Zarzuela

In last Wednesday’s Food Section of the SF Chronicle, Michael Bauer gave Zarzuela a glowing review. To read the article on SFGate, click here. I have wanted to go to Zarzuela for as long as I’ve lived in SF. I remember passing by it everyday on my way home on the #41 Bus running down Union Street and ever since I got back from my trip to Spain in the spring of last year, I’ve wanted to enjoy anything Spanish. Zarzuela has been serving up authentic Spanish tapas for 15 years, bringing a little bit of Spain into everyone’s dining experience. 

After reading MB’s review, it seemed like the perfect time to push myself to get out there and try it. We were warmly greeted by the host and snagged the last two top in the restaurant. They don’t take reservations so were lucky to get seated right away. Plus, who knows how many people read the review that day and had the same idea as us! They offer a variety of hot and cold traditional Spanish tapas including cured meats and cheeses, anchovies, sauteed mushrooms, squid and calamari. We could not resist the Jamon Iberico that they were offering as a special. Not only difficult to get but this Spanish cured ham can cost up to $500/lb! Jamon Serrano is $100/lb at Cheese Plus and the Iberico is the cream of the crop! This was certainly a real treat. Served with traditional (bland) toast with tomato, I could have eaten 5 plates of this and been completely content. The $28 was well spent! One of my favorite things to eat in Spain was the octopus. We would travel from tapas bar to tapas bar, always ordering the Catalan pulpo when available. This one was poached and served with potatoes and olive oil. Not nearly as superb as Barcelona but still very good. Our third tapas was the chorizo sausage with wine. This was grilled in a cast iron pan and the sausage was flavorful and spicy but a little on the greasy side. My favorite was still the ham! Another signature dish of Spain is the Catalan Stew which was a mixed seafood stew with tomato base broth. This was filled with fish, scallops, shrimp, mussels, and clams. We devoured the entire bowl including sopping up the sauce with our bread. In addition the food, we enjoyed a spectacular carafe of sangria. At $20/carafe it is affordable and one of the best sangrias I’ve ever had!

So far Zarzuela seems to offer the most authentic Spanish food I’ve been able to find in SF. I will definitely want to go back perhaps even with a bigger group to try more things. They had so many seafood tapas I wanted to try in addition to the paella. At $16.95/person, it is probably one of the best deals in town. Also, while using the facilities, they have a whole back section that could easily serve a large party of at least 10 people. Partnered with great tapas and sangria, it would make the perfect low-key place for a private dinner party.

(415) 346-0800
Online Menu