One thing Industry folks know is their food, service, and cocktails! After all we do the same thing all day/night long so when we go out we are usually the most critical of all diners (but will still tip 20-18% even if we are less than satisfied lol).
One thing we love here at Stuck Serving is dining out and having a good drink/glass of wine after a long day of serving/slaving away. There is nothing better than getting waited on for a change! We know the ins and outs of the industry and often we make the best guests to have because we understand what goes down in a kitchen sometimes and as long as we have an explanation we are good waiting a few extra minutes for our dinner.
Due to our love of dining out and exploring new restaurants and bars we have decided to add a new component to the site, we will be adding reviews based on our experiences, since who better to review restaurants than those who actually work in them!
Please feel free to submit your own personal reviews of any interesting places you dine out as well! We would love to start a industry revolution! Instead of Joe Schmo from Texahoma giving a shitty review because their well done steak took 20 minutes and they didn’t get a refill of free bread, we would rather provide restaurants and bars with a more fair and insightful review from those who know the industry best…us!!
Back to Hops and Hominy… Hops and Hominy is a restaurant located in Union Square, San Francisco at 1 Tillman Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108.
The restaurant itself is located in a side alley, as you walk up you see two wooden picnic style tables in the alley were during certain hours people can eat outside, or later just chill with cocktails while waiting for a table because without a rezo there will be a wait.
We visited on a Friday night around 7 pm and there was about a 20-30 min wait, no problem we went to the bar to check out their extensive list of southern style cocktails. We tried the Gin and Jam, which is Hendricks, house made sour, and house made jam, and also the Porkchops and Applesauce, Bulleit Bourbon infused with bacon, Apple schnapps, and house made sour.
When we were seated, we were greeted promptly with a mini cast iron pan of house made cornbread and honey butter complimentary! So warm and fresh from the oven, it was so good!!!! Our server was great, she approached us immediately and made sure we were ok on drinks and to explain the menu a bit. The only complaint I had about the ambiance is that the tables were pretty close together, I understand the more people you pack in the more money you make but, we were pretty close to our neighbors in the banquettes.
We ordered the Black Eyed Pea Fritters with jalapeno, serrano, leeks, onions, herb aioli. Can I just say…these were BOMB!!!! The portion size was huge and the fritters were perfectly fried and the sauce it came with was delish, the timing on food delivery was spot on as well.
For our entrees I got their burger that was topped with a fried egg and cheddar cheese! My burger was cooked to a perfect med rare, the egg was cooked in the whites and the yolk was nice and runny! Blair was far less pleased with his entree. He got the Carbonara with house made linguini, ham, and pea shoots. Now to preface this, Blair makes the most amazing carbonara from a recipe in Cooks Illustrated he has perfected, it is one of his favorite naughty meals to eat. Whenever he sees a carbonara on a menu he orders it kind of as a challenge to his carbonara.
I will start with the good, pea shoots in carbonara, delicious…so fresh and gave a great flavor. House made linguini was perfectly al dente. The bad, the sauce so watery, the sauce didn’t have the delicious, thick, eggy texture that I’m used to at home! (yay Blair can cook!) Aside from the Carbonara our meal was perfect! I’ve saved the best for last though, our dun dun dun nahhhhh DESSERT!!!
Our dessert was FANTASTIC!!! We had their house made sweet potato ice cream, with marshmallow fluff browned and brown sugar crumble! It was out of control amazing. Mind you this was like 2 weeks out from when I had to be in a wedding dress and I just could not resist sweet potato ice cream with marshmallow!!
Hops and Hominy is a great find in the Union Square area of SF that is usually geared toward tourists with tourist taste. The bar hosts awesome American micro brews and inventive cocktails. This is a great place for happy hour and dinner alike.
We really enjoyed the casual, comfortable vibe here. I was literally in my work uniform and a jacket and I didn’t feel awkward about my dress code. Hops and hominy is a place I would bring my family/friends after parading them around the touristy areas in SF all day. I am looking forward to trying their brunch and will definitely be back for more southern hospitality!!!
- Kristen, StuckServing.com
