restaurant review - thristy bear

last night, my friends and i went to thirsty bear to celebrate theresa's birthday. i've been to thirsty bear before with my co-workers during happy hour so i knew that food was good and that's why i suggested we celebrate there.





what we had:

Costillas
Baby back ribs glazed with smoky mustard bbq glaze & white bean-chantrelle ragout

Carne a la Parilla
Grilled hanger steak with mojo piquante, grilled green onions & oven dried tomatoes

Albondigas Spanish meatballs with wild mushrooms & chickpeas

Paella Valenciana
Saffron rice, chicken, chorizo, clams, mussels & shrimp with roasted peppers & peas

we also had grilled pork loin and fish, but they aren't on the website so no detail description on those =)

anyway, the food was good. servings (except for the paella), despite being filed under the heading "heartier plates" were smaller compaired to other restaurants but they were filling nonetheless. hindi yung 'american serving' na good for 3 people! the servings were a good size, enough to fill up a person with a not-so-big appetite.

the paella serving was large enough for two people to share. our only complaint regarding the paella was that the shrimp was not peeled. hehe maarte no? but it was good...if i were not on my south beach diet, i would have ordered the paella myself.

we had dessert, too. the Boca Negra (chocolate torte with whipped cream, ruby port syrup & chocolate sauce), Flan de Queso (cheesecake flan), and apple pie (i think). we were all ice cream junkies so all the desserts were ordered, ala mode. they were all good. i particularly liked the flan de queso, a good twist to the traditional flan. the cream cheese cuts the sweetness of the flan.

some had spanish wine, some had beer, some had sangrias and cocktails. the cocktails were potent, the wine could have been better (california wines are better, but maybe i'm just biased), i don't like cinnamon in my sangria, the beer was good (it's a brewery after all!). the drink menu was so extensive, there's bound to be something that will please every person's thirst.

the downside:

parking is a hassle, just like anywhere else in downtown san francisco. difficult to find street parking and expensive parking garages.

maybe a little too loud to carry a good conversation, not a very good place to go on a first date hehehe. but still 'quieter' than your average bar.



overall, thirsty bear is a good place to hang out, eat, and drink. prices are not too steep...although we racked up a bill that's over $300! but there was 13 of us and gratuity was included...everyone enjoyed their meal and had fun so it was all worth it.