Bellota, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Bellota 888 Brannan St #110 San Francisco, CA 94103 (415) 430-6580

Great Spanish Seafood. Why did we dine here? – Bellota (Acorn in Spanish), a new Spanish restaurant, is part of The Absinthe Group. This is a beautiful restaurant in the building that houses Air BnB. Be sure to visit the bathroom, you will see the impressive atrium.  We have eaten both lunch and dinner here.

• Check out our reviews of Spain’s Best Food, including Barcelona, San Sebastian, Madrid.

Bellota’s Executive Chef Ryan McIlwraith crafts an eclectic menu of meats grilled on a wood-fired hearth, inventive paellas, Old World stews, fresh seafood, medium-sized tapas, imported charcuterie and cheeses, as well as slow-roasted vegetable dishes.

Insider Tip – Cheaper to eat at lunch, but this place is made for dinner. Order Paella first thing

Cuisine – Spanish
Location – Soma
Opened – 2016

Service – Bellota had below average service. The waitress was barely around, and the water filler appeared far more often.
Verdict – Bellota is definitely a destination restaurant, visited at its best during dinner. The menu is more extensive and the place is a scene. The food was very good, but the service need a tune up on our lunch visit.

If you like Spanish Tapas, be sure to also try Zarzuela in SF.

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes. 30 minute? Yes. 1 Hour? Maybe.

Bellota Signature Dishes – Paella

Bellota’s Menu is pretty extensive. At lunch, there are several salads, open face sandwiches, grilled items, tapas, and paella.

Website Bellota Menu

Bellota Food Picks:
Albaricoque ($8) toasted apricot, rosemary, orange, lemon, soda hit the spot.

Sangria ($12) is a tall glass with black berry, orange, and other fruits. Sets the mood for a Spanish meal.

Bellota 5j, jamon iberico de bellota, sliced to order, pan con tomate ($32) is great. This ham has so much flavor and eating it with the toast proved wonderful. Reminds us of Barcelona.

Bravas ($13) crisped, kennebec potatoes, chipotle bravas salsa, smoky alioli is another must get dish. Perfect crispness.

Coliflor ($13) roasted, cumin-spiced cauliflower & romanesco, queso-chili dip was a nicely done vegetable dish with enough twists.

Pulpo ($24) hearth-roasted octopus, hazelnut romesco, smoked potato, preserved lemon alioli was recommended and hit the mark. Tender octopus.

Otono ($12 Lunch) raw, red kale, persimmon, queso fresco dressing, cashew dukkah is an interesting cold salad. This chopped up salad actually works with its various ingredients and strong dressing.

Gambas ($19) olive-oil poached, gulf prawn, kumquat peel, garlic, chili, grilled bread was a clean dish with really fresh small shrimp swimming in olive oil.

Lamburguesa ($19) lamb burger, stewed lengua, mahon cheese, guindilla alioli, pretzel bun is great. A must order for burger fans. Huge patty done to medium rare, and very juicy.

Lechon Paella ($47) Feeds 2 to 4 people. paella, roasted pork shoulder, crispy belly, apple-mustard conserva, saffron, garbanzo is great for the pork fan. It took about 45 minutes and is a very large portion. Lots of ingredients in this classic dish.

Paella de Pluma ($55 for two halves) paella, acorn-fed iberico pork shoulder, jamon iberico, saffron, garbanzo, squash was very good. Could have used more of the richly flavored pork! Be sure to sprinkle the cooked lemon and aioli on the paella.

Lechal Racion ($60) was roasted Don Watson spring lamb, braised shoulder canelon, English peas, carrots, ramp vinegreta. Expensive dish but high quality non-gamey lamb that our server recommended. It was added in 2019.

Arroz Negro – creamy black rice, gulf shrimp, scallop, greenbean, roasted pepper, squid & ink was brought to us later and is fantastic. Definitely the thing to order.

Churros ($12) crispy Spanish doughnuts, dulce de leche, salted chocolate sauce are fantastic and a nice sweet treat.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
Paella de Setas – paella, roasted wild mushroom, kale sprout & leaf, black garlic, pepita, garlic scape was the other half, something we did not order. It is only worth ordering if you are a vegetarian and have to.

Ensalada ($13) mixed lettuces, olive oil migas, shaved fennel & radish, champagne vinagreta is fine but not particularly special.

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
Bica Gallega ($12) Galician sponge cake, roasted strawberry, lemon olive oil ice cream had a dry eggless cake that was not the best.

Do you agree with our review? Have you found other similar restaurants that are better?

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