Thank you to our travel writer Kathy Chin Leong for finding this gem of a restaurant!
At El Lopo, if you can’t decide what to eat, tell the waiter you’ll surrender to the “Take-Care-Of-Me” menu. The chef will whip up a surprise. Join the “Take-Care-Of –Me club for more wows and discounts each time you come. If you order during Happy Hour, you can gift a stranger a free second drink. Cultivating community with fun is what owner Daniel Azarkman dreamed of when he opened El Lopo six years ago. While not a full fledged restaurant, this is not your typical bar, either. It’s about well-thought-out tapas and shared plates and beverages – memorable to a fault. Equally important are relationships with patrons who become friends. Case in point: Not long ago, Azarkman took customers on tour through Spain visiting top-quality vendors he knew personally.
The unassuming haunt sits on Polk Street. The deep, narrow space remains somewhat dim even with the chain of bulbs strung above. On the left, there’s a retail wall touting smoked olive oil, anchovy stuffed olives, and tins of sardines. The must-have swag is the El Lopo black hoodie for $40. On the right is a long bar with vases of dried flowers.
On our maiden journey, my husband Frank and I share a leather menu stamped with the image of a wolf (El Lopo means “the wolf” in Spanish). El Lopo’s distinguishing feature is sherry, offering more vintages than any lounge in San Francisco. Daniel and his team educate patrons on the fortified beverage, stressing that the stuff is not the super sweet drink people cross off their drink list. He delivers on a vast array of sherries which originate from the Basque region. You can order sherry flights to understand its nuances.
We ordered a bowl of mussels with a tomato broth so exquisite that other customers have begged for the recipe. We loved the Iberico pork stew with chickpeas, root vegetables within a precise, aromatic broth. It was accompanied by roasted baby broccolini, plus an anchovy salad not over-salted. The savory bread pudding using sourdough came with a dollop of whipped cheese – my fave. The recipe was an afterthought as the team was figuring out what to do with leftover sourdough. Genius.
Food is serious business here as the chef heads to the farmer’s market twice weekly. Offerings change constantly, depending on what’s teeming with freshness at a local stall. Perch yourself towards the end of the bar to watch the cook in action. Tapas arrive one or two at a time. There is no dessert. Why? Daniel observes that dessert signals the end of a meal, and “we want people to feel they can reorder things so they can linger.”
And linger they do. Singers croon during weekly “sherry-oke” night. On industry night, drink discounts are given to food and beverage workers. Neighborhood pals come as often as three times a week. If it is not too busy, Daniel will customize a drink according to your palette. For me, he produced a carbonated lemon and sherry cocktail crowned with an orange sliver; for my husband, it was a kumquat sherry cocktail, rimmed with dried ground grapefruit peel and sugar.
In the mood to try something delicious and unconventional? Head to El Lopo, where it’s more than okay to wolf down your order.
El Lopo Restaurant
1327 Polk St.
San Francisco, CA
401-237-3072
Visit the El Lopo website for more information
