San Francisco’s dining scene will get an injection of old-school glamour when two of the year’s most anticipated restaurants debut in March. First up: JouJou, a fine-dining French restaurant from the team behind Lazy Bear, followed by the reopening of The Big Four, a wood-paneled, white-tablecloth restaurant inside the Huntington Hotel.
Other notable openings include a gluten-free neighborhood restaurant from the team behind Montesacro, a Mexican cantina from the bar pros behind April Jean and Bar Darling, and a NoPa bakery that’s made headlines for its guava tarts.
Here are the most exciting San Francisco restaurants to add to your must-try list in March.
JouJou
Lazy Bear chef and owner David Barzelay. | Source: Carolyn Fong for The Standard
The newest project from David Barzelay of two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear will join a cluster of high-end restaurants — including Niku Steakhouse and Omakase — at the intersection of SoMa and the Design District. But rather than a New American tasting menu that plays out like a communal dinner party, JouJou will be an à la carte French restaurant with an emphasis on seafood. That means classics like vichyssoise and trout almondine alongside towers of shellfish and mountains of caviar. Taking over a space that formerly housed The Grove, Barzelay and partner Colleen Booth enclosed the former porch to create a 6,000-square-foot, fine-dining juggernaut that they hope will rival the bygone Stars and La Folie. This will no doubt be one of the year’s splashiest debuts.
Date and timeOpening March 6The Big Four
The Crimson Room at The Big Four. | Source: Courtesy of The Huntington Hotel
Six years after going dark, the historic Huntington Hotel atop Nob Hill will reopen next week. That means the long-awaited return of The Big Four, the hotel’s glamorous restaurant and piano bar, which was loved for its dark wood paneling, green leather booths, and old-school hospitality. The ground-floor restaurant (and entire property) has been beautified by Ken Fulk. Details about the new look and menu have yet to be released, but according to a release, “Fulk’s design blends the intimacy of an ancestral home with the allure of an iconic, insider space.”
Date and timeOpening mid-MarchLobalita
Jamal Blake-Williams, co-owner of Bar Darling. | Source: Morgan Ellis/The Standard
We finally know what’s going into Chestnut Street’s former Tipsy Pig space, which has been vacant since May: It will be a Mexican cantina called Lobalita. Owners Nate Valentine and Jamal Blake-Williams are keeping mum on the details, but the duo — who operated Tipsy Pig throughout its 16-year run and own North Beach’s April Jean and Nob Hill’s Prizefighter, as well as Bar Darling, a few doors down Chestnut — have a track record of neighborhood bars with full food programs and harmonious interiors.
Date and timeOpening in mid-MarchClementina
There are a handful of Italian restaurants serving gluten-free pasta and pizza in San Francisco, including Fiorella and Flour + Water Pizzeria. Diners will have a new option in Clementina, a trattoria from the Italian-born owners of Montesacro, Gianluca Legrottaglie and Viviana Devoto. They, along with chef Giorgio Brunella, have pulled together a casual menu that spans pizza and pinsa, the Roman-style, oval-shaped, flatbreads that are famous at Montesacro, as well as meats, fish, risotto, gnocchi, and antipasti. There will be an all-Italian wine list plus gluten-free beer, wine-based spritzes, and non-alcoholic options.
Date and timeOpening the week of March 9Sol Bakery
Guava tarts from Sol Bakery. | Source: Courtesy of Marisa Williams
For a year, fans have been flocking to Neighbor Bakehouse for Marisa Williams’s semi-regular pastry pop-up, Sol Bakery, which earned local and national acclaim (opens in new tab) for stunning guava tarts and fluffy focaccia. But after bouncing around town, Williams is ready to put down roots in a corner space just off the Panhandle. With a team of bakers, all of whom previously worked at Tartine, she’ll open Sol Bakery’s first brick-and-mortar outpost, offering a menu of familiar favorites and new creations, such as an oolong custard choux. Grand Coffee and Song Tea & Ceramics will provide beverages.
Date and timeOpening in late March
Dining and Cooking