Chisme: Your Favorite Cantina in Lower Nob Hill

Earlier this week, San Francsico welcomed a new neighborhood cantina (right across the street from Liho Liho Yacht Club) serving up hearty tacos with tortillas flown over from Chicago. It’s a cozy spot in Lower Nob Hill with fun and colorful design elements that adorn the wall including a mariachi band of honey bears by artist fnnch.

The menu is very straight forward. Each order comes with two tacos that are much larger than your average taco truck style bites. Much like a typical San Francisco joint, Chisme offers dishes that cater to both vegan and pescatarian eaters. Vegans rejoice, because you’ll have plenty of options to choose from including fried plantain, jackfruit, and eggplant!

You can also find a long list of sides to order from staples like beans and rice or guac to something a little more unique called Flower Basket with fried pink pickled cauliflower and curry kale. The homemade drinks are also a must if you want the full experience. I got an order of a gingery tea appropriately named Death via Ginger to aid the digestion of tacos I’ll be consuming.

We ordered an assortment of tacos to share:

  • Jackfruit: seasonal greens, nori, mint verde (yum!), sweet cabbage
  • Shrimp: cabbage, mango salsa, queso, peanut mole
  • Chicken: peanut mole, sour cream, caramelized onion, queso
  • Skirt Steak: caramelied onion, peanut mole, guacamole, queso

They were all delicious, but the flavors of the shrimp and steak tacos really stood out to me. I loved the sweet and spicy mango salsa paired with the sautéed shrimp. The steak strips were tender and juicy, definitely something a meat lover (like myself) would enjoy. I was really interested in trying the jackfruit taco as I’ve been seeing a lot of vegan friendly recipes with jackfruit to replace pork in pulled-pork dishes. It was slightly sweet but I can see how the stringy texture can replace pulled-pork (especially if you smother it in BBQ sauce).

Needless to say, I’ll definitely be taking a trip back with more friends to try some of the sides we didn’t get to order the first time. I’m a huge fan of corn, so I’m looking forward to trying Pinchelotes!

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