The 411 on Hilda & Jesse #
Address: 701 Union Street, North Beach
San Francisco, CA
Website: https://www.hildaandjessesf.com/
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The Vibe: Situated just off Washington Square in North Beach, Hilda & Jesse is a vibrant restaurant focused on delivering a fun dining experience with the culinary skills to pull it off. This philosophy is evident in the service as well—our waiter was full of playful conversation and clearly knew how to butter up the diners to make them feel welcome. That’s an especially great asset for a restaurant that is loud and proud about its queer ownership and being a safe space for the LGBT+ community. I am not queer, but I sure felt drawn to our server anyhow.
The skills of Hilda & Jesse’s chefs have paid off with a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist award and Michelin Guide mentions for the last two years in a row. Dinners are prix fixe at $98 for five courses, but brunch on the weekends can be purchased à la carte if desired (we desired). My friend and I shared three dishes, which fully filled us up.
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The décor at Hilda & Jesse’s deserves an extra note. Whimsy spills out of squiggly lines and bright pastels, which seems like an oxymoron but somehow is not. The set-up of the dining space—portioned into bar, table, and counter nook sections—makes it quite charming.
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My Take on Hilda & Jesse #
The Drinks: I somehow managed to resist a coffee cocktail to start, which is surprising because I LOVE coffee cocktails. But the “Show Me the Honey” sounded the most appealing that morning with Heidrun sparkling mead, jasmine oolong tea, and meyer lemon.
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While the cocktail was sweeter than I prefer, the ingredient blend was vibrant enough to keep me awake for brunch, which is sometimes a challenge.
My friend decided to have the Heidrun “Hawaiian Christmas Berry” sparkling mead on its own, and it was beautifully dry, even the berry notes.
For my second beverage, I ordered the iced coffee, which comes with oat milk and malt stirred in.
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I’m not sure I’ve had malt outside of a milkshake before, and I appreciated the extra depth it added to the drink. I also learned that malt makes me think I’m drinking chocolate, even when none is to be found.
The Food: We started with the avocado “toast.” The quotation marks indicate that the “toast” is rounds of sweet potato fried in a firm, crunchy, and nearly greaseless tempura batter. They were doused in cheese and a sour cream and onion sauce with horseradish that played hide and seek.
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It’s a delicious dish, especially the crunch in combination with the creamy avocado and sauce.
Our second choice was sunchokes served with a mandarin vinaigrette, roasted garlic mayo, nori oil, and furikake.
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Earthiness was the overwhelming flavor of this dish, with sesame coming through the strongest. The sunchokes had a great roasted texture while retaining moisture, and I appreciated the celery leaves on top. Expertly prepared, but I was surprised by how strongly the sesame dominated everything else.
It should be required that you have the “pancakes without boundaries” if you dine at Hilda & Jesse during brunch. They’re an impressive sight!
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In the photo, they may look more like a mess, but that’s a glorious tower of mess. The two pancakes were not quite Japanese-souffle style; while very fluffy, they were not dry. Either the buttermilk or the cream sauce yielded a wonderful tang. The grilled cranberry maple sauce was strongly smoky, enough so that I was convinced it had to have bacon infused somewhere along the process, but it’s just the grilled fruit. I thought the cranberries were grapes, they were so sweet. Some sort of magic happened in the creation of this dish, let me tell you! So magical that the butter-pat crown was unnecessary, the dish was already so rich.
Would I Go Back? Yes, I’d love to! I do think the prix fixe menu would be fun, but I am picky enough that I’d be happier to return for the à la carte menu again rather than have no idea what the chef would present. Hilda & Jesse’s atmosphere is merry, the service delightful, and the food impressive. Surprisingly, the bill was on par with many Bay Area brunches, so it didn’t feel like a splurge…while feeling like one nonetheless due to the atmosphere and yummy food. So much contradiction! So much enjoyment. Thanks, Hilda & Jesse!
Visited January 2026.
