Restaurant in San Francisco, United States
Mission bistro that earns two 2025 awards.
Side A is a modern American bistro and vinyl listening bar in San Francisco's Mission District, recognised on both the Resy Hit List and San Francisco Chronicle's Best New Restaurants lists for 2025. It is the right booking for a special occasion dinner where atmosphere and a neighbourhood-rooted room matter more than tasting-menu formality. Booking is easy — a week out is enough for most dates.
Two awards in its first year of operation is a strong signal. Side A landed on both the Resy Leading of the Hit List (2025) and the San Francisco Chronicle Leading New Bay Area Restaurants (2025) list within months of opening — a debut that puts it among the most-watched new openings in the Mission District. If you are deciding whether to book a new American bistro for a special occasion in San Francisco, Side A earns a clear yes, particularly if the combination of a thoughtful room, serious wine, and high-fidelity vinyl playback appeals to you.
Side A operates as a modern American bistro and vinyl listening bar at 2814 19th St in the Mission. The room was built around the bones of Universal Café, a longtime neighborhood fixture, and the design respects that history rather than erasing it. Owners Parker and Caroline Brown brought a Midwestern hospitality sensibility to the space: the kind of place where the warmth reads as genuine rather than performative. The vinyl listening bar component is not a gimmick — high-fidelity sound is treated as a first-class element of the dining experience, which makes Side A a different proposition from a standard bistro booking. If you want a room that rewards lingering over a second glass of wine, this is a strong candidate.
For a special occasion, Side A hits a particular sweet spot. It is new enough to feel like a discovery, but already carrying enough critical weight to justify the booking to a guest who needs reassurance. The atmosphere skews warm and neighborhood-rooted rather than formal and ceremonial, which makes it better suited to a celebratory dinner between people who actually want to talk than to an anniversary dinner requiring white-glove service theatre. If the latter is what you need, Atelier Crenn or Quince will serve you better.
The venue database does not confirm a dedicated private dining room, so if a fully separated private space is a requirement for your booking, contact Side A directly before committing. What the available data does suggest is that the room's intimate, neighborhood-bistro character makes it well-suited to small group dinners where atmosphere matters as much as the food. The vinyl listening bar format adds a social dimension that larger, more formal venues lack: there is something to talk about beyond the menu. For groups of four to eight celebrating a birthday or work milestone, that communal energy works in your favour. For a corporate dinner requiring AV equipment and a private room contract, look elsewhere.
Side A sits in a different price tier from San Francisco's headline fine-dining rooms. Lazy Bear, Benu, and Saison all operate at the $$$$ level with tasting-menu formats and booking windows measured in weeks. Side A's bistro format means you are choosing between two different dining philosophies, not just two price points. If your priority is maximum culinary ambition and a structured progression of courses, book Benu. If you want a room that feels alive and neighbourhood-rooted, where the music is as considered as the wine list, Side A is the stronger choice at what is almost certainly a lower price point.
If Side A is your kind of place, here is where to look next. For the full San Francisco picture, our San Francisco restaurants guide covers the city's leading tables across every format and price point. For where to stay, the San Francisco hotels guide has the current short list. Explore bars, wineries, and experiences in the city as well.
For the Bay Area's most ambitious fine dining, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg and The French Laundry in Napa are the benchmarks. Beyond California, notable comparisons include Alinea in Chicago for progressive American cooking, Providence in Los Angeles for West Coast fine dining, Le Bernardin in New York City for classical precision, Atomix in New York City for a tasting-menu format with a strong design sensibility, Emeril's in New Orleans for a different take on American bistro cooking, and Alain Ducasse at Louis XV in Monte Carlo for the European fine-dining reference point.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| SIDE A | Easy | ||
| Lazy Bear | Progressive American, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Atelier Crenn | Modern French, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Benu | French - Chinese, Asian | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Quince | Italian, Contemporary | $$$$ | Unknown |
| Saison | Progressive American, Californian | $$$$ | Unknown |
Comparing your options in San Francisco for this tier.
Side A is a modern American bistro and vinyl listening bar on 19th St in the Mission, and it moves fast for a new restaurant — two major 2025 awards (Resy Hit List and SF Chronicle Best New) in its first year signal real momentum. The format is bistro-with-records: expect a neighbourhood room with genuine hospitality rather than a formal dining experience. Go in knowing the music is part of the deal, not background noise.
Specific menu details are not confirmed in our data, so ordering specifics should be checked directly with the restaurant. What is confirmed: Side A operates as a modern American bistro, so the menu will sit in that register — expect wine-friendly plates built for the neighbourhood format rather than a tasting-menu structure.
Two 2025 awards in its first year mean Side A is not flying under the radar. Book at least one to two weeks out, and further ahead for weekend evenings. Specific reservation policy and availability windows are best confirmed directly with the venue at 2814 19th St.
Yes, with the right expectations. Side A earned its SF Chronicle and Resy recognition as a neighbourhood bistro, so the atmosphere is warm rather than ceremonial. It suits a birthday dinner or anniversary where the priority is great food and wine in a convivial room, not formal tableside service. For a more theatrical special-occasion setting, Lazy Bear or Atelier Crenn offer that format instead.
For a comparable Mission-neighbourhood feel with strong food credentials, check what else Pearl covers in the area. For a step up in formality and price, Lazy Bear (tasting menu format), Benu, and Quince all operate at the $$$$ tier with a different experience entirely. Side A is the call if you want award-backed cooking without the fine-dining commitment.
The venue database does not confirm specific dietary accommodation policies. As a modern American bistro, the format typically allows for flexibility, but contact Side A directly at 2814 19th St, Mission District, before booking if dietary requirements are a deciding factor for your group.
A vinyl listening bar format is generally well-suited to solo diners — counter or bar seating, music as company, and a room designed around drop-in neighbourhood hospitality. The SF Chronicle and Resy recognition reinforce that this is a place people return to, which is a reasonable proxy for solo comfort. Confirm seating options when you book.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
