Source: A First Impression of the New Vegetarian Restaurant

Wednesday we brought you a little preview of Source, the brand new vegetarian "multi-dimensional" restaurant that opened in the Design District. Today we bring you a first impression.

The Space: Clean, bright, fresh, and modern. Yes, they do have light displays, a waterfall, and music reminiscent of Blade Runner, but it's not overpowering or new-agey in feel. It's casual—you order up front and grab a table number—and pretty laid back. It is a little stark, and would benefit from some art or paint on the walls, which would bring a little warmth to the atmosphere.

House Blend Raw Yerba Mate Blueberry Lemonade

The Staff: Very friendly, welcoming, and super informed. They didn’t have everything on the menu yet (it was only the second day of their soft launch) but they were able to answer all my questions about future plans. Yes, they are trying to develop a gluten-free pizza dough. Yes, they will have vegan cheese soon, and it will be a raw cashew cheese. And yes, their pasta is all gluten-free (made of brown rice). Do you know what this means? It means gluten-free vegans have a new place to eat (that’s pretty rare)!

Jamaican Jerk Cluck Entrée

The Food: We ordered the Jamaican Jerk Cluck entrée (with vegetables, sweet mango chutney, and house wild rice), the Peking Quack Sandwich (with soy quack, cucumber, avocado, scallions, and black sesame hoisin sauce), a House Blend Raw Yerba Mate Blueberry Lemonade, a Whoopie Pie and a Twinkle (a more wholesome version of a Twinkie). Everything was fresh, flavorful, and filling—just really very tasty and satisfying. And considering we got dinner, dessert, and a drink for two people for just under $30 (and for organic food at that), it was really very affordable.

Peking Quack Sandwich

The Jamaican Jerk Cluck’s sauce was bursting with flavor with just a hint of heat and complimented nicely with a more subdued simple wild rice. The Peking Quack was sweet and chewy, and heaped into a homemade grilled flatbread topped with cripsy cucumber and creamy avocado. It was nice to have a side of real fries – simple potato strips that were not coated in seasoning or over-salted. The Raw Yerba Mate Blueberry Lemonade is probably one of my new favorite drinks—refreshing, not overly sweet with just enough tartness. As for the Whoopie Pie -- well, you can’t go wrong with what is essentially a frosting sandwich. The Twinkle was a tiny bit dry, but flavorful and not guilt-inducing like the apocalypse-defying Hostess variety.

Whoopie Pie

In summary: I will go back. I will try many more things on their menu. And I am all over their brunch that starts in two weeks.

Source
Hours: Open 7 days a week, 11am to 3pm for lunch, 5pm to 10pm for dinner (They will start serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays two weeks from now.)
Location: 11 Division Street (at the corner of Division St & De Haro St, between King St & Berry St) -- Be careful with Google Maps; typing in "11 Division Street" sends you to an alley between Best Buy and the SPCA.
San Francisco, CA
Phone: 415-864-9000
Email: info@source-sf.com