At night, Azucar Lounge serves up fresh Mexican inspired street food and Latin style cocktails. But, co-owner Edgar Tamayo is switching things up during the day with his newly launched “Paulina’s Kitchen + Bar,” a pop-up style lunch restaurant. The menu is traditional Filipino food and will be served Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Paulina’s will be located within Azucar Lounge, located at the corner of 9th and Folsom in San Francisco.
Originally from the Philippines, Tamayo wanted to share his food culture with San Francisco residents and those who work in the city’s SOMA district. “I wanted to bring people real authentic cooking with no shortcuts, just how it is in the Philippines. Nothing on the menu is Americanized, sometimes that can take away from the flavor, and these lunch items are truly representative of what you’d get in my home country. I am proud to share this part of my heritage with the citizens of San Francisco,” explains Tamayo.
The Paulina’s Kitchen + Bar menu includes three main course options: tacos ($7), burrito ($9) or a pizza ($10). Customers can choose from adobo (chicken stew), chicharone (simmered, then deep fried pork belly), sisig (deep fried pork belly and ears), or vegan caldereta (soyrizo and vegetables) to fill or top their entrees. All entrees are served with pico de gallo and a choice of gravy: spicy adobo, mang tomas (sweet and spicy) or house gravy which is Filipino chorizo and sausage. Paulina’s also offers traditional Filipino sides such as garlic fried rice, plain rice, lumpia (ground beef or tofu mixed with veggies and then fried), or pansit (egg noodles and vegetables).
Lunch goers at Paulina’s can also experience traditional Filipino lemonade, made with calamansi limes, which are a mix between a lime, lemon, tangerine and kumquat. Traditional sodas and juices are also available.