It's got fresh, seasonal ingredients and plastic hippos and T-rexes. We haven't really eaten at this place very much, but it's pretty good "comfort food plus". Sort of like Chow or Luna Park.

Cuisine: American
Price: $$$
Favoriteness: ***
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Phone Number: (415) 282-6777
Location: 3218 Mission St.

Nice French-country place with lots of Atkins-busting house-baked bread. Yummy chicken potpie and desserts. One of Bernal Heights first really good restaurants.

Cuisine: French
Price: $$$
Favoriteness: ***
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Phone Number: (415) 695-8777
Location: 410 Cortland Ave.

My roommate in Bernal Heights, Cliff, introduced me to the pupusas at El Zocalo. They're stupendous. Get the seafood entrees, too, like the crab enchiladas. Not much in the way of decor, but you're not going to this place for romance.

Cuisine: Mexican-Salvadoran
Price: $
Favoriteness: ***
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Phone Number: (415) 282-2572
Location: 3230 Mission St.

When I lived in Bernal Heights, this was the local Italian place. The mussels were what I loved the most. That and the interior--unintentional 70s fern-bar mood with nice candle lighting. Some people have accused the pasta of being from "Chef Boyardee" but I think they're just jealous of the ferns.

Cuisine: Italian
Price: $$
Favoriteness: ***
Neighborhood: Bernal Heights
Phone Number: (415) 285-6005
Location: 300 Precita Ave.