Bartlett Hall, Comfort Food and Beer in Union Square

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Upscale comfort food, a great beer selection, takes on classic cocktails, and a fun, casual space: Bartlett Hall is unquestionably of-the-moment in San Francisco dining, which is perhaps why its space has more than its fair share of clocks and cogs. The capacious former Santorini's is now a gathering place where office types and tourists alike can unwind over a relaxed and bar-centric menu from chef Emmanuel Eng, who perfected this type of food during his stint at Maverick, and head beer honcho Chris Wike, who'll both brew his own beer on-site and curate a selection of other local craft brews.

The menu covers all the greatest-hits-with-a-twist: chicken wings (fermented pepper sauce, kimchi, bacon aioli), Kennebec fries with housemade sauces, glazed ribs (with miso, maple, and curry), spiced nuts, olives, and of course, a burger—Maverick's infamous butter burger, to be exact. Eng is also doing fried chicken (another Maverick specialty), quite a few flatbread pizzas (from margherita to duck confit with caramelized onion), and there are some bigger plates like a flat-iron steak with roasted bone marrow, fried chicken, and an artichoke and burrata salad. Here's the full menu.

On the booze side, drinks are mostly twists on classics like daiquiris and negronis; there's a couple of barrel-aged drinks as well. (Here's the cocktail menu.) Wine is mostly local, emphasizing Napa and the Russian River Valley. Michael Brennan (Jardiniére, Farallon) designed the 140-seat space, which dates to 1914; look out for a fireplace in the front room and the exposed brewing tanks in the rear. Hours are daily, 11:00 am-2:30 pm and 5:30 pm-1:30 am.

· Bartlett Hall, a Brewpub, En Route to Union Square [~ ESF ~]