Bottle Cap

Please see my previous review and GO HERE SOON!
I just found out they sold the restaurant and will only be open through the end of 2013… DONT MISS OUT!

New American (ish) and cozy. I loved the art on the walls here, the service was kind, and the restaurant –on a Monday night– had plenty of room for a large table of 6. We felt lucky to eat/​drink here and the large round table in the back made it easy for us to chat, laugh, and not disrupt other tables.
We ordered a few bottles of wine, some cocktails, and of course some food.
Bottle Cap seems like a bit of a tucked away spot for people that have heard through word of mouth, or perhaps Unilocal.Most of the menu had a comfort food focus. A grilled cheese sandwich, spaghetti and meatballs, brussels sprouts with bacon, etc. It’s a short menu with a dozen or so options — Just enough to make everyone at the table happy.
I did enjoy the food, especially the massive chicken meatballs in the spaghetti, but I think the atmosphere here is what really does it for me. You feel at home here and the food is homey too.

Walking into Bottle Cap I was excited… the vintage logo font was reminiscent of the classic shops and restaurants that once lined the main streets in every city. Pure nostalgia with a menu full of new takes on American classics. But once through the door, the questions began. For me, the restaurants interior tried really hard to measure up to the cool, vintage vibe the exterior exudes. The coolest feature is the bar wall covered with whacked out caricatures of famous folks, who I assume have dined with them. But the lime green dining room, complete with pastel blue paisley tables and symmetrically hung photos of creepy dolls, and a white picket fence gate, are trying really hard to make you feel like you’re in someone’s funky home, and I just felt like it did not deliver.
We were a big party, and they put together a special menu featuring a selection of appetizers, main course options, and deserts that pretty much covered the spectrum of their typical offerings. The fried chicken thighs were the standout, served with a tart dill yogurt sauce that cut right through the richness of these tasty bites. For main course I chose the slow roasted pork shoulder, served with pickled mustard seed, cheesy shells, apples, and brussels sprouts. The dish was OK when you got the perfect bite of everything, but unfortunately, there was a plethora of pork and not enough of the accompaniments to go around! For example, the cheesy shells, which I was most excited about, amounted to about 10 shells scattered on the plate. I wish the savory food had wowed, because I seriously wanted to love it.
The highlight of the night was dessert though, with butterscotch pudding with a serious kick of Laphroaig leading the charge, the decadent devils food cupcakes in a close second, followed by the apple pie a la mode, which was a delicious apple pie filling wrapped in phyllo with a house made pumpkin pie spice ice cream.
I’d wanted to love this place because the concept resonates with me, but in the end, 4 stars for service, 4 for dessert, and 2 for the food, which is like 3.3 stars in total, so it gets 3 stars overall.

Tasty American (New) food, rustic yet put-​together atmosphere, very reasonably-​priced food, hearty portions, friendly service… I could go on, but you know the drill. Bottle Cap does a good job of serving up a tasty array of fare that smacks of comfort food but doesn’t weigh you down too much. There are options for pretty much everyone on the menu here. It’s versatile without spreading itself too thin.
Instead of appetizers our group split a couple of the sides of greens to start — roasted broccolini and the brussels with apples. Both tasty and enough for a party of six to each have a couple of bites. I couldn’t pass up the mushroom pierogis in dill sauce — a tasty combo (if not heavy on the dill — but hey these are pierogis, and I’m used to lots of dill on them). The plate had enough to be filling but not overly so. For dessert, the challah bread pudding was great as was the butterscotch pudding with lace cookie and chunks of toffee.
Service is on point but not overly intrusive. The nightly wine special ($ 30 for a Gigondas) fueled our table well. And the location offers an array of after-​dinner watering holes, should you need that.
Definitely a spot I’d come back to. I had to choose between three or four different things I wanted to try on the menu. So I’m left wanting more. Thanks to Abby S for the spot-​on recommendation!

Bottle Cap is one of those perfect spots out for a night with friends. Great atmospheres, delicious food, good selection of drinks (usually with a pretty good drink special or two) and p, most importantly, tables are available! Yes.
We made a last minute reservation for a table of six and it was no problem at all to sit us. The atmosphere is darkly mood lit and very comfortable. Menu is one long sheet, food one one side, drinks on the other. It’s a nice collection of Classic American eats from braised pork ribs to chicken dishes.
I tried the pierogies, because how could you resist. They were tasty but heavily flavored with dill. I actually loved it but if you’re not a fan then be warned.
Our waiter was spot on (friendly the entire evening) and the price was solid. With two bottles of wine split amongst the table it was about $ 35 a person. Really, I would come back here any time. Especially if there was a table waiting.

Very good comfort food with a little more refinement. Also a good hangout spot for a large group as we were able to reserve a day prior and get a table for 6 for dinner.
Solid drink menu. Tried the Old Fashion and the Highland Toddy. Old Fashion was good. The highland toddy was quite strong actually where you can taste the scotch right at the start. Definitely not for the non whisky/​scotch drinkers.
Pretty amazed with the quality of food. Started with some appetizers, but the noticeable item was the Fried Chicken Thighs. Those were on point! The dill yogurt that accompanied the dish worked well with the fried chicken as well. The entrée I had was quite excellent as well, the Slow-​Roasted Pork Shoulder. The actual pork was cook absolutely perfectly and the sides with the pork worked well together. The brussels sprouts were great. The cheesy shells were good, but by themselves they were a bit overdone. Since all of the sides were within the same dish as the pork, they all were smothering in the same juicy goodess from the pork. Initially this was good, but as the night continued it made those sides lose their individual flavors and textures.
Service was solid overall. Not as attentive as most would like I guess, but the place quite loud and therefore rather difficult to get the attention of anyone, whether that’s your friends at the table or the waiter 10 ft away.
Overall a great meet up place to start the night. Several other bars are around the area lending itself for some impromptu bar hopping.

I had heard a lot about this understated restaurant and wanted to give it a gander so I put on my fancy dinner pants and strutted over here for a nice girls night out. Unfortunately, however, the only highlight of dinner was my fancy dinner pants.
Although the location is convenient right next to Washington Square Park and the ambiance expels a cozy intimate grandmother’s home charm, it is not enough to detract from the subpar, mediocre menu with bland dishes aiming to be considered on the caliber of SF’s finest. I had the Jambalaya and the fried chicken thighs and was disappointed with the weak texture, the lack of any real unique flavor and the completely safe cooking style of the chef.
I was in disbelief of how disappointed I was with dinner that I decided to give the restaurant one more shot for brunch. Unfortunately the brunch was an equivalent let down. I had the pork belly benedict and a chocolate milk fizz (which is basically sparkling chocolate milk and yes, it tasted as weird as it sounds). I was completely off put with how bland the pork belly was — it’s supposed to be tender and fatty but ended up tasting like a hard piece of beef jerky. So much potential gone to waste.
So if you’re looking for a culinary highlight to tantalize your senses or at the very least, make you not hate yourself for not heading to In N Out instead, don’t waste your time with Bottle Cap.

I love a casual place, in a great area, that’s fun to walk around after you finish your meal. My chicken dinner was excellent, chicken is a hard dish to order, it can be quite dry & tasteless. This was neither, it was moist & flavorful, with seasonally appropriate sides, pumpkin with nuts & cheese in phyllo dough. I had the Mac & Cheese side as an appetizer, very good, creamy and tasty. There are many excellent places to eat in the City, but we will be back to try more dishes here, for sure.

Came here for HH early one Thursday. Pretty good HH food selection.
We ordered pork belly with pineapple glaze, nachos (the chips were light and crispy and oh-​so-​yummy!), fried «pizza dough» (this was really a pizza with fried dough – I had imagined this would be more like pizza bites or something), and wild prawns (yay!!) which were very plump and juicy.
The drinks were delicious — wonderful cocktail assortment as well as wines, beers and bubbly. Great location in North Beach.
The waitress was really good. She was very attentive. At one point I noticed that she was making sure that all the utensils in the restaurant were placed just so, and that water glasses were lined up accordingly. Great attention to detail.

Took about 10 of my co-​workers out here post a recent re-​org to say «welcome to my team» and was definitely impressed. First off, was able to get a reservation for 11 people on reasonably short notice. They sat us right away (early, even).
Service was generally quite good — which is hard with a large group — drinks came out soon after we ordered them, all the food came out at about the same time for each course, etc.
I really enjoyed my lamb sirloin and also the goat cheese and picked vegetable appetizer that they had that day as specials.
Would definitely go back — as I love this neighborhood (edge of Little Italy) and am always looking for new restaurant options with something for everyone.

I’ve been to this place twice and the experiences weren’t all that memorable. The food wasn’t bad, but nothing stood out. I don’t remember what we ordered the first time, but the second time around, we got the burger and the pierogi. The burger was just OK, nothing special. The pierogi had quite a bit of sour cream on it and there weren’t all too much filling. I like the concept of homey comfort food, but they really need to pay attention to details and improve the food in order for the restaurant to be worthwhile.

One of my new favorite brunch spots! We really enjoyed their french toast and basted eggs, the first time we came here about couple months ago.
And yesterday for the return visit with a larger group, we were pleasantly surprised once again. Highlights of our brunch were (everything we ordered):
Chilaquiles — delicious flavor with refreshing salsa
3 egg omelet — pesto flavored side was yummy
Hash and eggs — Beef was so tender and juicy, just melted in my mouth
Challah French toast — No words to describe this one, you have to take a bite to know
Kiddies even enjoyed their grilled cheese. Overall, yummy yum food and perfect service deserves 5 stars. I’ll definitely be back!

Quietly tucked away, but still in busy North Beach is Bottle Cap. I got prime window seating. It made for some of the best people watching.
The menu is primarily down home comfort food type of dishes. Mac n cheese, spaghetti, grilled cheese sandwich and soup…
Started off with a little salad. I for one am not one of those people who enjoys putting fruit in their salads. The only time I like that is if it is entirely a fruit salad. However Bottle Cap utilized the right amount of bitter greens, just ripe enough strawberries and not too much dressing.
Decided on spaghetti and since my friend and I didn’t know what else to share, we asked our waiter for a recommendation. He said he was a fan of the porkchop. Hmmm. Okay.
Spaghetti was up to par. Definitely needs more crostinis to sop up all that sauce. I couldn’t believe the meatballs were chicken though. The porkchop was so good! Especially that bacon wrapped sweet potato that came with it. Whoever thought of that is a genius.
Decent selection of beers too. I saw Saison DuPont ale and had to have it. I’m just craving… I think I need another trip to Mikkeller. Anyhow. My friend had a glass of Bordeaux and we were both happy with our selections.
Need to check this place out on nights they have live music.

I’ve been wanting to try Bottle Cap for quite some time, but due to its location in North Beach, it always seemed to take a back seat to all the other restaurants surrounding it. With them participating in this year’s Dine About Town, it gave me the perfect opportunity to try some of their popular dishes
Usually the stigma about Dine About Town’s prefixe menus is that most restaurants put really crappy dishes together and leave off their best stuff. That wasn’t the case with Bottle Cap as I noticed that most of their most popular dishes were on the menu like their Deep Fried Chicken Thighs, their NY Steak, and their Grilled Pork Chop.
I decided to get the Fried Chicken Thighs for my appetizer, the Jambalaya for my main course, and The Apricot Shortcake for my Dessert.
Fried Chicken Thighs — served with Fresh Dill Yogurt Sauce
I’m a huge fan of Chicken Karaage, and this was Bottle Cap’s version of it. Three decent-​sized pieces of Fried Chicken Thighs and the Dill Yogurt Sauce gave them a nice tangy flavor.
Jambalaya — Andouille Sausage, Wild Prawns, Free Range Chicken, Scallion Rice, Creole Pepper & Tomato Sauce, with Lemon
Their Jambalaya is different in that it’s deconstructed with the chicken, prawns, and sausage are all separated instead of being mixed together with the sauce and rice. It actually made it a more selective experience since I would be able to mix and match all the components to get different flavors out of it. It was so good! I believe that this is currently my favorite Jambalaya of all time!
Apricot Shortcake — with Strawberry Sauce and Chantilly
The waitress said that this is actually a new addition to the menu so I really ordered this with an open mind. The shortcake was nicely put together and the apricots worked well with the chantilly and strawberry sauce. It was a nice finish to my meal.
Basically everything I ordered, I would definitely order again! The whole experience was great from the food and the service along with the great atmosphere. Bottle Cap has definitely made a great impression on me and I will be returning again very soon to try more of their dishes!

I loved Bottle Cap from the get-​go. The exterior carnival-​style lights, the funky décor, the lovely, large windows… it all made me feel happy that this was the place my co-​worker had chosen for us to have dinner. And then, there was no waiting for a table. Le sigh. I was head over heels.
Even better than all this extra goodness though was the drink and food. Things like the Alpina, made with sparkling wine, elderflower, lemon, and peach bitters, or the Telegraph Hillbilly, made with Ol’ Smoky Tennessee moonshine, vermouth, benedictine, and orange bitters — delicious and only $ 10. For dinner I ordered a grilled hangar steak with green peppercorn-​red wine sauce, rosemary red bliss potato hash, and braised kale. It was great. Our table shared the Brussels sprouts and a salad with roasted red & gold beets, garlic sourdough croutons, and creamy goat cheese dressing as well and neither disappointed.
While the atmosphere lends itself to fun with friends or a good date night I also noticed some parents in there with kids so it seems as though everyone is welcome at this delightful neighborhood spot. So go, drink, eat good food, and be merry friends.

Booze has many benefits.
It numbs your pain.
It gives you liquid courage.
It makes you smile and wink at the stud at the corner of the bar. Only the next morning, the said stud looks more like Ron Jeremy circa 2013.
Booze also makes everything taste better. Or does it?
After three dangerously strong cocktails at happy hour, Mr. NSS and I made it just in time for our dinner reservations at 7:30 pm at Bottle Cap. Thank you, Mr. Cabbie.
Although I appreciate Bottle Cap for serving new twists to American Classics in a quirky atmosphere and offering some variety to the very Italian-​centric restaurant area of North Beach, I was sorely disappointed with our dinner there (perhaps brunch is better?). While the portions are huge, the food was as funky as the nauseating green walls. Service was painstakingly slow which didn’t help boost their rating either.
Seeing all the stellar reviews and being tipsy from HH, I’ll chalk it up to us possibly stumbling into a different restaurant than everyone else.
F O O D
Cocktails were better than the food so bottoms up. The Bees Knees ($ 10) w/​gin, lemon juice, honey & oj was super strong and yummy:
.
*Fried Chicken Thighs ($ 9): 4 STARS
The best thing of the night, the Fried Chicken Thighs were deliciously crunchy and succulently moist. The fresh dill yogurt sauce help cut through the richness while giving it a tangy oomph.
*Slow Roasted Hampshire Pork w/​Cheesy Shells ($ 23): 2 STARS
A hot mess. The hunk of pork was fork tender but terribly bland. The au jus ended up intermingling with the Velveeta-​like cheesy shells making them more watery. It was like eating boiled pork butt with mac ‘n cheese soup.
*Butterscotch Pudding ($ 7): 1 STAR
Atrociously bad, the pudding was overly sweet yet bitter with a melted ice cream consistency and a powdery finish. They would have fared better serving Jello pudding.
S E R V I C E
Service was very friendly but painstakingly slow. Don’t come here if you’re on a tight schedule because our three course dinner took over 2 hours with an hour wait for our entrees. Timely food service seems to be an ongoing issue per older reviews yet nothing has changed? = /​
A M B I A N C E /​D E C O R
Funky fluorescent colors. Christmas lights. L-​O-​U-​D live piano music. Dining room with bad acoustics. Shouting to your dining companion sitting right next to you and vice versa. A bad date place. Period.
P A R K I N G
The nearest garage is a block away on Powell/​Union. $ 10 flat rate.
I wish booze came to the rescue during dinner at Bottle Cap and tricked my taste buds but it didn’t.
Oh well, I guess that’s better than waking up to a Ron Jeremy lookalike the next morning.

Another Dine About Town meal in SF! Prix-​Fixe Dinner for only $ 36.95!
Service:
–A little slow. I don’t know if this restaurant is new or if our waitress was new. but it took almost 2 hours of our food to come out. I feel like you need to flag the waitress down if you want or need something.
Ambiance:
–Dimly lit and energetic
Food:
–Tombo Tuna Poke: Nice, crunchy taro chips that were a little too salty. The poke was nicely marinated.
–Marinated Teres Major Steak: Several thin slices of medium steak served with mashed potatoes and asparagus. I would say it was ok, nothing too special.
–Chocolate cream pie: This was ok too.
Drink:
–Pear ale — not too strong, not bad
Overall, seems like a decent place to stop by for a drink and appetizer.

This review is way overdue.
I recently came back for more of their slow-​braised Pork Shoulder, and it sure was as tender as the last couple of visits. Seems like I’ve had the pork shoulder at every visit.
And with each visit there was another dish that stood out. The first visit were the Crab Cakes. The second visit were the Pork Ribs, sweetened with apple cider BBQ sauce. And the third visit were their mouthwatering Fried Chicken Thighs, with a perfect accompaniment of their dill yogurt. You really can’t go wrong with any of these dishes.
In the drink department, their version of the Blood and Sand and their Manhattan weren’t bad. I recently fell in love with their Dirty Thirty. Which is a drink I’d only come back for.
Sadly, their Brussel Sprouts were a bit over-​cooked. The grilled prawns were average, but the roasted Padron peppers were a hit! During all visits, service was slow, yet very friendly.
Big fan of their dinner and a movie night on Sundays.

My housemates and I came for a lovely belated holiday dinner. It was a Sunday night which is always a nice, relaxed night of the week to go out for dinner. The service was good, but our server was new (and we definitely new because he used it as an excuse a couple times about forgetting things or not really knowing anything about the menu, not even the answer to «what’s your signature dish?»).
Must-​haves: Crab louie, Duck breast, Lemon/​lime tart!
* Fried chicken thigh, dill yogurt sauce
3.5 stars
Nice, good crunch to the breading, moist. This fried chicken was up there (and I like the tartness & freshness of the sauce), but not the best I’ve had in SF (Town Hall).
* Grilled Treviso and Sweet Gems Salad, roasted beets and chevre dressing
3.5 stars
While simple, surprisingly refreshing and full of great flavors!
* Crab and Rock Shrimp Louie, avocado, radish, classic sauce
4 stars
Yum, loved the fresh seafood. Light and also refreshing, and a good balance of flavors.
* Grilled Wagyu Steak, hen of the woods mushrooms, rapini, butternut squash-​potato gratin
3 stars
We asked for medium-​rare but this was OVERLY rare. However the potato gratin was heavenly and wonderful.
* Muscovy Duck Breast, brandied cherry sauce, sweet potato wedges, bloomsdale spinach
4 stars
Yum — tender and perfect. I was in love with the sweet potato wedges, which had just enough of a crispy outer layer and was soft and gooey on the inside. Only small complaint was the sauce was a little heavy on the cherry flavor. If it had been toned down just a tiny bit, it would have complimented everything else perfectly.
* Slow cooked pork, onion-​mustard seed marmalade, red bliss potatoes, apples and brussels sprouts
3.5 stars
This was a huge chunk of meat. HUGE! A nice homey, hearty, and filling dish. The brussels sprouts were a little soggy.
* Humboldt Burger with san joaquin gold cheese, grilled onions, grain mustard aioli. $ 12
4 stars
The bun was just about perfect (I could taste all the butter!). The fries were fine, nothing to brag about. The burger itself was really nice, cooked just right.
* Red Wine Poached Pear, tahitian vanilla ice cream, spice reduction sauce
3.5 stars
A visual splendor of a dish. The ice cream was a little too sweet and bland in terms of other subtle flavors, but I still enjoyed eating this.
* Dark Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding, marshmallow and caramel sauces — 3.5 stars
This was interesting because none of us would have called this a bread pudding — it’s more of a brownie. Considering that brioche bread is normally very dry and airy, sure this is on the denser/​heavier side, but by no means is this what normally comes to mind when you think of bread pudding (soggy, almost soupy). Nonetheless, it had a good intense dark chocolate taste. The toasted marshmallow was good but maybe something tart would have balanced this dessert a little better.
* Lemon and Lime Curd Tart, blackberry coulis — 4 stars
Fantastic! This had the same marshmallow topping as the chocolate bread pudding, but here against the tartness of the lime/​lemon the flavor was really enhanced. We really loved this dish, from the intense lime flavor of the tart to the blackberry sauce to the perfectly textured crust.

Bottle Cap is exactly what they describe themselves on their website: a neighborhood restaurant serving American fare with handcrafted cocktails.
Now, they were actually being modest. What they really mean is GREAT American fare with KICKASS cocktails.
Let me put it in Janice’s terms:
— Grilled pork ribs — sweetly awesome
— Grilled cheese sandwich with tangy tomato soup — comfortingly awesome
— Crab cakes — supremely awesome
— Sea scallops — delicately awesome
— Fried chicken wings — crispy awesome
— Slow-​braised pork shoulder — tender awesome
— Grilled NY steak — can’t get any more awesome than awesome
— Blood and Sand not as awesome as Telegraph Hillbilly which is made with MOONSHINE clear corn whiskey — now, that’s AWESOME!
Sunday nights are good nights to visit, especially for a big group like ours, we practically had the place to ourselves, service was great and it’s movie night. Awesome, right?!?
Fine. You’re sick of me saying awesome in every awesome sentence in this review, but you really can’t get any more American by saying, «dude, this place is freaking AWESOME!»
Go.