Tyler S.'s Profile

The food here is incredible, the servers are smart and attentive. I'm pretty psyched to have them join the neighborhood.

Kasa had a lot of work to do because I had a special affection for the tasty burritos of the taqueria that was here before. The soccer games on the TV above the door. The red-stoner eyes and ready smiles of the servers...

The folks at Kasa are even friendlier than the taqueristas they replaced. This is one of those "fast casual" places that really is addictive. It's one of the staples of my diet now because it's easy and delicious (and affordable). I think there may be health consequences in eating too much, but that's why I'm taking up running again.

My favorites are the lamb and the paneer. The little pepper-and-whatever-else-is-around salad they serve with it is sometimes amazing, sometimes ehn. But it tastes very fresh every time.

These are good dumplings--especially the duck and the pork (mmm, chives). I go for fried every once in a while, but I think the steamed is better for preserving the balance of flavors.

I also think the sesame noodle salad is good. This is hard for me to write because it changes my conception of who I am. I've never really liked sesame dishes (except Super Grover) and noodles often make me wish I'd just ordered something else. But this is a good noodle salad.

Now a paradox: This place has a cooler design than the original Rickshaw. But I wished they delivered.

***Most important thing: The lassi I had here was really one of the freshest tastiest ones I've ever had.

Really good place for clean food. The food is fresh (and nearly all organic). We had a nice coconut fish curry (the fish in it was perfect), simple but tasty daal (lentils), and really flavorful kefta kebabs.

The guys who run the place are specifically trying to keep it inexpensive, so the prices are really good.

Totally serviceable, but I don't think the customer service is super--they're kind of scattered and somehow I don't usually feel warmth. The rumor is that employees aren't treated super great here, which would make sense.

In fairness, I've always been okay with going here. Or was til I tried out Refried (17th/Sanchez), which has really great customer service. I think my experience there (five stars) makes it clearer that this is a reasonable, but three-star kind of place.

The guys here are swell: knowledgable, dependable, quick, low stress. They've got affordability on their mind and will suggest alternatives instead of just pimping the most expensive/labor-intensive option.

We've eaten more Chinese food with our friend Sam in the last two weeks (since coming back from Tibet) than in the previous six years of San Franciscocity.

The dim sum here is fast and good. Try the coriander dumplings for something light and fresh. And the steam buns for something fluffy and strangely sweet. Finally, skip the eggy custard dessert and get the banana flavored thing. As far as desserts without chocolate and from Asia go, yum.

Also, food for 3: $12 total.

My roommate was inspired to go here after Gus and I did and he loved the salmon and the shrimp dishes. Our own food was a mix of good flavors and bland ones.

The carne asada flat bread (read: pizza) had a great top (which is hard to find here in the Castro), but a spongy-dry bottom (no comment). The duck confit tacos were okay, but not anything to quack home about. The capresse salad was teeeny and ehn.

Andy Warhol worked behind the bar, as did a hot Mediterranean who made me sad that I sat facing the plush red wall. The architecture doesn't quite unify the place and though it's going for superhip, it only gets there if you walk by quickly or if you squint.

The service was attentive but a little lost--who has this? who has that? Tapas places are hard to get right in this regard, I bet, since so many dishes are flying around, but I suspect they could hide it a little more from the customers.

Okay, maybe a restaurant should only get five stars if you actually go home with the cute curly hair waiter-in-training whose hands shake a little as he clears off the bread crumbs.

Speaking of which, how much butter did they drown the delicious bread muffins in? Open-water rowers have to use lard to pull and release--they could also just rub one of these delectable and oily buns on their buns. Do you think the waiter-in-training rows in the ocean?

The appetizers were pretty good. We got some tasty asparagus with parmesan on top and some other appetizer that is forgettable. (I'm straining to remember but there was so much to watch--the overly inebriated socialte talking to the chubby man with the birthday wife. The socialite's veterinarian husband was much more dashing, the birthday wife and he were left out in the cold.

Our secondi pastas were remarkable. Eight large ravioli (all the pasta is handmade), each with a different filling: beets, peas, spinach, potato, etc. YUM. And then a cheesy twist-tie pasta that also has some sort of hint of caramel.

For the main course, Gus and I split duck, which was very tasty, indeed. Our dessert was tasty but not quite as memorable as the pasta or the duck. We nearly closed them down.

I might point out that there was a "Ghost Hunt" tour going on just outside the street. And if you promise to spend $800, you can eat in the kitchen with your group of six. That's a great ambiance, I suspect. And it gives you a big picture window to keep an eye on the ghost hunters.

I think this a better place to go at night or a rainy afternoon--during the sunshine (rare these days) it's just too dark and sad. The posters on the windows also are strategically positioned to frustrate your attempt to look at the world passing by.

The palak paneer I had was pretty good and I liked the bread, too. I think this is verging on a four star rating from me, but not quite there.