The Other Critics

Hirsch Revels in the Industry-Friendly Window Operation Known as The Box

The Box, at night.
The Box, at night. Photo: John B./Yelp

Critic Jesse Hirsch stumbles upon a food stand in a window next to a dive bar down an alley in SoMa called, simply, The Box. It’s adjacent to Tempest Bar on Natoma between 5th and 6th, and the chef is Stephen Crawford, who spent two years working at Michael Mina. The target audience is restaurant and bar workers looking to grab a cheap, late-night bite, but there are a fair number of drunks stumbling over from the next-door bar. Hirsch highly recommends the cemita sandwich (“Threads of ancho-braised pork spilled forth, basting my arms in a fierce salsa roja.”), the goat cheese-bacon croquettes, the fried Brussels sprouts, and the Box Burger with “bacon-shallot gastrique sauce, spinach, Schmitz Ranch chuck, and a potato-pepper bun from Panorama.” FYI, it’s open until 1 a.m. nightly. [SF Examiner]

Hirsch Revels in the Industry-Friendly Window Operation Known as The Box