SF (16th/Mission) - 100 bottles of beer on the wall, 24 draughts, house-ground Niman Ranch burgers w/Quetzel tomatoes

[rworange]

Anyone been yet? This seems like Chowhound stomping grounds.

It is in the location of the former Rasha's which moved in after Kelly's Burgers closed.

Also open late-night. Food is served till 1am and bar closes at 2am.

They probably store the bottled beer correctly and not on the wall, but they do have 100 different bottles.

The website which says one goal is beer education mentions the newsletter "will highlight a certain style of beer or a certain brewery. We will also announce any upcoming events, like our monthly Meet the Brewer Night"

The menu includes a giant pretzel with stone-ground mustard and cheddar ale sauce. There seem to be a nice selection of dishes that would make vegetarians happy.

There's a pot pie of the day and someone on Yelp mentioned that one day it was a lobster pot pie.

Seems like from Yelp they are still working on some service, a few menu and environmental issues. I guess it was cold in there one night ... someone said they could see their dining companions breath.

Popular items seem to be, for the most part, the fries, burgers (beef or veggie) and chocolate cake. Not so much, the fruit cobbler. However, someone liked the cobbler a lot the night the fruit was persimmon.

A number of people seemed impressed that they carried St. Bernardus Abt 12. They allow tastes of the draft beers before buying.

There are suggested beer pairings with all the menu items. For example ...
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake with raspberry puree
Beer Pairing: St. Louis Framboise is the only choice

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The Monk's Kettle
3141 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

[boxcar_sf]

I stopped by Monk's Kettle earlier this week mid-afternoon and sat at the bar. Although pretty full from lunch at Tartine (yum!), we got some fries to go with our beer. They came with some herb-y aioli, ketchup, and malt vinegar (the last upon request), and were perfect to soak up the booze. I think they were like $5-6, which wasn’t super cheap, but beat having to get up from our barstools : ) And while I don’t remember the name of the beers my companion had, he was pretty excited that both of them were available on tap, and I thought they were delish, even though I’m not much of a beer drinker.

Oh, and a friend of mine had the lobster pot pie last week and she said it was YUMMY (she is not a chowhound, and had probably tied a few on already, so take that how you will). I think next time I’ll try it for sure. Yum.

[Deeg67]

I was there last week, and spoke to the co-owner for a while. A nice kid (29). We talked about Belgium (he's never been) the recent spate of Belgian places in SF, etc. Chef used to work at Left Bank. Like others, I thought the markup on the beer was a little steep and while the selection was very good, they didn't have anything really rare or hard to find. Didn't try the food but it's clear they're taking it seriously as part of the experience. Nice place and I'll be back, but I think The Trappist in Oakland is a little more for the serious Belgian beer nut - better pricing and the beer is pretty much the whole show.

Next up for me is La Trappe - I'm very curious about that place, although reports of loud house music booming all night aren't encouraging.

[Frosty Melon]

Haven't heard of La Trappe, can you share more info, location, type of food, etc.?

[wolfe]

http://www.latrappesf.com/

[boozemonkey]

I was then last week with some friends and wasn't really wowed. The beer selection is, indeed, fantastic but as has been mentioned the price points are a bit on the steep side. One of the friends I was with is a huge beer nerd, and remarked that he wouldn't be trading in his regular stool at Toronado anytime soon. As for food, I just nibbled on some of their starters (the soft pretzel and Charcuterie Plate - Both of which we pretty good) so don't remember much about pricing other than recalling that their burger was around $10 which pretty much spikes my ludicrous meter.

On the plus side, for any who are into the beer side of things, I do have to say that the fact that they have St. Bernardus Abt 12 on tap is all the reason you need to go.

[Lori SF]

thanks for the update..I think I was liking the concept and style of the place. I will stick with Nickies and my b/f will continue to go to the "T"

[Lori SF]

boozemonkey your blog is hysterical, I too like House of Shield have not been for quit some time.

[Windy]

This is definitely more bar with food than restaurant with beer. We considered going after a movie at the Roxie but thought the burgers and fries were too pricey for an unknown. Atmosphere is very nice--booths and good lighting. I wish I liked Belgian ale.

It was cold everywhere last week; most large SF restaurants have trouble heating a half-empty room when it's in the 40s.

[Frosty Melon]

Can you advise on price points for burgers, entrees, and starters if you recall?

[Windy]

A bowl of fries was $5 or 6. Burgers were $10 or 11; the menu was very small and most items were roughly $9-12.

If the food's decent or it's late and you're drinking, those are probably fine. On the other hand if it's really a Belgian ale heaven with a frybaby in the kitchen...

We ended up at Little Star.

[Frosty Melon]

If you can still edit, you might want to put "Monks Kettle" in the title of your post. Looks interesting, will be checking this out...I do wish they included prices on their website though,.

[rworange]

Well, duh to me ... too late. I was so focused on being able to add a place record I forgot the name in the title. Thanks for the thought though. Maybe if some of you folks try it you can start a new thread with the name in the title.

[Lori SF]

Hope to check out this week looks very cool.
Still cannot beat the prices of wine by the glass and beers and very filling bar bites along with the easy vibe at Nickies on Lower Haight.

[rworange]

From what I've read, the beer has somewhat of a mark-up here. Also it seems wildly popular, is crowded, small (49 seats) and can get noisy ... just to set your expectations.