NOPA: The Epitome of SF Brunch

San Francisco brunch is like Disneyland. Everyone loves it at some point in their lives. It's usually too crowded. And the only way to avoid lines is if you get there early... like when it opens early.

It's also like Disneyland in the metaphorical sense of being a haven, but one which is full of bacon and bloody mary's rather than turkey legs and roller coasters.

My favorite "go-to" brunch spots are Zazie and Brenda's Meat and Three. On your left is the split my roomate and I always order at Brenda's. On top is the pulled pork eggs benedict. On the bottom you have a french toast with added butter pecan sauce.

But I have sidetracked. Brunch will do this to me. Back to NOPA.

My sister and I decided that for Christmas this year, instead of presents, we wanted to have a "treat. yo. self." fancy, boozy brunch. We tried to make a reservation at NOPA a few weeks out and were rejected (Note: it is advisable to make reservations 1 to 2 months in advance). We arrived when the restaurant opened, and put our name down. Well, our party ended up being 6 people instead of 2, and so we had to wait for an hour and a half (which honestly, for SF, ain't so bad). In the meanwhile, we danced around at Alamo square. Literally. See below.

We were seated at 12:30pm and ordered a round of Bloody Mary's and Mimosa-like drinks. My Bloody Mary was really outstanding. It was potent (this is critical), spicy, and had a pickled vegetable quality. It had its own twist, and it was delicious.

For brunch, my main brunch partner (see the Brenda's split above) and I decided to split the NOPA burger and quiche. We later discovered when the "quiche" was served that it had been changed last minute to a bread pudding. Our table, despite ordering THREE quiches, had not been informed of this by the server. Kind of lame. But alas, they took away the bread pudding and allowed us to order something else. We went with a slow roasted pork with a fried egg, slaw, and barley stew.

The hamburger was perfectly cooked. I prefer my meat cooked medium-rare. Meat should not be murdered by way of "well done", it should be pink on the inside. We added gruyere cheese. Because cheese.

 This pork dish was amazing. It was warm, comforting, and full of complementary flavors.

Everyone sipped on their drinks, stuffed their faces, and chatted the day away. We were all quite content with our meals (I forgot to mention we also ordered herbed buttermilk biscuits, which were AMAZING). Then, to make up for the quiche vs. bread incident of 2015, our server brought us a warm cookie plate with creme fraiche ice cream, on the house. Cookies will do wonders to brighten my mood.

I've been to NOPA for both dinner and brunch now, and both times the food was on point. Although slightly dissapointed with the service at brunch, the servers made up for it quickly. Besides, the food really speaks for itself.

Remember, when it comes to food, it's always better to treat yo self.