A long, long time ago, I wrote about how much I loved Overproof above A.B.V. in the Mission. They were a cocktail forward restaurant with a rotating concept every three months. The first month paired rum drinks with Carribean and Pacific Rim foods, and I really enjoyed the originality of the cocktail pairings with the food. After the fourth menu (which I believe may have been Mezcal and Mexican food), they decided that starting a new restaurant every three months was a lot of work so shut it down to create a new, more permanent concept. I waited patiently for quite some time to hear any news, and my patience was rewarded when they emailed me about the reopening, and I managed to snag an opening night booking at the new Overproof.
The concept is still very cocktail forward, with several cocktail flights, a cocktail tasting menu (three or six) and individual cocktails depending on your preference. There is also a small food menu designed to be shared by everyone at your table. We, of course, had to try the full cocktail tasting menu ($75 pp). They are half cocktails, so you’re getting about three full-sized cocktails in total. They also provide you with a nice cocktail amuse-bouche to whet your palate for the drinks to come!
There were a lot of cocktails to be had over the course of the meal. And while I won’t go into detail about all of them, I will say that one thing that Overproof does extremely well is their balance of flavors. Most cocktail bars try very hard to cover up the taste of booze with a lot of intense fruit flavors and syrups, and while Overproof definitely uses infusions and fruits and other flavors in their cocktails, they aren’t used to try to cover up something, they are used to really enhance the flavor of the drink. For example, the McSwizzle incorporated a coconut-infused whiskey. And while there was coconut, it wasn’t overwhelming. Unlike a recent coconut negroni that I had at a popular cocktail bar in the city that managed to completely wash out any other flavor than coconut in the drink (and with a drink like a negroni, I do have to give them props for completely destroying what could be seen as the greatest drink to grace the face of the earth). I also enjoyed the drama of some of the drinks, like the dry ice in The Sauna cocktail, and the Navy Strength Fruit Cup served in a cafetiere. We squeezed everything out of it because it was just that good. Honestly, even when I think I won’t like a cocktail at Overproof, I usually find something to enjoy about it which really says a lot for their craftsmanship!
On to the food! The food menu is quite short, but it was definitely on the interesting side of things. We opted for oysters to start. It was really a toss-up between oysters and caviar, and while I usually refuse to pay more than a dollar for oysters, caviar is definitely something that is much more cost-effective to do at home (trust me, if you want to spoil yourself, just buy it retail and whip up some blini at home, your life will change). We also got the tricolore salad ($12), fried marbled potatoes ($9), chawanmushi ($14), tinned fatty tuna belly ($24), and halibut crudo ($15).
The food was also really fantastic! Oysters are always a welcome addition to a meal if they are fresh, and the Korean chili mignonette was a nice touch. The salad was absolutely amazing! I sometimes view salads as the thing you order to get some greens with your meal, but everything on it was very flavorful and the homemade cracker was amazing. The potatoes had a great aioli, but some were ever so slightly underdone in the middle. The crudo was light and refreshing, but a bit unbalanced flavor-wise. The canned tuna was a stroke of genius, as the Spanish fatty tuna belly was tasty and the bread and sides just really dressed it up. The chawanmushi was tasty as well, but there was far more custard than uni, so we had to be careful not to overwhelm the uni with the custard. But honestly, the dishes were all really tasty in their own way, and I was happy with everything we ordered. Dessert is not an option, so we had to settle on a Negroni flight to share!
The new Overproof really held up to the many times I had been in the past for their changing concepts, with an amazing array of cocktails that really test the palate and the underpinnings of what a cocktail should be. I would say just go for the cocktails and more cocktails, and the food is just an added bonus if you want to eat. It is small, and reservations only, so make that booking for your next date night, because your date will be very impressed with the food, drinks and ambiance!
Score: 4.5/5
Recommendation: Cocktail tasting flight, tricolore salad and tinned tuna! What a revelation!
Overproof (at ABV)
3174 16th St
San Francisco, CA 94103
