chertzog

I took my son and father-in-law here for brunch after checking out the baby panda.  Unfortunately, they were woefully understaffed and completely overwhelmed by a modest brunch crowd; the place was never more than 30% full.  It took quite a while to put our order in and an hour (!) to get our food.  At least one group near us gave up and left.  Luckily, my hungry three year old was in a good mood.  I joked with my FIL that despite the 45-60 minute wait at Open City, we actually would've eaten sooner there.

When the food finally did come, it was quite tasty.  But it wasn't tasty enough to risk another service breakdown quite like that.  I don't think I'll return.

I think the bigger question is whether it's even possible for a restaurant that's won such high praise on a national level to remain a neighborhood restaurant.

A few months ago Al's Place in SF was named best new restaurant of the year by Bob Appetit, the same accolade won by Rose's the year before. Al's Place takes reservations, but I just checked their website and the next available reservation is Sunday, December 6th, at 9:45pm. They keep some tables open for walk ins and they have a line outside when the open every night.

State Bird Provisions was Bon Appetit's #1 in 2012 and it doesn't show any reservations available in the next two months. They keep some tables open for walk ins and they have a line outside when they open every night.

Husk was #1 in 2011, it's a large restaurant that takes reservations, and four years later people STILL line up before opening every day to get a walk in table.

Without checking ID's for addresses at the door, what can a restaurant feasibly do to stay neighborhood focused when hundreds of people a night are willing to travel for hours, refresh their browsers, dial dozens of times, and wait as long as it takes to eat there?

When my wife and I discuss our favorite neighborhood places, Rose's doesn't usually come to mind first.  It's too widely popular--and was so almost from the beginning--to feel like we have some special claim to it.

That said, I've found Rose's no-reservations policy has allowed me, as a neighbor, to eat there more often.  Picking a date two months in advance would require too much foresight and effort, and make it feel like even less of a neighborhood place.  Instead, we can go at 6:00 to put our name in after the line has cleared, then go home to wait for the text while, say, doing the laundry.  On a random Monday or Tuesday we can expect to get a text by 7:45.  I don't know if it would occur to me to do that at one of the places described above, even if it were possible.

As lion said, my first glance is about what's on the chalkboard (banana blossom salad, say) or what's new/special. I often head there when the elephantjumps Instagram feed has a new dish or is spotlighting something (currently, the pinto) or if the Chef's feed has something new.

But, if I just head in, and the chef isn't there for me to ask "What should I try today?", I tend to focus on the "Serious Thai Cooking" section as seen on their webpage menu. I agree with lion that T3, the gang hunglay curry, is quite good, I also like the kanom jeen numya (the tuna curry).

I still haven't gotten the anchovy sticky rice for dessert yet...

ETA: Just saw that you might go at lunch. I'm not sure if all the special dishes are available at lunch if, say, they need an all day cook, but you can always ask. They were ready at around 3, 3:30 the last time I went there. I'm guessing most could be gotten for takeout, though I suppose I'd ask them which would survive.

My wife and I go to Elephant Jumps for lunch whenever we're out that way on the weekend.  And we always order those dishes.  I don't think I could long go without the hung lay and spicy tuna curries