New restaurants are opening again! This week we have news about a new modern Mexican spot from the team behind Son's Addition opening in the Lower Haight, and the debut of some new KFC (Korean fried chicken) downtown.
Bonchon, the South Korean fried chicken chain that opened its first Bay Area location in Sunnyvale in 2010, quietly opened the doors of its first SF location earlier this week. There's a Bonchon in South San Francisco that's been there since 2014, and other locations in Berkeley, Pleasanton, and San Mateo, but now you only have to get down to the Metreon to enjoy some of their spicy double-fried wings. As Eater notes, the takeout menu includes other Korean dishes like bulgogi and kimchi-bacon fried rice. And there's a bunch of crave-worthy snack items too like Korean tacos (chicken or bulgogi), potstickers, and pork buns.
The new Bonchon takes over the space formerly occupied by Inay Filipino Kitchen inside the Metreon complex. And the fried chicken is available on DoorDash too.
The hours, for now, are 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and it's open until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Opening (hopefully) next week is Otra, a new Mexican restaurant at 682 Haight Street (the former SushiRaw near Pierce Street, two doors down from Danny Coyle's). The team behind it is Nick Cobarruvias and Anna Sager Cobarruvias, the husband and wife who opened Son's Addition on 24th Street in Mission in 2017.
As Nick tells Eater, the opportunity to open a restaurant in their neighborhood, the Haight, was too good to pass up. And while the pandemic delayed their plans for a summer opening last year — Hoodline reported on the plans for Otra last January — their landlord has been accommodating and the opening is finally happening, pending a couple of inspections.
Nick Cobarruvias's dad is Mexican, and he grew up eating Mexican comfort food in Texas like tamales, which have made it onto the menu at Son's Addition as well. At Otra, Cobarruvias plans to serve a number of vegetable-focused dishes — and not a lot of red meat. And he's going to be making his own fresh masa daily for tortillas and tamales.
And the cocktail program by Marlow vet Shanti de Luca will be tailored to the food, with tequila and mezcal as the focus, but Cobarruvias tells Eater he didn't want anything too fussy. "I didn’t want a hipster bar that takes 15 minutes to make a drink," he says. "I’m too old for that. I’ve got too much shit to do. We wanted good drinks and quick drinks. Drinks that make you want to eat food, and food that makes you want drinks."
SF is expected to allow more freedom for drinking indoors without food starting next Friday, but in the "Yellow" tier, the capacity for indoor dining remains at 50% with tables kept six feet apart.
Otra is opening with a new parklet out front, and possibly some outdoor seating in back as well.
We'll update this post when an opening date is firmed up.
Top image courtesy of Bonchon
