Southpaw BBQ & Southern Cooking

This place is horrible. The portions are too small, the prices are too big, and the waitstaff all seemingly hate their lives.
When I want BBQ, I want messy, huge-​portioned BBQ — and this didn’t do the trick in any way, shape, or form. Just some lame hipster place charging too much for food that’s unauthentic and doesn’t even taste good.
Left hungry and dissatisfied… never to return.

Sunday’s bloody Sunday’s! This place is my go to in mission for good cheap ribs ($ 1) per and the greens are AMAZING! Please do yourself a favor; drop on by on any given Sunday

Working with a service like Caviar is a partnership, and Southpaw is a terrible partner that disrespects the customers of this partnership. They cancelled an order 46 minutes after it was placed, about 20 minutes before the estimated delivery time. This shows they dislike their customers and do not know how to run a business.

Waited until they opened after the Mission Carnaval parade at 3pm and was seriously considering going to a different restaurant. So glad we ended up at Southpaw. They had $ 1 ribs on Sunday, which was an amazing deal for the delicious, fall off the bone ribs. The sides were definitely a highlight as well, especially the fried pickles with aioli and the bacon and cheddar grit cake. We are planning to go back all the time, literally the best barbecue we’ve found so far in the city. The beer was also delicious (lemongrass hefeweizen was my favorite), but the meal was outstanding and definitely stole the show.
Cannot say enough about this place… seriously good food!

Good sports bar. Wasn’t too crowded. The pull pork was a bit too dry. It was like I was eating in jail with the tin tray.

1^st off. Very cute, and clean. The sneakys BBQ is incredible. I ordered the ribs with mac. Delicious fall off the bone ribs. And the different sauces. are to die for. Will go again. Rapid service

While I wasn’t sure if cats were allowed or not, I took my newly adopted golden, waving Allie Cat with me into Southpaw. After a long day of exploring the ever eclectic Mission, I was ready for a beverage. I found a sense of ‘security in a glass’ with their specialty cocktail ‘Safeword’ (Bourbon, lemon, smoked ginger, bitters & ginger ale). Allie Cat approved, this beverage with a side of fried pickles was incredibly soothing & comforting.
Cheers,
Allie

Love Sneakys, so I order from them directly. Highly recommend the food from them, Southpaw though is a different story. The guy at the bar is pretty intense/​weird and slow. Tbh, the whole front of the house is kind of a mess when it’s busy.
I’d order from Sneakys directly or just go to 4505. After 4 years, southpaw never could find its footing, but at least Sneakys has a kitchen for now.

Wow! This is delicious!
Tender, moist, smoky. Does not need sauce!
OMG, I need to keep eating…

If you’re coming here on the weekend make sure to rsvp. Great service and good food. Parking could be a little hard to find on mission… Must try their beer and deep fried pickle.

Small spot. So reservation is recommended. This place has a full bar so that’s why we came here. Well, when comparing other BBQ spots.
The service was friendly and very knowledgable when it came asking questions about the menu and drinks.
The food came out hot and quick. Same for the drinks. Fast service. Good drinks. The food was ok. Nothing spectacular. More so BBQ than soul food. But still edible and pretty good. The chicken wings and pulled chicken was dry. So, they have not mastered BBQ chicken. But the ribs were tender.
Long story short, I would def come here for the bar, but if someone asked me for BBQ and/​or soul food spot; I wouldn’t recommend this spot. Just decent food with good drinks.

Food = good.
Entrees come with choice of two sides and cornbread.
Pulled Pork = moist, flavorful and plentiful. He had Delta cheese grits (impressive grits) and mac-​n-​cheese (he thought it was boring but I thought it was perfect, in a white sauce.) $ 17.00.
Smoked Rib plate = dry rub (plenty of BBQ sauce, or just ask for Suffer sauce), moist and not overly dry ribs. I had collard greens (tender, not over cooked and delicious, somehow they’re vegan and we’re impressed with the flavor!) and roasted garlic broccoli and cauliflower (my favorite side and I’d definitely get double of this!) $ 20.00.
Cornbread = okay. We’re not fans of sweet cornbread. But our friends enjoyed it. (Southern man prefers non-​sweet cornbread.)
If you want to know… BBQ sauces: S. Carolina (mustard based); N. Carolina (vinegar and pepper); Spicy (it was close to N. Carolina sauce but different) and Texas (what we’re all used to – brown BBQ sauce, slightly sweet, spicy and thick.) Suffer sauce = their on-​fire sauce, which you should ask for if you’re a heatseeker.
Gosling ginger beer = $ 3.50.
Iced tea = $ 2.50.
Seating = beautiful solid woodtop tables. They do offer reservations but we took our chances on a Saturday evening. It was around 8:30 p.m. when we arrived, and there was a bit of a wait for a table but they mentioned the bar seated in the back, lined up against the kitchen. We were seated within minutes. Chef was friendly!
Service = friendly and attentive.
Prices = moderate. FYI, they will add on the SF Health fee to your bill. Our bill including two soft drinks, 3 beers, and our friends’ two entrees came out to $ 112.64 for dinner for 4.

4.5 stars
After eating here a few times I can honestly say I have found good BBQ in San Francisco. Order anything that sounds good from the dinner menu and you won’t be displeased. Large portions of meat too and their sauce variety means that you’re bound to find one that you love. There are also some very unique vegetarian options and the sides are where it’s at!
They have a great craft beer selection and even their own brews. Brandy and the rest of the crew make a damn fine cocktail also.
I’d take away from Southpaw a bit when it comes to the limited lunch selection. The Sando I had was stuffed with delicious Brisket and Slaw, but the bottom bun was soggy to the point of destruction before I touched it. No worries though, I elected to scoop up the filling with the delicious, fresh Chips.
I will definitely be back to Southpaw and I am looking forward to bringing my Vegetarian friends to see what they think.

I’ve been a regular at Southpaw for a while — it feels so warm and cozy every time I go in. The bar is my favorite place to grab a drink and chill on a weeknight — amazing cocktails and solid beer. I appreciate that they are members of the SF brewers guild and put their heart and soul into their craft — just ask Zack behind the bar and he’ll tell you all about it! Service across the board has always been great
Then Southpaw joined forces with Sneaky’s and I basically lost it. Holy sh*t Sneaky’s BBQ is good! (and my old favorites are still on the menu — hello, Goat and Nachez!). Happy girl right here!

GREAT service, GREAT drinks, GREAT food… But no heat!
It’s 49 degrees inside!
I’m not sure what the issue is, but there is no heat in this place and when I asked for some coffee to try and warm myself I was informed they are out of beans. I wonder why???

Me likes it! I would definitely come back.
Service:
— Great! The owner was super nice and serviced us very well, and our waitress had good recommendations.
Dranks:
— Prohibition Sweet Tea: Delicious, I highly recommend if you prefer vodka.
Food:
— Brisket: Perfectly cooked, super soft and moist. A bit on the well-​done side as opposed to medium rare, but I liked it nonetheless.
— Ribs: My favorite, the perfect amount of char, but still very juicy on the inside.
— Pulled Pork: Tasted a bit average, like you could get it anywhere else, but it wasn’t bad.
Sides:
— I loved their sides. Ordered the Mac N Cheese, Broccoli & Cauliflower, Potato Salad, house cut fries, and the cilantro coleslaw. My favorites were the cilantro coleslaw and the cut fries! The coleslaw had a unique flavor and the fries came with a delicious dipping sauce.
Tips:
— They don’t serve ketchup :(But they have tons of bbq sauce you should ask for.

Solid BBQ spot in San Francisco.
Yummy BBQ sauces and nice, tender ribs.
This southern bbq spot is different in a way that they offer whiskey selections and you can order flights on it to try the differences.
Service was good and I like how the exterior doesn’t call for attention.

Ambience: Trendy and hipsterish.
Service: We had to ask for water twice, but other than this, waitress was nice.
Food: We shared the ribs which to be honest, were dry. I’m not a fan of grits but my friend said it wasn’t that great. Cornbread and veggies were pretty good. I liked that they had various types of bbq sauce on the table. My other friends had two of the pork sandwiches, and they said it was ok. All the food look good but they need to work on adding flavor to it.
It was cool to try it but if I’m ever back in SF, I won’t be returning.

I decided to come in on a Saturday afternoon in December after being on a horrible date. I feel like coming into Southpaw was serendipitous. I was wearing an Interpol shirt and as I walked into the restaurant, it took me a second to realize that Interpol was playing. At this moment, 2 employees standing by the bar looked at me and I made a comment about the coincidence of my shirt and the music playing. It just so happens it was the chef and the bartender and the chef was just telling the bartender about Interpol. Crazy.
After trying to decide on what to get, I went for the Smoked Brisket with the mac & cheese and the brussels sprouts with bacon. And to drink, I got the What What (Veev acai, rum, watermelon/​jalapeño syrup, lime juice and basil). The cocktail was excellent and the food was fantastic. The meat was so tender and paired nicely with their 6 selections of BBQ sauces.
A great spot for your BBQ cravings with great music to boot.

I would say this place is a solid 4 stars. There are some excellent items, but others that were just OK. In terms of pricing, it’s not that bad, especially for SF standards. It was pretty easy to book, and we got a table for 7 in the back. The service was lovely and they had no problem with our expanded party.
1. Cauliflower/​broccoli and Creole potato salad with pulled pork: YUM! I really loved all these sides. The pulled pork was soft and tender. You can add a whole slew of sauces in the middle of the table if you so desire, but I actually felt that the dishes were self-​sufficient without anything added.
2. Short rib with beets: I felt that the short ribs were a bit tough, so this was not my favorite dish.
3. Grits: I’m not usually a huge fan (don’t judge me, you southerners), but this was flavored and actually delicious! If you like grits in general, you will love this one!
4. Pulled goat: This was pretty good, although a little tougher than I would have liked.
5. Pulled pork with sweet potato and mac and cheese: These sides were really phenomenal. As I said before, I loved all the sides.
6. Pork ribs with side of beets and mashed potatoes: Loved this. Pork ribs were slightly tough.
So overall, I felt that the «pulled» options were the most tender. All the sides were killer. Pricing was fair, and service was good. Plus, lots of sauces to choose from.

It’s rustic southern-​style restaurant with dim lighting and strong cocktails.
The fried chicken had a very thick, seasoned crust with slightly overcooked chicken. I They provided a surplus of traditional-​style BBQ sauces, but none to my liking. I was most looking forward to the golden beet side dish, but I felt the flavors were overrun with too much of the balsamic flavor to enjoy the earthiness of the beets. My favorite part of the meal was the mac and cheese. There’s something about spiraly noodles that makes mac and cheese SO much better.
The service was superb, the food was tasty, but the dessert was the true winner for me. Banana and Peanut Butter ice cream with caramelized rum bananas. Try saying that 3x fast. They snuck some vanilla ice cream in there, boo, but it was a real crowd pleaser!