San Francisco Restaurant Guide

You're glancing through a wine list and noticing many interesting bottlings, many wines you'd like to try -- but you notice too that only a few of them are available by the glass. There are many layers of meaning here, most of them annoying, but the most important is that you aren't -- but probably should be -- at Annie's Bistro. The food is quite good at this small neighborhood spot in lower Pacific Heights, and it's fairly priced (a pair of real pluses), but the wine list is extraordinary. It isn't extraordinary for its length or breadth (a single page of entries, most from California) but for the fact that you can get almost every wine on the list by the glass or half glass (the wine world's answer to the small plate). This is restaurant wine the way it should be: easy to sample and compare, with the costs of experimenting kept to a minimum. San Francisco Bay Guardian - July 28, 2004

Ed Schwartz of Fillmore Food & Wine "can't imagine anyone not liking this excellent and different dining experience" Annie's is a Critic's Choice of the SF Bay Guardian. Reviewers called it a "jewel that offers stylish downtown cooking at neighborhood prices" The SFBG also named Annie's the "Best Bistro at which to Drink California Wines" and writes that "this is the way restaurant wine should be: easy to sample and compare with the costs of experimenting kept to a minimum." Even without a reservation, the full menu is available at the bar on a first-come, first-served basis. Wendy Weiden's CitySearch editorial describes how "the vaulted ceiling and stone walls evoke a wine cellar" where the "menu of flavorful bistro classics is elegantly updated for San Francisco's sophisticated tastes" And, our diners say: "Annie and her staff make you feel at home - although we eat out quite a bit, I've yet to find a