapping,” he said of sharing rent and expenses. “It’s very difficult to survive purely based on food. You have to have multiple forms of revenue.”
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Fat Cat owner Jessica Bell opened the doors in April, pouring bottles from underrepresented producers and varietals, but Tang is only now unveiling the food program after returning from that life-changing Vietnam trip. (Photos from his trip decorate the walls in the back of the space). After the chef residency, he cooked at a hotel in Da Nang and visited Phu Quoc, the tropical island where Red Boat processes the anchovies for its famous fish sauce.
Customers dine at the bar at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Bottles of wine for sale at Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
There, he fell in love with a dish you’ll find reinterpreted on the Mantis menu. It features McFarland Springs trout crudo with nectarines, fennel, tamarind, peanuts and mam nem, a pungent dipping sauce, accompanied by rice paper meant for wrapping. Another appetizer, croquettes made with chicken and taro, topped with green mango, kale and calamansi chile oil, is inspired by his childhood.
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“My mom’s go-to party food was always chicken and taro egg rolls,” he recalls. “She kept them in the freezer and would give them to friends when they came over.”
Opening the Mantis has been quite a journey for Tang, who was raised on the east side of San Jose, which has a large Vietnamese community. He got his start working at his mom’s “steam-table, Panda Express-style” restaurant, and later, her fusion restaurant near San Jose State’s fraternity row. He made extra money designing rave flyers for clubs.
A customer dines at the bar at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Porcelain cats and disco balls sit in a display under the counter at Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
“She loved mixing things up,” Tang recalled of his now-retired mom’s food. “We would have Korean barbecue wraps and chicken teriyaki sandwiches. Pad Thai with combination chow mein. I think my style of cooking is sort of inspired by what she did.”
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When the fusion spot closed, they went into the boba business together. Tang designed the shop’s menu, sourced ingredients and made the syrups and toppings from scratch. “During that time I realized I kind of want to pursue a higher level of cooking,” he said.
Tang’s first gig was as a grill cook at the Grill on the Alley, the classic steakhouse inside downtown San Jose’s Fairmont hotel (now Signia by Hilton). After that, he landed a gig that would change everything: cooking at Mister Jiu’s in San Francisco. Under the direction of Brandon Jew, Tang worked every station, including the “notorious” duck station.
“Brandon has to have a level of trust in you to be able to work that station,” Tang said, adding that it takes a lot of finesse and about two weeks to execute the restaurant’s most high-volume dish. He worked at Mister Jiu’s until 2019 and called it a “magical period.”
Steak frites, 8-ounce wagyu bavette, bo kho au poivre, with watercress, lemon pepper, Thai basil and beef fat aioli at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Chef/owner Kevin Tang serves a dish from the kitchen at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
The Mantis Sundae at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
He got to cook alongside SF heavyweights Franky Ho, who now helms Four Kings, and Outta Sight’s Eric Ehler, who was sous chef at Mister Jiu’s at the time.
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Tang describes Jew as a great mentor and coach. “It was the only restaurant I’ve worked in which he gave you homework,” Tang said, laughing. “He’d be like, ‘All right, we have this spice. You’re going to do an oral report on what that spice is and what it means to Chinese food.’” On his days off, Tang would be folding dumplings to share later with “the class,” he said.
But the pull to better learn the flavors of his Vietnamese heritage — Tang’s dad is from Vietnam, half Cambodian — eventually led him to Nari, where he assumed the role of sous chef in 2019. He started Claws of Mantis there, inside Nari’s kitchen, during the pandemic.
His goal in playing with Vietnamese flavors — something he further explored during a two-year stint as executive chef of Viridian in Oakland — was to make sense of “a weird gray area identity crisis” he felt growing up in multiple cultures. He was always a creative type, “painting in high school” while family viewed success as being a doctor, a lawyer or engineer.
“There’s not just one way to be Vietnamese and I think my food reflects that feeling,” he said.
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The back walls have images from Vietnam and Asia, and a Grab driver’s jacket, at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Figures of cats, a turkey and a disco ball sit on a counter at Fat Cat x the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Shiitake sunchoke gnocchi, mushroom nuoc cham, lion’s mane miso butter fried leek, Viet herb oil and rau ram at the Mantis in San Francisco on May 18, 2026.
Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE
Ultimately, the restaurant is a chance to lay down roots, to experiment and explore Vietnamese culture — period, he said. Tang plans to host Vietnamese makers of all kinds, from baristas to pastry chefs, and eventually wants to make the Mantis a hub for Vietnamese drinking culture, known as nhau and very popular in Saigon right now.
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“It’s so fun,” he said. “They give you a cooler full of beer and there’s salty peanuts on the table. These places are open until 3 or 4 in the morning.”
Just as long as he runs it past his roomie.
The Mantis, 3215 Mission St., San Francisco. Open 5-10 p.m., Friday through Monday.
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