Orson or COCO500?

[mimi29]

Help! I'm coming into town for only 2 days and can't decide between thse 2 options for dinner on Saturday night.

FYI, Friday night - I'll be going to SPQR.

Any preferences? I've looked at both menus and by golly, they both sound great. I ate at Citizen Cake last time i was in town and enjoyed it very much.

Oh, I'm torn...

[kivarita]

mimi29 - what did you end up going with...?

[chemchef]

What are some of the standout dishes at COCO 500? I'm going there for lunch tomorrow and have no idea what to order.

[beth08]

For apps, the fried green beans are a must. And the soup is always good for lunch, whatever the soup of the day is. You can't go wrong with any of their salads. And the truffle flatbread is quite interesting, and good.

[chemchef]

nevermind. I just realized they're not open for lunch tomorrow.

[stonefruit]

I've been there twice in the last week -- enjoyed the prawn salad and chicken sandwich. And, of course, the green beans.

[margieco]

maybe you can do drinks at orson and dinner at coco500. I agree the food at coco500 is consistently good.

[beth08]

I agree. Drinks at Orson, dinner at Coco's.

[Ruth Lafler]

Reports on Orson have been pretty negative. Maybe someone who has been there can chime in.

[Paul H]

I did, a few days ago.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/514324

[kivarita]

Yeah, went with a bunch of folks from work earlier this week and came away thinking it would be a great place for drinks and maybe light apps, but we won't be running back for dinner anytime soon.

The duck fat fries were the highlight. The fried chicken slider, good but nothing to write home about, carrot dumplings were interesting but itty bitty, salsiccia & fennel pizza good (but nowhere near as good as the salsiccia pizza we had last weekend at A16).

Coco500 is consistently good. I think it just depends on what kind of scene you're after, too.

[uninvitedsaint]

I just ate at coco500 for the first time last night and every dish I had was a winner. Very solid, very good, very balanced, and very interesting.

[Robert Lauriston]

Reports are pretty mixed. My experience certainly was:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/51432...

I'll definitely go back for drinks and appetizers before dinner, or for dessert after. I wouldn't *plan* on eating a whole dinner there, though I might eat a whole meal if I kept ordering and didn't hit any loser dishes.

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Orson Restaurant
508 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107