For anyone paying attention, somewhere in the last three years the Laundromat became San Francisco’s most popular restaurant. It’s subjective, of course. But purely by measure of ongoing attention and lines down the block, the Balboa Street pizza and bagel hotspot is (maybe) more popular than it was upon debut.
Hopefully clear by now: this is the sceney-est of scenes. Fog rolls through the sidewalk where impatient customers throng, a proper madding crowd in multiple senses of the term. But inside the bar and a smattering of tables make the wait well worth it. Huge paintings come paired with handsome wood and a thrumming tenor of activity from start to finish.
I’d honestly recommend arriving right when the restaurant opens at 5 p.m., no matter when you’re trying to eat. For a 6:30 p.m. meal I got there at 5:30 p.m. and put my name down, and thank god I did; for a three-top, that seemed to do the trick. There are no reservations here. Eating outside is also a great time. Wear layers.