RN74

literally perfect… food, service amazing. Everything was high quality and cooked to perfection. The apple salad was scrumptious, best snapper ever, and the beignet tpe criller dessert spectacular. Gotta go back for the seafood bouillabaise… looked delish.

Embark on a delectable culinary journey that highlights the cuisine and wine of France’s Burgundy region when you dine at RN74. Located in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, the restaurant is appropriately named after Burgundy’s famous highway, Route Nationale 74. In addition to a carefully curated selection of wines from regions of Burgundy and beyond, RN74 boasts an impressive menu that fuses the sophistication of French cuisine with the modernity of American influences.
Wild Gulf Snapper Crudo ($ 17)
Start the journey with Wild Gulf Snapper Crudo ($ 17). This refreshing dish features three slices of fresh snapper sashimi topped with thinly sliced green apple, beets, beech mushroom, wild herbs, and a sprinkle of spicy cayenne for an additional kick to the senses. The spoonful of caviar on top of the snapper, as well as the white soy vinaigrette, provides savory balance to the dish.
Hand-​Cut Chitarra Pasta ($ 22)
Another highlight from the appetizer menu is the Hand-​Cut Chitarra Pasta ($ 22). Accompanying a bed of al danta pasta are braised clams, guanciale (Italian cured meats), uni, and razor clam shell filled with crunchy breadcrumbs. The foamy uni carbonara sauce on the side is rich and creamy, presenting the perfect enhancement to the dish.
Smoked Bone Marrow ($ 16)
Don’t forget to order the Smoked Bone Marrow ($ 16) for the table. The dish may be a bit too rich and heavy for one person to enjoy, but perfect to share. The bone marrow, topped with smokey oxtail marmalade, Vadouvan butter, and lemon confit with thickly sliced, toasted sourdough bread on the side, oozes so much intense flavors as it melts in your mouth.
Porchetta Style Rabbit Pâté ($ 18)
By far the most beautiful and colorful item on the menu, the Porchetta Style Rabbit Pâté ($ 18) is a unique dish that resembles a savory yule log cake. The smooth and creamy rabbit pâté packs bits and pieces of carrots, peas, and asparagus. It is wrapped in crispy prosciutto and topped with generous shavings of truffle. On the side are crispy, tempura fried sweetbreads in sweet and sour sauce and pickled vegetables over lyonnaise vinaigrette.
Caramelized Scallop Bouillabaisse ($ 36)
The name Caramelized Scallop Bouillabaisse ($ 36) is somewhat of a misnomer. While the plump scallop, which is seared perfectly crispy on the outside and juicy, almost raw on the inside, is certainly delicious, there is much more deliciousness contained in this bowl of bouillabaise than what the name indicates. The stuffed Monterey baby squid, giant gulf prawn, and nori croûton all accentuate the dish. The broth, however, could have been seasoned with slightly less salt as it unfortunately overpowered the seafood.
Coffee-​Brinded Duck Breast ($ 36)
Even though the dish lacks intense coffee flavor, the Coffee-​Brinded Duck Breast ($ 36) highlights an interesting interplay between savory and sweet with medium rare duck breast, blood orange sauce, and purée of butternut squash. The leanness of the duck breast is also accented by the slightly fattier, but much more tender confit of duck leg.
Mont Blanc Aux Noyer ($ 11) and Verrine Au Citron Et Au Pastis ($ 11)
Wrap up this fabulous culinary journey with delicate yet rich desserts. Mont Blanc Aux Noyer ($ 11) features apple compote and vanilla crème that has the softness and creaminess of soft serve ice cream, all sandwiched by a wall of crunchy walnut tuile. The deconstructed Verrine Au Citron Et Au Pastis ($ 11) is a refreshing lemon mousse dessert with layers of star anise cremeux and moist anise cake. This concludes the unforgettable trip along the delectable menu of RN47, but there are many roads not taken — and I will certainly come back for more.

Visiting from LA and hosted a work dinner. This place was jamming when I got there at 6pm for drinks and we sat down to dinner closer to seven, on a Thursday night. The staff was friendly, very very accommodating to my party which started with 6 ppl & ended up ballooning to 14 by dinner! Yikes. Leave it to RN74 to hook us up!
I tried their steak tartare which was delicious and the vegetables along with their delicious Malbec wine. Everyone else enjoyed their meals too, not one unhappy camper. Ambiance is very nice, great for a special occasion or fun night out — and their bar scene is great. SO glad we chose to go to RN74! They didn’t disappoint and they really did a fantastic job taking care of our party — considering how crowded the restaurant was that night. Thank you!!!

Great place!
We got the oysters and the escargot croissants. Both were out of this world.
My partner got the Mary’s Butter Chicken. The description sounded kind of plain, so I wasn’t expecting much. But holy crap it was good. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted a chicken breast cooked so perfectly.
I ordered the pork entrée, which I thought had a much better-​sounding description. My dish was decent, but not fantastic. The portion size was also unbelievably small! (pro tip for waiters: if you’ve got a 220 lb guy ordering an entrée that you know is small, please warn him).
We also got a couple desserts, one called «dark chocolate something something» and the other «lemon mousse something something». Both were really tasty, but portion size was again unpredictable. The lemon mousse dessert was maybe 2−3x the size of the chocolate one. Maybe just check with the waiter how big things are before you order them here.
Next, we went for cocktails instead of wine. The champagne cocktail was awesome. The apple/​pear cocktail was so-​so (had a strong earthy taste that neither of us cared for). The pomegranate cocktail was legit, had a great texture from the egg white, and was not overly fruity. And we got a whiskey something or other that had a lot of ingredients, but basically just tasted like an Old Fashioned. Still good though!
Lastly, while this place is rated as «$$$» and an entrée here will typically cost you ~$ 40, the total cost of our meal (2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 2 desserts, and 4 drinks), was around $ 100/​person. It’s firmly in my «$$$$» category.
Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I will definitely be back.

I had been to RN74 for lunch a couple of times, and for HH a few times, and never was disappointed. Last night we had a business dinner with a large group of about 10 – 12 people. Our table was right to the left of the entrance (the bar and the wide lounge is to the right).
The ambiance is that of a cool, modern, downtown décor. The bar was a-​hopping being a Thursday night, and I never appreciated how the materials in the dining room must be this sound absorbing. It was great to be in a modern, high ceiling, packed joint, and still carry a conversation at the dinner table at a normal tone of voice. A big plus.
I started out with a couple of vodka martinis, and they were perfect — but I knew I would do well with anything from the bar. When I ordered the entrée — the pork tasting — the server did suggest I get a starter since there would be a wait on the entrée, and my dinner mates were also ordering starters, but I did not find him pushy. I had a house salad, and it was good. The pork tasting was good, but I don’t think $ 36 good. This place is pricey, I am glad I am always going for business reasons to this place, it is expensive. The 8oz filet mignon is $ 52… Yikes!
No idea about the wine list and $$ ‘coz I was not hosting the dinner so I did not pick wines — a job that typically falls on my shoulders often for no other reason that my name ends with an «o» :)
The waitstaff was very attentive and prompt. We had a few straddlers that arrived late, and menus were promptly distributed, water served, and drinks ordered. Given the price point, I would say this was appropriate.
So: 5 stars for ambiance and serving, 3 stars for the food/​price relationship = 4 stars.

Big place, beautiful bar.
You can come to this place dressed in your best evening dress or with a hat and sneakers.
It‘s good and weird at the same time.
Everything on the menu was good, but nothing was incredible.
Very good and friendly stuff.

LOVE THIS PLACE. Ask for the most expensive bottle of wine, it’ll be just short of $ 25,000. =)
Seriously though, I used to work here, Mina is an amazing and inspiring restaurateur, he shows you its OK to be perfect.
Can you remove the gun from my head now Michael? Kidding =)
The food is divine, and the wine makes love to your tongue…
LOVE THE WINE!!!

My favorites:
* Smoked Bone Marrow with Vadouvan Butter, Oxtail Marmalade, and Lemon Confit
* Chitarra Pasta with Uni, Braised Clams, Guanciale, and Espelette
* Tasting of Heritage Pork: Suckling Pig Torte, Choucroute, Chicories, Fuji Apple
* Crispy Scale Red Snapper with Cauliflower Mousseline, Tamarind, Almond-​Caper Crumble
1 star off: I think you get more value for your money for the hors d’oeuvres than the entrees at RN74. The entrees are delicious, but at $ 35-​$ 50 per plate, the amount of food should really be more than a few bites. I had to ask for more bread and water to fill me up.

I’m surprised with the overall rating here. I’ve been here 3 times and each time it has been phenomenal. Staff is great and because I’m a resident at the Millennium towers this is one of our go to spots. It’s a Michael Mina restaurant so can’t go wrong here… they’re always offering specials which I really enjoy. They had a sunday supper pre fixe during the fall this year and it was $ 45 per person. My boyfriend and I decided to do dinner here for NYE and the menu was perfect. Each dish had everything I loved (caviar, uni, foie gras, bone marrow, truffle).
Now as for the regular menu the food is awesome. You definitely need to order the escargot croissants! Smoked Bone marrow is also amazing — super rich but so delicious and a must! Butter roasted mary’s chicken is also a great option.

I’ve only ever been to RN74 for post-​work happy hours. This particular review is for the prefix dinner on Sunday night. We went there for a friend’s birthday and it was great for a big group since they have a lot of space to seat large parties.
Food: Crab mousse, coq au vin, truffle noodles, brioche dessert. ALL SOOOO GOOD! Seriously, i was not expecting the food to be that great and it was. I was the lucky one to take leftovers home which I enjoyed the following day.
Service was a little drawn out even though the restaurant was pretty much empty but all in all, pretty great.

This is for bar, not a meal.
House red is way better than you’ll find from most, and at happy-​hour prices… go for it! Mule was OK, Manhattan was great.
The pretzels were fantastic. Perfect if you like soft pretzels… although these are kinda fork-​and-​knife. The french fries were just good, nothing special.
But most importantly, the bar server Stephanie made everything awesome. If you find her, be nice to her and she will be even nicer back.

As if RN74 needs yet another rating — I looked at my old review and just had to make an update after a FABULOUS experience last night.
Yes, the restaurant is still sexy and sultry as hell, so no updates there. I also still think it’s a fantastic date spot. Saturday evening was not too crowded (maybe because it’s Saturday before the holiday?) — so I’d definitely recommend some Saturday romance :)
But what was most impressive to me was THE FOOD AND WINE. OMG, if your’e a wine aficionado (or even if you’re not, like me), then this is *THE* spot for you. The wine selection is unreal with vintages dating back to the 1800s. It’s crazy. But nevertheless, if you’re a simpleton like me, leave it to the experts to make recommendations, which they did just perfectly. They started us with a bottle of bubbly and paired my up *VEGETARIAN* selections (which are awesome, btw) with a lovely glass of pinot. Finished with some kind of a insane dessert wine that I’ll have to look back to tell you what it was…
Oh, and did I mention that the vegetarian selections are stellar? They have a tortellini to die for, fried cauliflower that can be done veggie-​style, a mushroom tart that makes a fabulous main course, and DESSERT. CHILD PLEASE GET THE LEMONY DESSERT. Nuff said.
Finally, I must mention that service was SUPER on-​point! Our table was ready well before our 8:30pm reservation time and no detail went untouched. We never had an empty glass or dirty plate on our table, GOTTA LOVE THOSE DETAILS.
Thrilled to make this step-​up update!!!

Two words: In sync.
A perfectly executed dinner service with enough personality and charm to not feel like a number and well worth the price.
There are those rare dinner services where you forget the time, and just get lost in the experience, food, drink and company. This is one of those. A trip through Burgundy was exactly that, the wine and food was a transport to a region I have never been, but now feel like a veteran tourist of.
The highlight was the white truffle addition to our Coq Au Vin which was exactly as you would expect it to be, perfect.
All in all, even with such an amazing field of food and Mina’s ability to turn anything into gold, RN74 stands out. An amazing date night, that will be hard to top! …I may have backed myself into a corner.

Food? 3 stars.
Décor? 4 stars.
Vibe? 2 stars
Service? 1 star.
And that’s what it all comes down to — service.
The food wasn’t amazing, nor sub par, but for the price you’re expecting it to be above par. The décor is good (except for the bathroom doors that are glass, revealing the user — though very blurred — to anyone who happens by).
The quality of service really makes or breaks an experience and it was overtly bad. Slow, inattentive, lacking true care — just bad hospitality.

RN74 is a classic expense account restaurant. Its décor is beautiful; its service is practiced and mostly attentive. (After the third diner sat down at our table, it took a really long time before anyone asked him if he wanted a drink.) The dishes have been fussed over and worked over — order something and there’ll be about 88 different ingredients on your plate. Like many Unilocalers, I found the prices to be high; the only way to justify them is to say that you’re paying for «the whole package» of place, ambiance and fantasy in addition to your food.
It’s quite easy to spend a bundle here. The specials with shaved white truffles and the majority of the bottles in the wine binder are in three-​figure territory. If you’re on a budget, you’ll do a lot better at Blue Plate in the Mission.
The cuisine is supposed to be French, but I found a glaring typographical error on the menu: the main dishes were listed as «plats principal». (I told our server, who promised to communicate this info to the menu master, who was alleged to be French.)
Everything I ate was delicious, but portions are small. I imagine it easy to walk out of a dinner at RN74 with a craving for ramen or poutine. I was lucky that my co-​conspirators were willing to offer me tastes of their dishes; I didn’t need to grab a snack when I got home.

I came here with a friend for a Friday 11:3am reservation to celebrate my bday! We were 20 minutes late and it took my friend another 25 minutes to park but the restaurant staff was very gracious.
Atmosphere — 4 stars — The inside of the restaurant is very understated hip vibe.
Drink
Martinique — 4 stars — refreshing with a little bit of sweet which I like.
$ 29 Out To Lunch 3 course meal
Sweet corn soup — 5 stars — this soup is out of this world. Nice and creamy but not too heavy with fresh corn in it which added additional taste and texture.
Traditional Bouillabaise — 4 stars — this was a very good dish. The broth was very very flavorful.
Valerian Chocolate Bouchon — 3 stars — this was good but a little bit too rich for me.
For $ 29 tasting menu this was really beyond expectations!

As you can see, this is a nice place for dinner date, business expenses (thanks boss!), or any occasions. However, the food is not up to par.
The difference between a tasteless fish, and a stellar fish can be as little as cooking them properly. It goes for the gnocchi, which was not soft and doughy, as I would have liked it. After all, I am a huge fan of gnocchi; therefore I know what I’m talking about.
Despite the terrible food, I do enjoy the atmosphere and friendly staff. Maybe I should come here for drinks and charcuterie only. Maybe…

Living in the heart of the San Jose Bay Area, I don’t often get to dine out in San Francisco. But, when I do, an experience such as mine at RN74 last night makes the 2+ hour trek worth the effort.
I came for a special wine dinner hosted and curated by one of the future Master Sommeliers (only 230 in the world), DLynn Proctor. Knowing just the basics about wine and eager to learn from the best, I found the experience to be very entertaining and educational.
Everything about the night was top notch. As soon as we entered, we were guided to the private dining area (where Michael Mina and friends supposedly hang out) and plied with craft cocktails and hors d’oeuvres made for the occasion. DLynn was an awesome host, a dynamo of vivid wine trivia and thoroughly approachable. Service was polished and incredibly earnest, allowing me to revel in a rare state of mind.
Of course, the focus of the evening was on the wine. DLynn worked with the chef to craft a custom menu around the wine pairings he selected. As RN74 harks back to the French wine country, 88% of its wine selection was French and our night was a tour through the extremely limited productions of passionate wine-​makers, the near-​exclusive province of Master Sommeliers.
Before we knew it, three delightful hours had flown by and we had to bid adieu. I look forward to the next event.

What a nice surprise!!! Arrived back in the city last night and had a surprise dinner here.
I was shocked with the rating on RN74 on Unilocal… I had an amazing dinner.
I’m a huge fan of Michael Mina so I kinda had high expectations.
I ordered the pork loin and finished up my meal with a delicious peanut butter and chocolate dessert.
Reservations were made so getting seated wasn’t a problem. Service was excellent. I really enjoy the service we had from our waiter Bob, he was very knowledgable and attentive. I’m all about customer service. Love the layout of the space and the vibe. Excellent location located.
If you’re in the area and looking for a relaxing dinner. I highly recommend. Great date night.
I’m a fan!
— Miss Unilocal 2015

I was meeting college buddies after a very long time this last Saturday and we settled on RN74 as a place we could all get to conveniently from various locations around the Bay Area.
I took the BART in from Pleasanton and walked the block from Embarcadero Station to the restaurant. I was a tad early, so I decided to sit at the bar watching football.
The place was cozy and comfortable, the bartenders and other staff very professional and gracious — no pressure to order a drink or bar food when I said I was waiting for friends and just wanted water.
I used the twenty minutes before my friends showed up to look around. The restaurant is modeled after a railway station, with comfortable leather sofas to lounge in, and there were a few cool décor touches — like old-​style kerosene lamps commonly used decades ago, and large black boards with wine bottle listings that changed periodically like train schedules being updated in a railway terminal.
My friends arrived and after the obligatory hugs and comments about the pounds we’d gained and hair we’d lost, we were seated in one of those comfortable leather-​bound semicircular sofas. We started with Belgian beer and then switched to wine (both high quality but pricey), then ordered hors d’oeuvres and entrees.
The appetizers were a mixed bag for me. The Sugar Pumpkin Gnocchi was a bit undercooked and on the salty side, but the poached egg that came with it saved the dish. The Comte cheese soufflé was simply divine — perfectly baked and good-​to-​the-​last-​morsel delicious. It was accompanied by some apples and relish and candied walnuts that were completely superfluous.
The main course arrived soon after our appetizer plates were cleared by the efficient yet unobtrusive wait staff — I had ordered the Sonoma duck, which was substantial in quantity, unlike the much smaller Arctic char and scallop entrees my friends ordered. The duck was cooked medium rare, and I enjoyed it immensely. There were also some vegetables and organ meats on the plate which were a revelation (in a good way) and I couldn’t help but ask for some extra bread to soak up the excellent sauce sprinkled on my plate.
None of us had room for dessert, so we ended our evening over coffee, chatting away late into the night like the old friends we were.