Is it even possible to be a foodie while avoiding sugar and simple carbs? We frequently ask ourselves this question while playing Twenty Questions with the wait staff in an upscale restaurant.
“Is the lamb sweet or savory?” “Are there croutons on the salad?” “How about if we tell you what we don’t eat and you order for us?”
Nearly every chef we have encountered will modify dishes if asked nicely. We occasionally take advantage of this, but we prefer to eat dishes as designed. We eat out because we want to try new foods and new preparations.
More often than not, we have to scour menus for the single dish that most closely mirrors our diet. Occasionally, we discover a great restaurant where ordering low carb is not only easy, it can be done without feeling like you are sacrificing anything.
“Is the lamb sweet or savory?” “Are there croutons on the salad?” “How about if we tell you what we don’t eat and you order for us?”
Nearly every chef we have encountered will modify dishes if asked nicely. We occasionally take advantage of this, but we prefer to eat dishes as designed. We eat out because we want to try new foods and new preparations.
More often than not, we have to scour menus for the single dish that most closely mirrors our diet. Occasionally, we discover a great restaurant where ordering low carb is not only easy, it can be done without feeling like you are sacrificing anything.
Top Five Places to Eat Low Carb in San Francisco
 | #1 - State Bird Provisions State Bird Provisions is one of those rare restaurants that lives up to the hype. Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, the chef owners, are geniuses. The food is among the most innovate we have ever seen, and the flavors are truly mind-blowing. Every time we visit we think, “That was the best meal yet.” The only problem is that it is nearly impossible to get a reservation. We considered leaving it off our list for that reason. We don’t need additional competition. |
Fact: The downside of living in a city overrun with tech entrepreneurs is that they are all capable of gaming computer-based systems. The on-line reservation system for State Bird Provisions is the perfect case in point. Reservations come available at midnight. They are usually gone within 45 seconds. The explanation is simple. The same high-frequency trading algorithms that hedge funds use to sneak in front of your stock trades and screw you on price are now being employed to secure reservations.
On the bright side, State Birds opens at 5:30 p.m. and half the restaurant is left available for walk-ins. If you are willing to dine at blue hair hours, you can usually score a table.
State Bird serves Asian-influenced California cuisine as dum sum. Carts and trays circulate through the restaurant. You choose the dishes you want and your server marks your card. The food is French Laundry refined, but the carts and trays give it an air of goofiness and an atmosphere that is joyously informal. Perhaps we are showing our bias, but we are made uncomfortable by tuxedos, silver trays and mystery employees whose only apparent job is to linger behind you and then refold your napkin when you get up to go to the bathroom.
More than half of the dishes circulating are meats and vegetables. There are, obviously, some dishes that step outside of low carb eating, but they are easy to avoid or keep to a minimum. We have always said that on Drink Your Carbs 90% compliance is still an A. State Bird make it easy while blowing your mind with some of the best food you have ever tasted.
As an added bonus, the wine program is fantastic. (DYC is not a traditional low carb diet. Wine is very much allowed and encouraged.) Take a cab and send them our best
More than half of the dishes circulating are meats and vegetables. There are, obviously, some dishes that step outside of low carb eating, but they are easy to avoid or keep to a minimum. We have always said that on Drink Your Carbs 90% compliance is still an A. State Bird make it easy while blowing your mind with some of the best food you have ever tasted.
As an added bonus, the wine program is fantastic. (DYC is not a traditional low carb diet. Wine is very much allowed and encouraged.) Take a cab and send them our best
 | #2 - Frances Yes, her signature dish is bacon beignets. They look like donut holes and smell like heaven should probably smell. They might even taste good. We have no idea because we’ve never ordered them. There are so many great low carb options on the menu that we are not even tempted to cheat. |
Chef Melissa Perello has crafted some of the best fish dishes we have eaten anywhere in the world. Her duck is peerless. Our preferred way to eat at Frances is to order every salad and every side vegetable and then share an entrée. We do have to ask some questions because Steven is allergic to dairy and Melissa’s preparations tend to be butter heavy. However, the staff always knows every ingredient in every dish, so they either steer us towards choices that fit our low-carb, non-dairy dietary requirements, or point out the dishes that can be modified with the least changes. When it comes to modifications, Melissa may be the world’s greatest living pickpocket; in other words, ingredients quietly disappear and we never notice them missing.
Fact: We have never been to a swingers club, but we have always imagined those clubs are defined by a central bar with seating so tight that it is impossible not to touch your immediate neighbors. The simple act of reaching for a napkin cascades into a brushed shoulder, a grazed breast or inadvertently rubbing thighs.
The bar at Frances shares this architectural feature. The seating can be so tight that you have to negotiate with you neighbors to leave your seat. On the bright side, the bar is reserved for walk-ins and often has two seats available. We are more than happy to trade a little personal space for the amazing food, wine and experience we have every time we go. And the best part is that every time we eat at Frances’ bar we make new friends. Proximity, when paired with perfect food and wine, breeds pure happiness.
 | #3 - Delfina Delfina Restaurant. Not Pizzeria Delfina. This is an important distinction. There is one item on the Pizzeria menu that qualifies as low carb: the tuna conserva salad. It’s excellent. If you get stuck there, order it. But one great salad does not make top five. Delfina restaurant, on the other hand, serves some of the best Italian food in the City. More importantly, it is Northern Italian. This means, while they do serve the obligatory pastas, most of the menu consists of meats and vegetables. The roast chicken is so good that we have stopped roasting chickens at home. The far-too-rarely-available, two-pound bisteak alla floriana is in contention for best steak in America. |
Unlike some of our other favorites, Delfina does require some modifications. Many of the entrées are paired with mashed or fried potatoes. This would be a deal killer if not for the fact they are always happy to substitute any side vegetable. And the side vegetables are ridiculously good. Who would’ve thought that turnip greens could outperform French fries?
For low-carb appetizers, head for the Carpaccio, any of their salads or the fresh-cured anchovies. For the record, this is only place on earth where Steven intentionally orders anchovies.
For low-carb appetizers, head for the Carpaccio, any of their salads or the fresh-cured anchovies. For the record, this is only place on earth where Steven intentionally orders anchovies.
 | #4 - Tacolicious Very few Mexican restaurants list the farms where they purchase their meats and produce. It’s more common in San Francisco, but even here Tacolicious stands out for their dedication to local and organic ingredients. Great food starts with great ingredients and Tacolicious has yet to do anything but wow us. However, the key to keeping Tacolicious low carb is to send away the corn chips before they hit the table. Trust us. The chips are fantastic. Among the best we’ve ever tasted. You have to wave them off before they arrive. Otherwise you will be three baskets down before you finish your first drink. |
Fact: It’s difficult to communicate just how addictive Tacolicious chips can be. The best analogy we have is to the final scene in the film Scarface. Al Pacino sits at his desk, his face buried in a mound of white powder so deep that a ski area would likely claim it as a “six-foot base.” This analogy works because Tacolicious chips are bottomless. And once you start there is no happy ending.
When you send away the chips, keep the dish of salsa. The salsa contains roasted tomatoes and mint and adds a complex layer of flavor to everything it touches. The salsa is particularly good on the Marina Girl salad with grilled chicken. We share that salad nearly every time we visit. The reason we share it is to make sure that we don’t get full. No trip to Tacolicious would be complete without a couple of their outstanding tacos. Ordering the tacos does mean that we each eat a few soft corn tortillas, but that hardly qualifies as cheating once we calculate how many calories we saved by not dying face down in a basket of chips.
 | #5 - 4505 Burgers and BBQ We are stalker-level fans of the chef Ryan Farr and his entire 4505 empire. 4505 began as a food stand in local farmer’s markets serving the best sausages and lettuce-wrapped burgers we had ever tasted. They then branched into teaching whole beast butchery classes and Andrea became one of their students. Last year, they opened a full service butcher shop in San Francisco’s Mission District that quickly became our local butcher. They recently unwrapped a barbeque restaurant on Divisidero Street; we now invent excuses to visit that part of town. |
We love Ryan’s food and we believe in his philosophy of whole beast butchery and grass-fed meats. You can hit any of his locations, but we think that his new barbeque restaurant best shows off 4505.
Order the mixed meat plate, swap the roll and sides for a green salad and you have one of the best low carb meals in the city. Add a pint of microbrew or a glass of wine and you have a perfect Drink Your Carbs feast.
And definitely have the brisket. The brisket is insane.
Order the mixed meat plate, swap the roll and sides for a green salad and you have one of the best low carb meals in the city. Add a pint of microbrew or a glass of wine and you have a perfect Drink Your Carbs feast.
And definitely have the brisket. The brisket is insane.
Photo Credit: The beautiful photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge was taken by Mark Havran.
