Fifth Floor: Technique and Intelligence Prove Hotel Restaurants Can Still Shine

Comments (0) By Jonathan Kauffman Wednesday, Aug 10 2011

...continued from page 1

Kimberly Sandie

Not on the room service menu: Lobster agnolotti with carrot air bubbles.

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Fifth Floor

12 Fourth St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

Category: Restaurant > New American

Region: South of Market

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Muni: Powell stop.

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Attempting to lure in more locals, Fifth Floor's PR wing has been emitting releases about the chef's lounge menu with the frequency of Kardashian tweets. One of those lures is a suite of seasonally themed dishes on the bar menu — right now it's Cape Cod summer. While the clam cakes encrusted in panko are ephemeral, three snacks and two decent but not thrilling cocktails cost $75. We locals can pay less and do better at bars like Comstock Saloon and the Alembic.

One lounge special, though, is worth an afterwork detour: a shot of small-batch bourbon, a pint of beer, and a burger for $25. Encased in a high-domed bun the size of a navel orange, the medium-rare hamburger, leaching pink juices, is clearly made of well-aged beef, with that grassy, robust gaminess that hints at lamb. The moment for burgers in this town is still peaking, and for the moment, Fifth Floor's is one of the best.