Sunset Foodie Report: Spotlight on Taraval

Romania Daza of Tabitha’s Cafe

San Francisco is known for its wonderful cuisine. But you don’t have to leave the Sunset to find what you’re looking for.

For example, a single block of Taraval between 20th and 21st Avenues offers the best of the culinary world.

Here are two newcomers on the block:

Tabita’s Cafe: Chilean-style chicken, pork, and veggie empanadas are popular, along with homemade bread pudding and scones. Romania Daza and her husband opened the light-filled restaurant last February, fulfilling Romania’s lifelong dream of owning her own place. She is a big fan of Supervisor Engardio’s proposal for an Irving Street Night Market, where she envisions eager customers lining up at her booth.

Milktopia: Features Hong Kong specialties like Yin-Yang Oolong Coffee and Silky Classic Milk Tea, as well as boba tea, soft ice cream and more. Gordon Lai, 23, is one of the owners who opened the shop last July. He was born in the Sunset but raised in Hong Kong because his parents wanted him to learn his native language and culture. Now he’s back and anxious to share that culinary culture with his Sunset neighbors.

Gordon Lai of Milktopia

Here are two longtime favorites on the block:

Dumpling Specialist: Shanghai-style pork dumplings have been popular the past four years.

Banhwich Viet Cafe: They’ve been serving yummy banh mi sandwiches for 17 years.

We’ll keep exploring Taraval eateries block by block, and then visit Irving, Noriega, and all the business districts to highlight favorite spots new and old. 

Reported and written by volunteer community journalist Jan Cook. We encourage retired journalists and student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.