Presidio Social Club Awards

Presidio Social Club Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant: This roomy retreat with its swooping marble bar, sunny palm-flanked patio and clubby dining room occupies former army barracks. History shimmers through this place with its vintage, stainless cabinets, spotless mirrors, bare-bulb droplights, silver-bullet ceiling fans and crisply aproned servers.

Food & Drinks: Chef-owner Ray Tang offers all-American comfort food classics such as mac ‘n’ cheese and a burger with tomato-onion jam (pair it with truffle Parmesan fries) along with latter-day favorites like chilaquiles and challah french toast. Modern fusion choices add further spice, as in a Vietnamese-style vegetable sandwich and East-West chicken noodle soup. Meatloaf is a moist, slightly charred hunk of nostalgia atop a buttery pile of creamy mashed potatoes. Additionally, diners may encounter oven-roasted rib-eye steak for two with red wine sauce. Freshness and innovation shine, even in the sides. Save room for dessert: molten chocolate beignets with crème anglaise are knockouts, as are pineapple upside-down cake and chocolate sundaes with massive house-made marshmallows. Wines are plentiful; cocktails such as the seductively violet-flavored Aviation 1916 suit the setting perfectly.