Twenty five restaurant visits and over a year after we first began eating our way around San Francisco in alphabetical order on a bi-weekly basis, we have reached the end of the road. One of the most popular questions from friends who know what we have been up to has been "Where are you going to go for Zed?" For the longest time we weren't quite sure of the answer. Inspiration finally came from our last post when Jer commented "Holy crap! Almost time for ZED. I'm excited--it's like a season finale or something . . . or the Super Bowl . . ."

"S***," we thought to ourselves, "we better go somewhere we can be sure of a good celebration; we can't let this series die out with a whimper." This left us with only one failsafe option, a place where we absolutely knew we could have a good time, whatever happened, even if some of the food itself was having an off night. So, we invited all of our patient friends, who have wholeheartedly embraced our alphabetical dining restrictions over the past year, to join us late the other Saturday night for a little indulgence at the restaurant that represents the epitome of traditional California cuisine this side of the bridge.

This choice always comes with a heavy helping of controversy. Everyone in town seems to have a strong opinion on whether or not it is deserving of praise, so we are inviting readers of the A to Zed series to weigh in on it too and make this end-of-an era ultimate Zed post into one lively comment parteeee...

Zuni : people seem to either adore it or loathe it. Before our most recent visit we read all the way through the opinions on Yelp to try and understand why Zuni elicits such strong reactions of both love and hate in people.

Our own sentiments are somewhat in line with those of Yelp User Fancy S, who emphasizes that "Zuni is unfailingly a regular stand-by". We like to choose Zuni as a place to dine out quite often for a complicated mille-feuille of layered reasons, but one major one is this. We come from a dual-personality household. On the one hand we have an adventurous English girl who loves to eat fresh, creative, seasonal California cuisine and barely al dente vegetables from time to time, whilst on the other we have a stubborn meat-and-potatoes-with-melted cheese French guy who is not quite as adventurous and often poo-poos the idea of local style dining based mainly on the simple quality and seasonality of ingredients.

She adores oysters and champagne, he likes a Scotch on the rocks and not much more than a simple green salad as an appetizer. She loves fish, seafood, raw and cooked, as well as more challenging cuts of meat. She won't bat an eye at a pigs' trotter, a halibut cheek, oxtail or a beef heart, whilst he will run a mile from any of these things. Zuni has a burger that will always satisfy his needs, whilst she can happily go to town ordering whatever it is that takes her fancy from the regularly changing menu du jour safe in the knowledge that he will be completely satisfied too.

Despite our adventurous streak, the Zuni menu features regular items that we will never tire of and can always fall back on, when or if nothing else appeals. After the obligatory (for us) glass of Billercart Salmon, the wide selection of oysters, the fresh anchovies served with cheese and olives that somehow know how to make even the most unpopular celery slices taste divine, the creamy bowl of polenta swirled with a rich spoonful of marscapone that literally defines comfort and that burger are the things we fall back on when nothing else takes our fancy. Only available after 10pm, the Zuni burger is widely recognized as one of the best in town and we have to agree. Although the foccacia bun can sometimes be a little flaccid, the meat itself is so succulent and tastes so bloody marvellous, nothing else reallly matters, even the Aioli which would be assured superstar status in a less stellar company.

We like to eat later, and on a whim. We just can't be doing with all of the fuss of making reservations for dinner weeks in advance. We don't like to be tied down by too many plans. For that reason Zuni always suits us too -- after 10pm on a Saturday night it is hardly possible not to get a table, and we can take our time and have a leisurely meal. In fact, service is so slow here we would be hard-pushed to have anything but a lingering dinner, so know that going in if you are the type who prefers to gulp down your food before tearing off as quickly as possible.

One of the major complaints we have read in online reviews of Zuni was about the service. We agree that it can be sketchy, having been served on our many visits by waitresses and waiters who range from enthusiastic darlings, through uninspiring run-of-the-millsters to inept novices. On our visit for the purpose of this review we landed another breed of waitress. She was brisk, brusque, efficient, knowledgeable and confident. She made a few daft snafus - like resetting the table to positions we weren't actually sitting in, pouring the red in a glass that already contained a different wine and deciding (without checking in with us first) that shoestring fries would make a better appetizer than accompaniment to the burger as was intended by the recipient when he ordered it. Despite these errors, which we imagine many guests might find unforgiveable, but we find fairly run-of-the mill as regular diners, we warmed to our server, particularly her honest opinionated appraisal of dishes on the menu that we questioned her about. She was refreshing, but by no means perfect. Getting good service here, or indeed anywhere, can be a bit of lottery in this town, but it's always useful to remember that by being a good and understandng customer you will have won half the battle before you even pick up a menu.

We'll finish at the beginning and remind you that whenever you go to Zuni, be sure to check if they are serving the Caramel Pot de Creme that evening. If the answer is yes, then be sure to ask them to put one aside for your dessert. It would be a disaster for them to sell out before you had a chance to try one. There is absolutely no better way, in our opinion, to end a meal, and an epic series of restaurant reviews, than with our most favourite little sweet something in town.

Zuni: 1658 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 552-2522