La Urbana

Good spot, but expensive.
This place is very cool — dark and hip. It’s spacious with both reservation tables and communal walk in tables.
The food is really great — the ceviche is fresh and interesting, the tacos are fun (watch out for the shrimp — super spicy!), the salads are exciting and yummy, brussel sprouts are super. They also have great drinks — creative and fun.
I would give this place for 4 stars, but the food is pretty pricey — not sure it’s the best value.

Popped in around 1:30 for a late lunch today when it wasn’t too busy. Bottom line, food was good but service was terrible. Nice staff but not very attentive and kitchen timing was off. For starters, one app came promptly and the other came halfway during the meal…2/5 dishes came out 15 minutes before ³⁄₅.
Too bad because flavors were great and staff was nice. Need to fine tune everything from training front of house to back. This place could be so much better!
Would not come back.

Not impressed. Overpriced! If you are going to charge $ 28 for 3 tacos, they better be good. Nothing special about these tacos or the food. Service was wonderful. Chairs are uncomfortable.

I stopped in here post-​oysters for a quick drink with my roommate and was super pleased with not only the the aesthetic of the space, but also the service.
5 stars for the Wasabi Mule and the Pepito Bambino. If you’re not familiar with the latter, it’s a tequila, cucumber, cilantro & lime juice blend with green chartreuse. The most refreshing, light cocktail that doesn’t skimp on the liquor. As delicious as these were, it was definitely easy to rack up a bill quick here. Most cocktails are $ 12 – 13, and the food looked equally pricey.
Great spot to stop by if you’re out on Divis and want more of an intimate, upscale spot before going to Madrone, or The Page.

Not epic.
Good black bean soup.
Ok cocktails.
Cool décor.
Wish the food had been better.
Listen to me, I’m Mexican. That should mean something to you.

The ‘garage’ in back is a good place to grab some tacos and a beer, tacos are decent althogh pricey.
The food in the main restaurant is mediocre and not worth the prices, the menu sounds fancy but the food lacks execution and the service is spotty.

Great spot. Beautiful interior. Kory serves up amazing drinks and the food is impeccable. Disclaimer: they had an 80’s playlist on, and not the good stuff. The shallow end. This place could be so F&$king cool with the right music. Dear owner: please let your amazing manager/​staff/​bartenders choose the music. Would love to come back and groove out
To some cool jams

My friends had been here before so we had a game plan. Drinks at Urbana then food next door at El Mercado. When I saw that $ 22 for house tacos was their happy hour special, it all made sense. But 5 stars for the drinks– strong and delicious, priced at $ 12 – 13. Absolutely loved my tequila drinks, specially the Wasabi Mule.
For food, we only ordered appetizers ($ 9 each) which are the cheapest food options available. I definitely recommend the homemade chips with avocado and sour cream– it was heavenly!

We went there on a Sunday and were able to get a table for 5 people for brunch at 11 — yayy! The food was great, and their drinks were very good too. I will absolutely come back here, especially since we live close by.
Why only 3 starts though? I’m not going to make this a long comment, because I think it’s a great place, BUT they have to work a bit to train their staff. The drink service was super slow (the food came out very fast) and we only got our coffees at the end of the meal — about an hour later — because they ran out of coffee cups?! I guess this can happen (although it shouldn’t be a big deal to buy more cups, especially since the restaurant wasn’t full) but my biggest issue was that the waiter didn’t tell us this — we had to ask him a few times where our coffee was, until he revealed the main cause — and yes I did see him legitimately waiting for cups.
Again, great food & drinks, but a bit more communication from the staff (and more cups) would help make it a ⁴⁄₅ star place.

Absolute shocker. If you’re willing to pay $ 25 for three disgusting tacos and enjoy being treated with attitude, La Urbana is your best bet. The Quesadilla was fried and filled with nothing but cheese. You bite into it and out comes a big splash of hot fat you find on your and your neighbors clothes.
I have to exclude the drinks-​serving bartenders from this review. They were fast, friendly, respectful and did a good job. Just don’t get seated unless you dig the above.

As a huge Mexican food lover I was thrilled when La Urbana opened in my favorite neck of the woods, Nopa. Between La Urbana, Nopa, Bi-​Rite and The Page Bar (my favorite dive bar in San Francisco) I was in heaven.
Immediately after La Urbana opened Mexican Dinner Club (M.D.C.) visited for dinner. And, yes you read that correctly I’m in a Mexican Dinner Club which I actually co-​founded in New York City a few years ago. Since three of the founding members have relocated from New York City, M.D.C. is now in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston.
We quickly saw that La Urbana wasn’t your typical Mexican Restaurant. First, they don’t serve Salsa. I was appalled as that’s one of my favorite Mexican staples. They also don’t serve Guacamole. Another no no. Besides those unusual hiccups which I got over, the food was delicious and I have since been back to visit their lively bar scene for a drink and nibble on their tasty appetizers. Prepare yourself for high-​end Mexican Food, there are no burritos, tacos or predictable mexican favorite’s (at least for me who likes casual Mexican those are my favs!). The menu definitely caters to Mexican Food «Snobs». Don’t get me wrong, it is delicious food, just not the down to earth authentic taco & burrito shop Mexican food I’m used to and love.
La Urbana quickly addressed the need for something more casual opening El Mercado Urbano (The Garage). Read more about that on my El Mercado Urbano (The Garage) review.
Thanks for checking out my post I hope you enjoy dining with The JetSetting Fashionista. Emily

I’ve been here twice. Nice ambiance, decent service.
Their chicken dish was phenomenal — absolutely delicious and just the perfect size for a full meal. It was the best thing I’ve ever had in a Mexican restaurant. The other time I had something stew-​like. It was very mediocre for the price.

Oh boy… I am sad that i have to write an update:
Took my friends visiting here and after I raved I felt terrible after.
We called to see if there were any open reservations and the girl said we would be fine walking in (table for 4)
We get there and they are not busy at all but apparently have NO 4top tables available and we had to sit in the communal table — FINE «but if anything becomes available we will move.»
We sat and had drinks, appetizers and dinner. For some reason EVERYTHING was so spicy. We had one warning about the brussels but thats all! We ended up sharing each other dishes hoping to find a relief. Woof.
Finally… After about 2 hours, we left and noticed that the restaurant was just as quiet and not as booked as the hostess made it seem. I saw 4 tables we could have been seated out.
Sorry but this is not acceptable.
Dont test your luck with this place — service needs to be better. Make a reservation despite what they or other reviews tell you.

La Urbana has the capacity to become a classic San Francisco restaurant. From the beautiful and fun design of the restaurant to the fantastic service, the atmosphere feels like upscale Mexico City– it’s a really exciting place to eat. It also has one of the best bars in the city – not just because of its excellent selection of tequilas and mescals, but also because of the bartenders, who serve a fantastic array of cocktails. Their sangria is also some of the best I’ve had anywhere (including Spain), and they always seem to have the right music playing.
My only problem with the place is the food. Let me start off by saying that I mean this in the most constructive way possible, and I’m laying this out on Unilocal in the hope that it could help La Urbana achieve that fifth star, above, and lock themselves in as the «classic San Francisco restaurant» that I know they could be.
The food is just 20% too strange. I get it that the chef is going for the gusto, and every dish served evidences his or her affection and expertise. It’s just that the foods are rarely what you expect, and differences can be off-​putting.
The worst offender are the tortillas. I’ve been all over central and south america, and never have I been served the thick, cakey, DRY patties that La Urbana is serving up as tortillas. They’re just too thick and too bready, and tend to suck the life out of anything they’re paired with. They’re also sorely lacking salt, or grease from what I can tell. Most of the dishes would be greatly improved by the inclusion of regular, floppy store-​bought corn tortillas.
Or the tuna «carnitas.» When I think carnitas, I think tender, shredded meat on a floppy corn tortilla, right? At La Urbana, they serve you huge – bigger than a bite – chunks of tuna on a corn tortillas that’s as thick as a pupusa (but without the cheese filling). The tuna is fantastic, and the sauce great, but they’re not carnitas. They’re big chunks of tuna on a dry tortilla, and you have to eat them with a fork. Still delicious, but so far away from what anyone would think of as «carnitas» that they can be off-​putting.
The ceviche is among the best I’ve had in texture. The fish, the avocado, everything is of the highest quality and is prepared very well. But the marinade is SO acidic and lime-​y that you can barely handle it. I would assume the tortilla is meant to cut the acid, but again, the ceviche is served with toasted versions of Urbana tortilla cake, so we always end up leaving the tortillas on the plate. Maybe if the ceviche were strained before it was served it wouldn’t be so tart, but as is, wow! You have to have a very high threshold for acid to enjoy the ceviche fully.
I won’t go on, but my general suggestion is this: normalize your food slightly. I’m not asking the chef to sell out his or her creative sensibilities, but if you brought it in just a notch, maybe held back on the spice a little (those brussel sprouts were great, but the red sauce they’re served in is FIRE), gave me a familiar tortilla, made your quesadilla a real quesadilla (instead of a bready empenada) – or, conversely, didn’t set a false expectation by using a familiar name – I’d be in a lot more.
I really love the spot and want it to succeed, everything about it is right. We just need the food to be a little less «out there» and you’ll earn classic status.

Food stand at outsidelands.
Porchetta taco — ³⁄₅ — I liked the combination of Porchetta and chorizo. The flavor was there but the tortilla was just way too overcooked and stiff.
Overall, this could have been great but as it stands with the tortilla, it’s only «A-​OK.»

3.5 stars. Food: 4 stars. Ambience: 3 stars.
The reviews are pretty accurate on the food being overpriced here, especially when the ambience doesn’t support the upscale pricing of the dishes (wooden tables with uncomfortable chairs being too short for the tables). I like the mercado (next door) ambience much better and a great place to hit on warmer days (even though the menu is more limited there).
Out of the dishes that we ordered, the mole chicken was the best. Very tender meat. Fantastic mole which complements the chicken without overpowering it. I like the sides to it as well.
The summer salad is solid although the salad if dominated by iceberg lettuce (I’m not a huge fan of iceberg given that it’s the least nutritious and probably the least flavorful of the green salads.)
The spicy Brussels sprouts was decent but a bit too saucy for a Brussels sprouts dish (unless it’s in a stew).

$ 9 churros!
Mezcales flights, por favor.
Chevy’s for hipsters.

I love the few places in SF where you can make a brunch reservation. It was easy enough to get a 1:30pm Sunday brunch. We stayed well past the end of brunch and weren’t rushed at all. We had a fantastic meal here and I“m amazed that their Unilocal rating isn’t higher.
* Tacos de Pescado (Ensenada style fish tacos (2), local cod, beer batter, cabbage slaw, chipotle aioli. $ 12) — 3.5 stars
pic:
The fish itself was great – huge chunks, crispy batter. It just wasn’t dressed up very well. The tortillas were unique as blue grain, but they were a bit hard and dry. I wasn’t a huge fan the coleslaw topping; there was too much of it, and it didn’t enhance the flavor. The aioli was great though.
* Chilaquiles (tortilla tostones, chile de arbol, chicken, beans, queso cottage, eggs sunny side up, crème. $ 14) — 4.5 stars
pic:
I very much regretted not ordering this. I saw plates being carried around, a big pile of juicy meat topped by two beautifully jiggling egg yolks, and kept hoping this was what I’d ordered. It turned out my friend ordered it so I got to try a couple bites. The chips were thick and in that perfect texture state, still crunchy but just soggy enough to have soaked in some flavor. The meat was delicious, soaked in its flavorful juice, and all of this in a bite covered with the thick runny egg yolk was heaven.
* Huarache de carnitas (mayocoba bean purée, smoked hollandaise, carnitas, poached egg. $ 14) — 4 stars
pic:
cross-​section:
Also very tasty, and with this alone I would’ve been perfectly happy if it weren’t for knowing that the Chilaquiles existed! The egg yolk was also runny, but more thin/​watery as compared to the Chilaquiles where it was super thick and glommed on to the chips and meat. The carnitas here were hearty, also cooked in a lot of flavor, but just not as juicy as the Chilaquiles. I hate comparing this great dish to something even better, but it’s all relative! Still a fantastic 4 star brunch entrée.
Brunch menu, top half:
Brunch menu, bottom half:

This is a scene of I’ve ever seen one. Honestly, it’s as if all of the people from the Marina ventured onto Divisadero and decided «I feel like Mexican food tonight».
Although the vibe is right and the food and drinks were good, it’s a little overpriced for what it had to offer. The staff is friendly and it’s a nice retreat from the day to day NOPA excursion but even though we’re in San Francisco, do we have to charge like it?
I’ll give it another try, once I buy a burrito from a taqueria around the corner and bring a drink from home.

Well, the bathroom gets five stars. Spanish tiles, and vintage Mexican magazine covers and illustrations, roomy and clean. Nicely done.
The food falls flat with an uninspired menu replete with hefty prices, and dishes that arrive a bit confusing. Pretentiousness on a minuscule platter. ”Quesadillas” arrive like empanadas, too.
La Urbana is really a bar that appears to serve food. Drink your libations, and skip the edibles.