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Lazy Bear SF Underground Dining

During a weekend up in the bay area, we had the chance to dine at Lazy Bear SF due to a last minute cancellation. Lazy bear is an underground restaurant, which means they don’t have a public location. You have to get on their waiting list of on average 1000 people. If you’re lucky enough to make a reservation, they release the time and location to you. They do dinners 3 weekends out of each month and only seat roughly 40 people per dinner. We know people who still have not been able to get in, so my friend was extremely lucky to get a reservation for four… and we were lucky for coincidentally visiting that same weekend!

When arriving at the mysterious location, we walked into an open space used for various events. We went early so that I could have plenty of time for photos. ;) Once everyone was seated, the chef gave us a quick run down and ground rules for the evening. It was a very casual atmosphere, and they even encouraged you to roam into the kitchen to ask questions, give feedback, or simply hang out.

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The entire experience was very new to us. Over the next four hours, we indulged in 15 different dishes that were carefully crafted (this included snacks and desserts). In comparison to other restaurants we’ve tried with preset menus, this was by far our favorite.

Beware! I am that girl who has to take 5-10 minutes photographing every dish before we can eat… And if it’s a dark place, lighting it up with a iphone flash light. If you’re easily embarrassed or want your food right when it arrives, you probably don’t want to dine with me. haha

Photos of the food at Lazy Bear SF:

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More cronuts! Continuing our cronut adventures…

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Photo with chef David Barzelay

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Would we eat here again? Probably not, because of how difficult it generally is to get in. But the food was amazing, and we were glad to have experienced it once. If you’re a food lover, it’s something you should try once at the very least.

Here’s some resources on the underground dining scene:

Thank you so much Hsiao and David for treating us to this delicious meal. :) Thank you Chef David for the amazing food and experience! Also, check out 101 Things to Do in San Francisco.

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. this place looks so cool! I’ve never heard of underground restaurants before….I feel like I missing out on a totally awesome experience! the food looks amazing but I really love the look with all the brick walls.

    1. esther julee

      Yeah, I had no idea these things existed up until the day before we went! Good thing my friend did all the research and hard work. I also loved that this place wasn’t as pretentious as some other places I’ve been. Everyone was nice and friendly, and it was such a relaxing dinner. None of that snooty business.

  2. Soullfire

    I think the “exclusiveness” of the place is a nice selling point since people want to feel special and that they managed to make the cut.

    The food looks great, but the portions appear to be tiny. Did everyone get enough to eat, or did it feel more like appetizers? =)

    1. esther julee

      We all thought we might be hungry afterwards. I’ve been to other places where I felt like we should drop by fast food on the way home. haha Since it was over the course of 3-4 hours, we were actually stuffed halfway through! It was hard getting through the rest of them. We were surprised.

  3. so cool! i’ve heard of restaurants like this but haven’t really seen what it looks like on the inside or understood how it works either. it looks like an experience! how did hsiao get a reservation?

    1. esther julee

      i think she just happened to put it in at the right time, and there happened to be a cancellation of four.. i don’t think she had to wait long. i guess instead of having two sets of couples come in, they gave it to her. i would say it’s pretty lucky! at first, i thought it was a gimmick.. and they didn’t even have a waiting list bc it was so easy for her to get it. but when we asked other people who were dining there, it actually was true. can’t believe places with 1000 people waiting lists exist.

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