Once considered 'quiet,' this SF neighborhood is now bustling with restaurants

"By the front door of the 3-year-old Inner Sunset restaurant, two women share stories about their daughters over translucent, kombu-cured crudo. A family of five, by the corner window, celebrates a birthday as they all take turns pulling the flesh from a whole butterflied branzino. And I'm having a remarkably tender lamb shank cooked in a Sichuan peppercorn sauce that is paired with delicate and buttery roti."

""While it's rooted in this old-school west side of San Francisco kind of umbrella, along with the Outer Sunset and the Richmond district, they have that native San Franciscan mentality to them," MoMo's owner Scott Morton told SFGATE. He lives nearby and frequents Fiorella and other restaurants a lot with his family. As such, he's wanted to open a new business in the Inner Sunset for years, and he recently announced plans to unveil Maggie & Mac's, a neighborhood bar and grill concept coming next spring."

Kothai Republic, a neighborhood restaurant focused on modern Asian interpretations, fills up on weeknights and serves dishes like kombu-cured crudo, butterflied branzino, and a tender lamb shank in Sichuan peppercorn sauce with roti. The Inner Sunset corridor around Ninth Avenue and Irving Street hosts a new wave of stellar food businesses while maintaining longtime establishments, creating a durable neighborhood character. The area blends an old-school west-side San Francisco umbrella with a native San Franciscan mentality and a burgeoning younger element, producing cross-pollination between different dining universes. New openings like Maggie & Mac's will further expand the neighborhood bar and grill options.

Read at SFGATE