“Regalo” means present, or gift. Regalito was originally Thomas Peña’s little gift to the Mission. The little green/brown box has been around for about 10 years, but was purchased by the current owners just a couple years ago. The premise of Regalito – still a family-run restaurant – however, is the same: locally sourced, quality, fresh ingredients used in classic and updated Mexican dishes, in a light-filled, modern setting. They’re proud of their free-range, hormone-and-antibiotic-free meats.
I came here when it first opened, and remembered not being totally wowed by the food (my sister, however, remembers loving their carnitas back then), though the space was as lovely then as it is now.
Local artists’ pieces line the walls, which are painted in vibrant hues that evoke something more upscale than your run-of-the-mill taqueria. The glass shelf above the counter holds bowls of fresh limes, oranges and avocados above the heads of the cooks in their open kitchen. The shining star of the place, however, is their patio seating…
A beautiful, long, hand-carved, wooden table extends through a wood paneled narrow dining room, which opens up onto a small but lush garden, housing a statue of the Virgin Mary. It’s a place of cool respite, and you can sit there even if there are only two of you, if a big party hasn’t already booked it. Nice to while away a sunny afternoon with a few glasses of sangria.…
They also have a small but tasty wine list, and agave margaritas.
I have to say, the food on our first visit back was better than it was ten years ago, for me. To begin, the BF and I shared a starter of pork taquitos.
Now, I’m a total sucker for taquitos, even those frozen ones that come with a packet of green “avocado” sauce.
These were excellent. Super crispy, filled with tender carnitas, topped with crema, queso fresco, cilantro, and pico de gallo. Four to an order so you can’t get too full before dinner. While I did miss the avocado sauce, Regalito’s homemade habanero salsa will wake up your taste buds. If I hadn’t had to share, I could make a meal of these.
For my main, I ordered the chicken mole.
I’ve tried mole in a few places, and I’ve made it at home once. I can’t say I’ve always been a huge fan, but Regalito’s was good – deep, richly flavored, smoky from the dried chilis, hints of sesame seed. The chicken was tender, too. Their rice is rather bland, which is a shame. I totally judge a Mexican restaurant by its rice. It’s the most basic thing, but not everyone nails it. That’s when that habanero salsa earns its keep.
Their homemade tortillas are wonderful – corny, with a good, chewy texture, not crumbly or dense. I like making all things on my plate into tacos, so you can bet we finished all these.
The BF ordered green chicken enchiladas…
His rice came on the side.
These were delicious, and the BF rarely orders chicken over beef or pork. The sauce was fresh tasting and again, the chicken was tender and not at all dried out, despite it being breast meat.
What struck me the most about these three dishes were that they weren’t huge, not the typical overflowing platters you see at old-style Mexican restaurants. But we left completely full.
At some point in our meal, a party of six, a family, came and sat next to us at the communal table and they all ordered burritos – just like you’d get at any Mission taqueria. They seemed to enjoy them, but I don’t see the point of ordering a burrito here when you can get them all around the Mission. They were competitively priced, however, and even though the BF was happy with his meal, he wished he’d ordered a burrito! He’s one of those people. (On my second visit, I brought him one home. Barbacoa (bbq shredded beef). I tasted a teensy bit of the beef – I found it nicely spiced, flavorful. The BF, however, found it too cinnamon-y, with too much rice and no salsa or sauce inside. So, meh on the burritos – better to get one at one of the dozens of taquerias around the neighborhood.)
The service was super warm and friendly, attentive and kind, without being too hover-y.
The next visit, I went with my sister & her girlfriend. Unfortunately there were a few misses that night.
Our guacamole, however, was not one of them.
Besides the fact that the guac needed a little salt (in fairness, however, my sister and I are people that by all rights should carry salt licks with us everywhere we go), it was creamy, yet had nice chunks of avocado, and not too limey. The tortillas are fried crispy, whole, and you crack them up yourself to scoop up the silky goodness.
My sister ordered the cochinita pibil – one of the most well-known Yucatecan dishes – a shredded pork dish that has been cooked in a banana leaf with citrus juices, achiote, and other spices. I thought it was tasty, but the pork was a bit dry. The slaw that came with this dish, however, was delicious, and I wished I’d asked what was in it.
Cabbage, obviously, and cilantro and jalapeno, in a tangy dressing….and the pickled onions were tart/sweet and yummy. The black beans, sadly, were rather flavorless.
The GF ordered the signature Regalito roast chicken – taking one for the team. Someone had to; after all, the other part of Regalito’s name is “Rosticeria” or “rotisserie.” The pork in all the dishes here is rotisseried, as is the chicken. This was the heftiest entrée of all those we ordered on either visit.
So big, it was hard to cut without the food spilling onto the table! Half a roasted chicken, in a chile-garlic marinade, with crispy fried potatoes and stewed greens. The marinade was tasty, but unless you got some on every bite, the chicken wasn’t all that flavorful, and when she got to the breast meat, it was a dry. I loved the potatoes, because I’m a potato freak, and the greens had a nice bitter kick to them.
We also got an order of brussels sprouts to share…. Sorry for the fuzzy photo!
They were really good, with an almost buttery quality to them, but we decided it must just be a good rich chicken stock they were cooked in. I’d order them again.
For my main, I ordered the carne asada:
Yay, more guacamole! My steak may look overdone, but it was actually medium rare, just as I’d ordered it, and very flavorful, with a nice char on the outside. I was happy with my dish, despite the not-great rice.
And because it is my sister, we ordered dessert.
Even for not being a sweets-eater, I adore bread pudding. This one was pretty tasty, but the center was hard, as if the bread hadn’t soaked long enough, and there were about 500,000 raisins to every square inch of bread. I like raisins, but come on. Too bad, because the flavor was actually quite nice.
My sister and her GF didn’t think the value was there; they felt the meal was pricier than it should have been. Given that my first meal with the BF was so good, I couldn’t agree 100%, but I did see where they were coming from. If you’re charging double the price of what Mexican food normally costs, even with the pedigreed, hormone-free, locavore ingredients, it had all better be consistently excellent.
But I’d go back, despite the not-stellar second visit. There are still dishes I’d like to try here, on the strength of our first visit. I even recommended it to a friend the other day. And their brunch menu is enticing. Their chile rellenos, for one, look and sound fantastic – stuffed with squash, queso Cotija, and crema; served with beets and black beans – and I’d love to try their chilaquiles. I think they care enough to get things right; they just need to figure out how to do it every time.
Regalito Rosticeria
3481 18th Street (near corner of Valencia)
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-503-0650
http://www.sfregalito.com/
Thanks for the review. Haven’t been there in years. Will have to check in.
I adore this restaurant. I wish them all the best, but one of the great things about it is it is never too crowded. Such good food, kind staff, thoughtful service.
I love the Place, every time I go to The Mission District, I go to the Restaurant.