Trademark

Dinner at 6.30 with friends on a Monday night.
I’ll be coming back because they almost deserves 5 stars and I want to bump up my review. The attentiveness and friendliness of our server was five stars. Drinks were good but not show stopping great.
Mac and Cheese is really good and the quesadilla had a great sauce. The deviled eggs were wonderful and would come back just for that.

Glad I found this place in an alley, in the financial district. Lunch of fish and chips gets about a 9.5 out of 10 stars — fresh fish, excellent batter and not extra salty, coleslaw that they obviously take pride in serving. The fish/​chips and an ice tea was over $ 17.00 but well worth it.
Despite some poor reviews of the service in certain reviews, I found the service to be very friendly and responsive.
Next time I am in town, I’ll do my best to make it here again.

This is a great spot for a group and they take reservations — WOO HOO! Happy hour is also awesome with great food and drink specials (including $ 1 oysters) that run from 2:30PM-8PM (that’s not a typo either, happy hour starts at 8PM). There is great outdoor seating but not for parties any larger than 4.
Some drawbacks are the food is not very good, it’s digestible but not good (except for the braised beef short ribs, they were fantastic!). And it isn’t very clean — the silverware and water glasses were all spotty, and the bathroom, even fairly early in the evening, was pretty gross.
I would definitely come back here though, especially for happy hour! And another plus — it’s VERY inexpensive even after happy hour ends!

Got the Monday Blues? Well that’s WHY happy hours were invented.
Trademark is hidden within the quaint Belden Place Ally in FiDi that brings a little bit of Europe to the bustling streets of San Francisco. It’s upscale saloon vibe with its American bar food to match makes it a perfect place for tossing down a few drinks after work and watching the game on their flat screen TVs… the classy way of course.
With a Happy Hour Specials from 2:30 PM — 8 PM, you can drown your blues with their selection of specialty priced booze ($ 3 beers, $ 5 wines, $ 6 cocktails and $ 2 off specialty cocktails) and consume $ 1 oysters to your tummy’s content. We all know the effects of booze with oysters so I highly advise bringing good and attractive company. No one enjoys waking up to FML mornings. Not speaking from experience though, just saying.
My friend and I came to Trademark this past Monday to cure those Monday blues. My poison of choice that night was the Damrak Gin & Tonic. Though at a HH price at $ 6, the bartender did not skimp on the alcohol and made a mighty stiff drink. After just two, it had the same effect as drinking 6 shots of goose so I had to cut myself off since we were going to EZ5 afterwards.
To soak up the alcohol, we ordered several bar bites (which then became our dinner):
*DOZEN OYSTERS ($ 1 each) — 3 STARS
The assorted oysters were nice and fleshy though some had a bitter aftertaste and had bits of shell in them.
*TRADEMARK CHICKEN WINGS ($ 8) — 4.5 STARS
As its namesake states, these wings are «trademark» and rightfully so. Crunchy and succulently moist, these were one of the best wings I’ve had. The wings were well-​seasoned (possibly brined?) and had a lip-​smacking coating of a tangy and garlicky sauce with a hint of sweetness.
*DEVILED EGGS: ($ 6 for 6) — 4 STARS
Sometimes simple is good and Trademark’s deviled eggs were just that; simply good. Each halved egg white was generously topped with an indulgent creamy egg yolk and mayo mixture with touch of spice from the paprika.
*CRISPY BUTTERMILK CALAMARI ($ 8) — 4 STARS
Super crunchy, light and free of grease, I popped these tender tentacles in my mouth like popcorn.
*CHEESE QUESADILLA ($ 6) — 2 STARS
Pass. You’re better off getting one from Taco Bell. At least there would be more cheese.
Considering it was HH and we were sitting in the bar area, service was terrific. I wasn’t able to get his name nor was it stated in our receipt but the brown-​haired bartender/​waiter/​food runner/​busboy was awesome! He came by often to check on us and anticipated additional orders. The multiple hat-​wearer managed to tend the front and back of the bar very well. Shoot, if I was a restaurant/​bar owner, I would hire him in a heartbeat.
So what should you take away from this BORING review?
BOOZE + OYSTERS = TSK TSK *wave your finger back and forth* COMBO
SO…bring good and attractive company otherwise your beer goggles may steer you to the «IThinkTheirAttractiveButICan’tSeeStraight» guy/​gal at the end of the bar. *CHEERS* to NO FML mornings.

Nice happy hour for the FiDi crowd, with $ 5 wines, cocktails and $ 1 oysters. Goes till 8pm!
The deviled eggs were just okay, a bit too much yolk mixture so things got a bit messy. The mixture itself just seemed like yolk and mayo, with a heavy handed shot of paprika.
The fried calamari needed more seasoning, but was nice and tender.
Come for drinks and oysters.

I love gastropubs in the City, especially this place in particular. Belden Place actually feels like a street you would find in Europe. It’s such a hidden gem, but it’s definitely a gem that needs to be discovered.
I’m a huge fan of their Happy Hour. Monday-​Friday until 8pm. $ 1 oyster and $ 2 off all specialty cocktails. I love the food too. It was so hard to decide what I wanted to eat since everything sounded so delicious! Cajun fries anyone? Yes please! I wanted a light meal, so I opted for the cheese quesadilla — it was pretty filling too.
I loved the atmosphere here — it was chic and elegant, but also relaxed and casual. They also have a little outdoor seating area, which I’m sure is lovely during the lunch-​time hours on a sunny day. Service was prompt and friendly, and the overall experience was quite pleasant.
Well, except for one thing. One of our glasses of water smelled like sweat… gross… but they gladly switched it out for us. That’s pretty disgusting…
Other than that, everything else was spot on!

This is one of my favorite places to go for happy hour after work. I can’t say the happy hour wine is good, but it’s not god awful either. If you’re smart you’re splurge on something a little better, pair that with the $ 1.00 oysters, sit outside under the heated lamps and enjoy the ambiance of Belden Place.

Came here for lunch on my last day of work. Overall good food with a really rare burger (see picture)
We started off with Cajun fries, which were pretty good, but had a very familiar taste to them. Kinda like a mix of Lays BBQ chips with flaming hot cheetos aftertaste. Or something like that. Enjoyed them regardless.
Ordered the Trademark Grilled Burger medium with onion rings. Onion rings were a bit greasy but pretty good. The burger started off really good (was pretty hungry) and about halfway through I look down at my burger and see that it’s essentially raw. Not just rare, raw to the point you can see the strings of beef. Stopped eating my burger immediately and hoped I wouldn’t be sick later that day since I was going to see the Twelves at Mighty that night. Thankfully Trademark used high quality Niman Ranch beef. Could have been really bad though.
Saw their deals for Happy Hour as well and next time I’m in SF I will be stopping by for sure.

Dining at Trademark feels like you’ve been swept away into a European bistro — seriously, I didn’t know this nook of restaurants existed until a few weeks ago. What a gem!
Came here with a group of co-​workers for lunch. It was recommended that we sample the deviled eggs, which are a fave of mine. Really liked them and the biscuits that were brought to the table as appetizer. I could probably eat the eggs as a meal, but that would result in in a stomach ache and other gastro problems later on in the day…
So instead I ordered a crab melt sandwich. It was good, but not fantastic. A few of my dining companions had the pulled pork sandwich. Once their plates came out (with a pickle!), I immediately had food envy. Dang it!
If you sit outside like we did, make sure you have the covering of an umbrella. We opted out, since a sunny warm day in August is so rare, and I got a little pink. No worries, it was my own fault for not wearing sunscreen.
Very cute, good food. I’m guessing Trademark can get a little more romantic in the evening. Will definitely go back for din din and see what it’s like!

I lunched here with a large group of my lovely colleagues on a recent trip to SF. I was dressed in long sleeves since it was freezing earlier that morning, but in true SF fashion it was super hot during lunchtime. I was melting in my sunny spot at our outside table, but I’m sure I’ll dreaming about that sun months from now when it’s freezing here in Chicago.
We ordered some deviled eggs and biscuits since the Unilocalers mentioned those weren’t to be missed. I almost feel it should be a southern restaurant based on the above, but it’s more traditional American food. Oh, and as usual the Unilocalers were right because both the deviled eggs and biscuits were delish.
For my main meal I went with the crab melt. It was good, but I may try something else next time. Or better yet… maybe I’ll just get my own order of deviled eggs and biscuits!

Ruggy J. was right! Major points for the DEVILED EGGS alone!
I work nearby and have been coming to Trademark time and time again for lunch and happy hours, but I have to admit, I’m sold on the deviled eggs alone and those little bite-​size pieces of happiness prompted this review.
Probably my favorite restaurant in Belden Alley at the moment.

Admittedly, any place I can snag fresh $ 1 oysters (during happy hour) gets a min of 3 stars. Trademark earned 4 stars! The oysters were from WA, plump & fresh. They arrived with lemons, mignonette (sp??) & cocktail sauce. We devoured a dozen.
Since fellow Unilocalers raved about the deviled eggs, I had to try them. The deviled eggs were devilish enough (had kick/​spice) to make them a hit. It seems old time comfort food continues a comeback.
The flourless double chocolate cake was supposed to arrive with raspberry sauce & raspberry ice cream (per menu). Much to my friend’s delight, it arrived with vanilla ice cream. The slice of cake was larger than expected, not huge but not the typical sliver.
We sat at the communal table in the bar area. Service was slow & inconsistent.

******************* REVIEW 447 *************************
Belden Lane with plenty of French & Italian restos on this little Alley, Trademark is the only one that serves American cuisine! The place is small and cozy; the bar with lots of beers on tap, small wine list & surprisingly wide variety on the menu, from seafood to pasta, from poultry to American traditional dishes. A bar with less than 10 seats, packed at the Happy Hours.
On a raining afternoon, we stopped by for some cozy food.
— The Lobster Bisque — creamy, smooth & thick enough, perfect for the cold weather.
— Pacific Washington oysters — fresh & served with vinaigrette and cocktail sauces.
— Deviled Eggs — only a buck each, piled up high, super tasty, filing, and simply classic bites!
— Dungeness Crab cake — roasted, pepper, aioli, crispy outside & perfectly chuck crab meats inside.
— Mussels & Shrimps pasta — great portion to share, 20 plus shrimps & mussels generous portion.
All soup, salad, starters are under $ 12; all entrées are under $ 25 & sandwiches are under $ 15. All bottle of wines are from $ 35-​$ 83, low mark up & decent for every day drink list.
By 4 PM on a Thursday afternoon, this place was packed with Happy Hour folks. From 2:30−8PM M-​F, $ 1 oyster, $ 6 snacks, and wine/​beer specials.
We were at the bar and this lady bartender (African American) was super sweet, kind and warm. I’m glad we sat at the bar! We definitely come back for more Happy Hour.

We had our latest dinner club here and I’m usually not a fan of places along Belden Lane (too touristy for me) but we had a really great meal and time at Trademark.
We started off with some good beers and for appetizers we had the wings, biscuits and deviled eggs. Everything was very good but the biscuits are some of our favorites and the deviled eggs had just the right amount of spice to make them delicious. For the main meal I had the BBQ pulled pork and it was awesome.
We had been to Elite Café (their sister restaurant) before and had an ok experience but we had a much better time and everything from the service to the décor met our expectations.

Great for a small party as the place is pretty tight. You can choose to sit outdoor if weather permits.
My fav: Beet Salad and Steak with a side order of Mac & Cheese… these items def deserve the 3stars.
Haven’t tried their HH yet…

Yeah… No.
My wife came into the City and we decided to grab some lunch @ Bastille. Sadly, it was packed, so we cruised down Belden Place looking for a place to eat outdoors. There were several empty tables at Trademark, and with its intriguing menu, we opted to lunch here.
Service, while nice, was extremely slow and we waited almost 45 minutes for our appetizers: Calamari & Truffle Mac & Cheese. That’s a helluva long time for a lunch break, people! And was the wait worth it? Hell no! While the Mac & Cheese was A-​OK, the calamari was totally fucking tragic. I thought it may be the seafood not being fresh, but my wife said categorically that the problem was in the preparation.
3 stars, then, mainly because her Beef Short Rib sandwich was totally awesome, so it seems brutal to tag them with 2 stars. Still, let’s be clear, in a City with a plethora of lunch spots, I won’t be coming back to Trademark.

(See pics)
One of us cannot add. Or both.
We came here with groupon $ 50 coupon thinking it would be an excellent lunch for a great price. It was great lunch, but fairly pricey ($ 100 for 2?!)
Dungeness crab cakes was delicate and delicious.
They did not have seared yellow fin tuna so I opted for rib eye steak and string beans. The steak was marinated quite heavily and was very skinny that it did not taste like a rib eye steak. It was proper medium rare though and tasted quite good.
My colleague had the soup as well as blackened Louisiana catfish po’ boy sandwich with salad. The sandwich was nicely decorated and I think it was delicious because he finished it. We did confirm it’s just the style of cooking and the catfish was not bought from Louisiana.
For dessert, my colleague’s banana split with strawberry, chocolate chip, vanilla bean ice cream, pineapple and strawberry compotes was extremely good looking. I had the strawberry shortcake in red wine sauce which was fairly delicious and well done.
With the Groupon we saved 30 bucks but it was still on the steep side (even including coffee, tea, diet coke drinks.) Food was definitely on the 4 stars.
Do like the beautiful and classic ambiance and furniture, a fantastic business lunch place and most likely a great after work hangout spot. Service was very good and courteous.

Just for the deviled eggs alone, Trademark deserves 5 stars. I’m not kidding — since I’m a colossal fan of hard boiled eggs piled high with whipped mayonnaise, mustard and paprika — I can confidently say that these are, far and away, the greatest deviled eggs I’ve ever had the pleasure of biting into. Me thinks someone should talk to the brass at 7X7 about including ‘em in next year’s Big Eats program. Just an idea…
In addition to the eggs which I love and adore, they really do a good job representing classic American eats. Their menu is littered with everything from mac ‘n’ cheese, to marinated skirt steaks to pork chops, and a whole host of others in between. Personally, I think their pork chop (using only the finest of Niman Ranch meats) is the gold star on the entrée front. It’s as big as a Mini Cooper with as much flavor to boot! Comes equipped with cannellini beans, baby mustard, balsamic roasted onions and pork jus. It’s more than enough for one meal, but I promise — you’ll want to stick around until the very last bite.
If for some crazy reason you have room for dessert (hell, even if you don’t have room… by all means, do anything possible to make room), you must… and I repeat, MUST try the banana bread pudding. I can’t say I’ve ever been as impressed with a similar dessert previously. Granted, I don’t exactly to searching for bread pudding around town… but something about the Knob Creek infused gelato on the side to go along with the delectable taste of actual banana bread makes it an excellent way to round out an amazing meal.
With so many choices on Belden, I think you’d be making a grave mistake by passing this place by. In addition to the top notch food stuffs I described above, they have a great staff and stiff cocktails that don’t disappoint (even among a city where people take their mixed drinks pretty seriously).
Bön Appétit!

The first thing that struck me about Trademark was how great the little alley was, that it (and many other restaurants) were in. I actually didn’t know that this street was there! It’s like it was plucked out of Europe and placed at the foot of the transamerica building. Very adorable, and the perfect in-​the-​city date spot.
The service was very nice. Friendly waiters who were happy to recommend things and eager to help.
But the downfall of my visit to Trademark was the food. I started with the soup, which was really good. I am embarrassed to say that I don’t remember what kind of soup it was. It was orange, and had goat cheese bruschetta floating it in. It was really good! It was also the highlight of the meal.
My entrée was the Red Wine Braised Short Ribs. I was told that they were great, amazing, fabulous. I mean, they were ok. I’m not going to say that they were bad, because they weren’t. But they really weren’t too special. But the downfall of the entrees was that they initially brought me the wrong dish. That in itself wasn’t that bad. They apologized and frantically tried to get me my dish. But during that time, they stuck my dinner partner’s chicken back in the oven or something. When it came back out, with my short ribs, that chicken was dry. I didn’t taste it – I could just see the lacking of juices. That said, when it was mentioned to the waiter, they took the chicken off our bill.
The flour less chocolate cake was decent.
I really liked that they tried to make our experience good. I really appreciated that.

Trademark didn’t have their menu online yet when I made the reservation, but I made sure to check out their menu before we sat down because «American Bar & Grill» doesn’t exactly scream «vegetarian-​friendly.» We were pleasantly surprised! The chef is vegetarian and they put extra effort into making sure even dishes with meat can be made in alternate ways. For example, the very tasty lentil soup has bacon in it, but it’s added after the fact rather than stirred into the soup, so one can order it bacon-​free. The server informed us that they also have a goal of sourcing local, sustainable ingredients for their food. Thumbs up!
The service was pleasant and attentive, and now for the actual food — our table ordered the deviled eggs, portobella sandwich, lentil soup, and grilled corn salad. The eggs were delicious, as was the soup. The portobella wasn’t that inventive but it was tasty. My only complaint was the fries, which were undercooked (too firm and potato-​y, even if al dente was the goal). The prices were also pretty reasonable for Belden. I look forward to coming back and sampling other items from the menu.