SR24

Good Riddance, this place was bland and forgettable.
The only redeeming thing I remembered about my experience having lunch here was an ok cocktail, but I would not want to traverse to this awkward location for an overpriced drink, with snotty service.

why is the closed box locked, Unilocal?
they are closed, Unilocal.honest. i’m sad about it too.

The speed at which Temescal turned continues to amaze. Just five short years ago it was still a neighborhood that maybe you thought twice about parking in. You might still, but you go ahead and do it anyway, because the food offerings are now too much to let pass. You can leave your windows down in Rockridge, fo sho, but the vittles can no longer compete.
In the pocket of a friend I visited SR 24 Friday last. It’s in the odd little triangle made by big roads. It’s two blocks from my house. It opened last year and I had no idea it was even there.
There’s a bunch of four star reviews here and they all say nice things and I can’t but wonder if the location makes it difficult for folks to rave and rave. I separate the inside from the outside. The parking and the beggar’s banquet and the potholes in the Avenue — they’re outside.
Inside are pot pies and tomato soup served with wedges of grilled cheese. Steaming plates of mussels and a counter where it doesn’t seem too difficult to get a seat. Bread and butter and happy helpful servers. Seats with pillows, nooks, and a great big chalkboard full of things to try.
If you’re from away this is an excellent spot to incorporate into your night out. It’s 10 minutes from Shotgun Players, 15 from the Berkeley Rep, Freight and Salvage, etc. You’ll need to park then drive again, which may be a hassle, but wit the proper planning it can be easily done.
If you’re local, if you live two blocks away, SR 24 is truly another gem in a now seriously studded crown.

I have been to SR24 many times.
I love their cocktails, especially the Yuyos.
I recommend the Braised Pork Belly with Black-​Eyed Peas & Ancho Chile.
The Pizza of the day never disappoints me.
Their Crab Pizza and Pork Belly Pizza with Crab, Cheese, Roasted Garlic Sauce, Basil, & Chili Flakes are delicious.
Their Mac & Cheese is good as well.
I am not crazy about the Pumpkin Jojos.
The Sourdough Bread with Chives & Sea Salt Butter is quite tasty.
When it comes to the desserts, I recommend the Bread Pudding French Toast and the Donuts with Coffee Sauce.
I love the red and black theme of the restaurant.
I look forward to coming back.

Dining should be an experience all encompassing and definitely should hit it on the entrees. SR24 was a bit cramped for my taste, try to request a booth seat, there are about five. A first for me: eating at a resto with bars on the doors and windows. Service was super at the front of the house and at our table.
Thumbs up:
*FREE bread in a paperbag with garlicky room temp butter & cracked pepper. They cut the baguette on the spot, as evidenced by the still soft doughy middle. LOVE.
*Great salads, Caesar with whole anchovies and the Green Goddess was chock full of interesting ingredients.
*French toast bread pudding, we had this TO GO, at the server’s suggestion since it was part of our Travelzoo deal, it was great, even a few hours later, just like he said.
Both entrees fell short:
*Kobe burger, was too sweet w/​the caramelized onions
*My lamb leg was substituted with lamb loin, I thought it was a bit dry, the jus was too watery and lacked flavor, maybe more lamb bacon would have helped.
I may return in the future with a friend, but not for a date night.

3.5 — will round up, the highlights luckily compensated for the disappointments.
Highlights:
The mussel chowder and corn soup. Both delicious and impressive.
The french toast bread pudding. OMG. Crispy, soft, sweet, but not tooo sweet… plus the raspberry sauce on the side with whole raspberries… delightful. Despite being stuffed, I had no problems cleaning the plate.
Disappointing:
Kobe beef burger — kind of dry
Chicken Pot Pie — very dry… it tasted like pot pie, but it was very dry inside, usually i expect some kind of sauce/​gravy. Crust was ok.
Ambiance was nice for a cute date night. Service was friendly, no problems.

I’ve always been jealous of the Brits who all seem to have their ‘local’, where they can go for a pint or a bite and be reasonably sure things won’t change much and they’ll be able to get to know the folks behind the counter. After living in Berkeley for more than 8 years, my hubby and I have struggled to find such places nearby but we may have finally found one in SR24. That may sound surprising but we’ve gone twice now and both times had just a lovely experience, both in terms of food and sevice.
Both times were for the happy hour (don’t forget to get the penny password from FB for your first drink) and while the HH menu is quite limited, there’s plenty to explore and everything is done really really well, right down to the wonderful bread with compound butter. But the service is what makes this place special, from Molly who’s there to offer suggestions and be generally welcoming to the servers and even the chefs who are highly visible in the open kitchen and appear to love what they do and get things done in quiet harmony.
Oh and they have parking.
Don’t be dissuaded by the proximity to the check cashing place across the way and don’t be lured by the hype to stick to just the joints on the main drag in Temescal; this place is a gem.

SR24 is a restaurant for everyone; Great atmosphere, Friendly Staff and Awesome food.
I walked in and was greeted by «Molly» the Maitre’D. She was very knowledgeable with the menu and wine list. She recommended a red from Rutherford Vineyards to compliment my Kobe burger. When she placed the wine on my table, her first words were, «let the wine breath, then taste it.» So, I waited for my burger to arrive, and «hot dang», she was right. The wine blended nicely with the perfectly cooked (Medium rare) Kobe burger. When I bit into the burger; the juices combined with the aioli sauce danced throughout my mouth. I didn’t put the burger down, till it was all gone. My last sips of wine made the perfect end to my meal… wait…don’t forget dessert!!! Ohhhhh, yeahhhhh… Warm Bread Pudding French Toast with apple compote & whip cream… need I say more… Yummm Yummmm Good
Don’t wait, runnnnnnn to SR24
Cheers

Cozy, low lighting, comfort food, and warm friendly service. I had a chicken pot pie, glass of wine, and chocolate cake on my birthday. Our waiter was super sweet. It was perfect. (I also got a bite of the kobe brisket… if beef were candy, it would taste like this.)
Yum, wrap me up in a blanket and let me eat here again.
Of note: I believe they were playing «My Fair Lady» on the big screen above the bar. I’m not sure why but all this good food and a MUSICAL, too?! Love it.

The emperor is wearing tighty-​whities, I am sad to report.
Some birthday dinner. I am embarrassed that I suggested this place to my very patient and accommodating family.
The food was such a huge let-​down. I had some tomato soup that was so bitter and awful, if I’d cooked it at home I’d have thrown it out. My salad was bland.
The pumpkin jojos were greasy and gross. My companions were not too impressed with their food, either. And we dropped over $ 100 here. Holy cannolli.
The only thing good about it was the service — very nice, friendly, efficient, warm and fast. But that is not enough to lead me to ever come back here again.
Unilocal you owe me one. :-(

Saturday Date Night, July 17, 2010
SR24, you’re like one of the men that I dated when I was still on the market. We hit it off. We laughed a lot. Everything was great. I thought you were the one until you stopped calling me.
Just like a new date, I developed a crush on SR24 as soon as we walked in. Being the new kid on the block, SR24 is an asset to the now trendy Temescal neighborhood. It is small but chic. It can probably hold less than 40 people at the most. The walls are painted in burgundy and suspended on the ceilings are wrought iron chandeliers. It is fun to watch the kitchen staff prepare your food at the long open kitchen.

And we did hit it off right away. The staff was pleasant, neighborly and very attentive. He suggested a very nice Argentinian chardonnay for me I really really liked for its sweetness and being refreshing. ($ 5)
What made me decide to check out SR24 was the the PUMPKIN JOJO’s. ($ 5) I love food with funny names. We enjoyed this appetizer of deep-​fried, battered pumpkin strips seasoned with coarse seasalt. It came in a basket-​lined with faux newspaper. Cute! It was hot, fresh and the combination of the sweetness of the pumpkin, saltiness of the sea salt and spicy kick of the chili sauce were fun in the mouth.
I chose a DOUBLE-​THICK PORK CHOP ($ 25). It came with arugula, peach and toasted pine nut salad. What a nice combination. And the pork chop was definitely generous that I had to take half home. One of the best I’ve had. Well-​seasoned, juicy and thick. Perfect! Well-​priced and well-​deserved 5 stars! (My cat, Archie, agrees with me since he was the one who finished off the leftover from the night before.)
Now, my guy was very unhappy with his RIBEYE. For $ 35, this steak was thin and not the most tender. He gave me a bite and although not tough but we would have expected more for the price. As a comparison, we just had a filet mignon at Bobo’s– a steakhouse in SF. My guy’s $ 40 bone-​in filet mignon (for $ 5 more) was so much bigger, juicier, and so tender it was really a melt in our mouth experience.
Although he was jealous of my porkchop, we still agreed that we like SR24 – until our server disappeared and turned into a bartender after we got our food. 20 minutes after we finished our meal, we were drumming our fingers and waiting for the dessert menu. It is not often anymore that I order a dessert at a restaurant but last night I really wanted to try those donuts! We were completely forgotten by our server that we flagged a different one to pay the bill. We were not offered the dessert menu. We left a little disappointed.
Oh, SR24, you had so much potential. You were so delicious. I love that you are cute, use seasonal ingredients and creative with your dishes. I love that you serve Acme bread. I love that you are «guy next door.» You got me a little tipsy with your refreshing wine. Apart from the overpriced steak, I thought you were affordable.
I really wanted to continue our relationship but why did you end up ignoring me? You and your staff work too hard. You probably need to hire more staff to help you so you can pay more attention to me that I deserve.
Maybe a second date? Coz I really dig you. :(
Tab: $ 83 including tax, 18% tip, a glass of wine, an app and 2 entrees.

I live near here, and was looking forward to trying this place — unfortunately, I thought the food was fairly disappointing.
We ordered the pumpkin jojos, mac’n’cheese, pizza special (goat cheese, tomato and bacon), and the pasta special («raviolo» — a single large pillow of pasta, stuffed with halibut mousse and topped with tomatoes).
The jojos were okay, but not great: sort of like deep fried, salty sweet potato fries.
The mac’n’cheese was really disappointing: there was tons of oil, and hardly any cheese! The bread crumb topping was great, but the whole dish was a disconcerting shade of incandescent yellow, and it wasn’t nearly cheesy or creamy enough. We didn’t even finish it, despite my GF and I loving mac’n’cheese.
The pizza was probably the best of the dishes we ordered, although it wasn’t anything special: hard to go wrong with goat cheese, bacon, and tomato. Not anywhere even close to Cheeseboard or Pizzaiolo though.
The pasta was also disappointing: despite the «haliburt mousse» stuffing, the raviolo had almost no flavor. For $ 12, I expected both a nicer pasta and a larger portion.
The service was very good, and they have a great coffee porter. The bill came to $ 60 for two people (including three drinks) — for the quality of the food, definitely not worth it. I’d love to see these guys succeed, but I think they need to make some major improvements. The desserts look good — maybe lunch is better?

This is a vibrantly colored restaurant in a small shopping center at Telegraph and 51^st. The interior is a strong tomato red. The windows overlooking 51^st have grillwork over the outside and vines twine around the metal, softening and shading it.
We had lunch here today w/​Barbara and Jay. We ordered pumpkin jo-​jos to share, plus fries and mushroom bread pudding. Barbara ordered the pizza special, Alan ordered a brisket sandwich, Jay ordered the pulled pork sandwich w/​spicy coleslaw and I ordered a sandwich of grilled chicken thigh w/​avocado and blue cheese. Most sandwiches are served on Acme levain and are accompanied by a rocket salad. I was surprised to see it identified as rocket, a term I’d seen used in New Zealand for arugula. My sandwich came on focaccia, I think. Alan, Barbara and Jay all ordered iced coffee. I ordered iced tea, which to my surprise and pleasure, was matte. They commented on the strength of the coffee. My tea was also good.
The pumpkin jo-​jos arrived first. They had much too much salt and pepper for my taste, so I had only one taste, but the others liked them and finished them off. All the sandwiches were also accompanied by giant, pale Gypsy peppers. My sandwich was delicious, as was the salad. The bites I had of Barbara’s pizza and Alan’s and Jay’s sandwiches were also very good. I didn’t think the spicy slaw was that spicy (a good thing in my book) and Jay, who likes spice, agreed, remedying the lack w/​the addition of my Gypsy pepper and his. The fries were tasty and crispy. The bread pudding was neither as moist nor as mushroomy as I expected. We had more than enough food, though. We each took a bite or two of it and that was sufficient.
The space is attractive and comfortable and the offerings are imaginative and flavorful. The bathrooms are shared w/​the Mexican restaurant next door. They are large, well maintained and handicapped accessible. Service was friendly, attentive and professional. It’s a nice addition to the burgeoning Temescal restaurant scene and we’ll be back.

For food: 5 stars. For comfort: 1 star. These chairs/​benches are torture devices, pure and simple. And the waitstaff, despite wonderful enthusiasm, makes the meal drag on longer than it should, so you’re pretty much a cripple by the time you pay the check.
Nonetheless, this is a terrific bistro when Chef/​owner Woodall is doing the cooking. This guy can really cook, and he puts his heart and soul into every dish. His soups are wonderful, and at dinner there’s a choice of three. The daily special of black cod with veggies was superb, and a generous portion. The fried chicken — DIVINE! This is what we were expecting from Pican last week but didn’t get. Spicy-​hot, maybe a little oversalted, but crackling-​crisp crust yet the chicken was phenomenally juicy inside. Huge portion, enough for two to split with soup and a salad.
Despite Carol Ness/​SF Chron’s rave, forget the doughnuts. Uninteresting fried cake-​like blobs of dough, so big they were golden brown on the outside but uncooked raw gooey dough on the inside. Bleh. Why can’t anyone do decent French beignets, is what I want to know? Chinese dim sum restaurants can do it (see my review on Tri-​Valley Seafood in Pleasanton), so it should be possible for any smart bistro owner.
They only had espresso at dinner. The regular blend was good, the decaf blend was a little too acidic for my taste.
SR24 is a great little bistro. It’s much better than Bay Wolf and even the late lamented Soizic. We are fortunate in Oakland to see so many excellent chefs willing to come here instead of always ending up in Berkeley. May Chef Woodall prosper in the coming years!

SR24 takes over the spot that was bare naked burgers. the ambience is mysterious shades of red and black, teased by a flatscreen showing black & white classics bits of «touch of evil» et al.
like kenny l. says, service is spotty, in my case, one of the cooks was probably on a break: taking to a lady at the table next to me and also doing some wine tasting. (a saleslady was at the far end).
happy hour m-​sat (3 – 6) some appetizers are $ 1 less. also announced on the website and not in the eatery, olympia can beer, $ 1(regular beer $ 3-​$ 5)
sampling:
–fried rock fish with remoulade, rocket and argula salad (8)
probably 8 oz. of very fresh fish on a nice acme bun. very nice side salad. sammie tasted great. fish fresher than most fish & chip places.
-«homemade”-lemonade (2) so-​so. a little tart. saw gallon size jugs of commercial lemon juice in the refrigerator so homemade may be a stretch.
dining uptown:
–parking lot is very cramped, busy and both ends always backing up (possibly into each other). peak times, no parking space.
–upgradeable to 5 stars, trying the kobe beef burger (10) next.
–a couple sammie options at 8, 9.
–waitservice leisurely, probalby because of the kitchen.
–located kitty corner from bakesale betty, temescal.

Great food, spotty service. Definite five star potential.
Came here with the girlfriend a few nights back, heard on Facebook that they had a pizza with house made bacon on it. We were going to pick up a friend at SFO late a night, so we weren’t in any rush.
It was a god thing that we weren’t in a rush because our meal stretched from 8:30 to 10:00 and we didn’t order a gazillion courses. When we were seated we noticed that the table seated next to us was had soup and the soup bowls were huge. We knew we were going to order soup.
Both the corn soup (it was like a cross between a bisque and a chowder) and the clam soup were awesome and it was very filling portion for five bucks. House made ketchup was so good that it was almost a pity that the fries served were shoestrings. Steak fries or thick pomme frites would have complemented the ketchup perfectly.
Pizza had a nice crust, but be aware that this is not wood oven like Pizzaiolo, Dopo or Boot and Shoe Service. Still despite lack of wood oven, pizza was very will put together, flavorful crust, and basil and arugula and bacon was a great combination. The bacon was excellent, of course.
But the service, while courteous was very inefficient. Clam soup first came as steamed clams and the corn soup took forever, like it was made from scratch.
Still I am expecting to come back soon and add a fifth star.

Simple, food made with fresh, local ingredients. You’re not going to find complex dishes with a laundry list of ingredients. What you will find is in season flavors and simplicity.
The well edited menu features little plates, soups salads, side dishes, pastas and large entrees.
We commenced our dinner with pumpkin jojos. Now these aren’t the overly fried and soggy jojos I used to find on burger menus growing up in the Pacific Northwest. No, this variety featured butternut squash cut into wedges and lightly battered and fried. The sweet squash and fried batter was a nice balance.
The ravioli special of the day included asparagus and goat cheese; a nice spring combo that I couldn’t resist. The asparagus sauce was light, flavorful and married well with the goat cheese and asparagus stuffed ravioli. Emphasis on simple, fresh flavors.
The mini rhubarb pie with strawberry cream was again, simple, in season and a delicious way to end dinner.
In our complex lives, sometimes simple is better.

I feel torn giving these guys only a 3 out of 5 because there’s a lot of good here. SR24 was on my must-​try list for a long time; we finally made it down here from Berkeley for dinner. The restaurant is in a building that cars drive by if they’re heading for the freeway having come south on Telegraph. As 52^nd Street merges into 51^st, there’s a building on your right, and there’s SR24! The building that houses the restaurant also has a taqueria. Strangely, the two restaurants share their restrooms, so you can walk between them by going to the back of either.
Inside, SR24 looks as if it had once been a Greek diner and/​or a bar. Most of the diners are seated in booths that are not far from the open kitchen. Other Unilocalers described the décor as a bit strange. I felt happy and comfortable walking in, though I was reminded of a bar in Saarbrucken where I was once taken for Schwenkbraten.
As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted cordially at the front table and were taken immediately to our booth. Our server appeared quickly and took our drink orders. I got the Linden Street dark lager, which I was delighted to try. I’d give it a B+; most of the guest brews in Jupiter are a lot better. The wine list is short and interesting; clearly it was constructed by care by people who wanted to avoid obvious grocery store wines. Unfortunately, the two white wines that we tried (an Australian chardonnay and a Napa Valley vermentino) were kind of meh. The chard was the better of the two wines, but it was not outstanding.
We ordered. That’s where we got into problems: the kitchen is currently incapable of putting out dishes at anything like the appropriate rhythm. Unilocalers have complained about the service, but the main problem was that there was nothing to serve. Indeed, we waited about 25 minutes for our soups to come out. Our server checked in twice to update us on the progress of these soups. Curiously, he didn’t really try to *apologize* for the delay — he just tried to explain it. I was really pretty annoyed; I figured that it didn’t take a lot of attention to ladle soups out of a tureen and into serving bowls.
I was wrong about that; in fact, the soups required a lot of attention from the kitchen, and they were wonderful when they finally came out. The owners are obviously perfectionists, and they treat their customers to dishes made with high-​end ingredients and lots of loving care. The downside is that you shouldn’t be in a hurry if you plan to eat here. Maybe you should even bring a sandwich in case you get stranded for a while.
Bread was served about 15 minutes into our wait for the soups. It comes in a paper bag with its top cut off and is accompanied by butter that’s been flavored in a weird way. This is presumably intended to be another high-​end detail, but I wasn’t bowled over by the bread and actively disliked the butter. The bag was simply a curious detail.
Our main dishes came out quickly — a bit before we were all finished with the soups. My raviolo (that’s ravioli in the singular, except it’s roughly the size of Lichtenstein) with Dungeness crab was obviously a great thing, but I suddenly was unable to eat anything more and wanted to leave. (This is not SR24’s fault and didn’t affect my appreciation of the plusses and minuses of the establishment.) Before we did depart, I tasted the large salads that came out as main courses of my companions. They were excellent — beautiful ingredients, loving preparation (including assembly and presentation), first-​rate oils, etc., etc.
The bottom line: I might come back for another shot, but I’ll stay away for the near term. However, I really recommend that you all try it and see how it works for you. For what it’s worth: the place was packed while we were there, with many people standing with drinks, waiting to be seated.

Hey Unilocal.
Thanks for deleting my honest, well written, non insulting review of this restaurant. What happened to «Real People, Real Reviews?»
I want my text back.
Still two stars.

I was excited to try this place because I’m always excited by local places offering comfort food.
I really liked the décor and feel of the place. And I was excited by the menu.
But… the wine was not very good. It was inexpensive, but it was unacceptably acetone-​y.
And while the crab cakes were good (lots of crab chunks, crispy), they were too salty. The chicken noodle soup was supposedly good and came in a strangely huge portion compared to the crab cake. For entrees, we had the braised pork (I didn’t try it because my BF thought it was crappy) and the pizza (butternut squash, goat cheese, crispy sage leaves and pear — yum with crispy but salty crust).
But… service was awful. It took 15 minutes for the waitress to come by to say hi and take drink orders. It took 80 minutes from when we sat down to receive our entrees (about 30 minutes after they cleared the appetizer plates). The people at the next table sat down after us and paid their bills and left before we got our entrees. If one of our dishes was going to take an undue amount of time, it would have been nice for the staff to warn us. Or at least come by and offer more wine or water.
Honestly, the waitress was probably one of the worst I have ever encountered. Last night the first time I tipped only 15% in the last 10 years. She was that bad.
We won’t be going back.