Bocadillos

I've realized I like little date places with little plates. I've found another great small plate place, now to find the date.

I'm a sharer and I like to try lots of things and always hate when I'm at dinner with people that won't let me taste their food, so places like Bocadillos are perfect for me. A broad selection of little tasty plates meant to share. Pair that with a great wine list and an awesome somewhat lively one-on-one environment and you've got an awesome light dinner/heavy talk restaurant. The shrimp with deviled eggs are fun, and the chorizo is dangerously rich. I would not suggest the "arm of a gypsy" dessert (even though I had it on a fantastic second date and the name has yet not to cause us a good laugh) but the bread pudding is a winner. Definitely keep the company to a great date or a great friend and leave behind the group...oh and drink lots of wine.

Bossa Nova

OMG I freakin' love this place. I think for a while I was going once a week. Now I will first say that I am not an expert in Brazilian food. When I was there I ate a lot of tourist group meals and to be honest I didn't like much of what I ate, but I admit I had a bad selection to judge from. That said, I love Bossa Nova. It's tiny and often you have to carefully squeeze into your table so not to tip over your neighbor's mojito, but it's well worth it as once you sit down it's easy to get comfortable in the festive foodlover environment. My all-time favorite dish is the Rio Style Moqueca with it's coconut lime broth and overflowing array of white fish, musscles, shrimp and clams. I also love that they have live music and a happy hour with $5 mojitos & caphirinas (hey, $5 is a happy hour for San Francisco!!). I wouldn't suggest going with a large group, I would say maximum 4 and best with 2 but no matter who you go with you MUST GO. Seriously, one of my favorite semi-secret SF spots.