Where to Eat in November: Marlena, SPQR, Damansara, and More

Editor’s note: As of Sept. 29, 2023, Marlena has rebranded into a new concept, Foliage SF.

After a few-months hiatus, Michelin-starred Marlena is back, renovated and better than ever. David and Serena Chow Fisher’s $65 four-course seasonal tasting menu is a steal and features a choice for each course. For fall, you’ll find things like grilled beef cheek and sausage with honeynut squash for a main, and pumpkin “cheesecake” with a kabocha cremeux and a thin shortbread crust for dessert.

Matthew Accarrino’s SPQR continues to be a San Francisco gem. During dinner service, you’ll find an inventive five-course Italian-inspired menu with handmade pasta like squash-filled agnolotti with brussels sprouts, sage, and brown butter, and meaty entrees such as prime beef with carrots, chanterelles, and marrow sauce. On the weekends, there are coffee and sugar-dusted doughnuts to take away — on Sundays you’ll find Accarrino’s fried chicken.

La Cocina alum Tracy Goh brings a taste of Malaysia with her new Malaysian brick-and-mortar Damansara in Noe, where you’ll find small plates like curry puffs, cereal crumb-coated and salted egg fried chicken, big bowls of creamy chicken laksa (with a mushroomy vegan version too), kaya toast for dessert, and so much more.

Find more info here.

The tiny 12-seat Mr. Pollo has changed hands and chefs over the years — but the one constant on the ever-changing affordable four-course tasting menu has been the arepa. The chef crisps up the cornmeal cake on the plancha before splitting and stuffing it with things like savory seasoned shredded chicken with creamy avocado, braised jackfruit, turkey mole, and more.

It’s not everyday you see A5 wagyu charcuterie, but chef Eric Upper is doing it at the newly opened AFICI in SOMA. He’s breaking down the whole beef instead of the usual pork and creating it into all the classic forms, like pate, rillettes, even curing the leg like a prosciutto, and more. Consider it a must-add to the four-course Italian-inspired menu.

Instead of cooking a turkey this year, you should probably just get the whole roast smoked duck from The Morris. It comes with seasonal roasted root vegetables along with an espresso and honey jus and will likely be more delicious than anything you make. Bonus: watch this fun video and chef Gavin will show you how to carve like a pro.

There’s more than just pinsas at Montesacro’s new location in The Marina: Weekend brunch features frittatas with roasted shallots and pecorino cream, a meaty eight-ounce burger on a housemade bun, grilled hanger steak and eggs, and more. The menu is rounded out with pasta plates featuring Roman favorites like cacio e pepe, as well as cocktails like Negronis, rossinis, bellinis and bloodies.

It’s difficult to believe the dark, dim-lit Argentinian steakhouse Lolinda on Mission has been around for 10 years — it feels like just yesterday we were dancing to DJs at Medjool. But the space and menu still remains the same: that heart of palm little gem salad, blackened and burned artichokes with creamy lemon aioli, and big steaks and asado mixto meat plates from the wood-fired grill, of course.

Call 415-550-6970 for reservations.

Find hand roll heaven at Kyle Itani’s newly opened Yonsei Handrolls in Uptown Oakland. You can order hand rolls in sets of five — the OG stays classic with items like salmon and yellowtail, while the Baller has more top-shelf ingredients like king crab and lobster. There are Japanese-inspired cocktails and sake to sip on too. This is your new pre-show Fox Theater destination.

From the team behind multi-Michelin-starred Birdsong comes Birdbox, recently housed in the old Tony’s Slice House on 2^nd St. The team here slings crispy fried chicken sandwiches with the claw still on — aka Claude the Claw — as well as offering boxes of bone-in fried chicken dusted in your choice of seasonings with an array of sauces on the side. Crisp-on-the-outside custardy-on-the-inside cornbread and schmaltz-fried waffle fries are the sides you need.

Find more info here.

If sitting at the counter at the Tsar Nicoulai Café in The Ferry Building sipping on coupes filled with Champagne while noshing on caviar-covered bites isn’t heaven, we’re not sure what is. These are the same folks that provide sustainable caviar to your favorite restaurants, and eating at the cafe is a wonderful way to spend a Saturday after the farmers market.

Find more info here.