The Monk's Kettle

This was my first visit to this well-regarded Mission District craft-beer spot; it won't be my last. A smallish storefront, with an L-shaped bar, booths, and (presumably only in good weather) outside tables. Friendly and informative bartender, and one guy who appeared to be the owner or manager. I didn't try their food service, but it appears fairly ambitious for a place of this sort, including daily off-menu specials and a weekend brunch. Printed beer list, featuring 29 drafts at $4.50-$11.75; over 100 bottles and cans, sorted by style, at $6.50-$63.00 (not a typo!); and ten or so vintage bottles at $12.00-$56.00. Also functions as a bottle shop, with bottles and cans to go 25% off the menu price. Brand-specific logo glassware for many but not all drafts. Menu includes a useful glossary of beer terms.

I tried three brews:

- Bruery Terreux Frederick H. Berliner Weisse. 4.4% ABV. 6-oz. tulip, $6.50. Deep clear gold, fast-fading 2-finger head. Very tart, fairly fizzy; a good example of a style which isn't one of my favorites. (When it's available, I usually tone down Berliner Weisse tartness with Himbeersaft (raspberry syrup) or Waldmeister (woodruff).

- Cellarmaker Quadruple Dobis Quadruple IPA. 12.8%, 106 IBU. $7.50 for an 8-oz. wine glass. Near-clear orange-gold, halo and patches head. Noble hop and peach nose. Taste us a rich sweet malt balanced against assertive hop bitterness; the alcohol rises to a flavor note.

- Ale Smith Decadence Winter Wheat Wine (2014). 10%. 6-oz., $7.75. Poured from an already-opened bottle; the bartender tasted it, found it flat, discarded it, and opened a new one. (Mixed feelings on my part as I watched the remnants of the old bottle go down the drain--"sober children in China," and all that.) A beautiful clear amber, light head, a bit of sediment. Sweet malt and pear nose. Deep sweet malt taste, with candi sugar obvious among the fermentables; wheat presence not apparent. Moderate hoppiness in the finish. Delicious and potentially sneaky.

One TV, muted, tuned to sports programming. Background music. Clean gender-neutral restroom.

Street parking, theoretically; I believe the last person actually to find an open space in the Mission was Junipero Serra. A block and a half (disregarding a few minor side streets) from the 16th-Mission BART station. On the 22-Fillmore bus line, which, for pub crawlers, provides a convenient 5-10 minute connection to Toronado at Haight and Fillmore.

An amazing bar for beer, bottle and draft. Lots of rare beers. Honestly, who has ABT12 on tap? These guys! Several Russian River brews as well. Draft wine too. Great fries.

The SF beer scene will miss y'all. Good luck in The Town.

I am so devastated that this place is leaving us, not on a jet plane but definitely across the bridge soon (which I guess isn't bad it's just sad for us SF patrons)

Steak and frites are the essential here and their mac & cheese (they use beer cheese yes) is out of this world, my homegirl got an extra one to go after our cute little catch up dinner. The beer selection is really good, it feels like an upscale taproom and the bartenders/servers here are always usually chill and accommodating.

Their last month of service in SF is June, so its a good time to go and check them out before they become an east bay joint but if ever I see myself in those parts, I'll definitely give them a visit.

This place is slipping, glad I won't have to keep seeing its decline cuz it's leaving the Mission. Oakland is gonna tear this place apart ha.

The staff is incredibly friendly, which is why it hurts me to do the Yelp thing. Well, except for that guy who seems high all the time and seems irritated that we came in, or want to order food, or need anything from him at all. He sucks. He's also the only person you deal with sometimes.

We walk in at 5, only one patron at a table, a handful sitting at the bar. Took us 5 minutes to get seated. Thing about this spot is that if you do anything to irritate the staff and they'll put you on "the wait list" which is you standing there while they don't help you for however long they feel like. So we stood there waiting to be acknowledged, took 5 mins.

Again, 5pm, empty tables, we were told that they can squeeze us in but we have to be gone by 7. Seriously, if you don't want us there, just close and lock the doors to collect your hourly wage. Switch to delivery only or whatever. Then you won't have to deal with customers!

We get seated, peruse the menu, sit for 10 minutes until the same guy who sat us came over to take our order. Well, we assumed take our order, because he didn't actually say anything to us. He stood over us with his hands behind his back, nodding as we spoke, and took our menus from our hands when it seemed like we were done. No confirmation, no communication, no service. Give me a kiosk next time. At least the kiosk will say "thanks for your order customer #10345!"

Beers show up. Incredible! Their IPA selection hasn't changed in a few years but they're in a state of transition and Russian River is solid so I'll forgive it. Food shows up, it's always cold for some reason but it still tastes good so we keep coming back.

You know, I was honestly planning on letting everything go that we experienced this far, but then we got the bill. Two beers and two burgers in the Mission costs $85 now.

Except it doesn't, Zeitgeist is a few blocks away and you can get the same thing for half the price.

They added so many fees and different percentage charges to our bill that compounded into an absolutely staggering amount. Give me good service, good food, good drinks, I'll pay. I have over 500 bookmarks on Yelp alone, I will want not for these places. This is no longer one of them.

The default tip percentage is 25% on their little pay tablet. Deliver what you expect, please, or bump that down.

Again, wanna support local, but you're bleeding your locals dry trying to make a statement. Find another way to bleed the techies. Find another way to short change your staff to the point that they don't even function. Don't pretend like you're doing your best anymore and charging appropriately, you're not.

Monk's Kettle is a great little mission neighborhood bar! They have a HUGE beer menu. In my opinion the food is just alright, but the beer selection and cute outdoor patio make it great. Friendly staff.

I love a sour beer and they have plenty to choose from! Interesting that they serve them from a wine glass, but delicious nonetheless.

I've dined in and ordered takeout, so I've tried a few of their food items. My personal favorite is the Soft Pretzel. Each pretzel comes with a really good beer cheese and spicy mustard. The other items I've tried have just been okay. The Monks Burger, Fried Chicken Sandwich, Mixed Greens Salad and Fries.

Went in for lunch. Service was good, server was fun and energetic. Looks like it would be a fun spot to check out on a weekend. The bar had a lot of beer options!

The brussels and they were really delicious. Super crispy and charred and well seasoned.

The fries were well cooked and nice and crunchy.

The kale salad was good. It had a coriander seasoning which was a nice twist to a regular kale salad.

The late night stop.

My wife and I stopped in after a show in the Theater District - wanted a late bite and a beer.

We had the Seared Ahi sandwich and the Fried Chicken sandwich, and were really pleased with both. And the fact that it's open late, staff is friendly and easygoing, and it's a cool neighborhood vibe (Mission almost at the Castro district) make it the perfect late night eats tavern.

We'll be back.

Another visit to Monk's Kettle and it was good - not great, but definitely good. The beer selection is excellent (one of our son's favorite places) and the food is above average. We opted for Tomato Soup, Fried Chicken Sandwiches, Fries and Pretzel Rolls. Everything was tasty and hot and the place was hopping.

The pretzels were especially good!

Overall, a good experience and we hope to visit again on our next trip to SF.

This place was great! Small but honestly just a great fit for our group of 5. We came in to watch the game on a Sunday and it was great.

The food and drinks here are great! We honestly eat for a few hours. This is a great place to share and try different things! So many. The burger is as good as it looks in the photos.

Staff was attentive. We did have one issues on the food but when we informed them they fixed it so fast.

We will be back again and again. This area has so many great spots!!!

Jesse was a huge help in suggesting substitutions for my dad and I's order. The ambience is cozy and inviting. The taste of the food was satisfying and will definitely come back. Open until 11 PM. I highly recommend.

Perhaps the pending change of locations has caused kind of a disconnected between service and quality of food. Would've like to try this before closing. Likely will not visit second location.