I am a huge fan of Mexican food and frequently get cravings for it at least twice a week. When I am in San Francisco, I usually head to the taquerias in the Mission District, but now I add a new favorite Mexican spot to my list- Nopalito, and to my delight it is not too far from my SF home. But after living in Los Angeles, you think everything is close in San Francisco, which it is compared to everything in SoCal.
Located in San Francisco's Western Addition, Nopalito opened earlier this year and is the sister restaurant to the bustling Nopa (which I will feature in a future post). The cuisine at this casual hot spot is Mexican and the kitchen's focus is on using local, organic, and sustainable ingredients to serve authentic dishes from the Mexican region.
Much of Nopalito's menu is made in house including the chorizo, tortillas, and queso fresco. They also ground their chili masa on site from organic corn. A couple favorites include the popular Gordita de Picadillo -Crispy tortilla, grass fed beef, carrot, refried pinquito housemade queso fresco and salsa de venas and the Quesadilla de Hongos y Huitlacoche - Corn tortilla, oyster mushrooms, corn truffles, jack cheese, queso fresco, epazote and salsa de jitomate molcajeteado.
In addition to serving beer and wine, Nopalito makes refreshingly tasty homemade beverages such as the Mixed citrus, orange-blood orange, meyer lemon thirst quencher which went perfect with the cuisine. If your taste buds call for something sweet and not so citrus flavored, Nopalito makes an Organic Almond Horchata and an Ibarra Chocolate Fizz which is served cold. Dessert offerings include homemade popsicles which I unfortunately had to pass on due to the chilly SF temps. The weather was cool, but the variety of salsas kept things heated up on Nopalito's side patio.
The Mexican wedding cookies brought out complimentary at the end of the meal were a sweet ending and helped temporarily satisfy my sugar hankering. And must mention that our bill for two people was close to $30 and that was including tip. For organic, quality cuisine, that was a bargain. Once you see the menu at Nopalito, you won't be able to decide from all the savory temptations so I recommend ordering a few dishes and sharing them. That way you get a variety of tastes and flavors throughout the meal and everyone's appetites will be extra content.
Nopalito serves Lunch and Dinner Daily & no reservations are accepted - first come/first served.
Nopalito
360 Broderick (at Oak)
San Francisco, CA
415 437 0303
