Who doesn't like a nice restaurant opening night? Those who like to eat in silence, that's who. But for those of you who prefer merriment and chatter with your digestive process, West of Pecos opens tonight. According the Eater, the food continues on the alpha-male-driven, hickory-bold path to flavor featuring "lots of meats and vegetables roasted Southwestern-style in a Wood Stone hearth." Get a rope! But seriously, it's a new venture started by brothers who link the new joint to their youthful visits to the American Southwest. Inside Scoop explains, "Set in the former Bombay Bazaar, its name is taken from Western lore, where the region west of the Pecos River was the lawless region, a no man’s land full of gunslingers, thieves and other people wearing black cowboy hats."

And it being the Mission, West of Pecos is simply dripping — dripping! — with dark wood accents contrasted by airy spaciousness.

Do check it out.

West of Pecos: 550 Valencia (at 16th Street), S.F., 415-252-7000.