La Trappe

When our group of three walked into La Trappe on a Friday evening we were a little bit concerned — where were all the people? In an overcrowded city like San Francisco it’s always a good rule of thumb to «follow the crowds» to good food but in this case I guess La Trappe is still an undiscovered gem!
We ordered mussels, the steak and fries and the stewed rabbit. The mussels were perfectly cooked, the broth was amazing and I can’t stop thinking about the steak! But my favorite part would have to be the fries — perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. You get to pick a couple sauces out of a wide selection and my favorite was the garlic mayo (you can never go wrong!). Pro tip: The sauce from the rabbit is also an awesome dipping sauce for the fries! They also have a wide selection of beers and are very nice about supplying small tastings before you make your final choice. We ended up with Vapeur En Folie, a Belgian pale ale, and were very happy with it!
Will be back!

I had to check out this Belgium tavern again. Don’t let the empty restaurant fool you. Descend the stairs into this cool underground brick tavern with beers from all over the world, served in their proper glasses, the way beer should be. The bartender knows a lot about beer so ask him questions. The history of the building is also interesting dating back 100 years. Ask him about that too. Enjoy.

Went in on a Friday night and place was almost empty, in retrospect it’s easy to see why. Beer list is massive but only a handful available so not sure why they are on offer. Food menu is very limited but ordered the burger anyways which was so dry I had to send it back. Sent out a new one which was same thing, burger literally fell apart. Try a different place, no idea how this place has 4 stars, what a disappointment.

For a mellow Sunday San Francisco evening, find your way to La Trappe’s cozy downstairs lair of a restaurant adorned with dimmed lighting and rustic brick walls — and take your time exploring their locally sourced menu.
With over 500 Belgian beer and 15 taps that are constantly rotating — La Trappe is a great place to take a beer enthusiast. Be sure to take your time with their beer menu — since it’s packed with fascinating information about their different brews.
I recommend sharing a large order of Konkan mussels and pairing it with a Belgian sour, as well as an order of Belgian Fries with a side of Curry Ketchup and Dijon Mustard.
It may be a messy meal — but it will definitely be a delicious one.
Trust.

The white male bartender is one of the rudest people I’ve ever met. My girlfriend and I went to dinner here and asked the bartender if they had a dish we found on Unilocal.He then started yelling at her saying Unilocal wasn’t his boss. Needless to say, we immediately left. Probably worst experience I’ve ever had in terms of customer service, and something the owner should be embarrassed of. I will never come back here and do not recommend it. Also the menu is completely different than on Unilocal,don’t come here

To be honest, We weren’t expecting much when we walked in. It is quite unassuming, from the outside. Then they take you downstairs, to your table and it’s just great. Dark, almost like a chapel; the benches would fit right in, at a church. We were then given a tome, no other word for it. A tome with descriptions of all kinds of beers and ales, from all over the world. We took 15 minutes to get our beer order in, Pliny for me and Trippel, for my friend. Followed this up with Mussels Mariniere, which was delightful. Both of us got the steak frittes which leads us to our only complaint about the place. The steak was a bit cool for our liking. I thought it was just me, but my friend agreed. This is the only reason for me, not to give this place 5 stars.
Nonetheless, we will be back, because it’s the kind of place that deserves it. And I desperately want to update my review, with 5 stars.

This was my second time here and I would go back all the time if I lived in SF. Came as a tourist, but left as a huge fan of this restaurant. Delicious, unique beers and good service. Fries are the bomb and the steak is two thumbs up. I miss you already, La Trappe!

Let me tell you what. This place holds a crown that I bestowed upon it. Being a HUGE fan of everything Belgian, I was incredibly excited to walk past this place. It seemed closed down for good when I passed so I looked it up on Unilocal to see if I could expect to come here later for dinner. Sure enough, it’s open in the evenings. I’ve spent about 5 years in Europe when I was younger and spent some of that time in Belgium. So when I walked in, it instantly took me back. The décor, atmosphere and overall feel of the place was exactly how I remembered the restaurants being. The menu was incredible, full of all the normal fare that I remember so vividly. What really kicks you in the face is their extensive beer menu. Seriously. Their beer menu is ENORMOUS, but also priced to be what you expected. The beers are all imports, so that’s something that needs to be taken into consideration, but also, Belgian beers take a lot of time to brew, therefore the price you normally see. It took my wife and I an easy 20 minutes to find a beer we could finally settle on. There was nothing that I didn’t want. Hands down this is my favorite restaurant in San Francisco and I’ll be sure to come in next time I’m in town.

Belgian in Little Italy!
La Trappe has been around in my neighborhood for a few years now, but for whatever inexplicable reason I had always walked by it, made a mental note to pay a visit, but never had! Come to think of it, the reason may very well be my unreliable mental not retrieval capacity!
Anyhow, the upstairs space is nothing impressive, but the basement where the bar and restaurant is located, is a whole other story! The space is very rustic and European. The bar is laid out nicely and the beer and cocktail menu is impressive.
The service was very good. The young man who served us was on top of his game and managed to pay our table a visit just at the right moments. He got our orders in on time and without a flaw. He made one or two recommendations which I liked.
We ordered their Croquettes to start with and it turned out to be a very good choice. We washed them down with Linden St. Dubbel w/​Coffee beer; tasty!
Then we shared a large Mussels with fries. The two dipping sauces we chose were the Chipotle Mayo and Roasted Red Pepper Mayo. Both were very tasty with the fries.
Good atmospher, good beer, good food, and good service. Give it a try next time you are in my neighborhood :-)

We walked in to a completely empty restaurant for the server to tell us the party is downstairs.
And was it ever. We had a 30 minute wait, which was a lot better than we thought considering the place was packed!
They have a huge binder of beers to choose from– with glasses specific to that beer! And the food is just as good!
We ordered burgers and mussels and croquettes (oh my!).
Service was pretty good too considering how busy it was, and the staff were all really friendly.

This place makes me want to go back to San Francisco.
Cheese plate: bomb.
Mussels: so delicious.
Beer selection: HUGE.
Atmosphere: dark, intimate, European.

This is a beer lovers dream location. They have 400 different bottles of beer listed by order and location in a giant encyclopedia style book! If you’re a cider fan, you’ll have to try something else as they don’t have a single cider on tab or in a bottle (hence the minus 1 star). If you like the sweeter side of things try the Wild Strawberry Lambic — it was incredible (hence the 4 starts for this drink alone!).
We split the steak meal which came with two sides and large enough to share if you have an appetizer or salad as well. We opted for the harvest salad (I think) with the candied nuts. It was good with a light salad dressing and bread with Roquefort cheese spread (too heavy for me).
The ambiance in the basement is cozy with large wooden plank style tables and chess boards. It gets chilly near the corner, so dress warm if you want to hang out for a few hours. A roaring fire would make this place the coziest romantic spot in town for your beer loving significant other.

Déçu par le service et la qualité de certains plats (moules) petite quantité et pas cuit comme il faut, le steak est bon et la carte de bière est bien servi sauf qu’il on pas tous en stock. …l’avis d’un touriste Belge

More like a 3.5
Great beer selection (for Belgians). They have a whole book of beers organized by country. Tons of bottles to try, though most are pretty large… so coming with a group and then sharing a few is optimal. The last time I was there they were out of a few of the ones I wanted to try though. :(I really like the ambiance downstairs. It’s brick and dim lighting and mellow… perfect for a date or catching up with friends. Always a bunch of options on tap (again, focused on Belgians). This is one of the bars in SF I recommend for beer lovers. And Rogue is right down the street if you want to design a crawl.. .

Title: beer, and good food (and more beer)
This is a local bar that serves good food… when I travel, I dont want to eat at chain establishments, so I look for local joints to expand my experiences. I brought my family to San Francisco for a long weekend, and when we wanted to find a place to have dinner, that was different, this was the place (my wife, two older teenagers).
First, you go downstairs, and it is cozy, a little dark but that is ok, part of the atmosphere. Juan was great… he handed me the beer menu and I thought it was the manuscript to a movie, it was pretty thick… After talking with Juan, he made a recommendation of a Belgian Beer which hit the spot. They have ginger ale or bottled root beer for the kids… the root beer was good, real good.
We started with a meat plate, and then the entrees. We had a burger, spaghetti, rabbit stew, and Boudin Blanco (white sausage)… all of it was great… Plenty of portions so we had to take some back to the hotel.
I would recommend this place, since my kids were older, they enjoyed it… I don’t recommend younger kids, just not that kind of place…
If you like beer, and want to try some from the vast selection, I recommend this place…

They have so many beer on draft! I loved the pumpkin beer which is better than most pumpkin beers you can find on the market – the aroma and the taste is on point. and they have my favorite sour beer on draft, too!

Mussels mussels mussels! The rest of the foods are OK, but don’t miss out on the mussels. Note you cannot order anything but starters prior to 6pm. Come early though as they don’t take reservations.

Met a friend for a drink here and really enjoyed it! Felt like I was back in Belgium drinking my favorite St. Bernardus beer. They have a wide selection of beer and the service was nice and attentive. We also had two of the starters — the croquettes and the Belgian fries. Both were good. Looking forward to coming back here!

I wouldn’t say I really liked the place, unfortunately.
We set at a bar; it was very cool, because it was a pleasure to talk to the bartender.
We ordered croquette plate that comes with olive bread. The bread was freshly baked and delicious. The platter only had three kinds of croquette; personally, I would like to taste more varieties.
We also had tomato soup. At first, I thought it was made from real tomatoes, but by the time we finished it, I had a taste of canned tomatoes. I wouldn’t order again.
We also ordered rabbit stew, and I was surprised how it tasted. The rabbit was very chewy and dry. Mashed potato, that came with the rabbit stew, was delicious, but I wouldn’t order that dish next time.
I definitely want to go back and try something else. The vibe and atmosphere of this place was cozy and home like.

Thru a recommendation, we decided to try it out. As a beer lover, please do come here because they have over 200 beer selection. Parking isn’t that bad, but try to come early to ensure you get a table since place is small. They have an upstairs and downstairs but almost everyone likes to sit downstairs. Nothing wrong, but downstairs carry a better atmosphere.
I wasn’t as big of a beer lover as my boyfriend, so this was like candy-​land for him. They had their own beer menu with a table of contents (it was that intense). It was really hard to choose, so we asked our server to recommend us one. He was super nice and knowledgeable. My first beer was strawberry flavored. It was so good I was hesitant to drink it that fast. I didn’t really know want my boyfriend got, but according to him it was very good.
For food, we started with a dozen oysters, as usual. They were pretty small, but they packed such a taste! It was actually perfect for its size. We were excited for their rabbit stew. Supposedly the meat is very tender and tastes similar to chicken. A whole sectioned rabbit leg was presented along with mashed potatoes and some veggies. Our expectations was slightly skewed, expecting actual «stew.» Sadly, rabbit meat tasted like chicken we buy from Asian BBQ places, but just slightly better. Well, at least we can say we tried rabbit!
Round 2 of beer, I ask my server to recommend me another one. Boyfriend orders a Japanese kind. We weren’t full so we ordered two more appetizer dishes: curry mussels and croquette with shrimp and cheese.
Croquette was a let down, too. Barely shrimp and too much cheese. The sriracha avoili was a bomba$$ dipping sauce. Curry mussels was another let down as well. Curry was great, but they added too much ginger which caused it to be pretty spicy. They give a hefty amount of mussels though.
***Tip: Don’t waste the sauce! Use their free bread to dip into it :)
Round 3 of beer. I called it ends. Server surprised my boyfriend with his personal favorite IPA. I think SF may have won his heart over, finally.
SHOUTOUT to our server for his great personality, service and friendliness throughout our meal. He definitely made our experience nice.
Overall, food was normal, didn’t struck as anything special. I wouldn’t come here for the food, but I would come here for their beer. I found it super cute how each beer had their own glass which sometimes came with cute cartoons. It’s too bad their wine selection couldn’t be as extensive as their beer though. Their location is nice, too, because just a couple blocks away is the infamous Lombard street.

Mussels! Great beer selection.
My brother and I grabbed a table downstairs. Dark and small, but comfortable.
The beer menu is awesome… it tells you the history of monastery beers. I tried some Trappist beers that were pretty good.
Top off the night with a frites and mussels combo. Delicious!