The Peruvian community in San Francisco dates back to the Gold Rush, creating abundant Peruvian culinary options across the city. Offerings include sports-bar environments serving lomo saltado and fresh ceviche, counter-service spots near Dolores Park featuring papa a la huancaína and adobo de cerdo, and upscale waterfront restaurants with patios facing the Pacific. Lomo Libre pairs bar seating and wall-mounted TVs with Ocean Beach ceviche, oysters with mango mignonette, and pisco sours. Slot SF Ceviche 19 at Plaza Adelante serves family-style plates and zippy ceviche on plantain chips. La Mar provides a polished setting for ceviche, empanadas, and endless pisco sours.
At first glance, this Peruvian spot in the Sunset looks like any one of the sports bars you'd expect to see around the city. The difference is Lomo Libre serves ceviche with fish we'd guess were caught earlier that day from Ocean Beach, oysters with a tangy mango mignonette, and a hearty lomo saltado with crispy french fries. Pull up to one of the bar stools and watch a soccer game on one of the many wall-mounted TVs. Don't forget to get a pisco sour.
Slot SF Ceviche 19 into your midday rotation for an excellent Dolores Park-adjacent lunch. The counter-service Peruvian spot is located inside Plaza Adelante and has a few tables where you'll see families splitting smothered papa a la huancaína and groups of friends piling zippy ceviche onto plantain chips. Follow suit and, if it's on the menu, get the adobo de cerdo. The aji panca-kissed pork easily pulls apart with the provided spork, and pairs nicely with the saucy beans and rice.
La Mar looks like a Miami Beach hotel lobby, with a big woven squid hanging overhead, teal booths, floor-to-ceiling windows, and indoor palms. The waterfront patio facing the Pacific is the best setting for never-ending pisco sours over ceviche that gets our tang receptors firing, and flaky empanadas that let out a hot puff of steam when you tear into them.
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