{"id":293285,"date":"2026-04-30T15:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293285\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T15:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T15:26:14","slug":"side-a-just-the-hits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293285\/","title":{"rendered":"Side A, just the hits!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d been talking about going to Side A for ages, when I finally decided to quit yammering and just do it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A year in, the space formerly occupied by Universal Caf\u00e9 boasts co-owner Caroline Parker (and others) as DJ, spinning vinyl and giving house party vibes. The ambience is cool and lively, but with a definite undercurrent of down-home-ness.\u00a0The wall of albums, industrial metal fixtures, and the signature curved bar all feel familiar and somehow comforting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

We were seated at a four-top where we could peep a bit of chef\/co-owner Parker Brown\u2019s action in the kitchen.\u00a0We started out with the eggplant \u201cgyro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ASide A BBQ Spiced Eggplant on Pita. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

Eggplant chunks with \u201cbbq\u201d spice were so sweet and caramelized they almost tasted like apple pie, atop\u00a0 pillowy pita, with \u201ckoto\u2019la\u201d \u2013 a feta-style goat cheese, tangy and briny, crunchy slaw, cool yogurt, and Fresno chilies for a pop of heat.<\/p>\n

Most of our menu was vegetarian, but a couple of us did indulge in a little bone marrow.<\/p>\n

\"ASide A Bone Marrow. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

Roasted marrow topped with a red onion jam, chives, and buttery brioche as the delivery mechanism.\u00a0The decadence of beef fat, tempered by the sweet jam, made for a lovely few bites.<\/p>\n

Followed by a broccolini dish.<\/p>\n

\"ASide A Broccolini with Maple Butter Tahini. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

The mild green crucifers were laid over a bed of maple hummus, sunflower seeds adding meatiness, with fresh chopped herbs and more Fresno chilies.\u00a0The crunchy vegetal flavors and textures, contrasting with the slight sweetness of the creamy hummus, came together as perhaps my favorite dish of the night.<\/p>\n

Next, curly fries. <\/p>\n

\"ASide A Curly Fries. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

How could we resist?\u00a0Chef Brown showing off his Mid-Western chops! Perfectly crisp, not overly seasoned, served with aioli and ketchup. Just get these.<\/p>\n

We shared a main of black cod.<\/p>\n

\"ASide A Black Cod & Butter Beans. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

Served over fat butterbeans, with salsa macha and charred scallions, this dish was surprisingly the mildest of the evening.\u00a0 I would have liked a little more oomph from the macha, but the skin on the fish was nicely crispy, its flesh moist.<\/p>\n

Last of the savory dishes.<\/p>\n

\"ASide A Dungeness Crab Risotto. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

Dungeness crab risotto, with preserved lemon and pickled Fresnos. A wow \u2013 perfect cook on the risotto, and so much tender, crabby goodness.\u00a0Hopefully this will be a seasonal repeat.<\/p>\n

We espied a party sitting at the chef\u2019s counter marveling over a towering confection, and had to have it\u2026 carrot cake! More mid-Westerness from Chef Parker\u2026 <\/p>\n

\"ASide A Whisky Carrot Cake. Photo by Maria C. Ascarrunz. <\/p>\n

Layers of tender carrot cake and whipped cream, in a pool of whiskey, with slivered almonds.\u00a0 A sweet, homey, and only slightly boozy finish.\u00a0For all the hoopla, it tasted like carrot cake.\u00a0 Just as it should.<\/p>\n

The Parkers have continued in the vein of Universal Caf\u00e9, providing another real neighborhood spot, a welcoming space that feels like you\u2019re just hanging out in their home with a good glass of wine and some curly fries.<\/p>\n

The menu changes regularly, but there\u2019s always the gnocchi with short rib, always a cheeseburger, and always the garbage salad with pork belly \u2013 all three of which I\u2019m going back to try, since I had a mostly veggie dinner this time.<\/p>\n

And the prices?\u00a0Well, the prices are pretty much what prices are these days. But good vibes and good food go a long way to assuaging our current collective angst.<\/p>\n

Side A
2814 19th Street
S.F. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019d been talking about going to Side A for ages, when I finally decided to quit yammering and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[1556,579,412,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-293285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-mission","tag-restaurant-reviews","tag-restaurants","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}