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Eater
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
The Best Dishes Eater San Francisco's Editors Ate in July
There's certainly no shortage of excellent food to be found in San Francisco and the Bay Area — but there's plenty worth skipping, too. Luckily for you, Eater editors dine out several times a week (or more) and we're happy to share the standout dishes we encounter as we go. Mentaiko spaghetti at Bon, Nene Dianne de Guzman If you've ever hit the perfect trifecta of a San Francisco moment — friends, perfect weather, great food — it's a testament to what makes San Francisco great. These three elements came together on a recent July afternoon, topped off with an excellent lunch at Bon, Nene in the Mission. The cozy dining room felt welcoming, and it felt like a charming neighborhood spot as diners chatted over their dishes, or locals dropped in to pick up something to-go. The mentaiko spaghetti seemed right for the occasion, and although I initially had worries about the dish — Would I tire of the cured cod roe mix, like any experience of too much of a good thing? — it wound up perfect. The saltiness of the mentaiko was tempered by the use of butter, emulsified into a sauce, clinging to the al dente spaghetti. I worked my way through each bite, and before I knew it, I had polished off the dish, a surprise to even myself. In fact, the entire table had finished their plates in short order, and we walked away impressed and vowing to return. And when I do, this is one plate that will be on the table. Bon, Nene (2850 21st Street, San Francisco) is open for lunch from noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday; dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. — Dianne de Guzman, regional editor, Northern California/Pacific Northwest Barbecue plate at Breakwater Barbecue Paolo Bicchieri I lived it: after two, three decent rips, I carried my seven-footer out of the Princeton Jetty and remembered Breakwater Barbecue's new spacious location was just thirty seconds away. I grabbed a table at the country bar-ish resevoir, a cowboy hat-wearing dude posted up by the smoker in the parking lot, a much more effective advertisement than the peppy sign spinners of yore. Got a half-pound of the brisket, a mini loaf of cornbread, and beans and greens, a medley of Simms Organics Swiss chard, black eyed peas, garlic, and house-smoked sausage. The cornbread was graciously moist, the beans and greens rich and a little sweet, and the meat itself was powerfully indulgent, a rare carnivorous splurge worth the price. It's no surprise to me that the bar and outdoor tables were full, the lazy Friday night energy paired with baseball and pro surfing on TVs above the breezy scene. Breakwater Barbecue (10151 Cabrillo Hwy, El Granada) is open noon to 7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. — Paolo Bicchieri, editor, Northern California/Pacific Northwest Pistachio baklava at Baklava Story Rebecca Roland You can smell Baklavastory before the tiny sidewalk sign comes into view, an aroma of sweet syrup and fresh-baked pastry drifting out to Harrison Street from the compact storefront. Owner Tolgay Karabulut is usually at the front of the store, handing out samples of his pistachio or walnut-riddled squares of baklava. At the same time, guests decide on a tray to take home. The fatal flaw of many baklavas is too-thick pastry sheets, which turn the entire sweet gummy. But at Baklavastory, each sheet looks almost fragile, strengthened only by the number of layers and semi-sticky syrup. Baklavastory only sells by the tray, which may seem like too much at first, but it's a great excuse to gather friends and share over some tea or plan for a few days of baklava breakfast. The walnut filling is great, but I think Karabulut's pistachio baklava may be among the best preparations I've ever had. Baklavastory (1830 Harrison Street, San Francisco) is open 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Baby corn at Maritime Boat Club Maritime Boat Club Dianne de Guzman Yes, Maritime Boat Club is a seafood-focused restaurant, but it's the produce that really shined on my first visit. Beautiful slices of tomato paired with torn shiso leaves, balled melon dressed in tiny elderflowers, the entire dish a gentle pond of tomato water, dots of elderberry shrub and olive oil, was just on of quite a few dishes showing off for our region. But of all the summer produce highlighted on the menu, the baby corn stood out most: a plate of baby corn, husk and tiny kernels charred, giving way to tender cobs that provide a sweet, central, toothsome bite. Steamed, shucked, then grilled, gently cooked before being given the confidence of a sear. Crunchy bits of cranberry beans give the corn another dimension of texture, and the corn was accompanied by a burnt ash sauce and a smooth quinelle of Brokaw avocado puree. It made for a lovely addition, but these seasonal gems, under the hands of Maritime chef Felix Santos, was a treat. He says there's a small window to get them, so he can't pass them up when they appear at the farmer's market. If you, too, like me, mostly only ever experience baby corn through a tin can, this will also make you wonder what else you're missing out on. Maritime Boat Club inside Palihotel San Francisco (417 Stockton Street, second floor, San Francisco) is open 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. — Dianne de Guzman, regional editor, Northern California/Pacific Northwest Strawberries and cream at Friends and Family Paolo Bicchieri The heightening pressure on queer communities in the United States makes the scene at Friends and Family feel all the more significant. That may be a reality or burden not that desirable for the destination bar. But headed over for the first time it was a palpable relief for me and my party, the aesthetics and staff offering a sense of familiarity before the exquisitely made drinks hit the table. Chef Gaby Maeda's dishes across the board landed with all four of us — the sesame-sprinkled onigiri and herby tteokbokki riffs were particular highlights. The strawberries and cream, though, merged the overt commitment to sweetness and Maeda's restaurant chops in fine fashion. Demerara sugar-studded strawberries, held to the surface with a straight-up sour cream, does something special to the soul these days. If nostalgia serves any purpose, maybe it's to remind us of a world that still feels, as poet and writer Hanif Abdurraqib notes. Thanks to Friends and Family for keeping bellies full and hearts beating while so much of our country eats itself. Friends and Family (468 25th Street, Oakland) 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Friday through Saturday — Paolo Bicchieri, editor, Northern California/Pacific Northwest Fishin' 4 Heat from Gigi's Cafe Rebecca Roland One of the best sandwiches I've had recently was from a Burlingame office park. Gigi's Cafe, set on the ground floor of an office building, right across the street from Embassy Suites, is a daytime cafe and sandwich shop hidden on the first floor of an office building. The mostly takeout operation (there are a few seats at the edge of the parking lot) serves a handful of breakfast items like croissants and egg-filled burritos, alongside a comprehensive sandwich menu. As a tuna melt devotee, the Fishin' 4 Heat immediately caught my eye, with tuna salad, pepper jack cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato, and jalapenos on a craggly Dutch crunch roll. I almost missed the turnoff for Gigi's — a tight driveway at what looks like a dead end — on my visit. Towards the end of the day, the cafe was quiet, with one other diner in the parking lot hunched over a table, caught in a sandwich trance. Unwrapping the Fishin' 4 Heat, it was the size of a small animal — almost too large to hold, but I found a way. The tuna was the right texture, and the cheese did lend a welcome kick. The Dutch crunch fared better than most bread would, doing its best to hang on to the oversized creation. I'm already looking for my next excuse to take to Burlingame and head back to Gigi's. Gigi's Cafe (111 Anza Boulevard Suite 111, Burlingame) is open 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest Eater SF All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
30-07-2025
- Business
- Eater
TikTok-Famous Ice Cream Treats and Asian Snacks Await at This Fairfield Food Paradise
Just off Highway 80, sandwiched between a karate studio and a dentistry office, sits family-run shop Asian Mart in Fairfield. And while its surroundings are modest, Asian Mart's following is not. It is perhaps the Bay Area epicenter of social media-friendly snacks and Asian fare with a casual following of over 26,000 people on Instagram waiting for each new snack drop and restock. It wasn't always this way. When Asian Mart first opened in August 2023, it was more imagined as a market for common Asian goods: different brands of soy sauce, rice, and spices. It was a niche that the store fills for the city of Fairfield. The viral-ness of their products and offerings would happen later, a byproduct of the store's customer service; from the start, manager Eric Fragola says he solicited customer feedback and asked folks what they wanted in the store. The responses rolled in, specialty items like a special chile oil or brand of gluten-free tamari. As they fulfilled those requests, other, more specific asks would come in, such as a popular candy that customers couldn't find elsewhere. 'Once we started doing that for people, it caught on; people started requesting more and more items,' Fragola says. 'And now we actually look at trying to be ahead of that... They can just come in, 'Yep, I knew you guys would have it,' or 'I knew you would be on top of it.'' Still, much of that growth is concentrated in metropolitan areas, keeping both everyday products and the fun snacks a long drive (or a tariffed internet order) away. Mom and pop shops still rule the farther-flung parts of the Bay Area, much like places such as the now-closed RSM Oriental Foodmart & Restaurant in Hercules. Similarly, Asian Mart is a hub for the immediate Fairfield area, but also those willing to make the drive from the Central Valley. Dianne de Guzman Dianne de Guzman When asked to describe the shop, Fragola calls the business a 'hybrid store.' What he means by that is it's a convenient store for cooking essentials from Asia, but there's another, equally compelling, aspect to Asian Mart. 'You can also find the unique, innovative things that tend to come from Asia, these different types of candies or packages, the flavors and experimental things that you see coming out of these different countries,' he says. 'So you're met with this reliable shopping experience that you can go in there and get what you need, but there's always going to be something new... It's going to be tasty, it's just going to pique your interest.' But most mom and pops don't have the highly curated selection of viral TikTok foods like Asian Mart does, nor influencers like Grub Wit Mike and their followers trekking to their store to find the latest fads in one place: Asian Mart started with a relatively traditional social media presence — just a Facebook page. Fragola says it was a customer who asked that they start an Instagram account to show off their latest snack acquisitions. 'People literally come to the store with their Instagram open and browse our page just to see what's new in the store, and then they can look for it,' Fragola says. 'So that's become essential for us, in terms of helping people shop, or helping them know what we have.' And while most of their customers are from Fairfield and the Bay Area, Fragola says it's not uncommon for them to get customers from places like Stockton, Modesto, and even Reno, on weekends. The first request for a hard-to-find item was for the Amos brand Peelerz candy, specifically, the mango flavor. It's a candy with a peelable exterior layer and a gummy interior — both the 'peel' and the interior 'fruit' are edible — and an intense mango flavor. As customers learned that the popular candy was stocked at Asian Mart, Fragola says people bought out the inventory, and the store would get hit with more customer requests. The store cemented its status as a must-visit with snack connoisseurs when Asian Mart was among the first local shops to get the Propitious Mango ice cream, a mango-shaped ice cream pop, with a white chocolate shell colored yellow-orange and packaged just right for the TikTok crowds. Dianne de Guzman Dianne de Guzman It took Fragola six months to find the item, and after one shipment, the inventory was quickly wiped out. It took six more months to get another shipment. These days, the deliveries are steady. Fragola even traveled to the Hong Qi factory to try some new flavors for the shop, expanding their store offerings. There's The Aiko Grape, a grape-flavored ice cream shaped like a grape bunch; a peach-shaped ice cream bar with a pink-white exterior; and a strawberry ice cream flavor that looks like a fresh-picked fruit. Also fun is the selection of Samancos, the ice cream sandwiches that look like wafer-ized fish, and the Not Fried Chicken ice cream, a trompe l'oeil of a dessert that looks like a fried chicken drumsticks but is made of ice cream. One recent afternoon, a customer on a video call with a friend showed off the different types of Hello Kitty marshmallows on a shelf, making the caller pick a snack among the many choices via phone. Walking around Asian Mart, you'll see plenty of those everyday items Fragola mentions: different kinds of rice, jars and bottles of condiments like bulgogi marinade and Jufran banana sauce, and a selection of ramen and soups so big it takes up almost the entire side of one aisle. There are flavors Buldak and Shin Ramen, of course, but also Nongshim ChapaGuri, Korean jjajang noodles with soup, Nora Kitchen brand instant gintaang monggo, a dessert of mung beans in coconut milk and sticky rice, and Koreno Noodle in packs of four. 'There are just so many flavors out there that are fascinating,' Fragola says. 'And the fact that they can be replicated into something that you can kind of just munch on is just really, really cool.' Asian Mart (1311 Oliver Road, Unit B, Fairfield) is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dianne de Guzman Eater SF All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
