Marcel’s Kitchen

Ok u know I had to try it out first hand before I recommend it. MARCEL’s KITCHEN inside El Rincon at 16^th and Harrison in San Francisco
The chef is very friendly and the food reminds me of my Grandmothers kitchen straight from Lousiana!!! HIGHLY RECOMMEDED!!! THAT’S GOOD EATS!

Marcels has moved to 177 Eddy SF

One of my favorite dishes — Fettuccine Alfredo w/​Chicken…
Whenever I know there’s a restaurant that serves this dish, I have to try it… and so far, of ALL the places I have. his has got to be the best! You have to admit, this dish pretty much tastes the same everywhere, but the way he prepares it with a hint of that Creole flava… really makes his different…
Another great thing about Marcel is he takes the time to talk to his customers… the #1 rule in business is building rapport. I truly believe it’s the only way you can become successful.
Pasta is just one of his great soul food dishes… although he is possibly in the process of relocating… I highly recommend that you be on the look out to where his new spot will be. don’t be left out because his restaurant will be off the hook =)

As of 9÷1÷10, he’s relocating and haven’t announced his new place yet.

You walk over, not a stroll, but more more a brisk walk that would put the suburban ladies to shame. You are late. This is right, right? It said it was inside a bar? You walk in… shit. Your friend’s of friends are waiting, it is only them sitting at one of two picnic tables in a very empty and depressing space. You were the one who suggested this place after finding out plan A was closed. You double check Thrillist to make sure it didn’t specifically say that the décor could be described as shithole. You sit down… next do their accounting ledger?
Marcel walks over and ebulliently explains how he got here and what his food is about. Ok, you feel a little better. $ 3 PBR. even better.
You order almost one of everything and put the one man show to work. You wait nervously.
The dishes come one by one and each is like a symphony of delicious, rich flavors. Everyone keeps asking questions as they shovel the food in their mouths. How is this grits so creamy? What is in this gumbo? %#(%^ this bread pudding is good.
There is all of a sudden a little sadness at the table. We comment that it is too bad he is in this setting as opposed to one on Valencia where he could charge double. Marcel comes over and asks to film us for youtube. Everyone excitedly says yes, as looking around he needs all the marketing help he can get.
Now only to wait before Marcel becomes discovered and famous, so we can say that we helped with that.

my co-​worker brought me here for lunch today. i’m glad she did b/​c marcel is a great cook! he’s also super nice… ladies, if you’re single, the man can cook!
we ordered the blackened cat fish, louisiana burger, cajun fries and chicken andouille gumbo. everything was so tasty! i tried some of the cat fish and i’ll have to definitely come back to order that next time. as my co-​worker put it, it was on point! the gumbo was perfection, especially on a dreary san francisco day! marcel even made some sweet potato fries for me to try and the collard greens! our other co-​worker enjoyed his huge burger! everything was so good and i was so stuffed, i just wanted to curl up and take a nap after! thanks for the hospitality marcel! we’ll be seeing you again soon :)

I gotta give Marcel props for the food. He absolutely brought it tonight! Even though the 4 of us weren’t really that hungry from snacking and drinking beforehand, we ordered the gumbo, hush puppies, sweet potato fries with truffle oil, the Louisiana burger and the bread pudding for dessert. All were outstanding, but I’d give an extra shout out for the gumbo, burger and bread pudding (macerated with some type of alcohol — yum!) The only criticism would be the fries could have been a bit more crispy, but the truffle oil made them very tasty.
He was very personable, but after I told him I was from Oaktown, he actually sat down and chilled with us for a while. Really good guy. The décor needs a little work which is why I didn’t give a 5 star rating, but he said he was working on that. I think he really wants to make this work, and and my friends and I will do our best to support him. You should give it a try… Oh, he just opened for lunch today and he’s going to start a Sunday brunch in the near future!

Warning: not a full review, as I only went to pick up food for a friend, but I did want to spread the word that there’s soul food here now!
Good thing I checked my phone before I headed into SF for dinner, as a friend had forwarded me The Thrillist SF about Marcel’s Kitchen at El Rincon with the request of chicken & waffles and shrimp & grits, if I had time to head that way before we met up.
So, I ordered at the bar & paid there, then sat at the bar by the kitchen to wait. It smelled wonderfully delicious! There were 2 women dining at the bar also, and when they heard I’d ordered the shrimp & grits, they raved about it, as one of them had just cleaned her plate. They also highly recommended the bread pudding. I was tempted to get something for myself, but barely refrained (as I was going to eat dinner at a restaurant very shortly). As I was leaving, I asked them how they found out about this place, & one woman told me that she went to culinary school with Marcel & wasn’t going to miss out on his food. Marcel was friendly & pleasant, nicely packaged my orders to go, & off I went. I was quite tempted to try a bite of each order, but didn’t…I’ll have to ask my friend how he liked it, or go back & see for myself.
Atmosphere: it’s a dive. But if the food is good, who cares?
Funny thing is, I discovered later in the evening (courtesy of fb) that Fong L. ended up there for dinner that same night I went to pick up food. I was there pretty early, so he must’ve shown up after I left.
Street parking is quite easy in this area. Never thought I’d say that about the Mission (is it still considered the Mission over here?).
Located on the NW corner of 16^th & Harrison.

Went on Saturday and tried The Louisiana burger — a huge burger, topped with crispy onions, applewood bacon, cheese & louisiana hot sauce. It’s really tall so you can’t bite the whole thing, but it’s amazingly tasty. Special mention for the bun, I have tried pretty much every notable burger in the city and this bun might be the best. It says something also that everyone in there was ordering this burger!
I also tried the red velvet cupcake & the raisin & bourbon bread pudding… highly recommended. Somehow I only spent about $ 13 for all this, and apparently it will be open til 2am so it might be my go-​to spot for late night dinners now.

Preface: So, I’m from Louisana AND I’m a damn good creole chef [as far as my kitchen is concerned]. I say that to say, «I know what the f*cuk I’m talkin’ bout, ok?!».
I read about Marcel’s Kitchen on
[plug]. «Creole food in the Mission». Turns out I live 2.5 blocks away from this mecca of delicious. It’s in El Rincon… please see people’s reviews of that place. I’ll say the word I saw used the most in those reviews was «sketch». Now, SF has different kinds of sketch [funny, scary, tacky, etc.] This place is just sad and worn down.
HOWEVER…
Screw El Rincon, Marcel’s Kitchen is worth the trip! It’s no frills UNTIL you start chewing. This is hands down the best creole food for the value that I have had since I moved here 8 years ago.
The Food:
…was SO CHEAP. That makes me happy because $ 16 for chicken and waffles is a rip-​off. Marcel gets it. He offers amazing food [better than Gussies] at low prices AND the portions are more than fair.
[sidenote about Marcel: He came out and shook my hand after he wrapped my food to go. Handsome and approachable. That may have made the food taste a lil better ;-) ]
I had the Gumbo which was authentic and tasty. Kind of thick but a good portion with quality ingredients.
The Chicken and Waffles were amazing. 4 wings on a huge fresh made waffle [not like the flimsy flat crap they serve at Gussies and in Oakland, yeah, I said it.]. The sprinkle of powder sugar was the perfect final touch.
Go there today.

I am a greedy bastard. Why you ask? Well, knowing that I already had dinner plans, I asked super awesome Unilocaler Linda T. To pick me up an order of chicken and waffles plus a shrimp and grits right when they opened for service. I then go to what is a 4 hour dinner at Benu and then meet Linda at 00 for drinks. Of course I end up eating half a pizza while there with all this Southern goodness wairing for my wee hours munchies? How do I expect to process all this food? Your guess is as good as mine and ill update further after I’ve consumed it.
Damn those shrimp and grits are good… white creamy grits with 4 jumbo shrimp atop with a creole sauce. A couple of hush puppies on the side with a wedge of lemon for richness. what you’d expect from Chef Neal who hail’s from Danko/​Jardinière. Manager Gary Rivera followed up with me after I got my food and was super friendly… Creole in the Mission indeed!
Time for Chris Cosentino’s Gluttony pants!

Marcel has taken over the kitchen at the El Rincon. I repeat MARCEL HAS TAKEN OVER THE KITCHEN AT THE EL RINCON. And I must say: IT’S GOOD.
Sure, El Rincon has always been this dingy bar with live music in the middle of nowhere in the mission. The food has been… mediocre at best until NOW.
I needed me some comfort food today and I saw the review on Thrillist, so I dropped a note to my buddy and we met there for some CHICKEN AND WAFFLES.
They were good – could have used more chicken, since it was only 3 wings, and no legs or anything, but the flavors were good, and the vanilla bourbon maple syrup was great! I’ll wait and see what he does in a week or two, but I’m hopeful that it will improve.
the OYSTER PO BOY was the greatest po boy I have ever had. He rolled the oysters thoroughly in some corn meal and then fried them up good, down-​home n’orleans style, and put them on well toasted french bread with lettuce, tomato, and a healthy slather of TRUFFLE OIL AIOLLI. One bite and my mouth felt like a 5 yr old on a toy shopping spree during an all expense paid vacation under the sea with spongebob squarepants. It was awesome!!!
we got a side of mascarpone and gruyère grits (drrooooool) which he poured some of his shrimp sauce onto, and it was also phenomenal.
the gumbo was good too, and the hush puppies were tasty, sweet, with a nice soft moist texture inside. but the po boy and grits outshone everything.
I’m definitely coming back. and now I have a go-​to soul food restaurant in the city, that isn’t in the middle of the tenderloin or bayview.