Central Kitchen - Great For Date Nights

Neighborhood: Mission District
Parking: Street

My husband and I had a great date night at Central Kitchen. I wouldn't recommend bringing kids, but if you can get a sitter, go make a reservation immediately!

The food is amazing and the ambiance is romantic and hip. They have candle light at each table and around their industrial fountains. The whole space has lots of greenery and a glass roof with outdoor string lights so it feels like you are in a garden - a hip and romantic industrial garden.
 

This restaurant is in the Mission District (like most other amazing food finds).

The food is Northern California cuisine. I'll tell you what we loved but keep in mind the menu changes daily based on what's in season.

We ordered the sourdough with cultured butter, seared asparagus, braised short ribs, half roasted chicken, charred brussels sprouts, whipped potato, and the rigatoni with duck ragu. (yes this was all just for the two of us).

What we loved the most was the bread with cultured butter, the asparagus and the rigatoni.

I had never tasted cultured butter and I almost filled up on that alone. It was creamy and salty and I couldn't put it down. The asparagus dish had a tangy yogurt sauce which was equally addicting.

I’m no food photographer but I took a few shots of the dishes we tried so you can see portion size and style. The photo below shows the half roasted chicken, whipped potato and charred Brussels.

They make their own cola which is pretty good and they also have great wine. We are not wine experts but the staff seemed knowledgeable and we loved what they recommended.

We got our reservation through Open Table but you can also call them directly or if you don't mind a wait, just drop in and add your name to the list. They are only open for dinner.

I have noticed that it's easy to get a reservation there on weeknights so it's a safe bet that you won't wait too long if you go during the week.

Go try it out and let me know what you think! They are located at 3000 20th Street. 

Enjoy!

Ana