Hog and Rocks blurs the line between bar and restaurant

The East Coast grinder ($10 small, $15 large) is fine, but the patty melt ($10) is the sandwich I'd go back for, with its toasted bread, thin but pink-centered hamburger, and layers of melted Emmental, sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions coated in Frisco sauce. Both sandwiches come with undulating, feather-light potato chips, which disappear long before the sandwich is half-eaten.

Where the chef hasn't yet found his balance is with the dishes tailored more toward bistro sensibilities. Sometimes, with an anodyne chop salad ($13) dominated by bitter chicories, he applies too much restraint. It wants more cheese, more meat, more olives (though the sweet-tart Peppadew peppers in the salad deserve their own star vehicle). Sometimes, as when he pairs slices of lamb belly ($13), which are braised and then browned in a cast-iron skillet, so the slices come out both musky and meltingly tender, he pushes too far — the lamb is paired with a creamy, starchy mix of chickpeas, raw cherry tomatoes, and fromage blanc that proves too rich to eat. And occasionally, as with the roast octopus and smashed new potatoes ($11), the cooks simply forget to season and sauce the dish, ruining it.

Jen Siska

This salad blends the bite of arugula with the sweetness of apricots.

Location Info

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Hog and Rocks

3431 19th St.
San Francisco, CA 94110

Category: Bars/Clubs

Region: Mission/ Bernal Heights

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Details

Hog and Rocks
3431 19th St. (at San Carlos), 550-8627, www.hogandrocks.com. 5 p.m.-1 a.m. daily. Wheelchair accessible except for the bar area. Noise level: loud.

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More About

• Scott Youkilis
• Eric Rubin
• Napa
• Food and Cooking
• Eating Out

Even at its worst, what I liked about Hog and Rocks was the thoughtful way it responds to the challenge of being a bar and a restaurant at the same time. Youkilis' dishes are salty, rich, and broad — but they're not jojos and greasy chicken sandwiches. Hog and Rocks' fare resembles the bar-food traditions of other cuisines: Spain's pickled anchovies and chicken croquettes, Korea's seafood pancakes and rice noodles slathered in sweet-spicy sauce, Japan's okonomiyaki and skewers of grilled chicken skin.

And if you can't imagine downing a couple of boilermakers without a side of fries, you can order that, too. Youkilis isn't stupid, after all.