It's a fall season of splashy restaurant openings in San Francisco at last, after some quiet years on the restaurant scene. And among those is the revamp of Michael Mina's Bourbon Steak, in the grand ground floor spaces of the Westin St. Francis.

While not a new restaurant opening, per se, the reopening of Bourbon Steak is happening Friday (Oct. 10) in a newly remodeled, highly polished version of the space where it lived in the last decade, the onetime home of Restaurant Michael Mina, which used to sit off the lobby of the Westin St. Francis Hotel.

Michael Mina, the first solo restaurant by now prolific restaurateur Michael Mina, debuted in the high-ceilinged, Corinthian-columned mezzanine space in 2004. In 2010, after Mina had already begun his shift to become the leader of an international restaurant group, it pivoted to become the more casual Bourbon Steak — complete with one of the best fancy burgers in the city.

Bourbon Steak called it quits here in 2016, well before the pandemic killed the foot traffic in Union Square — and some would argue that the retail scene, and hence the foot traffic, was fading well before COVID hit. But now, after a multi-year renovation, the Westin St. Francis is reopening a reconfigured version of the ground floor space, where instead of a lobby with a huge flower arrangement at it center, guests will walk in off Powell to the sight of a sparkling, European-looking, central bar, ringed by lamps, befitting a fancy brasserie.

The space features a new stained-glass feature wall by Bay Area artist Theodore Ellison, and the new design is by acclaimed hospitality designers AvroKO. Stanton Architecture was the lead architect on the project.

This is Bourbon Lounge, which will have its own bar menu and serve as the bar for Bourbon Steak, up a few steps to the left. The restaurant now boasts a private dining room where Clock Bar used to be — which can accommodate 24 to 48 — and further into the building you'll now find the swanky, new, reservation-only whiskey bar from Steph Curry, The Eighth Rule, in partnership with the Mina Group.

It's good that caviar is so in these days, with chefs putting it on everything from pizza to fried chicken. The menu at the revamped Bourbon Steak will feature Michael Mina caviar classics like the Caviar Parfait, a layered wonder with smoked salmon, egg, créme fraîche, and a fried potato cake; and the Caviar “Twinkee,” Mina's a high-low spin on a Twinkee with red onion, egg, chive, and yuzu créme fraîche.

There will also be lavish seafood towers on offer, as well a made-for-Instagram presentation of whole Dungeness crab, with the meat picked and served inside its shell on top of fregola risotto, with crab fat and uni butter.

As for steak, there will be plenty baller steakhouse items, including the stunning salt-baked and bourbon-flamed 36-ounce Australian Wagyu tomahawk steak seen below.

"I still pinch myself that I had the opportunity to be the young chef here in San Francisco, a city that has never lost its magic and continues to turn out the most amazing chefs and restaurants in the world," says Mina, in a statement. "The goal of opening Bourbon Steak here, alongside The Eighth Rule with my friend Stephen Curry, is to continue to celebrate the grandness in a way only San Francisco can. These spaces are dynamic. They’re showcasing ingredients, product, and talent in new ways. They’re designed to bring people together in a spirit of community."

Mina adds, "I am forever grateful to this city, and at this point in my career I am so blessed that I get to come back with the goal of giving something back to the place that has always been there for me."

Sidebar: Mina is reportedly now working with dealmaker Lisbeth Barron, the head of Barron International Group, in the next phase of growth for the Mina Group. Barron notably helped broker the $215 million sale of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2019, and she has also worked with celebrity chefs Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck.

The bar at Bourbon Steak and Bourbon Lounge features a drink called the Michael Mina 2014, which was inspired by Mina's signature tuna tartare at his eponymous restaurant, feautring Appleton Estate 8-Year Rum infused with toasted pine nuts, Campari, lemon juice, and a housemade spiced Asian pear syrup.

There is also a Japanese Old Fashioned inspired by Mina's other SF restaurant Pabu, made with Steph Curry's Gentleman's Cut Bourbon and Okinawa black sugar. And there a nod to the late, great RN74, which is a clarified tequila milk punch with French herb foam.

At The Eighth Rule (photos coming soon), we're told there will be a six-course omakase-style cocktail tasting menu — which will include a seasonal highball, a clarified coconut milk punch, a truffle-vanilla whiskey sour, and three half-size, barrel-aged cocktails designed as a “barrel moment” finale. And, befitting any upscale whiskey bar, there will be vintage bottles and choice brands behind the bar including Angel’s Envy, Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel, Weller Antique, and Bruichladdich.

Bourbon Steak and The Eighth Rule both open Friday, October 10.

Find Bourbon Steak reservations here, and Eighth Rule reservations here.