Report: Bargain-priced Colombian tasting menu at Mr. Pollo

[vulber]

Went tonight to check out the newly revamped Mr. Pollo in the Mission, now featuring the cooking of Manny Torres Jimenez, who formerly worked at Coi and Quince.

For $15 each (pre-tax/tip), we had:

-cheese arepa
-papaya salad
-grilled snapper with strawberry, jalapeno, and plantains
-roast chicken with market vegetables
-slow-cooked beef with yucca fries and beets

While nothing absolutely blew me away, everything was nonetheless delicious, and an absolute steal for the price.

Note that this literally is a one-man show, Jimenez does all the cooking, serving, and dishwashing, meaning that quite often, he'll finish cooking one dish, go to the other side of the counter, serve it, go wash some dishes, then start cooking again. Our meal took around 2 hours, which is certainly on par for a 5-course tasting menu in San Francisco, but I can see how some might have an issue with this due to the bare-bones surroundings.

The "restaurant" itself is tiny, with one four-top, three two-tops, and a few bar seats, but it was mostly full tonight, as it has been most other nights I've walked by, and I can't imagine that he'll continue serving this tasting menu for $15 for too long.

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Mr. Pollo
2823 Mission St, San Francisco, CA 94110

[flavorenhancer]

Rumor has it he is doing paella on Wednesday nights. Has anyone seen evidence of this?

[Ruth Lafler]

That sounds cheaper and more interesting than the meal we had. Maybe he's getting the feel for how to do this. I really want to try this again!

[vulber]

oops, totally missed your previous post on this. but yes, it does sound like he's starting to settle in

[grayelf]

Wow even cheaper than before: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6962...

I may have to add this place to my list for next visit. I have no problem with bare bones surroundings :-). I wonder if he'll do the tasting menu for two...

Is the preferred spelling of Chef's name with a G or J?