Willkommen San Francisco

Take-out and delivery are great in these (mostly) SIP times, but ones gets a little stir crazy and wants to get out every now and then. Something which seems evident in the number of folks you out and about more and more. Though props, here in SF, does look like the vast majority are wearing masks!😷

Beyond getting out for run, sometimes I just wanna walk around the city like I used to, even though “authorities” would rather I didn’t. The restlessness takes over on a weekend on a not too hot or windy day and suddenly I am dressed and out the door with no particular place to go.

I used to do this a lot to give the SO some alone time in the apartment and me out and about to randomly explore whatever. No direction. No plan. (they weren’t a fan of not knowing) And maybe a stop or two for some photos or a little nosh. It all kind of fits my MO as planning ahead for what I’m gonna eat is difficult as I never really know what I am going to be in the mood for until hunger actually hits me. Even then, I will still peruse multiple window menus till something strikes my taste buds (again, they were sooo not a fan).

On this particular day, I found myself wandering Potrero Hill, SOMA, through Hayes Valley and up through The Castro—a place I had not been in quite a few months, seeing as how my barber there has now permanently closed!!!! So sad, since I need the haircut super bad and yes, I’m being tantrum selfish right now. It’s my moment. But I do feel bad for my barber not being able to cut. He’s been doing my hair for 20 years. Fingers crossed he can land somewhere and we can mask up and get ‘er done.

Wait, I digress, this journey really was about food, especially since walking works up an appetite. Some restaurants around town are actually open, at least those with access to outside dining like back decks, parklettes, closed off streets and most common, sidewalk tables. Sadly, not all restaurants have this kind of access and the number of places in the Bay Area that are closing permanently continues to rise. You can find some running lists here and here. A bad state of affairs for all involved and thus the need to support your favorite as best you can. Or in this case, one I haven’t tried before but had seen all the opening press for last year, Willkommen. An offshoot of the local brewers Black Hammer Brewing who have their main location down SOMA way.

Yes, a German beer hall in The Castro of all places. German restaurants in SF are not a new thing as a quick Google search will show you at least twelve including another beer hall, Radhaus, down by Fort Mason and the outdoor Biergarten in Hayes Valley. Now the Gays can have their own because who doesn’t love a loud drunk German! Or a loud drunk Gay! Or both all in one! I kid, sort of.

I don’t really consider myself a beer connoisseur, I’m more of a cheap wine lush, but I do enjoy a good German sausage—ba dum dum! It is like the jokes write themselves people. And walking past this place, I take a gander at their menu and am intrigued and hungry enough to give them a try. Plus, they have all these open tables out on the sidewalk where I can sit and rest my weary feet while watching the street theater of a homeless guy changing his pants (commando of course) while a woman yells at him to put his pants on. Not catching the irony that is exactly what he is trying to do if she would only stop yelling at him. Yes, you gotta love SF, or maybe not. I’m in it to win it and gonna stick it out. But I digress, again, so let’s bring on the beer and meat and make the most of it.

The food was an easy pick for me. Here you pick your type of sausage or brat then choose how you want it served up. By bun, by itself, on a plate with sides, etc. I’m hungry and going in for the full on plate with sides.

**Wisconsin cheddar brat with warm potato salad and red cabbage**

I wanted to be a little traditional and zeroed in on the cheddar brat—smoked pork mixed with Wisconsin white cheddar and served with traditional German sides of warm potato salad and warm red cabbage. I will say right off the bat, I loved it! This folks is comfort food on a plate, a meat and two if you please. The sausage is grilled to order and oozed both steam and gooey sharp cheddar to compliment the smokey pork within. I’ve had warm potato salad before and prefer it to the standard picnic staple. Here you get the soft thin slices of red potatoes mixed with bits of bacon, chives and some spicy mustard which gives it a little kick. I’m also a fan of traditional German warm red cabbage. I like cole slaw but something about the cabbage when it is cooked with small bits of apple to offset any bitterness. It comes off just a touch sweet to mesh nicely with the tangy potato salad and the rich smoky brat.

Though, as a side not, I don’t why they call it red cabbage when, even its uncooked form it is purple. Just call it purple cabbage. I mean, I know the purple color comes from some pigment molecules called anthocyanins, which are found in flower petals and can cause them to run red in late summer/fall but the cabbage never turns red, it stays purple, so let’s call it that shall we. And thus concludes your nature science lesson for today kids. I swear not to digress—-again! Now bring on the beer!

As mentioned above, beer isn’t really my thing or go to. I’ll drink it at beer halls and places that specialize in it since if I’m gonna indulge, I prefer something super less hoppy and if even better if it has some kind of fruit tinge to it like citrus or sour cherry. Because my pallet is so narrow in this instance, choosing one to partake of took longer than picking out my food. I describe to the bartender what I’m after and from there it becomes a back and forth of small tastes to find….something. And yes, I’ve done this with sommeliers too with varying degrees of success. This time around, by the fifth one I was about to give up when he proffered up something called Brain Laser. It was kind of like a red ale meets a hefeweizen. It had small bearable notes of hops and the citrus was a tangerine, which in this beer, worked well enough for me to enjoy when paired with my smoky brat. You know, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try and try again.

While the food was good and the beer suitably matched one of the bigger pluses for me here was the sausage plate was only $12. That’s right, a filling and satisfying plate of food in SF was a modest price and tasty. I mean, how many spots in town can you really say both of those things about? And in comparison, the glass of beer set me back $9. I mean seriously, that is some big margins there. While I know this is a beer hall and you go there to consume large quantities of beer, I would recommend this place for the hearty comfort food first and beer second since I’m more into food than beer. Regardless of which one you prefer, Willkommen with it’s filling affordable food, variety of beer and numerous outdoor seating tables is worth a socially distanced visit with Germans or Gays or German Gays or whatever your chosen pandemic bubble of friends may be.