This small café in buzz worthy Hayes Valley opened in November 2007. I’ve heard a lot of strange stories about restaurant names, but a restaurant named for an owner’s dog may be a first. Jules is the name of owner Jessica Boncutter’s basset hound. Her airy café features few seats, and zero reservations, so be prepared to wait. Depending on what’s available on the day’s market-driven menu, it might even be worth it.
Bar Jules offers a different blackboard menu every day. Today’s brunch menu didn’t offer much range. My father commented that I looked “tortured” when deciding what to order. Happily, Bar Jules made up for their lack of range with high-quality ingredients.
My meal didn’t include enough beef, so I ordered a side of New York strip steak ($7), brushed with olive oil, sprinkled liberally on each side with salt and char-grilled on an applewood grill. The resulting steak was butter, with explosive flavor.
Meals at places like Chez Panisse or derivative restaurants like Bar Jules are market-driven rolls of the dice. Overall, Bar Jules delivered solid renditions of every dish, but the menu wasn’t especially Food GPS friendly to begin with. Maybe dinner would be more satisfying, as recent menus seem to indicate. At some point, I’ll probably find out for sure.
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